Chapter 8: Spicy Stir-Fried Eel Shreds

"Your price... is a bit high, isn't it? I'm willing to lend you the fishing trap and take the crayfish. I'll process the crayfish for you, no charge."

Yang Xi was initially excited, but after thinking it through, she still refused the money.

Liang Jingxian was adamant, "No charge won't do. If you don't take money, I'll have to find someone else."

Yang Xi couldn't refuse, "Alright, alright..."

Liang Jingxian smiled, "That's more like it. The money is for your labor, your rightful earnings. You should take what you deserve."

He handed the fragrance pouches to Yang Xi and then went home to find some needles and thread to give to her.

These fragrance pouches were all cut from old clothes and rags, in various colors but without much aesthetic appeal.

"These are all for personal use for now. Wait a few days, and I'll buy some specialty bags for the spices, which can then be sold."

The materials in the fragrance pouches were mainly to ward off snakes, insects, rats, and ants, so the smell wasn't that pleasant—there was a strong herbal scent. However, if she bought some fragrant herbs to mix in, the pouches could be both effective and smell good.

After assigning this task to Yang Xi, Liang Jingxian weighed her crayfish. It totaled twenty-three Jin.

"Twenty-three Jin that's one hundred and fifteen yuan, plus five yuan for sewing the fragrance pouches. That's one hundred and twenty yuan.

I had twenty-five Jin of crayfish in my house, plus your twenty-three Jin, makes forty-eight Jin, with a processing fee of forty-eight yuan, for a total of one hundred and sixty-eight. And with the forty from last night, I owe you one hundred and twenty-eight, let's round it up to one hundred and thirty. Here you go."

Liang Jingxian deftly handed one hundred and thirty yuan to Yang Xi and then went to prepare the eel. Half an hour later, he brought out a pot of eels.

"Ms. Xi, come and try my Spicy Stir-Fried Eel Shreds," said Liang Jingxian, serving up a bowl for her and even passing her a pair of chopsticks.

"It's delicious!" Yang Xi had finished sewing the fragrance pouches and had processed some of the crayfish. She washed her hands, took the bowl, and sniffed appreciatively. "Liang Jingxian, how come everything you cook is so delicious? Do you have a secret?"

"Haha, since you know there's a secret, how can I just reveal it?" Liang Jingxian laughed heartily.

"You're incorrigible!" Seeing that Liang Jingxian was joking, Yang Xi rolled her eyes at him. "You don't know, after the two little ones ate the crayfish you made yesterday, they didn't want to eat my cooking anymore."

Liang Jingxian suggested, "If they like it, serve them another bowl later."

Yang Xi shook her head repeatedly, "No, they're still too young. Foods like crayfish should be eaten in moderation."

"You don't need to worry about that. My crayfish are cooked with medicinal herbs. The taste is one aspect, but mainly they have health benefits. It's okay for kids to eat more."

"Still, better not. They've already started turning up their noses at my cooking. If they keep eating this, they really won't eat my cooking in the future. Then our family of three will just have to squat at your place every day."

"Haha, you're welcome to come over for meals anytime."

After tasting a bite of the eel, Yang Xi was equally impressed and said, "Liang Jingxian, this eel is too delicious, just as good as the crayfish. You should also sell cooked eel."

Liang Jingxian replied, "Eel isn't like crayfish. It's not really suitable for a street stall."

Yang Xi nodded in agreement, saying that made sense. After a few bites of eel, she stopped eating and focused on processing the crayfish.

At first, processing them took a bit longer, but as time went on, I got faster. In about an hour and a half, Yang Xi had cleaned nearly fifty jin of crayfish.

Liang Jingxian also finished tidying up the house, dealt with the herbs, and then distributed the fragrance pouches Yang Xi had sewn to Aunt Pang and several nearby households before starting to cook the crayfish.

Yesterday's crayfish were all spicy flavor, but today Liang Jingxian split them into two pots, one with thirty jin of spicy crayfish and one with eighteen jin of fragrant spicy crayfish.

As soon as his tricycle arrived at the bus station, a thirty-something young man came over, "Hey, brother, why are you only here now? Quick, give me two jin of crayfish."

While paying, he said, "I tried the crayfish my wife brought back yesterday, and I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I came specially today and have been waiting for almost half an hour. I thought you weren't going to set up the stall today."

"If you hadn't shown up today, my wife would have given me an earful when I got home."

Alright, I have a loyal customer now, not bad, another good start.

"Big brother, yesterday's crayfish was spicy, but today there's also fragrant spicy flavor, do you want to try that as well?"

Liang Jingxian parked his tricycle at the same spot as yesterday and began to introduce his products while pulling out takeout boxes and plastic bags.

"Is the fragrant spicy one good? Okay, then give me two jin of the spicy and one jin of the fragrant spicy."

"Tasty, I guarantee you'll be satisfied. Here, three jin of crayfish for one hundred and five, just one hundred yuan is fine."

After receiving the crayfish, the young man immediately tasted the fragrant spicy one.

"Hmm, this is delicious." He gave Liang Jingxian a thumbs-up, and while walking along the main road, continued eating the crayfish. His rich and varied facial expressions once again attracted quite a few passersby.

Liang Jingxian was quite honest when selling his crayfish; he didn't add the soup while weighing them. He would only scoop in the soup after weighing, and people noticed this. They came to trust him more, feeling that this young man was sincere in business and not like some dishonest traders who cheat on the weight.

"Not bad, Xiao Liang, you made a hundred yuan just as you showed up, much better than me," said the uncle who sold roasted sweet potatoes enviously.

"Hehe, doing alright," Liang Jingxian chuckled, "Old Li, your business is not bad either, you've had a steady flow of customers."

The two chatted back and forth.

Liang Jingxian's crayfish had a very good reputation. Six people who had eaten them yesterday came back for more, and many passersby were also attracted to buy. In less than two hours, forty-eight jin of crayfish had been sold out, making a total of sixteen hundred yuan.

Honestly, even Liang Jingxian hadn't expected them to sell out so quickly.

Xiushan Town was just a small town after all, and the neighboring countryside areas were mostly poor. Even at the bus station where there was extra foot traffic, Liang Jingxian had originally thought this was probably the limit, and it would take a long time to sell out.

It seems that the market for crayfish was far from being saturated.

After selling out the crayfish, Liang Jing went to the supermarket to buy some candy and snacks, as well as some attractive fabrics.

The candy and snacks were for Xiao Long and Xiao Feng and the other children in the village, while the fabrics were meant for making fragrance pouches. With many mosquitoes and insects in the woods, wearing fragrance pouches was necessary, and the market prospects were definitely good.

Then, Liang Jing went to the fishing gear shop and bought ten fishing traps and some bait. Now that he had earned some money, Liang Jing was full of energy.