Only then did Jiang Yutong clap her hands and say to everyone, “Thank you for all your hard work. Later, everyone can divide up the scraps from the wild boar.”
The wild boar would have to be butchered and sold as meat, and some of the scraps could not be sold anyway, so Jiang Yutong decided to give them to everyone who had helped.
Everyone cheered happily when they heard this.
Even the scraps were good stuff.
Ning Yaoshi had just stepped through the courtyard gate when she heard this. Her footsteps faltered, and she nearly stumbled.
That damned girl was deliberately trying to anger her!
A group of people happily headed to Fang Hu’s house together. Fang Hu often went hunting and had all the tools needed to butcher a wild boar.
With so many people working together, the job was quickly finished. Jiang Yutong divided up the pig’s head, tail, and innards among everyone.
She then gave a large piece of meat to Fang Hu’s family and set aside another piece for Doctor Li’s family. The rest she planned to take to the county town and sell.
Shangyuan Village was still quite far from the county town, so Jiang Yutong planned to go into town with Fang Hu early the next morning. It would be her first time visiting the county town, and she wanted to look around to see if she could find any ways to make money.
That evening, Jiang Yutong brought some of the wild boar meat back to Doctor Li’s house. She cooked some of it herself and salted the rest to preserve it.
Wild boar meat was firm and pleasantly chewy, with a delicious flavor, and everyone ate happily.
When Aunt Wang heard that Jiang Yutong was going into town the next day, she said, “Perfect. I need to go into town to buy some things anyway. I’ll go with you.”
The next morning, before the sky had fully brightened, Aunt Wang and Jiang Yutong were already up.
Jiang Yutong used the lard she had rendered the day before to make some scallion oil pancakes. She had already prepared the dough the night before. In the morning, she shaped the dough into round pancakes, spread a layer of lard over them, and fried them slowly in a pan until both sides were golden brown. Then she sprinkled them with chopped scallions.
Before long, the delicious aroma filled the kitchen.
Ever since Aunt Wang had tasted Jiang Yutong’s cooking, she had become completely comfortable leaving the kitchen to her. Even the simplest ingredients became delicious once they passed through Jiang Yutong’s hands.
Jiang Yutong made a whole basketful. She and Aunt Wang each ate two pieces, packed several more to eat on the road, and gave a few to Fang Hu. The rest were left for Doctor Li and Li Nanxing.
Fang Hu had also gotten up early. He had arranged for an ox cart the day before and loaded the things they intended to sell onto it. He had also accumulated some animal pelts of his own, which he planned to take to the county town and sell at the same time.
“Brother Fang, you’re up early.”
When Jiang Yutong arrived, she saw Fang Hu loading the cart. She handed him some pancakes.
“I just made them this morning. Eat them while they’re still warm.”
Fang Hu took the pancakes and tucked them into his clothes.
“I’ll eat them on the way.”
Soon, the group set off. Since the journey was a long one, they did not dare waste any time.
After traveling for about an hour, they finally saw the county town gates.
The county town was bustling with people coming and going, and it was quite lively. Fang Hu knew the place well, so he drove the ox cart directly to a restaurant.
When they arrived at the restaurant’s side entrance, the gatekeeper greeted Fang Hu with a smile.
“What did you hunt this time, boy?”
The wild boar was covered with straw. The gatekeeper lifted it to take a look.
“Oh, not bad! You actually caught something this good. Wait here. I’ll go get our manager.”
Before long, a middle-aged man came out.
Fang Hu hurried over to greet him.
“Manager Liu, today’s catch is pretty good. Take a look.”
Manager Liu lifted the straw and saw the butchered wild boar. He touched the meat and was very satisfied.
“How many jin?”
They had weighed it the day before. After removing the miscellaneous parts, there were a full hundred jin of meat.
“Exactly one hundred jin. Please weigh it again.”
The manager ordered someone to weigh it again. The result was exactly as Fang Hu had said.
“Same price as usual. I’ll give you 140 wen per jin for the wild boar. That comes to exactly fourteen taels of silver.”
Fang Hu glanced at Jiang Yutong. She nodded. The price was quite good.
Fang Hu then brought out several rabbits.
“Manager Liu, how much will you give me for these?”
