There were five people in the family, so Luo Mingchen first tried making five slightly larger bowl cakes. Unexpectedly, the process went quite smoothly.
After they were steamed, he let them cool completely before giving everyone a bowl and a bamboo skewer to eat with.
Luo Mingchen was very satisfied with the result himself. The surface was glossy and smooth, the texture delicate and silky, sweet without being cloying, with a slight chewiness and a rich fragrance of rice.
After everyone finished eating, Luo Mingchen asked, “Is it good?”
Huo Xiang’s cheeks were stuffed full. Hearing the question, he nodded desperately.
Huo Yuhui ate much more neatly and said, “Little Daddy, this tastes better than the ones I ate at my old home.”
Luo Mingchen nodded. It seemed bowl cakes weren’t exactly a new food here; he just hadn’t seen anyone selling them on the streets.
“Do people around here not like bowl cakes?”
“Not really.”
After finishing his bowl cake, Huo Yan said, “People in the south eat them more often. The indica rice you used is also mostly grown in the south. Peach Blossom Town is closer to the north and not far from the Imperial City.”
So that was the reason…
Luo Mingchen smiled at them. “I’m thinking of making a batch to sell. What do you think?”
After some thought, Huo Yan replied, “You can sell them. But business probably won’t be very good at first.”
“Besides this flavor, I can make fruit flavors too. Coconut flavor, for example. I can also make plain rice-milk bowl cakes.”
At that point, Luo Mingchen paused.
“I still want to give it a try. If they don’t sell, we’ll just eat them ourselves.”
The moment he mentioned eating them themselves, Huo Xiang’s eyes lit up.
“Okay!”
Everyone immediately turned to look at him.
Realizing he’d said the wrong thing, Huo Xiang stuck out his tongue awkwardly.
“They’re really delicious…”
Hearing that, Luo Mingchen came up with an idea.
“How about I sell them near the academy?”
“Sounds great.”
Food was all Huo Xiang could think about.
Huo Yuhui also thought it was feasible.
“Today I heard some classmates talking about an uncle who sells candied hawthorn at the alley entrance. His business is pretty good. Lots of people buy snacks from him. Even if they’re a bit expensive, people still accept the price.”
“That reminds me about pricing.”
Luo Mingchen looked toward Huo Yan.
“If you were buying one, how much would you pay for a bowl?”
“Three copper coins.”
Luo Mingchen blinked in confusion.
“That expensive?”
Huo Yan paused before saying, “Brown sugar is expensive.”
Hearing that, Luo Mingchen fell into thought. He still needed to find out how much brown sugar cost per jin. The brown sugar and white sugar in his space would eventually run out.
He didn’t have the skill to make sugar himself, so he needed to keep track of the market price.
Over the next two days, Luo Mingchen bought a batch of small bowls and made several additional flavors, then had everyone choose their four favorites.
The final selections were plain white sugar, brown sugar, coconut, and pineapple.
The plain flavor would be one copper coin cheaper, while the other three would sell for three copper coins each.
Since they still needed to sell tofu every day, Luo Mingchen deliberately rented a fixed stall not too far from the academy. He paid for half a month in advance. The stall was larger than most others and could display more goods, making it perfect for selling both tofu and bowl cakes.
Because there were so many people buying tofu every day, Luo Mingchen was too busy to pay attention to much else.
Then a somewhat familiar voice said, “Give me five pieces of tofu.”
Luo Mingchen looked up and saw Yang Cuifen.
“Five copper coins.”
Yang Cuifen frowned.
“You’re charging me? Qingfeng came home today. He’s a xiucai now. You people aren’t even willing to give a little meat. Asking for five pieces of tofu isn’t excessive.”
“Sorry, we don’t sell on credit.”
Yang Cuifen stared at him blankly.
“You’re charging Qingfeng too?”
Then she looked toward Huo Yan, who was minding the child and collecting money.
“Huo Dalang, tell me this—since when does family charge family?”
