Operating A Stall (4)

"Good! That's the reply I've been waiting for. In that case, I'll reserve one of the stalls for you and your so-called reliable big brother. I hope you won't disappoint me." Xiyang Xiao said while putting his hands together at the back.

"Tomorrow. I'll be looking forward to seeing both of you outside of my restaurant by tomorrow. I hope you'll be well prepared because those who failed are usually those overconfident with themselves." Xiyang Xiao added another line of advice before he left.

"I will see you tomorrow, mister. We'll make our way to the Xiyang Pavilion early in the morning," said Yuan Ling while waving her hand at the leaving Xiyang Xiao. Staring carefully at the leaving silhouette, he gave Yuan Ling an expression of someone reliable and trustworthy.

A smile immediately appeared on Yuan Ling's face after Xiyang Xiao's silhouette was gone from her sight. This means he had left further than her eyes could see. And without further ado, Yuan Ling turned around and quickly made her way home.

A hint of impatience was clearly visible on her face as she picked up her walking speed to reach home faster. From the look of it, she wanted Yuan Long to be the first person to listen to what transpired here.

----

'This lass had some potential. Would she possibly reach the Foundation Realm's fourth stage if she's provided with the same resources as the village's top ten promising youths?' Xiyang Xiao said to himself while seated on a three-level tall pavilion's balcony.

A locally brewed grain liquor bottle was in his hand, known as Nong-Jiale or Farmer's Delight.

This grain-brewed liquor was named this way because they're the simplest and easiest alcoholic beverage a farmer can brew. But no matter how easy it can be made, the art of controlling the strength, aroma, and taste differed from one farmer to another.

Weirdly, Xiyang Xiao was fond of these kinds of cheap, unregulated, hardly delicious liquor. And to make it more obvious, he was someone who wouldn't touch a single drop of alcohol if he had to cook for that particular day.

"Wen-Er, come here." suddenly, Xiyang Xiao mentioned someone's name.

His calling brought a youth around Long Yuan's age to his side. From the facial similarity they shared, it was evident that this Wen-Er was someone related to Xiyang Xiao.

"Father." the youth cupped his hand together and greeted the instant he stood beside Xiyang Xiao. This person is precisely Xiyang Xiao's only son.

Fifteen years old, with a tall build more fitting to become a blacksmith than a cook like his father. But precisely because of this build, his father effortlessly put most of his resources into nurturing this averagely talented son.

His name was Xiyang Yuwen.

"Tomorrow, there will be a pair of siblings around your age coming for a stall to sell some Mantou. Make preparation to receive them. At the end of the day, just collect what they gave you, with no question asked." he said tipsily.

"Do you understand?" Xiyang Xiao asked.

"Yes, dear father." Xiyang Yuwen replied. He's wondering why his father would place so much attention on the pair of siblings that would appear tomorrow.

But no matter what, all he needs to do is receive them properly.

"Wen-Er will arrange adequately to receive them tomorrow," he added before leaving the room.

'Hopefully, this would be good for the younger generation to bond together and improve themselves. The young lass might be lacking in many places, but not her cultivation. If Wen-Er could learn a fragment of what she's doing, perhaps it wouldn't be too far from reaching the Foundation Realm's fourth stage before the end of this year...'

Xiyang Xiao thought while he took another sip of the poorly brewed liquor. To the others, this jar of alcoholic drink was only drinkable when one wished to get drunk. While to Xiyang Xiao, this taste kept him hopeful for what would come.

-----

Meanwhile...

Yuan Ling was finally home after walking home in a hurry without taking a rest in between. Her expression also looked brighter the closer she was to her house.

She already could see what her beloved Long-Gege doing from afar. And it doesn't matter even if she couldn't, because she knew where exactly her brother would be at this time.

Recently, Yuan Long can only be seen around two places. Either around the stove area or operating the quern to mill the wheat grain he collected.

"Long-Gege!" Yuan Ling shouted cheerfully when she was about a hundred meters away from her home. Her loud but sweet voice immediately caught Long Yuan's attention while working with the quern.

