The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

Just past noon, the food that Shen Cao had prepared was sold out. Shen's parents looked at the few people who hadn't eaten and said that the boxed lunches for today were all sold out, but if they didn't mind, there were still some vegetable dumplings they could have for lunch.

Seeing that everyone else was eating stir-fried dishes and rice, these people no longer cared about the vegetable dumplings and immediately wanted to leave.

At this moment, Shen Cao walked in and apologized to them, saying that it was the first day of business and she hadn't prepared much, but she would definitely prepare plenty for tomorrow so that they could all enjoy delicious food.

These people still felt a little uncomfortable after hearing Shen Cao's words, after all, they had been queuing for half a day.

Shen Cao gestured to her parents to go to the kitchen and bring out the vegetable dumplings. After giving each of them a vegetable dumpling as compensation, they happily left.

Mr. and Mrs. Shen, who had been busy all noon, hadn't had time to eat yet, so they quickly went to the main room to eat.

Shen Cao calculated the morning's earnings, which totaled six hundred coins. However, after adding the cost of buying groceries, he still lost four hundred coins. But looking at the customer traffic, he figured he would make back the money sooner or later.

In the morning, my father went to the dock to sell vegetable dumplings, which just paid off the four hundred coins.

Shen Cao went to the vegetable market again in the afternoon. The vegetables she had prepared yesterday were all used up, so she had to prepare vegetables for tomorrow in advance.

The uncles and aunties at the market all know her. Shen Cao has come to the market to buy vegetables several times in the past few days. Moreover, the young girl is generous when buying vegetables and doesn't haggle much, only looking at the quality of the vegetables.

Everyone was willing to sell their vegetables to her.

As evening falls and the sun sets, people who have been busy all day gradually begin their journey home.

Occasionally, a few people would emerge from their homes; their jobs were the opposite of those who worked during the day—they needed to work at night.

Zhao Min was a night watchman who needed to work at night. Sometimes, in order to earn money, he would occasionally go to the docks to find some temporary work.

This afternoon, he went to work on the boat as a boatman for half a day. His coworkers told him that there was a newly opened restaurant on Xin'an Street that served delicious food. Moreover, today was the first day of its opening, and all the food was half price.

He rushed to Xin'an Street as soon as he finished work in the afternoon, hoping to grab a bite to eat so he could go back and rest for an hour.

He stood at the entrance of Shen's Restaurant, checking carefully several times before he was sure he hadn't gone to the wrong place.

Shen Cao was making wontons in the shop when she saw someone look up at the signboard several times before coming in. She quickly went up to greet him.

"Sir, what would you like to eat?"

Zhao Min looked at the girl in front of him, who was about ten years old, wearing an apron and with two neat braids in her hair, and assumed that she was helping out at home.

What kind of food do they have?

Shen Cao immediately began to explain in detail, “We sell chicken soup wontons in the evening. The wonton fillings include shepherd's purse and pork, fresh pork, shrimp, and bamboo shoot and pork.”

She then explained the price of each filling to Zhao Min one by one.

Zhao Min frowned. All they had for dinner was wontons.

Seeing that her older brother was hesitant, Shen Cao quickly introduced him to the chicken soup wontons.

"Brother, don't be fooled by the seemingly ordinary chicken soup wontons. The chicken soup is made by simmering an old hen in it all day long. It's incredibly delicious."

"The wonton filling is made with pork that we just bought that day, minced and seasoned with our own special ingredients. The taste is absolutely amazing."

"Even the seasoning oil in the soup is made with a secret recipe. Look, there's also chili oil on the table. If you think it's bland, you can add some to season it. Why don't you try it?"

Zhao Min was intrigued by Shen Cao's words and said, "Then let's have a bowl of shepherd's purse and pork to try first."

"okay."

Shen Cao poured Zhao Min a cup of barley water. "Brother, please try this. It's a special tea drink from our shop. Please wait a moment."

Zhao Min put down his teacup and looked around the restaurant. There were two pillars in the middle of the restaurant, and a piece of calligraphy hung on the pillars. He was illiterate and did not know what it said, but the calligraphy was very beautiful and elegant.

Shen Cao went to the back kitchen and asked her father to go to the front to greet the guests. She counted out twelve shepherd's purse wontons from the bamboo basket and poured them into the boiling water.

While cooking the wontons, she opened the soup pot next to her. The chicken soup had been simmering for a long time, with a layer of golden chicken oil floating on top. The soup was clear and bright, and the chicken meat was very tender. When she poked it with chopsticks, the meat and skin fell off the bone.

Shen Cao used a strainer to scoop out a large spoonful of chicken broth and poured it into a large bowl containing dried shrimp, scallion oil, green onions, cilantro, seaweed, and various seasonings. She stirred it well with chopsticks, and the unique aroma of cilantro wafted up, refreshing yet carrying the savory flavor of the chicken broth.

Once the water boiled again, the wontons were cooked. She scooped the cooked wontons out and poured them into a bowl.

Zhao Min looked at the wontons in front of him. The thin wonton wrappers were greenish and wrinkled from the shrinkage of the meat. Each wonton was plump and round, and with the soup base, it looked very appetizing.

He picked up the soup spoon and eagerly scooped up a mouthful of soup and put it in his mouth.

Wow, this chicken soup tastes really good.

I scooped up a wonton; the wrapper was so thin it broke with a gentle bite. The meat filling was firm and bouncy, with the unique aroma of shepherd's purse and the flavor of fresh meat—it was incredibly satisfying to eat.

It's only early summer now, and the night breeze is still a bit chilly. After eating this bowl of wontons, I felt warm all over.

He had eaten wontons before, but they were either sparsely filled or contained very little meat. In particular, the wonton soup was mostly made from the water used to boil the wontons.

This was the first time he had ever seen wontons made with chicken broth as the base, which showed that the person who made the wontons was quite particular about food.

Moreover, the taste lives up to the girl's claims of various secret recipes; it is indeed unique.

He glanced at the chili oil on the table, remembered what the little girl had just said, and added a spoonful to his bowl.

The already delicious broth is now enhanced with the bold flavor of chili peppers and a hint of charred aroma, making for a unique taste.

His coworker hadn't lied to him; the food at this shop was indeed delicious.

After finishing a bowl of wontons, not only did he fill his stomach, but his body, which had been a little cold, even broke out in a light sweat.

While he was eating his wontons, several more people came into the shop one after another.

Judging from their conversation, they had already eaten lunch and were coming back for dinner.

He nodded at the empty bowl and patted his belly contentedly.

He carefully observed the busy people in the shop and discovered that the little girl who had just greeted him was actually the one making the delicious wontons, not the adult who came out later.

He looked surprised, not expecting the young girl to have such excellent cooking skills.

He called the shopkeeper to settle the bill.

"The original price is ten coins, but today is the first day of business, so it's half price. You can just give me five coins."

It wasn't expensive at all. Such a big bowl of wontons was enough to fill me up by myself; the portion was quite generous.

He paid the bill and left satisfied. A bowl of wontons swept away his fatigue, and he ate with great pleasure.