Chapter 100 Chapter 100 The Tenth Day. (First update)...
"Look, there's a piece of land here!"
"It's much bigger than our original place. We'll put the chicken coop here so they don't have to be startled all the time." Song Jiaoniang sighed, turned around and smiled, "By the way, how about we get a dog later?"
"Sure! Aunt Xue's dog just gave birth to puppies before the New Year. I'll go ask her later. It would be best if I could bring one over." Lin Sen nodded.
The couple became more and more excited as they talked, and they couldn't help gesturing with their hands, as if they couldn't wait to start moving.
Lin Zhi's heart also warmed at what she heard, her mind full of the new shop. But then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Chen Yan and Tao Yingce standing beside them, smiling brightly. Suddenly, she sobered up, cleared her throat, and raised her voice, "Chen Lang, Tao Lang, since you're here today, why don't you stay for a meal?"
Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang paused, having just remembered to leave the two men aside. Their faces flushed, and Song Jiaoniang quickly chimed in, "Sister Zhi is right. Why don't you stay and have some before you go?"
Chen Yan waved his hand, his eyes sweeping over the family of three whose minds and eyes were completely consumed by the new shop. He suppressed a smile and said, "I won't bother you today. We have things to do later."
Tao Yingce nodded and said, "Wait until you have finished tidying up the new shop, then we can come back and ask for this dinner."
After the two of them finished speaking, they reminded the family of three that if they needed help, they could just ask, and then they bowed and said goodbye.
After seeing them off, Lin Zhi said to Lin Sen, "Dad, go see if Mother Zhao and the newly hired helper have arrived. If they have, come over and clean up first."
Originally, the few of them had agreed with the four servants hired before the New Year to come to work today, but after it was finalized, they found out that the competition time was also the eighth day of the first lunar month.
Therefore, when Song Jiaoniang went out in the morning, she specifically asked Madam Yu to tell them to come back in the afternoon, as they would be of use now.
Lin Sen agreed and went out, and soon returned with his men. Mother Zhao walked in front, her face full of joy, followed by two young men, a young wife, and a little girl, each holding a broom, dustpan, feather duster, rag, and bucket.
"Congratulations, Madam Song, congratulations, Madam Lin!" After entering the house, Mother Zhao hurried forward to congratulate them, her eyes filled with unconcealable joy.
"How come you know that?"
"My wife, what you said! This matter has spread throughout the streets of Bianjing!" Mother Zhao was very happy. She had not even left the house when her daughter-in-law hurried back to tell her such happy news.
Even the neighbors who knew that she was working as a helper at Linzhiji came to gossip about her. The envy in their eyes made Mother Zhao feel happy, and she felt that her steps were much lighter than before.
Thinking of this, she was even more delighted: "I have always seen Madam Lin devoted to her craft, never distracted by anything else. With such dedication, this head is truly worthy of its name!"
As for the two men and two women at the back, they couldn't hide their excitement either. However, since they were not familiar with Lin Zhi's family, they could only follow Mother Zhao and praise her from time to time: "Mrs. Lin is amazing."
"Mother Zhao is right."
"Congratulations, Madam Song, congratulations, Madam Lin."
"Thank you, Mother Zhao." Song Jiaoniang listened to Mother Zhao's words. Even though she had heard many people praising her, what was wrong with a mother listening to others praise her daughter? Praise her a little more!
It was Lin Zhi who interrupted the small talk: "Mom, if you guys keep talking we won't have enough time to clean up. Come, let's assign the tasks first."
Song Jiaoniang stopped the conversation with reluctance, and first asked Mother Zhao to take the two ladies to wipe the tables and chairs and sweep the front hall. The two young men followed Lin Sen to the backyard to clean the warehouse. Lin Zhi and Song Jiaoniang were responsible for counting the household items and determining the furniture that needed to be replenished and repaired.
For a moment, the shop was filled with the sounds of people cleaning, making it quite lively. As Lin Zhi walked around, she suddenly felt something was wrong. After carefully examining the traces left in the house, she realized that what she had originally thought were the main house and wing rooms were not residences, but private rooms of an old restaurant. It was only because the furniture inside had been moved out that she had misjudged them.
She secretly sighed that the shopkeeper Xie had been generous in the past, but he had no intention of keeping it as a private room. He just wanted to clean it up and move the furniture from the original shop here.
"Mom, I think we could put a drawing table here, and two bookshelves next to it." Lin Zhi looked at the room and said with a smile, "You can take out the four treasures of the study and the picture albums you have in the boxes and cages and put them out there."
"We just spent a lot of money, let's save some." Song Jiaoniang shook her head. Although the accounts had not been fully calculated yet, she took a quick look and estimated that the remaining silver was only about one hundred strings of cash.
"It's just a drawing table. I don't need any brushes, ink, paper, or inkstone. It won't cost much." Lin Zhi smiled. "The rest of the things are in my mother's boxes. As for the bookshelf, I'll just ask the carpenter to help build it when he comes."
"Do we need a carpenter?"
"Well, I think I need to make some changes to the front," Lin Zhi explained. "The cakes I made this time were a big hit. I think people will be ordering cakes for a long time to come."
Linzhi plans to separate the meals he currently operates, such as renovating the storefront and specializing in roast goose and fried foods, which are mostly sold as takeout.
