Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 65: Planning to Expand the Market

Chapter 59

Planning to Expand the Market

"Come on in everyone! Today, I have a delicious treat that none of you have ever tasted before. Come and have a taste! It’s filling when eaten with our special sauce and sticky rice, and it’s not expensive either. Please give it a try!"

A chubby little girl with a protruding belly stood on a chair in front of her stall, shouting to attract customers. Her high-pitched voice drew the attention of shoppers passing by.

"Please, beautiful aunties and handsome uncles, have a taste first. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to buy it," she said, waving her small hand at the onlookers.

"Isn’t that just regular grilled meat? How is it different from others?" A young woman asked.

Xiaolin turned to see a well-dressed young lady looking at the trays of grilled pork liver and intestines. The tray next to them even had big fish. Smiling sweetly, Xiaolin responded,

"Beautiful sister, it’s true that this is just regular meat, but it’s seasoned with my ancestral recipe, making it different from others. You have to taste it to believe it." Xiaolin had prepared small pieces of grilled liver and intestines with toothpicks for sampling.

"You won’t charge me for trying the sample, will you?" The young woman asked playfully.

"Even if you don’t buy it, I still won’t charge you," Xiaolin replied.

The girl was hesitant because of the dark color of the grilled meat, the young woman was drawn by the enticing aroma and picked up a toothpick to try a piece.

She tasted the soft meat with a slightly salty and sweet flavor, enhanced by mild spices. At first, she thought the meat would be rough like other grilled meat but she was pleasantly surprised by its tenderness.

"It’s delicious!" She exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise. Xiaolin giggled in delight.

 "Try it with my sauce, just a little bit,"

Following the advice, the young woman found the spicy, salty, and sour sauce complemented the tender meat perfectly. She noticed some unfamiliar rice nearby and took a small bite along with the meat.

"I love it! I’ll take twenty skewers! Also, this rice and the sauce."

"Sure! The meat you tasted is pork liver. It might not sound appealing, but it’s very nutritious if cleaned properly, you can just use it for cooking. Plus, it’s delicious."

Hearing this, the young woman paused and made a curious expression, looking at little merchant who was still speaking so clearly. She was then interested hearing the nutritional benefits from the girl.

"Is it really nutritious?"

"Yes, it helps with blood pressure, eyesight, and skin health. But don’t eat too much, as it can make you sick."

"Really?" The young woman nodded, surprised by the variety of benefits.

"And what about this?" she asked, pointing to a lighter-colored meat.

"That’s pork intestine. I can assure you that we thoroughly cleaned and boiled with herbs to remove any unpleasant odor. so, you can be sure it’s definitely not going to stink."

Despite looking pale upon listening to Xiaolin but she continued to dip the grilled intestine in her mouth. She even had pork liver before so pork intestine shouldn’t be too hard to eat.

The soft and loud crunchy chewing sound resonated. The meat had that sweet and salty taste to it but the texture was so much crunchier, different from liver, making the girl like it so much she had to have another one.

"I’ll take twenty more skewers of this, little vendor."

"Sure, beautiful sister! The grilled liver and intestines are ten brass coins per skewer, and the sticky rice is five brass coins per pack. How many packs of rice would you like?"

"I’ll take ten packs."

"Got it!"

The chubby little girl jumped off the chair, dragged it to the side of her stall, and climbed back up. With nimble hands, she wrapped the twenty skewers of liver and intestines in banana leaves, securing them tightly.

"The liver and intestines are ready, as well as the sticky rice." She handed over the beautifully arranged packs of sticky rice in a basket to the customer.

"We also have salt-grilled fish if you’re interested," Xiaolin added, eyeing the handsome uncle standing silently by the fish grill.

"Salt-grilled fish?" The young woman asked, looking at the large fish covered in white scales.

"Yes, it’s freshwater fish stuffed with herbs to remove any odor, then coated in salt to enhance the flavor. You peel off the skin before eating, and it comes with a spicy dipping sauce." Xiaolin hopped down from the chair and walked over to the fish tray, enthusiastically explaining.

