Potatoes weren’t valuable, but their price soared once they were fried and seasoning was added.
Besides the spicy flavor, there was also a sweet and spicy flavor, which belonged to the tomato sauce category and suited both the elderly and children.
In ancient times, there were no disposable bowls, so if one wanted to enjoy Small Potatoes, they had to sit and eat in the store, each serving came with a bamboo stick, which after being used, was collected to wash and reuse for cost saving.
Thus, most of the guests at Huiben Building today had big bowls of skewers dipped in sauce and a small bowl of Fried Small Potatoes.
The diners had never experienced such a novel snack, so they especially cherished it, and it seemed like a breakthrough of thirty taels of profit might be in sight today.
Yaya’s snack stall was also doing very well, having prepared fifty jin of potatoes, all were sold out by noon.
If these fifty jin of potatoes were sold raw, they would fetch at most two cents per jin, making 100 cents in total. Potatoes were cheap because every household here grew them, leading to an overabundance. Weren’t they cheap for that reason?
However, once these fifty jin of potatoes transformed into Fried Potato Chunks, their value increased by more than tenfold.
On average, a jin of potatoes could be sold in three portions (bulk and economical), three portions equating to fifteen cents, and fifty jin equaled 750 cents. After subtracting costs, one could nearly earn 300 cents, an amount considered quite remarkable for just one afternoon.
At that rate, by Spring Festival, they should be able to save up three to four taels of silver, enough to pay off the doctor’s debt.
Xiao Yu calculated everything clearly in her mind and nodded in satisfaction.
Although Yaya couldn’t do accounting, the sight of so many copper coins left her speechless with excitement — she had never seen so many copper coins in her life! Subsequently, her gratitude towards Xiao Yu was beyond words.
In the following period until the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Xiao Yu and Yaya sold a total of ten silver taels, netting five taels after expenses.
The expenses included oil, which Xiao Yu provided, as well as seasonings, so Yaya directly gave Xiao Yu six taels of silver.
"Sister, I’ll use these four taels to pay the doctor, and the rest of the money is for you. Without your help, I wouldn’t have been able to earn even these four taels." Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on novel·fire.net
Xiao Yu didn’t refuse and accepted the money. Seeing that Xiao Yu didn’t refuse, Yaya breathed a sigh of relief. Afterwards, the restaurant hung a notice at the door, announcing a reopening on the sixth day of the new year with a special event for a new store opening, promising surprises for all the diners.
Meanwhile, Zhang Quan also made a tidy sum, averaging a net profit of 20-40 taels per day. In thirteen days, he had earned over 400 taels of silver. After deducting labor costs, the net profit reached 400 taels. He then turned and gave Xiao Yu 200 taels.
The reason being, "You’ve worked for me for so many days and brought over seasonings, so let’s split it fifty-fifty. Whether it’s a loss or gain, that’s it. Uncle doesn’t have much cash to spare, needing it for the New Year too, so Xiao Yu, please bear with it, okay?"
Xiao Yu admired Zhang Quan’s honesty and didn’t feel shortchanged, so she graciously accepted: "Thank you, Uncle. It’s quite a sum, and I’m very satisfied."
"That’s settled then. I’ve got to pick up my son now; the boy’s been studying in Prefecture City and is just returning today. You two should head off early too—it’s dangerous after dark, especially carrying so much money. Do you want me to find someone to escort you?"
"No need, Uncle. Everyone’s in a rush to get home. You better go on too. Yaya and I are leaving now, and we’ll get home before dark, no worries."
Thus, Xiao Yu secured the money, placed it in the ’space’, then accompanied Yaya to pay off her debts, and added the last several hundred cents needed, finally freeing herself from all debts.