Ding Lan’s hair was much longer, so it would take a while longer to dry.
But even though her hair wasn’t dry yet, she couldn’t just sit around doing nothing. Ding Lan began preparing dinner. Tonight, she decided, she would make hand-rolled noodles!
Hand-rolled noodles were one of her childhood memories. When she was very young, she often watched her grandmother make them, and she still remembered the process clearly.
Ding Lan went into the kitchen and found a large bowl. She poured in roughly one jin of flour, then added a beaten egg and a tiny pinch of salt. This was a special trick her grandmother had taught her.
Unfortunately, after growing up, she had never made hand-rolled noodles herself. She had always eaten ready-made noodles bought outside.
While kneading the dough, she slowly added water until it reached the right consistency—not too soft and not too firm. She then covered the bowl with a piece of gauze and let the dough rest for a while before rolling it out.
Rolling out the dough required some technique. First, both hands had to apply even pressure. To prevent the dough from sticking to the work surface, she sprinkled a little flour over it from time to time.
Once she had rolled the dough into a thin sheet, she folded it layer by layer.
The final step was cutting the noodles.
Ding Lan carefully sliced the folded dough into evenly sized strips.
And just like that, the hand-rolled noodles were finished.
She brought a pot of water to a boil and dropped the noodles in. Once they floated to the surface, they were cooked.
Ding Lan scooped out the noodles and rinsed them once in cold water. That way, they wouldn’t feel too hot to eat during the summer.
Next came the sauce.
Ding Lan thought about the vegetables they had left at home.
In the end, she decided to make a simple mixed vegetable topping.
She lightly stir-fried the remaining two eggs, then shredded the celtuce and cooked it in the wok. As for the celtuce leaves, she merely blanched them briefly in boiling water.
This bowl of hand-rolled noodles was incredibly simple—almost comically wholesome and plain.
But their ingredients were limited, so this was the best she could do.
Ding Lan mixed the noodles with the vegetable topping.
The taste was actually quite good. It wasn’t greasy at all, making it especially suitable for dinner.
After finishing her meal, Ding Lan combed her hair and went over to Auntie Liu’s house.
She knocked on the courtyard gate and called loudly, “Auntie Liu, are you home?”
“Coming!”
Auntie Liu quickly ran over and opened the gate.
Ding Lan stepped inside and discovered that the Liu family was eating dinner in the main room. Liu Dazhuang was there too. When he saw her, he shyly greeted her.
“Big Sister Ding.”
Ding Lan smiled and returned the greeting before turning to Uncle Liu.
“Uncle Liu, are you going to town tomorrow to sell vegetables?”
Uncle Liu nodded.
“Yes. Are you going to town tomorrow too?”
Ding Lan nodded with a smile.
“Yes, I’m going to buy a few things.”
Auntie Liu glanced at her curiously.
“What are you going to buy?”
Ding Lan smiled sheepishly.
“I want to buy some meat. And while I’m there, I’d like to look around for some work.”
Auntie Liu laughed heartily.
“Sure. Then ride with us tomorrow.”
Then she suddenly changed the subject.
“By the way, Xiaolan, how did you make those stir-fried chives and eggs today?”
Auntie Liu wasn’t the type to hide things from others, so she spoke frankly.
“I was thinking of turning them into pancakes and taking them to the market to see if I can sell them.”
Ding Lan hadn’t expected Auntie Liu to be so quick-witted.
She had only made a simple plate of stir-fried chives and eggs, yet Auntie Liu had immediately thought of putting them inside a pancake and selling them.
Who said people in ancient times were rigid and unimaginative?
As far as Ding Lan was concerned, people from the past were incredibly clever!
Ding Lan smiled calmly and sincerely praised her.
“Everyone knows how good you are at making pancakes. If you take them to town, I’m sure they won’t be hard to sell! These chives and eggs are very easy to make. I’ll tell you exactly how I made them.”
She then explained the entire process to Auntie Liu in detail, leaving out nothing.
After listening, Auntie Liu felt much more confident.
“I’ll try making them at home tonight. Then in a few days, I’ll take some to town and see how they sell.”
