TLHHS 🍁 Chapter 8: Give me three spoonfuls of each, no, five spoonfuls.

Lin Yan chose a spot at the entrance of Xishou Street for his little stall, a place where it could be seen as soon as one entered the street.

He had observed this spot on his last supply run. It was relatively open with good air circulation, which would be convenient for grilling in the future.

The shop next to it happened to be the same fruit shop where he had bought lemons.

They had barely finished setting up when the shop owner came over curiously. "Young ge'er, are you selling sauce today?"

Lin Yan nodded with a smile, then personally took a piece of lotus leaf, wrapped a piece of seafood meat in it, drizzled some hot and sour sauce over it, and handed it to the owner.

"Please have a taste."

The owner hadn't expected such generosity. He froze for a moment before accepting it, praising, "What a generous young ge'er."

Anyone who could run a shop on Xishou Street was naturally not short of money. The owner was used to eating white rice and various meats, and wasn’t particularly fond of seafood, finding the smell too fishy.

Taking even a single bite felt like torture to his tongue.

But he had a good impression of Lin Yan, so he stared at the seafood meat emitting a fresh fragrance for a while, then turned his back as naturally as possible.

The young ge'er worked hard to make this. I can't dampen his spirits.

But the moment it touched his tongue, he was stunned. Was this really the seafood he was used to?

It was sour, sweet, and spicy. The flavors did not clash at all. Instead, they left an endless aftertaste. It was actually this amazing?

Most importantly, the fishy smell he hated most was completely gone. The owner smacked his lips. Could seafood actually taste this good?

By the time he came back to his senses and turned around, Lin Yan's stall was fully set up.

On the left side of the wooden stand was a large jar of steamed seafood. Because the weather was hot, it was still giving off steam. On the right sat two large bowls, one filled with lemon hot and sour sauce and the other with garlic chili sauce.

To keep insects away, Lin Yan had covered each bowl with a plate.

At the very front of the frame was a neat stack of lotus leaves, their vivid green color looking clean and pleasant to the eye.

And the two large jars of sauce sat right within Lin Yan's reach.

The owner curiously pointed at the bowl of garlic chili sauce. "Young ge'er, what kind of sauce is this? Is it as delicious as the other one?"

Lin Yan gave him another sample to taste.

The owner was stunned again. He ate garlic and chili regularly, but he'd never imagined these two seasonings could blend so perfectly together. It was incredible.

"Young ge'er, how much does your sauce cost?"

The owner was already eager to buy. His two rambunctious boys were fussy eaters, turning up their noses at this and that at every meal. He'd buy plenty to coax them into eating.

Lin Yan smiled amiably. "Bring a bowl from home, and it's seven wen per scoop."

This price was far lower than the owner had expected. He had a discerning palate; one taste told him plenty of ingredients had gone into it. The sugar alone was worth a good deal of money.

Besides, the scoop Lin Yan was using was quite large.

The owner assumed Lin Yan was new to business and too timid to set a proper price, so he kindly warned, "Young ge'er, isn't your price a bit low?"

Lin Yan gave him a grateful smile. "To be honest, selling sauce is just the beginning. I plan to add other items later. Setting the price a bit lower now is thinking ahead."

The recipe for his sauce wasn't particularly complex. Anyone determined enough could find out what ingredients he'd bought, then experiment at home until they came up with something similar. So after careful consideration, Lin Yan had settled on seven wen per scoop.

Not too much, not too little. When he started selling grilled food later, customers wouldn't hesitate to grab a serving of sauce on the side.

The owner gave him a thumbs-up. "“Such foresight at such a young age. You've got a bright future ahead of you.”

Lin Yan felt a little embarrassed by the praise.

"Give me three scoops of each. No, make it five scoops."

The owner's shop was right next door, and in no time, he returned with two large bowls. Lin Yan put on his homemade gloves, scooped five servings of each sauce for him, and even threw in a portion of mustard sauce as a gift.

The owner stared at the small dish of yellow paste. "What's this now?"

"This is called mustard. You can dip seafood meat in it. The flavor is rather strong."

Having been won over by the previous sauces, the owner trusted Lin Yan completely now. Hearing this, he simply picked up the dishes and left.

Whatever the young ge'er recommends can't be wrong.

Lin A-die and Sister-in-law Lin were looking at Lin Yan differently now.

The fabric of the owner's clothes was clearly expensive. Faced with someone so wealthy, they couldn't help feeling inferior, growing awkward even in speech.

Yet Lin Yan carried himself with ease, as if he were chatting with an old friend.

Sister-in-law Lin ventured tentatively, "Yan-er, I feel you're not quite the same as before."

Lin Yan froze for a moment, then sighed. "Sister-in-law, you know that Father drugged me with that filthy medicine to make me marry Zhang. If I still cowered like I used to, wouldn't I just be letting him manipulate me?"

Father Lin had previously said an illiterate person couldn't marry a Xiucai and somehow gotten hold of a tattered book to force Lin Yan to study. So, Sister-in-law Lin wouldn't find it too suspicious that Lin Yan spoke with a touch of refinement.

Perhaps Yan-ge'er simply has a talent for learning characters.

Besides, the changes in Lin Yan were so striking that this small detail barely registered.

