Chapter 3

Seeing the thunderstruck expression on Qian Jianing’s face, Treasure Bowl mercilessly urged, “Hurry up and eat, then let’s go out to sell potato strips.”

Looking at one of the tubs filled with potato strips thicker than her finger, Qian Jianing hesitated. “Will anyone actually buy these?”

“Then fry them into French fries or make mashed potatoes. Either way, we can’t waste them,” Treasure Bowl said energetically, continuing to urge Qian Jianing. “Hurry up and eat. The money from selling potato strips will be your start-up capital.”

Qian Jianing’s face stiffened. “But I don’t know how to make them!”

Treasure Bowl’s eyes widened in disbelief. Qian Jianing gave an awkward smile. “I’ve never had French fries or mashed potatoes before.”

In her past life, Qian Jianing had studied and married locally. This small, inland tier 18 city didn’t get its first KFC until over a decade later, by which time she had already left her marriage with nothing and couldn’t afford to spend on such “luxuries” like snacks. By the time she worked hard enough to achieve financial stability, she was past the age of snacking, so she had never tasted French fries or mashed potatoes.

She looked at Treasure Bowl’s fluctuating expression and said softly, “Maybe I can try. It doesn’t seem too hard.”

Treasure Bowl got anxious. “If you mess up while frying, it’ll be wasted! Here, close your eyes. Emergency training session coming up.”

Hearing that, Qian Jianing realized Treasure Bowl was taking her back to that mysterious place they visited last night. She quickly went to her room, lay down on the bed, and closed her eyes. After a brief moment of darkness, the familiar white fog appeared. Knowing the way now, she ran toward the small door from her memory, opened it, and found not only the Food Elder inside but also Treasure Bowl in his baby form.

“Frying French fries and making mashed potatoes weren’t part of the original agreement. I’m not teaching it,” said Food Elder, holding a phone and playing a game, a popsicle in his mouth, yet somehow managing to speak clearly.

“Wasteful! Shameless! You’re the God of Food and you’re letting good ingredients go to waste? That’s totally against your professional ethics.” The chubby baby pounded his round belly with his tiny fists in frustration, looking incredibly cute. If she hadn’t known that Treasure Bowl was a celestial artifact, Qian Jianing would have run over and kissed his chubby cheeks.

Unfortunately, Food Elder wasn’t the least bit moved. He rolled his eyes coldly. “Cut the nonsense. Trade me a top-tier item, then we’ll talk.”

“You’re so stingy!” Treasure Bowl looked heartbroken. “Totally wasting all these years of friendship!”

“Oh, please.” Food Elder finished his ice cream and tossed the stick into the trash can. “You tried to scam me for money to renovate your residence and gave me a one-sided contract that includes teaching a mortal to cook. Countless celestial maidens are dying to learn from me, and I never have time for them. Give me a top-tier item first, then we’ll negotiate. This girl’s going to need a lot of ingredients for practice. If you’re generous, I’ll help her make use of every scrap—won’t waste even a garlic clove.” Seeing Treasure Bowl still hesitating, Food Elder added a dose of urgency. “You wanna get back to Heaven early? Miss the God of Wealth’s birthday banquet and you’ll lose out on plenty of treasures.”

Treasure Bowl gritted his teeth, pulled out a phone from his belly pocket, and said, “I’m transferring it to you right now.”

Once Food Elder laid eyes on the fancy new equipment he received, his face lit up. He jumped up and walked to the cooking table. “Come here, girl. I’ll teach you how to make two tasty snacks in three minutes!”

These two snacks weren’t particularly difficult; the French fries just needed some prep. In a good mood thanks to the new gear, Food Elder helped Qian Jianing trim the potato strips to a uniform shape, blanched them, cooled them quickly, then froze them. When needed, they could be deep-fried straight from the freezer.

Qian Jianing took a plate of freshly fried French fries, dipped one into some of Food Elder’s homemade ketchup, and after tasting it, her eyes lit up. “Delicious! This will definitely sell.”

