Normally, we steam twenty baskets of buns, but today there were more people working, so we steamed thirty baskets. We sold twenty-eight baskets, and there were still two baskets left unsold.
Li Youran estimated that she could only steam about thirty baskets a day at most, and she couldn't sell any more than that.
Li Youran originally planned to have everyone have breakfast together after selling all the steamed buns, but now she has changed her mind.
"The steamed bun shop doesn't make much profit, so we won't be offering you meals. Xiao Zhou works all day, so meals are provided." Li Youran said, looking at the three women, and continued, "Do you have anything to say to me?"
The three women reacted differently; some lowered their heads and remained silent, while others looked at Li Youran as if they wanted to say something but hesitated. One of the women had her eyes darting around.
"Boss, how much is the pay?"
"The wages will be settled on the same day." Li Youran said, counting out dozens of copper coins.
"Boss, why haven't I received my wages?" The woman who was asking about her wages looked at Li Youran with a surprised expression when she saw that the other two people she was with had received their wages, but she hadn't received hers.
"Boss, I have something to tell you." The woman who had hesitated before said to Li Youran, "That scoundrel stole the steamed buns and hid them in his clothes!"
"Boss, it's not that we want to protect her, it's just that her husband is too helpless, and we're afraid of being retaliated against by her..." the woman said timidly, keeping her head down and not daring to speak.
"You're framing an innocent person." Lai Zijia's eyes darted around as he looked at Li Youran and said, "Boss, you can't frame me just because you don't want to pay me!"
Before Li Youran could speak, Hua Hua Ruyu, who had been silent all along, pulled two steamed buns from the woman's chest.
Xiao Zhou hurriedly covered his glasses, looking as if he shouldn't look at anything inappropriate.
"Two meat buns, six copper coins." Li Youran said, taking six copper coins from the twenty copper coins and giving Lai Zi's family fourteen copper coins.
When the affair was exposed, the woman didn't feel embarrassed at all. She straightened her clothes, put away the two buns, took the fourteen copper coins that Li Youran had given her, and left.
“Since you’re working for me, I certainly won’t treat you unfairly.” Li Youran wrapped a few buns in lotus leaves and handed them to the two women, saying, “If you have any difficulties, just tell me, but you must be honest and clean.”
The two women were unsure whether to accept the buns, so they looked at each other for a moment before finally turning to Li Youran.
"Don't worry, boss, we'll keep our hands clean."
"Boss, it's all our fault. We'll definitely tell you next time something like this happens."
Li Youran heard what she wanted to hear, and told the two women that they could come to work there from now on, and that they should let her know in advance if they needed anything. The wages would be the same as today, twenty copper coins, and they would be given three steamed buns when they left.
After finishing all these tasks, Li Youran realized that Liu Zhiyuan hadn't left at all.
"I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Young Master Li." Li Youran smiled apologetically.
"Miss Li is indeed a capable person."
Liu Zhiyuan then offered a forced compliment, which made Li Youran even more embarrassed.
"You Ran, let's hurry up, it'll be noon soon if we don't go now," Hua Ruyu said to Li You Ran, who was chatting with Liu Zhiyuan.
Hua Ruyu didn't care whether she was disturbing their conversation; all she knew was to hurry and accompany Li Youran to the yamen so that Li Youran could take her to buy big bones.
Although I hate to admit it, I have to say that the bones Li Youran gave Tang Lei were indeed effective. Drinking a bowl of bone broth every day was good for Tang Lei's bone recovery.
"Miss Li is going to establish a female household?" Liu Zhiyuan asked in surprise.
Liu Zhiyuan had heard his classmates mention female households before and knew that there were many requirements for establishing a household, but he never expected that Li Youran would be able to establish a female household.
“To establish a household with a daughter, one needs a separate house and assets, and also needs to pay certain handling fees.” Liu Zhiyuan continued, “Miss Li, have you prepared everything? If not, I can help you out.”
"Thank you for your help, Young Master Liu. I've already made all the preparations, but I'm not sure how much the handling fee will be." Li Youran thought that it would be at most a few dozen taels of silver, and he should be able to manage by bringing all his savings.
Liu Zhiyuan thought for a moment, then looked at Li Youran and said, "I have a classmate in the yamen. If Miss Li doesn't mind, I can go with you. Maybe we can get a lower handling fee."
It's true that he has classmates, but Liu Zhiyuan didn't really intend to pay less in handling fees. He could just give his classmates a hint and make up the fees later.
"That's wonderful!" Li Youran said happily. "Thank you, Young Master Liu."
Spending as little money as possible would be ideal, and Li Youran didn't want to be ripped off. She owed Liu Zhiyuan a favor, so she would buy him something as a gift, or offer him a discount when he came to eat out in the future.
Since Xiao Zhou was available at the shop, Li Youran drove the carriage straight to the yamen (government office).
"Aunt Li, these are some couplets I wrote for you," Tian Alang said, handing the rolled-up couplets to Liu Niangzi.
"Look at this child... How can we accept this?"
“If you’re going to give it to me, just take it,” Aunt Tian said with a smile. “My grandson’s handwriting is very beautiful. He’s refused offers to buy his calligraphy.”
Although Aunt Tian didn't understand why her grandson refused, since the family was clearly short of money, she felt that her grandson's actions were reasonable.
Every year during the Lunar New Year, Tian Alang would write couplets by hand, but this year he wrote them several days earlier than usual.
"My lord, is there anything else?" Seeing that her husband was looking at her, Liu Niangzi asked, "My child, just say what you want to say, there's nothing to be embarrassed about."
Although they had only spent a few days together, Liu Niangzi really liked Tian Alang.
The young man was fair-skinned and excellent at studying. It was a pity that his two sons were not academically inclined. If he could have a son like that, he would probably wake up laughing in his dreams.
"Nothing much, I was just thinking that we might not have enough couplets to give to Aunt Liu," Tian Alang said, rubbing his nose with his hand.
"It's enough, it's enough," Madam Liu said with a smile. "Since I separated from my son, I've been living with my daughter. There's only one small courtyard anyway, so these couplets are more than enough."
Upon hearing Liu Niangzi's words, Tian Alang realized that Liu Niangzi and Li Youran were living together. He wondered if he could see Li Youran if he went to pay his respects to Liu Niangzi during the New Year...
"It's a small matter, Brother Liu, you don't need to worry about it."
Originally, registering a female household registration required many procedures, but since the person handling the matter was Liu Zhiyuan's classmate, many things could be simplified, and the efficiency was greatly improved. After waiting for no more than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Li Youran received her own household registration.
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