After saying that, Jiang Ran went back to her room to sleep.
She did not go on and on about how wonderful Bianjing was, nor did she calculate how much more rice noodles they could sell if they had a place to stay there and could save all that travel time.
Jiang Song was different from Madam Yun and Jiang Chuanli.
With Madam Yun and her husband, even if you talked until your throat went dry and laid every benefit right in front of them, they might still have little reaction.
But Jiang Song was different. He would think of ways to make money. He bought pigs, chickens, and ducks. He turned over the soil and planted vegetables. He willingly accompanied Jiang Ran to sell food and helped her with the stall.
He was not the type to be overly cautious and afraid to do anything.
He had seen the night market. He had seen the money.
Based on what Jiang Ran knew about him, he would only go ask around about rental prices in Bianjing, see whether it was feasible, and then come back and tell her the result.
Jiang Ran just had to wait.
After all, Jiang Song was the one making decisions in the family now. There was no need to discuss it with Jiang Chuanli and Madam Yun.
The next day, before dawn, Jiang Ran woke up.
Jiang Song was still asleep.
He had gone to bed late the previous night, and frying minced meat did not require his help. It was better for him to sleep a little longer and keep up his energy, since all his work involved physical labor.
Yawning, Jiang Ran went to the kitchen.
The firelight in the kitchen felt especially warm in the darkness.
Madam Yun was busy working there. She turned around and glanced at Jiang Ran.
“I’ve already started the bone broth. Take a look and see if it’s alright. The meat has been chopped too.”
Madam Yun had also prepared breakfast. She had boiled two eggs and made some flatbread.
Jiang Chuanli was not inside the house, but Jiang Ran could hear noises coming from the backyard. He was probably cleaning the pigsty.
Jiang Ran took a look.
The soup was simply clear bone broth, and the minced meat was chopped to about the same size she usually used.
Jiang Ran smiled.
There was nothing she needed to do.
“It looks great, Mother. I’m going back to sleep for a little while. Wake me up in half an hour.”
Madam Yun nodded.
Jiang Ran slept especially well during that extra nap. She did not dream at all. When she woke up, her mind felt clear.
The sky outside was gray and slightly bright.
A faint aroma of bone broth drifted over from the kitchen.
Jiang Song was already up.
Jiang Ran washed up, stir-fried the minced meat, packed the tea eggs, ate a few bites of breakfast, and then the brother and sister prepared to leave.
Earlier that morning, Jiang Song had gone to check the vegetable fields.
The weeds had been removed yesterday, and the chicken coops, duck pens, and pigsty were all fairly clean.
Even so, he still worried and reminded Jiang Chuanli once again not to help the eldest branch.
They were bringing even more things today.
There was also an extra table.
Jiang Ran carried some items too, but compared to when she had carried everything herself before, it felt much easier.
Jiang Song looked as though he were moving house.
The table was tied to his back. He carried a bucket in each hand, and a basket hung around his neck.
Even so, he still said to Jiang Ran, “If you get tired, tell me and give me your things.”
Jiang Ran thought to herself, Give them to Jiang Song? How? Carry them with my mouth?
What she carried was much lighter—some baby bok choy and their food for the day.
It was not heavy at all.
“I can carry more,” Jiang Ran said. “Let me take the eggs.”
There were two jars of tea eggs, twenty in each.
Many people liked soft-centered eggs, but many others preferred fully cooked tea eggs.
Yesterday they had not been enough to sell.
She estimated that egg sales would be very good today. At night she would sell fried eggs instead.
She could make more tea eggs in the city, but she and Jiang Song had no place to stay. They would be out in the open, and there was still plenty of other work to do in the afternoon.
So Jiang Ran gave up on the idea.
She would wait until they moved to Bianjing.
When they arrived on the street, Zhao Daniang saw that they had come just as early as the day before and could not help sighing.
“Young people really do have energy. After staying up late for just a few nights, I’m already exhausted.”
Jiang Ran still had to travel all this way every day, so she was surely even more tired.
Jiang Ran smiled.
Of course they were tired.
But they had to make money.
Once they rented a house, things would be much easier.
Jiang Song put everything down.
The table was set up with two small stools facing it.
He unpacked the rest of the supplies, carried two buckets to fetch water, then returned and washed all the bowls and chopsticks again.
While mixing the rice batter, Jiang Ran said to him, “Brother, go see if there are any bowls about this size. If there are, buy a few.”
