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

After a busy day, Shen Cao was calculating the revenue for the first two days of business at the counter.

Shen's father watched as Shen Cao scribbled some characters he didn't recognize on scrap paper, and without even using an abacus, he calculated them in a moment.

He was very surprised. "Cao'er, you just wrote some random symbols on this scrap paper and you think that's all?"

Shen Cao looked at the Arabic numerals he had written on the scrap paper. This accounting only required addition and subtraction, multiplication was used only occasionally, and division was used very rarely.

However, she forgot that her father couldn't understand it.

She scratched her head and continued making things up, "Father, you forgot? I had a master before, didn't I? It was my master who taught me. He said it's a convenient and fast way to calculate. Father, when you have time, I'll teach you too."

Mr. Shen thought that Shen Cao's master was really amazing. Not only did he teach her cooking skills, but he also taught her how to run a shop and do accounting.

Shen Caozhen should really thank her master.

"Cao'er, your master is quite capable. Why don't you burn some paper money and incense for him to express your gratitude?"

Shen Cao was speechless at her father's words. Was he treating her like his own master, burning paper money for himself? That didn't seem right. She felt a little creeped out.

In the first two days after opening, including the money Shen's father earned selling vegetable dumplings at the dock every morning, the daily revenue was one tael of silver and two hundred copper coins, which was just enough to break even.

However, with a 50% discount at the opening, breaking even is already a good result.

When Mr. Shen had nothing to do during the day, he had already calculated it. He was very surprised that the daily revenue of this store was more than he had earned in the previous few months.

These past two days, he's been greeting customers and keeping accounts. Almost every penny of income has passed through his hands, so no one knows better than him whether the shop is making money or not.

He and his wife had already discussed it. He would help out in the front while his wife would learn in the kitchen and assist Shen Cao. They would run the shop well and their child's tuition would be taken care of.

Everything is moving in a better direction.

The next morning, Shen Cao took her younger siblings to the seafood market. It was called a seafood market, but in reality, it was a place where fishing boats would bring their catch back to shore early every morning and sell their catch on the spot.

Over time, this seafood market was formed, where the seafood is the cheapest and freshest.

The seafood market is located on the dock, at the other end where Shen Cao and his friends used to sell vegetable dumplings. The dock is divided into two areas. The larger area in front is used to dock cargo ships, and Shen Cao and his friends used to sell vegetable dumplings on the side where the cargo ships were docked.

The other area is where fishing boats dock. It's a bit smaller than the cargo ship area, but there are just as many people coming and going.

Shen Cao got up very early, but she still arrived a little late. The seafood market was packed with people, and there were shouts of vendors everywhere.

Some stalls were already preparing to close up shop.

"Sister, are we too late?" Shen Wan pointed to the old lady packing up her stall.

"It seems so. Let's hurry up and buy it. You two stay close, we can't get separated in this crowd," Shen Cao reminded her younger siblings.

Shen Wan quickly grabbed Shen Qing's hand and followed closely behind Shen Cao.

This was Shen Cao's first time visiting a seafood market. Although it was called a seafood market, it was actually just a place that sold seafood. All the stalls were on the ground, with a simple canvas on the ground, which was the fishermen's stall.

The seafood market was lined with stalls on both sides, where fishermen neatly arranged their catch at their feet, while shoppers walked along the path in the middle, looking for anything they wanted to buy.

Shen Cao, holding her younger siblings' hands, decided to look at the prices on the right side first, asking about prices as she walked.

There were many similar seafood items at the stalls, and Shen Cao would always ask about the price of the seafood she wanted to buy first. Only after understanding the prices of various types of seafood would she compare the quality of the seafood at each stall.

After going around in circles, she can always buy seafood that is both affordable and fresh.

Shen Cao was very happy. She had bought a lot of ingredients she liked today. As she walked, she looked at the seafood in her hands and was planning how to cook it later.

Suddenly, she saw an old lady sitting in front of her stall at the end of the seafood market. This old lady was over sixty years old. Unlike the other stall owners who were all young and strong, her presence was somewhat out of place in the seafood market.

Shen Cao looked down at the seafood on the old lady's stall: a medium-sized flounder and several lizardfish. The lizardfish varied in size, and compared to the other fish in front of her, they were not enough to impress her.

The surrounding stall owners all gave Shen Cao a strange look when they saw him looking at the fish on the old lady's stall.

One older woman even pointed to the dragonfish on her stall, which were all uniform in size and much better than those on the old lady's stall, and shouted to Shen Cao, "Girl, look at the dragonfish here. They were all caught early this morning. I guarantee they're fresh, and each one is quite big. They're plump and meaty, and absolutely delicious."

Shen Cao looked at the fish at the older woman's stall and realized they were indeed better than the old lady's.

She ignored the older woman and instead squatted down in front of the old lady's stall, pointing at the fish and asking about the price.

When the old woman saw Shen Cao squat down, she didn't show any expression, but explained to Shen Cao in a calm tone, "Young lady, I caught this fish in the trap I set yesterday."

"Take a look, do you want to buy them? If you do, then buy them all. If not, my wife will take them home and eat them herself."

Upon hearing the old woman's words, the surrounding stall owners all wore expressions of "I knew it," then exchanged silent glances that only a few could understand, their expressions towards Shen Cao all somewhat strange.

I don't understand why this young girl would choose to buy from that old woman instead of the good quality fish from her own stall.

Shen Cao sensed the strange atmosphere in the air and looked at the old woman in front of her.

The old woman had gray hair, her face was roughened by the sea breeze and tanned, and her coarse cloth clothes were patched all over, but they were clean.

Her eyes, however, were exceptionally bright and she seemed quite energetic; she appeared to have grown accustomed to the not-so-friendly stares of those around her.

He just looked at Shen Cao questioningly, wanting to confirm whether Shen Cao wanted to buy it, completely ignoring the other people.

"Grandma, please wrap them all up for me. I'll take them all. You can calculate how much it will cost." Shen Cao didn't know what had happened to make the surrounding stall owners treat a woman over sixty years old like this; she just wanted to help her.

When the old lady heard that Shen Cao wanted all the fish, she quickly took out a rope and tied the fish together.

"Thirty coins in total."

Shen Cao looked at the old lady and asked, "Grandma, if you catch any fish in the future, you can bring them to Shen's Restaurant on Xin'an Street. My family needs a lot of fish every day, so you won't need to set up a stall here anymore."

The old lady paused for a moment as she took the money, but still said expressionlessly, "Okay."

The older woman who had just heard Shen Cao's words tried to stop her, but the people around her gestured to her to mind her own business.