Chapter 26 Chapter 26 Employment.
"Hey? Want me to be the team's cook?"
Lin Zhi looked at Chen Yan and Tao Yingce who had made the request and subconsciously waved her hand, "It's just a favor, there's no need to do this."
"That's right, you're too polite." Song Jiaonian also declined, but she couldn't hide the smile on her face, and she was thinking back to the four dishes just now.
The cabbages were piled to the top, and the green and white leaves were dotted with golden oil residue. The aroma of the oil made people swallow their saliva. They couldn't wait to pick up a piece of cabbage with chopsticks and put it on the rice to take a big bite.
In an instant, the oily aroma spreads on the tip of the tongue, and paired with the sweet cabbage, the taste is truly irresistible.
Even the vegetables were this delicious, let alone the meat. Not to mention the exquisite taste of the taro roast chicken, the seemingly simple stir-fried pork slices were incredibly refined.
No, maybe it should be called salt-fried meat. The meat slices are stir-fried until the edges are curled, the oil is sizzling, and it is served with fermented black beans, broad bean paste and garlic sprouts. Each piece is full of the aroma of sauce, burnt meat, meat and garlic sprouts, which makes people dizzy with the fragrance.
When Song Jiaoniang thought of this, she couldn't help but look back. The slaughtered wild rabbit was placed in a bowl, soaked in onions, ginger, garlic, peppercorns and wine to remove the fishy smell. It was said that it was going to be made into some kind of hand-shredded rabbit meat. Hmm, although I don't know what dish it is, but just hearing about it makes people drool unconsciously.
It was not until she heard Chen Yan's voice that she was brought back to her senses.
"You're being polite." Chen Yan turned around and looked at Lu San and the others who were looking around, and said loudly, "Do you want to ask Miss Lin to be the chef?"
"I want to!" Lu San was the first to shout, followed by Lu Datou and others who were not to be outdone. The noise was so loud that it almost overturned the carriage.
"My craftsmanship—"
"Mrs. Lin, you must not underestimate yourself!" Lu San was immediately furious and interrupted, "These two meals are like a blessing after a long drought for us!"
Someone else echoed, "That's right! Miss Lin doesn't understand how important these two meals are to us..."
After saying this, the man felt something was wrong and immediately scratched the back of his head.
Linzhi was amused by what they said.
Seeing this, Song Jiaoniang stepped forward to smooth things over: "It's already a bother for our family to join the convoy and travel with us. How can we charge you for such a small thing?"
"Madam Song, this is wrong." Chen Yan said seriously, directly bringing up what Lin Sen had said before: "Uncle Lin said last time that brothers should settle accounts clearly, so I agreed to accept the travel expenses."
"Now that I've asked your daughter to cook, I naturally have to figure out the price." He looked at the people around him, "Even if it's only a day's journey, we still have to negotiate the price. Don't you agree?"
“Yes, yes, yes!”
"We pay this money willingly!"
Lin Zhi was at a loss for words: "So how are you going to settle this?"
"How about you take care of our meals for the next few days, and write off our travel expenses?"
"That's too much." Lin Zhi shook her head and flatly refused. Her family had inquired at the Hezhou ferry crossing long ago. The journey from Taipingzhou to Bianjing was equivalent to half a year's expenses for an average family, at least around fifty strings of cash.
Nowadays, officials lead increasingly extravagant lives. It is said that some aristocratic families use hundreds of quails to make a quail soup, and kill hundreds of turtles to make a dish of noodles. Naturally, they are also not stingy when it comes to hiring cooks. It is said that a kitchen maid who specializes in cutting onions has an annual salary of fifty strings of cash. If she can become a middle-level or even high-level cook at a banquet, an annual salary of a thousand strings of cash is not a problem.
Even so, Linzhi is self-aware.
She had no fame yet, so when she arrived in Bian Jing, she would either have to go to the four departments and six bureaus or restaurants to learn skills, build a reputation and open her own restaurant, or she would have to start from a foot shop.
If it is the former, the annual salary for entering the industry is no more than 30 strings of cash, which is 2 or 3 strings of cash per month, or about 100 coins per day.
Even if you have good skills and can be quickly hired to do work, your annual income will not exceed 100 strings of cash, which is at most 300 coins a day.
Lin Zhi calculated the remaining journey, which would take at most four or five days: "That amount of time only costs one or two strings of cash."
Seeing this, Tao Yingce also stepped forward and said, "How can you ask for such a small amount of money? Miss Lin has to cook for more than 20 people and is very busy. We can't let you work in vain."
"That's right."
"How about this." Seeing Lin Zhi frowning and remaining silent, and Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang firmly disagreeing, Tao Yingce glanced at Chen Yan and made a decision: "How about we both compromise? We'll cover half of the travel expenses, and the rest will be paid as daily wages. How about two strings of cash a day?"
