Chapter 30 Chapter 30 Negotiating the price...

Sun nodded aside, this was what she wanted to say.

Madam Feng looked at Lin Qiuran eagerly. This was a way to make money, so Madam Lin would probably agree.

Unexpectedly, Lin Qiuran asked, "How many tables are there?"

Madam Feng was stunned for a moment, then immediately said, "We need sixteen or seventeen tables. Some guests will definitely bring children, so each table will have thirteen or fourteen people. I'm thinking there won't be enough food. A pot of braised pork weighs two kilograms. Don't let people laugh at you."

This is a big happy occasion, so there must be a big dish. Braised pork has a bright red color and a festive name, which is just right.

Lin Qiuran understood that if a family brought an extra person, they would sit next to each other. If not, they would book a table for ten people and open another table if there were more people.

A table is not cheap, and you can squeeze in to sit down, but the portion of food cannot be too small, otherwise it will not be enough and people will gossip about it, and they will also have opinions about the guests who brought people with them.

Lin Qiuran asked again, "Madam Feng, are you only going to make braised pork?"

Madam Feng nodded and praised, "Everyone says Madam Lin's dish is even better than the ones in the restaurant."

One dish is enough. There will definitely be soup left after it is cooked. Then they can cook other dishes with the soup. Isn't this another dish? It is the same as the vegetarian dishes sold at the Xiao family's stall, except that Lin Qiuran doesn't have to cook it.

Lin Qiuran frowned slightly, "If we do, will you prepare the dishes or should I?"

Madam Feng smiled and said, "You guys still have to prepare this, Madam Lin. I think this is just like when you set up your stall to sell vegetables this morning, and I buy all the vegetables. How about I just charge the same price as you did for the braised pork that morning? We don't have to wait for customers to come one by one and weigh them one by one. How great is that? It's convenient and worry-free! We buy a lot here, so we have to give you a discount."

Lin Qiuran shook his head slowly. It would definitely not work if Madam Feng only wanted to buy meat and pay the price for braised pork.

The smile on Madam Feng's face froze. She didn't understand why Lin Qiuran shook his head. Was he still unwilling?

Lin Qiuran said, "No."

The reason for this was that the meat would lose some weight after being cooked, and even if it was sold at double the price, it would still make money, but not much. Lin Qiuran was pregnant, and she couldn't make money by relying on quantity, so she came up with the idea of ​​selling it along with the vegetables.

Sun just needs to watch over the cooking, she doesn't need to worry about it.

Find someone to supply the goods, and the succulents will be one cent cheaper, and the vegetables will also be cheaper, so the family will still make a profit.

Lin Qiuran’s stall now attracts repeat customers with big dishes. People who buy meat will more or less order some dishes, and some people buy meat alone.

Madam Feng wants 32 kilograms of braised pork, so the Xiao family has to buy at least 37 or 38 kilograms of meat to ensure that there will be enough after stewing.

After factoring in seasonings, spices, firewood, and labor, Lin Qiuran made absolutely nothing from selling the food at twenty cents a pound. She couldn't just take on this hard work for the sake of the reputation of a wedding banquet.

Lin Qiuran said, "Thank you both for the trouble. I won't take this job."

Madam Feng's mind was a little blank, and she couldn't help asking, "What's going on, Madam Lin? Is the price not right or..."

Lin Qiuran nodded generously. Business is a matter of mutual consent. If she is unwilling, it cannot be done.

She said, "The market price for pork belly is ten wen per jin now. If I sell it to you at the street vendor's price, I'll need nearly forty jin of pork belly to make thirty-two jin of braised pork. The cost alone is four hundred wen. I also have to pay for spices, firewood, and labor. After all, I won't make much money on a single trip."

Madam Feng asked me to cook, and the amount of food was quite large. Even if I can't charge her the same price as if I were cooking at someone else's house, I can't charge her the same price as if I were selling vegetables in the morning. If I were to go to someone else's house, I'd be paid and wouldn't have to prepare anything. Besides, when I sell vegetables in the morning, I definitely wouldn't sell them to just one person.

What if a restaurant or hotel thinks her cooking is good and wants to buy it back to heat it up and sell it again?

A plate of braised pork in a restaurant costs dozens of coins, but she only makes a plate for 40 coins, and the portion is large.

Throwing aside all the capital, Lin Qiuran could only earn a little over a hundred coins from this venture. If she was in a hurry to buy a house, or if she had just moved in, she might have agreed, but now she had to think more about it.

