Looking at the pile of copper coins on the table, even Pei Jianing felt vaguely excited. When she was a princess, she never felt anything about the pile of precious treasures in the palace. Instead, she looked down on those who bowed down for gold and silver. Now she knows that it is a different feeling to earn money by herself, which makes her want to make money by herself. She also wants to do something she likes and can make money like her fourth sister-in-law.
In fact, she didn't dislike being a cook, nor did she think there was anything wrong with helping her fourth sister-in-law do these things.
Of course, I did have some thoughts at the beginning, thinking that I had never done this kind of work before and it was a bit embarrassing, but after working for almost a month, I no longer had those tangled thoughts.
But there was very little she could do to help Fourth Sister-in-law. The most she could do was to scrape the fish scales and the fish meat off the bones. She couldn't even fillet the fish.
There was also the pounding of fish paste, but she didn't have enough strength. Fourth sister-in-law said that if she didn't have enough strength, the fish balls made from the pounded fish paste would not taste right.
So this job was also done by fourth brother.
She is not suitable to be a cook because she has no talent.
When she was in the palace before, she knew that her father was not feeling well, so she wanted to make soup for him herself. However, the soup she made according to the imperial chef's instructions tasted completely different.
It's not as delicious as the soup my mother made.
In fact, the soup cooked by my mother is just average, but my father always says it tastes good.
Thinking of his father, Pei Jianing felt a pang of pain in his heart.
The emperor really dotes on her.
If they were born in an ordinary family, their family would definitely live a happy life.
It was not until the sound of copper coins clattering on the table came that Pei Jianing came back to his senses. He looked at the table and saw that it was his fourth sister-in-law who started counting the copper coins.
Pei Jianing smiled and started counting the coins.
One hundred copper coins are strung together with a thin hemp rope, which makes it easier to count them.
In this way, ten strings of money equal one string.
Fengger and Yanjieer sat on a small stool in the kitchen and watched Moyu playing in the yard. In the kitchen, Xu Qinyu and Pei Jianing were counting money.
Pei Weixuan just sat there, watching Yu Niang and her sister count the money.
Yu Niang smiled with her eyebrows curved, and the smile on her face could not be concealed no matter how hard she tried.
Ning Jie'er also had a faint smile on her face.
The whole family seemed to have changed under Yu Niang's influence. They no longer gave up on themselves and began to want to live a good life.
For some reason, Pei Weixuan felt a little soft in his heart.
He was slightly stunned and pressed his chest with his hand. This seemed to be the first time he experienced this soft feeling in his heart.
When his elder brother and father got into trouble, he was also sad. He also had feelings for his family, but this sadness and affection were more like the bond between blood, and he had never experienced this kind of soft-hearted feeling.
Xu Qinyu quickly counted the money and said with a smile, "Today I made a total of two strings of cash and sixty-two coins."
There were about 100 servings of glutinous rice and pork intestines, and 200 tea eggs, all sold out in less than half an hour in the morning, and they were worth 1,200 coins.
In fact, the money earned from breakfast accounts for the majority.
The afternoon's braised fish with fish balls and fish head stewed with tofu cost only a little over 800 coins in total, and that was because the fish balls sold for almost 600 coins.
Excluding costs, the total profit is about 40%.
That is to say, today's net profit is about one yuan.
If you do the math, you can earn more than twenty taels of silver a month.
Because it was too cold, it seemed that the stall fee at the dock had to be paid by oneself, otherwise one would be fined if found out. Xu Qinyu learned about this from Xia's sister-in-law, so a few days ago she went to the yamen to pay a month's stall fee, thirty cents a day, which was nine hundred cents a month.
If you open a restaurant or a hotel in the future, the cost will be much higher.
This is the ancient commercial tax, also known as city tax, or city rent, which is collected according to the location of the stall and the size of the shop.
She hasn't learned the details about shop taxes yet.
In fact, it was because she earned a lot, so she didn't think the stall fee of 900 coins a month was anything special. Otherwise, the food stalls at the pier could earn a hundred coins a day, which was considered good, and they still had to pay the stall fee.
Pei Jianing murmured, "Are there so many?"
She knew how much an ordinary small vendor could earn in a day, and she also knew how difficult it was for ordinary people to earn money by working.
