Old Master Wen snorted. Who wanted the two taels of silver from the third son? He didn't have any extra on him and still had several thousand taels left. But since the third son was unfilial and only wanted to divide the family property, these several thousand taels of silver would naturally not be given to him.
"Bring me paper and ink."
Master Wen went to get rice paper, inkstone, and brush.
I heard that Old Master wrote a letter about dividing the family.
The division letter stated in detail that the five-story house and two shops were purchased as dowries from the two daughters-in-law of the first and second wives. They had no right to divide the property, and there was nothing else to divide. The family had no extra money, but if the third wife wanted to continue living in the house, she could. In the future, the third wife's food, clothing, and other expenses would be separate from the first and second wives.
Old Master Wen was also angry. He had originally planned to give the third house a hundred or so taels of silver, but now he has no intention of giving any at all.
After each of them placed their fingerprints on the family division agreement, Wen Zixiao brought his wife and daughter to kowtow to Old Master Wen and his wife. Since Wen Zixiao's two sons were not around, they naturally couldn't kowtow along. Old Master Wen had always assumed his two grandsons were mischievous and playing outside. Since they had been in the border town, they rarely came home, often staying out all night, so he'd grown accustomed to it. He hadn't even considered them working for Xu Qinyu in the Pei household.
Wen Zixiao led his wife and daughter to kowtow to his parents, "After I leave the family, please take care of your health, Dad and Mom."
Old Master Wen snorted and said nothing.
Wen Zixiao stood up with his wife and daughter, and then led his family back to the third room to pack up their things. Naturally, Aunt Bai also stood up.
Old Master Wen was stunned for a moment. "Why did you take your concubine Bai away?"
"Of course I took my aunt with me." Wen Zixiao turned around and glanced at Old Master Wen.
"Nonsense!" Old Master Wen slammed the table in anger. "She's your aunt, and she's my concubine. Even if the family splits up, you're the one who left with your wife and children. How could you take my concubine with you?"
Old Lady Wen was getting anxious. Why keep Concubine Bai? The old master had doted on Concubine Bai since his youth. She criticized Concubine Gui because she was her maid. She had promoted the maid to be a concubine, but the maid's daughter became the empress, putting her above her. Every day, when she attended banquets with the noble ladies of the capital, they would constantly use this matter to bully her. Therefore, she hated Concubine Gui and Wen Yan, and wanted Concubine Gui to stay in the mansion and be at her beck and call.
Although she didn't like Aunt Bai, she didn't want to see her even more.
As soon as I saw her, I thought of the master's doting on Aunt Bai when he was young.
Old Lady Wen glanced at her eldest daughter-in-law, Yue, and wanted her to speak up so that Aunt Bai could leave with her.
Naturally, Yue didn't want to offend her father-in-law, so she just pretended not to notice her mother-in-law's look.
But before Old Lady Wen could speak, Wen Zixiao said, "Father, please take a look at Auntie's appearance. She has become increasingly haggard since arriving in Border Town. Father should also know what kind of life Auntie has been leading in the mansion. Do you want Auntie to continue to be a servant in the mansion?"
Old Master Wen angrily said, "When did I ever say I wanted to treat her like a slave?"
Aunt Bai was old and ugly, so he naturally had no feelings for her, but when his son divided the family, he would not take Aunt Bai with him.
Old Lady Wen spoke hurriedly, "Third son is indeed filial. Aunt Bai has become increasingly haggard these days. I hope she doesn't develop tuberculosis again. Old Master, why don't you take a look at Aunt Gui? It's been over two months since she was sent there, and there's been no news. It's obvious that Aunt Gui is still alive and well. Why not let Third son take Aunt Bai out to live with him for a while? Maybe Aunt Bai's complexion will improve."
Aunt Bai slowly knelt on the ground, holding onto the corner of the table. "Please, old master, please grant me your blessing. I want to move out with Zixiao."
Old Master Wen looked at the haggard and emaciated Aunt Bai. He remembered that Aunt Gui was like this before, and then she contracted tuberculosis not long after.
Old Master Wen was a little scared and waved his hand, "Since you want to go out with the third brother, then go ahead."
It was easy to let the person go.
Aunt Bai knew that her situation was different from Aunt Gui's. Aunt Gui had to get the letter of release as a concubine in order to completely sever ties with the Wen family, but she didn't have to. Their third room didn't have anything that the Wen family would like. Even if there was something that the Wen family liked, they had to see whether Zi Xiaotong agreed.
Aunt Bai thanked Old Master Wen and followed Wen Zixiao to the third room to pack up her things.
It happened that Cheng Ge'er and Gong Ge'er came back with food. When they learned that the family was going to split up, the two brothers were overjoyed and asked Wen Zixiao if he could also move to Guihua Lane.
Wen Zixiao smiled and said okay.
