CH 44.1

The young couple of the Zhang family sold stewed pork for the first time, they went to the city half an hour earlier than usual. When they arrived at the meat market, even the butchers who lived in the city hadn't arrived yet.

Zhang Fangyuan originally wanted Xu He to sell it next to his pork stall, but Xu He was a fastidious person and loved to be clean. The meat market was filled with the smell of raw meat. Now that the weather was getting hotter, this side was full with flies. If raw food and cooked food were sold together, would make people felt shabby.

Thinking about it, he wouldn't want to buy cooked food in front of a greasy and bloody pork stall with flesh and blood on the cutting board, so he agreed to Xu He.

And then the two separated again.

"Go to sell at the side of the road in the entrance of Tianjie. There are many food stalls and people from the yamen often patrol to maintain order. It’s the most secure place."

Xu He agreed, but he had never been there before, he only knew roughly what it looked like, so now he just went to step on it.

He picked up his back basket and said to Zhang Fangyuan: "You have to be good at greeting buyers, be careful that my stewed sold out before you."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

With Zhang Fangyuan with him, he didn't need to worry about anything, but he didn't want to rely on Zhang Fangyuan for everything. It was not that he couldn't trust him. Since they were a couple, they had to bear the responsibility of supporting the family.

"It's okay. I came to the city to sell things when I'm ten years old, and I can handle it."

Zhang Fangyuan sighed slightly, who told him to find a promising fulang: "Okay. If you need anything, ask someone to bring me a message. "

Xu He just left the meat market, and Zhang Fangyuan kept looking at the person until he could no longer see him, and then he cleaned up and set up his stall.

After leaving the meat market, there were shops on both sides of the cobblestone road in the small street. At this time, these people were shopkeepers who were about to open their doors, the shopkeepers kept yawning, and there were still few customers.

The morning light was shining brightly, the sky was thin blue, the morning breeze in the alley whistled over the wall, and the smell was different from what he was used to smell in the past. Back then, it was green grass and wildflower fields in the countryside, while the city was freshly out of the steamer steamed stuffed buns and noodles with chili oil...

The heavy weight on his back made Xu He felt that one day he could easily hold a bunch of keys to open the door and do some small business.

Why not?

At this time a few months ago, he was still digging with a hoe in the field, cutting a basket of grass before the sun came out and going home to make breakfast.

Now he could come to the city and with his own hands to make food and sell it for money, and also to get the promises from his husband, which he never thought before.

Anything that couldn't be imagined could be realized, let alone something that was planned. He grasped the thick straps of the back basket, lifted the back basket up, and strode forward.

Tianjie was a main street, the width of the narrow road on both sides was comparable to the two narrow streets, and there were neatly placed small stalls around it, selling everything.

Pancakes, fried cakes, sweet cakes in syrup, sugar-painted candied haws...

There were also larger stalls that sold noodles, and two tables were set up at the back, and boiled noodles were served for guests to eat. These stalls opened much earlier than him.

Xu He didn't come here very often, and this place was purely a place for fun and spending money. Farmers usually went to the city to buy things, so they didn't need to come here.

As he looked around, he managed to find someone who managed the stall in this place, he gave the money for the stall fee.

"I'll take a look at it for a day first." Xu He said as he said to Zhang Fangyuan before, and gave the stall fee for one day only, ten copper coins.

The stall fee on tianjie itself was higher than that of the meat market, and the shorter the rental time, the more expensive it was. If it wasn't for testing the waters, he wouldn’t be willing to pay such an expensive stall fee.

"Sure, just find a stall by yourself. You can choose a single stall without a red label on it." The stall manager told him about the price and he gave the money directly, and he didn't make things difficult for him like raised the price.

Xu He thanked the person, and there were still many stalls to choose from when he came early, so he immediately picked a conspicuous place by the side of the road and quickly set up a stall. Next to it was a chaotic stall, and the items sold by the two stalls wouldn’t overlap, saving himself from right and wrong.

For the first time, Xu He didn't prepare much. He marinated half a pig's head, a cage of fat intestines and pig heart. Beside, he also marinated some bracken and bamboo shoots, as well as the previously stored mushrooms. There were not many in total, but the number of samples were quite rich.

He cut some stewed pork as a test, and soon the stall was set up. It was packed in a long wooden tray, covered with mosquito netting, and half of the cover was exposed, which not only could keep the stewed meat clean, but also let people saw what was being sold.

There were many people coming and going in Tianjie, but the flow of people was not like the meat market and vegetable market. Generally, the morning market had the most people and the best things to sell. Because this side of tianjie was a place for entertainment, it was too early and the passenger flow was small. Some businesses were owned by the owners of nearby shops or workmen.

The breakfast food at the stall was very popular at this time, the noodle wonton with tender and crispy vegetable leaves next to him had already received three customers when he opened the stall.

It was no wonder that there were no stall owners in many rented shops, because it was not the time yet. However, Xu He still felt that since the stall fee was so expensive, the sooner he opened the stall, the earlier he would make money, so that he wouldn’t feel that the stall fee was too expensive.

"Little ge’er, how do you sell the stewed meat? Cut a plate for me and come here."

Xu He sat on the high stool behind the stall and guarded the stall, watching from left to right how people in front of the stall were attracting customers, suddenly he heard someone asking him.

He hurriedly got down from the stool: "Pork head meat is four copper coins for one tael, and pig heart is eight copper coins for one tael."

Xu He had a quick mind, if the price of stewed meat was high, people were scared away. If you said it a tael, although it was a small amount, it was much easier to accept when it only cost a few copper coins at first glance.

The man was silent for a while, buried his head and took a mouthful of noodles.