Treasure Bowl came over humming, took the processed fries, surveyed the cooking table again, and packed up Food Elder’s homemade ketchup, the gravy for mashed potatoes, and some cream into his belly pocket. Food Elder didn’t mind and happily curled up on the couch again, glued to his game.

Seeing him fiddle with such a tiny screen, Qian Jianing really wanted to suggest: couldn’t you just use a computer?

*****

Qian Jianing opened her eyes and hurriedly ate half a bowl of noodles before getting ready to set up shop. The French fries and mashed potatoes needed to be made on-site, so she had to bring a stove and a wok. Luckily, the Qian family lived in a bungalow and needed a stove for warmth during winter, so they already had coal and stoves available.

She loaded the stove and wok onto the tricycle, along with a scale and plastic bags they normally used to store steamed buns. Qian Jianing had wanted to bring a table and bowls too, but the tricycle was full. Seeing this, Treasure Bowl grumbled, “I’ll carry these instead.”

As she pushed the tricycle out, Qian Jianing stared blankly at the street—where should she go to sell? The first thought that came to mind was to avoid the east side of the city, where Qian Guosheng and Li Wanzhen worked. After thinking, she decided to head west, where the railway, grain depot, and power plant residential complexes were—some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Zicheng.

Small towns in the late ’80s weren’t that big. It only took Qian Jianing twenty minutes to cycle to the west side. Unfortunately, she’d arrived at an awkward time—most adults were already at work, and the elderly and children were still having breakfast. The streets were quiet.

She chose a shady spot along the main path connecting three residential compounds and parked the tricycle. Maybe it was the effect of Food Elder’s porridge, but she felt much stronger. She easily lifted the two iron stoves.

As Qian Jianing crouched to light the stove, Treasure Bowl waited for a moment when no one was around, then sneaked out a table. He even carefully placed a long floor-length tablecloth over it. On the table were two basins—one filled with raw potato strips and the other empty for the fried fries. Under the table were two storage cabinets, one with bowls and spoons and the other with frozen potato strips. Though the cabinets looked ordinary, whatever magic Treasure Bowl used kept the fries from thawing at all.

When Qian Jianing turned around and saw everything arranged perfectly, she jumped in surprise. She looked around cautiously and, seeing no one, breathed a sigh of relief. “Next time you take stuff out, let me know. If someone saw that, they’d think we’ve got ghosts in broad daylight!”

Treasure Bowl said nonchalantly, “Relax, I’ve got an invisibility spell on it. If anyone sees anything, they’ll just think it’s your setup.”

After adding coal twice, the stove was blazing hot. Qian Jianing washed her hands with the water she brought, then started steaming mashed potatoes and frying fries. Neither snack was difficult, and she had already practiced them twice under Food Elder’s guidance, so she was now quite skilled.

While Qian Jianing was busy, the elderly and children finished their breakfast and came out. Elders headed to the market, and kids, unable to stay cooped up even in the heat, ran out to play.

She drained the oil from a batch of fries using a skimmer, then poured them into the large basin. At that moment, five boys ran over rowdily. Before Qian Jianing could even advertise, they had already come over on their own. “What’s this? Smells so good!”

“French fries!” Qian Jianing replied cheerfully. “You know KFC? They sell these!”

“KFC!” The boys’ eyes lit up. In this era, KFC only existed in big cities like Imperial Capital (Beijing) and Magic City (Shanghai). People in small towns only knew about it from TV, seeing lines hundreds of meters long just to get a taste of its fancy food.

Qian Jianing took out the homemade ketchup from Food Elder and gave each boy a fry dipped in it. “Here, try one first.”

The freshly fried fries were crispy and fragrant. Paired with Food Elder’s rich ketchup, it was incredibly tasty. One plump boy took a bite and was immediately hooked, eagerly asking, “How much for these fries?”

