Chapter 92 (1/2)

Every day Butcher w.a.n.g slaughtered a pig. Half of the pig meat went to the restaurants in the area, and the other half was sold at his store. By the time the day ended, most of the other half of meat had been bought out.

As usual, Xiaocao spent six copper coins to buy a pig head. For the tripe and intestines, she persisted on giving him four copper coins for them. As for the pig's blood, Butcher w.a.n.g insisted on giving it to her for free.

After lightly rubbing at the silver pieces in the purse that Brother Six had given her, she also bought two catties of pork belly and a large pork bone. Butcher w.a.n.g looked at her in surprise and said, ”You're buying a lot of meat today. Are you guys having guests over?”

Xiaocao didn't bother explaining and only smiled, ”Mhm, I need to take care of a visitor who has some status, so I need to get some stuff to make the table more presentable!”

The bought ingredients were placed in the wheelbarrow that Yu Hai was pus.h.i.+ng. She then led them into a shop in town that sold rice and other grains. As they entered the store, they could hear people making a racket. The sounds of the scolding voice of an adult and the wailing of child blended together into a cacophony.

Xiaocao stood at the entrance, listening for a bit. Apparently, the child of the family that ran the store was naughty and accidentally spilled water on a bag of glutinous rice. Although the store's manager did his best to save the rice, over ten catties of rice had been soaked by the water. Everyone knew that rice that had been soaked in water was no good. Even after letting it dry, the rice would still crumble into pieces and powder. Thus, over seventeen to eighteen catties of glutinous rice were no longer sellable!

The shopkeeper's entire family relied on the income from this tiny rice and grain store, and were only barely able to make it from month to month. Suddenly losing seventeen to eighteen catties of glutinous rice meant that they were losing over a hundred copper coins of sales. How could the manager not feel his heart bleed a little? However, on the other hand, he couldn't bear to hit his child, so he could only give the boy a rough scolding.

”Uncle Shopkeeper, I offer you three copper coins per catty for all of this wet glutinous rice. Are you willing to sell it to me?” Xiaocao suddenly interjected after a.s.sessing the situation.

Although the sound of her voice wasn't very loud, the noise in the store abruptly cut off and it became silent. The shopkeeper looked at her and then glanced at the adult behind her and softly replied, ”Little girl, once the rice gets soaked with water, it won't taste good anymore…”

”Just because it doesn't taste good doesn't mean it isn't edible, right? Shopkeeper Uncle, you can't sell this rice anymore, how about you just give to me at a cheap price? Xiaocao smiled sweetly.

Just as the owner of the rice shop wanted to say something, his wife pulled on his sleeve and spoke instead, ”Little girl, this glutinous rice is usually eight to nine copper coins a catty. If you want all of it, the lowest we can go is five copper coins a catty. Otherwise, we'd be better off leaving it for ourselves to eat!”

The owner of the stall was angry and anxious at the same time. He stared at his wife helplessly in worry. However, his wife glared at him fiercely, and the look in her eyes seemed to say, 'if you dare to say anything, then I'll definitely have something to say to you'.

Xiaocao shrugged her shoulders and replied, ”If that's the case, then please keep the rice for yourselves to eat! Father, let's go to that other rice stall to take a look…”

The shopkeeper hastily threw off his wife's hand. He rushed forward to block their way and said, ”Don't leave! Three copper coins a catty it is, three copper coins a catty it is! There's nineteen catties of wet glutinous rice altogether, and I'll even throw in one catty for free…”

Seeing that the shopkeeper was at least honest and sincere, she gave him fifty-four copper coins and had her father load all of the glutinous rice onto their wheelbarrow. She also asked them how much the wheat flour and regular rice cost, and thought the prices were quite reasonable. So she also bought ten catties of wheat flour and five catties of rice. Thus, she had suddenly spent a hundred and thirty copper coins at the grain store alone.

Luckily, their business had gone pretty well today, and they had earned over two hundred copper coins alone from selling the braised food. If she added the two taels of silver bits that Brother Six gave her, Xiaocao didn't feel bad about spending so much money.

After they stepped out of the rice and grain store, Xiaocao also went to a general goods shop to replenish a small number of seasonings and condiments for the family. She even reluctantly fished out some money to buy half a catty of white sugar. Now, she had pretty much spent all of the money she had earned from selling braised food. However, when she thought about how all of these seasonings would last her for at least half a month, she immediately felt happier at the thought of all the taels she could earn from them.

Yu Hai didn't say a single word as he watched his daughter spend money as if it was water. In fact, the money they had earned that morning hadn't even had a chance to get warmed up in their hands before it all went out. Despite that, not a peep came out of his mouth even when she was buying glutinous rice that had been soaked with water.

On their way, it was Xiaocao who finally asked him why cheerfully, ”Father, how come you didn't stop me when I was buying glutinous rice that had been soaked?”

Yu Hai pushed the wheelbarrow with his daughter in it with a satisfied expression and smiled, ”Whatever my Xiaocao buys definitely has its uses. Father knows you're not a child who spends money recklessly. Then again, even if you couldn't do anything with the glutinous rice, it still wouldn't go to waste. Even bits and powdery pieces of glutinous rice can be used to make a congee that is more tasty than pancakes made from bean flour!”

Xiaocao grinned, ”Thank you Father for trusting me. I really do have a good idea for this rice! Brother Six asked me to help him create a table of dishes for his guest. I want to make something special and unique. I need to help him look good, especially since he saved me from those hooligans. My plan is to make pearl meatb.a.l.l.s with them. They'll be fragrant and tasty, s.h.i.+ny and pure, and will be considered a top notch dish whether you're judging it for looks or taste. His clients will definitely like them. If you grind the glutinous rice into glutinous rice flour, it can be used to make desserts...also, also, making some pig's blood glutinous rice cake will also be quite good!”

Seeing his daughter's extremely thin face lit up with happiness as she talked made Yu Hai feel both happy and proud of his daughter——the daughter they had once thought wouldn't reach adulthood has actually stepped it up and shouldered a lot of responsibilities for the family!

When they got home, Xiaocao began to draw up the menu and prepare the ingredients for the food. The pearl meatb.a.l.l.s needed small steamer baskets. Something as simple as this type of bamboo tool was not hard for Yu Hai to make. He took a drink of water and started to chop some bamboo, following the directions his daughter gave him to make the baskets.