Chapter 188: Chapter 188: You Carry the Load, I’ll Hold the Basin ~
Evening on Mount Qingcheng. A few young people, carrying large and small bags, were climbing towards the peak.
The last wave of tourists descending the mountain was somewhat surprised to see this.
"Look at them, going up the mountain at this time!"
"What are they carrying?"
"They must be staff members. How tough it must be!"
"To carry so much and still be able to climb the mountain is impressive!"
The tourists chattered amongst themselves.
To avoid being recognized, Jiang Feng wore a mask and silently carried pots and pans upward. The scenery along the way was quite spectacular. The path consisted mostly of stone steps and small trails, with occasional plank walkways and suspension bridges. From time to time, they passed ancient buildings like the Dachi Heavenly Temple and Donghua Hall. Walking over a stone bridge, they found it covered with padlocks. Many people locked padlocks here, hoping to secure their love. But true love exists without locks, and if couples broke up, some would even come back specially to saw their padlocks off, which was really unnecessary.
The movers had quite an eye-opening experience. It was their first time moving someone to the top of a mountain. But Jiang Feng paid well, so they were happy to oblige.
The group continued up the mountain path. Everyone had good Staminia. The movers, naturally, were in top shape; they made their living moving things and had excellent Staminia. Sun Zhuangfei also had some grit; he’d done his share of physical labor, so his Staminia was good too. As for Jiang Feng, having taken two Stretched Leg Staring Eye Pills, his Staminia was far superior to that of an average person. So, the journey up was quite smooth.
The location where Jiang Feng set up his stall was at the back of Mount Qingcheng. Mount Qingcheng was divided into the front mountain and the back mountain. The front mountain had more complete and beautiful architecture, with many temples such as the God of Wealth Temple and Laojun Temple, which were great places for prayers and blessings. The back mountain was more natural.
Soon, they reached the peak of the back mountain. At the peak, there was still unfinished construction. A platform held an iron shed, with many scattered building materials nearby. Constructing at the top of the mountain was very difficult, so progress had been slow. Many people who had visited years ago had seen the peak in this state and had even donated money to the back mountain’s temples, hoping for their swifter completion. But after several years, there were no significant changes to the back mountain. However, the scenery on the back mountain roads was quieter, and there were still plenty of temples, so many people also visited this area.
"That’s the shop; there’s a stove inside it."
"Once the natural gas is connected, it can be used."
"There’s water access here, so getting water is convenient."
"Just clean it up a bit, and it’s ready for use."
They finally arrived at their destination. Under the iron shed, there was a small shop that indeed had a stove inside. Outside, there were tables, chairs, and a corridor. So, with a little tidying up, it would be ready for business tomorrow.
Everyone began to get busy. This time, the location of Jiang Feng’s stall was far enough and secluded enough that one would have to walk the mountain path to get there. He figured, It won’t be discovered by customers too quickly.
Jiang Feng’s plan was to sell soy milk and fried dough sticks tomorrow. He expected he could sell quite a bit in the early morning and throughout the morning.
"Boss, we’re done. What’s next?" Sun Zhuangfei asked after cleaning the stove.
"Let’s go back and rest for now. Tomorrow morning, you’ll help me bring over a barrel of soy milk," Jiang Feng instructed. "Let’s meet at the agreed spot around five o’clock."
"No problem."
The movers, overhearing Jiang Feng, were impressed. "Boss, you’re starting work at five?!"
Hearing this, Jiang Feng calmly replied, "I’ll need to get up around four in the morning to make the soy milk. Five is when we head up the mountain from over there."
"It’s not easy, setting up your stall in such a place. How much can you earn?" one mover remarked.
"I also enjoy the scenery, and having a stall here puts me in a good mood," Jiang Feng responded politely.
With everything prepared, Jiang Feng locked up the shop, ready to fry dough sticks the next day. The quality of his breakfast was unquestionable. It was just a matter of how many people would come tomorrow.
Then, the group began their descent down the mountain.
"There shouldn’t be many people this time," Jiang Feng told Sun Zhuangfei. "After all, who would come to the back of Mount Qingcheng early in the morning? We can also relax a bit."
Sun Zhuangfei nodded. "Okay, boss."
Jiang Feng added, "With the mountain so deep and the paths so narrow, it’s impossible to have people swarming everywhere, right? ..."
「...」
After returning, Jiang Feng soaked the soybeans, glutinous rice, millet, and peanuts, then went to bed early.
Early the next morning, Jiang Feng arrived at the greasy spoon where he used to sell crayfish and busied himself making soy milk. He had specifically bought a high-speed blender for this location. This place was on a food street, some distance from residential areas, so there was no concern about disturbing the neighbors. After a period of bustling activity, he soon had a pot of fresh, delicious soy milk ready.
