Chapter 47 Lamb Skewers

With the goat that Wei's father bought, Song Yushu was no longer worried that the hunters wouldn't be able to hunt wild boars, and directly used the mutton to make several main dishes.

One dish was a clear mutton and radish soup. Song Yushu prepared the mutton ribs, cut them into pieces, put them in a pot of cold water to boil and remove the foam, then took them out and scalded them to remove the mutton smell. Finally, he added boiling water and radish to make soup.

As for the other dish, Song Yushu planned to make lamb skewers. She asked Wei's mother to help her shave the lamb onto bamboo skewers, and then went to the pharmacy to buy spices, grind them, and prepare some barbecue spices.

Finally, they were set up in front of the eatery and slowly grilled over charcoal, with barbecue sauce added from time to time. The aroma was so strong that it could be smelled all over the street.

Every day, the restaurant is packed with customers who come specifically for the lamb skewers, and even then, there are still many people waiting in line.

While Song Yushu was busy grilling lamb skewers, Wei's mother and her two sisters-in-law helped serve the food, and Zhou Chengzhu handled the cashier and bookkeeping. The five of them were working non-stop.

In the end, they almost forgot about the food that was supposed to be delivered to the academy. Song Yushu had no choice but to pay someone to run an errand and send it over. He could just ask Zhou Chengyu to collect the money later.

Normally, the number of people at the restaurant would decrease after noon, but the lamb skewers were so popular this time that even after the goat that was slaughtered that morning was sold out, there were still many people queuing up. They even bought more lamb from Mr. Wei to grill until it got dark before the customers finally left.

"I need to find some helpers tomorrow, otherwise the few of us won't be able to handle it. Also, have Dad and the others slaughter another goat tomorrow, otherwise we won't have enough to sell," Song Yushu said, still shaken from drinking two cups of plum juice and grilling lamb skewers.

"That's right, there are so many customers today, I can barely lift my arms to scoop the food," Sister-in-law Wei sighed.

"You've worked hard. I'll raise your wages again. You've been too busy lately," Song Yushu said, knowing that her restaurant couldn't do without their help and not wanting to mistreat her family.

"That's great! No hotel in town pays us as much as the rest of us. Everyone in the village envies us!" Sister-in-law Wei was very outgoing and didn't stand on ceremony with Song Yushu.

Seeing that they were happy, Mother Wei naturally didn't say anything to spoil the mood.

The lamb skewers at the restaurant were selling so well that the lamb sold at Wei's father's butcher shop was also selling well, even faster than the pork.

Seeing this, other butcher shops in town also started selling mutton, and restaurants now use mutton instead of pork in their dishes.

The helpers Song Yushu found were naturally children from the orphanage, but she chose the older ones. She had them wash vegetables and skewer lamb, paying them twenty coins a day. She also bought them neat clothes and cleaned them inside and out before letting them start working.

After all, we're in the food business; if we look sloppy, customers will probably feel disgusted.

The five children were assigned to wash vegetables and skewer lamb in the yard. When the lamb skewers ran out, they were to bring the skewered lamb over for Song Yushu to grill.

Even though they had little experience, these jobs were easy to pick up, and thinking about the twenty coins they earned each day, they didn't dare stop working.

"You can take turns eating lunch. We've been quite busy lately. If anyone feels unwell, just say so. I'll reimburse you for the doctor's visit. Don't suffer in silence, understand?" Seeing how diligently they worked, Song Yushu was pleased and couldn't help but give them extra care.

"Understood!" The children hadn't expected to get to eat meat while working. They knew the meal was probably more expensive than their wages, so they cherished it and didn't want to leave a single grain of rice. Some even saved half of it to eat later that night.

Song Yushu let them have their way. She grilled lamb skewers at the entrance of the restaurant, and it was already quite rare for her to be able to spare this much time.

Although the mutton soup in the restaurant didn't sell as well as the mutton skewers, many people still packed it up to take home to nourish their families, so there wasn't much left. They packed it up and gave it to Wei's mother and the others to take home.

For several days in a row, the restaurant was packed with customers. It wasn't until later, when several restaurants in the town also started selling lamb skewers, that the customers in the restaurant were diverted, and Song Yushu was finally able to catch his breath.

"What if all the guests are sent out?" Although Wei's mother felt busy these past few days, she has now found some free time and has begun to worry about Song Yushu.

"It's alright. Our restaurant's food tastes good, and we've accumulated a lot of repeat customers. They're used to our food, so it won't be easy for them to leave," Song Yushu said without worry. Her lamb skewers were easy to make, and she had already made a lot of money selling them for so many days. She couldn't be too greedy.

With fewer customers, the shop can be cleaned up earlier. These days, slaughtering one sheep a day is just enough to sell out, and you can earn quite a bit each day.

Seven days later, when Zhou Chengzhu came over with the account book to have Song Yushu check the accounts, she couldn't shake the smile on her face.

"Two hundred and fifty taels of profit in seven days, not bad! We can finally save up some money. We'll buy this shop then!" Song Yushu tapped the abacus to calculate, and a look of joy appeared on his face.

"Here! This five taels is your wages. Use it to buy some nice clothes or cosmetics. Spend it however you like."

Song Yushu handed over five taels of silver. She had been watching Zhou Chengzhu's performance over this period of time. It was quite remarkable for eleven-year-old Zhou Chengzhu to be able to settle accounts quickly and efficiently with so many customers.

"And my wages?" Zhou Chengzhu asked in disbelief.

"Of course, as long as you perform well, there will be bonuses. Keep it up! If you continue like this, you will be able to have your own shop. Think about how to run it when you have time." Song Yushu planted a seed in Zhou Chengzhu's mind, letting her know that she could earn money through her own efforts, instead of taking shortcuts.

Zhou Chengzhu blushed with excitement upon hearing this. The thought of opening her own shop in the future filled her with enthusiasm.

After the lamb skewer business slowed down, Song Yushu started having the children skewer some vegetables to grill. Eggplant, chives, corn—anything that could be grilled was grilled. Vegetable skewers cost only two coins each, cheaper than lamb skewers, and were a novelty for customers, so naturally many people were willing to try them.

If it weren't for the fact that few people in their small town go out at night, Song Yushu would have loved to sell kebabs at night.

Although mutton is selling well now, raising pigs cannot be delayed. Whenever he has free time, Song Yushu asks people to inquire if anyone has piglets for sale. Once he finds one, he buys a few. Two months have passed in the Wei family's pigsty, and the huge pigsty only has three pigs. The rest of the pigsty is used to raise sheep.

That's why these three pigs were so precious. They were bought for breeding, but no one dared to castrate them. They could only be carefully raised and waited for them to grow up and have several litters of piglets.

Song Yushu knew that haste makes waste, so he had to adjust the menu of his restaurant.