Before dawn the next day, Mrs. Yang knocked on Xiaoguo’s door with a bag of handkerchiefs. “Coming!” Xiaoguo replied as she turned around and urged Zhuang Zhuang to brush his teeth. She walked to the door and opened it. “Mrs. Yang, come in and wait for a while. I’ll fix up the donkey cart.”

“Hey, sure. Let’s do it together.”

With Mrs. Yang’s help, the donkey cart was quickly set up. Xiaoguo drove the donkey cart to the door and called out to Zhuang Zhuang, “Zhuang Zhuang, let’s go!”

“Hey, I’m coming!” Zhuang Zhuang replied from inside the house.

Mrs. Yang stopped Xiaoguo. “Xiaoguo, are you bringing Zhuang Zhuang along?” Mrs. Yang felt that it was dangerous to bring the child along. After all, there were many people in the market.

Xiaoguo knew what Mrs. Yang was worried about, so she turned around and comforted her. “It’s fine. I brought him there the last time. It’s fine. I will carry him along the way.”

“Alright.” Mrs. Yang thought for a moment and was still a little worried. She reminded Xiaoguo. “Watch him closely and don’t let go!”

“Okay! I understand. Don’t worry!” Xiaoguo turned around and smiled at Mrs. Yang, giving her a comforting smile.

Zhuang Zhuang also ran out. He locked the door skillfully and handed the key to Xiaoguo. Xiaoguo took the key and put it in her pocket. She bent down and picked up Zhuang Zhuang. “Sister-in-law, sit tight! Let’s go!”

“Alright, let’s go!” Mrs. Yang held onto the board and laughed. “Here we go!”

Zhuang Zhuang laughed when he heard that. He raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist. “Let’s go!”

Xiaoguo smiled when she heard that. “Giddy up!”

At Xiaoguo’s command, the donkey cart rattled forward, heading for the county city.

The donkey cart arrived at Qingxi Road first. Mrs. Yang got out of the cart at the intersection. Xiaoguo handed the bag of handkerchiefs to Mrs. Yang. “Mrs. Yang, when can I pick you up?”

Mrs. Yang thought for a moment and looked up at the sky. The sun had just risen, which was still before 7 am. “I guess I will be here until a quarter past noon, at the latest. I’ll wait for you here at noon.”

Xiaoguo did a rough calculation of the time. It was about right. “Okay! I’ll wait for you here at noon!”

Xiaoguo left Qingxi Road and crossed three roads before arriving at the Ruyi Noodle Restaurant. From afar, she could see a lot of people queuing up. Xiaoguo avoided the crowd and secured the donkey cart on the other side. She could see the donkey cart from inside, so she was not worried about losing it.

Seeing that there were so many people, Xiaoguo did not put Zhuang Zhuang down. She carried him into the noodle shop. As soon as she entered, she was stopped by someone.

“Hello, do you want to take-away or eat in the shop?” As she spoke, she pointed to a big sign at the door. She was a little girl of about ten years old. Her hair was tied up into two round buns with a red ribbon attached to each bun. There was a sweet smile on her young and tender face.

Xiaoguo looked in the direction she was pointing. She had been so focused on looking at the crowd in the queue that she didn’t see the big sign at the door. Xiaoguo slowly read the words on the sign: “Special recommendation by Ruyi Noodle Restaurant, Fish Balls with Potato Starch Noodles, Mushroom soup or Pork Bone Soup, 10 copper coins per bowl. Please bring your own bowls for takeaways!”

Good, good. Xiaoguo smiled at the girl in front of her. “Give me two bowls of mushroom soup! Dine in here!”

When the young girl heard that, she led Xiaoguo in. At this moment, Uncle Xu saw Xiaoguo and quickly greeted her, “Shopkeeper Qin!”

Xiaoguo didn’t know that he was calling her, but she didn’t turn around when she heard him. Instead, Zhuang Zhuang saw Uncle Xu. “Mother, Grandpa Xu!” Zhuang Zhuang pointed at the cashier table and asked Xiaoguo to look.

The young girl heard it too. When she heard Uncle Xu calling her Shopkeeper Qin, she stood rooted to the ground in confusion.

Xiaoguo heard Zhuang Zhuang’s reminder and realized that Uncle Xu was calling her. “What was he calling her? Shopkeeper Qin?” Xiaoguo looked amused. She turned around and said to the young lady beside her, “I won’t tease you anymore. I don’t want the two bowls of soup anymore. Thank you!”

