Heavenly Blessed Baby: Fleeing Famine, Busy to Prosper!-Chapter 185: Specializing in Selling Fish Ball Noodles
The fish soup was clear, with only a faint white tint, not the milky white one might imagine.
After all, it was simmered with fish heads, tails, and bones, so achieving this color was already quite good.
Yi Meng asked Qi Quanli to serve two bowls of fish soup, each with four fish balls inside, and sprinkled some chopped cilantro on top.
The green cilantro against the white fish balls with a hint of red looked particularly appealing.
"Mom, please try it!"
Qi Quanli was almost drooling with anticipation, but he still served a bowl for his mother first, placed a spoon in it, and then eagerly fetched his own bowl.
He didn’t eat his own portion immediately but rather scooped a fish ball for his fourth brother: "Brother Quanjin, you should eat."
"I won’t eat, you and Mom try it first!"
Qi Quanjin chuckled as he watched his little brother.
Though a bit lively, the child was still a good kid.
"Sister-in-law?"
"You eat it!"
Yi Meng shook her head with a smile.
Only then did Qi Quanli happily hold his bowl, squat beside his mother, scoop a mouthful of soup, blow on it, and sip it into his mouth.
"Delicious!"
Qi Quanli praised.
After several mouthfuls of soup, feeling warm inside, he then scooped a fish ball to his mouth.
Still, with some soup, he blew on it several times before taking a bite.
It was indeed fresh, and also quite bouncy.
Whether others had eaten better fish balls Qi Quanli didn’t know, but in his decade or so of life, this was definitely the best fish ball he’d ever tasted.
"Sister-in-law, hiss, hiss, it’s so good!"
Qi Quanli couldn’t resist stuffing the remaining half of the fish ball into his mouth, grimacing and praising even as it burned.
Yi Meng was at a loss between laughter and tears: "Why are you in such a hurry, eat slowly, don’t burn your mouth."
After advising, she looked at Mrs. Qi: "Mom, how do you feel?"
"It’s quite tasty, without any bones."
Mrs. Qi naturally wouldn’t wolf it down like Qi Quanli, but she drank the soup first, then ate the fish balls in small bites.
It was somewhat hot.
"The flavor is good, but the soup is a bit bland, adding some salt would be better."
Mrs. Qi gave her feedback.
Yi Meng responded with a sigh: "I forgot to add salt earlier. Brother Jin, can you add a little salt, just a bit will do, as the balls are flavored."
"Sure!"
Qi Quanjin hurried to add salt to two bowls.
But just after adding to the old lady’s bowl, he saw Qi Quanli already holding his bowl, slurping all of it into his mouth.
"You..."
Qi Quanjin laughed in exasperation: "There’s no one racing with you, is there?"
"Hehe, it’s just so tasty! I couldn’t help it."
Qi Quanli chuckled slyly and sidled up to Yi Meng: "Sister-in-law, can I have another bowl?"
"Have one more, leave the rest for dinner."
Yi Meng felt helpless toward this youngest brother-in-law; if she didn’t agree now, he’d probably turn into a nagging monk, endlessly pestering for more.
Mrs. Qi originally wanted to scold her youngest son, but she was stopped by Qi Quanjin shaking his head.
Qi Quanli happily got another bowl of fish ball soup, with added salt this time, and didn’t gobble it up but took small sips of soup and savored the fish balls.
Even so, by the time he finished the second bowl, Mrs. Qi had only just finished her first.
"Are we having noodles with. the soup for dinner?"
Mrs. Qi saw her fourth son kneading dough and asked.
Yi Meng laughed and replied: "Yes, we’re having fish soup noodles for dinner. If it’s good, we’ll set up a stall at the street corner tomorrow, specifically selling fish ball noodles."
"Selling fish ball noodles?"
Mrs. Qi was startled: "How did you think of that?"
"Mom, frozen fish doesn’t sell for a good price, so Meng Niang and I thought that if we sell them cooked, the price would definitely go up, and we could earn more money. This way, we can gather the money to buy a house sooner."
Qi Quanjin took over the conversation.
Some matters are better stated by him as a son; if it was said by his wife too often, it might lead to their mom feeling her daughter-in-law was meddling too much.
Mrs. Qi immediately dropped any opposition upon hearing it was to earn money to buy a house.
After all, the less they touch that sum of silver, the better.
As for making money, the more the better, of course!
Qi Quanli was highly delighted: "That’s wonderful! Sister-in-law, then I definitely need to eat a few more bowls!"
"If you have money, eat as many bowls as you like!"
Before Yi Meng could reply, Mrs. Qi gave Qi Quanli a hearty slap on the back: "Go wash the dishes quick!"
"Okay."
Qi Quanli instantly settled down, taking the bowls and spoons that he and his mother had just used to clean them thoroughly and put them back to their original places.
"Lao Liu, are the others home? If so, let them rest a bit and then take out the tables and chairs we won’t use at home to prepare for the stall tomorrow."
Qi Quanjin instructed.
Qi Quanli acknowledged and ran outside.
Running a stall sure requires tables and chairs, those things.
The tables and chairs at the house were all fine things, intricately made, and using them to sell fish ball noodles was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
But the family didn’t have many ready-made tables and chairs, whether ordered or homemade, it would take time.
Since it was just for a trial, Yi Meng and Qi Quanjin discussed using the house’s furnishings temporarily.
With so many people at home, and the horse carriage, moving things won’t be a problem.
"Mom, there’s not much pork left, shall we buy some more later, is that alright?"
Remembering the issue of pork, Yi Meng asked Mrs. Qi.
Mrs. Qi patted her legs, stood up, and said at the same time: "I’m not responsible for the kitchen matters, you guys do whatever you like."
She wasn’t such a mother-in-law who clings to the kitchen despite having daughters-in-law.
After all, there’s only as much food as there is, with this many people in the family, however they cook, the daughters-in-law will figure it out.
As for herself, she just wanted to be an easygoing granny who only looks after her dear granddaughter.
Yi Meng had long expected such a response, but she still had to ask, especially since her mother-in-law was present, this was not something she could casually skip over.
Entrusting the task of buying meat to Qi Ercai, Qi Quanjin went on rolling the dough, not letting the sisters-in-law and younger sisters-in-law of the family intervene.
Mu Yunniang, who fell asleep unexpectedly while accompanying her child for a nap, tidied up after waking and headed straight for the kitchen.
"Fourth sister-in-law, I, I..."
Usually not very talkative, Mu Yunniang, wanted to help with chores but didn’t know what she could do.
Seeing her arrival, Yi Meng immediately smiled and called out: "Third sister-in-law, you’re just in time, come, help me scoop the fish balls."
"Huh? I, I don’t know how!"
"If you don’t know, you learn! We’re setting up a stall to sell fish ball noodles tomorrow, I can’t handle it all alone, come, you learn too."
Yi Meng originally pondered on which sister-in-law to get to help her make fish balls, but seeing the third sister-in-law coming over, she immediately decided on her help.
The others were good at chatting and entertaining guests, but it was this third sister-in-law who was purely action-oriented.
