Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 88 - 0: Rescuing Again

After being busy for more than an hour, they had sold out the two loads of bean dregs they brought, and out of the four loads of tofu, only about ten pounds were left.

These ten pounds of tofu hadn’t been cut into small pieces, because the plan was to sell it directly to customers, but since the fried five-spice tofu sold too well, they stopped selling plain tofu. Instead, they kept all the tofu and made it into fried five-spice tofu.

"Daddy, Daddy, want more, want more, the five-spice tofu and the bean cakes are delicious." At the food stall, a little boy about six years old, with half a bean dregs cake in his mouth, nagged his father to buy him more.

The man couldn’t resist his son and thought his wife and daughter at home had yet to try it, so he said to Third Grandpa, "Old man, give me two more servings of fried five-spice tofu and eight golden bean pancakes to take away."

Third Grandpa smiled, "The golden bean pancakes are sold out."

Upon hearing that the golden bean pancakes were sold out, the little boy almost cried. He had been eagerly eating his bean dregs cake but now couldn’t bear to take another bite.

When the man heard that the golden bean pancakes were gone, he was a bit disappointed, and changed his request, "Then give me four servings of fried five-spice tofu."

"Eh, alrighty, I’ll make them for you right away." Mrs. Chen squinted her eyes smilingly and hurried to have Aunt Tian make four servings of fried five-spice tofu.

Aunt Tian had been busy since the afternoon, and her arms were so sore they could barely lift, but the tofu made good money, so she didn’t mind the hardship.

Shortly after, the man’s fried five-spice tofu was ready, and Mrs. Chen handed them to him with a smile, "Here’s your fried five-spice tofu, I’ve added four extra pieces for you."

The man took the tofu with satisfaction, and asked her, "Is your stall only set up for the Lantern Festival or will it be here in the future as well?"

Mrs. Chen replied with a smile, "We’ll be here in the future as well, we’re in this for the long haul. You can come by any time you crave it."

Mrs. Chen kept saying this to each group of departing customers, letting everyone know that they would be setting up their stall here in the future.

After hearing this, the man nodded and curiously asked, "I noticed you sprinkle some powder when you fry the tofu, what is that, it smells incredible."

"It’s a seasoning blend we make ourselves. Add just a little bit while cooking, and it makes the dish really fragrant." Mrs. Chen ran to the basket and took out several seasoning packets: "You can buy a few packets to try. They’re not expensive, just five cents a packet. Since it’s your first purchase, if you buy two, you get one free."

Worried that customers might think there wasn’t enough seasoning, she quickly added, "Don’t be fooled by the small size of the packets, they’re full of fragrance. You only need to sprinkle a little bit when cooking, and a whole pot will become savory and aromatic."

The man lived in town and was quite well-off. Although he thought the seasoning packets were small, his family could easily afford the five or ten cents, so he bought two packets.

Mrs. Chen happily took the money and handed him three packets of seasoning.

Once the first person made a purchase, there were a second and a third; seeing this, other customers also started buying seasoning packets. Mrs. Chen happily ran back and forth, fetching packets for them.

Nearby were mostly food stalls, and seeing their booming business, they were quite envious. Two stall owners couldn’t help coming over to buy a serving of fried five-spice tofu, and after tasting it, they found it to be really good. They started probing indirectly, "What’s the secret to your tofu? How come we’ve never seen it before?"

They wanted to figure out the ingredients so they could make and sell it themselves.

Mrs. Chen’s eyes slanted, she replied unapologetically, "This is a family secret recipe, not to be disclosed." They were dreaming if they thought they could get it out of her.

Seeing that she wouldn’t disclose the recipe, the two stall owners had no choice but to stand in front of the iron plate, watching Aunt Tian and Ms. Chu fry the tofu. Noticing that after frying the tofu until it was golden and crispy, they would sprinkle it with some incense powder, they concluded that the tofu tasted so good because of this powder, and immediately said to Mrs. Chen, "You also sell seasoning pouches? Give us a few."

Mrs. Chen, knowing they had come to learn the secrets, was worried they would learn the recipe and rob them of their business, so she dared not sell the seasoning packs to them.

Gu Jinli said, "Aunt Gui, give them the seasoning packets."