With that, she carried Zhuang Zhuang and walked towards the cashier table. The young girl understood what was going on. She smiled at Xiaoguo and turned to serve the other customers at the door.

“Uncle Xu, stop calling me Shopkeeper Qin. Ruyi is the shopkeeper!” Xiaoguo didn’t dare to call herself a boss. At most, she was just a small shareholder who came up with the recipe.

“Our Shopkeeper Xu specially instructed us to do so.” In front of others, Uncle Xu addressed Ruyi as Shopkeeper Xu, but still called her Ruyi in private.

At this moment, Xu Ruyi came out of the kitchen with a tray with three big bowls on it. Seeing that she was unsteady, Xiaoguo quickly went to the cashier counter and put Zhuang Zhuang down. She instructed him not to go out and to stay there obediently. Zhuang Zhuang nodded and Xiaoguo said to Uncle Xu, “Please help me with him, Uncle Xu.”

After Uncle Xu nodded to show his acknowledgement, Xiaoguo took over the tray from Xu Ruyi with relief. Xu Ruyi suddenly felt the load in her hands lighten. Just as she was feeling puzzled, she saw that it was Xiaoguo. “You’re here!” she said in surprise. It had been a long time since they last met. From the previous time when they saw each other, it had been more than ten days.

“Yes, yes! Which table is this?” Xu Ruyi knew that this was not the time to chat. Hearing Xiaoguo’s question, she quickly gave her the table number.

Xiaoguo knew which table it was and brought it over. Xu Ruyi returned to the kitchen and continued with her work.

When she wasn’t around, there was nothing Xiaoguo could do to help. But since she was already here, she couldn’t just stand by the side and watch. Hence, Xiaoguo tried her best to help whenever possible.

When she was done, it was almost noon. Xu Ruyi finally had time to talk to Xiaoguo. She even introduced the two girls in the shop to Xiaoguo. The girl who greeted Xiaoguo earlier was called Ling Long. The girl who had been busy making noodles in the kitchen was called Fu’er.

Xu Ruyi even told Xiaoguo about their backgrounds. Xiaoguo listened attentively and felt that Xu Ruyi was really good at doing business. “Ruyi, you’re amazing. Your division of labor is clear and orderly! You’re amazing!”

Xu Ruyi said embarrassedly, “No…” Her face turned red.

Xiaoguo praised her sincerely. Xu Ruyi said, “Alright, alright. Don’t say anymore. I’m so embarrassed.”

Xu Ruyi interrupted Xiaoguo’s praise and turned to ask Uncle Xu if the accounts had been tabulated. Uncle Xu took out the accounts book and opened it. Xiaoguo could see the daily tally right in front of her. Xiaoguo did not bother to look in detail as she said, “I believe you. Just give me the total amount.”

Xu Ruyi did not treat her as an outsider. Seeing that she was so straightforward, there was no reason for her to hide anything. She let Uncle Xu tell Xiaoguo the final amount.

Uncle Xu picked up the abacus, gave it a few sweeps and handed it to Xiaoguo. “The grand total is 30 taels of silver and 60 copper coins!”

Xiaoguo nodded and was very surprised. She didn’t expect to earn so much. Xu Ruyi laughed and said proudly, “What do you think?”

Xiaoguo played along and said, “I’m very impressed!”

Xu Ruyi laughed out loud. Xiaoguo also smiled. Seeing that there wasn’t much time left, and that she still had to pick up Mrs. Yang, she told Xu Ruyi that she had another matter to settle besides coming to clear the accounts.

Xiaoguo took out a piece of paper and handed it to Xu Ruyi.

“What is this?” Xu Ruyi took it curiously and opened it… Then, her eyes widened. “This… This is… the new soup base!”

Xiaoguo nodded. “You treat me like one of your own. I won’t be hesitant to share either. It’s all written in detail. You can’t go wrong by following the steps!”

Last night, she used Zhuang Zhuang’s brush and paper to write a new recipe for the soup base. It was a sweet and sour tomato soup base.

Xu Ruyi was about to cry. “Sister Xiaoguo…”

“If you treat me like family and call me sister, I can’t possibly let you down.” She took her hand.

Xiaoguo explained the details to her. Seeing that there wasn’t enough time, Xiaoguo politely declined her offer to stay for dinner. She kept the money and drove Zhuang Zhuang to Qingxi Road.

At about the same time when Xiaoguo arrived, Mrs. Yang had also just come out to the street. Seeing that Mrs. Yang was all smiles and looking at her empty bag, she knew that everything must have been sold out. Mrs. Yang chatted with Xiaoguo along the way and they soon arrived home.