The hot mantou and buns sold a little less, but the tiny steamed buns were a great success. Many scholars liked to buy them as snacks. After renting the shop, Lu Liu had already told them he would be opening soon. For several days he had been calling out and even shared a password with them.
When the shop opened, if a customer came in and said, “Eat your fill, eat well,” he would give them a salted duck egg for free. This would be limited to the first three days.
It was his own idea. For the first time, he had stepped off the path his older brother had walked and taken a tentative step forward on his own. Whether it was good or not, he did not yet know. But after speaking of it aloud, he felt hopeful inside, a smile lingering on his face.
Da Qiang and Wang Meng both said to Li Feng, “Your fulang has changed so much.”
Li Feng could see it too. He urged the two of them to strive forward as well.
“When husband and fulang are of one mind, putting their strength in the same direction, work hard for a few years, and later you will enjoy the blessings.”
They nodded with cheerful smiles and said yes.
After Lu Liu finished at the stall, they all turned toward the docks.
Since this visit had been hurried, Lu Liu did not have many fine things at hand, so he sent along two sets of children’s clothes. He also had Li Feng go to a cosmetics shop to buy a box of fragrant balm and hand cream for each of his two good friends. The weather was turning cold; they could use it to keep their skin from cracking.
When the guests left, daily life continued.
Lu Liu met up with He Qingzao and called Shun Ge’er along. The three of them went to the general store to check for anything missing and make sure the shop had everything it needed.
He Qingzao asked Lu Liu, “Are those men from your hometown?”
He still lived in his old place, very close by. Da Qiang and Wang Meng were loud; he could hear much of their talk while sitting by his doorway.
Both of them cherished their fulang. He had once thought the Lu brothers’ husbands were exceptions. It turned out there were many such men.
Lu Liu told him they were indeed from the same hometown, all from one mountain stronghold.
Besides Wang Meng and Da Qiang, he spoke of other couples as well.
There were many unfortunate people in the world, but one had to keep moving forward and hold on to hope.
The divorce letter had not yet been signed. He wanted He Qingzao to feel a bit more confident, to look toward the future with expectation.
Light flickered in He Qingzao’s eyes as he listened.
“I used to dream of that kind of life,” he said. “The man would venture out and build a career, and I would keep the household in order. I kept saying I was wrong. It turns out I just met the wrong person.”
Shun Ge’er would not let him sink into melancholy and told him to go home and read the divorce letter three more times.
He Qingzao only nodded, agreeing to everything.
This time, they did not add many new items, but they bought extra duck eggs, salt, and wine.
During the opening days, they would use up hundreds of salted duck eggs. Lu Liu stocked up and would continue selling them afterward, asking He Qingzao to prepare more. They all helped.
The shop opened on the eighth day of the month. The day before, the whole family was busy. They simmered extra soup, prepared vermicelli and noodles. Because the shop would be open, they steamed three more baskets of buns and mantou than usual. Egg pancakes were kept warm in small steamers.
On opening day, they rose especially early. The little shop could not hold many people, and the courtyard was narrow. With one extra person, it became hard to move. So they stood by the wall opposite the shop, even bringing the little children out.
Lu Erbao and Wang Fengnian each held one child. They were strong.
Zhao Peilan still stumbled over her words and could not help much inside, but she had experience calling out for the stall. She walked toward the alley entrance and shouted twice that “Chi De Bao” was open.
The banner at the door was eye-catching. Passing scholars recognized it. Some, more outgoing, called out the password from afar. Shun Ge’er leaned out the window with a bright smile, ready to present a salted duck egg.
With its street-facing entrance, the new shop had a good location. Anyone passing by could buy a few buns or a bowl of soup.
With a permanent shop, there were more varieties of soup. In the same hours of sale, the first day’s revenue was more than four times that of the stall.
More people bought soup than expected. Considering it was the first day and the soups had not yet built a reputation, Lu Liu calculated the cost of each kind and sold them by the bowl. It was slightly more expensive than buying a whole pot, but customers did not have to spend much at once.
