Maybe the things in the wooden bucket haven’t warmed up yet, and the wooden bucket has already been turned into charcoal. He shared his worries with Lin Xiang. Lin Xiang waved her hand dismissively and said, "Don’t worry, someone will bring a bucket over soon." She then went to the small house mentioned by the person in charge, handed over a dollar, and exchanged it for a red ticket. "Keep this receipt safe. If someone causes trouble later, just bring this to us. But only if you’re in the right; if you start trouble, we won’t get involved." Lin Xiang understood that this was essentially protection money. She hadn’t even started her business yet but had already spent one dollar and sixty cents, not even knowing yet how much she could earn today! But Lin Xiang was willing to spend this money. Without the sixty cents for the Double Happiness cigarettes, the person in charge wouldn’t have given her the charcoal. Moreover, it was the first time she was doing business in the 70s, and the current policies were only somewhat relaxed, not yet fully opened up. This one dollar of protection money meant she could openly do business without anyone causing trouble. Just as Lin Xiang returned with the receipt, the aluminum bucket was delivered. Niu Tiantian acted like a little dog, sniffing around the two wooden buckets non-stop. "Smells so good. Lin Xiang, what exactly are you selling? Let me take a look!" Lin Xiang lifted the lid of the wooden bucket, revealing the red base inside. Niu Tiantian confirmed that the fragrance was indeed coming from inside. "What is this? It doesn’t look like something you can eat." Lin Xiang placed the aluminum bucket Mr. Niu had just made yesterday on the earthen stove, added the base from the wooden bucket into the aluminum bucket, stuffed more firewood into the stove, and after the wooden bucket boiled, she added a handful of pre-soaked sweet potato vermicelli. "Missing two sieves, otherwise I could directly put the sweet potato vermicelli in the sieves and wouldn’t have to fish them out from the pot later," Lin Xiang said to herself. She had thought about preparing in advance, but the problem was that the sieves she wanted weren’t available at the supply and marketing cooperative. "What kind of sieve do you want? Describe it to me, and I’ll go home to make it for you now." Lin Xiang waved her hand repeatedly, "No need, Uncle Niu, it’s too much trouble for you." "What’s the big deal?" Niu Tiantian answered for Mr. Niu, "My dad’s craftsmanship is really good, and we have ready materials at home, just let him make it." "Yeah, let me earn some money too." Of course, Lin Xiang knew that Mr. Niu was saying this purely to ease her mind. These two aluminum buckets, including labor and materials, Mr. Niu charged only two dollars in total. It’s estimated that the materials alone cost more than that; Mr. Niu was simply helping Lin Xiang. Still, Lin Xiang did need the sieves, so she didn’t stand on ceremony with Mr. Niu. She would make up for it from elsewhere later. "Brother, keep an eye on it for me. When it’s done, fish it out and let Uncle Niu and Tiantian eat first." Lin Xiang found a wooden stick, squatted in front of the sandpile, and drew the shape of the sieve she wanted. Her drawing skills weren’t great, but Mr. Niu, being a senior technician, guessed what she wanted with just a quick look, "Alright, I’ll make it for you after I eat the spicy vermicelli." Soon, the spicy vermicelli was cooked, and Lin Yun used his specially-made long wooden chopsticks to add the vermicelli to the bowls, then used a household soup spoon to scoop some broth. "Alright, you can eat first." Niu Tiantian couldn’t wait any longer, already seated on a stool, and when Lin Yun brought it over, she immediately started eating with chopsticks without saying a word. "Take it slow," Lin Xiang teased, "No one’s snatching it from you." Niu Tiantian picked up a strand of vermicelli, blew on it for quite a while before daring to put it in her mouth. Once her lips tasted the spicy and savory flavor, she slurped it down in one go, and finished a bowl of vermicelli quickly. Mr. Niu, though not as exaggerated as Niu Tiantian, clearly enjoyed it very much. "I must say, sweet potato vermicelli made this way really tastes unique, much better than mixing it with meat," Mr. Niu said, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief, "It’s just a bit too spicy; eating this in the morning is hard on the stomach." Lin Xiang suddenly slapped her forehead, "Oh dear, I forgot about that." She took out two empty bowls and served a bowl of millet porridge for each of Niu Tiantian and Mr. Niu. The wooden bucket’s insulation was quite good, and the porridge was still hot. Mr. Niu drank a big mouthful, which soothed the burning feeling in his stomach considerably, "I’ll go back now to make the sieves for you. I’ll bring them over in about half an hour." "Uncle, I also made a bowl of vermicelli for Auntie, could you take it back to her?" For more chapters visıt 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝘯𝘦𝘵 Mr. Niu waved his hand in refusal, "Your aunt doesn’t eat spicy food. Eating chili peppers makes her break out in rashes. We appreciate your kindness, but I’ll be heading off now." "Dad, wait for me. Please take me to the cotton spinning factory; I’m going to be late for work!" Niu Tiantian finished the millet porridge in her bowl without caring for farewells to Lin Xiang, quickly hopped onto the back seat of Mr. Niu’s bicycle before waving goodbye to Lin Xiang, "Good luck with your business! I’ll come find you after work for more sweet potato vermicelli!" The portion intended for Shen Aihua had already been cooked and couldn’t go to waste, so Lin Xiang simply put it in a bowl and brought it over to the person in charge. "Brother, this is the sweet potato vermicelli I’m selling, brought it over for you to taste. And here’s a bowl of millet porridge. If you find it too spicy, drink some millet porridge to ease it." The person in charge had long smelled the fragrance of the sweet potato vermicelli. It’s unavoidable; in the 70s, when everyone was lacking in rich flavors, such a strong aroma spreading around made it hard not to notice. "Just leave it here; I’ll return the bowl to you after I eat later. By the way, I saw you have two aluminum buckets, and judging by the looks, one earthen stove wouldn’t be enough. Feel free to move some more earth bricks over. Just bring them back before you leave in the afternoon." "Thanks, brother!" Lin Xiang immediately expressed gratitude, hurrying off to carry the bricks. As the saying goes, the elderly have wisdom: being polite never offends! After all these bustling activities, it was already nearing eight o’clock. The day was bright, and vendors, as well as people coming to the market, had mostly gathered. The previously open factory area was now lively. Lin Xiang noticed that including them, there were only four food vendors, and she arrived the latest. The first three were selling porridge, buns, and pancakes, respectively. The porridge stall had two small wooden barrels in front, filled with porridge made from rice mixed with corn grits. There was little rice, lots of corn grits, but even more water. Although it sold for five cents a bowl, there were few solids in it, primarily corn grits with only a few scattered grains of rice. The buns were pre-steamed at home and brought over. They contained a lot of mixed grains and weren’t white or fluffy. The pancakes were cooked on the spot, but besides the pancakes, there was nothing else—a dry and tasteless pancake that didn’t look appetizing. The stall owners were quite laid-back, not shouting although the market was bustling with people.