Chapter 172: Should've Done This Long Ago

Fine, I'll be diligent and make some cured pork and sausage, and sell a few at the shop; that can count as the Small Food Puzi's signature.

I didn't expect Niu the Shopkeeper to have had the empty jars all cleaned out, filling the vacant rooms on the shop side with large jars.

Qiao Mai looked and got a headache; is this forcing her to pickle vegetables?

Fine then, if she doesn't do it, can't she teach them? Everyone's used to working; idleness makes them uneasy.

Niu the Shopkeeper bought three more workers, so now there are twelve people in the shop; supporting so many, how could they possibly sell only a little merchandise?

She selected the three clever workers who arrived from the back and directed them to make pickled cabbage, kimchi, fermented vegetables, spicy dried radish, spicy dried mustard greens, and garlic chili.

After teaching them several times, once they memorized it, she stopped intervening.

The household storeroom has plenty of ingredients; they can use them as they wish, and from now on this work won't have to pass through her hands.

Next came buying meat; she took several kitchen maids to the butcher shop, and the shopkeeper looked at her as if he had seen the God of Wealth.

This is also why Qiao Mai, watching the kitchen maids, decided—it's hard to have them cook for the family and also make sausages to sell up front.

Madam Wang immediately sent the manager of the Weicheng Restaurant to order sausages from Qiao Ji Snack Puzi; with this as a hook, the restaurant gains another specialty dish, and business will improve considerably.

But, not making money when you can is foolish, so he told his own wife about it.

"Ejiao Slices, eating them is good for the body."

"Sorry, our little shop sells them by the stick, five hundred Wen each."

"I can handle the spiciness."

They're all ordered loose; otherwise she'd have to do the packaging, and they're all packed in wooden crates, which she had already negotiated with the seller at purchase.

She kept one set for herself, sent one set to the old lady, making a total of six sets.

Wang Zongsheng listened and was both amused and exasperated; back then the Wang Family wanted the sausage recipe, but Qiao Niang stubbornly refused to give it—if she had given it to the Wang Family, this business would surely have risen another level.

They ordered six boxes of Ejiao, six boxes of lollipops, six boxes of milk candies, six boxes of crisp candies, six boxes of spicy sticks, and six boxes of pickled pepper chicken feet.

Within three days, after the popcorn and rice‑crust craze, Qiao Ji Snack Puzi sparked a sausage boom.

Sure enough, people are meant to be carnivores; after tasting them, customers went crazy one after another.

Anyway it's not outdoor work; when they have nothing to do they just sit inside, set up a cutting board and chop meat.

Thus Madam Wang instructed the restaurant: one sausage per plate, selling twenty plates a day; a sausage that costs five hundred Wen can be sold for over one liang per plate, showing how popular these sausages are in the Weicheng area.

It made him overjoyed; indeed that worker wasn't hired in vain—his words still carried weight at the Qiao Family.

Even the shopkeeper Tong of the Jingtai Restaurant enlisted Liu Hai to bring his apprentices to buy sausages.

So whenever the older women are idle, they go over to help, and they can make a lot of sausages in a day.

Qiao Mai pursed her lips, thinking that last year they delivered sausages, cured sausage, fruit, etc.; this year they're delivering these again?

She took a quick stroll through the space, felt there was nothing to eat, so she scrolled around the platform again.

"What kind of sausage is this and how much per jin?"

Niu the Shopkeeper naturally gave Liu Hai face, agreeing to sell Tong the Shopkeeper ten sausages each day, and not selling any more.

"Lollipops are for entertaining children; you can hold the little stick and eat. Milk candies are made from milk, with a rich milky flavor. Crisp candies suit those with poor teeth, but they're too sweet, so you shouldn't eat many. Spicy sticks are, of course, spicy, and the pickled pepper chicken feet are also spicy."

Thus the sausage showdown began, and it happened to be winter, suitable for storage, so the town's wealthy households rushed to buy.

"Thanks, though I'm in good health, I still need maintenance; I like this one, but what about the others? I've never seen them before."

Again it's chopping, then cleaning the small intestines, then seasoning, then stuffing, then drying, then steaming—truly a complex process; only then can people enjoy delicious sausages, there's no cheap shortcut.

