80s Transmigration: The Young Widow's Hustle to Riches-Chapter 18: Tasty and Affordable Orchid Beans

Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Tasty and Affordable Orchid Beans

The old lady smiled. "You just focus on making your money. We don’t need to be so formal about these things." ’An old gal like me could probably make about ten yuan a day, too,’ she thought. ’If I wasn’t worried about holding Ding Bang back, I’d have set up my own stall ages ago.’

"Got it!" Lin Lan smiled and brought a chair for the old lady to sit on. She then turned and went behind the stove, opening the cupboard and taking out a mortar.

Seeing that the area in front of and behind the stove was spotless, the old lady nodded with a smile, then took Little Douzi by the hand and sat down to watch Lin Lan work.

Lin Lan poured some white sugar into the mortar and ground it into a powder to set aside. She then went back inside to get a pair of scissors and began snipping open the fully soaked broad beans at their sprout-ends, which filled a large wooden basin. Little Douzi also grabbed some broad beans to help.

The old lady saw that Lin Lan was a bit clumsy at first, but her speed quickly picked up. She was starting to believe that Lin Lan really did know how to make "orchid beans."

Lin Lan poured the snipped broad beans into a colander to drain. She poured about half a jar of rapeseed oil into the wok and added the broad beans while the oil was still cold.

The old lady sat down in front of the stove’s firebox to help tend the fire.

When Little Douzi saw Lin Lan pour in so much oil, he pouted and cried out, "Mama’s not listening!"

"Mama *is* listening. I only use a little when I stir-fry," Lin Lan said with a laugh.

The Third Great-Aunt smiled and pulled him close. "Mama needs it for her work. Once Mama makes some money, Great-Granny will help her buy it all back."

Little Douzi looked at her. "Great-Granny, Mama said we can’t tell anyone."

The old lady beamed and patted his cheek. "Yes! What a clever boy, you have such a good memory. You’ll definitely be a great student one day."

Little Douzi puffed out his small chest. "I’m going to be a policeman like my youngest uncle and catch bad guys!"

The old lady was delighted and nodded repeatedly. "Good, good, good!" Her greatest pride was her promising grandson.

Lin Lan used a spatula to constantly stir the broad beans in the wok. As the bubbles from the water content gradually disappeared, she said to the old lady, "Third Great-Aunt, a medium fire is good now."

The old lady chuckled. "I know. Frying dough twists, oil-fried peas, roasting melon seeds... I’ve done it all before."

Lin Lan looked at her with admiration. "No wonder you know everything."

The old lady smiled and said, "Back then, they didn’t really regulate small businesses. I used to make snacks to sell from a shoulder pole, and your parents-in-law would grind and sell tofu. Your father-in-law would go to the countryside to buy soybeans and would pick up some wheat for me while he was at it, and your mother-in-law would help me grind it into flour..."

The old lady reminisced about the old days between their two families, and Lin Lan chimed in with a smile.

Gradually, large bubbles started forming around the broad beans in the wok. Lin Lan asked the old lady to lower the fire and kept stirring the beans with the spatula. She continued until the beans were a light brown and made a crisp, crackling sound. Only then did she use a slotted spoon to scoop them out, leaving the oil in the wok to get piping hot.

She poured the broad beans back into the wok to fry in the searing hot oil for about thirty seconds. This would keep them crispy and prevent them from getting soggy later.

She scooped out the finished orchid beans, drained the rapeseed oil, and while they were still hot, she added the right amount of salt, powdered sugar, chili powder, Sichuan peppercorn powder, and white pepper. The perfectly crispy orchid beans were now ready.

Lin Lan tasted one and felt her skills hadn’t gotten rusty. She proudly brought them over to the other two. "Third Great-Aunt, Little Douzi, come and have a taste." As she spoke, she popped a bean into each of their mouths.

Little Douzi started munching away, CRUNCH CRUNCH, and nodded repeatedly. "Mama, the beans are yummy!"

The old lady chewed slowly and nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad. Crispy and crunchy. Even I can bite into them, and the seasoning is just right. Hurry and pack them into the kraft paper bags. By the time you get there, people will be getting off work."

"Okay!" Lin Lan brought over a rice paddle, intending to use it to bag the orchid beans.

The old lady reached out for it. "Let me. I’ve packed plenty in my day; I have a good feel for it."

Lin Lan smiled and handed her the rice paddle. "Of course! You’re an old pro."

