"Alright, alright, you pick for yourself, I’ll get you a bag," Han Ying said, delighted, and hurried off to get a paper bag.
Besides those, Lin Wan also bought a black soap and ten regular scrub soaps.
The restaurant requires a lot of soap, usually for washing napkins and such.
Seeing the young girl buy so much, Han Ying generously gave her an extra piece of soap.
Lin Wan knew it wasn’t easy for her, with Han Yi in the army for years and rarely coming home, and no family around. Before leaving, she still left the money for the extra soap on the table.
After leaving Grandma’s shop, Lin Wan put a bag full of soap on the tricycle and headed home with a load of cotton.
Just as the tricycle left the alley, a green figure came walking toward her from the roadside...
If Lin Wan knew, she would have dawdled in the shop for a bit longer.
The cotton was fluffed, and Lin Wan spent the afternoon at home making two pairs of quilts.
The next two days, there weren’t many customers coming to eat. Ever since Li Congnan hauled a big load of drinks on the first day, he only came every other day for the past two days, and Lin Wan could see his disappointment. But they couldn’t do anything about it.
After a week of this, business gradually picked up, maybe because the nearby residents spread the word that the hotpot here was satisfying. Relatives and friends hosting gatherings, people discussing business, and dating couples—all patronized their restaurant.
Not for any other reason than it being comfortable and clean, and the food tasted better than in state-run restaurants.
Although business didn’t match the initial opening rush, sales were noticeably up these past few days, maintaining around a hundred and eighty yuan within two days.
Whenever Lin Wan had some spare time these days, she’d visit the pot shop. Zhang Shuhua was responsible, and even without her there, business only increased. Tong Li was more social, and despite other vendors at the hospital selling food, his persuasive skills and enthusiasm outshone. Plus, Mom’s cooking was genuinely good.
The pot shop was running smoothly, and the hotpot place was back on track. Lin Wan would discuss the takeout menu of the pot shop with Mom every day after coming home.
In S City, by November, the weather was almost as cold as the worst winter temperatures back home.
So there weren’t many vegetables come winter. The market only had homegrown potatoes, cabbage, and radishes, which worried Lin Wan.
Hotpot is all about the vegetables; without them, how could she keep the business running?
In the pot shop, Lin Wan kept two meat dishes the same—potato stewed chicken, unchanged, and swapped ribs for braised pork with preserved vegetables, as pork belly was cheaper than ribs and more popular. The braised tofu dish was available year-round, regardless of season, so no worries there. Stir-fried cabbage and fungus, the vegan three delicacies, with an extra warm radish soup—cabbage and radishes dominated in winter, so that’s all they could serve. Pig’s blood and bean sprouts were available too.
There were no vegetables at the market, but some households dried their own produce and brought baskets to ask if they were interested.
The collected dried string beans, eggplant, and pumpkin slices were even cheaper than buying at the market.
Northerners knew well that there weren’t many vegetables in winter, so they didn’t mind the frequent changes in hotpot ingredients and ended up visiting more. Mainly for the warmth of the hotpot.
During Chinese New Year, groups would gather to bond, and many were happy to spend a few yuan here. When Lin Yinghui was off work, he’d look after the hotpot place, and Lin Wan would have Liang Hongmei rest at home and take over for a day herself, as Mom hadn’t rested even for a day in all these months of business.
With age, the long hours would take a toll on Mom’s health.
The brother and sister secretly agreed that whenever her brother was off, Lin Yinghui would take care of the hotpot place, and Lin Wan would cover Mom in the kitchen for two days.
But Liang Hongmei couldn’t stay idle, so Lin Wan had her make cotton-padded jackets and pants for the two of them at home.