Chapter 129
Although winter has not officially arrived, the weather is much colder this year than last year, and most people on the streets are wearing padded jackets.
At the end of December, the Grand Secretary handed a thick booklet directly to Wen Shi.
"Just focus on this for now, put everything else aside, and finish it as soon as possible, just like last year."
He did not refuse when he heard it, and reached out to take it.
This kind of arduous and tedious work is supposed to be done by seniority, but unfortunately, after the Hanlin Academy closed down this year, no new editors came. They either had connections and went to the Six Ministries in the capital, or they were all released.
Wen Shi is currently the least senior among them. He did a good job last year, and the Grand Secretary was rewarded along with him. This year, unsurprisingly, the reward has fallen to him again.
The good thing about this year is that he only needs to focus on compiling the annual court records; he doesn't need to worry about anything else for the time being, and he won't be home too late.
Wen Shi put down his brush and watched the Grand Secretary leave. He then opened the thick book and began to read it very carefully.
The officials in charge of recording also changed frequently, and their handwriting varied. Some wrote very neatly and legibly, recording every little detail.
However, some people write with exaggerated strokes of the pen, merely going through the motions; even worse, some require the writer to consult with superiors and subordinates to understand the true meaning.
As before, Wen Shi first spent several days reading it and understanding its meaning. After that, he began cutting paper, grinding ink, and compiling and organizing it.
A few days later, Wen Chuanzong returned.
He was quite lucky. After registering in the county, he happened to find a caravan that went directly to the capital when he returned to the prefectural city. The journey was straightforward and took only a month. If it had been like before, he wouldn't have been able to return until next spring. Everyone kept quiet and no one paid any attention to him. The outcome was obvious.
The second and fourth sons no longer expected anything from him. As for Old Man Wen, although he felt some regret, he didn't say anything.
Liu didn't care that much; one had already been released, and the others weren't that important.
“Old man, after the New Year, Xiao Wu will be another year older. If this were in the village, people his age would already have children.”
"No rush, let's talk about it in two years."
“You made excuses like this before. I’ll have my eldest son write to my family and ask them to come over and bring that girl with them.”
"The fifth son is a scholar, after all. When he's looking for a wife, he should find someone decent. What's so good about those country girls? He should at least find someone from the city."
Old Man Wen immediately objected.
"If you dare to do this to the boss in private, I'll kick you both out. Don't blame me for not showing you any mercy."
"We've taken good care of your family before, so don't say things like that again."
Old Man Wen was a little angry. After he finished speaking, he turned over.
It was one thing to give up before, but now that Xiao Wu is doing well and is his own son, he wants to help him find a good wife.
He currently has four daughters-in-law, all from the village. Among them, only the third daughter-in-law is truly remarkable; compared to the other sisters-in-law, she is very capable.
He thought Xiuyu, Yuqin, and Ma were all just average.
Xiuyu is selfish, and the second son's wife doesn't seem as honest as she appears. The fourth son's wife seems alright, but she's just an ordinary woman, nothing special, though she is hardworking.
Liu sighed, muttered a few words, and went to sleep. She knew she couldn't keep it from Old Man Wen; she was afraid he would actually do what he said, and she didn't want to go back.
Forget it, she'll talk to the third brother when he comes over for the New Year. If Wen Shi speaks up, she's not afraid that Old Man Wen won't agree.
A few days later, Yingxiang arrived at the shop early in the morning, then took out eight hundred taels of silver notes from her bosom and handed them to Granny Yang.
This was no small sum of money. Looking at the silver notes, Granny Yang was in an extremely good mood. She counted them once, and then without hesitation, she took out the indentures of those people from her bosom and gave them to Yingxiang without blinking, along with the contracts that the two of them had signed earlier.
"They're all here, shopkeeper."
As the year draws to a close, Yingxiang has calculated that her annual income is two thousand taels. After deducting two hundred taels of silver for taxes, which are paid to the government, and the eight hundred taels from Granny Yang, she has one thousand taels left.
After deducting daily expenses such as rent and tea, only five hundred taels remained. This was Yingxiang's net income from this tea shop this year, which was not much.
According to the laws of Daqi, newly opened shops are exempt from tax in the first year, but in the second year, they must hand over one-tenth of their profits as tax. This will be the case every year thereafter. The government is not to be trifled with. Someone told Yingxiang when she first opened the shop, so she didn't care last year.
But this is the second year already, and she will definitely pay what she is supposed to pay.
If the authorities suspect something is wrong, they will come to investigate, but she is not afraid. This year, they have been taking turns collecting debts. Even if they drag Granny Yang and the shop assistant to ask, she has nothing to worry about.
"Shopkeeper, the previous contract expired. Shouldn't we discuss the next one as well?"
Yingxiang had already considered this. She gestured for Granny Yang to sit next to her and then said, "It's time to discuss it. You can work for me here, and your monthly wage of five taels of silver will remain unchanged."
Granny Yang was relieved to hear this, as she had been worried that Yingxiang would use this as an excuse to stop using her.
"As for the servants, we have enough for now, and we don't need any new ones for the time being."
Granny Yang's expression changed almost imperceptibly; that was the meaning of the fact that she would only be able to earn five taels of silver per month from now on.
"They also get a share of the profits from the liquor store."
The purpose of opening a shop and doing business is to make money. In the beginning, Yingxiang had to give her a discount because she didn't have the initial capital. But things are different now.
