Lin Yuhe watched Father Lin carrying the load on a shoulder pole, with both younger brothers holding the necessary items. Only she herself had empty hands. Since none of them had suggested taking the ox cart, how could she bring it up herself?
Finally, the three large characters "Qingshi Town" came into view from afar. "Sister, look, we’ve arrived," Changan said, pointing ahead with his finger.
Wiping sweat from his brow, he thought to himself, "My goodness, we’ve finally made it. If we hadn’t arrived soon, my legs would have given out."
"Qingshi Town," Lin Yuhe murmured softly as the town drew nearer.
"That’s right, sister. Qingshi Town is the closest to our village. There’s a lively market in town, and people from several nearby villages come here to trade," Lin Chang'an explained thoughtfully. He was clever and knew Lin Yuhe had never been to the town’s market, so he took the initiative to enlighten her.
"Oh, our Changan is such a considerate little gentleman."
"Sister~" Changan’s face flushed red at Lin Yuhe’s teasing remark.
As she teased her brother, Lin Yuhe noticed that although the two brothers were twins, their personalities were completely different.
The group hurried along and finally reached the market. Many small vendors from nearby had already secured their spots. After some effort, Father Lin and the children managed to claim a spot that Lin Yuhe thought was quite good.
"Father, put the things down quickly. You must be tired—take a rest!"
Lin Yuhe took out the handkerchief Mother Lin had sewn for her and handed it to Father Lin. "Father, wipe your sweat first."
Father Lin looked at the snow-white handkerchief his daughter offered but didn’t take it. "Your mother made that for you—keep it safe. Your old man’s skin is rough and tough; I don’t need it." Worried that the sweat on his face might soil the handkerchief his wife had made for their daughter, he used his sleeve to wipe his face roughly a couple of times.
The two younger brothers helped by setting down the items they were carrying. Lin Yuhe opened the lid covering the bucket, revealing the snails inside. From the basket containing bowls, she pulled out a piece of cloth embroidered with characters.
"Old Lin Spicy River Snails"—this would be their family’s signature dish from now on. Lin Yuhe had asked Mother Lin to embroider these characters overnight.
After searching for a while, she couldn’t find a suitable place to hang the signboard. Turning around, she spotted the shoulder pole in Father Lin’s hands and had a sudden idea.
"Father~ Hold it steady and stand behind us. Make sure it doesn’t fall."
Lin Yuhe calmly took out a bowl, filled it halfway with field snails, and then covered the bucket again.
People began to fill the market, coming and going. Some glanced curiously at their stall, wondering what they were selling. They gave the family strange looks, but no one spoke to them.
Even the aunties selling vegetables on either side of their stall gave them sympathetic glances when they saw what Lin Yuhe had laid out. This made the two younger brothers move closer to her.
"Young lady, what’s the matter with you? Why sell something like this instead of anything else? Bringing stuff you feed ducks at home to sell for people to eat—such a young age and already up to no good."
A plump auntie passed by their stall, then turned back and pointed at the three siblings, scolding them relentlessly. Her words drew a crowd around them—onlookers were never in short supply, no matter the era.
"How dare you speak like that!" Father Lin, standing behind them, slammed the shoulder pole on the ground when he heard a woman speaking ill of his children.
"Father, it’s alright. Let me handle this. Changan."
Finally, someone had spoken up. With quite a few people gathered around their stall, she couldn’t miss this opportunity. Lin Chang'an picked up on Lin Yuhe’s hint and pulled Father Lin to the back to calm him down.
"Dad, you just keep an eye on our family's sign today. Don't you already know how good my sister's cooking is? Don't worry, we'll handle it."
The clever Lin Chang'an managed to calm Father Lin's anger with just a few words.
"Madam, this is delicious. We've tried it ourselves and only brought it to sell because we think it's tasty. It also has our old Lin family's secret recipe. Let me eat one to show you."
Lin Yuhe reached into the bowl, picked up a snail, and gently sucked it into her mouth. Only the shell remained, and after chewing a few times, she swallowed it. She ate several in a row.
Seeing Lin Yuhe eat so many and hearing her call her "sister," the woman said, "Is this really edible and tasty? And you, girl, my daughter is older than you. Don't call me 'sister'—call me 'auntie.'"
"Really, Auntie? You look so young. Look at your skin—so fair and smooth."
Lin Yuhe noticed the woman was dressed neatly, fair-skinned, and plump, so she showered her with compliments as if they cost nothing.
No matter the era, women can never resist being praised for their beauty. Drawing on her skills from university debate competitions in her past life, she could flatter someone until they were dizzy.
Then, she quickly changed the subject. "Auntie, this is really delicious. Here, try it." As she spoke, she picked up another snail and ate it, then handed the bowl to the woman.
Seeing the bowl offered to her, the woman initially didn't want to try it, but she couldn't resist Lin Yuhe's enthusiasm. "Alright, I'll try one," she said, reaching for a snail. Lin Yuhe even handed her a small wooden skewer.
"Auntie, there are two ways to eat this. You can suck it directly or pick it out. Yes, just like that—you're really good at it!"
As soon as the woman put the snail in her mouth, she felt it wasn't like ordinary meat. The snail meat was springy and chewy, with the spicy, fragrant, and numbing flavors advertised on the sign. It was truly delicious.
Lin Yuhe wasn't in a hurry to ask if it tasted good. She was confident about the snails she was selling today—as long as someone tried them, she wasn't worried.
"Hey, Madam, how is it? Is it tasty?"
While Lin Yuhe remained calm, the onlookers grew impatient. "Little girl, how much are these snails? Can we try them?"
"Of course, everyone can try! Our snails are fragrant, spicy, and numbing. They're six copper coins per bowl, or two bowls for ten. It's a small business, and the secret recipe ingredients are hard to come by, so each person can only try one. Please understand, uncles, aunties, and elders."
Lin Yuhe emphasized how delicious they were and that they were made with a secret recipe. The price she set wasn't cheap, which also made the onlookers feel too embarrassed to ask for more.
"What? You're selling something we feed to ducks at home for six copper coins? Isn't that a rip-off?"
Even as they complained about the price, their hands moved quickly. They saw Lin Yuhe had only brought out one bowl and worried they might miss out if they hesitated.
The first woman to try them said, "Little girl, these snails really do taste good. I want four bowls. How are you going to pack them for me?"
Lin Yuhe wanted to slap herself. What should she do? She had only brought two bowls from home and noticed the woman only had a food box in her hand. She didn't want to lose this big order.
"Changan," Lin Yuhe said, pulling out the copper coins Grandma Lin had given her and pointing to the noodle shop across the street.
Lin Chang'an took the copper coins from Lin Yuhe and quickly ran into the noodle shop. Before long, he returned carrying several bowls.
She ladled out four full bowls of snails into the auntie's food box, Lin Yuhe said with a smile, "Auntie, here are your four bowls of snails, that'll be twenty-four coppers. Since we charge ten coppers for every two bowls, you can pay twenty coppers for four bowls."
"Hmm, good girl, not greedy. You didn't include the four-copper bowl deposit, so it's twenty-four coppers in total."
As she spoke, she counted out twenty-four coppers and handed them to Changan, who was in charge of collecting money. "Little one, count and see if it's right."
Lin Chang'an had already started counting before she even finished speaking. "Auntie, twenty-four coppers exactly. Take care of your food box, enjoy your meal, and come back again."