Fine, silver is endless to earn, and I won't be petty about it.

Each household gets a box, plus some fruit and sausages; after allocating, they moved them to the Keting, and sent people to deliver them.

Back home she immediately began teaching them to make braised meat, cured sausage, garlic sausage, red sausage, luncheon meat; they mastered it in three days.

Niu the Shopkeeper, behind the counter, smiled as he watched the workers and customers haggle; he set the price and thought it very fair.

"Yes, yes, everything I've set aside for you is the freshest."

The Lu Family, Qin Family, Qian Family, and Weicheng Wang Family all sent New Year gifts, each time arriving earlier than the Qiao Family.

"These spicy sticks are good; the more you chew, the more fragrant and the more you want to eat."

The old gentleman, at every meal, cuts a plate and eats a few pieces with baijiu; these simple days are truly nourishing.

"Hmm, starting today until the twenty‑fifth day of the twelfth month, deliver one pig to my house each day; the more small intestines the better. By year's end, leave me three sets of pig heads and pig intestines, and keep all the pig trotters for me."

The old lady thought there would be no sausages this year, but she didn't expect Qiao Mai to put these delicacies on sale in the shop, so now there's another feast.

Although it's too hot to sell this, in the north from November to March there are five months suitable for selling it, which isn't a short period.

Originally Qiao Mai wanted to make them a meat grinder, but thought better of it; this way is fine.

In the middle of the twelfth month, the tasty sausages spread to the County Town and Fucheng.

Although each sausage costs five hundred Wen, the net profit is about four hundred fifty Wen, he knows that making such delicious sausages takes a lot of effort from the kitchen maids.

Qiao Mai announced that for each sausage sold, the kitchen maids receive a fifty‑Wen labor fee.

She felt a bit regretful; she should have done this long ago, she can't wait for everything herself.

"Yes, for blood deficiency, dizziness, palpitations, irritability, insomnia, and dry lungs, it has obvious medicinal effects; if you're fine, you can…"

She also didn't want to break the reputation of traditional handcraft; after all, chopped meat is more fragrant than ground meat.

"Ah, that's the price, no bargaining; good things are pricey, that's normal. If you don't buy, step aside, someone else will."

"Are you fighting over money?"

"Is that the one simmered with donkey hide?"

Items like braised meat and cured sausage take half a month, while other sausages, after a day of drying, can be steamed and sold.

The old lady immediately grabbed a small piece, ate it carefully, and while eating…

Traveling merchants, after tasting, were overwhelmed by the aroma; five hundred Wen a piece? Damn it, even if it's one liang of silver per piece, they'd still buy one just for the thrill.

The Weicheng Wang Family has an unusual relationship with the Qiao Family, yet they can't order many; Niu the Shopkeeper only gives them twenty sausages a day, ten days in total.

The old lady had someone call Qiao Mai over, "Wang Jiaru's Servant Girl, what is this black thing?"

The Kitchen Maids were especially happy; they got money and didn't forget the other servants at home—anyone who helped chop meat when they were free would receive a benefit.

So this single intestine sells for four hundred wen; it's truly not much—if you don't want it, just skip buying.

Those wealthy households sent people to Tianshui Town to purchase; those who couldn't buy paid a deposit, and once the date was set they would come back to collect it.

As for the cabbages, radishes, and the like, after she used them she moved them from the space to the warehouse, so regarding this account, Niu Shopkeeper always remembers the purchase price from autumn.

"Qiao Niang, you've arrived?"

Thus the daily inflow and outflow of meat were all recorded by Niu Shopkeeper.

When the people of the Chufang delivered red sausage, garlic sausage, and luncheon meat to the Small Food Puzi, Niu Shopkeeper knew they would definitely sell like hotcakes.

After finishing the spicy sticks, she reached for the pickled pepper chicken feet; the version Qiao Mai ordered is boneless, so the old lady didn't have to spit out any bones, eating while inhaling and huffing.

"So spicy—quickly bring me a cup of room‑temperature tea."

Seeing the old lady's expression, Qiao Mai laughed; even at such an age she's still such a glutton.

Mr. Wang is far stronger than she is; whatever he eats shows no reaction, he just keeps shoveling it into his mouth.

(End of chapter)