Besides, she’d brought several women from her maiden family’s village with her. She had already boasted about it. If she couldn’t get the tofu, it would be humiliating.
Huo Yan replied calmly, “Cousin-in-law, you cut in line. If you don’t have money, move aside. One copper coin per piece of tofu. Even my second uncle would pay the same price.”
Hearing that, an auntie behind her said, “Exactly. If you don’t have money, get out of the way. Why are you blocking everyone?”
“You!”
Hearing the people behind her criticizing her, Yang Cuifen immediately reached out to overturn Luo Mingchen’s stall.
Luo Mingchen reacted quickly and grabbed her wrist. With just a little force, she immediately cried out in pain.
“Ah! My hand is broken!”
Holding her wrist, Luo Mingchen shoved her aside and sneered.
“I already told you—we don’t have a cousin-in-law who sold our children. Yet you keep running over here asking for a beating. Don’t think I won’t hit you. What does your younger brother have to do with us? Family? What family? My two children are studying at the academy. Why haven’t I seen your family bring them anything? If you don’t want to pay, then get lost. Touch my stall again and I’ll twist your arm off.”
After the initial pain passed, fear took over.
Yang Cuifen hurried away in disgrace, not even daring to leave behind a threat.
When he turned back to the other customers, Luo Mingchen was smiling again.
“Sorry for the wait, everyone. Let me wash my hands first.”
After saying that, he thoroughly washed his hands before continuing to wrap tofu for customers.
The crowd who had just watched the spectacle all wanted to laugh.
They could more or less piece together the story from his words.
Otherwise, in weather this hot, why would two grown men be selling tofu while bringing along a child not even three years old?
Still, it was someone else’s family business. At most, they could only feel a little sympathy.
Luo Mingchen hadn’t intended to be so long-winded.
But in this world, people cared greatly about family ties.
Yang Cuifen had come using the title of cousin-in-law and kept bringing up her scholar younger brother.
In the eyes of many people, having a relative with academic honors was an enormous advantage. It would have been easy for her to ruin the goodwill they had built up over the past several days.
It was better to explain things clearly.
Being laughed at was preferable to having their goods stop selling.
After all the tofu was sold, Luo Mingchen brought out the prepared bowl cakes and called out cheerfully:
“Soft and smooth bowl cakes! Ice-cold and refreshing! One bite and you’ll want another!”
In the middle of summer, the words “ice-cold and refreshing” were irresistible.
Even people who normally had no interest in pastries couldn’t help stopping to take a look at the rows of small bowls displayed on the rack.
They were called small bowls, but they weren’t actually that small.
The cakes inside were also quite distinctive.
The centers were actually slightly sunken.
A scholar-looking young man asked, “How much are these pastries?”
“The white ones are two copper coins a bowl. The others are three copper coins a bowl. And the bowls are not included.”
Luo Mingchen deliberately added that last part so people wouldn’t assume that three copper coins bought both a pastry and a bowl and think it was an incredible bargain.
The scholar frowned slightly.
“What kind of pastry costs three copper coins a bowl?”
Luo Mingchen paused before smiling brightly.
“Young master, sugar is expensive. This one is brown sugar flavor and contains red beans. That one is coconut flavor with a creamy aroma. And this is pineapple flavor—it has fruit added. The plain one is delicious too, with a rich rice fragrance, served cold and refreshing.”
Nearby, Huo Yan quietly watched him.
He certainly learned sales pitches quickly.
Sure enough, after hearing the explanation, the scholar bought a plain-flavored one.
Huo Yan collected the money while Luo Mingchen packed it up.
He even added a reminder:
“Young master, we have ice underneath these. They’re best eaten sooner rather than later. They’ll help cool you down too.”
Holding it in his hand, the scholar realized Luo Mingchen wasn’t lying.
He nodded slightly.
“Very well.”
After sending off the scholar, classes at the academy ended, and a crowd of students came out to eat lunch.