Husband, Let Me Touch Your Abs

Chapter 54

Running a breakfast shop with just soy milk and tofu pudding isn't enough; although delicious, they don't fill you up. Other staple foods are needed.

Firstly, exclude steamed buns—the reason is simple: too much work.

Kneading dough, proofing it, chopping the filling, wrapping the buns, and steaming them—two people would need more than an hour to finish, not to mention they also have to make soy milk and tofu pudding.

Moreover, there are already two bun shops in town selling both meat and vegetable-filled buns. Meat-filled buns cost five copper coins each, and vegetable-filled ones three. A single bun only earns one or two copper coins, making competition fierce and profits slim.

If buns aren't sold out on the day, the next day's crust won't be fresh, making them hard to sell.

So Lu Yao decided to fry youtiao (Chinese fried dough)!

Youtiao and soy milk are a perfect match, having been popular throughout the country in later times. In ancient times, they should do well too.

Most importantly, no one in town sells youtiao yet. This dish uses less flour and is easy to fry, ready to eat right out of the pot.

The only drawback is that oil is expensive, but it can be reused. A jar of oil can last seven to eight days. In this era, as long as people can eat their fill, no one cares about the health implications of reusing frying oil!

*

The next day, Lu Yao took the wooden board he wrote on last night and went shopping again.

Frying youtiao requires an iron pot. The family's pots are used for boiling soy milk and making soup stock, so none are available. He had to visit the blacksmith and spent three strings of coins to buy an iron pot.

He bought two stones of gray flour for making youtiao, which could be replenished when needed. Living in town has the advantage of easy access to supplies.

The stove for frying youtiao was built directly at the entrance, avoiding excessive smoke inside. Bamboo poles were used to create a canopy, protecting from rain.

During this period, the tofu sales didn't improve even after lowering the price to four copper coins. Only one tray of tofu was sold daily.

Lu Yao wasn't worried; he was about to start selling breakfast, so if the tofu sold, great; if not, no big deal.

In the morning, the carpenter delivered the custom-made stools and buckets. In the afternoon, Lu Yao removed the old sign and replaced it with "Lu's Breakfast."

Everything was prepared; all that was left was to open.

On February 18th, everything was auspicious. Lu's Breakfast Shop officially opened!

Before dawn, Lu Yao and Zhao Beichuan got up. One kneaded the dough while the other heated the pot to boil soy milk.

The boiled soy milk was divided into two portions. One portion was filtered into a bucket, and the other turned into tofu pudding.

Lu Yao carried the basin of dough, and Zhao Beichuan loaded several buckets onto the mule cart. They drove to the shop.

Opening the door, Zhao Beichuan moved the items inside and returned the cart home. Lu Yao started heating the oil, preparing to fry youtiao once it was hot.

At the third watch of the morning, the night soil collector came out, carrying a bucket and knocking a small wooden hammer as he walked through the streets.

Zhao Beichuan washed his hands and began frying youtiao, fearing the hot oil might splash Lu Yao.

They had practiced at home yesterday. Proofed dough was stretched into strips, fried in the oil, and counted to thirty before being done. The resulting youtiao was crispy and delicious.