Seeing Xu Tongdao stop, Xu Changsheng also halted and followed his gaze, asking casually,
"What are you looking at?"
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Xu Tongdao's mouth.
"Don't you think those sheep look pretty refined? Heh."
"Huh?"
Xu Changsheng couldn't keep up with Xu Tongdao's train of thought. He froze for a moment, then, hearing Xu Tongdao's laughter, realized he was joking and chuckled along.
Xu Tongdao didn't tell him about the thought that had just flashed through his mind.
The flock of sheep in that large courtyard not far away had sparked an idea for making money.
Before this, over the past couple of days, he had been planning to head to the county town to find work—perhaps starting as a prep cook, doing ingredient preparation for others.
A chef's pay wasn't bad. It was tiring and tough, but as long as it brought in money, he didn't mind.
The problem was that he was only seventeen and didn't even have an ID card yet. At most, he could work as a prep hand. No one would dare let him be the head cook.
But the sheep in that courtyard made an idea suddenly take shape in his mind.
He could set up a barbecue skewer stall in the county town.
Selling skewers on the street might not look dignified, but he knew that if business was decent, the money would come in much faster than a regular job.
As for dignity—he didn't care at all.
Right now, he only wanted to make money.
What was face worth? Could it feed his family? Could it support his younger brother and sister's schooling? Could it quickly improve his family's living conditions?
The answer was obvious.
The key point was that starting a skewer stall didn't require much investment: a grill, a few folding tables and stools, maybe some beer, and the stall could be set up.
And in this era, city management officers barely existed.
Street vending was allowed.
Most importantly, skewers didn't require a huge upfront cost, but plenty of people loved eating them. In Xu Tongdao's memory, even twenty years later, skewers were still hugely popular.
So this business could be run long-term.
As for whether he knew how to do barbecue—
To be honest, he had never actually done it before.
But he had worked as a chef for several years, so he had heard about barbecue techniques and seasonings. The technical difficulty wasn't high, and he was confident he could figure it out.
One of the key issues, however, was that he had heard mutton skewers were best made from sheep meat.
Goat meat had a stronger gamey smell and tougher texture—it didn't taste as good when grilled.
Yet in Xu Family Village and the nearby villages, most people raised goats, since they were easier to keep.
That was one major reason he hadn't thought about selling skewers these past few days.
He hadn't expected that in a place like Shandou Village, there would be households raising so many sheep.
It was an unexpected delight.
After that, as he and Xu Changsheng continued wandering around the village, Xu Tongdao deliberately paid attention to whether other households raised sheep.
Sure enough, once he started looking, he quickly spotted a second, third, even a fourth household raising sheep.
Each family had a different number, but without exception, they were all sheep.
As they walked, he saw a woman in her fifties cleaning a sheep pen in one courtyard. Xu Tongdao hesitated briefly, then said to Xu Changsheng,
"Come on, walk with me over there. I want to ask a few questions."
"Huh? Ask questions? About what?"
Xu Changsheng was confused, but Xu Tongdao had already walked to the courtyard wall, smiling as he greeted the woman cleaning the pen.
"Auntie, hello! You've got quite a lot of sheep. Do you sell them?"
The woman—around fifty, dark-skinned and thin—looked up in surprise and sized up Xu Tongdao and Xu Changsheng, then laughed.
"Yes, we raise quite a few. Why are you asking if I sell them? What, are you planning to buy one at your age?"
She chuckled as she spoke.
Xu Tongdao laughed along and said,
"Auntie, I'm just curious. By the way, it looks like several families in your village raise sheep. Do nearby villages also raise this kind of sheep?"
The woman smiled, lowered her head, and continued cleaning the pen.
"Yes. Living by the embankment, people do what suits the land. Quite a few families around here raise sheep. There's plenty of grass on the embankment, right? And once the floodwaters recede, there'll be even more grass—perfect for raising cattle and sheep."
Xu Tongdao nodded inwardly.
Indeed, the embankment along the river had grass year-round. The only difference was whether it was green or dry.
It was ideal for livestock.
"Auntie, are all the sheep raised here like yours—this kind of sheep?"
"Not all of them. My kind is a bit harder to raise. Some families choose goats to save trouble. But honestly, plenty of people still raise sheep like mine. The meat tastes better, and the price is higher."
Through several back-and-forth questions, Xu Tongdao had a clear picture.
He didn't know exactly how long this embankment was, but it had to stretch at least a hundred miles—it was part of a Yangtze River tributary embankment.
And as far as he knew, although households along the embankment were scattered, there were villages all along it.
In other words, if what this woman said was accurate, there were definitely a lot of sheep raised along this embankment.
He knew that some skewer vendors used frozen mutton—cheap but not fresh—allowing them to make higher profits.
But since he planned to do this business seriously, he never intended to use frozen meat.
Using fresh sheep meat would definitely make the skewers taste better. That was certain.
The cost would be higher, but if that translated into better reputation and business, he thought it was worth it.
He also asked about prices.
The woman told him that a full-grown sheep cost about 200 yuan, while smaller ones were around 150.
…
After leaving that courtyard, Xu Changsheng asked, puzzled,
"Why were you asking all that? Were you thinking of buying a whole sheep to eat?"
Xu Tongdao glanced back at the sheep, smiled faintly, and brushed it off.
"Just bored. Since we're idle anyway, I got curious and asked a few questions."
Then he changed the subject.
"By the way, Changsheng, how much do you make a day as a laborer with your uncle?"
Xu Changsheng sighed.
"Fifteen yuan a day. Exhausting."
Xu Tongdao patted him on the shoulder.
"It's fine. Your pay will definitely go up in the future."
Xu Changsheng forced a smile and shook his head.
"Hope so. But being a laborer is really too tiring. I'm starting to not want to do it anymore. But my parents won't agree to me switching jobs. I know what they're thinking—labor work makes more money. All they care about is me earning more…"
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup