Early the next morning, Luo Qingqing cooked some millet porridge and steamed a few wowo-tou buns. She ate a little to get by, then left the rest warming in the large pot.
She carried the balloon flower roots and ten taels of silver and headed toward town. It was only about two li away, so it wasn’t far.
Luo Qingqing first went to an herbal medicine shop to sell the balloon flower roots. Since they had already been properly processed, the shopkeeper paid her fifteen copper coins for five jin.
The shopkeeper told her that he would buy medicinal herbs from her again in the future and promised to offer a fair price.
Luo Qingqing smiled and agreed.
When she walked out of the medicine shop, she noticed a fabric store diagonally across the street.
Gu Jing’an’s clothes seem rather worn.
Here’s my chance to get on the big boss’s good side.
Step Three of Luo’s Survival Guide: Buy things for him. Spend money on him. Show off your financial power.
“Miss, what would you like? We have fabrics, ready-made clothes, trousers, shoes, and socks,” the shop assistant greeted her as soon as she entered.
Luo Qingqing looked around.
“How much is that dark blue robe?”
“Miss, you have excellent taste. The fabric for this robe comes all the way from Jiangnan. It’s six hundred copper coins.”
One dou of rice only cost six copper coins, so six hundred copper coins was indeed quite expensive.
Forget it.
If I want to catch a wolf, I have to be willing to sacrifice the lamb.
My life is more important. Money can always be earned again.
She picked out another bean-green robe for Gu Jing’an, along with one pair of black trousers and one pair of white trousers.
She couldn’t forget the two little ones either, so she bought each of them two sets of clothes for school and one set for everyday wear.
Shen Huaiyu needed a set too. He was slightly more muscular than Gu Jing’an, and tight clothing might rub against his wounds.
Since she had already saved his life, spending a little money on clothes wasn’t a big deal.
In the end, she spent two taels of silver.
The shopkeeper rounded down the price, so Luo Qingqing didn’t bother bargaining.
She still had other things to buy and couldn’t carry all the clothes around, so she temporarily left them at the fabric shop.
I really need to find a way to make money quickly.
She hadn’t figured out exactly what to do yet.
She wandered around half the town, thinking hard.
What should I do?
“Waaah, Mother! It hurts! My mouth hurts so much, Mother!”
Luo Qingqing was drawn over by a little boy’s cries.
Her eyes immediately lit up.
Chili peppers!
They actually have chili peppers!
There were so many delicious dishes she could make with chili peppers.
The Gu family courtyard didn’t have any chili plants, so she had assumed that chili peppers hadn’t yet been introduced to this dynasty.
“What kind of thing is this? You’re actually selling it! Look at how much my child is suffering now. What are you going to do about it?”
A woman shouted angrily at the old woman selling the chili peppers.
“Ma’am, your child just got a mouthful of chili. Quickly find a tea stall and give him some water.”
As she spoke, Luo Qingqing handed the woman two copper coins.
The woman took the money and dragged her child away.
Luo Qingqing had given her the two coins as a gesture of goodwill.
If she hadn’t heard the little boy crying, she wouldn’t have noticed this place, and she wouldn’t have discovered the chili peppers.
Besides, even if she hadn’t given the woman the money, the woman would certainly have forced the old lady to pay, perhaps demanding even more.
It was better to take the initiative.
“Miss, these red fruits aren’t poisonous. They just make your mouth tingle,” the old woman hurriedly explained, straightening herself.
“Granny, did you grow these yourself?”
“No. My husband found them on the back of the mountain. We’d never seen them before.”
Luo Qingqing suddenly thought of a way to make money.
She could find a restaurant that wasn’t doing well and teach them how to make hot pot and mala dishes.
For now, she’d buy this basket of chili peppers and use them for testing.
“Granny, I’ll take all of these. Could you weigh them for me?”
“Oh! Miss, you’re such a kind-hearted person. We didn’t put any effort into growing these red fruits anyway. Just give me one copper coin.”
Luo Qingqing ended up giving her three copper coins.
The old woman told her that she always set up her stall here, selling eggs and vegetables from her household.
Luo Qingqing thought that once she reached an agreement with a restaurant, she would come back and discuss the chili peppers with the old woman.
She visited several restaurants, but none of them really satisfied her.
She continued looking for quite some time.
Eventually, in the busiest part of town, she found two restaurants facing each other across the street.
Luo Qingqing turned right and entered the one that had practically no customers.
The decor was fairly decent.
After looking around, she asked, “Shopkeeper, could I borrow your kitchen for a while?”
The shopkeeper nodded and gestured for the waiter to take her there.
The restaurant owner was already struggling to keep the business going and had planned to discuss selling the establishment in a few days.
Even the cook had been poached by the restaurant across the street, so the business was barely surviving.
The kitchen had all the necessary ingredients and seasonings.
The ingredients for the hot pot had already been purchased by Luo Qingqing on her way there.
She heated a large pot, then added sesame oil, Sichuan peppercorns, chili peppers, minced garlic, scallion whites, star anise, bay leaves, and other seasonings.
She stir-fried everything evenly.
Once the ingredients were sufficiently fried, she poured in water and brought it to a boil.
Beef, duck feet, enoki mushrooms, sliced potatoes, baby bok choy…
The shopkeeper and waiter had already gathered at the kitchen entrance.
When Luo Qingqing saw that the hot pot was almost ready, she waved them over to eat.
They didn’t hesitate.
As soon as Luo Qingqing handed them bowls and chopsticks, the two immediately started fighting over the food.
As expected, no one could resist the charm of hot pot.
By the end, everything edible in the pot was gone.
The shopkeeper wiped his mouth a couple of times before reluctantly putting down his bowl and chopsticks.
“Miss, I’ve never seen this kind of food before. May I ask what it’s called?”
“This is called hot pot. Shopkeeper, what do you think would happen if we sold this food?”
Luo Qingqing asked sincerely.
The shopkeeper became excited.
“Why, it would surely be a booming business!”
“What if I wanted to work with you? Would you be willing? I’ll provide the recipe, and you provide the premises. After deducting the costs, we’ll split the profits fifty-fifty.”
The shopkeeper looked puzzled.
“With a skill like yours, Miss, you could easily open your own restaurant. You wouldn’t have to worry about making a name for yourself.”
Luo Qingqing knew that perfectly well.
But, for one thing, she didn’t have enough money to buy a restaurant.
For another, she was naturally lazy and didn’t like managing people.
Most importantly, according to the plot of the novel, Gu Jing’an was already a successful candidate in the imperial examinations. Next spring, he would travel to the capital to take the metropolitan examination, followed by the palace examination.
After passing, he would remain in the capital and take up an official position.
Therefore, she really didn’t want to spend too much effort staying here.
“My husband is studying, and I still have younger siblings at home to take care of. I don’t have much time to come out. You have the premises and the people, so I won’t have to worry about managing everything.”
“To be honest, before you came, I was already planning to sell this establishment. The cook has been poached by the restaurant across the street, and the business is no longer sustainable.”
“Since you’re willing to trust me, naturally I have no reason to refuse. In fact, I think I’m the one getting the better deal.”
And just like that, they reached an agreement.
They first signed a private contract and pressed their fingerprints on it. The next day, they would go to the government office to officially register the partnership.
Luo Qingqing also left them the recipe for mala mixed dishes and told them to try making it first and see how it sold.
Remembering that she still had many things to buy, Luo Qingqing got up and said goodbye.
She went to a food shop and bought maltose, hawthorn slices, mung bean cakes, and osmanthus cakes.
At a cosmetics shop, she bought facial oil and jasmine-scented hair oil.
The lip rouge colors were also quite pretty, so she bought some.
She also bought several pairs of pretty hair ties for Xuanning.
Finally, she went to the market and picked out a slab of pork ribs, a chicken, several onions, and two dou of rice.
Then she remembered that she still had clothes waiting for her at the fabric shop.
She wouldn’t be able to carry anything else if she bought more.
So Luo Qingqing stopped shopping and headed back to the fabric shop.
On her way home, she found an ox cart that could take her as far as the village entrance for one copper coin.
Thankfully, there was an ox cart.
Otherwise, with so many things to carry, her hands would probably have been trembling for half the day by the time she got home.
When she was nearly at the door, she seemed to hear Xuanning crying.
Luo Qingqing quickened her pace.