The hot oil’s froth subsided, and the temperature reached the peak for stir-frying.
The pork intestines, marinated early in the morning with Sichuan peppercorn, shredded ginger, and other spices, slid smoothly into the wok.
The moment the water and oil met, a roaring flame leapt half a man’s height.
The spatula flipped swiftly in the firelight, and the soft intestines immediately plumped up.
Without delay, crushed celery, a pinch of salt, soy sauce, and shrimp powder were added for seasoning.
After a few skilful tosses, the celery softened just enough to absorb the flavor, and the dish was ready to be taken off the heat.
Just that instant, the aroma and spectacle drew several people crowding around the stall.
When Cao Wen lifted the wok with one hand and slid the cooked dish onto a plate, the crowd applauded enthusiastically.
“What is this? The aroma is so pungent, even stronger than fried rice.”
“Yeah, I could smell it all the way across the alley. I bet Cao Shi Fu set up the stall again today.”
The onlookers chatted excitedly amongst themselves.
“Cao Shi Fu, no fried rice today?”
“Fried rice will still be made, this is a new small stir-fry dish for the stall.”
Cao Wen wiped his hands on his waist and said, “Yesterday we took a day off to handle the rice harvest. This morning, we’re back out selling. Hope everyone will give this new dish a try.”
A passerby pointed at the oily, glossy dish, its color, aroma, and taste all inviting, and asked, “What exactly is this made of?”
“To be honest, it’s stir-fried pork offal from a recently slaughtered pig.”
Cao Wen picked up some chopsticks and offered the plate out a bit: “Feel free to try it first and see if you like it.”
“Oh, pork offal, huh?”
Upon hearing the ingredient, many in the crowd subconsciously frowned, as if recalling the strong, gamey, slightly chewy flavor in their mouths.
“What’s made is still food. I’m not afraid of pork offal at all.”
A man with his hands behind his back squeezed forward.
“Cao Shi Fu’s skills are great. Even when his stall isn’t in the usual spot, I can smell it from afar and find my way here.”
“Lucky today, there’s a small stir-fry. I’ll try it for everyone!”
The man twirled his index finger in the air and even sang the last sentence in an operatic tone, drawing laughter from those around.
Everyone watched as he picked up a piece of plump, swollen pork intestine with his chopsticks, frowned in concentration as he chewed, then swallowed silently before picking up a long strip of pork stomach.
“Liu Er Ye, don’t just eat silently. Tell us what it tastes like!”
“No words, no words! Don’t interrupt the tasting.”
The man called Liu Er Ye suddenly put down his chopsticks, pointed at the stall with his finger, and said, “Cao Shi Fu, give me a portion of this, and another of the liver-kidney stir-fry you mentioned. I’ll go get my food box and bring it back. Today, I’m taking these dishes to the Baili Lou to enjoy with some wine and opera!”
Without asking the price, he slapped some copper coins on the table, straightened his clothes, and hurried off.
“Crazy! Liu Ye didn’t say a word about the taste!”
The onlookers looked confused but watched him leave towards their own direction.
“You don’t know Liu Ye. When he goes to Baili Lou for opera and food, he always orders from the best restaurant in town and brings the dishes back.”
A sly young man said, “Judging by how hurried he was, not even bothering to bring a food box himself, the taste can’t be bad.”
After saying that, the young man grinned at Cao Wen.
“Cao Shi Fu, can I try some too?”
Cao Wen took the copper coins left by the man called Liu Er Ye and said, “It’s for everyone to try something new, no charge.”
As soon as he finished, the crowd grew even more interested in the formerly shunned pork offal, pushing forward to taste the fresh dish.
After this stir, business at the stall suddenly exploded.
Orders came in nonstop, and the few seats at the small stall were quickly filled.
“To-go order, one portion, please.”
“Cao Shi Fu, make one to be sent to the tea house in the back, alright?”
The buzz around Cao Wen’s ears never stopped, and both Xu Duoyan and Lu Lingbi were busy, barely standing still.
Luckily, the ingredients had been prepped ahead of time.
Whatever the customers wanted could be immediately cooked, and to keep the pork offal tender and crisp, it wasn’t stir-fried for too long, so the dishes came out quickly.
“What’s going on across the street? Everyone’s running over there.”
“I heard they came out with a new small stir-fry dish, tastes good, customers love it.”
The stall owner diagonally across from Cao Wen, seeing his own lonely two customers vanish to the other side, followed and never looked back.
The prices…
Clearly, the others had copied the recipe, but while the taste might not be perfect, it was at least seventy or eighty percent similar.
Besides, when this family didn’t open yesterday, the other stall’s business was doing pretty well.
Today, with their return, customers were pulled away.
Without shouting or hawking, the customers just followed the crowd as if the food was free.
“The business is booming, not only the stall customers but many tea houses and taverns have sent runners to queue up for purchase.”
Hearing this, the other stall owner slammed the spatula onto his iron wok with a bang.
“Father, why don’t we go back to our old trade? Selling tea and pancakes was fine too.”
The owner glared at the young apprentice beside him and scolded, “You shrink back at the first trouble? Do you know how much this iron wok cost? Now, we haven’t even earned back the cost and you want to quit? Where do you think the family money comes from!”
“You go see what the other stall is stirring up while the crowd’s big. I don’t believe they can sell what we can’t.”
After more than an hour of busy work, Cao Wen’s stock of ingredients was completely sold out.
