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Chapter 9
Outside the crowd, Li Shuchen gazed at the young girl who was surrounded.
She was dressed in a plain gray cotton coat, her hair casually tied up with a few stray strands adorning her temples. Although she seemed inconspicuous among the crowd, her gaze firmly held his attention.
She was sincere and kind, vibrant and alive, different from any woman he had encountered before.
After half an hour, Qi Huan put down the guzi that she had borrowed for demonstration, cleared her throat, and moistened her lips.
"Has everyone learned it?... I've posted the steps of the Heimlich maneuver here. If you forget, you can come and take a look."
The crowd echoed in agreement.
Their eyes said they had learned it.
... Their hands said they wanted to borrow the guzi for practice.
A cold wind blew, and Qi Huan shrunk her neck, slipping to Li Shuchen's side. "Let's go home quickly. I'll make steamed egg custard for you at noon."
"Mm."
Back at home, Qi Huan pulled Li Shuchen to help her light the fire, and soon two bowls of steamed egg custard were ready.
After finishing their lunch, Qi Huan received a familiar prompt: "Good deed +1, score +100."
She curled her lips and couldn't help but hum a tune.
After the system finished reporting the bonus data, instead of falling silent as usual, it said, "Host, this system is a bit confused."
"What don't you understand?"
"Helping Li Shuchen earns you 100 points effortlessly. But when you promote the Heimlich maneuver, you have to work hard, and you only get points when you actually help someone, with a maximum of fifty points. Why do you still want to do it?"
Qi Huan put down the cloth in her hand and answered seriously:
"...Promoting the Heimlich maneuver, maybe one day in the future, I can save another child like Guzi. I think it's more meaningful than making a meal for Li Shuchen or giving him clothes."
"You're right, host."
The system's question, however, left Qi Huan deep in thought.
During these days, she had been revolving around Li Shuchen to earn more points. But in fact, Yan Qinghe and the others also needed a lot of help.
For example, buying them a set of warm thick cotton jackets.
She pinched her empty wallet and bought some more spicy cabbage, planning to sell them at the market the next day.
After bidding farewell to a few returning customers, a well-dressed middle-aged man arrived.
"Little girl, I'll take all your spicy cabbage," said Shopkeeper Chen from Ruyi Restaurant. After accidentally tasting it the other day, he couldn't stop praising it.
Although Qi Huan didn't know his identity, she could tell he was a big customer. She immediately responded, "Alright!"
After giving the spicy cabbage to Shopkeeper Chen, she said confidently, "It's a total of fifty-eight wen. Since you're buying a lot, I'll charge you fifty-five wen. Come back if you enjoy it."
Shopkeeper Chen counted the copper coins, handed them to her, and then didn't rush to leave.
"Little girl, I'm Shopkeeper Chen from Ruyi Restaurant on the street ahead. You can call me Uncle Chen. Today, besides buying your spicy cabbage, I mainly want to discuss a business opportunity with you." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝓮𝓌𝑒𝒷𝘯ℴ𝑣𝓮𝓁.𝒸ℴ𝘮
"A business opportunity?"
Qi Huan quickly understood and happily replied, "Sure!"
She shook off the snowflakes on her sleeve and thought to herself, "It's snowing again. The weather is getting colder. If I could secure business with Ruyi Restaurant, I could directly deliver the dishes there and avoid freezing here."
"Miss, here's the thing. I've tried your spicy cabbage, and it has a good texture. It's a fresh way of eating. I'd like to discuss with you the idea of delivering all your spicy cabbage directly to our Ruyi Restaurant's kitchen. As for the price..."
Stroking his beard, Shopkeeper Chen made a decision, "Let's stick to the original price you set."
The spicy cabbage sold at her stall cost two wen per piece, but at Ruyi Restaurant, the price would be different.
The customers at Ruyi Restaurant were considered the wealthiest in the entire Mo County. If the price was too cheap, they would feel it didn't match their status.
After some calculations, Shopkeeper Chen estimated he could make a small profit.
