Zhuang Zhuang enthusiastically went to prepare the fire. Xiaoguo poured the soup into a pot, and added all the noodles and fish balls when the soup started boiling. She also rinsed two stalks of baby bok choy and put them into the boiling soup. The greens were taken out shortly and served in a bowl. Zhuang Zhuang ran into the dining room with chopsticks in his hands.
At the dining table, Zhuang Zhuang blew hard at his food. Without waiting for the food to cool completely, he started wolfing down his meal. The potato starch noodles were smooth and springy. Every single strand of noodles had fully absorbed the rich flavor of the bone soup. Zhuang Zhuang picked up a fish ball and stuffed it whole into his mouth. It was absolutely delicious.
Xiaoguo added a large spoonful of chili oil into her bowl of soup, and took a sip of the broth. The flavors in her mouth were delightful. This was the taste she had been thinking about. Xiaoguo eagerly took a few more mouthfuls of soup. When they had finished eating, they were both drenched in sweat. Xiaoguo stopped Zhuang Zhuang from washing the dishes and told him to cool himself down before leaving the dining room. He could catch a cold if he were to go out while perspiring.
Zhuang Zhuang climbed into bed and thought about asking his mother for a story. However, he stopped himself when he was reminded of the fact that she had to wake up early the next day. He sat obediently beside Xiaoguo, leaning against her. Very soon, he fell asleep.
Xiaoguo patted Zhuang Zhuang till he fell asleep completely. Shortly after, she dozed off too.
It was still dark when Xiaoguo got up the next morning. She went straight to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Zhuang Zhuang. When breakfast was made, she kept the food warm by leaving it on the stove over a small flame. Judging from the amount of food she had made, there should be enough for lunch as well. Before leaving the house, Xiaoguo fed the donkey, loaded all the food onto the cart, and locked the door. It was still dark when she set off.
She had initially wanted to send Zhuang Zhuang to Mrs. Yang's house, but Zhuang Zhuang insisted on waiting for her at home. Xiaoguo had no choice but to let him be. Although she was a little worried, she knew that Zhuang Zhuang was a sensible little boy. He had promised to stay home, eat on time, and wait for her return. Hearing his words of assurances, she left the house feeling more at ease. She did think of bringing Zhuang Zhuang with her, but if she got too busy, she might not have time to look out for him at all. She didn't want anything to happen to him.
Xiaoguo rode the donkey cart to the market. There were not many people around at this time, and there were only a few stalls. The last time she was here, she had found out that anyone could set up a stall here. One just had to come early to reserve a spot. Xiaoguo didn't stop the cart and continued cruising around the marketplace.
Before Xiaoguo left her house for the marketplace, she had gathered everything she needed with the exception of cutlery. There weren't that many bowls at home, and even if there were, she didn't want to bring those for everyone to use. It wasn't realistic to buy them either. After paying for the donkey cart, she had no money left for anything else.
After thinking for some time, Xiaoguo recalled a place that she had passed by the last time. Mrs. Yang had said that it was the most populated area other than the market place. The families there were quite well-off. Xiaoguo decided to give it a try. If she were to sell the noodles there, the villagers could just bring their own cutlery to her stall then bring the noodles back home to eat. This would solve the problem of having no cutlery and seating for her customers. It was killing two birds with one stone.
She arrived at the place after a while. The villagers were still asleep and the street was quiet. Xiaoguo stopped the cart and carried down the big pot and stove. She lit a fire and began heating up the soup. In a short time, the aroma of the soup started wafting out. Xiaoguo lifted the pot lid to allow the inviting smell to travel through the alley ways. Then she took her time to prepare the other ingredients. She was confident of her soup base. She had added her secret mix of spices and the taste was absolutely divine.
Xiaoguo waited patiently for her customers to arrive. She took out the noodles and loosened the bundles methodically. Even though they were made the night before, the noodles strands were not clumpy at all.
After a short while, the dark row of houses were lit up with flickering candles simultaneously. Standing by the donkey cart, Xiaoguo could hear some sounds from around the corner of the street. A small smile tugged at her lips. Here we go. She thought to herself.
After a moment of silence, a woman appeared from around the corner. She walked purposefully towards the donkey cart—her eyes sizing up everything in front of her. She looked at Xiaoguo and the pot, but her eyes finally settled on the latter. "Oh my," she exclaimed to herself. She could smell this from her home. Now that she was up close, it smelled even better.