"What are you hurrying for, you naughty lass? Was the lunch I packed for you today not enough?" Long Yuan stopped what he was doing and took a softer cloth to wipe the sweat off her forehead.

The young lass was smiling happily while standing in front of Long Yuan. It was unknown if she was smiling because Long Yuan showered her with care or what happened in the village earlier.

Long Yuan then proceed to get a bowl of water for her to drink, while Yuan Ling catches up with her breath after walking home in a hurry.

After taking a few sips of the water to calm herself down, the lass began to share what transpired in the village earlier.

Yuan Ling then started to share all she had gone through. But her story didn't linger too long around all the rejections she got from the storekeepers. After simply going through them, the core part of her report is finally here.

"Guess who I bumped into when I was on my way out of the village?" Yuan Ling made her words mysterious by making her Long-Gege guess what happened next.

"You found something to fill your stomach?" Long Yuan jokingly guessed. He knew that this part of Yuan Ling's story should be the reason she ran back home in a hurry.

"Bad Long-Gege! You make it sound like I'm a glutton!" Yuan Ling got angry and lightly hammered Long Yuan's chest to vent her dissatisfaction. No matter how gluttonous she way, Long Yuan should be the last person to say that to her.

"Hahaha, alright, alright. What happened when you're on your way leaving the village?" Long Yuan laughed. As someone who dreamt about having a loving younger sister to dote, Yuan Ling is precisely a godsent to him.

"I bumped into Xiyang Xiao, the owner of Xiyang Pavilion," said Yuan Ling.

"Xiyang Pavilion? Is that a grocer or auction house?" Long Yuan simply guessed. The idea that it was actually a restaurant didn't come to his mind at all.

(Using some Eastern mentality here, restaurants are usually opened in an Inn or two-level building. The more established one would usually prefer courtyards because of their wide range. Using Pavilion/Tower is hardly a good choice as you won't enjoy serving food going up and down through the stairs.)

"It's a restaurant, Long-Gege! The Xiyang Pavilion is one of Sprouting Village's most well-known restaurants. Do you know that a single meal inside there would cost no less than a hundred Copper-Coin?" Yuan Ling said.

She sighed and took a deep breath to calm herself before she continued.

"Luckily, we're talking about this at home. If the people outside heard what you said, they'd be laughing at you for being ignorant and uneducated." Yuan Ling rubbed her forehead with a speechless expression.

"Anyway, the owner of Xiyang Pavilion took a liking at me and willing to rent a booth to us. He says we can start tomorrow morning. But as I agreed to take his offer, he did ask what food we're going to sell at the stall."

"I answered that we're going to sell Mantou in a hurry. I hope you won't blame me for deciding it on my own." Yuan Ling lowered her head as she finished her sentence. From the look of it, she had made a decision before asking for her Long-Gege's opinion.

"There's nothing wrong with selling Mantou in the booth. I would be troubled if you told the boss we're going to sell something like deep-fried pork cutlet or meat buns." Long Yuan laughed. He knew that Yuan Ling could only think of steamed bun because that's what she had been eating lately.

"Also... Half of our daily profit would have to go to him at the end of the day. That would be our rent." she added.

"Would - Would you like to try, Long-Gege?" Yuan Ling's question made Long Yuan ponder for a while. There was nothing from with the demand since he had no idea how sellable is the Mantou he was going to make.

But there was one thing he was sure of, and that's the renting cost of the booth. It was considered a favor by agreeing to charge the rental based on their daily sales. For someone with no reputation in food preparation, adding with their young age, this was quite a big favor they got from Xiyang Xiao.

After giving it a thought, Long Yuan eventually agreed with the deal. Since half of their daily profit could possibly be lower than paying a week of rent upfront, he sees no problem at all from this transaction.

"Thank you, Long-Gege..." Yuan Ling smiled after hearing Long Yuan's reply.

"Anyway, since there's a demand for flour tomorrow, you'll need to give me a hand in working with the quern. Let us prepare the flour for the business tomorrow." Long Yuan said and continued to run the machine.

"Alright! Let us get everything prepared then!" Yuan Ling replied. She quickly went to the quern and took over the wheel from her beloved Long-Gege.