Facing Qi Huan, he became even more amiable.
"Alright! Let's settle it this way." Qi Huan had no objections. Selling at the same price, she would definitely choose the most effortless method.
For the next half month, Qi Huan diligently delivered the spicy cabbage to Ruyi Restaurant on time and in the desired quantity.
Until one day, after delivering the goods, she was asked to stay by Shopkeeper Chen.
"Qi Huan, from now on, you only need to deliver eighty pieces of spicy cabbage daily. It's getting colder, and the customers feel a bit chilly. There aren't as many orders."
"Uncle Chen, the spicy cabbage can also be served hot. I have a few recipes about spicy cabbage. Would you like to buy them and expand the menu?"
"Oh?" Shopkeeper Chen stopped in his tracks and chuckled, "You want to sell me recipes?"
"That's right."
Soon after, Qi Huan was invited into the kitchen.
She first heated the wok and fried the sliced pork belly until slightly curled. After adding a few drops of yellow wine to remove the gamy taste instead of cooking wine, she added potato slices and stir-fried them over high heat.
She poured in some soy sauce and then added the chopped spicy cabbage. After the potatoes were cooked, she added a little salt and served it.
"Uncle Chen, please taste it."
Qi Huan held the plate in both hands and offered it to Shopkeeper Chen with a beaming smile.
Taking the plate, Shopkeeper Chen lifted his chopsticks and first picked up a piece of pork belly, then a piece of potato and spicy cabbage, savoring them slowly.
The spicy cabbage, with its lactic acid fermentation flavor, infused into the soft potato slices, combined with the savory aroma of the pork belly. It was slightly spicy, not greasy, and the various flavors collided on his palate, greatly satisfying his taste buds.
If paired with white rice, he could eat several bowls of it.
Shopkeeper Chen nodded in approval and waved for the chefs in the kitchen to come over. "You all should try it too."
"Not bad."
"It's delicious."
The chefs all agreed one after another.
Seeing their reactions, Qi Huan's smile grew even wider.
The plate of food was quickly finished.
"Uncle Chen, how was this dish?"
"Not bad, not bad at all. The taste is excellent!"
"...Alright then, I'll give you an extra one hundred wen today, considering it as a fee for teaching you this dish. Tomorrow, please continue delivering the spicy cabbage as before."
After being sent away with one hundred wen, Qi Huan's smile remained, but she had a new understanding of Shopkeeper Chen in her heart.
Although Mo County is located in a frigid region and economically underdeveloped, the recipe for a dish is not worth merely one hundred wen, no matter how inexpensive it may be.
It was evident that Shopkeeper Chen thought she was young and easy to deceive.
She knew the method for making this spicy cabbage stir-fried pork dish, and there was no need for her to teach it again. Even the experienced master chef and even Shopkeeper Chen himself could imitate it after reading it once.
Even if she requested to make it separately, they could look at the ingredients, taste it, and still make it almost perfectly.
Therefore, her intention was not focused on this dish but on the subsequent ones.
"Uncle Chen, are you only willing to pay one hundred wen?"
Upon hearing her questioning, Shopkeeper Chen proudly replied, "Our master chef can also make this dish now, and one hundred wen is already quite a lot. Hurry up and accept it."
Qi Huan pretended to be disappointed, lowering her brows and eyes. "Oh, originally, I still had a few other recipes that I wanted to sell together. But since the silver coins are far below expectations, I guess I'll go elsewhere and inquire."
As she said this, Shopkeeper Chen became somewhat anxious. "The largest restaurant in Mo County is our Ruyi Restaurant. If you go elsewhere, you won't get a good price."
"Well then, I won't sell it."
After carefully keeping the string of copper coins she had just received, Qi Huan turned around to leave.
But as expected, she was stopped.
A faint smile curved on her lips. She had won this psychological battle.
Looking at the young girl in front of him once again, Shopkeeper Chen persistently tried to entice her. "Little Qi, the price is negotiable. First, make the remaining dishes, and Uncle Chen will taste them to see if he wants to buy."