Hao Cheng asked the blacksmith to build a furnace with wheels underneath. After preparing the materials, she was ready to set up a stall at the market. In case of any accidents, she went to the government office to complete all the formalities before entering the market.
Originally, she thought that the government would have to negotiate for some time, but her new neighbor was a kind-hearted person and seemed to have some connections in the local area, so things went unexpectedly smoothly. In addition, the yamen runner in charge of the food market even specially arranged a good position for Hao Cheng.
There is a sign with the price written on it hanging on Hao Cheng's car. At Qiao Mu's suggestion, she gave the pancake a name, Ruyi Pancake. It's simple and crude, but sounds auspicious and easy to remember.
On the first day of business, Hao Cheng pushed the cart to his own position and quietly lit the charcoal fire in the stove with a fire starter. The customers thought the new food was fresh, but they had never tasted it and thought the cakes were a bit expensive, so most of them just looked at them and no one bought anything.
Children are more greedy and dare to try new things. When they smell the aroma, they pester their parents to buy it: "Mom, I want to eat that!"
The adults had no choice but to ask the child, "How much is this cake?"
"A vegan pancake with lettuce is ten cents each, and you can add other vegetables. A slice of meat is five cents, a piece of tenderloin is ten cents, a portion of shredded potatoes is three cents, and an egg is five cents."
Hao Cheng set the price after inquiring about the market. The best-selling Tianji meat buns here cost ten cents each, and ordinary fresh meat buns cost five cents. Raw eggs cost three or four cents, and tea eggs and fried eggs are generally five cents. The price she set was not high.
But the other party still frowned: "Why is it so expensive? Can't it be cheaper?"
Hao Cheng smiled: "I use good ingredients here, the portions are generous, and the pancakes use a lot of oil. But the stall is new, so the first ten customers will get a half-price discount in the first three days, but the half-price is limited to one pancake per person."
The half-price discount was more than a little cheaper, and it was only available to the first ten customers. The man bought one first to try it out and then said, "Just a plain pie with nothing on it." The child couldn't eat spicy food, so Hao Cheng added a sweeter salad dressing.
Hao Cheng took the five cents given by the other party, flattened the dough skillfully, and in a few minutes he wrapped the hot pancake and handed it to his first customer.
The child clamored for food, and the woman who came with her husband and child smiled and comforted him: "The cake is hot, I will cool it down and give it to you." The family of three stood in front of the stall. The woman took only one bite and said: "Two more cakes, no, eight more."
Hao Cheng said, "But there are only three of you here, so I can give you half the price for only three points."
The woman waved her hands impatiently: "I know, five servings is five servings, you just have to make it faster." She was reluctant to eat it before because she was worried that it would not taste good, but now that it tasted good, she was naturally happy to take a few back home for her family to try.
With the first customer acting as a live advertisement, more and more people came to Hao Cheng's shop. In a food street like this, those customers who wanted to buy but hesitated came to spend money. They knew that the first ten people in the first three days would get a half-price discount. It was a pity that they were unlucky and didn't catch up. But for the sake of food, they still bought one by one to try it out.
There are many rich people around here, so they are naturally happy to spend money on food. After hearing people around say that the food is delicious, they also hurried to join in the fun. Soon, a long line formed in front of Hao Cheng's car.
Qiao Mu was originally worried that Hao Cheng's business was not doing well, so she planned to ask her sisters to come and support him. But when she saw the long line, she realized that her worry was in vain.
Hao Cheng's business is good, and it was especially popular in the first three days. She brings fixed ingredients every day and leaves after selling out the day's ingredients. She never uses stale ingredients.
It has been a long time since Hao Cheng did such high-intensity work. After a day's work, his arms felt so sore that he sometimes couldn't even use his strength when eating, and he couldn't even pick up tofu with his chopsticks.
Hao Chengding's car was big, and when there were many people, there were six or seven pancakes frying on the iron pan at the same time. In the first three days, she made about six or seven hundred pancakes a day, and most of them would be added with eggs or lean meat. After deducting the fuel and oil consumption, the average net profit was eight cents per pancake, nearly five taels of silver a day.
Compared to opening a jewelry shop or something like that, it is nothing, but compared to the farmers in Xinghua Village who sell grain and mountain products, this amount of money is definitely not a small sum.
On the fourth day, fewer people came to try the new cakes, so she only had to make about 400 cakes a day. Sometimes, when more people came but she didn't have enough materials, Hao Cheng would close the shop early and leave. In short, she didn't make that money, but she never wasted materials. She took a break every six days a month, and set up the stall on time at other times. She didn't raise the price even if more people bought cakes. If someone was willing to give her money, Hao Cheng would nod and thank her without any flattery.
