Chapter 304: Knife-Sliced Noodles

Chapter 304: Knife-Sliced Noodles
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
As soon as Zhou Lan lit the fire and took out the vegetables, she realized that all the food Jiang Chuan had exchanged at the Zhang family’s place had been used to make vegetable buns. Now, they didn’t have any flour left for the main dish.
Thinking that the landlady was straightforward, Zhou Lan decided to borrow some flour from her.
The landlady followed Zhou Lan into the kitchen and promptly scooped out two bowls of flour, asking, “Is this enough for your family?”
“It’s enough!” Zhou Lan quickly replied.
These two bowls of flour weighed over a pound; even if they added another person, it would be sufficient. Smiling, Zhou Lan holding the basin asked, “Do you want food tickets or money?”
“Just eat it. Every family faces difficulties when they’re out,” the landlady said.
She mentally compared the value of this flour to the delicious fish they had given her earlier, realizing the flour paled in comparison.
Using the flour, Zhou Lan made knife-shaved noodles with bacon, bamboo shoots, and chili. After cooking, she added a spoonful of meat sauce to each bowl, and the aroma immediately filled the entire ground floor.
She served five bowls in total. After her family of four was served, there was still one bowl left which she offered to the landlady, “1 noticed no one has used your kitchen during mealtime, so you probably haven’t eaten. Have a taste of my cooking.”
This showed the genuine relationship between them. If the landlady was kind to them, Zhou Lan naturally wanted to repay the favor.
Tasting the delicious aroma, the landlady didn’t refuse and began to eat.
During the meal, the landlady mentioned something that made Jiang Xia see a business opportunity.
She said, “From the beginning of this month, the supply of alcohol has been decreasing. The demand is higher than the supply, and the price is soaring. The price of ordinary quality wine has increased from a few cents to more than a coin. High-quality wines have risen by more than two coin per bottle.”
For example, the Five Grain Liquor that Jiang Chuan had offered to Chen Xing, considered a high-quality wine, used to be two coin per bottle but now had surged to five coin. The price was exorbitant!
Jiang Xia contemplated that Five Grain Liquor was brewed from grains. She remembered reading about brewing using sorghum, millet, and rice. These grains were common in the countryside. If they cultivated a large quantity in their interspace, they could have enough to brew alcohol – a potential business.
After dinner, Jiang Chuan and Jiang Xia cleaned up, and the group went upstairs to put away their luggage.
The market in Locust Tree Bay had ended, and staying any longer was meaningless. Jiang Chuan planned to spend the night here and drive to the county town pharmacy the next day. By evening, they would return to Pushan Village.
This itinerary would maximize their time on the road, avoiding suspicions from the villagers.
In the afternoon, bored, Jiang Chuan wanted to visit the cooperative store to exchange some goods.
Jiang Xia entered her interspace to prepare the items for exchange. There were about ten baskets each of white radishes and carrots. She took out three baskets of each. There were twelve baskets of mushrooms and wild fungi, of which she took out five baskets each.
What they exchanged wasn’t important. Even if they got food tickets, it would be alright.
In these times, as long as you had food, there was hardly anything you couldn’t get in exchange.
The medicinal herbs were still growing. Jiang Xia estimated that after one more night, the herbs would be mature.
In a corner, the Lingzhi mushrooms emitted a refreshing fragrance. Every time she saw them, Jiang Xia felt a surge of pride, thinking about how improbable it was to dream of Lingzhi and then find them in reality.
Oh, and the fish! Jiang Xia suddenly remembered, rushing to the river’s edge to check.
The green-tailed shrimps had twenty more offspring, and the river shrimps had proliferated.
Jiang Xia caught some shrimps in a fishnet and took out fifty fish before leaving her interspace.
On this trip to Locust Tree Bay, although the market was closed, they unexpectedly encountered a black market.
The black market was similar to the regular market, but due to concerns about government inspections, there were usually guards who charged entry fees. Free entry was typically for familiar faces or through introductions.
This black market was on their way to the cooperative store, located just a street away from the previous market’s location.
Jiang Chuan noticed two people standing on the street, vigilantly watching the passersby. On both sides of the street were vendors with baskets on their backs. Unlike a typical market, they didn’t display their goods. Instead, they wandered around the black market, just like other customers..