After counting the money, Xu Qinyu put the strung money back into the wooden box and locked it. She calculated that if she worked hard every day and earned more than twenty taels a month, she would be able to save more than a hundred taels in half a year, which would be enough to open a restaurant. She would definitely start with a small restaurant with less investment. A restaurant is basically a one-story shop with a backyard and a kitchen.
Large restaurants are called restaurants, and they are generally two stories high or above.
The largest Donglaiju in town has four floors.
It is definitely better to open a restaurant early. After opening the restaurant, you can take in a few apprentices and hire some helpers, so you won’t have to work so hard.
In her modern private restaurant, she has her own apprentices cook for her, and she spends most of her time researching new dishes.
A table of dishes she makes can be sold for as much as one hundred thousand dollars per table. It is her cooking skills that are what people enjoy.
In fact, she already has the idea of taking in a disciple, but she just hasn't met the right person.
Ning Jie'er definitely can't do it, she has no talent for cooking.
Even if you want to accept an apprentice, you need to have some talent in cooking.
After counting the money, Wen also returned. She came back late today.
When Wen learned that Yu Niang had sold more than two strings of silver today and the profit was almost half, she was also surprised. However, she knew Yu Niang's craftsmanship. Even if Yu Niang went to a big restaurant, she could earn thirty or fifty taels of silver a month!
After eating dinner and preparing breakfast for the next day, the family washed up and went to bed.
Xu Qinyu was drowsy before going to sleep and couldn't help but think of her original self.
She occupied the original body. Although she didn't want to come to this place, she was already here and there was probably no possibility of going back.
She hoped that the real second daughter of Marquis Dechang's Mansion could be like her, or perhaps enter her body, which would be fine too.
The original body was too soft-hearted and not suitable for survival in this dynasty. If she had gone back to her era, she would definitely have been able to survive well.
No matter what, she hopes that her original body can live well and strong.
As she was thinking, Xu Qinyu fell asleep.
…
The Pei family slept soundly.
The Xu family was a little depressed when they had dinner today. After eating fish balls yesterday, they planned to come here today to buy some other things to try. In the morning, they heated up the remaining three pounds of fish balls and ate them. In the evening, Xu Kongmu thought that he had to get off work early today, so he didn't ask the cook to come to Guihuaxiang to buy fish in the morning. It wouldn't be too late to sell it after he got off work.
It turned out to be too late.
It was not yet the end of the afternoon when he went there, but all the food made by Miss Xu was sold out.
Seeing him coming, Miss Xu smiled and said, "If Xu Kongmu wants to eat, I will leave some for you tomorrow. You can come and get it after you leave the office tomorrow. What would you like to eat? I have fish balls, braised herring, and fish head stewed with tofu."
Xu Kongmu asked Miss Xu to leave her five pounds of fish balls, a large braised herring and a large portion of fish head stewed with tofu.
But at night, we still ate the food prepared by the cook. It wasn’t bad, but the taste was just average.
But compared with the food made by Miss Xu, his cooking skills are really bad.
The next night, after leaving the government office, he went to Guihua Lane again and found that all the fish of Miss Xu had been sold out. Fortunately, he had placed an order yesterday, otherwise he would not be able to buy it today. After paying, Xu Kongmu carried the food box back.
After returning to the Xu family, Xu Kongmu asked the cook to heat up the three dishes without adding any other side dishes.
But there were also three other dishes prepared by the cook, lean meat with bean sprouts, stewed radish and a scrambled egg.
The scrambled eggs were specially prepared for Xiger, but after Xiger had eaten fish balls and fish head tofu, he refused to eat eggs. The braised herring had bones, so Xu Kongmu did not give it to his grandson. However, his grandson ate the other two dishes with gusto.
The fish balls were cut according to Ms. Xu's advice before feeding them to children, otherwise they might choke.
All three fish dishes had their own unique flavors and tasted very good, no wonder they sold out so quickly.
The other members of the Xu family also praised the three dishes.
Xu Yunlan asked a few more questions, "Dad, how old is my sister-in-law? It's amazing that she has such skills."
She thought that to be able to make such a delicious dish, he must be quite old.
Xu Kongmu thought for a moment and said, "He seems to be about the same age as you."
Xu Yunlan opened her eyes wide in surprise, "You're only fifteen and you already have such skills?" Then she is still a young lady.
