Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 88 - 87: Changing Mind (100 Monthly Tickets+)

Chapter 88: Chapter 87: Changing Mind (100 Monthly Tickets+)

Chen Ming smiled and told his customers that if they returned the skewer sticks after eating, they would get a peanut. The skewer sticks were not worth much, but they took quite an effort to whittle. After finishing their food, some children actually returned the sticks, and then put a Luwei peanut in their mouths, eating with great satisfaction.

There was no small table at home, so two small stools were set up at the door and occasionally, someone would sit on them to eat. Some people even bought wine from the neighboring wine-shop, drinking while eating Lu Chuan or Luwei peanuts. So enthusiastic, the owner of the wine-shop came to buy a few Lu Chuan too.

Seeing that the clan school was about to end, Mrs. Zhang and Chen Ming carried a big wooden basin filled with Lu Chuan to the outside of the school. Many students had smelled the flavor and were hungry at that moment. Those who had some change in their pockets all stepped forward to buy. As Chen Ming was selling, he also told them that his shop was just behind the clan school, and his family members could come there to buy if they wanted.

Chen Shi and Mrs. Zhang never thought that all the ingredients they bought would be sold out. Even after it was dark, there were still students from far away coming to their home to buy Lu Chuan.

Today was the first day, the amount of materials and skewer stocks they bought was not much, but after accounting for the cost, they actually made more than eight hundred coins. This was much more than what they earned from the grocery business. If the reputation can be established in the future, and they can get more goods, they will earn even more.

Chen Shi laughed heartily at the unexpected gain.

Chen Afu said, "We were in a hurry today, but later we can buy chicken, duck, goose hearts, livers, intestines, and other organs from the wine-shop. These things are not tasty when stewed or roasted, so the wine-shop would definitely be willing to sell them. But they are delicious when boiled in a marinade, and good for skewering." As of now, people were particular about getting the whole chicken or duck, so the feet and necks were difficult to obtain, hence they had to collect these organs.

Chen Shi laughed and agreed repeatedly. If this business goes well, they could change Chen San’s Grocery to Chen San Lu Chuan.

Chen Afu also suggested that they must now establish the "Chen San Lu Chuan" brand, having a special secret recipe for Chen San Lu Chuan. Although Lu Chuan seemed simple, there would definitely be people who would copy it. If they could make the "Chen San Lu Chuan" name renowned, and it indeed had a unique taste, people would selectively buy their Lu Chuan.

Chen Shi saw the sense in it, so he found two large wooden boards, and wrote the words "Chen San Lu Chuan" on them with a brush. One board was hung in front of their own door, and one would be taken to the clan school door when selling Lu Chuan.

The writing wasn’t very good, completely out of keeping with Chen Shi’s handsome appearance. Not to mention that Chen Afu was secretly criticising it, even Chen Dabao was shaking his head secretly, "Let me write it" he managed to suppress those words that almost blurted out.

After dinner, Chen Shi and Chen Ayu began to whittle skewer sticks again. Chen Ayu suggested that since the family was going to run both the grocery business and the Lu Chuan business, he might as well drop out of school to help at home now, and Chen Shi agreed. If they still couldn’t cope, they would have to hire people.

The next morning, after Chen Afu and others got up, they saw Mrs. Zhang leading Chen Ayu and Chen Aman busily preparing. They heard that Chen Shi had gone to the wine shops to buy poultry organs.

To make more money in a small business, it requires this type of hard work from dawn to dusk.

Chen Afu thought secretly that she was born lazy, if she had to work this hard to earn this little money, she would be unwilling to do so.

After eating breakfast, Mrs. Wang and Chen Afu took Alu to Qianjin Medical Clinic. Dabao clamoured to go, but was not taken. He was asked to help their grandma with errands.