The old lady chuckled. "I’m this old, of course I’m an old pro!"

Little Douzi piped in from the side, "Great-Granny, I’m a little pro!"

"Hey! You are a little pro!" Both of them burst out laughing.

Lin Lan set a bowl aside for the two of them to snack on. She and the old lady formed an assembly line—one bagging, one sealing. They packed twenty-three bags. The old lady then poured some out from the bowl for Lin Lan to use as free samples for customers.

Lin Lan put the bags of orchid beans into the large sack she had sewn the previous night, pulling the drawstring tight and tying it shut.

"That’s a well-sewn sack. Using a urea sack to carry fried goods helps keep them from getting damp," the old lady advised in a low voice. "Remember, when you get to the Eucalyptus Forest, first check if Old Li the butcher is there. If Old Li isn’t there, his son will be. As long as the butcher is there, you can start selling. If they’re not there, you come right back."

"I know." Lin Lan agreed gratefully. She lifted the sack and looked at the two of them. "Third Great-Aunt, Little Douzi, I’m heading out."

The old lady waved. "Go on! Good luck with your first day. Don’t linger after you sell out; come straight home."

Little Douzi waved too. "Mama, come back soon."

Lin Lan nodded, looked both ways as she stepped out the door, and headed for the Eucalyptus Forest with her sack. When she arrived, she walked into the woods and saw the handsome butcher still squatting there. She found a spot not far from him and slung her sack around to hang in front of her chest.

When Lin Lan saw someone approaching, she opened the paper bag of orchid beans for sampling, releasing a savory, fragrant aroma.

She said in a low voice to a person walking by with some groceries, "Free samples of crispy, crunchy orchid beans. Delicious and affordable..."

A middle-aged woman stopped, looking curiously at the orchid beans in the paper bag.

Lin Lan smiled. "Ma’am, have a taste. It’s no problem if you don’t buy any if they’re not to your liking."

The woman saw Lin Lan’s smiling face and decided to try one. She reached out, picked up a bean, popped it into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. It was indeed crispy and crunchy.

"Mm! Not bad. How much are they?"

Lin Lan’s face was all smiles. "Twenty cents a bag!"

The woman popped another one into her mouth. "A bit expensive!"

Lin Lan chuckled. "It’s really not, ma’am. Think about it, a jin of rapeseed oil on the black market costs over a yuan. These orchid beans are deep-fried in that oil, and I’ve added several different seasonings. Each bag weighs three liang. If you do the math, it’s not expensive at all, is it?"

The woman did a quick calculation in her head and figured it was true. She handed Lin Lan twenty cents. "Give me a bag."

Lin Lan smiled, took a bag from her sack, and handed it to her. "Come again if you like them!"

The woman nodded, weighed the bag in her hand for a moment, and then turned and left.

Next came a refined-looking, well-dressed middle-aged man. He glanced at the orchid beans in the sample bag, then at the hand Lin Lan was using to hold the bag. He saw that her fingernails were perfectly clean. Only then did he point to the orchid beans. "I’ll have a bag."

Lin Lan understood what he was thinking. She smiled, pulled a bag from her sack, and handed it to him. "You don’t have to worry, sir. I’ve hand-selected every bean. The water used to soak them is from a well, and the oil is fresh rapeseed oil pressed just this year for my family’s own use."

In this era, everything was made with genuine ingredients. The broad beans were grown with farm manure, not pesticides. The rapeseed came from the family’s private plot, sun-dried, sifted clean, and taken to a small mill to be pressed—authentic, fragrant, stone-milled oil.

Back then, fried foods were free from ’gutter oil’, additives, and artificial flavorings.

"I’m only buying because your setup looks clean," the man said coolly.

Lin Lan took the money. "Rest assured, sir. I guarantee everything I make is clean and hygienic."

Having sold two bags in a row, Lin Lan’s confidence soared. Whenever anyone looked her way, she would offer them a sample with a wide smile. And anyone who tasted the orchid beans ended up buying a bag.

In just over half an hour, she had sold all twenty-something bags of orchid beans.

Lin Lan did the math: she had made a total of four yuan and sixty cents. After subtracting the cost of her ingredients, she had earned a profit of at least two-plus yuan. ’If I can sell this much every day, I could make tens of yuan a month. That’s more than a regular salary!’ The thought made her heart swell with happiness.