As for frying dough sticks, Jiang Feng had his own recipe. When ordinary people fry dough sticks, they often end up too hard or not fluffy enough; achieving both softness and fluffiness is difficult. This usually boiled down to incorrect proportions when mixing the dough—balancing the flour, refined salt, baking soda, baking powder, and sugar. Once these ingredients were mixed, an egg was cracked into it, as eggs also helped with fluffiness.
Sun Zhuangfei had arrived early and was keeping a close eye on the high-speed blender. Meanwhile, Jiang Feng was letting the dough rise. He had to mix the proportions for his dough himself. Sometimes when Sun Zhuangfei looked over, Jiang Feng would explain things to him. The young man had a good character, and he liked cooking; otherwise, he wouldn’t have become an apprentice chef. If he could teach him a little, he would. Even if Sun Zhuangfei didn’t find a job at a restaurant later, he could make a living by making fried dough sticks.
The two of them were bustling about. After their preparations, they put a bucket of soy milk and a large basin of dough into the car’s trunk and set off toward the mountains.
As they were considered staff, they could take the cable car up early. For the final stretch of the mountain path, Jiang Feng also hired two workers to help carry the items. These two workers made a living by carrying tourists up the mountain on sedan chairs made of stools. Carrying a person of one hundred and fifty or sixty jin was no problem, let alone a bucket of soy milk.
The four of them carried the iron bucket and the dough basin. A few mountaineers noticed this scene and were quite curious.
"Look there, what are they carrying? It looks like an insulated container!"
"Are they delivering food to the workers on the mountain?"
"Impossible. The workers don’t get that kind of treatment. Who would bother to carry food up to the mountaintop?"
Ever more curious, a few mountaineers approached Jiang Feng to inquire. "Master, what are you going up the mountain for?"
It was an accepted norm to address unfamiliar adult men as "Master." There’s a saying that being called "Master" can feel worse than being called "Uncle." It just sounds very old.
Jiang Feng didn’t mind. He knew his appearance and demeanor were very good, so he didn’t care what others called him. The less one has, the more they care about such things. It was like telling Ke Jie his Go game was poor; Ke Jie wouldn’t give a damn, he didn’t care at all. But if you told him his performance in Teamfight Tactics was poor, he’d get annoyed with you.
Hearing the mountaineer’s question, Jiang Feng calmly replied, "I’m going to sell breakfast up there."
"Selling breakfast on the mountain?" The mountaineer was somewhat baffled. "What’s in the bucket?" they asked further.
"A bucket of soy milk."
The mountaineers exchanged glances. Indeed, it takes all kinds to make a world. They were mountaineering enthusiasts and had climbed many mountains, but they had never seen anyone go to the top of a mountain to sell soy milk. Isn’t that tiring?
Jiang Feng, however, remained calm. Of course, it was tiring. That’s why I hired two people. I have to include the labor cost as well. It looks like I’ll need to raise the prices. Soy milk for 6 yuan a bowl, fried dough sticks for 5 yuan apiece. Compared to breakfast stalls in the city, this is definitely more expensive. But it’s the mountaintop, after all; a bottle of water costs 10 yuan. Whether they buy it or not is up to the customers. This could be considered a fair price.
"Impressive," the mountaineers couldn’t help but exclaim. They even planned to try out the breakfast stall later.
Jiang Feng and his group continued their way upward. The two workers carried the insulated barrel with a shoulder pole, while Jiang Feng and Sun Zhuangfei together held a basin of well-leavened dough.
*Like a group embarking on a quest for scriptures.*
*You carry the pole, I hold the basin,*
*Welcoming dawn to serve the customers...*
*Smoothing out rough roads to create a thoroughfare,*
*Having wrestled with danger, we set out again...*
*Set out again...*
After much bustling, the four of them finally made it to the small shop. Everything was ready. Jiang Feng washed the cutting board, heated oil in the wok, hung up his sign, and prepared to open for business.
At six in the morning, there were quite a few people on the mountain, about one or two hundred, scattered in groups. That was quite a few.
Actually, breakfast culture wasn’t very developed in the Chengdu area. People there often called a meal eaten as late as 10 a.m. "breakfast." Eating breakfast at six or seven in the morning was very rare. It was nothing compared to the abundant breakfast options in the Guangdong Region and Zhejiang District, nor could it compare to the various noodle dishes from provinces like Shanhe. It couldn’t be helped; people there just didn’t get up that early. For many in Chengdu, the day’s three main meals were effectively lunch, dinner, and a late-night snack.
Of course, in such a large city, a fair number of working people did get up early, so there were some breakfast shops.
Before long, steam began to billow from Jiang Feng’s small shop. Many people on the mountaintop immediately took notice.