"Our bucket of mung bean jelly makes about forty or fifty bowls, that's just a rough estimate. Add the brown sugar, and each bowl goes for twenty cents, more or less."
Xu Nianhua felt that twenty cents was actually pretty cheap.
"Even if it's forty bowls, that's eight yuan!" Xu Nian'an quickly did the math—eight yuan a day, thirty days a month, that's two hundred and forty yuan!
Two hundred and forty yuan!
Big brother worked hard at the brick factory for half a year and didn't earn that much.
"Second brother, you're thinking too much. Mung bean jelly is easy to make, and there are quite a few families in the village who know how to do it. We're just getting the first crack at it. You really think we can sell this every day?" Xu Nianhua pressed her lips together. She knew in her heart that this jelly business would only last a short while, a small opportunity to save a bit of seed money, and that was already enough for her.
"But... will people really pay twenty cents?"
Xu Nian'an muttered, and by the time they got to the county, he was nearly soaked through. He looked around and asked, "Little sister, where should we sell it?"
They couldn't just carry their buckets and wander all over, could they?
As soon as they entered the county town, Xu Nianhua started looking around. The county wasn't anything like she remembered—no tall buildings, not even many decent streets. It looked shabby, pretty far from the county she had in her mind.
Suddenly hearing Xu Nian'an's question, Xu Nianhua thought for a moment before saying, "Let's go to the market, it's busy there."
The county wasn't anything like later times, not bustling everywhere.
If you wanted to sell mung bean jelly, you had to pick somewhere crowded.
"Second brother, let's find a household right by the street." Xu Nianhua reminded him. Selling jelly meant it had to be cool and tasty. They'd rushed all the way here, even with bowls and chopsticks ready, but it was already one-thirty!
The sun was scorching, and the jelly had to be icy cold for it to taste good.
Just a little away from the market, there were houses. After some searching, Xu Nianhua and Xu Nian'an chose a family with the surname Cai.
Xu Nianhua, sweet-talking, lowered the jelly into the well water to chill it, and before long it would be ice cold.
"Granny Cai, please try some."
Xu Nianhua specially brought a bowl of mung bean jelly for Granny Cai.
Granny Cai didn't want to accept, but Xu Nianhua kept politely insisting, saying they'd be bothering her more in the future, so Granny Cai finally took the bowl.
Xu Nianhua saw Granny Cai was reluctant, and on asking, found out she wanted to save it for her grandson who was playing outside.
"Granny Cai, there's plenty here."
Xu Nianhua waited for the jelly to chill, then brought another bowl to Granny Cai.
The jelly was chilled enough in the well water, so the siblings got busy under the big tree across from the Cai family.
The jelly was set out on the borrowed table, with their brand new bucket on top, and a few pairs of clean bowls and chopsticks laid out nearby.
Xu Nian'an had never sold anything before, just stood there, not knowing what to do.
"Mung bean jelly for sale~"
Even though Xu Nianhua's bangs covered most of her forehead and hid her pretty eyes, her voice was clear and her smile bright. Passersby all stopped for a moment to take a look.
An auntie laughed and said, "Little girl, every family can make jelly. I'm afraid yours won't sell."
Xu Nian'an instinctively looked at Xu Nianhua beside him.
Xu Nianhua wasn't nervous at all. She flashed a sweet smile and ladled out a bowl of jelly—crystal clear, like shimmering ice. She opened the brown sugar syrup she'd prepared, poured a spoonful over, and the white jelly with the red syrup made people want to eat it just by looking.