Even the old chef who has been working as a chef at Donglaiju for 30 years can't make food that tastes like this. The taste is simply incomparable.
Xu Kongmu nodded. "It's indeed not big, but the craftsmanship is very good."
Xiang said, "This is more than just a great skill. I'm afraid there's no one in the entire Yuanbao Town who can match this young lady's cooking skills. If we host a banquet for your superiors in the future, can we also invite this young lady to come to our house and cook for one table?"
Xu Kongmu nodded. "Ms. Xu sells food to support her family, so it should be possible. When we host a banquet for the top officials, I will go and greet her in advance."
Of course, remuneration is indispensable.
Xu Kongmu is going out to handle a case tomorrow. He has already agreed with Miss Xu that the cook at home will come to serve the fish tomorrow.
Such delicious food would not be boring even if you eat it for ten days or half a month, so he gave all the money for food for the next ten days.
…
In the next few days, Xu Qinyu's business went smoothly. Both breakfast and dinner at home were sold out quickly and the stall was closed.
Nowadays, more and more people come to Xixiang to buy fish, all carrying food boxes or clay pots. On the way back, they will also meet other people. Some of them are familiar with each other, so they will naturally stop and chat for a while, asking where they are going and where they are going. People who buy food from Xu Qinyu naturally say that they come to Guihuaxiang to buy fish, and how delicious the fish is.
In short, within a few days, Xu Qinyu's reputation for cooking fish gradually spread. At least everyone in South Street knew that there was a young lady in Guihua Lane who could cook fish. The fish she cooked was delicious and had no earthy smell.
Some people believe it, and some people have deep-rooted ideas about fish, thinking that fish has a strong fishy smell and is unpalatable, and that it can't possibly be delicious. Otherwise, why doesn't Donglaiju have a chef who can cook fish?
Maybe it is because of the deep-rooted idea about fish that the chefs here rarely study how to make fish delicious.
However, even if someone wants to try to buy fish in Guihua Lane, they won’t be able to buy any.
Because her fish are now only enough for the neighbors in Guihua Lane and Laixi Lane to buy.
Even so, occasionally some people still can’t afford it.
As the days passed, the snow became heavier and lighter, occasionally lasting for a few days and then stopping.
However, it always snowed heavily every time Fourth Brother took a medicinal bath.
Fourth brother has finished his four medicinal baths. By the last time, there was almost no black substance in his meridians, but it was not the blue color of ordinary people's blood vessels, it was still a little dark.
Xu Qinyu was also a little worried, and secretly asked her fourth brother whether the poison in his body had been completely eliminated.
Pei Weixuan just said, it’s almost done.
He didn't tell Yu Niang that this poison could not be completely eliminated, but she could survive. As for what would happen to her body in the future, he actually had no idea.
The whole family breathed a sigh of relief when Fourth Brother recovered.
Xu Qinyu's breakfast and evening food stall also continued.
By the time the Chinese New Year was approaching, Xu Qinyu had saved almost forty taels of silver.
When she had time, she widened the wooden shed in the yard and covered the corners so that she could put jars and cans filled with pickles and pickles she made. When the weather gets warmer, she plans to make a jar of black bean paste, which she will definitely need when she opens a restaurant in the future. Black bean paste is an indispensable seasoning for cooking.
As the Chinese New Year was approaching, the snow stopped and everyone started busy preparing for the New Year.
If it were based on previous years, the southwest would only have two snowfalls around the New Year, sometimes heavy and sometimes light. Anyway, the weather here is not particularly cold.
The snowfall in various places this year is abnormal.
There are chickens, ducks, fish and pork at home, and there is no shortage of food and drink. Xu Qinyu bought some raw melon seeds and peanuts and fried them herself. As for pastries, she often makes egg cakes for her two children. She plans to make some on the 28th and 29th of the twelfth lunar month, and also make some mung bean cakes. The family also bought red dates and made some rice cakes with date paste.
She even bought some mutton to eat during the New Year.
We occasionally eat some mutton at home, but we never find any pregnant ewes and no one sells goat milk.
On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, she planned to take a break and give herself a holiday, and then resume selling breakfast and evening meals around the 8th day of the first lunar month.