Hao Cheng is not bad looking, and she is also very careful about food hygiene. The key is that the things she sells are Hao Cheng. She has such a strong personality that even though she only sells a fixed number of hand-pulled pancakes every day, many more people come to buy these hand-pulled pancakes.
After things stabilized, Hao Cheng took a day off and specially prepared a sumptuous banquet to thank Qiao Mu. Of course, in addition to the main meal, she also specially cooked some snacks and sent them over: "Sister Qiao, you helped me so much, I don't have much to thank you for. These are some snacks I made myself, you can try them. If you like them, I'll make them for you next time."
Hao Cheng made fried chicken nuggets and taro sweethearts. The cut chicken nuggets were coated with flour and fried in pure natural and pollution-free vegetable oil. When the surface of the chicken nuggets turned golden brown, they were taken out and evenly sprinkled with pepper and specially prepared hot sauce that she bought at the market. The smell and appearance were enough to make people salivate.
The ingredients for making taro sweethearts can be bought in this market. She took a few medium-sized taro, washed and peeled them, steamed them, and then mashed them into purple taro paste. She took the opportunity to knead glutinous rice flour into it. Since the conditions were not good enough to make condensed milk, she added milk.
However, due to her skilled craftsmanship, without the need for molds, all of her taro sweethearts were the same size. She did not think of coming up with a new shape and used the heart shape that was often seen in fast food restaurants in her previous life.
Qiao Mu also had some understanding of Hao Cheng's cooking skills. Looking at the two large bags of snacks, Qiao Mu took the food with a smile: "It's just a small favor, why be so polite."
Having said that, she couldn't wait to taste a piece of golden chicken, which had a perfect color, aroma and taste. The skin was extremely crispy when she put it in her mouth, and it tasted delicious after a bite. The chicken was elastic, but very tender, so delicious that she wanted to swallow her tongue.
After eating two or three pieces of fried chicken in succession, Qiao Mu picked up a heart-shaped sweet potato. Hao Cheng made this snack very delicately, and for a moment she was hesitant and couldn't bear to eat it.
But I was tempted by the sweet taste and couldn't help but take a small bite. It was soft and sticky, fragrant and sweet, with a hint of milk. When I bit into the center, the semi-liquid taro filling flowed into my mouth, filling my mouth with sweet aroma. Even though Qiao Mu claimed to be a grown-up woman and didn't like sweets, she couldn't help but eat a few more pieces.
Seeing her expression, Hao Cheng was relieved and said, "It's a pity that we don't have enough time. If we can make the condensed milk, this taro sweetheart will taste even better.
Qiao Mu sighed with satisfaction: "Your cooking skills are so good. If you were a cook, I would like to bring you to my house and cook for me every day."
"Sister Qiao, you're joking. I just had nothing to do so I did it for fun. Don't mention being a cook."
It's true that Hao Cheng likes to cook, but the status of a cook in this era is too different from the world she used to live in. She likes to cook, and she can cook for her family and friends. If she puts her studies aside and becomes a cook, people around her will probably think she's crazy.
If she only works as a cook, it will be difficult for her to find a marriage partner. It's not that she has too high requirements, but for Hao Cheng, the future partner cannot only care about her life, spiritual communication is also important. It doesn't mean that they have to talk about love, music, chess, calligraphy and painting all day long, but they have to be able to communicate on the ideological level.
Although women are superior to men, society still puts a lot of pressure on women. Only despicable women would think of their husbands supporting them. Generally, women support their husbands and maintain the family's livelihood.
It is ironic to say the reality, but after several years of struggling in society, she is no longer the scholar she used to be, so there is nothing wrong with being realistic.
Qiao Mu smiled: "I was just saying that." If Hao Cheng really became her family's cook, it would be difficult for her to match her with her brother. It would be embarrassing if the eldest son of the city lord married a servant.
Looking at the elegant Hao Cheng, she suddenly waved her hand and strode towards the stables in the mansion: "I won't say any more to you. I have something to go out for. Thank you for the snacks, Sister Cheng."
She was riding on the horse, looking at the bag of snacks and thinking to herself, let her brother have a taste of the sweet snacks. Qiao Yu likes sweets the most, but she is very picky. After eating, she will definitely be curious about the person who made the snacks.
Jiang Mengzhen, who had arrived in Mingzhou City several days ago, got the news he wanted. The maid in green clothes said respectfully, "Master, we have found the person you asked us to find. She lives in the third green brick and tile house in Tongliu Lane at the east gate of the city."