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

After the family had eaten and drunk their fill, they all sat at the table chatting.

"Cao'er, although these vegetable dumplings are made of wild vegetables, why do I taste the flavor of meat?" Shen's mother asked.

"Mom, you're so clever! I put some pork cracklings in it. Hehe!" Shen Cao looked at her mother guiltily. Although pork cracklings weren't much to Shen Cao, after these past few days, she had a clear understanding of the Shen family's current situation. These pork cracklings were probably the only meat the Shen family had. Her mother had hidden them away so they could eat them slowly, and Shen Cao was afraid her mother would scold her for taking them out without permission.

"Cao'er is really clever. She knows how to use pork cracklings to enhance the flavor, making a vegetable dumpling made purely from wild vegetables taste like meat," Shen's mother praised, patting Shen Cao's head.

"Mom, don't you mind that I used pork cracklings?"

"They were meant to be eaten anyway. How you eat them is your own decision. If you've eaten them, you've eaten them. You can just buy more later," said Shen's mother, looking at Shen Cao with affection.

Upon hearing her mother's words, Shen Cao's eyes filled with tears.

In her previous life, she was born in the 1990s, a time when most parents adopted a suppressive style of education. Although Shen Cao had excellent grades since childhood, she rarely heard her parents praise her. Every time she eagerly awaited her parents' praise, all she received was a sentence from them: "Pride comes before a fall," and "Don't be arrogant in victory or discouraged in defeat." She thought she had long since stopped caring about praise, but her mother's words still broke her defenses.

Unexpectedly, after only a few days in this world, Shen Cao heard countless compliments about herself.

"Mom, you're so good!" Shen Cao threw herself into her mother's arms and gave her a coquettish look, as if she were a stranger to her.

Shen Cao felt that all her previous concerns had vanished after she felt her mother's love.

"Mother, Father, I have something I'd like to discuss with you," Shen Cao said solemnly.

After hearing Shen Cao's words, Shen's parents sat up straight, ready to hear what Shen Cao would say next.

"You said."

“Father, Mother, when I brought you food today, I overheard you talking about Aunt Li selling steamed buns at the dock.”

I also want to go to the docks to sell food and earn some money.

Mr. Shen frowned and asked worriedly, "Have you decided what to sell?"

"I've got it all figured out. It'll be vegetable dumplings. These vegetable dumplings are delicious, affordable, and filling. They'll definitely sell."

"And I've thought it through. I'll make one batch on the first day to try it out. If it sells well, I'll make more. If it doesn't sell, I'll take it home and eat it myself."

Neither way will be wasted.

After hearing Shen Cao's words, Shen's father breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought Shen Cao would act up as before.

"Then you can try it tomorrow. Your mother and I support you." Shen's father agreed to Shen Cao's idea.

"Father, tomorrow won't do, we have to wait a couple of days." Shen Cao hesitated before speaking.

“Dad, I’ve inquired and found out that it’s more than 20 miles from our village to the county dock. I’ll need you to make me a cart so I can push it to the county town.”

"Hey, it's no big deal. There's not much work to do in the fields these days anyway, I'll do it for you tomorrow." Father Shen readily agreed.

"Thank you, Dad!" Shen Cao happily hugged her father.

When Shen Cao hugged him, Shen's father was somewhat at a loss for what to do.

Seemingly sensing that Shen's father was uncomfortable, Shen Cao ran away immediately after hugging him, leaving Shen's father alone, arms outstretched in a daze.

Looking at Shen's father, Shen's mother walked over and said, "Child, this is because you're getting close to the child. Why aren't you used to it yet?"

"Cao'er doesn't blame me anymore?" Father Shen asked incredulously.

"Yes!"

It turns out that Shen Cao had been angry with her father, which is why she ran out alone on a rainy day. Because the road was slippery from the heavy rain, she fell and ended up like this.

Seeing that Shen Cao was willing to hug him, Shen's father thought that Shen Cao probably didn't blame him anymore.

Mr. Shen was very happy to see that Shen Cao had become incredibly sensible since waking up, but he was usually unwilling to express it.

Shen's father spent two days making a small cart for Shen Cao. A board was fixed on the cart, which could hold a lot of things.

Looking at the exquisitely crafted cart that fulfilled all the necessary functions, Shen Cao was once again impressed by the craftsmanship of the ancient working people.

The next morning, Shen Cao made a whole steamer full of vegetable dumplings.

Last night, Shen Cao inquired about the prices. Cornmeal was 20 wen per dou, coarse flour was 25 wen per dou, fine flour was 35 wen per dou, lard was 20 wen per jin, and pork was 15 wen per jin.

Shen Cao priced each vegetable dumpling at two coins, since it was mostly made of wild vegetables and used very little cornmeal and flour.

Although a little bit of pork lard is used, the cost is less than one cent per piece. I'm just starting out in business, so I'm thinking of making small profits but increasing sales volume.

Shen Cao made exactly twenty-five vegetable dumplings in this steamer.

Since there wasn't much work left in the fields, Shen's father had Shen Qing and Shen Wan accompany Shen Cao to the county dock.

Firstly, it provides companionship, and secondly, with more people, even if something happens, someone can promptly return to report it.

After the three of them finished their meal, they headed towards the county dock.

Along the way, they met Uncle Ma, a fellow villager who pulled an oxcart. Shen Cao asked about the price and found out it was two coins per person to take him to the county town, which wasn't expensive.

But I don't have the money right now, so I'll have to wait until later.

The three walked for an hour and arrived at the dock before noon.

There were already people setting up their stalls at the dock, so Shen Cao and his group could only find a corner spot to set up their own stall.

Shen Cao is now in Xin'an County, which is bordered by the sea to the east and the river to the west, enjoying a unique geographical location. Rivers, lakes and seas crisscross the area, forming a natural waterway network. This unique geographical location has created a thriving port economy, with cargo ships coming and going at the docks and many workers handling goods every day.

Therefore, there are many food stalls at the dock.

Shen Cao looked around and found that the stalls were selling affordable and filling foods, with the occasional meat stall mixed in.

It's likely that dockworkers occasionally treat themselves to some meat.

Shen Cao also ran into Aunt Li from the same village. After exchanging a brief greeting, Aunt Li looked at Shen Cao and her companions with disdain when she heard that they were also selling food.

Aunt Li knew the Shen family's current situation. Their cooking was notoriously bad, while her steamed bun-making skills were loved by the villagers, which was how she earned some money. With their inability to even steam a proper bun, they probably wouldn't be able to sell a single one.

Thinking of this, Aunt Li smiled, not believing at all that the Shen family could be her competitor.

Shen Cao's side had already passed lunchtime, and they hadn't opened for business yet.

Several people on the road came over to take a look after hearing Shen Cao and his group's shouts.

When they saw the vegetable dumplings in the steamer, they all waved their hands and refused to buy them.

These vegetable dumplings look like they're all vegetarian. I still have half a day of hard labor to do this afternoon. They're very filling, but they don't taste good at all; they're bitter.

Shen Caoben thought that her vegetable dumplings would definitely not sell today, but unexpectedly she got a lucky break.