Chapter 122 Selling Mutton Skewers

  Li Hou took the sizzling meat skewer and couldn't wait to take a bite. Ah, it's so delicious! Maybe it's also because he was hungry, but he felt like he had never eaten such delicious meat in his life.

  "Uncle, how is it? Our skewers are delicious, right? This is a secret recipe learned from Xinjiang, guaranteed to make you want more after just one bite." Qiu Ye couldn't help but boast with a smile as he looked at Li Hou's face of enjoyment.

  "Hmm, your skewers are really well done, delicious and the meat is tender. Hey, little girl, don't take those away, sell them all to me." Li Hou hurriedly called out to Qiu Ye, who was about to take the other skewers to the back, and quickly paid for the fifteen skewers in Qiu Ye's hand, his own five skewers were not enough to eat.

  "Haha, okay, uncle, I'll save it for you. Otherwise, go ahead and eat inside, they also sell beer and drinks." Qiu Ye said while roasting the meat skewers.

  "There's also beer, that's great, I'll go buy a bottle. After washing up and taking a bath, drinking a bottle of beer and eating skewers is really enjoyable." Li Hou said as he went back into the bathing pool, and sat down on the simple sofa in the hall, where Qiu Ma had already opened a bottle of beer for him.

  "Brother, when you've barbecued the meat skewers until they're slightly charred, don't barbecue them anymore. Put them aside first. I think there will be a lot of people coming to buy meat skewers later, and I'm afraid we won't be able to keep up with the supply. For now, let's just barbecue the meat skewers halfway through. If someone wants some later, we can quickly reheat them." Qiu Ye instructed her brother who was helping out beside her.

  Qiu Feng just took over the barbecue because he was dissatisfied with his sister Qiu Ye's slow speed. He found that his brother's technique was much faster and better than his own, so he grabbed his brother and wouldn't let go, making him continue to help with the barbecue. After all, he was born for this! Of course, Qiu Ye also took care of her brother, allowing him to eat while barbecuing.

  "Got it." Qiu Feng responded, then felt something was off and said: "Sister, aren't these all for us to eat ourselves? We're not selling them until tomorrow, are we?"

  "My goodness, I didn't expect it either, someone wants to buy now. If they want to buy, can I not sell?" Qiu Ye said with her hands moving non-stop.

  Qiu Feng listened and felt wronged for a while, saying: "Then what can I eat if you've sold everything?"

  Qiu Ye burst out laughing after hearing this, "Brother, with so much, even if we sell some, it's enough for you to eat. Moreover, if we sell some, we might even make back the money we spent on meat today. Then tomorrow, we can buy more meat and string up more skewers. That way, you can eat your fill of meat every day."

  Qiu Feng thought about what his sister said and felt that it was right. If he could eat lamb skewers every day in the future, he wouldn't be bothered about this bowl of meat skewers today.

  They had just finished talking, when someone else came out of the bathroom. Although not everyone who came out was attracted by the fragrance and stopped in their tracks, most people were tempted.

  Seeing Li Hou devouring meat and drinking beer in the hall, most people couldn't help it. Bathing is a physically demanding activity, after all. Nowadays, when ordinary people go to bathhouses for a bath, they don't just take a quick rinse; they wash thoroughly. Women usually spend over an hour inside, while men are faster but still need more than half an hour. Think about it - after taking such a long bath, wouldn't you be thirsty and hungry?

  Everyone is taking out money to buy skewers of meat, those who are well-off buy several and eat while drinking on the spot, those who are not so well-off but still craving it just buy a few to satisfy their cravings.

  No matter what, the barbecue stall of Qiu Ye always had business to do because people kept coming out of the bathhouse nonstop. Later, when the bowl of lamb skewers was almost sold out, Qiu's mother and Zhao Shuyan took the initiative to help Qiu Ye string new lamb skewers with bamboo sticks in the small hut.

  In the end, all the lamb skewers were sold out, and his family had only eaten half full. There was no way out, so Qiu Ye took out a few pieces of mantou that he had intentionally left behind and roasted them, dividing them among his parents to fill their stomachs.

  It wasn't even 8 o'clock in the evening, and Qiu Ye's barbecue stall had already closed up shop. There really was no more meat to grill, not even a few slices of mantou for himself, so he had no choice but to close up shop.

  "Xiao Ye, your business is doing well today, you've sold so much meat." Zhao Shuyan helped Xiao Ye clean up the stove outside.

  "Haha, Auntie, didn't you eat well? Tomorrow, I'll buy more meat and we can roast again at night, definitely making up for today." Qiu Ye also felt a bit embarrassed, originally today was meant to be a treat for the family, but who knew that once they started selling, they couldn't stop, unknowingly selling all of their own family's meat skewers too, leaving everyone unsatisfied.

  "That's enough to eat, eating to this extent is the best, if you eat too much it will be greasy and not easy to digest. All of these are meat! Zhao Shuyan put away several basins near the stove, preparing to wash them later, there was hot water here, washing things was very convenient."

  Qiu's mother said beside her, "Right, that's the principle. Nothing can be eaten too much, or it won't taste good next time. Eating just the right amount is best, so next time you eat, it will still taste the same."

