The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 78: Chapter 78: The Golden Combo

"In addition to our hot and spicy soup, we’ve just launched a new item. Anyone care for a taste?"

Hu Liang walked to the center of the tables, holding a platter. On it lay several long, round, golden-brown items. They were fresh from the fryer, and you could still hear them SIZZLING.

"What are these? Are they any good? How come I’ve never seen them before?"

Hu Liang naturally launched into his sales pitch. "You’d never had our hot and spicy soup before, either, right? You’re the one who decides if it’s good; we don’t cheat our customers. These fried dough sticks and the hot and spicy soup are a golden combo. With something solid and something soupy, it’s a satisfying meal that’ll leave you feeling great. But as for how it tastes, well, you’ll have to be the judge of that."

The name was, of course, Ji Huan’s idea.

The hot and spicy soup had a dark yellowish color, and the fried dough sticks themselves were golden-yellow, so calling it a "golden combo" was quite fitting.

The customers all started to laugh. "A ’golden combo,’ you say? Well, I’ll have to try that. How much are they?"

Hu Liang picked up a dough stick, which had been twisted together from two strips. "They’re two strips twisted into one. Four wen each."

"Whoa! One of your dough sticks costs as much as two steamed buns." The others also thought it was a bit expensive.

After his previous experiences, Hu Liang wasn’t so flustered anymore. This confidence came mainly from his belief in the product.

"Our fried dough sticks are made with fine white flour and deep-fried, not to mention they take a lot of effort to make. Besides, if you’re going to compare the price of our dough sticks to steamed buns, you should compare the size too. A dough stick this thick and this long, isn’t that a better deal than two thin-skinned buns? Plus, this is something totally new. I can guarantee you no one’s ever had this before, not just in Juyong Town, but even in all of Yeyang County. For four wen, you get a full stomach and a new experience. Do you really think that’s a bad deal?"

As he spoke, he waved the dough stick in a circle before the crowd, and its delicious aroma snaked its way into everyone’s nose.

The customer closest to him swallowed a few times and slapped his money on the table. "Give me one to try."

After he took a bite, Hu Liang quickly asked, "How’s the taste?"

The man was too busy eating to speak. He just gave Hu Liang a thumbs-up and nodded repeatedly.

Seeing his reaction, the others all ordered one for themselves. After eating, they were naturally full of praise.

Just as they sent off a wave of satisfied customers, the students from the academy got out of their morning classes.

The round-faced boy from yesterday was the first to rush over. "Boss! Two bowls of hot and spicy soup."

After him, a whole crowd of students followed. Some were around the same age as the round-faced boy, while others were about Hu Liang’s age, but most of them were customers who had eaten here yesterday.

Hu Liang went through his sales pitch again. These students had even less resistance to food, and nearly all of them ordered the hot and spicy soup with a fried dough stick.

On a winter morning, a bowl of hot and spicy soup would send a gentle warmth through the body and bring a light sheen of sweat to the brow, stirring the appetite.

Pairing it with a fluffy, crispy fried dough stick at that moment was a heavenly delight.

The result was that their stall’s "golden combo" became a complete sensation.

After sending off wave after wave of customers, once there wasn’t a single student left on the street, someone else came to ask, but Ji Huan simply told them they were sold out.

After the person shook their head and left, Hu Liang asked Ji Huan, "Don’t we still have some left?"

The words had barely left his mouth when he saw the young attendant from Yide Hall running over with a food container.

"Miss Ji, is there any left? I had to sneak away from my young ma— I mean, Doctor Xin. It wasn’t easy to get out."

Ji Huan smiled. "I saved some especially for you."

She took the food container, opened it, and took out the soup bowl from inside. She ladled it full, enough for two people. Then, she packed the four remaining fried dough sticks inside as well.

Ping’an took the container and tried to hand Ji Huan money, but she pushed it back.

Ping’an was a little embarrassed.