"Ahem, little woman, what are you selling?"
"It's fish balls and potato starch noodles," Xiaoguo said warmly to the woman. "Have one, Madam."
"Fish balls and potato starch noodles?" The woman was curious. This was new to her—she had never heard of such a thing before. "What's fishball potato starch noodles?"
Xiaoguo opened the lid on the basin and pointed it out to her. "These are fish balls. It's a type of meatballs made from grass carp. It's made out of fish meat only." With that, she took out two fish balls and cut them into four equal pieces. She then threw them into a strainer sitting in the pot. She lifted the cloth covering the noodles and continued with her introduction. "These whilte cylindrical strands are potato starch noodles. It's made from potatoes. On this side, I have white noodles made from flour. The soup base is made from pig bones and mushrooms…"
Xiaoguo spoke loudly. She knew that there were people listening nearby. These villagers had never seen anyone come to sell food, so they were a bit reticent about leaving their houses. They sent this lady as a representative to check out the situation. Once Xiaoguo was finished with her introduction, a flurry of discussions could be heard coming from the near distance. The woman was confused when she heard what Xiaoguo said. She could understand the words but she didn't understand exactly what she was hearing. She knew what potatoes were, but what was potato starch? She knew about grass carp, but how could it be made into balls? Do they taste good? And how much did it cost? It sounded quite expensive. And there was white flour. A series of thoughts raced through her head.
The woman looked conflicted. Xiaoguo continued saying, "Madam, have a bowl. It's ten copper coins for one serving. You just need to go home and bring an empty bowl."
The words rolled off her tongue, but in actual fact, Xiaoguo was unsure about the price of the noodles. The stall on the main street was selling a bowl of noodles for only five copper coins, whereas she was asking for double the price. Xiaoguo wasn't sure if these people could accept it. But when she saw the expression on the woman's face, she knew that it wasn't a problem at all. This made her even more certain that the people in this area were relatively rich. She didn't give a second thought about her selling price anymore.
The woman was relieved after hearing the price. She said generously to Xiaoguo, "Give me three bowls. One mushroom soup and two big bone soups. I would like some chili in the mushroom soup. Let me pay you first and I will run home for the bowls." With that, she dropped the money and ran home. Xiaoguo happily kept the money and started adding the noodles and fish balls into the pot. When the noodles were almost ready, the woman had returned with three bowls in her hand. There were many people following behind her. All of them had a few bowls in their hands, and they were headed in Xiaoguo's direction.
Xiaoguo served the woman first. After she left with her bowls, the people that were lined up behind her came forward and placed their orders in a flurry. "I want two bowls. I want four bowls. I want two bowls too. I want the mushroom soup with chili. I want three bowls of bone broth…"
Xiaoguo was overjoyed. She was going to make a fortune. She quickly collected money as she took the orders from the villagers. The commotion attracted some people from the next street. They had come to check out what was going on. When they saw that there was food for sale, everybody each bought a bowl to try—partly for the sake of novelty and also for the fact that it was affordable. The villagers were captivated by the food in their bowls as soon as they tasted it. The bouncy fish balls, springy noodles, and fresh vegetables—all these combined with the rich broth turned into an explosion of flavors when the food entered their mouths. The indescribable taste made everyone order one bowl after another.
Xiaoguo took the orders as they came in, trying to work as quickly as she possibly could. When she was going to make another bowl for the next customer, Xiaoguo saw that the ingredients had run out, so she announced to everyone loudly. "My fellow villagers, I'm so sorry. The last bowl had been sold out. The stall will be closed for today."
As soon as she finished speaking, chaos ensued among the people who were still waiting in line.
"Why is that? I haven't ordered yet."
"Exactly. I was thinking of buying the noodles."
"Little woman, I'm here again. I would like to buy two more bowls."
"I just got here. I have not even seen the soup after smelling the wonderful fragrance. Isn't that a torture?"
"Exactly. I came from the next street, I haven't got to my turn yet. Sigh."
"When are you setting up the stall again? Are you coming back here?"
Trying to reassure the crowd, Xiaoguo smiled and addressed each and everyone. "I'm sorry. There's really nothing left today. I apologize. I'm really sorry if you have specially made your way here. I'll still be setting up my stall here next time. For the next round, I will make sure to prepare more portions. If you have not gotten a chance to taste the food today, please come early the next time round."
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