There were six rabbits in total—two belonged to Jiang Yutong—and five wild chickens. The rabbits and wild chickens were all priced at 800 wen each.
In the end, the total came to twenty-two taels and 800 wen.
Manager Liu paid readily.
“Next time you have good goods, make sure I’m the first person you bring them to.”
“Of course, of course. Thank you for looking after us, Manager Liu.”
Fang Hu then took several small birds from the ox cart.
“These are for you, Manager. Have a taste.”
Manager Liu patted Fang Hu on the shoulder.
“You’re thoughtful.”
Fang Hu divided up the silver and handed Jiang Yutong her share before stuffing the rest into his clothes. As he did so, the pancakes tucked inside became visible.
Manager Liu had grown up working in a restaurant and was particularly sensitive to food.
“What’s that? It smells wonderful.”
Jiang Yutong quickly took out a clean pancake from her basket and handed it to Manager Liu.
“I made these scallion oil pancakes this morning. Please give one a try.”
Manager Liu had already noticed Jiang Yutong.
Fang Hu quickly introduced her.
“This is my younger sister. She was the one who took down this wild boar, too.”
Manager Liu was somewhat surprised.
He took a bite of the scallion pancake. Although it had already gone cold, it was not hard at all. It was flaky and crisp when he bit into it, and tasted delicious.
“Not bad. These pancakes would be perfect for people to take with them when traveling.”
Jiang Yutong took out several more.
“Everyone, have a taste. They’re just something I made myself.”
As the manager of such a large restaurant, Manager Liu immediately saw a business opportunity.
“I wonder if you’d be willing to sell me the recipe? Of course, I’ll make sure to pay you properly.”
This was an unexpected surprise.
Jiang Yutong quickly wrote down the recipe. Manager Liu looked it over, then gave Jiang Yutong two taels of silver.
Jiang Yutong immediately had another idea.
“Manager Liu, do you also buy recipes for dishes?”
Manager Liu smiled.
“Of course. As long as your recipe is good, we can negotiate the price.”
“Good. We’re in a bit of a hurry today. Next time, I’ll bring some recipes and come find you.”
Soon, they said goodbye to the restaurant. Fang Hu then took Jiang Yutong to a place that bought animal pelts.
Along the way, Aunt Wang linked her arm through Jiang Yutong’s.
“Yutong, I didn’t expect your pancake recipe to be so well received by a restaurant. I told you it was good!”
Jiang Yutong smiled modestly.
“We were just lucky. Later, let’s buy some more rice and flour to take home.”
When they arrived at the place that sold pelts, there were many hunters from the surrounding areas selling their hides. Most of them were rabbit pelts.
When Jiang Yutong took out the fox pelt, it immediately attracted everyone’s attention.
“This fox fur is beautiful.”
“More importantly, the pelt is completely undamaged. The hunter who caught it must be incredibly skilled.”
Fang Hu did not stop, however. He led Jiang Yutong farther inside until they reached an alley, where he knocked on a door.
Soon, an elderly man over fifty opened it.
Fang Hu greeted him, “Manager Wang.”
Manager Wang smiled and greeted him in return.
“Brother Fang, do you have something good this time?”
Fang Hu pointed at Jiang Yutong.
“This is my younger sister. She happens to have a fine fox pelt. Let’s see if it’s good enough to catch your eye, Manager Wang.”
Manager Wang glanced at Jiang Yutong. She quickly took out the entire fox pelt.
“Manager Wang, please take a look.”
Manager Wang fell in love with the pelt at first sight. He took it and examined it from top to bottom. There was not a single damaged spot on it.
“This is an excellent pelt. I’ll take it.”
“Name your price.”
Jiang Yutong had already talked with Fang Hu on the way and had a rough idea of how much the pelt was worth, but she still said, “Manager Wang, how much do you think you can offer?”
Manager Wang named a price.
Jiang Yutong nodded, and the deal was completed.
“Miss, if you get any more good goods in the future, you can come directly to me.”
Manager Wang had immediately recognized how skilled this hunter was. It was not easy to obtain a pelt this intact. Most hunters damaged the hides of the animals they hunted.
After selling the fox pelt, Jiang Yutong planned to go to the market to buy some necessities. She arranged to meet Fang Hu at the town gate later.
Linking arms with Aunt Wang, Jiang Yutong took her first proper look around the ancient market.