She silently picked up her chopsticks and took a bite too.
“Oh! This really tastes good,” she said, immediately taking another mouthful.
Song Hongxia didn’t answer at all and simply buried her head in the food.
“Slow down a little,” Huang Yi couldn’t help saying as she herself sped up her eating too.
There was no helping it — the cold salad was simply too fragrant and delicious.
“Oh dear, I completely forgot to pay!” Only after the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law finished the entire bowl did Song Hongxia suddenly remember she hadn’t paid yet.
“Go, go, go buy another bowl. This one absolutely can’t be eaten first,” Huang Yi pushed the empty bowl toward her.
She was still savoring the flavor in her mouth. This pickle-stall owner truly had real skill.
When Song Hongxia returned to the storefront carrying the bowl, the area was already packed with customers buying cold mixed dishes, and there was even a line.
Because there were so many people, Xiaojuan was not only collecting money but also serving vegetables and maintaining order by asking everyone to line up.
Earlier, people had all crowded forward at once, shoving each other, and some nearly started arguing.
So Xiaojuan had no choice but to organize a queue.
Fortunately, everyone was already used to lining up to buy things these days, so they cooperated.
“Why are there so many people? What are they selling?” A factory worker riding past on a bicycle after work noticed the crowd gathered in front of the general store and came over to see the excitement.
“They’re selling cold mixed dishes. A huge bowl is only thirty cents. So many people are buying it, so I’m getting one to try too,” one of the women waiting near the back replied.
“Isn’t this a general store? They sell cold dishes too?”
“Well, it’s hot today, so it’s nice for stimulating the appetite.”
“I’ve eaten their pickles before too. Very appetizing. Today I’m changing things up a bit.”
The people in line chatted back and forth.
The worker also joined the queue.
He hadn’t decided what to buy for dinner anyway, so he figured he might as well buy this.
As Xiaojuan served vegetables and collected money, she also had to keep the line in order, making sure everyone waited properly.
“I didn’t bring a food container today. I’ll come back next time,” one man passing by waved his hand helplessly after a neighbor urged him to line up.
“I sell bowls here too! One for fifteen cents — they normally cost twenty!” Song Hongxia quickly seized the chance to promote her own business.
She had bought this batch of rough pottery bowls wholesale for ten cents each and usually sold them for twenty, but they had never sold very well. She might as well clear them out cheaply.
The man examined the bowl. It was fairly large and suitable for noodles or similar foods, so he paid for one.
Song Hongxia even lent him water so he could wash it first.
By the time Qin Sui’an finally closed the stall, Song Hongxia had unexpectedly sold five discounted bowls, along with extra items like cooking oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and toilet paper. Business was much better than usual.
Song Hongxia was so happy her eyes nearly disappeared from smiling.
After selling the very last bowl of cold mixed dishes, Qin Sui’an finally relaxed. Her hands trembled slightly as she slowed down and began packing up tables and stools together with Xiaojuan.
The stools had been completely unnecessary today — nobody had sat down even once.
She had expected the cold dishes to sell well, but she hadn’t imagined customers would be this enthusiastic. One customer came after another without giving her even a moment to catch her breath.
After finishing dinner, Song Hongxia came outside and saw the mother and daughter tying up their tables and stools again. She walked over and told them they could simply store the items in her shop.
After all, they didn’t take up much room.
“How could we trouble you like that?”
“What trouble? You really did bring extra business to my shop today. We should help each other out,” Song Hongxia said.
After thinking about it, Qin Sui’an stopped insisting.
Song Hongxia pointed out a corner where they could leave the things.
Carrying their baskets home on shoulder poles, Qin Sui’an and Xiaojuan returned both exhausted and happy.
“Mom, I saw that woman who tried to steal our business sneaking over to watch us. Hehe, her face looked awful,” Xiaojuan finally vented the frustration she’d been holding since that morning.
“But what if they copy our cold mixed dishes too?” The next second, her mood dropped again. Thinking about imitators learning from them made her grind her teeth in annoyance.
“There’s nothing we can do about that. Maybe a third or fourth vendor will appear too. At that point, we’ll just have to compete on flavor and skill,” Qin Sui’an said helplessly.
Still, she was confident in her cooking abilities. As long as there was money to be made, she could keep going.
If only she had connections to buy pig heads, she thought. Meat dishes had even higher profit margins.
Unfortunately, most pig heads were contracted to state-owned food shops, and the small remaining supply had already been snapped up by people with connections. Very little made it to the open market.
Still, even without pork, chicken should be obtainable. She could make shredded chicken cold dishes.
Then she suddenly remembered preserved eggs — cold mixed preserved eggs could sell too.
Looks like she’d have to trouble Master Xie again.
Still, despite the explosive popularity of the cold dishes that night, it hadn’t hurt pickle sales at all.
The three jars of pickles they had brought were completely sold out too.
Some returning customers who had bought from the competing stall that morning even said Sui’an Pickles still tasted better. The other stall only kept adding salt, and the flavor was terrible. One woman said the bowl she bought there had nearly salted her to death.
Her family took one bite and nobody wanted to eat it afterward.
Sui’an Pickles cost two cents more, but the taste was worth it.
That night, while counting money, Xiaojuan kept laughing out loud.
Today’s earnings had reached a new record — surpassing twenty yuan and totaling twenty-one yuan.
They had sold seven jars of pickles for eight yuan in revenue, while the remaining thirteen yuan came from the cold mixed dishes that had only been sold for half a day.
In fact, the production costs for both were roughly similar.
The wood ear mushrooms and tofu skin used in the cold dishes were relatively expensive, costing over one to two yuan per jin — almost the same as meat.
However, one jin of dried wood ear mushrooms could expand into eight to ten jin when soaked, while one jin of tofu skin could expand into three to five jin, making the actual cost manageable.
Besides, the other vegetables were cheap, mostly only four or five cents per jin.
The side ingredients and seasonings weren’t cheap either, especially oil and sugar, but overall, the profit margins were still higher than for pickles.
Xiaojuan was excited about the revenue.
Qin Sui’an, however, was happier about the costs and profit margins.
She also patiently explained the business logic little by little to her two daughters.
Xiaojuan listened in a daze.
Xiaomei, however, understood immediately.
In the eyes of city people, pickles were only considered a side dish, usually eaten with breakfast.
At ten cents a bowl, they were already not exactly cheap.
But cold mixed dishes, with their abundant seasonings and colorful ingredients, looked like a full, proper dish.
They could be eaten with rice, paired with alcohol, or even served to guests.
That’s why people were willing to spend thirty cents a bowl.
If meat were added, even bowls costing fifty cents, eighty cents, or even one or two yuan would still have buyers.
“So even selling food has this much strategy behind it,” Xiaojuan finally realized.
“That’s why you need to keep learning and observing. If you don’t want to get pushed out by imitators, there’s still plenty to learn,” Qin Sui’an said pointedly, glancing at Xiaojuan.
Xiaojuan wasn’t stupid.
She just didn’t like thinking proactively.
Xiaojuan avoided her mother’s gaze slightly and looked at the pile of money on the table.
In her heart, she thought:
If it’s for money… then I can do it.