Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 112 Price Increase

After leaving the iron shop, Qin San Lang hesitated for a moment and asked Gu Jinli, "Xiao Yu, what are you making these iron cakes for? This must cost quite a lot of money, do Uncle Dashan and Aunt Dashan know about this?"

Gu Jinli looked at Qin San Lang, seeing only concern on the young man’s face without any blame for her reckless spending, and smiled, "Brother Qin, don’t worry, my parents know. I’ve told them that I want to order iron cakes and hammers for making soybean oil."

"Soybean oil?" Qin San Lang furrowed his brow, not knowing about the soybean oil.

"It’s oil extracted from soybeans that can be sold for money," Gu Jinli, aware of Qin San Lang’s worry about her losing capital, explained, "Don’t worry about me losing money. If the oil production doesn’t work out, I can still sell the iron cakes and hammers back to the iron shop."

Iron items can be melted down and re-smelted, so nothing will be wasted. And the iron shop is happy to buy these items back, as it saves them the trouble of dealing with the government office again, which is much more convenient.

Seeing she had everything under control, Qin San Lang also set his worries aside, and they quickly returned to the tofu stall.

It was only mid-morning, and the tofu stall business was already booming, with customers carrying baskets or carrying poles to buy tofu.

Ms. Chu and Aunt Tian were frying tofu and bean dregs cakes on an iron plate, Uncle Tian was wrapping them up in yellow paper for customers, Luo Huiniang was tending the fire while handing out spice packets to customers, Father Luo was moving white tofu for customers, and Third Grandpa was collecting money; everyone was very busy.

Customers were urging, "Hurry up, manager, I still need to get to work. Remember to add some chili sauce for me."

The tofu buyers included townsfolk, farmers who came to town to sell agricultural products, and those who worked in town - some of whom found the bean dregs cakes delicious enough to buy one or two for breakfast.

"Coming right up," Ms. Chu responded while flipping the tofu and bean dregs cakes on the iron plate with a small iron spatula. Soon, she transferred the nicely fried tofu and bean dregs cakes to a basket beside her, handed over to Uncle Tian for packaging.

Gu Jinli hurried to help. Today they brought an extra iron plate, which she set up on a clay stove borrowed from Xuanhu Fang and started to fire up for frying tofu and bean dregs cakes.

With a sizzle, she poured animal fat on, and once the iron plate started smoking, she added chopped tofu and palm-sized bean dregs cakes onto the iron plate to start frying.

In a short while, the tofu and bean dregs cakes were fried golden brown on both sides. She grabbed a handful of spice powder and sprinkled it on the tofu and bean dregs cakes. The delicious aroma immediately wafted up. After frying a bit longer and adding some chili as the customer requested, this batch of tofu and bean dregs cakes was done.

Qin San Lang came over to help with packing. With a team of eight skillful people, after a busy half-hour, customers dwindled, and they finally had a moment to breathe, no longer so rushed.

"I’m exhausted," Luo Huiniang said biting into a bean cake and drinking soy milk brought from home, almost slumping on a stool, "I’m never coming again." It’s more relaxing to grind spices at home.

Gu Jinli chuckled using an iron spatula to flip tofu and bean dregs cakes, teasing her, "You said the same thing last time, and yet here you are again."

Luo Huiniang giggled, "I think it’s more fun to set up a stall."

Although tiring, she liked coming to town and watching the bustling crowd which made her happy, so she couldn’t stay away.

Then she asked Gu Jinli, "Xiao Yu, where did you go just now?"

"We went to the iron shop to order some iron cakes and hammers." ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

"Iron cakes and hammers?" Luo Huiniang was puzzled, "What do you need those for?"

"For making oil," Gu Jinli explained as she sprinkled spices on the tofu and bean dregs cakes, frying them a bit longer before adding chili, then scooped the tofu and bean dregs cakes into a basket.

Qin San Lang held a small iron spatula in one hand and a yellow paper folded into a funnel in another, quickly shoveling six pieces of tofu into the paper, wrapped them up swiftly, and handed them to a waiting customer, "Here’s your Fried Five-Spice Tofu with added chili."

"Ah, your tofu just keeps getting tastier," the customer took the tofu, sniffed through the yellow paper, and left satisfied.

"Can iron cakes be made into oil?" Luo Huiniang continued to ask.

"Yes, they can." Gu Jinli took out tofu and raw bean dregs cakes and continued to fry them on the iron plate.

Luo Huiniang didn’t understand these things, but she felt that it was better for Xiao Yu to play with iron cakes than to play with snakes, so she didn’t ask further. Instead, she quickly finished her meal and went to get spice packs for the customers.

Today wasn’t a market day, but their business was still good. By noon, all the tofu they brought was sold out, and the spice packs had sold out an hour earlier.

Many customers who came to buy plain tofu did not get the spice packs and grumbled a few words before leaving disappointedly with plain tofu.

Aunt Tian flipping through her basket said, "The spice packs were brought according to the weight of the plain tofu; how did they sell out so quickly?"

Ms. Chu said, "Stop searching, they’re indeed sold out. The food stalls and shops in the town all came to buy from us."

Xiao Yu’s spice packs tasted so good that the food stalls and shops in town scrambled to buy them, purchasing dozens or even hundreds at a time.

When Aunt Tian heard this, she hurriedly said, "Then we have to rush home to grind more spices, or else we won’t be able to meet the demand."

Gu Jinli was helping to pack up the tables and benches and overheard their conversation.

After a while, they cleaned up the stall and moved the stuff to Xuanhu Fang for storage.

Doctor Du was seeing a patient when they arrived. He greeted them briefly in his free moments and then went back to his work.

Seeing Gu Jinli and the others arrive, eight-year-old Du Xusheng ran over with his five-year-old sister, crisply calling out, "Grandpa Gu, Uncle Luo, Uncle Tian..."

He called everyone by name.

Third Grandpa smiled and handed them two packs of Fried Five-Spice Tofu and bean dregs cakes, "Take these to share with your sister."

"Thank you, Grandpa Gu," Du Xusheng thanked him, handed the two packs to his sister, and asked her to go back to the backyard to watch the medicine boiling cauldron. He then helped move the items; he couldn’t lift the big items, but he helped move the chairs and utensils until everything was moved.

Xuanhu Fang was busy, and after moving the stuff, they didn’t stay long. They spoke briefly with Elder Wu in the backyard and then left Xuanhu Fang to buy soybeans at the grain shop.

"Shopkeeper, we’d like three hundred catties of soybeans," Father Luo told the grain shopkeeper.

The grain shopkeeper, Manager Tao, initially looked down on these people who fled from famine, but over the past half month, they came every day to buy soybeans, always in hundreds of catties, so Manager Tao started to value them, welcoming them with a smile every time they came.

This time was no exception. Hearing Father Luo’s words, he quickly walked out from behind the counter and told his assistant, "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and get the soybeans for Brother Luo."

"Alright, I’m on it," the assistants hurried to weigh the soybeans.

They thought everything would go smoothly as before, but when it came to paying, Manager Tao said, "Grain is expensive nowadays, and the price of soybeans has increased. From today onwards, it will be five cents per catty."

Father Luo’s expression darkened immediately, "Five cents a catty? Why has it suddenly become so expensive?"

That’s almost double the price.

Manager Tao smiled, "You are refugees, you know the Northwest has been in drought for over two years, resulting in crop failures. Though soybeans are not tasty, they are still a type of grain and naturally, their price will increase."