Yang was surprised by Su Qingluan's sudden idea: "Why do you suddenly want to rent a shop?"
"My parents have to push the cart back and forth between the village and the county town every day. It's really too hard."
At first she didn't feel much, until she saw Su Guangfu rubbing her shoulders and heard her sister's words, and recalled that she had just secretly gone to the backyard to try to push the heavy one-wheeled wooden cart, she realized how huge the workload of Su Guangfu was every day.
Thinking of this, Su Qingluan felt a little guilty - she always subconsciously used modern people's common sense and thinking habits to measure this era, but she didn't know how much her father and mother had silently given for her when she was not aware of it.
However, Yang was unimpressed by Su Qingluan's words: "What merchants are not like this? They can only enter the city when the market opens and must leave when the market closes. It's not like your father is the only one who suffers so much."
"But if we had a permanent storefront, we could cook some hot food and not have to push the cart around all day. Besides," Su Qingluan added, "we have some extra money to rent a store now."
Yang thought for a moment and said to Su Qingluan, "If you really want to rent a shop, there's no need to rush. It's summer now, and the flow of people is very busy. What's more, it's the eve of the annual autumn examination, and many scholars pass through the county town, making it even more lively."
She explained, "Because at this time of year, the price of renting a shop is 20% higher than usual. Let's wait until the weather turns cooler."
Su Qingluan thought this made sense, so she smiled and nodded.
At this time, Su Xueyan yawned. As for Su Xuanhe, who could not sit still for a moment, he had already run outside to show off his new clothes to his father.
Seeing this, Su Qingluan quickly asked Su Xueyan, "Do you want to listen to stories today? Or do you want to go to bed?"
Usually, if her sister didn’t sleep, Su Qingluan would tell her stories.
The little girl rubbed her eyes and didn't want to listen to the story anymore, so she left her sister to her mother's care and went back to her room.
Su Qingluan tossed and turned in bed at night, unable to fall asleep, and she also thought that it would be great if she could just go to a bigger city.
However, Huaxi Village was a wasteland in the early years. The head of the village once said that the state government had issued an imperial decree that whoever reclaimed such wasteland would own the land. Therefore, although the Su family's land was not much, it was at least theirs.
Of course, this kind of land also requires paying grain, but no additional payment is required to the landlord, which reduces the layer of exploitation.
Because of this, both Su Guangfu and Yang regarded the Su family's land as a very important industry.
With the land as a constraint, unless they can really bring in value far exceeding the land itself, I'm afraid my parents would not be willing to leave their hometown easily.
Yes, modern people cannot escape the curse of "homesickness", let alone the ancients thousands of years ago, when population mobility was small and they had a stronger sense of identity with their hometown?
So she still has to spend her time on this little piece of land in the countryside.
However, the passenger flow in a small county town is limited, far from that of a big city, and "Hongfulou" is the only restaurant in the county town, and others cannot compete.
I do have the confidence to open a restaurant that can surpass Hongfulou, but there's no need to fight with Uncle Liang and the others for a few small amounts of customer traffic...
Speaking of which, she hasn't decided yet what food to put in "Hongfulou" for Qixi Festival...
So sad...
Su Qingluan fell asleep while worrying about customers.
On the second day, I still hadn't decided on the appropriate food for Qixi Festival, but I still had to go to Hongfulou to meet with Manager Liang... What if I could find some inspiration?
Su Qingluan thought very simply.
Hongfulou was still as bustling and busy as it was on the eve of a festival. Su Qingluan saw the waiters bringing out a plate of dim sum in various shapes, with a slightly crispy surface and the aroma of flour and sugar.
Su Qingluan pointed at the snack and asked, "Uncle Liang, what is this?"
"This is a coincidence fruit. I just made some to suit the occasion. Doesn't my niece know this?"
Su Qingluan shook her head blankly: This thing doesn't look too special, you can roughly guess how it's made just by taking a look.
Just... a cookie?
"Is it related to the Qiqiao Festival?"
Shopkeeper Liang nodded, then asked curiously, "My dear niece, you don't know?"
Su Qingluan thought that for people of this era, this should be a common sense issue similar to "eating rice dumplings on the Dragon Boat Festival", but her impression of the "Qiqiao Festival" - or the Chinese Valentine's Day - in her previous life was only chocolate roses and various shopping promotions.
Seeing that Su Qingluan was indeed bewildered, Manager Liang briefly explained that "Qiaoguo" was a legend that people prayed to the Weaver Girl to grant them food for their clever hands.
Su Qingluan looked at the Qiaoguo and asked, "Uncle Liang, is there any fixed way to make this Qiaoguo?"
Shopkeeper Liang thought for a moment and said, "I'm not sure if Yuanwei is responsible for the details, but they do come in all different shapes. As for the colors... I've seen some colorful ones..."
Su Qingluan's eyes turned, and she smiled slyly, "How about using this 'Qiao Guo' as a selling point?"
Shopkeeper Liang waved his hand and said, "No, no, this is a snack that can be found everywhere on the streets. Where else can we sell it?"
"Of course, we're not asking Uncle Liang to simply sell 'Qiaoguo'." There must be a lot of such simple and easy-to-understand food on the streets, and you won't make much money from it.
"What good ideas do you have, niece?"
Su Qingluan whispered a few words in Shopkeeper Liang's ear, and Shopkeeper Liang immediately laughed and said, "As expected of a young man, his mind works quickly!"
Su Qingluan said modestly, "Uncle Liang, you're too kind." Then she put away her smile and said, "However, whether this method will work depends entirely on the quality of Hongfulou's dishes."
"Of course I understand," Shopkeeper Liang sighed. "But the festival is only a few days away. It would take time for the kitchen helpers to learn just one new dish, let alone all the dishes in the kitchen."
Su Qingluan nodded: "It is indeed impossible for the quality of the dishes to be improved through a short training session."
From the initial selection of ingredients, to the processing and preparation of ingredients, to the control of the heat and seasoning of the dishes, and finally even the order in which the dishes are served, it requires not only systematic learning but also a certain level of talent.
However……
Su Qingluan smiled as she picked up a piece of chocolate fruit and put it in her mouth. The aroma of fried flour, eggs, and sugar instantly filled her mouth. She said with a smile, "A dish needs to have both 'color' and 'smell' to maximize the diners' appetite."
Shopkeeper Liang nodded: "Of course."
"Since 'aroma' and 'flavor' are limited by the chef's skills and cannot be significantly improved in the short term, why don't we spend a little more time on that last third?"
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