Feng Si thought about setting up her stall tomorrow. Even though 15kg of meat would shrink when cooked, the added broth would make the pot just as heavy, if not more so.
Normally, she had to make two trips to carry it all. But now, with an egg in her belly, she couldn’t do that anymore.
After a moment’s thought, she tapped a number sequence on her communicator. The light screen flickered to life, and Mao Qiu appeared. "Are you feeling unwell? Do you want me to go with you to the Sacrificial Hall?"
Feng Si rested a hand on her belly, her expression tender and her voice soft. "I’m fine. I wanted to ask... on the days you don’t go outside the city to gather things, are you free?"
Mao Qiu was confused. "Yeah, I am. You bought all my stuff, so all I have to do is look after my little brother."
"Hmm... In that case, I’d like to hire you," Feng Si said. "How about I pay you ten coins a day to help me set up and pack up my stall?"
Mao Qiu glanced at her slender arms, and understanding dawned. "You don’t need to give me coins! You bought so much food from my family. Helping you carry a few things is nothing, just a single trip for me."
Feng Si shook her head, her clear eyes seeming to eclipse the dark specks on her skin, creating a contradictory impression of striking beauty and simple ordinariness.
’Long-term, one-sided favors can easily lead to feelings of unfairness.’
’Mao Qiu has been good to me. If I want this friendship to last, I shouldn’t always be taking advantage of her kindness.’
She said, "Business is business. This is a long-term job, so you deserve the coins. If you don’t agree, I’ll have to find someone else."
Once she said that, Mao Qiu no longer refused and readily agreed. They arranged a time for her to come every morning, except for gathering days.
Having solved the problem of carrying the heavy pot every day, Feng Si felt relieved and started browsing for Incubators on the light screen.
It looked like it was made of transparent glass and shaped like a bassinet. It was reusable, allowed the user to set a constant temperature, and could be linked to a communicator—very intelligent.
Price: Starting at 100,000 coins.
Feng Si, who wanted to give her hatchling the very best but couldn’t even afford the most basic Incubator: "..."
’Money! I have to make money!’
Now that she had a precious vulnerability, Feng Si’s desire to earn money grew even more desperate.
The next day, misty-blue morning light streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows and onto the bed. Feng Si, who had gone to sleep early last night, opened her drowsy eyes.
She yawned, threw back the woolen blanket, and got out of bed. After folding the blanket neatly on her pillow, she went to the bathroom to wash up. The splash of cool water on her face fully awakened her senses.
She went to the kitchen and took 30kg of fresh meat from the cold storage unit. She cut it into chunks, blanched them with ginger, rinsed them with hot water, and placed them back in the pot. After adding water and more ginger, she brought it to a boil before lowering the heat to a slow simmer.
She could make three large bowls of crispy garlic at once, which would last for three days. The wild vegetables and the leaves for wrapping the meat had also been washed yesterday.
Leaving the meat to simmer on the stove, Feng Si used the time to go up to the balcony and turn over the green potato strips she had cooked and cut yesterday.
After drying for half a day, the green potatoes had shrunk slightly and were turning a toasty yellow-brown, looking much more appetizing.
As Feng Si turned the pieces of Green Potato, she nibbled on one. It had a faint sweetness. The cycle of baking in the hot sun and cooling in the night air had concentrated the scant sugars, creating a clean, sweet fragrance unique to starches.
’No matter how tasty they are, I can’t eat them as a meal. I might be fine, but the hatchling in my belly isn’t.’
She forced herself to stop. After finishing turning the Green Potato drying on the balcony, she headed back downstairs.
The aroma of stewing meat filled the entire house.
Feng Si paused at the bottom of the stairs. The smell was a bit nauseating so early in the morning.
The closer she got to the kitchen, the stronger and more sickening the smell became. Wrinkling her little nose wasn’t enough, so she covered her mouth and nose with her hand. Feng Si quickly grabbed a chopstick and poked a piece of meat in the pot.
The chopstick slid through the meat with ease. ’It’s done.’
Feng Si turned off the heat and set the pot of meat aside to cool. She would put it in the wicker basket later before heading out to her stall.
She then started preparing her own breakfast: a boiled wild egg, stir-fried greens, and finally, a fist-sized yellow fruit she pulled from the cold storage. It looked like a nectarine but tasted like passion fruit—sweet, tangy, and delicious.
When she finished eating and was ready to leave for her stall, she grabbed a small cloth bag and filled it with some Green Potato to snack on. Just then, Mao Qiu rang the doorbell.
Feng Si dragged the two wicker baskets to the entrance and opened the door. Mao Qiu, who was waiting in the hallway, stepped forward without a word. Effortlessly picking up a basket in each hand, she led the way outside. The two of them quickly reached Feng Si’s usual spot on the second floor.
The shop’s door was already open. It was a store that sold ironware and kitchen utensils, and the owner was a sub-female from the Gray Mouse Clan named Hui Yu. A long, slender gray tail extended from behind her.
When she looked up and saw Feng Si at the entrance of her shop, her gray eyes lit up. She immediately reached into her waist pouch for money. "I’ve been waiting for you! Quick, sell me a piece of white-cut meat. My Little Beastman at home has been fussing for it since yesterday."
"Of course. I’ll give you an extra serving of seasoning. It’s best when eaten hot," Feng Si replied with a smile.
Beaming at the meaty aroma in the air, Hui Yu counted out the payment for Feng Si. After deducting the five-coin stall fee, it came to a total of 294 coins.
Mao Qiu, standing to the side, didn’t need any instructions from Feng Si. With her own experience setting up stalls, she put down the baskets, retrieved a long table and a stool from behind the shopkeeper’s door, and swiftly placed the pot from the basket onto the table.
After doing all that, she even squatted down, picked up the pre-cut leaves from the other basket, and folded them into a shallow bowl with a few deft movements of her hands.
Feng Si watched, extremely satisfied. ’Hiring help was a really smart decision.’ She took out the white-cut meat Hui Yu had ordered, sliced it, placed it in a leaf bowl, and handed it to her.
After Hui Yu left, there still weren’t many people in the market. Mao Qiu didn’t leave either; she had nothing to do at home anyway. She found a low stool from inside the shop, sat down next to Feng Si, and waited for her to close up for the day.
"I’ll take five portions of the white-cut meat." Huang Shi, who had been hearing about the white-cut meat from his squad for a long time, had come early today to buy some. With five children at home, one piece for each was just right.
Feng Si looked up at the tall, powerfully built, yellow-haired Beastman. She took his money and deftly packed up the food he ordered.
After that, a large crowd of people gradually gathered in front of the stall.
Feng Si’s white-cut meat had a base of regular customers. They trickled in throughout the morning to make their purchases, but since she had made an extra-large batch today, she still had some left.
The Beastmen who had never tried the white-cut meat were put off by the high price and wouldn’t even consider buying it.
The stall quieted down for a while. Feng Si folded leaf bowls with Mao Qiu while mentally calculating. She had cut about one hundred and eighty pieces today and sold over one hundred and thirty, leaving about forty-something pieces in the pot.
’No need to rush.’
By now it was mid-morning. Feng Si turned and pulled the bag of Green Potato from her waist, about to offer some to Mao Qiu. Just then, she noticed a bulge at the front of Mao Qiu’s tunic. Something inside seemed to stir.
Immediately after, a small, golden-orange furry paw hooked onto Mao Qiu’s collar. A round little kitten face popped out, and its beautiful round eyes met Feng Si’s. "MEOW~~"