“Thirty cents a bowl, with a scoop of ketchup,” Qian Jianing said.

Thirty cents could buy a bun and a side dish in a cafeteria back then, so it wasn’t cheap. However, life was better now, and parents often gave kids small allowances—ten or twenty cents—to buy popsicles or soda in the summer.

“Thirty cents? Sounds a bit expensive.” The boys exchanged glances, a little reluctant. But the temptation was strong. Just then, the mashed potatoes finished steaming. Qian Jianing lifted the cloth covering the table, took out a stack of porcelain bowls from the cabinet, and scooped a portion of mashed potatoes into each bowl, topping it with a bit of chicken gravy.

Seeing them sniffing eagerly, she pitched, “Mashed potatoes with chicken gravy. At KFC, this would cost one yuan and fifty cents a bowl. I’m selling it for fifty cents. Once I leave, there’s no chance to get this again. It’ll be at least ten more years before our town gets a KFC.”

That line seemed to strike a chord. The chubby boy pulled thirty cents from his pocket and placed it on the table. “One bowl of fries, please!”

“Coming right up!” Qian Jianing beamed, dropped the coins into a cash box, and used tongs to serve a full bowl of fries. The boy carried his bowl to the side, dipped two fries into ketchup, threw them into his mouth, and closed his eyes in utter bliss. “So good!”

Seeing how satisfied he looked, the others couldn’t resist. Two boys with money also bought a bowl. The two who didn’t have enough ran home.

Not even six minutes later, they were back—leading a whole group of kids. By then, the first three had finished their fries and were licking the leftover ketchup from their bowls with great reluctance.

Kids love bragging and competition. Once one had a bowl, others followed suit. Soon, a crowd had gathered at the stand to buy fries. Kids squatted along the road, eating and chatting, drawing more attention. Soon, quite a few kids gathered.

With bowl after bowl of fries selling out quickly, some kids without enough pocket money got anxious. Some even pitched in together to buy a shared bowl, and others ran home to ask their grandparents for change. As the stand bustled with activity, adults returning from grocery shopping stopped to see what all the fuss was about.

While serving the kids fries and mashed potatoes, Qian Jianing shouted toward the adults, “Pre-cut potato strips, ten cents a pound—just stir-fry when you get home!”

At the time, potatoes cost seven cents a pound, so ten cents wasn’t expensive. Curious, some came over to check the strips—neatly cut, even better than restaurant quality. Cutting potato strips is a skill; even lifelong cooks can’t always do it well. Seeing them ready to use and reasonably priced, a passerby handed over a dime. “I’ll take a pound.”

“Coming right up!” Qian Jianing measured out a generous portion and handed it over in a plastic bag. By noon, when people were rushing home from work to cook, she called out again, “Pre-cut potato strips, ready to fry at home, just ten cents a pound—saves time, effort, and hassle!”

Lunchtime is already a rush. Hearing there were ready-to-use potato strips motivated many workers to stop by. Several children who had finished their fries and mashed potatoes clung to their parents, begging for money to buy more.

The neighborhood was filled with railway, grain depot, and power plant workers, who enjoyed stable, well-paying jobs and good benefits. Most families had only one kid. In the sweltering afternoon, no one wanted to deal with a wailing child, so after two cries, the adults handed over some money to shut them up. Some kids liked fries, others preferred mashed potatoes with sweet, creamy flavors—especially girls who found them even tastier than popsicles.

After a hectic day, Qian Jianing sold out all her prepared potato strips and even a whole tub of pre-cut strips. Counting the coins, she realized she’d made fifty-two yuan and eighty cents—almost as much as Li Wanzhen’s monthly wage.

Just as Qian Jianing was grinning ear to ear, Treasure Bowl looked at the remaining tubs of potato strips and stomped his feet in frustration. “Why did you learn so fast?! Why’d you cut them into strips?! Fries make way more money than these things!”