CH 23

The next day, Mrs. Liang and Mo Ling started cooking the flatbread at the crack of dawn.

Mrs. Liang looked outside the window and said, “The weather isn’t very good today. We’ll waste food if it rains in the afternoon, so let’s make less wraps.”

“Alright. After all, today’s the first day we’re going to be selling these wraps so we don’t know how much we’ll sell.”

The two loaded the ingredients, their small stove and a large pile of firewood onto their wheelbarrow.

Mo Yan wanted to see how much revenue they’d get from the wraps too. As she was afraid of being left behind, she didn’t even go on her morning run.

When they arrived at the market, the sky was still grey because it was cloudy.

The main street of the market was filled with storefronts and stationary vendors. Their wheelbarrow was too large and wouldn’t fit in the street easily.

Mo Yan looked at the merchants and drivers travelling on the highway next to the main street and said, “Mum, sis, how about we set up shop next to this highway! There are a lot of businessmen who’re in a hurry to go somewhere else here. After all, the locals probably wouldn’t want to spend money to buy our wraps.”

Mo Ling thought that made sense, so she agreed with her sister, “Ok, then let’s set up next to the highway!” After saying that, she pushed the wheelbarrow next to the highway.

There were already a few vendors next to the highway which were selling snacks or toys.

Mo Ling placed their wheelbarrow down in an empty spot. She placed the firewood on the ground, and then lit their small stove in preparation to fry eggs.

The vendor owners around them looked at them with curiosity. One who particularly liked gossip couldn’t help but ask, “Miss, what are you making?”

Mo Yan quickly replied, “It’s called a wrap!”

They had never heard of these ‘wraps’ before, but they sounded interesting so some of the vendor owners who didn’t have any business came over to have a better look.

By the time the fire was lit and Mo Ling had placed the frying pan on top of the stove, Mrs. Liang had already cracked a few eggs. It was important to be careful with the flame when frying eggs, because overcooked eggs didn’t taste nearly as good.

After frying the eggs, Mo Ling put it into the flatbread with some shredded pickled vegetables and Mrs. Liang’s sauce.

Mrs. Liang raised the first egg wrap up in the air as she said, “This is an egg wrap with my family’s secret sauce. Who wants one?”

“How much does one cost?” someone asked.

“A wrap with two eggs like this one costs eight dollars. If you want meat, it’ll cost extra.”

After saying that, she gave Mo Ling a look and handed a purse to her, whispering, “Go buy some marinated meat and smoked meat. Don’t buy too much though.”

Mo Ling grabbed the money and went to buy the meat without a trace of her leaving.

A postman who had been on the highway noticed what was going on and came over. He said regretfully, “Unfortunately, there’s no meat here.”

Mo Yan hurriedly replied, “We ordered the meat in advance, we’re just going to get it now. It’ll be here soon.”

Mrs. Liang’s sauce went especially well with fried eggs, and waves of fragrance wafted off it. The postman sniffed the fragrance and asked, “Madam, where did you buy this sauce?”

Mrs. Liang smiled, “I made it myself. This is a recipe that’s been passed to me from previous generations.”

“No wonder!”

While they were speaking, Mo Ling had came back with a bag of marinated meat and another bag of smoked meat.

Mo Yan was adding firewood to the stove, “Sir, do you want meat with your egg wrap?”

Mrs. Liang took out the smoked meat and separated the meat into several portions, “It’s five dollars for a portion of meat.” She looked at Mo Ling to try and confirm if she’d be making a profit at the price.

Mo Ling nodded and showed three fingers to Mrs. Liang, which meant this bag of marinated meat cost thirty dollars. So they were selling the meat at a profit, but not a very large one.

“Yes!” The postman replied hurriedly.

Mrs. Liang added a portion of smoked meat to the wrap and wrapped it with paper before handing it to the postman, “Try it!”

He was in a hurry to go back onto the road again, so he took a big bite out of the wrap as he took out his wallet to pay for it.

“Wow! This tastes really good. It’s all because of that sauce.”

After making their first sale, the three of them exchanged smiles and encouraged each other.

Mo Yan tended to the fire, Mrs. Liang fried the eggs and Mo Ling assembled the wraps. They had already sold five or six in a short period of time.

However, they were too focused on turning a profit and forgot about checking the weather. They only returned to their senses when they heard the distant rumble of thunder. When they looked up, drizzle was already falling from the sky.

Mrs. Liang was afraid of both the ingredients being damaged by the rain and not being able to sell any more profits. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

The vendors around them had all raised waterproof oil tarps around their vendors. After all, they made sales in these vendors all the time, so they must’ve come prepared. This oil tarp could be used to both shield the vendors from the rain and block out the sun. The only reason they hadn’t had them out in the morning was because it was cloudy.

The Mo family hadn’t made any similar preparations.

Mrs. Liang frantically tried to sell as many wraps as she could, while Mo Ling ran with the wheelbarrow after sealing the sauce in an airtight jar.

Mo Yan grabbed the firewood and wanted to chase after her sister, but she tripped. All the firewood fell on the ground and scratched her face, leaving two thin lines on her face. She didn’t care about getting up and just desperately tried to shield the firewood and the rain started pouring onto her body.

Her clothes were instantly soaked, and the roads turned to mud. The firewood was drenched by the muddy water.

Her sister and mum were gone without a trace. She could only see a single piece of smoked meat, bobbing up and down in the rainwater.

She tried her hardest to get up, with two pieces of firewood still in her hands as she used it to try and pick up the piece of smoked meat. If mum sees this, she’ll yell at me and sis again and say we’re terrible at making money. [1]

Suddenly, a figure ran out behind her and grabbed her wrist before she could react. It was Cao Zhang in a blue robe.

“What are you doing in this rain? Quickly, take shelter in my dad’s clinic for a bit!”

Mo Yan couldn’t resist and was dragged to the clinic. There were a few people from Chenzhong Village who were taking shelter from the rain there, but not Mo Ling or Mrs. Liang.

Cao Zhang went to the back of the clinic and got out two towels, handing one to Mo Yan, “Here, dry your hair.”

There were many footsteps on the clinic’s azure bricks, but they quickly became indiscernible due to the rainwater.

Mo Yan only roughly cleaned her face before handing the towel back to Cao Zhang. He accepted it and said, “You need to dry your hair too! It’s still dripping with water!”

Her bun had already been a little messy beforehand, and it became atrocious after that veritable shower. Her hairpin was hanging on for dear life. Cao Zhang removed her hairpin and then started drying her hair.

After that, he tied her hair up again. Because her hair was still damp, the bun he made was fairly neat. Mo Yan looked more enchanting than she usually did.

The downpour outside meant no one was on the streets.

Someone entered the clinic; it was a soaked Mo Ling. She saw Mo Yan and walked over, “I thought you had been washed away by the rain. Thankfully, you knew to find shelter.”

“Where’s mum?” Mo Yan asked.

“She’s in the grainery next door, taking shelter with many other people!”

“Did everything get wet?”

“Of course. The meat was in paper bags, and a lot of it fell out too. We don’t have much left.”

Post-edit notes: Sorry about the late updates, I’m having finals right now and I’ll be done with them by Friday. Expect a chappie by then!

[1] Honestly, this story would functionally be identical if Mo Yan hadn’t transmigrated.