Lin A-die turned his back and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. Lin Yan knew he didn't want to add to his psychological burden, so he pretended not to notice.

"A-die, Sister-in-law, are you hungry? We've just earned seventy wen. Why don't you have something to eat too?"

Diverted by his words, Lin A-die and Sister-in-law Lin remembered the ten scoops they'd just sold.

Seventy wen! Ordinarily they might not save that much in several months. Elder brother Lin and the others only earned about ten wen a day doing odd jobs. And here they'd made seventy wen in one go.

It was exhilarating.

Lin A-die shook his head. "No, we'll eat when we get back. Let's save this sauce for selling."

Sister-in-law Lin felt the same way.

Lin Yan smiled helplessly. They'd left early in the morning, and breakfast had been nothing but thin congee. They must be starving by now.

He took ten wen and handed it to Sister-in-law Lin, urging, "Sister-in-law, we don't know how long we'll be selling today. We need to keep our strength up. Please buy a few sesame cakes for us, just ten wen worth, not many."

Sister-in-law Lin still wouldn't take the money. Like Lin A-die, he was used to hardship. In the past, when they cast their nets along the seaside to catch seafood, there had been days when they drank nothing but water from morning to night.

Lin Yan turned to Lin A-die instead and pleaded coquettishly, "A-die, I'm so hungry."

Lin A-die didn't care about sparing himself, but he couldn't bear to see his child suffer. With Lin Yan begging like this, he had to give in.

"Buy a few more."

Gritting his teeth, Lin A-die decided on three. His thinking was that Lin Yan was working the hardest, so he should eat two, and Sister-in-law Lin could have one; he himself would go without.

But once the cakes were bought, Lin Yan firmly pressed one into each of their hands, coaxing and pleading with them until they ate.

While they were eating their sesame cakes, the fruit shop owner arrived home.

Seeing him carrying two bowls of something unfamiliar, his two sons immediately darted over. "Father, what's that?"

The owner set the two brimming bowls of sauce on the table, then hurried back to his shop to fetch the small dish of mustard Lin Yan had given him.

The elder son was brimming with curiosity. "Father, what's this one?"

As he spoke, he tried to stick a finger in to dip and taste.

The owner swatted his hand away. "Go on, that's not how you eat it."

Then he couldn't wait to call out loudly, "Quick, steam a pot of seafood!"

His wife was inside cooking rice. Hearing this, she came out looking surprised. "What's gotten into you today? Don't you usually say seafood smells fishy and can't stand the sight of it?"

The owner pointed proudly at the sauces before him. "I've come into something good today. Just you wait and taste it. I guarantee you'll be singing my praises."

His two sons scoffed disdainfully. They had picky palates and ate at restaurants whenever they pleased. What good thing hadn't they tried?

How delicious could a mere bowl of sauce possibly be?

His wife thought the same, but with her husband urging her so insistently, a large pot of seafood was soon ready.

"That's too much," his wife said with distaste. "What a waste if we can't finish it all."

The owner waved a hand dismissively, filled a bowl for himself, scooped exactly five spoonfuls of sauce into it, mixed it up, and took a huge bite.

His eyes closed in satisfaction.

His two sons stared, dumbfounded. Was it... really that good?

They exchanged a glance, then each fixed themselves a small bowl following their father's example.

One bite in, and sour, sweet, spicy, and fresh flavors burst forth in layers across their tongues. Their eyes lit up as they ate.

Seeing this, the wife couldn't resist either. In the end, the whole family ate until they were sweating profusely, exclaiming how satisfying it was.

Who knew sour, sweet, and spicy could combine so beautifully?

Some seafood remained in the pot, but the sauce was already gone.

The family could only turn their attention to the small dish of mustard in the corner.

"The young ge'er said this stuff is called mustard. The flavor's quite strong. Want to try?"

The younger son was the boldest. Without thinking, he scooped up a large dollop with his spoon, mixed it in, and took a big bite just like before.

The next moment, an intensely pungent, burning sensation shot straight up his nose. In discomfort, he thumped himself hard on the forehead twice.

The other three were terrified.

"What's wrong?"

"Is this thing poisonous?"

The owner was also flustered, but he trusted Lin Yan. "It can't be."

Fortunately, the younger son quickly recovered and even shouted joyfully, “That was amazing!”

The other three: "???"

The younger son urged them hurriedly, "Come on, try it. Just dip a little."

The owner hesitated. After all, the expression on his son's face just now had looked truly painful and frightening.

But seeing his younger son already going in for a second bite...

He exchanged a look with his wife and elder son, then decided to go for it.

Just what did this painful-yet-thrilling sensation taste like?

They soon found out.

The four of them dipped the remaining seafood in the mustard and ate every last bit, each letting out a satisfied burp when they finished.

That was so satisfying!

Back at Lin Yan's stall, a second customer had arrived.

It was the owner of the sesame cake shop diagonally across the street.

With Lin Yan setting up stall here, they were practically neighbors. Since Lin Yan had just patronized his shop, the owner naturally asked casually what Lin Yan was selling.

Just returning the favor, as it were.

But what had started as a simple courtesy turned into two large bowls of sauce. As before, Lin Yan threw in a small portion of yellow mustard as a gift.