"Eating it with fresh vegetables like napa cabbage, cucumber, or coriander, or even blanched vegetables, makes it even more delicious. But since our garden veggies aren’t ready for harvest yet, we only sell the fish for now," she said with a wide smile.

"In that case, I’ll take one fish as well."

"Sure thing! Uncle, wrap up the fish quickly," Xiaolin shouted to Liu Hao, who had been busy grilling the fish.

Xiaolin scooped the dipping sauce into small cups and handed them to the customer, along with the other items. She reminded them to carry the sauce carefully to avoid spilling before they got home.

"Hehe. Here’s your change, uncle," she said, handing a lump of silver to Liu Hao, who put it in his small wooden box.

"Are you here to sell fish or just to grill them?" Tianchen teased, causing Liu Hao to cough awkwardly.

"I’ve never sold anything myself. Whenever I come with Xiaolin, I just help with the items," Liu Hao explained, his ears turning red. He saw that the chubby girl was calling for customers and got shy thinking he’d have to do it as well.

"You should try selling yourself! It’ll be good practice if you ever open your own shop."

"Why don’t you try shouting for customers then?"

"Why should I? I have Xiaolin for that."

Xiaolin, overhearing the conversation, shook her head slightly at her uncle. He kept telling other people to shout for customers but he also didn’t want to do it himself. She then continued to count the brass coins in her hand, totaling four strings and fifty brass coins.

"How much for this fish?" A middle-aged customer asked, approaching the stall. Xiaolin quickly put the brass coins into a wooden box and rushed to assist the customer.

"One silver tael per fish. They’re large and well-coated with salt for extra flavor. I guarantee the meat is juicy, not dry, and has no fishy smell." the little merchant did her job enthusiastically.

"I’ll take two fish. And I saw you selling rice to that young lady earlier, is that right?"

"Yes, sticky rice is five brass coins per pack."

"Then I’ll take twenty packs of rice as well."

"Got it!"

Liu Hao and Xiaolin quickly prepared the items, while Tianchen grilled and sampled the liver and intestines at his leisure. It was unknown whether or not he was there to sell food or grill the food to eat himself.

"Thank you for your support. Enjoy your meal!" Xiaolin beamed at the customer as he walked away.

"Take care of things here. I’ll add more salt to the fish," Liu Hao said, pushing the money box towards Xiaolin.

"Got it!"

The little girl divided the money into two boxes—one for herself and one for Liu Hao—since the fish vendor didn’t want to handle money with his dirty hands, leaving Xiaolin to manage it instead.

"Little merchant"

"Oh, auntie," Xiaolin greeted with a smile. She recognized the woman as the first customer who bought grilled chicken yesterday.

"Aren’t you selling grilled chicken today? I came to buy more. It was delicious—tender, not dry or tough like others I’ve had," the middle-aged woman said, looking disappointed as she scanned the stall.

"Catching chickens is quite difficult, so I switched to selling grilled pork liver and intestines. They’re thoroughly cleaned and boiled with herbs to remove any strange smells,"

"I trust you. Even the chicken innards yesterday did not smell bad and were delicious. My husband and children loved it and asked for more. I planned to buy more today, but it’s a pity you’re not selling them anymore,"

"If you want grilled chicken, you can place an order in advance. It will take about two days,"

"Alright, I’ll order five grilled chickens and pick them up in two days. For today, I’ll take ten skewers of grilled liver and intestines, two fish, and ten packs of sticky rice."

"Got it! Today we have two dipping sauces as well: one for the grilled liver and one for the grilled fish."

"Great! I can see which one tastes better with the sauce,"

Tianchen helped his niece wrap the food since Liu Hao was busy salting the fish. After handing the order to the customer, Xiaolin counted the money, dividing it into the wooden boxes. Besides the payment for today’s sales, she also received five silver taels for the chickens.

"Business is great today! We’ve sold over half of our grilled liver and intestines and five fish. How many fish did you prepare, uncle?" The chubby girl asked Liu Hao, who was behind the stall.

"Fifteen. We have ten left."

"After we finish selling, are you going to buy land and hire a carpenter to build the shop?" she asked.