I have business in the morning and earn more than 500 coins a day. I can rest and do other things in the afternoon.

Sun nodded in agreement. It made perfect sense. She'd only thought about doing more business and making more money, without considering how much she'd earn or whether it was worth it. Cooking just one dish wouldn't bring much benefit in the future, and it would be exhausting.

The family is not short of money now. Lin Qiuran does work in the morning and cooking in the afternoon is naturally more tiring.

It's not worth it to burn so much to earn more than a hundred coins. If you really want to make money, why not cook some vegetables after it's done and sell them outside? You can make more money with the vegetables.

Lin Qiuran went to Xu's house to cook. He made fewer dishes but was paid more. It was just the opposite here. He stewed nearly 40 kilograms of pork belly, which was almost the same as what he made in the morning, but was paid less.

Mrs. Feng said she would give it a discount, but how can it be discounted?

Even if we take a step back, Madam Feng's suggestion that all the dishes made this morning should be sold to her alone is incorrect. Lin Qiuran wouldn't let Sun sell them this way. She's selling now to prepare for opening a shop in the future. If she only sells to one person, she'll attract fewer repeat customers, and over time, other customers will have complaints about the Xiao family stall. She doesn't want any dish to be left out of rotation, and she's selling it to just one person.

Although Madam Feng was nervous just now, she hoped that Lin Qiuran would agree. After all, in this day and age, who would be willing to miss the opportunity to make money?

But Lin Qiuran said the money was too little, and Madam Feng felt that this matter was a bit difficult, and she wanted to bargain for the price.

Seeing this, her son said, "Mom, why don't you just forget it? It doesn't matter who does it."

This is how they bargained, and when they really left, Mrs. Lin became anxious.

Lin Qiuran smiled and said, "Yes, perhaps other chefs can make food that suits your taste better."

Mrs. Feng had eaten Lin Qiuran's cooking before, so how could it be the same? She glared at her son and said, "What are you talking about? What do you know?"

The moment she turned around, a smile appeared on her face. "Mrs. Lin, these can all be negotiated. If you're not satisfied with the price, we can discuss it."

Her daughter-in-law was a good one, so the wedding banquet had to be well organized. Furthermore, she felt that what Lin Qiuran said made sense.

Lin Qiuran said, "Either I'll charge you 40 wen per plate of braised pork, but it won't be two pounds of meat per plate as you said. Or I'll buy it by the pound, but the price won't be 20 wen. I'll charge you an extra 5 wen per pound, which is my hard-earned money."

Five cents more for one jin, so thirty-two jins would be one hundred and sixty cents more. Madam Feng calculated in her mind that this was not much less than asking Lin Qiuran to do it.

Mrs. Feng's son thought this was too much, enough to buy another ten pounds of meat.

Madam Feng gritted her teeth and tried to inquire, "Madam Lin, how much does it cost to host a banquet like this?"

Lin Qiuran said, "It depends on the number of tables and the amount of food. If there are only five or six tables and we can finish it in half a day, then I'll charge half a tael of silver. If we can't finish it in half a day, we'll have to go a day in advance to prepare it, which is one tael of silver. I only need to cook the food, not wash the dishes. You have to prepare the pots and pans yourself. This is the current price."

It depends on how many people ask her to do the job, maybe the price will go up or down.

Sun said, "Go and ask, that's the price."

Madam Feng nodded. Her family wanted to ask Lin Qiuran to cook for one tael of silver. So, it seemed like a good deal if he only cooked one dish. She said, "How about a little less? Four wen for each pound of meat, is that okay? Madam Lin, I always buy groceries from you. Who knows, I might ask you to host a banquet in the future. A little less is just like having more friends."

Lin Qiuran was more agreeable than before. She nodded and said, "That's fine, but it can't be too little. I'm pregnant, and my parents are old, so they really can't take care of it."

Madam Feng said, "Of course, of course. We should have rested in the afternoon, but Madam Lin has been busy for our sake. My son is getting married on the 28th, and the wedding banquet is in the evening. It's okay to send the meat earlier, but please don't be late."

Today is the 25th, and we will get married the day after tomorrow.

Lin Qiuran smiled and asked, "When it's done, do we deliver it to you, or do you come and pick it up?"

Madam Feng thought about it and decided that since Lin Qiuran had lost her husband, it would be better to avoid the matter. It would be best if Lin Qiuran's family members did not go to her house. "We will come and get it!"