These rough ceramic bowls cost four or five wen each.
The smaller ones should be cheaper. If he bargained, he might get them for even less.
Jiang Ran handed him fifty wen.
It was emergency money she had brought with her. Most of her savings were still at home.
They would make more money during the day anyway, and the meat needed for the evening could be bought using the day’s earnings.
At the moment, Jiang Ran had four silver peanut-shaped ingots and seven hundred wen.
After tonight, she would probably have enough to make a full string of one thousand wen.
Things turned out almost exactly as she had expected.
The tea eggs sold even better today.
Yesterday most people ordered only one.
Today two customers immediately asked for two eggs each.
They were practically eating luxury mixed noodles.
Jiang Ran discovered that people who ordered mixed noodles especially liked adding tea eggs.
By the end of the morning, she had sold eighteen eggs.
This time they had small bowls.
Jiang Song had bought seventeen of them, which was more than enough.
There was still some time before noon.
After washing the dishes, Jiang Song said, “Ranran, I’m going out to take a look around. I’ll be back before noon.”
Jiang Ran nodded.
“Go ahead.”
The more he looked around and explored, the more he would understand how good Bianjing was.
Watching Jiang Song walk away, Zhao Daniang could not help smiling.
These siblings really had a good relationship.
She took out a sugar cake.
“This one didn’t sell this morning. Let me heat it up for you. Don’t dislike it.”
Yesterday she had used the chives Jiang Ran brought her to make dumplings, and they had been truly delicious.
“How could I?” Jiang Ran replied. “By the way, Auntie Zhao, save a few sugar cakes for me tonight.”
She planned to bring them back for Madam Yun and Jiang Chuanli.
If people treated her well, she would treat them well too.
Life at home was hard as well, but Jiang Ran’s feelings came mostly from what had happened over the past two days.
She had never expected Madam Yun and Jiang Chuanli to wait up for them last night.
Nor had she expected Madam Yun to start the bone broth and chop the meat this morning.
They were obedient, honest, and knew how to care about others.
That was not bad at all.
“Easy enough,” Zhao Daniang replied.
While eating, Jiang Ran said, “Auntie Zhao, I still haven’t thought of anything specific you can add to your stall. But I think food is mostly the same at its core. If I can think of noodles after eating rice noodles, then if you can change the filling, couldn’t you also change the wrapper?”
She continued, “What if you made cakes using glutinous rice flour? If it’s too sticky, mix it with regular rice. It might taste really good.”
Then she added, “You could make them smaller too. If they’re cheaper, more people will probably buy them.”
That possibility had never occurred to Zhao Daniang.
For days she had been trying to think of different fillings, but she had gotten nowhere.
Changing the wrapper was something she had never even considered.
The existing brown sugar and sesame fillings would work perfectly. She would only need to mix a different dough, while the filling itself would not require extra effort.
Rubbing her hands excitedly, Zhao Daniang said, “Good, good, good! In that case, take more sugar cakes home tonight. Eat as many as you want.”
Jiang Ran shook her head.
“Money is money. Business is business. I just want your stall to do well, Auntie Zhao. That way I can earn more too.”
Zhao Daniang felt embarrassed, but Jiang Ran’s words eased her mind.
As long as she paid Jiang Ran her share, everything would be fine.
As the sun climbed higher into the sky, the streets became more crowded.
Sunlight poured down onto everyone.
It was already mid-April, and the warmth felt pleasant at first.
But after standing there for a long time, the glare became blinding.
Everything looked dazzlingly bright, making people feel dizzy.
Standing beside the stove all day was not easy either.
Jiang Ran’s fire burned constantly.
The heat steamed her face, and she frequently broke into sweat. Her cheeks were flushed red from the heat.
There was a willow tree behind them, but its shade only covered the table.
Food stalls had to prioritize customers.
Especially for her rice noodles, most people ate them as soon as they bought them.
Jiang Ran had actually been surprised that Jiang Song thought of making a table.
But having one truly was convenient.
Even if customers could not get a stool, they could still put down things they could not hold.
When business was busy, there were often five or six customers behind Jiang Ran.
They ate while keeping an eye on their belongings to avoid mixing them up with someone else’s.
After several rounds of customers, Jiang Song returned.
He said nothing and quietly helped from behind.
Yesterday everything had sold out quickly, and by the end there had been no minced meat or rice noodles left.
So today Jiang Ran had prepared more than a jin of pork.
