Today is market day, so there are more people in town, and thus the business at Peace Restaurant is a bit better than usual.
Upon entering, the first thing one sees is an old-fashioned counter, behind which sits a woman of about thirty in a floral top with a single braid, her cheeks plump and her eyes bright.
The menu is posted on the wall behind her, with white paper and black characters, handwritten in a very proper font, precise and orderly. The dishes listed are simple and straightforward, easily identifiable at a glance.
Chiang Songhai glanced over and immediately noticed the sliced ginger and snail meat, priced at one yuan and eighty cents, which nearly prompted him to turn on his heels and flee.
"Grandpa, you find a seat first, I’ll order," said Chiang Xiao, who knew right away that he was frightened, how could she dare let him order?
"Little Little, shall we go buy a few vegetarian buns instead?" A big bun costs ten cents, which is much cheaper than the restaurant! One dish could buy a whole bag of buns.
"Grandpa, we have money," declared Chiang Xiao. She had no intention of pinching pennies at the expense of her family’s stomach after working so hard to make money. What was the point of earning it after all?
They also needed a place to settle down, and going out to buy food at noon, then having to walk back to Siyang Village seemed too hard on grandpa.
Moreover, she wanted to listen in on the conversations of the restaurant’s patrons, to see if they might discuss last night’s incident in the dark alley.
Chiang Songhai had no choice but to sit down awkwardly at a table in the corner.
He placed his carrying basket at his feet, which contained three empty sacks, with just two handfuls of herbs left on top. As people passed by, Chiang Songhai repeatedly nudged his basket closer to his feet, in fear of getting in the way or obstructing someone else’s path.
Sitting in this bright restaurant made him feel utterly out of place, his limbs restless and uneasy.
Chiang Xiao stood before the counter to order dishes, choosing stir-fried river shrimp, sliced ginger and snail meat, and pork slices with Chinese cabbage. With all three being meat dishes, Chiang Xiao simply wanted grandpa to have the chance to eat more meat and get some protein. If they were going to eat vegetarian dishes, why bother coming to a restaurant at all?
The stir-fried river shrimp cost ninety cents, the sliced ginger and snail meat one yuan and eighty cents, and the pork slices with Chinese cabbage eighty cents, totaling over three yuan for the three dishes. A liang (about 50 grams) of rice cost ten cents, and Chiang Xiao ordered four liang for grandpa and three for herself, amounting to four yuan and twenty cents altogether.
Even Chiang Songhai felt stingy, and when paying, Chiang Xiao also felt the pinch.
After all their hard work to earn twenty-four yuan, a big chunk was gone with just one meal.
However, Chiang Xiao had already checked the other tables earlier; the portions were generous, enough for three people to have two meals. She and grandpa would surely not be able to finish everything, so she planned to save half of each dish when they arrived to take home, ensuring grandma wouldn’t have to cook that evening and allowing her to taste these dishes too.
Of course, aside from these expensive dishes, Peace Restaurant had plenty of cheap vegetarian dishes, some priced at just a few dimes. Thus, when the cashier saw Chiang Xiao ordering three solid meat dishes, she couldn’t help but give her an extra look.
At that moment, Chiang Xiao saw a cold mixed fern dish on the menu and was struck with an idea.
"Auntie, this cold mixed fern dish, are the ferns wild?" she asked.
The woman couldn’t help but laugh out loud. "Young lady, you’re really funny. If they’re not wild, do you think people would use farmland to grow ferns?"
At this time, every household’s fields were either planted with rice or mainstream vegetables and fruits. Ferns were wild greens from the mountains, who would cultivate them?
So she found Chiang Xiao’s question amusing.
Chiang Xiao hadn’t expected Peace Restaurant to have wild greens, and this immediately led her to think of a business opportunity, so she quickly followed up: "Auntie, if we can find ferns, would the restaurant buy them? And what about Tianxiang Greens? Wild mushrooms? If we find other wild goods, would you buy them?"