Lin Qiuran confirmed with Madam Feng one last time, "That's a total of 32 kilograms of braised pork. The quantity won't be less by then. One kilogram will cost 24 cents."

Madam Feng was a cautious woman. She said, "This is just the meat, not the soup."

Lin Qiuran smiled. The Xiao family always drained the soup when selling meat. She nodded, "Of course."

Madam Feng asked again, "Can you prepare it sooner? And this soup, can you give it to us?"

It can't be just meat without soup.

There was no point in Lin Qiuran saving the stewed meat soup. To be honest, there wouldn't be too much soup, because the whole point of making braised pork was to reduce the soup. Occasionally, because there was too much meat, after stewing it, in order to prevent the soup from reducing too slowly and making the dish too salty, Lin Qiuran would pour some of the soup out to stew the dish.

Lin Qiuran probably thought Madam Feng also wanted to do this, so he nodded and said, "Okay, that's no problem. Bring an extra basin when the time comes."

Madam Feng smiled and said cheerfully, "Should I pay half of the deposit?"

Lin Qiuran was also straightforward with those who were straightforward. "I can give you the decimal point, just give me three hundred and eighty cents."

Madam Feng chuckled, her eyes warm and sincere, "Madam Lin, thank you so much!"

Mrs. Feng's attitude was something Lin Qiuran had never seen before, and he could sense a certain respect from her. She smiled and said, "It's a small matter."

In Madam Feng's heart, she really respected Lin Qiuran. She had prepared banquets for wealthy families, had good skills and was capable. She was a hundred times better than a woman who only knew how to gossip about others on the street.

After leaving the Xiao family, Feng's son said, "Mom, if it works out, it works out. If it doesn't, forget it. Why are you talking to them in such a humble tone?"

Thanks a lot, we can discuss it.

He couldn't understand why his mother was like this. Lin Qiuran was just a woman, and his mother was too easy to talk to.

Madam Feng said, "What do you know? If you can't speak, then talk less when you go out! Look at how brisk her stall is, she even cooks for banquets occasionally. Others would definitely do both, but Madam Lin only cooks for banquets and never sells vegetables. No one who has eaten her food has a bad opinion of it. She's such a good cook, if she gets too busy one day, she'll definitely think of taking in an apprentice or something."

Madam Feng: "I see she doesn't have many relatives. If you want a boy, you can ask your brother to try. If you want a girl, let your wife go."

Lin Qiuran was generous and capable, so what if she was a widow? She just admired Lin Qiuran very much. If she could negotiate the price, she had to have the capital.

Mrs. Feng thought her son was stupid, but she was very satisfied with her wife. She was quick and nimble, and was careful in her work, much better than her son.

It's still a bit far-fetched to talk about that right now. Whether it will be useful or not depends on Lin Qiuran. Anyway, he's capable, and we're asking him for help. How can we really say that if it works, it works, and if it doesn't, forget it.

I guess Lin Qiuran just let them go.

Besides, you can bargain when buying vegetables. If you speak nicely, people won't give you any face.

Mrs. Feng's son said "oh", and Mrs. Feng looked at him like a fool and said, "Let's go home."

*

At the Xiao family, Madam Sun smiled at Lin Qiuran and said, "His father, Qiuran is still the best. This time, we have more than a hundred coins more."

Lin Qiuran felt a little embarrassed by Sun's praise. "I'm telling the truth. If I really sold it at the price of vegetables, I wouldn't make much money."

Not only is it tiring, but the earnings are also low. This time, if it's more, she's willing to do it.

Tomorrow we'll make braised pork, the day after tomorrow we'll make stuffed pork with hot peppers, and the day after that we'll make braised fish. Lin Qiuran said to Xiao Dashi, "Dad, when you go to buy meat tomorrow morning, you have to tell them to set aside 40 kilograms of pork belly for us. We'll pick it up at noon the day after tomorrow."

The butcher's business in the county town is good. They kill one in the morning and one at noon, but it depends on the business. If you don't tell them in advance, there will be no meat if they don't kill the animals.

Taking 40 kilograms at once is considered a big deal.

Xiao Dashi nodded, and Sun Shi only then remembered, "By the way, Qiuran, the glutinous rice you bought has been delivered."

There is still glutinous rice at home, but we don’t eat it often. Sun doesn’t know why she bought it, but it must be useful.

Lin Qiuran took a look and put the wine yeast and hot pepper grass he bought together with the glutinous rice. He planned to eat soon and make this in the afternoon.