Since Ding Lan had already arranged to go to town with Uncle Liu the next day, she didn’t stay any longer. After saying goodbye, she returned to her own courtyard.
It was getting darker and darker outside.
Ding Qiao’s eyes were getting closer and closer to the fabric she was sewing.
Ding Lan immediately put on a stern expression.
“It’s dark already. Stop sewing! If you keep doing this, you’re going to ruin your eyes!”
Ding Qiao obediently put down her needle and thread and sat upright on the stool.
Ding Lan was speechless.
The two sisters sat on their stools and stared at each other.
There really wasn’t much entertainment in ancient times.
Once night fell, the two of them could either sit around doing nothing or lie down and go to sleep.
No wonder people in ancient times had such high birth rates.
Wasn’t it simply because there was nothing else to do at night?
Before long, their peaceful atmosphere was suddenly shattered.
Someone began pounding on the courtyard gate.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Ding Qiao jumped in fright.
Ding Lan patted her shoulder, stood up, and called toward the gate.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me!”
Ding Jing’s voice came from outside.
Ding Lan raised an eyebrow.
She leisurely walked over and opened the gate.
When she saw Ding Jing, she immediately put on a concerned expression.
“Xiao Jing, why did you suddenly come home?”
Ding Jing ignored her.
He angrily stormed into his own room, flung his sleeves, and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.
Wasn’t this tantrum obviously meant for her to see?
Did he really think she would be like the original Ding Lan and immediately run after him to comfort him?
She wasn’t going to indulge him!
Inside his room, Ding Jing sat there waiting for his big sister to come and coax him.
Once she came to comfort him, he could conveniently ask her for money.
But after waiting for quite a while, there wasn’t even a sound from outside.
Ding Lan had simply returned to her room with Ding Qiao and gone to sleep.
She had to get up early tomorrow to catch Uncle Liu’s donkey cart to town.
She didn’t have time to coax some half-grown boy.
The next morning, the chickens next door were already making a racket.
Ding Lan’s ears twitched.
It seemed Uncle Liu was already awake.
Ding Lan got up and put on her clothes. After quickly tidying her hair, she went outside to fetch water and wash up.
Once she had cleaned herself up properly, she headed over to Auntie Liu’s house next door.
Auntie Liu was busy loading vegetables onto the donkey cart.
When she saw Ding Lan, her face immediately lit up.
“Ding Lan, I made some chive pancakes last night. They turned out really delicious! I’ll go get a few for you to try.”
Ding Lan agreed and immediately stepped forward to help Uncle Liu load some of the vegetables onto the cart.
Auntie Liu came back carrying two chive pancakes and handed them to her.
“Try them. How do they taste?”
Ding Lan looked down at the small pancake in her hand.
Its surface was slightly golden.
She took a large bite.
As expected from someone who was an expert at making pancakes, the taste was excellent.
However…
Ding Lan gave her an honest suggestion.
“These chive pancakes really are delicious, but I think they’d taste even better if they were eaten while they’re still hot.”
Auntie Liu nodded in complete agreement.
“That’s true. They smelled absolutely wonderful right after I made them. Now that they’re cold, they don’t taste nearly as good.”
Ding Lan gave her an idea.
“Why don’t you take a small stove to town and cook them while you sell them?”
Auntie Liu’s eyes immediately lit up.
“That would work! Xiaolan, you really do have a clever mind.”
By then, Uncle Liu had finished loading all the vegetables onto the cart.
Ding Lan said goodbye to Auntie Liu and climbed onto the donkey cart in the back.
The donkey impatiently pawed at the ground.
Uncle Liu gave it a flick of the whip, and the donkey obediently set off toward town.
On the way, Ding Lan wasn’t idle either. She chatted with Uncle Liu about everyday matters.
Uncle Liu was normally a quiet man, but whenever the conversation turned to his son, Dazhuang, he suddenly became much more talkative.
Before long, they arrived in town.
After Ding Lan and Uncle Liu entered the market, they went their separate ways.
The first thing Ding Lan wanted to do in town was, of course, buy the meat she had been dreaming about.
Life without meat was truly miserable!
On the way, Uncle Liu had already told her which butcher shop had the fairest prices.
Ding Lan went straight to the butcher shop he had recommended.
The butcher was a burly man with a thick, intimidating face.
Although he looked somewhat fierce, his manner was actually very friendly.
“What would you like, young lady?”
Ding Lan asked about the prices.
Pork was rarely eaten around here. When people wanted meat, they usually ate mutton.
Beef wasn’t available at all.
In this dynasty, slaughtering cattle was against the law.
Ding Lan thought about it.
Mutton was fine in winter. A hotpot filled with mutton would certainly be delicious.
But eating mutton in the middle of summer seemed a little too warming.
In the end, she decided to buy some pork and bones instead.
She could use the bones to make soup, which would be good for her and Ding Qiao.
They couldn’t keep living with such poor nutrition.
She also bought some fatty pork to render into lard at home.
The meat cost her seventy wen.
Fortunately, she had brought her private savings with her today.
Ding Lan put the meat into her basket and began wandering around the market.
She soon noticed something familiar.
The little rabbit-shaped lanterns she had made just a few days ago were now hanging outside several lantern shops.
Ding Lan’s face went dark.
She had already expected this to happen.
She just hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly!
But after thinking about it carefully, she found it understandable.
The rabbit-shaped lantern had sold because it was something new and unusual. There wasn’t much technical skill involved.
Any experienced lantern maker would basically know how to reproduce it after taking one look.
It was the same with the chive pancakes.
If Ding Lan herself had made chive pancakes and sold them in town, she would probably only have had a novelty business for the first couple of days.
Soon, other vendors would follow suit and start selling chive pancakes too.
After all, the pancake only required two main ingredients: chives and eggs.
Other vendors could simply prepare the ingredients and experiment with the recipe at home a few times. They would figure it out eventually.
But if it were Auntie Liu making the pancakes, it would be completely different.
The reason was simple: Auntie Liu was already highly skilled at making pancakes.
Even if other people copied her recipe, their technique couldn’t compare with hers.
That meant Auntie Liu could turn the chive pancake business into something long-term.
This also served as a quiet reminder to Ding Lan.
People in ancient times didn’t have much concept of copyright.
She absolutely couldn’t underestimate their intelligence!
If she wanted to make money, she needed to think carefully about what kind of business to pursue.
If she was going to make something, she needed to make something that others couldn’t easily learn to copy.
Meanwhile, Ding Jing had spent the previous night throwing a tantrum.
The big sister he had expected to come and coax him never showed up.
He had ended up falling asleep hungry.
The next morning, he woke up with his stomach growling.
He wanted to call his big sister and have her make him something to eat.
He called out several times.
No one answered.
When he finally walked out of his room, he discovered that only Ding Qiao was at home.
She was sitting on a stool, completely absorbed in sewing.
Ding Jing asked impatiently, “Where’s Big Sister?”
Ding Qiao answered honestly, “Big Sister went to town.”
If his big sister wasn’t there, where was he supposed to get money?
He should never have thrown a tantrum the night before.
He should have gotten the money first!
Ding Jing thought to himself:
Big Sister’s money must be hidden somewhere in the house.
He glared viciously at Ding Qiao and demanded threateningly, “Where did Big Sister put her money?”
Ding Qiao was a little frightened.
“I—I don’t know. Big Sister said there isn’t any money left at home.”
Ding Jing snorted.
“No money? Then where did the fabric you’re holding come from? You have money to buy cloth but no money to pay my tuition?”
Ding Qiao nervously hid the fabric behind her back.
Ding Jing glanced at his timid little sister.
“Not going to tell me? Fine! I’ll find it myself.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he began rummaging through the house.
He threw open the quilts and pulled all the clothes out of the wardrobe, searching through everything.
One item after another was thrown onto the floor.
Ding Qiao was frightened into tears.
Her sharp cries only made Ding Jing even more irritated.
He angrily shouted at her, “Shut up! If you want to cry, go outside and cry!”
At that moment, Auntie Liu was returning from the fields.
As she passed Ding Lan’s house, she heard Ding Qiao’s crying.
She was startled and immediately assumed that something had happened.
She hurriedly pushed open the courtyard gate and rushed toward the house.
But the moment she stepped inside, the expression on her face completely changed