Yesterday, when Ji Huan went to the clinic to return something, she had mentioned she’d opened a breakfast stall in town and told them to come try it sometime in the morning if they were free.

Ping’an, being a foodie, had naturally agreed right away. But Doctor Xin had forbidden him from coming, guessing that Ji Huan wouldn’t accept any money.

Ji Huan said deliberately, "If Doctor Xin doesn’t want any, that’s his loss. You go back and eat it right in front of him. Just say it’s my treat; he can’t say anything about that."

Ping’an scratched the back of his head, smiled, thanked her repeatedly, and ran off with the food container, clearly eager to get back and share the delicious food with his young master.

With both the hot and spicy soup and the fried dough sticks being launched successfully to great reception, Ji Huan made sure to prepare a bit more on the third day.

That day, almost all the customers who came to the stall were regulars. Hu Liang no longer needed to waste his breath on a sales pitch; they specifically asked for the "golden combo" by name.

After the students returned to the academy for class, there was a bit of a lull. Hu Liang started pondering again how they could attract new customers.

’Relying just on word-of-mouth from regulars is too passive.’

Ji Huan heard him muttering and told him to go to the carpenter’s shop to buy a ready-made thin wooden board. She also told him to have the owner nail two supports diagonally to the back. Then she asked Dacheng to watch Dabao while she went to a nearby stationery shop to buy paper and a brush.

She didn’t expect to run into an acquaintance at the shop’s entrance.

Song Jing was also a bit surprised to see her.

"Boss Fang was just telling me that you haven’t been to his place in a while."

Lately she’d been busy with dehydrated vegetables, and now she was building a house and running a stall. Ji Huan really hadn’t been to the bookshop to pick up work for some time. She had also run out of ink and brushes at home; otherwise, she wouldn’t have come here to buy more.

"After a few more busy days, I should have some free time."

Song Jing nodded. "Then you’d better hurry. Boss Fang told me everything. Someone said they wanted to compete with me. If you don’t show up, it means you’ve admitted defeat."

Ji Huan had long since discovered that Song Jing’s persona as a well-behaved, model student was highly questionable.

Although he did indeed present himself as gentle and courteous, once you got to know him, you’d find that he not only liked to joke but also enjoyed teasing people.

Just like now. He was speaking with a completely straight face, but it made her teeth itch with annoyance.

Ji Huan raised an eyebrow. "Only children care about winning and losing. In my dictionary, there’s only ’win’."

Song Jing paused for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

This laugh was different from his previous polite smiles. Something seemed to have genuinely amused him.

’The villagers you’ve deceived really should see you now,’ Ji Huan grumbled internally.

She walked into the shop and began to choose some paper.

Seeing this, Song Jing suppressed his smile and asked her what she was buying paper and a brush for.

Ji Huan didn’t feel like talking to him at the moment. But when she saw him put on a pensive expression that seemed to say, "What did I do wrong? Why are you being so petty?" she was left a little speechless and just gave him a brief, noncommittal answer.

After hearing her out, Song Jing stopped her from buying anything. He pointed to the items he was holding and said to her, "I have some right here. I just bought them from Boss Fang’s. Why waste your money? Where’s your stall? I’ll go give you a hand."

He walked out of the stationery shop first, leaving Ji Huan standing there, stunned.

’Um, aren’t we being a little too familiar? What’s it to you if I spend my own money?’

Song Jing looked back, and seeing she hadn’t followed, he even beckoned to her with a wave.

Ji Huan looked at his handsome and refined face in the sunlight. She thought for a moment and decided that even if Song Jing wasn’t always what he seemed on the surface, he was fundamentally a kind and helpful person.

’Besides,’ she thought, ’he’s volunteering to do manual labor. It’d be unreasonable of me not to let him.’

Hu Liang had already returned with the wooden board. From a distance, he saw Ji Huan walking toward the stall side-by-side with a man, the two of them chatting and laughing.

He was a little surprised and nudged Widow Xie. "Mom, look quick. Isn’t that Song Jing?"

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