"I don't need any new servants for the time being. I've already given you the money for the few people I bought from the farm, and we've settled everything."
"If I need anything in the future, I will definitely come to you again. After all, we are quite familiar with each other."
Yingxiang spoke calmly and clearly, saying that next year, with the two shops and the farm, after deducting taxes, she would receive at least a thousand taels of silver.
Do you have any plans to open a new store in the future?
"For the next few years, we've only had these three. We've had a good working relationship before. If you want to continue working here, I can give you an extra tael of silver per month."
"We're partners at the liquor store. We have ledgers, and there are backups of them. You can check the accounts anytime."
"Shopkeeper, I trust you."
After thinking about it, Granny Yang did not refuse.
Come to think of it, why would Yingxiang need so many people? Once these people are in Yingxiang's hands, she will be the one paying their wages every year.
These people are enslaved and can be beaten or killed at will, but there is no such thing as working for free. They have to be paid a certain amount every month, unless you support them and let them do nothing, then you don't have to pay them.
To be honest, she has made quite a bit of money from Yingxiang over the past two years. Yingxiang is very generous and never delays payment or makes excuses to deduct money.
"Then let's keep going."
"good."
She's getting on in years. In the past, she made money by buying and selling slaves. Now she stays at this shop peacefully, occasionally doing her old job. Her monthly wages aren't much, but they're not small either. With the profits from the wine shop, she can live quite comfortably.
Business will definitely be better next year than this year. This year, apart from the eight hundred taels, she also earned several hundred taels. These several hundred taels are her monthly salary plus dividends. Before, when the market was good, she could make a living by buying and selling slaves, but when the market was bad, she couldn't earn this much.
Seeing that Granny Yang accepted it calmly, Yingxiang picked up her teacup and drank half a cup of tea, as expected.
She has limited energy and can't completely neglect her family. She can't open too many shops, and she really can't manage everything at the same time.
We can't just focus on one thing and ignore the other; if something goes wrong, it's not worth it.
"In a few days, I plan to introduce a new dish to this teahouse."
It's not a fancy teahouse, but the fried meat sells quite well, which shows that the locals are open to good food.
It would be even more enjoyable to eat while watching a play.
"What new dish?"
Granny Yang asked, somewhat puzzled.
"It's kind of like a stew, you'll see in a few days."
Yang Pozi knew that Yingxiang had an idea, and she didn't question it; she was sure it would make money.
In the evening, before it got dark, Yingxiang returned home and put the indentures together with the previous ones. She counted them and, including the seven or eight people at the farm, she now had more than thirty servants, which was more than enough for the next two years.
After putting everything away, Yingxiang went to the kitchen. She opened a black earthenware pot, smelled the aroma inside, and found it somewhat familiar.
This is a hot pot base that she painstakingly made using available materials, but of course it can't compare to modern hot pot.
The new dish the restaurant is preparing to serve is mala tang (spicy hot pot). Yingxiang has already decided to sell it by the bowl for 20 coins a bowl, which is purely vegetarian.
If you want to eat chicken, pork, or lamb, you can add the meat separately, but the price will be higher accordingly.
In winter, there aren't many vegetables available, and green vegetables are even rarer.
The market mainly sells cabbage, vermicelli, dried bamboo shoots, potatoes, tofu, and sweet potatoes, which is enough to make a bowl of food.
When spring comes next year, she'll have vegetables available, and she'll just need to add some greens to make the ingredients more varied.
To enhance the flavor of the broth, Yingxiang plans to use chicken soup. If sales are good, they can use a whole chicken a day without increasing costs much, and it will actually make the flavor even better.
To attract customers, you need to keep coming up with new ideas to draw them in and stimulate their spending.
Recently, Wen Shi has also started to buy New Year's goods intentionally or unintentionally, and has bought cured meat and sausages, so there is quite a lot of food at home.
At night, after their lovemaking, Yingxiang lay in his arms.
"Wife, we're going to Ping'an Village for the Spring Festival this year. Can you spare some time on New Year's Eve?"
"Okay, I won't go to the store this year since I'm thirty, but we can't wait until the seventh day of the new year. We need to come back on the fifth day. I need to rest for the next few days."
"We'll go there on the afternoon of the 29th and come back on the morning of the 5th."
Yingxiang nodded. The elders have come, so it wouldn't be right not to go for the New Year. It's more spacious over there, and since it's a holiday, she should take a good rest this year.
Wen Shi's holiday will start earlier, but he can't leave Yingxiang behind. He and the child will go first, and he will definitely have to wait for her.
Thirty is too late, a day earlier is just right. I can bring some things with me, and my family will definitely buy their own New Year's goods.
The next morning, Yingxiang ate and drank her fill, then took the seasonings and went out. Of course, she didn't rush to the shop.
We'll go to the market to buy groceries first. We don't have much food at home to begin with, and if we bring it all, they'll still have to buy more to eat later.
On the first day, she tried selling some dishes and bought an extra chicken. She didn't buy anything else for the time being, and even only bought two pieces of tofu.
As soon as she arrived at the shop, Granny Yang immediately took her away.
She's getting on in years and doesn't sleep very well, so she's usually the first one to arrive.
"Let's go to the back, I'll teach you how to make it. It's not difficult, you can get the hang of it in no time, and then we'll put it directly on the menu."
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