Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Chapter 50: Chapter 30: Juhua’s Small Business (2)

Zheng Changhe chimed in, ”That would have to be Erli Village. Merchants go there to ship and receive goods, and people from all the surrounding villages who travel by water to the market also disembark there, so it’s the most crowded place. The laborers who load and unload cargo at the docks also work in that area.”

Yang Family added, ”That’s where the Little Qing River meets the Qinghui River. Boats can dock along the two-li stretch of the riverbank, and it’s always bustling with people. Why else do you think it’s called Erli Village! Don’t be fooled by the lack of boats on our Little Qing River; the Qinghui River is constantly filled with them.”

Juhua asked, ”Then, Dad, do you know where those workers eat? What kind of food do they eat?”

Zheng Changhe said, ”Where else would they eat? They just buy some steamed buns and cornbread, that’s all.”

Juhua asked, ”How many cents for a white-flour steamed bun? And how many for a corn bun?”

Seeing her interest, Yang Family explained in detail, ”A white-flour steamed bun is two cents, and a corn bun is one cent. Even a bowl of noodle soup costs three cents! What is it? You’re not thinking of having your father sell corn buns, are you?”

Juhua smiled. ”No, that’s not it. I was just thinking, we could make some dishes to sell. We’d sell them cheap, so people feel like they’re getting a good meal for little money and that their money was well spent. That’s how a business can last. Earning a little bit every day will accumulate into a sizable income over time.”

Yang Family said doubtfully, ”That sounds too good to be true. If you’re charging people less, how can you also feed them well?”

Instead of answering, Juhua asked, ”Mom, if those people buying steamed buns and corn buns could get some meat or fish and shrimp for just one more cent, do you think they’d be willing to spend it?”

Yang Family stopped sewing the sole of a shoe and cried out in alarm, ”Where can you buy meat for one cent? How could you possibly make money like that?”

Zheng Changhe clearly didn’t believe it either.

Juhua laughed. ”I couldn’t possibly buy and cook regular meat to sell—that would be way too expensive! I’d buy and cook pork offal—isn’t that stuff really cheap? Small fish and shrimp would work too. Next spring, we can cook and sell the river snails and frogs from the fields, and the clams we can get from the river! We’ll use the vegetables from our own garden, stir-fry them, and give them away for free as a bonus. That way, the initial cost will be very low. Even if we sell it cheap, we’re just earning money from our hard work. Since Erli Village is so crowded, the income over a year shouldn’t be too small.”

Yang Family and Zheng Changhe stared dumbfounded at their daughter—’How does she have the nerve to handle anything and everything? Killing eels, killing loaches, killing old turtles, killing frogs, killing...’

The couple felt extremely uncomfortable. They couldn’t help but shudder at the image of their little girl skinning a frog. As for the river snails and pork offal, they had already witnessed Juhua killing eels, so those two didn’t surprise them.

’It was just so unsettling. Old turtles and eels were somewhat acceptable, but if you killed and cooked frogs, would anyone dare to eat them? And that pork offal, it stinks to high heaven. How would you even cook it? Even if you did, would anyone buy it?’

However, they recalled that Juhua could cook things like old turtles and eels into a variety of delicious flavors, so they figured she could probably cook these things well too.

The couple exchanged a glance and asked worriedly, ”Will this really work?”

Seeing her parents’ strange expressions, Juhua felt a little sheepish herself. She said awkwardly, ”These are just things people eat, right? It’s the same principle as when Dad goes into the mountains to hunt rabbits. Aren’t rabbits pitiful when they’re hopping around all alive? And fish never did anything to you, but Brother still catches and eats them all the time, right? So, it’s actually better for them if we eat them. ’An early death means an early rebirth.’ Maybe they’ll be reincarnated as humans in their next life!”

Yang Family let out a PFFT and started laughing. Zheng Changhe also broke into a wide grin. He felt his daughter had a point, but it was still funny to hear.

Zheng Changhe said, ”Ah! Hua’er is right. From now on, Dad will handle this stuff. It’s not good for a little girl like you to get your hands all bloody. Your mother and I are just worried that no one will dare to eat it, that we won’t be able to sell it.”

’Not everyone was like his daughter, daring to cook and eat anything and everything!’

Seeing they still couldn’t quite wrap their heads around it, Juhua said, ”Mom! For example, whether we catch the small mixed fish and shrimp ourselves or buy them from the village, the cost shouldn’t be much. As for Ni Qiu and Huang Shan—no, let’s forget about those two. They’re too good. Even if we have them, we should keep them for ourselves. I can’t bear to sell them. Let’s wait until next spring to sell frogs. I’ll cook the small mixed fish carefully, one spoonful for one cent, two spoonfuls for two cents, with free vegetables and a bit of savory sauce to go with their meal. I refuse to believe no one will buy it. These things might be common, but those guys working outside can’t exactly carry a pot on their backs, right? We’ll only be selling the dishes, so we won’t be stealing business from the bun sellers. We might even help them sell more buns; they’d definitely be happy. As for the pork offal, Mom, why don’t you buy some tomorrow and I’ll cook it up. Then I can break down the costs for you.”

Yang Family’s eyes lit up. She carefully considered what Juhua had just said; it seemed to make some sense. But then she thought about Qingmu being at school, which meant they were short-handed at home. She was afraid the business would be difficult to manage.

Juhua looked at Zheng Changhe and smiled. ”That’s why I said Dad needs to hurry up and get his leg better. Of course Dad has to be the one to go sell things. It wouldn’t be proper for Mom to be selling food all by herself in a chaotic place like that.”

Zheng Changhe sighed. ”It sounds like we could make money from what you’re saying. But who knows when this leg of mine will heal!”

Juhua shot her dad a look. ”Dad! What’s the rush? When is making money ever that easy? Didn’t I just say this is just earning money through hard work? It’s a business of one or two cents at a time. We’d be lucky to make several cents a day. The only reason there’s any profit at all is because the initial cost is so low.”

Yang Family exclaimed in admiration, ”That’s right! Now we have a use for the vegetables from the newly cleared land. I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to eat them all and would have to feed them to the pigs. What a waste that would have been!”

Juhua said, ”We can sell the vegetables as a side, then use the money to buy things like rice bran. It would be even better to mix that with the acorn kernels to feed the pigs! Mom, the cabbage will be ready to harvest in a couple of days. Let’s cut some and start pickling it!”

’She was already thinking about making spicy pickled cabbage. It would be a perfect free side to go with the pork offal and would be sure to attract customers.’

Yang Family heard her and agreed, ”Alright!”

She was thrilled to see the pig was indeed fattening up on the acorns. By the New Year, that big pig would probably weigh quite a bit. She planned to sell the better half and keep a small portion for the family to eat!

So she spoke up again, ”Alright, I’ll go to the market tomorrow and buy some pork offal for you to try cooking. Anyway, our family is at the point of ’too many lice to itch, too many debts to worry.’ We’ll just have to take things one step at a time.”

Juhua couldn’t help but laugh at her mother’s witty remark.