In addition, pastries and stir-fried dishes are placed on the big side of the shop, so she plans to build a new counter on one side to display pastries such as flower pastries, and reserve a queuing and rest area for diners to buy or taste.
The other area is the cooking and dining area, which is spacious enough to accommodate more people dining together. The layout of tables and chairs can be adjusted if necessary to meet the requirements of diners.
Song Jiaoniang nodded repeatedly after hearing this, and felt that everything was good.
As they talked, they walked to the back house, which was divided into several single rooms by Manager Xie, half of which was used for living and the other half was used as a warehouse.
The warehouse was empty, but the rooms where people lived still had beds, tables, chairs, and some personal belongings.
Lin Sen was ordering two young men to move all the things out. The worthless furniture was thrown away directly, and the valuable items were put into the warehouse first. They would come back to confirm whether they were left behind by the previous servants.
…
Half a day wasn't enough, so everyone gathered together the next day to continue cleaning. Lin Sen first went to the carpenter's shop to order a plaque, then invited carpenters and masons to his house to discuss the renovation plan with Lin Zhi.
As he was speaking, Li Ji, who had questioned him during the competition, arrived with something in hand and apologized privately for what he had done earlier. "Chef Lin, I should have apologized yesterday, but I felt it would be insincere to come empty-handed, so I came today. I was abrupt earlier, so please forgive me."
Lin Zhi had a good impression of this person. Although he had previously expressed his suspicions of shady dealings, he had changed his attitude after learning of his own results. Now that he had come to apologize, he waved his hand and said, "It's all a small matter. Don't take it to heart."
Li Ji breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to reveal a piece of news to Lin Zhi: "I heard that Tongfulou not only spent a lot of money to hire an old imperial chef to improve the flower-shaped goose cake, but also spread the word that it was just a lucky break... You should be careful during tomorrow's competition."
After a pause, Li Ji added, "I heard that they seem to be planning to use your method."
Lin Zhi frowned. In fact, after receiving the thousand strings of cash, she no longer considered whether her cakes would be chosen.
What's more, there are various kinds of pastry nowadays, and Linzhi also knows that professional chefs can master the method of making flower pastry after a few days of trial and error, but the filling still needs some time to study.
But even though she didn't care, Chef Wang's intention to take her things and step on her to climb up was too shameless, which made Linzhi unhappy.
Lin Zhi put away her smile and nodded carefully: "Thank you for letting me know. When my shop opens, please invite Chef Li to come and have a seat."
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Li Ji said goodbye and left.
Lin Zhi did not tell Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang about this, but turned around and continued to discuss the renovation plan with the carpenters and masons.
It wasn't until the evening that she began to think about it carefully. When Song Jiaoniang and Lin Sen were getting ready for bed, they noticed the candlelight was still on outside. Surprised, they pushed the door open and went to the kitchen: "Jie Zhi, why aren't you sleeping yet...what are you doing?"
There was a delicious aroma in the kitchen. Even though Song Jiaoniang had a big meal the night before, she couldn't help swallowing. She reached out and pinched the flesh on her belly, then gave up the idea with resentment.
Lin Zhi put the things in her hand into the warm water, turned around and smiled: "I just suddenly thought of something and wanted to try it out."
"We have a competition tomorrow, go to bed early." Song Jiaonian said helplessly.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll go to sleep right away."
"You kid..." Song Jiaoniang complained unhappily. When she closed the door, she caught a glimpse of a flower floating in the basin of warm water out of the corner of her eye.
Where do the hibiscus flowers come from in the middle of winter?
Song Jiaoniang was confused for a moment, then slowly went back to the house. However, she lay on the kang, and she felt something was wrong. She tossed and turned, but she didn't get an answer and woke Lin Sen up.
"...Jiao Niang, why aren't you sleeping yet?"
"Sister Zhi isn't asleep either." Song Jiaoniang turned over and pulled Lin Sen: "Hey, go ahead."
"What?" Lin Sen wore a mask of pain. He had been busy all day and was feeling back pain and leg cramps. "What do you want me to say? Sister Zhi knows what's going on..."
"I mean, Sister Zhi is messing around with something so late at night. Could it be something she needs for tomorrow's competition?"
"Huh?" Lin Sen struggled to open his eyes, bewildered. "Didn't Sister Zhi say yesterday that they would do it all over again in tomorrow's competition?"
"I know that too." Song Jiaoniang frowned and shook her head: "Anyway, I always feel like something is wrong."
"There's nothing we can do to help." Lin Sen was helpless and patted Song Jiaoniang on the shoulder: "Let Sister Zhi go, she knows what's going on."
Lin Zhi worked hard for most of the night and finally went to bed contentedly.
The next day, she boarded the carriage that came to pick her up early and told Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang to stay home and not to come with her. "It would be pointless for you two to wait outside. Dad and Mom will stay home to look after the shop to prevent any mistakes during the renovation. The coachman will take me back later."
"Yes, yes, yes." Upon hearing this, the driver quickly reached out and patted his chest: "Leave it to me."
"knew."
"Be careful on the road."
Half a minute later, Lin Zhi arrived at the restaurant. When she walked in, the other four people were already there. They all came forward to greet her enthusiastically. Only Chef Wang stood aside, his tone slightly provocative, "Chef Lin, I will not show mercy today."
The smiles of the other three froze instantly. Jiang Wan even quietly took two steps to the side, fearing that others would think she was in cahoots with Chef Wang.
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