Fengger and Yanjieer have been eating the food she made for more than two months. They have become visibly fatter and their skin has become fairer and tenderer. They are both beautiful children. After being well taken care of, they have become as delicate as delicate jade and look so beautiful.
Even Yan Jie'er refuses to speak, and Feng Ge'er is a born mute and has been unable to speak since birth.
If someone is born deaf, he or she basically cannot speak, because he or she cannot hear any sound and naturally does not know how to make any sound. But Feng Ge'er can hear and is very well-behaved.
Sister Yan was traumatized and unwilling to speak because she witnessed the death of her mother and younger brother.
Pei Weixuan knows medicine. He said that Sister Yan has a knot in her heart, and she will not be able to speak unless she is willing to speak in the future.
So the family members don’t force anything. Now they just hope that the two children have good food and drink and grow up well.
On the 28th day of the 12th lunar month, after selling all the fish, Xu Qinyu smiled and told her neighbors, "The Chinese New Year is in two days. Starting tomorrow, I will stop selling breakfast and dinner and start to take a break. I will probably wait until the eighth day of the first lunar month before I can continue selling fish."
The neighbors all expressed their understanding, and two days ago, Xu Qinyu gradually told everyone that she would rest on the 28th.
The neighbors in the two alleys had previously wanted to ask Miss Xu to make more fish balls during the New Year. The fish balls could be used to entertain guests during the New Year.
But every household wants them, and even if Miss Xu worked herself to death she couldn't make so many fish balls.
So there is no other way, everyone just buys more fish balls a few days in advance, and doesn’t eat them at home yet, but keeps them in storage, and saves them in a few days to use for entertaining guests during the New Year.
Xu Qinyu was also very happy to be able to rest for ten days in one go.
The New Year is coming soon. In addition to food and drink, everyone in the family has to prepare new clothes.
Wen and Ning Jie'er both know how to do needlework. In fact, the original body can also do needlework, but Xu Qinyu definitely can't do it. She is not the original body. Even if she has the original body's memories, she cannot have the same skills as the original body.
It is definitely too late to make clothes now that we have bought the cloth. Wen and Ning Jie'er have a lot of work to do on weekdays, so it is not easy to make clothes.
Although Mrs. Xia's house is a cloth shop, they also sell ready-made clothes and even embroidered purses and other things. They usually make embroidered purses and consign them to Xia's cloth shop for sale.
On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Xu Qinyu and her family planned to go out for a walk after breakfast.
It didn't snow these two days, and the sun even came out. I hardly saw the sun in the past two months.
The Xia family's shop is on West Street, so they plan to go shopping there.
I asked Fengger and Yanjieer if they wanted to go, and both children nodded.
If both children went, people at home would definitely see them, so Pei Weixuan chose to stay at home to look after the house. He didn't like shopping.
Wen took Feng Ge'er out of the house, while Xu Qinyu and Pei Jianing took Yan Jie'er out of the house.
The snow on the road was melting, making a crunching sound when stepped on.
Most of the people live on South Street, there are not many shops, and there are some small vendors scattered around. There is a market on North Street, but Xia's Cloth Shop is on West Street, so they went straight to West Street.
I have already bought the ingredients for Chinese New Year, such as melon seeds, peanuts and red dates. I came here today to buy clothes.
When they arrived at the Xia Family Cloth Shop, Mrs. Wu was there too. It was almost the New Year, and the shop was busier than usual, so she came to help. Shao Ge'er was also brought along. Xiao Cui was watching over Shao Ge'er in the backyard, and Zhuzi was also helping out in the shop.
Seeing Xu Qinyu and the others, Wu was also very happy, "Miss Xu, why are you here?"
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Come over and choose some new clothes for the New Year. Sister-in-law wishes your business a prosperous future."
Who wouldn't like to hear this? Wu had a smile on her face.
"You can pick whatever you want, and I'll give you a discount later."
"Okay, Sister Xia, you go get busy first."
After the Chinese New Year, the weather will get warmer. They already have two thick long coats, so they definitely cannot buy thicker clothes. So they picked out thin short coats and long skirts. Of course, they are made of the most ordinary fabrics, and they cost more than a hundred coins each. Since she has to do work on weekdays, the colors she chooses are not bright. This time she chose a tan short coat and a Yuanqing long skirt. Both are darker colors and more resistant to dirt.
