Chapter 109 Sun Erdan, Sun Tiedan, Sun Gou Dan

Sun Erdan thought for a moment and said, "When I used to run a noodle shop, the waiter was my younger brother. I paid him 500 coins a month, and it was the same at other shops. I just don't know if you want me to be the head chef or the waiter..."

Liu Ye laughed and said, "Of course you'll be the head chef. If your brother is free, let him be the waiter. I'll be the manager and take charge of collecting money. It seems like we don't have enough people. I haven't even washed the dishes yet; they're piled up like a mountain..."

Seeing that Liu Ye was so agreeable, Sun Erdan stopped being coy: "Alright, I'll be the head chef. My second brother is free, and so is my third brother. How about I call them over too? Otherwise, given the situation today, we definitely won't be able to handle it all. You can give me 900 coins a month. In a good year, the head chef's monthly salary is at least 1,200 coins. Right now, everything is cheap except for grain, and jobs are hard to find. I'm so excited that you agreed to let me work in the shop. To be honest, I've been looking for work for quite a while, but I haven't found anything yet, and my family is struggling to make ends meet..."

Liu Ye asked, puzzled, "You sold the noodle shop for four hundred taels of silver, and it's all gone so quickly? Did you lose it gambling?"

Sun Erdan sighed and said, "Alas, no, my parents are sick. Their medicine cost more than 200 taels, and we paid off more than 100 taels of debt from the previous medicine. The remaining 100 taels were used to buy food. Now I only have a little over one tael of silver left in my pocket. Hehe, I hope you can forgive me..."

Liu Ye didn't find it funny at all; on the contrary, she felt that he had a hard time: "Let's not make it 900 coins. I'll give you one tael of silver a month. Your two younger brothers will get 500 coins a month, just like you said. You can start working tomorrow. I'll give you the key. Once you're here, you can open the shop for business. I have to go back to the village, so I might not be able to come early or late. If I don't come, you'll be in charge of the noodle shop."

Liu Ye took out the key from her pocket and handed it to Sun Erdan. Sun Erdan didn't stand on ceremony and took the key, putting it in his pocket. "From now on, I'll call you Boss Liu. Boss, just call me Erdan. Boss, you should go home under the moonlight. I'll wash the dishes. I'll stay at the inn tonight too. I'm afraid the grain in the inn will be stolen. The town is quite chaotic right now."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ye remembered that the bag of flour she had taken out today had all been used up. Since the shop employed Sun Erdan, she could no longer take out flour to use as needed and had to keep several bags of flour in the shop.

"Okay, the flour is in the backyard downstairs. I'll go check how many bags are left."

Liu Ye went to the servants' quarters in the backyard, waved her hand, and placed five bags of flour, five bundles of scallions, and a large jar of lard on the kang (a heated brick bed). After thinking for a moment, she took out half a bag of rice from her spatial storage, carried it back to the shop in the front, and put the rice on the table: "Erdan, this is half a bag of rice. Take it back to nourish your parents. There are also five bags of flour, scallions, and lard in the servants' quarters in the backyard. You can also take a small basin of lard home. I'll buy more if you run out. I'm going back now."

Sun Erdan's mouth dropped open in shock. He quickly opened the bag on the table, and inside was indeed pure white rice. He had never seen such good white rice in his life. "Boss, I... I didn't hear wrong, did I? This is white rice! I... I can't take it. You should keep it for yourself."

He dealt with grain year-round, and just by looking at a rice bag, he knew that half a bag of rice must weigh 50 jin (25 catties). 50 jin of white rice was worth 100 taels of silver. Good heavens, how could he possibly ask his employer for 100 taels of silver for nothing? He was already extremely grateful that the employer was willing to hire him; he wasn't the kind of person who would take advantage of others.

Liu Ye arrived at the door: "It's getting late, I really have to go home. Don't be so polite with me, just take it. I have a way to get cheap grain, but don't tell anyone. Okay, I'm leaving now, thank you for packing slowly."

After Liu Ye finished speaking, she left, her figure disappearing into the night in no time. Only Sun Erdan remained in the shop. Sun Erdan quickly closed the shop door, locked it behind him, and then went to the table. He excitedly picked up the half-sack of white rice, tears streaming down his face.

"My God, he's met a living Buddha!"

Sun Erdan carried half a bag of white rice to the backyard. As soon as he entered the house, he saw five bags of white flour on the kang (a heated brick bed), several bundles of scallions on the ground, and a large jar. He put the rice on the ground, lifted the jar, and saw that it was full of lard. His mouth watered, and he quickly covered the jar.

"Good heavens! Master Liu really trusts him completely. He's not worried at all that he'll run off with the grain. That's a huge trust for him. They've only met twice, including today. Now, five bags of flour are worth more than the shop itself. No, he has to hurry home and call his second and third brothers. He can't possibly wash all those dishes. If a thief comes to steal the grain, he can't fight them all by himself."

Sun Erdan locked the shop door, grabbed half a bag of rice, and rushed home. He didn't take the lard; Liu Dongjia had given him half a bag of rice, and he felt too embarrassed to take the lard.

Sun Erdan put half a bag of rice on his mother's kang (a heated brick bed) and excitedly opened the bag: "Mom, this is half a bag of rice that the landlord gave me. You and Dad can cook some porridge for me later. I need to take my second and third brothers to the shop. The shop can't function without someone there."

Sun Tiedan is Sun Erdan's second younger brother, and Sun Gou Dan is Sun Erdan's third younger brother. Why is Sun Erdan called Erdan? Because he had an older brother who died when he was six years old. The two of them looked at the bag of white rice and their mouths watered.

When Sun Erdan's parents saw the bag of white rice, tears streamed down their faces. Sun's mother reached out and scooped up a handful of rice: "White rice! Buddha! Nuwa! The living Bodhisattva has appeared! Old man, look! It's white rice!"

Old Sun wiped away his tears and nodded: "I see it, I see it! This white rice is really good, so shiny and bright, even brighter than our oil lamp, and more fragrant than meat! Erdan, is this really a gift from your employer?"

Old Man Sun had no doubt that his son had stolen it, because he knew his son's character and that he had never stolen a single needle from anyone since he was a child.

Sun Erdan smiled and nodded: "Yes, this rice was given to me by my boss. He knew you two were sick and asked me to bring it back to help you recover. Mom and Dad, I really have to go now. The shop can't function without someone."

Grandma Sun put down the rice in her hand and hurriedly said to her third son, "You two go quickly and work hard for your employer and look after the shop. You can't let your employer down."

Sun Erdan brought his two younger brothers back to the shop. One washed the dishes, and the other kneaded the dough. Actually, to make ramen noodles, the dough needs to be kneaded and left to rest the night before. This way, the noodles will be chewy and delicious.

Liu Ye returned home in the dark and found that the stove had gone out. She quickly lit it again, washed her feet, and went to bed. She slept soundly until dawn.