  "Fengqin is right, and besides, if Xiaoye does this business in the future, we'll be blessed with good food later on. Whenever we want to eat, just let Xiaoye roast a few strings for us." Fang Haibo said jokingly while helping to lift the stove.

  "No problem, Uncle. From now on, I'll leave a few strings for you every day and let you have them as a side dish with your wine at night." Qiu Ye, the person involved, was carefree and just stood by watching everyone clean up, occasionally chiming in to tease everyone.

  "Alas, it seems I've raised this girl in vain. There's no delicious food that doesn't belong to her father." Mr. Qiu said with a sigh as he ate his fill beside them.

  "Dad, how is this possible? Your daughter is a filial child who is one in ten thousand, how can she not have your favorite meat skewers? Tell me, how many do you want to eat and when, I'll definitely prepare them for you, just enough, no more or less, so you can eat your fill, okay?" Qiu Ye hurriedly coaxed her old dad, these people, none of whom she could afford to offend.

  "Don't listen to your dad's nonsense, these are all earned with money, how can you eat whenever you want? It's enough to have a few bites every now and then." Qiu's mom said while busy with her hands, giving Qiu's dad a warning look as if telling him not to be extravagant.

  "Alright, alright, I won't eat anymore, is that okay? I'll just wait for my daughter to take care of me."

  Everyone burst out laughing after hearing it.

  There are only five days left before the Spring Festival, and in the past few days, the market in Xizhai has been unusually noisy. Ordinary people have taken advantage of these days before the Spring Festival to go to the market to buy goods for the festival.

  People who are usually reluctant to spend money are also buying big and small bags for their families at this time, saving a year's worth of expenses. The beginning and end of the year is indeed not a time to be frugal.

  Qiu Ye was just going to take advantage of this time to set up his own lamb skewer stall. At this time, the market had a large flow of people, and many adults who came to visit the market were accompanied by children. Children are most unable to resist the aroma of roasted meat.

  In the early morning, Zhao Shuyan steamed a large pot of small mantou for Qiu Ye. After they were done, each mantou was cut in half with a knife and placed into a large foam box.

  "Xiao Ye, is this used for skewering or not?" Zhao Shuyan looked at the steamed bun, then glanced at a nearby bamboo skewer, somewhat indecisive.

  "No need, Godmother, just put them directly into the foam box. When it's time to sell, we can string them up in a hurry. If we string them up now, they'll take up too much space." Qiu Ye brought in the meat skewers she had strung up on the cooling rack the day before. The weather outside was too cold, and the meat skewers had all frozen into clumps. Fortunately, she had foreseen this and had frozen them in batches of ten, so when the time came, she could just take out one batch at a time to roast.

  Zhao Shuyan listened, nodded, and carefully arranged the steamed buns in order in the foam box. Then she said worriedly: "Xiaoye, why don't we just not go to the market? It's too cold outside, you and Xiaofeng will freeze if you stand there all day. Didn't we sell well at the bathhouse yesterday? Why don't we just sell in front of our house instead?"

  Yesterday, when roasting skewers in the bathtub, Qiu Feng and Qiu Ye would roast for a while, then go into the bathtub to warm up for a while. Later, the temperature of the charcoal fire rose, so they didn't feel too cold.

  "It's okay, Auntie. I went to the market during the day and there were a lot of people. At night, I'll go to the bathhouse, so neither will be missed. Besides, today I'm wearing all my best clothes, and Brother is outside burning charcoal right now, so we can't catch cold." Qiu Ye said, thinking to herself that even if it's cold, she has to hold on, as these are the few days of the year when there are the most people at the market, and adults are willing to spend money on children. How could she miss this great opportunity to make money?

  Zhao Shuyan didn't say anything else, not because she wasn't worried anymore, but because she knew that once Xiaoye had made up her mind, there was no point in saying anything more. It would be better to find them two warm and windproof clothes later, so they could take them with them.

  After all the materials were ready, several people loaded everything onto a tricycle, with Qiu Feng riding it and Qiu Ye sitting on it, close to the charcoal fire in the iron bucket. Both of them also wore military coats found by Zhao Shuyan, and they set off.

  All the way, due to the snow on the ground, Qiu Feng was having a hard time riding his tricycle. Qiu Ye was cheering him up on the tricycle: "Brother, come on! Heaven will entrust great responsibilities to this person, but first, he must be made to suffer in his heart and will, labor in his bones and muscles, starve his body and skin, empty and exhaust himself, and disrupt his actions. So, if you want to make money, want to make a lot of money, you should..."

  After arriving at the market, things went smoothly. They found a suitable location and the two of them were busy setting up the stove. Finally, they poured the charcoal that had been ignited early into the stove, and Qiu Ye and Qiu Feng each took out a string of meat to start roasting.

  Qiu Ye's barbecue stall was originally the only one in this market, and as soon as it arrived, it attracted everyone's attention. When the lamb skewers emitted a fragrance, more people gathered around the small stall.

  "Take a look, authentic Xinjiang lamb skewers! Eat one and think of two." Qiu Ye called out while busy with the roasted meat in her hands.