Finally, I also picked out a rosewood-colored, dark purple robe for Pei Weixuan.
Wen and Ning Jie'er also picked out thin jackets that they could wear after the New Year.
I even bought some for my two children. They are both very clean and don’t have to help adults with any work, so I bought them brighter colors.
After picking these out, Xu Qinyu saw the purse on consignment next to it, as well as the scattered pieces of cloth and fur next to it, and suddenly an idea flashed through her mind.
She looked at Wen and Ning Jie'er again, and finally picked up the scattered silk, cloth and fur scraps and prepared to buy them.
Mrs. Wu was also surprised to see Xu Qinyu holding some scraps of cloth and fur, and wondered what the young lady was trying to do.
These scraps are usually sold cheaply to others and can be used to sew purses, but the purses made are of average style and few people buy them.
The leftover fur was even less useful, as few people here wore hats. It was only when she saw Miss Xu and her husband always going out in the wind and snow that she thought of using the leftover fur to make two not-so-good-looking hats and gloves for them.
Wu asked curiously, and Xu Qinyu said mysteriously, "I want to take these fur scraps back to make something. I'll tell my sister-in-law when the time comes."
Mrs. Wu did not ask any more questions, and finally sold the six sets of clothes along with the scraps to Xu Qinyu for six hundred coins.
After buying clothes, Xu Qinyu did not disturb Mrs. Xia. She went to the Jinyinzhai next door to have a look. The jewelry there were all very beautiful, but she was reluctant to buy any of them. She still had to save money to open a restaurant.
Wen and Ning Jie'er had no interest in the jewelry in Jinyinzhai and thought they were just average.
They have lived in the most noble palace in the world. What kind of treasures have they not seen?
Even the jewelry inlaid with filigree and various gems and pearls is boring.
Wen originally wanted to ask Yu Niang to buy one or two pieces of jewelry, but seeing that Yu Niang refused, she did not persuade her any further. She knew that Yu Niang only wanted to earn more money to open a restaurant.
In fact, she wanted Yu Niang to sell the ginseng that she had found on Xuan Ge'er Mountain before, which would be enough money to open a restaurant.
But Yu Niang hesitated and did not agree. She said that in a place like this, wild ginseng of that quality could not be found even in a pharmacy. It was a good thing that could prolong life, and if it was sold, it would be gone.
Wen thought that she could earn thirty cents every day by washing clothes, so she saved some and gave it to Yu Niang when she needed it.
She could do very little to help with other aspects of cooking. She just helped pick vegetables, process ingredients and keep them clean. She couldn't do anything else, so she went out to wash clothes.
After browsing the jewelry shop, Xu Qinyu planned to go back.
When I get home, I have to prepare all kinds of fried snacks, fried vegetables, etc. for the New Year.
Just as they were about to go back, the group ran into a girl wearing a rabbit fur cloak when she came out of the jewelry shop. The girl had a bright and beautiful face, and she had put on the latest makeup in the capital, which made her look even more radiant. She was also wearing a rabbit fur cloak, which attracted a lot of people's attention along the way. The girl felt a little proud of being followed by such attention.
The girl was accompanied by another girl of similar age and two brothers.
The two brothers who looked about 70% similar to the girl had impatient expressions on their faces and were obviously not very willing to follow the girl.
When Xu Qinyu saw the girl, she was stunned. Isn’t this Wen Yunling, the niece from Wen’s maternal family?
On the way to exile before, if Deputy Captain Chen had not come to stop her, she might have fought with this girl.
But why are these Wen family members in Yuanbao Town? She thought they would dislike the town and choose to stay in Raozhou City.
The three people behind Wen Yunling seemed to be brothers and sisters of the Wen family.
However, regardless of whether the Wen family was also in Yuanbao Town, Xu Qinyu had no intention of dealing with the Wen family. Although they were her stepmother-in-law's family, they did not regard her as their own family, and her stepmother-in-law did not have any deep feelings for them, except for her biological mother, Aunt Gui. But Aunt Gui was Old Master Wen's concubine, and it would be difficult for her to leave. Divorce in ancient times was not so easy.
Xu Qinyu was about to leave, but Wen Yunling saw her, turned around and stopped her.
"Fourth sister-in-law, aunt, sister Ning, what a coincidence."
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