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“It’s fish balls and potato starch noodles,” Xiaoguo said warmly to the woman. “Have one, Madam.”

“Fish balls and potato starch noodles?” The woman was curious. This was new to her—she had never heard of such a thing before. “What’s fishball potato starch noodles?”

Xiaoguo opened the lid on the basin and pointed it out to her. “These are fish balls. It’s a type of meatballs made from grass carp. It’s made out of fish meat only.” With that, she took out two fish balls and cut them into four equal pieces. She then threw them into a strainer sitting in the pot. She lifted the cloth covering the noodles and continued with her introduction. “These whilte cylindrical strands are potato starch noodles. It’s made from potatoes. On this side, I have white noodles made from flour. The soup base is made from pig bones and mushrooms…”

Xiaoguo spoke loudly. She knew that there were people listening nearby. These villagers had never seen anyone come to sell food, so they were a bit reticent about leaving their houses. They sent this lady as a representative to check out the situation. Once Xiaoguo was finished with her introduction, a flurry of discussions could be heard coming from the near distance. The woman was confused when she heard what Xiaoguo said.

She could understand the words but she didn’t understand exactly what she was hearing. She knew what potatoes were, but what was potato starch? She knew about grass carp, but how could it be made into balls? Do they taste good? And how much did it cost? It sounded quite expensive. And there was white flour.

A series of thoughts raced through her head.

The woman looked conflicted. Xiaoguo continued saying, “Madam, have a bowl. It’s ten copper coins for one serving. You just need to go home and bring an empty bowl.”

The words rolled off her tongue, but in actual fact, Xiaoguo was unsure about the price of the noodles. The stall on the main street was selling a bowl of noodles for only five copper coins, whereas she was asking for double the price. Xiaoguo wasn’t sure if these people could accept it. But when she saw the expression on the woman’s face, she knew that it wasn’t a problem at all. This made her even more certain that the people in this area were relatively rich. She didn’t give a second thought about her selling price anymore.

The woman was relieved after hearing the price. She said generously to Xiaoguo, “Give me three bowls. One mushroom soup and two big bone soups. I would like some chili in the mushroom soup. Let me pay you first and I will run home for the bowls.” With that, she dropped the money and ran home. Xiaoguo happily kept the money and started adding the noodles and fish balls into the pot. When the noodles were almost ready, the woman had returned with three bowls in her hand. There were many people following behind her. All of them had a few bowls in their hands, and they were headed in Xiaoguo’s direction.

Xiaoguo served the woman first. After she left with her bowls, the people that were lined up behind her came forward and placed their orders in a flurry. “I want two bowls. I want four bowls. I want two bowls too. I want the mushroom soup with chili. I want three bowls of bone broth…”

Xiaoguo was overjoyed. She was going to make a fortune. She quickly collected money as she took the orders from the villagers. The commotion attracted some people from the next street. They had come to check out what was going on. When they saw that there was food for sale, everybody each bought a bowl to try—partly for the sake of novelty and also for the fact that it was affordable. The villagers were captivated by the food in their bowls as soon as they tasted it. The bouncy fish balls, springy noodles, and fresh vegetables—all these combined with the rich broth turned into an explosion of flavors when the food entered their mouths. The indescribable taste made everyone order one bowl after another.

Xiaoguo took the orders as they came in, trying to work as quickly as she possibly could. When she was going to make another bowl for the next customer, Xiaoguo saw that the ingredients had run out, so she announced to everyone loudly. “My fellow villagers, I’m so sorry. The last bowl had been sold out. The stall will be closed for today.”

As soon as she finished speaking, chaos ensued among the people who were still waiting in line.

“Why is that? I haven’t ordered yet.”

“Exactly. I was thinking of buying the noodles.”

“Little woman, I’m here again. I would like to buy two more bowls.”

“I just got here. I have not even seen the soup after smelling the wonderful fragrance. Isn’t that a torture?”

“Exactly. I came from the next street, I haven’t got to my turn yet. Sigh.”

“When are you setting up the stall again? Are you coming back here?”

Trying to reassure the crowd, Xiaoguo smiled and addressed each and everyone. “I’m sorry. There’s really nothing left today. I apologize. I’m really sorry if you have specially made your way here. I’ll still be setting up my stall here next time. For the next round, I will make sure to prepare more portions. If you have not gotten a chance to taste the food today, please come early the next time round.”