Still, many diners lingered around.
Since such ingredients required a long preparation time, it was impossible to restock suddenly, so they could only send the customers away.
They settled accounts.
The three of them had their busiest day yet, drenched in sweat but spirits high despite the exhaustion.
“After all that, let’s go somewhere nearby to eat before heading home. Saves us the trouble of cooking later.”
Just as the words left his mouth, a man dressed like a waiter came up to the stall.
“Sir, we’re closing.”
“I know. Will you come back to set up again tomorrow?”
“Yes. What can I do for you?”
“Our master wants to pre-order two portions of the small stir-fry dishes to be delivered tomorrow night to the Lin Mansion on Tonghua Alley.”
Xu Duoyan took out paper and pen and noted the time and place.
“All right, the first order tomorrow. Once it’s ready, we’ll send it over.”
The waiter was satisfied, put twenty copper coins on the stall’s counter, and said, “This is the delivery fee from our master. You’ll be paid when the dishes arrive.”
“Good.”
After the man left, Lu Lingbi said, “I never thought even wealthy families would start eating pork offal.”
Then she looked at Cao Wen and smiled, “In the end, it’s still your cooking, A Wen.”
Cao Wen said, “Any business is business.”
The three happily cleaned up the stall, ate a simple meal in town, and then went home.
They were so busy at the market they never stopped moving.
At home, Xu Duoyan’s water pot was almost full when he threw it aside to first take out the money pouch.
Though he didn’t count it carefully, the purse lying on the table was visibly larger than usual.
He quickly untied it and counted.
“Pork offal sold for thirty-five wen per portion. According to previous estimates, each portion earned about twenty wen. It went so fast today, I lost track of how many portions we sold.”
“In total, today we sold all the pork offal and made thirteen hundred and thirty wen. After subtracting costs, that’s nearly one tael of silver profit.”
In other words, today was the best day since they started selling at the stall.
If not for running out of ingredients, Xu Duoyan believed they might have earned two taels of silver.
But business couldn’t be too greedy or reckless; earning this much from a new dish was already excellent.
“Tomorrow morning, try making two sets of pork offal dishes.”
Cao Wen proposed, and Xu Duoyan and Lu Lingbi had no objections.
They planned carefully since preparing more ingredients would take more time and effort.
It would be tiring, but now was the prime time to earn money, so the exhaustion was welcome.
“Elder Mother’s health isn’t good. She should rest and not overwork. We and A Yan can handle these matters.”
Lu Lingbi shook her head, “I took the medicine the Langzhong prescribed earlier; my old ailments have improved a lot. Having things to do keeps my spirits better than before. Don’t worry; I know my limits.”
Xu Duoyan nodded, “Mother’s complexion really is better, but she still can’t work too hard. Since we’re busy here with business, let’s not do the Fan Workshop work. Or at least do less of it. Don’t stay up late making fans.”
Lu Lingbi agreed, “All right, Mother will listen and not let you worry.”
“The water’s hot. Mother will go wash up first.”
“Okay.”
Seeing Lu Lingbi go to the kitchen to fetch water, Xu Duoyan poked Cao Wen.
“Weren’t you going to wash up early too?”
“I’ll get you some mint oil.”
Cao Wen squeezed the hand Xu Duoyan reached out.
“Then I’ll wash under the back eaves, near the outside water jar. Perfect for drawing water.”
Xu Duoyan agreed.
“Want to come with me?”
Cao Wen added, “You’re tired after a day. Better wash up early and rest.”
Xu Duoyan raised an eyebrow.
“You’re always on the bed morning and night. Is that just to get rest sooner? Aren’t you at your most energetic when you enter the house?”
Cao Wen blushed.
“That’s because you keep teasing me.”
“I tease myself. Who told you you’re so easily teased?”
Hearing Lu Lingbi close the door of the washroom, Cao Wen grabbed Xu Duoyan’s hand.
“Let’s go.”
After filling half a bucket of hot water, the two went under the back eaves to bathe.
Outside, no lamps shone, only faint, blurry moonlight.
Their limbs blurred in the shadows, leaving only outlines.
Cao Wen always took advantage of this time to steal kisses and touches, and Xu Duoyan enjoyed it too.
The summer heat was stifling, with endless chores; only these moments were truly relaxing for both.
After some time, though reluctant to stop, the mosquitoes grew fierce.
“That’s enough. Let’s go inside. I’ll wash these two sets of clothes so they’ll be dry by morning. You bring my clothes in. You forgot to grab them earlier.”
Cao Wen wore only underpants, bare-chested.
Compared to when he first came, his physique had grown sturdier.
“When there’s time, we should get some more cloth to make a couple more outfits.”
“More clothes just means more washing.”
Xu Duoyan tossed his shorts back to him.
“Want Mother to wash these for you?”
“No, no.”
Cao Wen took off the shorts and grabbed Xu Duoyan, who also wasn’t wearing a shirt.
“I just don’t want you feeding mosquitoes outside. Let’s take it inside and wash it there, I’ll do it.”
With that, he put the shorts in the washing bucket and lifted it.
Seeing the bucket taken away, Xu Duoyan had no choice but to follow him back inside.
“A Wen, are you home?”
Just as the two circled from the back eaves to the front yard, they heard someone calling at the gate.
Cao Wen recognized the voice.
Before they could answer, they saw Cao Yongquan standing in the moonlight, nervously covering his eyes, then letting out an awkward call.