After a busy noon rush, there was still some minced meat left.
She planned to sell it in the afternoon.
If it did not sell, she would eat it herself.
After a quick meal, the two of them tidied up.
Jiang Ran sent Jiang Song to buy more meat and another thirty eggs for the evening.
Jiang Song returned quickly with the supplies.
After setting everything down, he said, “I’m going out again. I’ll be back later.”
Seeing him constantly running around, Zhao Daniang felt a little uneasy.
She was an outsider, so she could not say much.
But if they were working together, how could he keep leaving while his younger sister handled everything herself?
So she indirectly reminded Jiang Ran.
“There are all kinds of people in Bianjing. Your brother just got here. Don’t let him get tricked.”
Jiang Ran nodded and thanked her for the concern.
But she suspected that Jiang Song was actually asking around about renting a house.
She did not tell Zhao Daniang.
What if it did not work out?
Better not to say anything at all in the beginning.
This time Jiang Song was gone for a full hour.
By then, Jiang Ran’s bone broth was finished, and the new batch of minced meat had been stir-fried.
Only the fried eggs remained to be made, but there was no rush.
As long as they were ready before sunset, it would be fine.
Business in the afternoon was average.
She sold only four bowls of rice noodles.
There was enough minced meat left for three or four more bowls, and Jiang Ran did not intend to save it for the evening.
So she cooked a bowl of minced meat rice noodles for each of them.
This was practically the deluxe version.
Jiang Ran added lots of chili and vinegar.
Their staple food was flatbread.
It had sat all day and gone completely cold, but after soaking in the noodle soup, it tasted quite good.
Without the sun beating down on them, they no longer felt dizzy from the heat.
The cool evening breeze rippled across the waters of the Bianhe.
On both banks, shops gradually lit their lanterns.
Reflections of streets, willow trees, and buildings shimmered on the water’s surface.
One could stare at the view for quite a while.
This was Jiang Ran’s second night at the night market.
She needed to find out whether the previous night’s success had been a fleeting burst of luck or something that could consistently support them.
That was extremely important to her.
The calls of countless vendors echoed through the streets and alleys.
Jiang Ran called out to customers while serving them.
“One bowl of soup noodles and one fried egg. Nine wen altogether.”
“One mixed noodle with an extra serving of noodles. Five wen total.”
“One bowl of mixed noodles and two fried eggs. Eleven wen. Ladies and gentlemen, take a look at the sugar cakes my auntie next door sells. We have brown sugar filling and sesame sugar filling. They’re sweet and delicious.”
Jiang Ran worked hard.
Without the sun, her face was finally no longer red.
The night was calm.
Although she had been eating more lately, she had actually lost some weight.
Her face was now only the size of a palm.
Under the lantern light, her large eyes shone brightly, and her nose was straight and elegant.
She was not the kind of beauty that could easily be described, but she seemed like a pearl glowing in the darkness, even more eye-catching than during the day.
Customers made all sorts of requests.
Some wanted no vinegar.
Some wanted extra vinegar.
Some wanted less chili.
Others asked for three or four spoonfuls of chili.
Some wanted eggs.
Some did not.
Fortunately, Jiang Ran had a sharp memory.
She clearly remembered who had arrived first and everyone’s preferred taste.
The stall itself was simple.
There was not even a canopy.
Just a small table and two stools.
But the prices were cheap.
People could eat food suited to their tastes while enjoying the lively atmosphere.
Jiang Ran worked at the front.
Jiang Song worked behind her.
By the time they had almost sold everything, it was even later than the night before.
Once they got busy, they completely lost track of time.
Jiang Ran always wanted to sell a little more.
But when she realized how late it was, the siblings had barely eaten anything.
They took the sugar cakes they had bought from Zhao Daniang, purchased a few steamed buns, hurriedly cleaned the bowls, chopsticks, and wooden buckets, and rushed home.
Whenever they got tired or hungry along the way, they took bites of the buns.
The buns from that shop were quite good, with thin wrappers and generous fillings.
After working all day, several strands of hair on Jiang Ran’s forehead had become damp and stuck together.
She took a bite of her bun every few steps.
“Brother, you should eat too.”
Looking at her munching on the bun, Jiang Song could not help saying,
“I’m not hungry. Today I asked around a bit. Renting a house here costs two or three strings of cash a month for somewhere livable. Over the next few days, I’ll keep asking and see if we can find a suitable place.”