Before leaving, Chen Afu explicitly told Mrs. Zhang that once they got the offal of the chicken, duck, and goose, they should clean it first and not marinate it immediately. She would do it when she returned, as it required precise control of the cooking time, otherwise it would become rubbery and not delicious if cooked for too long.

The Dashun dynasty was more enlightened, and the custom of wearing veils was not in vogue, so women showed their faces when they went out. However, young ladies from prominent families rarely went out shopping, and when they did, they would be surrounded by attendants.

The security situation in Dingzhou was relatively good due to the large presence of army, and so Chen Afu did not need to cover her face in broad daylight.

Qianjin Medical Clinic was in the southern part of the city and quite far from here, so they hired a donkey cart. It took about half an hour to reach the clinic. Mr. Shi, who originally treated Alu, looked at Alu’s leg, pinched it gently, and said that Alu’s recovery was very good. It normally took a hundred days for someone with bone and muscle injuries to fully recover. Alu was looking much better in just sixty days. But to be safe, he suggested to wait for three months before throwing away the crutches.

Everyone was overjoyed to hear his words, especially Chen Alu. Next month would mark ninety days, and he would be able to go to the private school to study. They bought a few more sets of medicine before leaving the clinic.

It was already midday after the visit. They went to the noodle shop for a meal and then hired a donkey cart to go home.

As soon as the donkey cart entered the alley, the scent of marinade was detectable. When they reached Chen Shi’s house, they saw several children standing in front of the marinating pot with a few copper coins in their hands. When the Luwei in the pot was ready, they bought Lu Chuan and started eating with satisfaction all over their faces.

Chen Shi whispered and laughed to Chen Afu, "Today, I bought more than ten pounds of poultry organs from the wine-shop. Except for the intestines, all of it is being marinated."

Chen Afu washed her hands, and saw that the intestines had been cut open and cleaned. She then cut the intestines into segments of about five centimeters each, put them in the braising pot, boiled them for about thirty seconds, and then fished them out. They were cooked, but not very flavorful yet. So she took a large bowl, scooped some marinade into it, and soaked the intestines. When the flavor fully permeated, she drained them, strung them on skewers, with four segments per skewer.

This time, Chen Afu also saw two pig skins and four pig’s feet in the braising pot. Chen Shi said not to touch these two items, he would send them to Mr. Zeng, who was in charge of clan school, and Chen Atang’s mentor.

Chen Afu thought to herself, Chen Shi was smart and kind. They should be able to continue to cooperate in the future.

Today, they made even more money than yesterday, and besides the cost, they netted more than a thousand coins, which made Chen Ming’s family extremely happy.

However, according to Mrs. Zhang, the man who sells Luwei on the street in front of them had circled around their stall several times. If there was no accident, that man would also start selling Lu Chuan in a few days.

Chen Shi laughed, "Let him sell it, we have our special secret recipe, he can’t compare to us." He also turned to Chen Afu with a smile, "Afu has given the secret recipe to his third uncle, third uncle owes you one."

The skewers that Chen Shi and his son whittled were not enough to use, so they went out and asked people to help.

On the next day, the tenth of September, Chen Afu and her son were going to go shopping. This was the excuse they gave to Chen Shi’s family, but actually they were going to the Silver Tower to sell jewelry.

Originally, Mrs. Wang wanted to go with them, but seeing that Chen Shi and his family were really too busy and hadn’t found a worker yet, she felt it inappropriate and decided to stay to help. She whispered to Chen Afu that they should go out and enjoy themselves today. Once Chen Shi’s family had hired someone to help, she would accompany them to sell things. Afraid they would get lost, she advised that they should take a cart when going out and coming back.

Chen Afu nodded. Even if Mrs. Wang hadn’t reminded her, she wouldn’t have walked so far. Besides, she had already decided to go to the Silver Tower.

Later, Chen Afu realized that it was really a blessing that Mrs. Wang had changed her mind at the last moment. Otherwise, she couldn’t imagine how she would have dealt with that scene.