When they arrived on a street that was still relatively quiet, Xiang Xi found a well-positioned corner and started setting up her stall for the day.
If she wanted to sell a lot of eels, she needed an irresistible aroma.
So the first thing she did was have Liu Ersha clean several pounds of eels and start cooking a huge pot.
Once the tempting fragrance drifted throughout the street, Liu Ersha took out his treasured copper basin.
Bang, bang, bang—
“Agastache eel is delicious!”
“Agastache eel is wonderful!”
“Agastache eel is absolutely amazing…”
…
Before long, passersby were drawn over by the aroma. Looking at the eels in the pot and the red oil floating on top, they couldn’t help swallowing.
“How much are the eels?”
“Twenty copper coins per pound. I’ll clean them for you, and I’ll throw in the seasoning!” Xiang Xi said. “If you don’t want to take them home and cook them yourself, you can also pay me ten copper coins to cook them for you.”
Xiang Xi had already made some inquiries beforehand. Eels at the market sold for around fifteen copper coins per pound, but after buying them, people still had to clean them themselves and prepare their own seasoning. How could that be as convenient as buying from her?
Besides, the people of this ancient era had never seen this kind of way of selling food before, so they all found it quite novel.
Seeing that everyone was only watching and no one was actually buying, Xiang Xi took out several pairs of chopsticks and handed them around.
“It’s fine whether you buy or not. Everyone, come and have a taste. The samples are free.”
As soon as everyone heard that they could taste it for free, how could they refuse?
Several people took the chopsticks, picked up a piece from the pot, and, without even caring that it was hot, immediately put it into their mouths.
“Mmm, delicious!”
“Fresh and tender, without any fishy taste. It’s really good!”
“This oily broth is incredibly fragrant. After finishing the eel, you could use the broth to cook some noodles. It would definitely be delicious!”
Xiang Xi smiled faintly.
Looks like people in ancient times understood food too.
The highest praise for a dish was to save the sauce and use it to cook noodles for dinner!
“Give me the chopsticks. I want to try it too!”
…
Those who got to sample the eel couldn’t stop praising it. They ate one piece after another, while those who hadn’t gotten any kept swallowing and even tried to snatch the chopsticks from the people holding them.
In short, the scene became extremely lively, with several dozen people crowding around the stall.
“It is a little expensive. Eels only cost fifteen copper coins per pound at the market.”
“That’s what you call expensive?” Someone immediately became unhappy upon hearing that. “You spend five extra copper coins per pound, but what you get is a huge amount of convenience, plus all these seasonings.”
“Exactly! If you cook them yourself at home, can you make them this fragrant? Can you make them this delicious?”
“Miss, give me three pounds. I’ll cook them myself when I get home!”
“I want five pounds too. Cook them for me. But how am I supposed to take them home?”
Xiang Xi patted the jars on the cart.
“For anyone buying five pounds or more, I’ll give you a jar for free!”
Everyone was stunned again.
A jar this big would probably cost several copper coins to buy, wouldn’t it?
When they calculated it this way, the extra ten copper coins for having her cook the eels didn’t seem like much at all!
“Change mine to five pounds, and cook them for me too!”
“I want ten pounds!”
“All right! One at a time, everyone!”
Xiang Xi took out the scale and began weighing the eels, while Liu Ersha efficiently cleaned them. As soon as an eel was cleaned, Xiang Xi would put it into the wok and start cooking.
For a while, the two of them were so busy that their feet barely touched the ground.
In less than half an hour, they had sold several dozen pounds, and copper coins were clattering into the money pouch nonstop.
…
“Master! We found them!”
At the Zhou residence, the servant Lao Ding shouted before he had even entered the house.
“Found what?”
“Those two bastards who bullied the young miss! We found them!”
Zhou Kunming shot to his feet.
“Where are they?”
“They’re selling eels on the street.”
“Eels?”
“Yes,” Lao Ding said. “Those bastards seem to be doing pretty well, too. Master, let’s take some people over now, smash their stall, tie them up, and get revenge for the young miss!”
Unexpectedly, Zhou Kunming didn’t agree right away. Instead, he asked, “You said they’re doing well. Just how well?”
“This…” Lao Ding said. “Anyway, the people buying their eels have completely surrounded the stall.”
“How many eels do they have?”
“Looks like at least two or three hundred pounds.”
Zhou Kunming’s heart stirred.
