After the family split up, my stepmother and scumbag father begged me to come home.

The three children arrived in town with ease and headed straight for Tianxianglou.

They had been to this restaurant a few times before, selling local mountain products there, and had become familiar with the staff.

"Hey!" The waiter saw them and paused for a moment. "I haven't seen you guys in a long time. I thought you weren't coming back!"

"How could that be?" Lin Qianqian replied with a smile. "Brother Er, is Manager Su here? We have some good stuff to ask him."

"They're in the backyard checking inventory," the shop assistant pointed to the back, "You can go there yourselves!"

"Okay, you go ahead and get back to work."

The group nodded politely, walked around the front hall, and headed straight for the backyard.

In the backyard, Manager Su was squatting on the ground, counting a pile of jars and pots, muttering to himself. Hearing footsteps, he looked up, squinted, and then grinned, "Oh, Qianqian's here? What goodies has she brought Uncle Su this time?"

Lin Qianqian put down her basket, untied the cloth bag, and revealed the snow-white cassava starch inside.

"Uncle Su, take a look at this."

Shopkeeper Su leaned closer, picked up a little bit, rubbed it between his fingertips, then brought it to his nose to smell it, his brows furrowing slightly: "This is... starch?"

"Yes," Lin Qianqian nodded, "but it's different from what you usually use. If you have time, lend me half a bowl of water and a pot. With the ingredients we have, I'll show you how to cook something."

Manager Su straightened up, looked her up and down, and slowly curved his lips into a smile.

"Alright," he said, dusting off his hands. "I'd like to see what kind of trouble you've gotten yourself into this time."

Manager Su led the man into the kitchen and instructed the cook to make room for a stove.

Lin Qianqian wasn't intimidated. She scooped up half a bowl of water, pinched a small amount of tapioca starch from her cloth bag, sprinkled it in, and gently stirred it with chopsticks. The starch dissolved instantly in the water, leaving the liquid clear and without any cloudiness.

"Uncle Su, take a good look."

She found a clean pot, poured in a bowl of clear soup, put it on the stove to boil, added some chopped green onions, a little shredded meat, and drizzled in some egg.

Hold the bowl in your left hand and the spoon in your right, and slowly pour the starch water down the side of the bowl while stirring.

The contents of the pot changed in the blink of an eye.

The soup was still the same soup, but it was thicker and shinier, with the oil droplets firmly held on the surface, and the bottom of the pot was so clear that you could see it.

"It's ready, please have a taste."

Manager Su took the spoon, scooped up half a spoonful of soup, blew on it, and put it in his mouth.

His eyes narrowed at first, then suddenly widened.

"This..." He scooped up another spoonful, but this time he didn't rush to drink it. He held the spoon and looked at the soup clinging to the back of the spoon from side to side. "This thickening is clear and bright, unlike cornstarch which is dark, or potato starch which is sticky."

"Uncle Su has a good eye," Lin Qianqian said with a smile. "Cassava starch is refreshing and doesn't overpower other flavors. The dish will still taste the same after thickening it, but it will look even better."

Manager Su didn't reply. He took another sip from the bowl, smacked his lips twice, and then put the bowl down.

"Qianqian, how much of this do you have?"

"How much does Uncle Su want?"

Shopkeeper Su was amused by her mature demeanor and held up one finger: "You name the price first."

Lin Qianqian had already planned it out in her mind, and said calmly, "It's 20% more expensive than cornstarch. You can't buy this anywhere else; I'm the only one in the whole town who sells it. Uncle Su, you're the first one here, so the first one has a price. You've seen it yourself; it's economical to use."

Manager Su stared at her for a couple of seconds, then suddenly burst out laughing: "You little rascal, you're better than those old foxes."

Upon hearing the term "old hand," Lin Qianqian's face remained expressionless; she simply smiled and asked, "So, Uncle Su has agreed?"

"Agreed," Manager Su waved his hand, "Give me twenty catties first, I'll try it out. If the customer says it's good, I'll accept whatever you send in the future."

"happy!"

Lin Qianqian turned her head and raised her chin at Lin Yulong, who quickly took the cloth bag out of the basket and put it on the cutting board.

Shopkeeper Su was taken aback: "You carry twenty pounds with you?"

"If I don't bring more, how can I talk business with Uncle Su?" Lin Qianqian said with a smile.

Shopkeeper Su was both amused and exasperated. She pointed at her, shook her head, and told someone to bring the scales.

Weighing, calculating, and settling the money—it all went smoothly. When Manager Su handed over the string of cash, he added, "Qianqian, if this stuff sells well, you have to guarantee you can keep up with the demand."

"Don't worry, Uncle Su," Lin Qianqian said earnestly as she put the money away, "I'll make more when I get back to make sure you don't run out of stock."

Once outside Tianxiang Restaurant, Lin Yulong, who had been holding back his laughter the whole way, finally couldn't contain himself any longer. He grabbed Ding Xiaohu's sleeve and shook it, exclaiming, "Sold! Really sold!"

Ding Xiaohu grinned, his eyes sparkling.

Lin Qianqian walked ahead, reaching into her sleeve to feel the coin; it was heavy and uncomfortable to hold.

She didn't turn around, but simply said, "Let's go buy meat."

"Buy meat?" Lin Yulong was taken aback. "Sis, shouldn't we save it up?"

"Thank goodness," Lin Qianqian said with light steps, "but I have to eat meat today, I've earned a full five taels of silver!"

The setting sun cast long shadows of the three children. People came and went on the street, and no one noticed that these children carrying tattered baskets had a large sum of money in their pockets.