That morning, only a few people sat inside to eat. Most bought and left, or stood outside to eat and drink before returning the bowls and going.
Those who sat inside heard there were noodle soups and vermicelli soups. They skipped the buns and plain soup, ordering noodles instead.
After the morning rush, Lu Liu stepped outside to look around and decided to bring over the square table and place it outside.
A few customers could sit there. Many tea and noodle stalls set up outside; placing tables outdoors was no problem.
After the rush, they washed dishes and wiped tables and chairs. At noon, business was not as strong as in the morning.
At lunchtime, more people ate full meals; fewer chose noodles or vermicelli. The small shop could just seat them all. No one was overly tired.
The noon period ended quickly. After cleaning up, they returned home to simmer more soup.
Shun Ge’er was still excited. He stayed behind at the shop with He Qingzao. After wiping everything inside and out, they wiped it again, then stood outside looking around.
He wanted to paste the shop’s name on red paper outside.
“How is Brother Yang’s mind so clever? Red paper is truly eye-catching. All these gray shops in a row, but once we hang a red sign, ours can be seen at a glance!”
He acted at once. That afternoon, Shun Ge’er cooked up some paste and carefully wrote “Chi De Bao” in straight, even strokes, pasting the red paper above.
Li Feng returned early that day and deliberately stopped by the shop. Lu Liu was like a little magpie, every word he spoke was good news.
“Everything went smoothly. We earned over one tael of silver in a single day. At this rate, in a little over a month we will recover the rent and the cost of furnishing the shop.
“It still feels like a dream. Today I was worried someone might come cause trouble on purpose. Thankfully no one did. Da Feng, I suddenly understand my brother’s shock when he first came to the prefectural city. Everyone can eat their fill and earn silver. Even on the same street, opening shops side by side as competitors, people remain cordial. If there were fewer customers, it would be entirely different.”
He imagined that after his brother arrived in the city, his views on business must have changed.
Just like this shop opening had changed him. Somehow, his heart felt broader, many narrow thoughts falling away.
That evening, they all ate at the shop. Three families gathered, sitting in three circles, even bringing the square table inside.
They all had noodles or vermicelli with their preferred soups. Li Feng had a large appetite and, beyond that, still ate two mantou.
A breeze blew outside. They closed the window and lowered the door curtain. Several lanterns lit the room, filling it with warmth.
A passerby heard voices inside praising this soup and that one, glanced back, and realized the shop was still open.
He paused, listening as they discussed how each soup was simmered, how ingredients were prepared, what kind of fire was used, how long it should be stewed for the freshest taste, what flavors it had, what customers said about it…
The voices were many and mingled, joy spilling out through the gap in the curtain, along with the fragrant aroma of soup.
They raised their brows slightly, looked at one another, and decided to step inside for a taste.
The family was eating. Only a few customers came that evening. Seeing they did not mind squeezing in, Lu Liu treated them to mixed mushroom noodle soup.
A steaming bowl was set on the table. The hand-pulled noodles were springy and firm; the mushroom broth was rich and savory. On an early autumn night when the temperature had just begun to drop, in this little eatery filled with the warmth of daily life, they ate until they were full and warm.
In that homelike atmosphere, Lu Liu found clarity.
He now understood the positioning of his small eatery. After deciding what to sell, he also had to give customers a feeling of home.
Students studying far from home would always miss it.
……………………………..
The first festival after the new shop opened was the Mid-Autumn Festival. Wanting to create a homelike feeling, Lu Liu began preparing several days in advance. He asked Zhao Peilan to help write many riddles. It did not matter if some were repeated. They rolled them up, tied them with thin hemp string, and hung them in the shop.
The shop was small, and the lanterns were hung from the beams. In one row hung three medium round lanterns. Each lantern bore a single character, together forming the sign “Chi De Bao.”
Lu Liu made six strings of riddles. They did not hang high overhead, only at the ends, so customers could reach them easily. In total, there were sixty riddles.
