After calming herself down, Ye Xiaoxian made a thorough analysis of what had happened during these past days. On the one hand, the angry strangers who inquired about Xiao Baoshan were openly hostile to him. On the other hand, they were quite restrained and never hurt her or Li Hongmei. As such, they were neither notorious robbers nor underworld gangs. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be so merciful.
Now that she knew they were not wicked antagonists, who on earth were they? Although Li Hongmei and Ye Xiaoxian were not physically harmed, those people’s frequent bothering resulted in fewer customers coming to the restaurant. The land rent and the salaries given to the staff had exceeded the costs of opening the restaurant.
The restaurant had become difficult to run. Staying there became sheer torture to Ye Xiaoxian who decided to begin a new life elsewhere. Therefore, she closed the restaurant and dismissed the staff.
It was fortunate that she had a house in the county, though it had been unoccupied for a fortnight. She planned to sell some snacks there, just as she had done before. Since her house was near a bustling street, she could earn a living by running a street stall as long as her snacks were delicious.
Therefore, she built a concrete oven of European style in her yard to bake some cakes or bread. Although this was not her speciality, she was a good learner and she knew how to make the snacks that suited the locals’ current tastes. For example, she could knead the dough into the shape of a rabbit or a chick, add some home-made cream and stick eyes and mouths on them. The freshly-baked snacks soon attracted quite a few people who surrounded the stall.
“Ah! They look nice. What are they? Something to eat?”
“Of course! They are snacks!”
“It’s so cruel to bite such lovely creatures.”
“Cruel? Come on! Haven’t you ever eaten rabbit meat? Haven’t you eaten chicken or pork? You’ve been eating them all the time while these snacks are even not living things.”
While people were still hesitant, kids couldn’t wait to beg the adults to buy some. Ye Xiaoxian cut a loaf of bread into several pieces and generously invited people to have a taste of them.
Some thought they were delicious, some found it hard to accept the strange flavor. Anyway, the kids liked them very much and pleaded their relatives to buy the snacks. Ye Xiaoxian sold the snacks at a moderate price because she didn’t need to pay any rent now. Besides, as a welcomed, frequent visitor to the vegetable market, she could buy her ingredients at a lower price. For example, if an egg was sold for five copper coins, she could get it for four copper coins.
Owing to their tastiness and cheapness, the snacks soon sold very well. Although this was merely a small business, the money she earned was enough to cover the daily expenses of Li Hongmei, Xiao Baofeng and her.
Strangers still came to inquire about Xiao Baoshan and left empty-handed. Gradually, such annoying visits happened less and less, returning Ye Xiaoxian a peaceful life. However, her disappointment increased day after day. It seemed that Xiao Baoshan would never return.
…
Several days after the snack stall had opened, Xiao Baozhu finally came to visit her mother.
