"Auntie, look, this Mung Bean Jelly was made with well water. Even the brown sugar syrup used half a pound of sugar, and the jelly was hung in the well for half an hour. It's icy cold right now—perfect for beating the summer heat."
"Making Mung Bean Jelly is really time-consuming and tiring; if you make too much, it goes to waste. If you make too little, it's not really worth the effort, you know?"
"Auntie, my brother and I made all of this jelly. It's super clean."
Xu Nianhua had a gift for words, and with the blazing sun outside, people really felt like eating some.
"So, how much is it?" Auntie was starting to get interested.
"It's just twenty cents."
As soon as Xu Nianhua said this,
Auntie immediately complained, "Twenty cents can buy half a pound of sugar."
"Auntie, you can buy half a pound of sugar for twenty cents, but you can't eat ready-made Mung Bean Jelly with it."
Seeing that quite a few people were gathering around, Xu Nianhua said, "Auntie, Mung Bean Jelly is great in summer. It cools you down, soothes the heat, helps digestion, keeps your bowels moving, and even boosts your immunity. It's troublesome to make yourself, so why not buy a clean, ready-made bowl to take home? It'll help beat the heat."
"Besides, my portion is generous—the syrup too. You don't need to do anything yourself, and I'm just selling it for twenty cents. Such a good deal."
"If you want, Auntie, why don't you try some first?" Xu Nianhua offered Auntie a taste.
Auntie felt a little embarrassed.
"Auntie, I'll let you try some—it's free." Xu Nianhua smiled, handing over a bowl of jelly. "This is a family secret recipe, our jelly is as authentic as it gets."
"Free?"
With Xu Nianhua's repeated assurances, Auntie tasted the Mung Bean Jelly.
It was icy cold with a sweet brown sugar flavor, and after a few bites, Auntie didn't even realize she'd finished the whole bowl—the summer heat in her body seemed to vanish.
"Delicious!"
Auntie felt so comfortable after her bowl of jelly. Twenty cents for a bowl—maybe not the cheapest, but it's about the same as buying pastries or sunflower seeds.
Her grandson was used to eating these snacks, so if she brought home a bowl of jelly, he'd definitely like it.
"Little girl, give me two bowls of Mung Bean Jelly." Auntie said cheerfully, handing over sixty cents. "It's not easy making jelly, after all."
"All right!"
Xu Nianhua happily started packing up the jelly, but thought—there weren't many bowls left. If she gave them all to Auntie, she'd run out.
Twenty cents a bowl, and if she gave away bowls for free, she'd be losing big time.
"Little girl, wait a moment. I just bought a big enamel mug—you can put it in my mug." Auntie's words instantly solved her problem.
Xu Nianhua cheerfully took Auntie's big mug, washed it clean by the bucket, filled it with two bowls worth of Mung Bean Jelly, added plenty of syrup, and only charged her forty cents. She said, "Auntie, we agreed one bowl was free, so I won't charge for it."
With Auntie's support, more people started buying jelly. Since everyone lived nearby, they'd bring their own bowls or mugs—it wasn't much trouble.
Xu Nianhua scooped the jelly, Xu Nian'an collected the money, and before long, the barrel was nearly empty.
On the way home, Xu Nian'an held the seven yuan fifty cents with excitement all over his face, saying, "Sis, we made money! Selling Mung Bean Jelly really makes money!"
"Of course, but today we owe Auntie a huge thank you. If it weren't for her, things probably wouldn't have gone so smoothly."
Xu Nianhua smiled. Today had gone pretty well—but tomorrow...
No worries. Their Mung Bean Jelly was made with pure well water and tasted great. Plus, there were plenty of people in the county anyway, so business should be good these next few days.