Even if they only had two hundred pounds, that would be worth three taels of silver.
Of course he was going to avenge his daughter.
But if he could make a little extra money while taking revenge, wouldn’t that be even better?
Seeing that he still hadn’t made up his mind, Lao Ding asked again, “Master, should I go get the men right now?”
“What’s the hurry?” Zhou Kunming said. “Take some people there, but don’t make a move yet. Just keep an eye on them.”
“Master, are you planning to let the young miss go there herself to take revenge?”
Zhou Kunming nearly kicked him.
This fellow had clearly been corrupted by his daughter. All day long, she did nothing but buy this and that or run around fighting people.
Didn’t that spendthrift waste money buying clothes, rouge, cosmetics, and jewelry?
Didn’t it cost money to feed and support all these useless lackeys?
As the head of the family, he spent every waking moment—even his dreams—thinking about how to make money. Was it easy for him?
Besides, beating someone in the middle of the street was one thing, but openly robbing them of their money was another.
If they alarmed the county government, he would have to spend money to smooth things over.
So his plan was to first let those two bastards sell all their eels and turn them into cash. Then he would have his men cover their faces and ambush them somewhere deserted on their way home.
It wouldn’t matter if they merely beat them up.
Even burying them wouldn’t necessarily be impossible.
That way, he could avenge his daughter and get the money at the same time.
Wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?
“Master, you’re brilliant!”
“Hurry up and get it done,” Zhou Kunming said. “Also, we need to know our enemy as well as ourselves. Find someone to investigate which village those two bastards are from and how many people there are in their family.”
“Understood, Master. I’ll go right away.”
…
Before long, it was almost noon.
From the moment the first customer bought eels, Xiang Xi and Liu Ersha hadn’t stopped for even a second.
An old, chipped wok went through pot after pot of eels. During that time, they even made a trip to the market to buy more seasoning and jars.
As for Liu Ersha, who was responsible for cleaning the eels, his hands were moving so quickly they were almost leaving afterimages.
Fortunately, the fellow was a fool. Even though both his hands were nearly cramped from exhaustion, he never complained once and kept grinning foolishly the entire time.
The good news was that they had sold more than half of the three hundred-plus pounds of eels.
But noon was approaching, and the people who had come to the market were gradually heading home. Fewer and fewer people were gathering around their stall, so Xiang Xi decisively decided to move.
“Wifey, where are we going?”
Obviously, to the busiest place!
It was lunchtime now. Those diners heading to restaurants would smell the aroma of her eel. How many of them could resist buying a few pounds?
So the two of them quickly moved to the main street in the eastern part of town.
There were several restaurants on this street, and the most popular one was Feiyun Pavilion.
The people who could afford to eat at Feiyun Pavilion were either wealthy locals or well-off merchants doing business in town.
These were all excellent customers, so Xiang Xi naturally wasn’t going to let them slip away.
Thus, she set up her little stall at a street corner not far from Feiyun Pavilion.
The same routine as before: cook a pot first.
In just a moment, the wonderful aroma began drifting through the street once again, even wafting into the restaurant.
Some diners who were preparing to enter the restaurant were immediately attracted by the fragrance. After tasting it, they immediately took out their money and paid.
“This eel is really well-cooked. It’s even better than what they serve at Feiyun Pavilion, and the price is so reasonable. Give me three pounds, cooked and ready to eat.”
“Eels are at their freshest this time of year. They can also clear heat and detoxify, cool the blood and relieve pain, dispel wind and reduce swelling, and moisten the bowels and stop bleeding. Why don’t we get five pounds and take them into the restaurant? With some fine wine to go with them, it’ll surely be wonderful!”
“Delicious! Give us ten pounds.”
…
The manager of Feiyun Pavilion, Qi, soon realized that something was wrong.
Because many of the customers today were bringing cooked eels with them.
If customers brought their own dishes, they would naturally order fewer dishes from the restaurant!
What was even more infuriating was that the eels these people brought smelled absolutely amazing, attracting the attention of the other diners inside. One after another, they ran outside to buy a jar of eels and bring it back to eat.
He made a rough calculation.
Just this lunch alone, they were likely to sell dozens fewer dishes!
That meant several taels of silver in lost profits!
So he made some inquiries, and discovered that the person behind all this was actually right there at the street corner.
His eyes shifted, and an idea immediately came to him.