"Auntie, this is our family’s new product, Conghua thousand-layer pancake. It is made with leavened dough, which is more suitable for children and the elderly to eat, as it’s easier to digest. Please give it a try, auntie—it’s free to taste."
The aunty was indeed curious and quickly took a piece and popped it into her mouth. With a bite, as expected, it was quite crispy, and the aromatic scent of scallions was still there, but with less greasiness—truly delicious. Moreover, as expected, the leavened dough was much warmer on the stomach compared to unleavened dough.
"How much are these sold for?"
The aunty pointed at the leavened ones and asked Qin Xiangnuan.
"Auntie, the leavened ones are also 10 cents a piece. Let me get one out for you to have a look," she said, slipping on a plastic bag over her hand and then took out a corner of the Conghua thousand-layer pancake. Although this pancake was smaller than the scallion pancake, it was very thick and the flavor was not inferior, especially with the sesame on top. With a bite, the mouth was filled with the delightful fragrance of sesame.
The aunty liked what she saw at once. Indeed, this pancake was quite nice, and one piece was enough to fill up a child.
"This," she pointed at the Conghua thousand-layer pancake, "I’ll have four of these, and two scallion pancakes as well."
The aunty directly handed over one yuan.
"Brother, give change," Qin Xiangnuan nudged her brother Qin Xiangyang, who was still daydreaming by her side.
Qin Xiangyang quickly took the money and counted out the change, giving back 40 cents.
Qin Xiangnuan then swiftly packed the pancakes into a paper bag.
Four Conghua thousand-layer pancakes and two scallion pancakes were sold in no time for 60 cents, while the hot one yuan was still in Qin Xiangyang’s hand. Before he had time to think, another customer came up to buy. Qin Xiangyang, not being slow, imitated his sister, put a plastic bag over his hand, and started packing the pancakes for the customers. As for handling money, Qin Xiangnuan took over. Qin Xiangyang had never been to school, so his counting wasn’t great. Although Qin Xiangnuan had also never attended school, she had taught herself as she grew up. She had studied hard and, because of her diligence, she could be considered to have the knowledge level of a junior high student. Recognizing characters was not an issue for her.
While Qin Xiangyang knew only a few characters, he was relentless when it came to working, able to do the work of two. He packed the pancakes very quickly, and they both made more than three hundred pancakes. It took less than an hour to sell them all.
Qin Xiangyang packed everything onto the cart, and the two of them took advantage of the night to head back home. He parked the cart in the yard. Then he locked the door, checking it multiple times until he was assured it was secure.
Inside, Qin Xiangnuan poured all the money out of her bag.
"Brother, count this," she pushed all the money across to Qin Chuyang, who somewhat numbly organized the money, and began to count it, 10 cents at a time.
"Sister, we made a total of thirty-five yuan and sixty cents," he stuttered, barely able to believe the number. Was this real? Was he not dreaming? Thirty-six yuan! He had worked for others and saved for several years to have just five yuan, yet this very morning, they had almost earned thirty-six yuan.
Qin Xiangnuan was very pleased with the amount of money, mainly because the Conghua pancakes sold well. Cutting one Conghua pancake into four pieces, their large pan could cook about three at a time.
But even so, their inventory had increased by more than a hundred pancakes in a flash. Nonetheless, it still wasn’t enough. They came back very early, and the streets were still bustling with people.
"Brother, let’s go buy a few more stoves today."
With more stoves, there would be more pans, and they could cook even more pancakes.