She said, "Let's eat first, and we'll do it this afternoon. I want to try making some rice wine. I don't know if it will work, but if it does, I can use it in cooking."

Sun hummed, thinking that Lin Qiuran had learned this at her mother's house. Lin Qiuran had been married for less than half a year. "Mom, go cook."

Lunch was also simple. Sun made some pancakes, fried some vegetables, and some mutton, shrimp, and duck that were left over from yesterday. They just had to be heated up.

Although it was leftovers, it was better than usual and the whole family was very satisfied.

After a nap, Lin Qiuran made some yeast himself in the afternoon and also used the yeast he bought.

This is similar to the principle of pickling vegetables, both of which involve fermentation, but the length of fermentation is different.

Making rice wine is not difficult. Soak the glutinous rice for half a day, then steam it in a steamer. Pour the steamed glutinous rice into a clean wooden barrel, stir it, and let it cool.

To make the wine, you can add some water, but it has to be boiled, because unboiled water contains other fungi, which can easily affect the taste. But to make it sweeter, you can find some mountain spring water, boil it, and add it in, which will taste better.

When it is slightly warm to the touch, you can add the koji. Lin Qiuran has done this before, and he estimated it based on his guess. After adding the koji and stirring it, spread the mixture on the glutinous rice and sprinkle another layer of koji. Dig a small hole in the middle of the glutinous rice and cover it with a clean cloth. According to past experience, you have to wait for two days.

But there is no guarantee of this. Lin Qiuran plans to check it frequently to prevent it from getting moldy. Once it gets moldy, it will be inedible.

She also has to wait two days for the koji she made. It is a mixture of glutinous rice flour and purchased hot pepper and other ingredients. It tastes slightly sweet and can be used to make fermented rice balls and other things. This is unlikely to go wrong. She doesn't know the quality of the koji she bought.

Lin Qiuran is now grateful that she had prepared the banquet at home. In order to make it delicious and save money, she made many things at home. Otherwise, she would only know how to cook here, and without those seasonings, she would not be able to make the original taste.

Today is pretty good, and I have some extra income. I still have to keep my skills up to date. I can't just ignore the taste and try to make more money and save costs just because there are many or few customers.

She also wants to try new dishes and take into account the tastes of the people here.

It's the end of the month now. Before going to bed today, Lin Qiuran sorted out the family savings. Today is the 25th, and there are only four days left until the next month.

Although there were rainy days this month that kept me from setting up shop, I still made some money every day. Even though I didn't make any sales at Huang Niangzi's house yesterday, the deposit I paid counts as yesterday's income.

Since the move, the family had acquired new clothes: two sets for Lin Qiuran, one each for Sun and Xiao Dashi. They also had a bathtub, a stove, a large pot, and three millstones.

Food, fruits and vegetables cost only a few cents a day, and this place feels more like home than when I first moved in.

We used to eat only porridge and rice, but now we have some meat every day. We eat better, use more, and save more money at home.

Lin Qiuran now has eighteen taels and five cents in her hand. This is her rough estimate, because she earns copper coins in her daily business. She didn't go to the money shop today, so she doesn't know how many copper coins can be exchanged for one tael of silver today. For the time being, she will assume that one thousand and twenty copper coins can be exchanged for one tael of silver.

If there is no rain or wind in the next four days and business is as good as usual, I can make another two taels of silver. Even if I spend some, I can still save twenty taels.

Even if it’s not enough to buy a shop before the weather gets completely cold, it’s enough to rent one.

Having money made him feel at ease. Lin Qiuran hid the money separately and then went to bed.

She had a dreamless night. The next day, Sun asked her to get up and cook after breakfast. During this time, Lin Qiuran also looked at the yeast and rice wine. It was only one night, so there was not much change. She had to wait a little longer.

This was my life for two consecutive days.

Every morning when he woke up, the first thing Lin Qiuran did was check the rice wine. It wasn't so hot now, so fermentation wasn't happening quickly. He could only check for mold by looking, but it was best to taste it.

But Lin Qiuran couldn't taste it. It had been two days and there was no mold on the surface. She didn't smell any sourness either, so she planned to let Xiao Dashi and Sun taste it.

Lin Qiuran was afraid that they would think the food was spoiled, so he said it was not sour even if it tasted a little.

Xiao Dashi has already told the butcher that he wants 40 kilograms of pork belly for lunch today. The Xiao family is now considered a big customer, so he can give the owner of the meat a discount of one cent per kilogram, which is more cost-effective than buying individually.