"Xiao Yu, have you lost your mind? They’re here to learn our secrets. If we sell them the seasoning packets and they replicate it, what will we do if they steal our business?" Mrs. Chen panicked, thinking Gu Jinli had gone crazy.

Gu Jinli said, "They can’t blend it."

These spices needed to be blended in a specific ratio to create a fragrance that was fresh without being overpowering. Without knowing the proportions, even if someone knew the types of spices, they couldn’t replicate the flavor.

Third Grandpa also said, "Da Gui’s wife, fetch the fragrance packs for the customers. We are in business to sell, and naturally we should sell when customers wish to purchase."

Mrs. Chen had no choice but to get the fragrance packs for those stall owners.

Afterward, a few more stall owners came to purchase fragrance packs, and Mrs. Chen handed them out one by one.

After being busy for another quarter of an hour, when only three pounds of tofu were left, Third Grandpa said, "Alright, let’s close up shop."

He told Ms. Chu, Aunt Tian, and Ms. Yan, "Cook all the tofu until it’s done. We’ll take it all to Xuanhu Fang later."

Their belongings were stored at Xuanhu Fang; they couldn’t go there empty-handed.

During this time, some customers came to buy tofu, but after being told that it had sold out, they left dejectedly.

With swift actions, the thirteen of them tidied up neatly, transferring the tables, chairs, pots, pans, clay stoves, iron plates, and other items all to Xuanhu Fang.

Doctor Du had gone out on a call with Elder Doctor Wu and wasn’t at Xuanhu Fang, so Mu Tong was the one who received them.

Seeing that both senior doctors were not present, Third Grandpa felt regret but handed the three pounds of fried five-spice tofu to Mu Tong with words of thanks.

Mu Tong accepted the tofu and said with a smile, "Elder Gu, your tofu is really delicious. Everyone at our pharmacy loves it."

He advised, "If your family plans to continue this business long-term, when you go to Si Li Square tonight to pay for the booth, you could pay an additional two hundred copper coins to rent the spot. This way you won’t worry about someone else taking the location."

Today was the Lantern Festival; booth prices soared just for one day. Ordinarily, renting for a month would only cost two hundred copper coins, and the spot they had for their stall was a good one, secured through the reputation of Xuanhu Fang.

Reminded by Mu Tong, Third Grandpa quickly thanked him, "Thank you, Brother Mu Tong. We’ll head to Si Li Square right now and rent the spot."

Since it was Lantern Festival night, the clerk at Si Li Square would be on duty until midnight. Third Grandpa and his group went to Si Li Square on Front Street, discussed renting a booth with the clerk, mentioned Xuanhu Fang’s name, paid for an additional month’s booth rental, and received a new placard.

After getting the placard, Third Grandpa and company hurried back to their stall. Since they had made money from selling tofu, Third Grandpa was in a good mood and decided to buy seven bowls of sticky rice balls. One bowl for each family, he took them back for everyone to eat.

By this time, it was the fourth watch of the night, and many people had left the lantern viewing. After they finished buying the sticky rice balls, they picked up their baskets and left the town.

The road was not deserted. Everywhere there were people carrying flower lanterns, rushing home with their families. The air was filled with children’s laughter or adults discussing the evening’s lantern fair.

"Scholar Shang from Shang Family Village won the Fortune and Auspicious Lamp from Fugui Building. That lamp is worth thirty taels of silver, yet when Scholar Shang just won it, people offered to buy it from him, bidding up to fifty taels, but Scholar Shang wouldn’t sell."

"The scholar values the riddle on the lamp, considering it a rare find in ten years. That lamp has been hanging in Fugui Building for three years. This year Scholar Shang finally figured out the riddle and won the lamp, why would he sell it?"

"That’s fifty taels of silver! It’s enough to build a house with green tiles and bricks. Scholar Shang actually refused to sell—it’s madness," someone said, not understanding.

"You don’t get it. These scholars care about refinement and aren’t concerned with money. They refer to silver coins as ’copper stench.’"

"Pah! What copper stench. Without that stench, what would scholars have to eat and drink? Pretentious piety." Someone spoke disdainfully.

As they spoke, a sudden burst of weeping and shouting emerged from the crowd, "Yuanyuan, quickly spit out the candy, spit it out now!"