"Two strings of cash a day is too little." Chen Yan shook his head repeatedly, and Lu San beside him echoed: "That's right! With Miss Lin's craftsmanship, she should be able to make at least three or five strings of cash a day!"
"We heard that the steamed bun shop gave you two hundred strings of cash!"
Lin Zhi's eyebrows twitched when she heard this. How could the two hundred strings of cash be included in the calculation? Besides, according to her calculation, she was lucky to get 10 strings of cash a month. She was about to push it further, but Song Jiaoniang quietly tugged at her sleeve and gave her a look that said it was time to quit.
"That's fine." Lin Zhi calmed down. "Half of the travel expenses will be covered, and the rest doesn't need to be calculated on a daily basis. I'll cook two meals a day until we get to Bianjing. A total of three... five strings of cash will be enough for me."
"Five strings of cash?" Lu San was so anxious that he jumped up and down, and wanted to persuade Lin Zhi again: "This is too little!"
Chen Yan held him down and nodded to Lin Zhi: "It's as you say."
He could see that Lin Zhi genuinely didn't want to take advantage. Chen Yan thought for a moment and whispered, "In that case, when Miss Lin opens a shop in Bianjing, we should patronize her more often and help her become more popular."
Lu San's eyes lit up and he finally calmed down.
Lu Datou looked around, making sure the topic was over, and then he asked eagerly, "Sister Zhi, how did you roast the rabbit earlier? It smelled so good."
“Eat, eat, eat, eat. That’s all you know how to do.”
"They smell really good." Lu Datou swallowed his saliva. "Let's catch a few more later. Can Sister Zhi make a dish out of them?"
Everyone immediately started clamoring. Some asked if there were any extra dishes from today, and some asked what to have for breakfast tomorrow.
Linzhi was surrounded in the center. He felt a headache, but at the same time, he felt that the journey would become more interesting in the next few days.
Tao Yingce put his hands on his hips and nudged Chen Yan with his arm: "This girl is quite insightful."
Chen Yan looked up at the bustling crowd, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and answered irrelevantly: "Well, we are lucky."
Lin Zhi was so frustrated by the noise that it took her a long time to escape from the encirclement. As she approached her carriage, she happened to hear Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang talking: "Our sister Zhi, you can really make a living with this skill in the future."
"Yes, I originally thought that Sister Zhi would have to go to Liusi or a restaurant to learn some skills, but now it seems..." Song Jiaonian's expression was very complicated.
When she was still in the Xi family, she was also a well-known housekeeper. Not only did she enjoy the food prepared by the cooks in the Xi residence, she could also often taste the dishes from the big restaurants in Taiping Prefecture.
After a long silence, Song Jiaoniang finally managed to utter, "I don't know if it's just my own psychology... but now I actually feel that the dishes made by the Xi family's cook are not as delicious as those made by Sister Zhi!"
Lin Sen's expression was complicated: "I think so too."
The couple looked at each other and suddenly laughed out loud: "So, Sister Zhi can open a store directly?"
"Oh..." Song Jiaoniang found it incredible just thinking about it. She was quiet for a moment, then suddenly said, "Then we'll have to think about it carefully after we get to Bianjing. I wonder what the difference is between opening a food store and a clothing store."
"When it comes to business, the general direction is always the same."
"That's right. We have to be careful when the time comes and not let Sister Zhi down."
Lin Zhi felt a warm feeling in her heart. She tiptoed back a few steps, then walked over with more speed, threw herself on the backs of Lin Sen and his wife, and complained with a pout, "Dad, Mom, how could you sneak away!?"
Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang turned around and fired a cannonball. Lin Sen poked his daughter's face and pretended to be serious: "I want you to have a taste of what I felt that day."
Suddenly, the three of them burst into laughter.
Linzhi squeezed in between her parents, sat on the car floor and looked up at the bright moon hanging in the sky, feeling extremely happy.
If in the past he was motivated by a sense of responsibility and guilt for occupying his previous life, now Linzhi sincerely wants to be filial to the couple and let the whole family live a good life.
Meanwhile, the Lin Sens skipped over the shop rental issue and started asking about something else: "By the way, did you ask about renting a house just now?"
"Of course I asked. Lu Xiaolang also said that he knows a reliable real estate agent and we can ask him to take us to see the house when the time comes."
"Lu Xiaolang is too polite."
"Yeah...it's kind of embarrassing. By the way, I also asked around, and the rent in Bianjing City is a bit more expensive. A fully furnished, two-room apartment without a yard costs around three guan (approximately 10,000 kan) a month, while a room with a yard and a separate entrance costs around five guan (approximately 10,000 kan) a month."
"Hiss." Song Jiaoniang took a breath and said hesitantly, "The one in Taiping Prefecture is less than half the price."
"This is Bianjing! A place that people all over the world yearn for!" Lin Sen sighed. "Lu Xiaolang recommended that we choose one without furniture. He said that although it would be a little troublesome at first, it would save us from having to pay compensation for poor quality items if they were damaged, and the price could be reduced by about one guan."
