A middle-aged woman with slumped shoulders looked over when she heard this. "Your husband's family agrees to let you come out to work?"

Ah Mian lowered her eyes and nodded.

Have you ever sold this kind of food before?

"Yes. I used to sell food at the dock, as well as drinks and zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), and they all sold quite well."

"So that's how it is..." The woman scrutinized her carefully again, noticing that she had a pretty face (so as not to spoil the customers' appetite), was energetic and healthy (suitable for work), spoke politely and respectfully (it's too tiring to train a complete idiot), and was experienced. She then smiled and said, "My surname is Song, and I am the owner of this small eatery. Come with me to the inner room, and we will talk in detail."

Ah Mian's palms were sweating; it was the first time she had talked to someone about her monthly allowance.

"For the first month, you'll get one tael of silver. If you can stay, your monthly salary will be two taels of silver."

Ah Mian's eyes lit up, and she was about to agree when some "common sense" suddenly popped into her head: a dockworker earned one hundred coins a day, or three taels of silver a month; a blacksmith earned three hundred coins a day, or nine taels of silver a month...

She hesitated for a moment: "Is this the daytime wage? What if I'm willing to work during the late-night hours? I can live here and look after the business..."

Master Song smiled and said, "Then the first month's salary will be one and a half taels of silver. If you keep the money, the monthly salary will be three taels of silver."

Ah Mian happily agreed, "Master, I can start working today!"

"Okay, no rush. Today, just follow them and observe and learn as much as you can."

Amian received a light blue apron, put it on seriously, and began to learn diligently in the shop.

Opposite to Sister-in-law Song's Fish Soup is Mother Li's Tea House.

On the second floor of the teahouse, someone leaned against the window, watching the every move below with almost greedy eyes.