Chapter 4: Grand Opening

"Why did it take so long? Has it been two hours already?"

Luo Xiaofen and Liang Bin hadn't rested yet, and couldn't help asking when they saw Liang Jingxian return.

"I gave Xiao Long and Xiao Feng a massage, took quite a bit of time," Liang Jingxian explained.

"You didn't charge a consultation fee, did you?" Luo Xiaofen asked.

"I had to charge, Yang Xi is so stubborn..." Liang Jingxian said and then seeing Luo Xiaofen giving him a stern look, continued, "But I only charged ten yuan per person, not much."

Luo Xiaofen sighed in relief, "Did Yang Xi realize that you intentionally charged less and gave you crayfish as a gift?"

Liang Jingxian shook his head, "No, I bought these crayfish, five yuan per jin, there are sixteen jin here, ninety yuan in total. I even gave Yang Xi seventy yuan back."

He didn't mention the incident where he had sucked out snake venom for Yang Xi.

Luo Xiaofen glanced around somewhat embarrassedly and said, "Uh, son, I don't mean anything by it. You treating Yang Xi and charging less is one thing, and these crayfish you cook are delicious but, really, there's no need to buy so much."

"Besides, Yang Xi could have sold the crayfish herself too."

Liang Bin also added, "Yeah, our family isn't rich, there's no need to waste money."

"I'm not wasting money," Liang Jingxian said, "Dad, Mom, here's what I'm thinking. These crayfish, if sold directly, wouldn't bring in much money, so since that's the case, why not cook them first and then sell them? You also tried my crayfish today, right? Tomorrow night, I'll cook these crayfish and take them to the bus station in Xiushan Town on Aunt Pang's electric tricycle to sell."

Hearing Liang Jingxian say this, Liang Bin and Luo Xiaofen both hummed in agreement and said no more.

As long as their son wasn't idle and knew how to make money, that was enough.

...

The next morning, Liang Jingxian carried a basket and went up the mountain to collect herbs on Xiuyue Mountain.

Though Xiuyue Mountain was barren, it was rich in medicinal herbs. While it lacked aged ginseng and Chinese knotweed, commonly used herbs were quite abundant.

Most importantly, the herbs Liang Jingxian needed to make the medicinal sachets to mix into the crayfish were all available there.

After half a day of busy work, he collected a basket full of herbs, some for making medicinal sachets and others for routine medical treatment.

Then Liang Jingxian dried the herbs for a few hours, ground them into powder, and made them into medicinal sachets.

"For about three jin of crayfish, one sachet is enough." Liang Jingxian made thirty sachets in total, which would be enough for ninety jin of crayfish.

Next, Liang Jingxian started processing the crayfish. Of the sixteen jin, about one jin had died, leaving roughly fifteen and a half jin alive. Liang Jingxian discarded the dead crayfish and used five sachets.

"Hmm... uh... it smells so good!" Just as Liang Jingxian's crayfish were ready, someone exclaimed in amazement.

"Yang... Ms. Xi, how did you come here? Oh, Xiao Long, Xiao Feng, you're here too."

Yang Xi came over holding Xiao Long and Xiao Feng's hands, saying, "I've brought Xiao Long and Xiao Feng to express our gratitude." In fact, she wanted to see if Liang Jingxian was really preparing to sell the crayfish.

"Thank you, Uncle," Xiao Long and Xiao Feng said politely, though they too were drawn by the aroma, their eyes fixed on the pot of crayfish.

"Hehe, such good kids. Do you like crayfish? Here, let Uncle give you a bowl," Liang Jingxian cheerfully ladled out a bowl of crayfish.

The crayfish were quite large, and a bowl was roughly one jin.

"This... this isn't really appropriate, aren't you going to sell these?" Yang Xi hesitated.

"I don't know if they will sell, it's perfect for you to try them and give some feedback, so I can improve," Liang Jingxian said as he served the rest of the crayfish into a soup jar.

Yang Xi surprisingly didn't refuse, and so she took it, peeled one for Xiao Long and one for Xiao Feng, while she herself casually tasted the soup.

"It's really delicious..." Yang Xi's eyes lit up instantly; looking down, she saw the two little ones eating with wide smiles.

She had been catching crayfish for nearly a month, and they had eaten it at home twice. However, she wasn't skilled at cooking crayfish, and frankly, the taste of her cooking was not that great.

"Liang Jingxian, I think your crayfish could be a big hit," Yang Xi couldn't help but try one and was full of praise.

She had eaten crayfish in town before, but she could never produce the flavor that Liang Jingxian did.

"Oh no, if his crayfish sells well, he'll definitely need more. I've got to hurry back and catch some." After quickly peeling crayfish for Xiao Long and Xiao Feng, she hurried off to the riverside to catch some.

…

Liang Jingxian borrowed Aunt Pang's electric tricycle, placed the crayfish in the soup container at the back, secured everything, and then took a scale from home and headed to the bus station.

Walking back from the bus station yesterday took two and a half hours, but riding the electric tricycle only took about half an hour.

He bought some disposable chopsticks, takeout boxes, and plastic bags, as well as plastic gloves, from a restaurant nearby, and set up shop in a busy area.

The bus station at Xiuyue Mountain didn't have an especially large number of people coming and going compared to other stations, but the foot traffic was still decent.

Moreover, the station was only a few hundred meters from the main street of the town.

As a result, the area had attracted quite a few snack vendors, most of whom sold baked sweet potatoes, roasted potatoes, fried stinky tofu, fruit, mineral water, and some daily necessities.

But, curiously, he was the only one selling crayfish.

Even the two big food stalls nearby didn't offer crayfish.

"Crayfish for sale!"

"Sir, would you like some crayfish?"

"Beautiful lady, fresh crayfish just out of the pot, if it's not delicious, it's free. Thirty-five yuan a jin, it's absolutely worth more than you pay!"

"Don't pass by without checking this out!"

…

Liang Jingxian was outgoing, and he took to hawking his wares naturally, even striking up a conversation with an old man selling baked sweet potatoes nearby.

"Young man, your crayfish is too expensive. People are just passing through; who would spend so much on it?"

"Our Xiushan Town has limited spending power. You might have better luck opening a crayfish restaurant next to the wealthier neighborhoods in the county city."

Liang Jingxian chuckled, "I don't have the money to open a store. The costs are too high. I'm trying out here first. Once I have the money, I'll go rent a storefront in the county city."

After a full half hour had passed, not a single person had come to inquire.

In contrast, the old man selling baked sweet potatoes had already sold seven or eight of them, almost making Liang Jingxian want to switch to selling sweet potatoes instead.

"Selling crayfish? There's someone pushing a cart selling crayfish?" Just then, a bus arrived, and a group of people disembarked, among them two women in their early twenties walked over together, laughing upon seeing Liang Jingxian selling crayfish.

"Maybe we should buy some and try?"

"Forget it, when have we ever had tasty crayfish around here?"

These two women had just returned from a business trip to Gusu, where they had tasted crayfish.

"Let's try it, I'm actually kind of missing the crayfish from Gusu."

"Alright, let's buy a jin to try. Handsome guy, give us a jin of crayfish."

Liang Jingxian's eyes lit up with a smile. There we go, finally open for business.