Chapter 74 - Collaboration (2/2)

Yu Xiaocao nodded and continued, “Jiang Yu, I have a few pickled vegetable recipes and they should taste pretty good...do you know how to write? I can tell you them while you write them down. You can follow my recipe and see how they turn out.”

“We’re neither relatives nor friends, how could I possibly take your pickled vegetable recipes? ...how about this, if the pickled vegetables turn out good and sell well, I’ll give you a portion of the profits. I need to pay rent and taxes, so I’ll take seventy percent and give thirty. What do you think?” Jiang Yu was quite young but had a good head for business.

Yu Xiaocao slowly shook her head and smiled to placate Jiang Yu who had opened his mouth to speak, “You need to account for the manufacturing and material costs, while I’m only giving you a recipe. I don’t need thirty percent of the profits. How about we split it twenty-eighty, you’ll take eighty percent and only need to give me twenty percent.”

Jiang Yu couldn’t tell what her recipes would taste like but inwardly promised that if the sales went well, he would give her a larger cut of the profits. He replied, “When my mother was still alive, she had sent me to a private school for a few years, later on...anyway, I can handle writing down a few recipes.”

In her previous life, she had gone into the workforce early as her two younger siblings needed to pay for both schooling and boarding costs. There was a time when they had a very difficult time making ends meet. In an effort to save money, she had learned how to marinate several different types of pickled vegetables. Her younger brother and sister both said that pickled vegetables sold at stores couldn’t even come ten percent close to how good hers tasted. Even after they graduated college and had gone to different cities to work and settle down, they still asked her to make some pickled vegetables and mail them over.

She recited the recipes that she was the best at and let Jiang Yu carefully write down the details. The types of recipes she gave were: spicy and numbing dried radish strips, spicy young radish, Korean kimchi, spicy kelp strips, soybeans in wine, and pickled beans.

Originally she had felt bad that the teenager’s business was not going well and didn’t want his stall to go bankrupt so she was only planning on teaching him two types of pickled vegetables for the sake of it. But now since she was getting her own share, then it was fine to tell him more recipes. The good thing was that all of the condiments and seasonings, other than MSG which the youth had never heard of, used in pickling vegetables could all be found at a general store or pharmacy.

For example: star anise, fennel, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns were all used by later generations as seasonings and spices. In ancient times, however, these were all medicinal herbs. It was only after the Emperor Emeritus and current emperor ascended the throne that these spices started being used as seasonings in food. These herbs were not very expensive. However, Xiaocao’s family could barely feed everyone. In fact, using oil to cook their food was considered a luxury for them. Thus, it was natural that they would be reluctant to shell out money for these spices.

Under Jiang Yu’s recommendations, Xiaocao went to a relatively remote section of the food market and found a general goods stall where she could buy cheap condiments and spices. At noon, other than the shopkeeper with a beard like a mountain goat who was dozing off in a chair, not a soul could be found in the stall.

This particular goods stall had very few articles for daily use. Inside the stall were two large vats and they distributed a smell of soy sauce and vinegar. When the two scents combined, it didn’t smell very good. Next to the wall was a long table with many wooden boxes. These boxes contained the condiments that Xiaocao wanted to buy.

“Shopkeeper, how are these spices sold?” Xiaocao asked worriedly as she rubbed at chest pocket which held an old embroidered pouch with about a hundred or so copper coins in it.

When the old shopkeeper heard her voice, he suddenly raised his head and sleepily blinked a couple of times. His mountain goat beard moved up and down as he said, “Do you want to weigh the spices separately or all together?”

“How much would it cost to weigh the spices separately versus together?” Yu Xiaocao asked after thinking a bit.

“If you’re weighing them separately, Chinese cinnamon is eighteen copper coins per ounce, bay leaves are fifteen coppers, star anise twenty-six coppers, Sichuan peppercorn twenty coppers and fennel is twenty coppers.” The old shopkeeper glanced at the two siblings and proposed, “If you’re buying larger quantities, it’s generally more worth it to buy them separately.”

Yu Xiaocao gnawed on her lip and sheepishly smiled, “Then...I should probably weigh them altogether, right? I just want one ounce worth of spices to use for a bit…”

“Okay!” The shopkeeper took out a square shaped piece of rough straw paper and folded it into a tube-shape and started to grab some spices.

Xiaocao hesitated but then spoke up, “Shopkeeper Grandfather, can I add the spices myself?” After running a braised foods shop in her past life, she already knew the ratios of spices needed for her food by heart. Now that she was pressed for money, she didn’t want to waste even the tiniest speck of spice.

The old shopkeeper hesitated for a moment and his eyes scanned over the two siblings and their old and patched up attire. In the end, he nodded his head in agreement.

Xiaocao followed the proportions she had memorized and carefully scooped out the spices from the wooden boxes. When the old shopkeeper noticed that she didn’t try to play a small trick and take only the expensive spices, he smoothed his beard with a hand and inwardly nodded his head in approval.

When she thought the weight was about right, Xiaocao folded the tube closed and handed it to the old shopkeeper to let him weigh it. The shopkeeper’s scale was similar to the ones used in a pharmacy. It was very small and could weigh things very precisely. The weight came out to be one ounce and three maces [1], which came out to be twenty-five copper coins total.

Xiaocao looked at the two large vats again and hesitated before she said, “Shopkeeper Grandfather, I also want to buy some soy sauce and vinegar, but I didn’t bring any containers with me…”

The old man grabbed two small bamboo tubes and smiled, “It’s not a problem. Since you called me ‘shopkeeper grandfather’ then I’ll let you borrow these two containers. The next time you come to buy spices, you can just return them to me. Now tell me, how much soy sauce and vinegar do you want?”

She could tell that these two containers were goods that the shop was selling. Once soy sauce and vinegar went into them, it would definitely dye the containers a different color and also leave a smell behind. After being used, these containers likely couldn’t be sold again. Xiaocao’s heart warmed up.

[1] 10 maces = 1 ounce, 16 ounces = 1 catty