"I plan to hire locals to build a small stall next to the market. Once it’s done, we can move there. What do you think?" Liu Hao replied.

"That sounds good! We should also set up tables for customers to eat at. Maybe two tables with four seats each," Xiaolin suggested, opening a pack of sticky rice as she spoke.

"How about selling grilled squid as well? And we should sell liquor too," Tianchen added.

"Uncle!" Xiaolin shouted, startling both Tianchen and Liu Hao.

"What is it? You scared me," Tianchen said, placing a hand on his chest and looking at his wide-eyed niece.

"Let’s open a tavern! Hehe, we can sell grilled food and liquor."

"I was just joking, no need to take it so seriously. Turn around and look behind you," Tianchen said, shaking his head at his niece’s idea. Xiaolin turned around and saw her father’s stern face.

“Oops! Hehe, father.” Xiaolin looked at her father’s stern face and laughed nervously.

"How are you thinking of selling alcohol at this age?" A voice from the other side made the Tang family members turn around.

"Uncle!" Xiaolin beamed as she saw Zhou Ming approaching with his entourage.

"Are you out shopping, Uncle?" she asked.

"I finished work early, so I thought I’d check out your market. There are a lot of people shopping today, Tianrong," Zhou Ming said, turning to Tianrong, who quickly changed his stern expression.

"Yes, governor. I believe the market would be even busier if the vegetables and fruits were ready for sale," Tianrong replied.

"Mm, I agree. I’ve mentioned your market in the city council meeting. I want to support it as the new market for our city. It’s clean and well-organized. The city market is chaotic and overcrowded, often giving opportunities for thieves," Zhou Ming explained.

"You mean..." The Tang family members looked at each other in surprise.

"I think it would be good to move the market out here."

Xiaolin’s mind raced, thinking of the large dome markets from her previous life, complete with parking lots and restrooms for emergencies.

If she could accomplish that, it would reduce a lot of congestion , given the current market’s crowded, chaotic conditions with narrow streets from adding more stalls and the amount of people that was too big.

"Would it be possible for you to expand the market?"

"Yes, it would!"

Xiaolin’s small voice caught everyone’s attention, including Zhou Ming’s entourage.

"How would you do that, Xiaolin?"

"I have a plan, but I’m just a small village girl. Doing something big would be difficult," Xiaolin replied, looking down sadly and fiddling with her fingers. The adults felt both pity and affection, while Tianrong and Zhou Ming, knowing the cunning child, exchanged knowing looks.

"Hehe, I can support you with a budget of three hundred gold taels."

"Deal! Hehe,"

"This kid... Now, tell me your plan."

"We need to allocate the market space properly. Most of the market goods are vegetables, fruits, and meats, both fresh and dried, right?"

"That’s right, along with some handmade goods and various snacks,"

"At the moment, our market has about thirty stalls. If we build a new building, we could designate one side for vegetables, fruits, and items without strong odors, while the other side could be for meats and fresh fish. What do you think, Uncle?"

"Excellent idea," Zhou Ming nodded in approval, looking at the chubby girl with admiration while his entourage quickly took notes.

"I’ll make the new building larger, with fifty stalls for selling vegetables and fruits, as there will likely be more of those than meat. The existing building can be converted into a meat market."

"Do you have any other suggestions?"

"Yes, I do! We should buy an additional three mu of empty land to create a dedicated parking area for carriages and carts. We can use wooden stakes and ropes to organize the space and instruct market-goers to park their carts neatly, preventing obstruction in both the parking area and the streets," Xiaolin proposed.

"And we should build multiple toilets to accommodate those who might need them right away,"

"Hahaha! Tianrong, let me adopt Xiaolin," Zhou Ming laughed heartily, turning to Tianrong, who turned pale at the suggestion.

"I only have one daughter, governor," Tianrong nearly cried, wondering why everyone wanted to take his daughter.

Meanwhile, the chubby little girl being discussed was happily munching on grilled intestines and sticky rice, oblivious to the adults’ conversation.

-----

Read ‘Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family’ before anyone else with more Chapters at https://www.jinovel.com/en