Lin Sen was in a good mood: "At this price, plus our savings, I think we should be able to rent a good location."
"Or maybe the one with a shop in front would be nice too." Song Jiaoniang was tempted when she thought about it.
The family had previously inquired at the Hezhou Wharf and learned that the travel fare from Taipingzhou to Bianjing would be around 100 strings of cash, and that they had to share a car or boat with others, and that did not include the cost of meals.
Now if we calculate the travel expenses at half, that is fifty strings of cash, minus the additional five strings of cash to be paid to Linzhi, it will be forty-five strings of cash.
All in all, the family saved a total of 55 strings of cash, enough to buy a nice house in Bian Jing.
"Are we taking advantage of others?"
"That's all right." Lin Zhi thought for a moment and said with a smile, "How about this? Let's invite Mr. Chen, Madam Xie, and Brother Lu San to our shop for dinner. What do you say?"
"Oh, by the way, since they all work at the Dali Temple and are so busy with palace affairs that they sometimes don't have time to go out for meals, we can also send some food boxes over!"
Upon hearing this, Song Jiaoniang happily agreed.
Lin Sen also smiled and nodded: "It would be nice to invite Mr. Shen and the others to come over for dinner. We are unfamiliar with the place in Bianjing and we might run into some troublemakers. It would be great if the officials from the Dali Temple came a few times... hehe."
I think the scoundrels will never dare to come here again.
"You're only thinking about the benefits." Song Jiaoniang rolled her eyes at Lin Sen, not wanting to bother with him. She turned the topic back to the house: "Jie Zhi, have you thought about what kind of house you want and what kind of furniture you prefer? Oh, and what about the bedding on the bed? What patterns do you like?"
Lin Zhi also imitated Song Jiaoniang's behavior. She held her face and looked thoughtful: "Hmm..."
Mr. and Mrs. Lin Sen looked at her expectantly.
Lin Zhi thought for a long time and shook her head: "I don't know, as long as it's bigger than before... it should be fine, right?"
"That's for sure!" Lin Sen and his wife were both angry and amused. They used to live in the Xi Mansion. Even though the family had a separate house, it was only two rooms inside and outside, and the walls were shared with the neighbors. Any movement could be heard by others.
Now that the whole family has moved out, they must find a comfortable courtyard to make up for the regrets of the past.
Seeing that they couldn't get much advice from their daughter, Lin Sen and his wife started studying the matter on their own again.
Lin Sen thought for a moment and said with a smile, "It would be best if there was a well in the yard, so that we don't have to go outside to fetch water."
"It has to be safer around here, closer to the government."
"That's for sure." Lin Sen nodded repeatedly. Since they were a family of three from outside the city, safety was definitely their top priority. "Also, it would be best if there was a market nearby, so it would be convenient for us to go out and buy groceries."
"The market is a bit noisy, I'm afraid it's hard to rest." Song Jiaoniang frowned when she heard this and said, "We need to find peace and quiet in the midst of noise. Oh, and we should ask around the people living nearby. We'd better find someone we can get along with."
Lin Sen and his wife chatted back and forth, and the topic of conversation gradually changed. For example, Lin Sen imagined the future and muttered, "I think we should buy a bigger yard so that when Zhijie gets married and has children, she can live here when she comes back."
Lin Zhi couldn't help coughing when she heard this: "I'm only a few years old, why would I think about this?"
"That's right! It's too early to think about that." Song Jiaoniang was reluctant to let her daughter get married so early, and she also wanted to save up some dowry for her daughter so that she wouldn't be looked down upon by her in-laws. "Let's save some money for now. I think we can rent a house first, and then buy a bigger house when we have more money."
"Mom is right!" Lin Zhi took Song Jiaoniang's arm and stuck out her tongue at Lin Sen.
Lin Sen was speechless: "That's all I said."
He was afraid that his wife and daughter would start to talk about the past, so he quickly changed the subject: "By the way, Sister Zhi, since you have accepted the money, you must do it well."
"I know." Lin Zhi suppressed her smile and nodded seriously.
"Look at you, have you thought it through?"
"Hehe." Lin Zhi had just thought about this problem. Except for himself, Song Jiaoniang and Xie Niang, all the more than 20 people in the team are men, and they are relatively strong men. I think they should have a good appetite. The food prepared should be enough to fill everyone's stomach.
In addition, the weather has been quite hot recently, and everyone is on the road every day, either riding horses or taking cars for seven or eight hours, and they are all exhausted every day. The food prepared should be able to cheer everyone up.
Therefore, Linzhi had a plan just now.
Seeing her daughter's complacent look, Song Jiaoniang knew that she had an idea. She reached out and shook her, insisting on finding out from her.
"Mother, you will know tomorrow."
"Oh, you little girl, you even hid it from your mother!" Song Jiaoniang didn't get an answer for a long time and stomped her feet in anger.
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