The stove, which usually rests in the afternoon, was in use today, and Xiao Dashi also brought a cart of new firewood home.

Sun washed the meat, cleaned the pig hairs on the skin, and then cut it into small, even pieces. She was familiar with all these tasks, and could also blanch, wash, and fry the meat. Practice makes perfect, and now she can do it with her eyes closed.

Lin Qiuran was responsible for seasoning the food. She stewed the meat in two pots. After adding spices and hot water, she took care of one pot while Sun took care of the other. Xiao Dashi didn't know how to cook, so he carried firewood to both sides, boiled water, found some bricks, and built the courtyard wall with a mixture of lime, wood ash, and straw.

This was what he and Sun had discussed. They wanted to build the wall higher, otherwise they would be worried when Lin Qiuran was alone at home.

The three of them were busy with their own things, and even with the autumn wind blowing, they didn't feel very tired.

It took an hour just to stew it. Lin Qiuran checked on the rice wine from time to time and found that it had already floated to the surface.

Two days would be enough tonight, but Lin Qiuran was afraid the flavor would have worn off, so she had Sun taste it three times and she said it was sweet with a hint of spiciness. Xiao Dashi said the alcohol wasn't strong, unlike the soju he'd been drinking, but it was quite good.

Lin Qiuran said this seriously, "Mom, if it's sour and the customers get sick, our family will have to pay for it. Is it really not sour?"

The two confirmed again and again that there was indeed no sour taste.

If you put less water, you will get less wine. Lin Qiuran plans to ferment it twice, so that he can get more wine.

She added some boiled and cooled water and sealed the mouth again. This was considered good, but Lin Qiuran was not put into the meat stewed for Madam Feng's family. Madam Feng wanted the taste of the past. Today was her son's wedding day. If she changed it and people were not satisfied, they would still have to refund the money.

By 3:30 PM, the meat was tender, bright red, and fragrant. Lin Qiuran instructed Sun on how to reduce the broth, a crucial step that enriched the flavor and enhanced the dish's presentation.

Lin Qiuran intended for Sun to learn how to cook. She didn't have to learn all the dishes, but she had to learn a few of the ones that were sold out at home.

Just follow the steps, don't take it for granted that your ideas are better, put more of this, less of that, just think of your own way to make it taste better.

Generally speaking, as long as you follow the steps, the result will be good.

The reason why many people’s cooking is not tasty is that they always let their imagination run wild and add their own ideas. Not everyone can cook by smelling and tasting. Naturally, the taste will be bad if other things are added to the original recipe.

Lin Qiuran would also tell Sun what she should pay attention to, for example, she could add some fruits when stewing meat, and dried hawthorn was the main ingredient when making it at home.

If he really had a shop in the future, he wouldn't be able to leave it at will, and the shop wouldn't close at will. Lin Qiuran wouldn't be able to take Sun and Xiao Dashi with him to prepare banquets for others, as he couldn't ignore the business.

When she had a child, someone would need to look after the child. She looked around the house and felt that there was a shortage of people.

Lin Qiuran learned these skills bit by bit from her parents. It would take her several years to master the knife skills, spoon handling, and cooking control.

She was thinking about whether she should take in an apprentice. Otherwise, by the time she really opened the shop, she wouldn't know anything.

As I was thinking this, there was a noise at the door and someone was knocking.

Lin Qiuran said, "Mother, Madam Feng should be here. She's here just in time, and the meat is already cooked."

I estimate there are about 33 or 34 kilograms, and I can still leave some for myself to eat.

Xiao Dashi went to open the door. Every day when he cooked, the door of his house was closed to prevent passers-by from looking inside.

Lin Qiuran turned off the fire. She looked at Sun's pot and found that it was not burnt and the soup had been reduced a lot. It was cooked well.

Sun listened to her the most, even when it came to cooking.

Xiao Dashi went to open the door. When he opened the door, he saw that it was not Madam Feng, but Aunt Yu and Uncle Li's family of five. They pushed a cart over, and on the cart was the grain that the Xiao family had harvested this year.

It rained a few days after the Mid-Autumn Festival, and no one in Xiaojia Village went out to harvest the crops in the rain. As soon as the rain stopped, the whole village hurried to harvest the crops. They had been drying the rice for the past few days, and it was completely dry today. Afraid that the Xiao family would be in a hurry to eat it, the whole family packed the rice in sacks and brought it to them.

-----------------------

The author has something to say: Please water [pink heart][panda head][cat head]