The money he earned when he came to the border town was not enough to buy a house in Guihua Lane, but two hundred coins a month was not much to rent, so he could buy one when he earned enough money in the future.
Mrs. Meng also looked at her daughter and two sons who looked like monkeys with a smile.
It was great, she thought. Although he was exiled, her husband knew how to work hard. Now he could separate from the family and live alone. The children were by his side, and the aunt could leave with them. There was nothing happier than a family working hard together to make a living.
When she married her husband, he promised her that he would never take a concubine in his life.
He was also willing to rebel against his father and stepmother for the sake of his family.
To her, this kind of man is responsible.
The third family ate the food brought back by the two brothers, but it was mainly eaten by the children.
The food brought back from Yu Niang every day was not much. Meng and Bai Yi Niang would just taste it and give it all to the three children.
After eating, the two brothers washed the food boxes, plates and jars, and Meng and Aunt Bai packed up their things. There was nothing much to pack in the third room, just a few sets of clothes for each person, and the silver that Wen Zixiao gave to Meng.
Wen Zixiao gave two taels of silver he earned to his stepmother every month, and the rest was given to Meng.
Mrs. Meng probably saved more than forty taels.
After packing up, the group left the Wen family.
It wasn't too dark yet, and the pawnshop was still open.
Wen Zixiao took his family to the brokerage firm and asked them to help rent a small courtyard in Guihua Lane.
The broker brought a family to Guihua Lane to look at houses. Finally, the family liked the courtyard at the entrance of the lane. It cost two hundred coins a month. Although there was no well, there was a locust tree at the fork in the road ahead, and there was a well under the locust tree. It was usually covered with very thick wooden boards. People in the surrounding alleys could just get water by hitting the wooden boards, which was quite convenient.
The layout of the house is the same as that of the Pei family. The room on the west side is the largest. The main room is also separated into two small rooms, and the kitchen is on the other side.
The room was cleaned up and you could just buy some bedding and go to sleep.
The family settled down in Guihua Lane.
…
When Xu Qinyu heard that even Aunt Bai was released, she was very happy.
She went back to the room and told Gui.
When Gui heard this, she was so happy that her eyes turned red. "She came out too, how great!"
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "The two families are not far away. Grandma, you can still go and chat with Aunt Bai on weekdays. How nice."
When Wen and Ning Jie'er learned that the third branch had split up, they were very happy for them.
After breakfast, Wen Zixiao brought Meng, Aunt Bai and his daughter Tao Jie'er to visit the Pei family.
Needless to say, Gui's eyes were red as soon as she met Aunt Bai.
Aunt Bai saw that the old sisters looked very good. They had gained a lot of weight, their faces were rosy, their wrinkles were fewer, their hair was a little darker, and their clothes were clean. Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er were snuggling beside her, looking at least ten years younger and full of energy.
Aunt Bai finally felt relieved, and the two old sisters sat in the yard and chatted.
Wen Zixiao also came over and said to Xu Qinyu, "Thank you, Yu Niang, for your guidance to Cheng Ge'er these days. You even started teaching him how to cook. I'm just wondering what your plans are. If you want to take Cheng Ge'er as your apprentice, Yu Niang, he will be yours from now on. You can do whatever you want with him, and you don't have to pay him."
Xu Qinyu actually felt that she and Cheng Ge'er were of the same generation, so it didn't matter whether she became his disciple or not. She would teach Cheng Ge'er everything she could.
After Xu Qinyu said this, Wen Zixiao and the people from the third house suddenly understood. They were wondering why Yu Niang personally taught Cheng Ge'er but kept dragging her feet and was unwilling to accept him as a disciple. So this was the case.
Cheng Ge'er also breathed a sigh of relief. He was still wondering why his fourth sister-in-law refused to accept him as an apprentice. Could it be that he did not have the talent to be a cook? He was a little sad. When he learned that this was the reason, he could not help but touch his head and grinned at Xu Qinyu.
Only then did Xu Qinyu realize that her third uncle thought she didn't want to accept her brother as his apprentice.
She was also a little amused and helpless. Finally, she thought about it and decided that today is worse than today, so she might as well take Cheng Ge'er as her apprentice.
"Then let Brother Cheng serve me tea today, as a token of my apprenticeship."
She doesn't like things that are too complicated, so serving tea is enough.
Wen Zixiao shook his head, "That's impossible. Serving tea is a must, and kowtow is also necessary, as well as the apprenticeship ceremony."
Meng also smiled gently and said, "The apprenticeship gift has been prepared a few days ago. If Yu Niang is willing to accept me as your apprentice, I will go back and get it."
The apprenticeship ceremony involves preparing six kinds of ingredients.
Celery, red beans, red dates, longan, lotus seeds and lean meat strips all have their own meanings.
Red beans, red dates, longans and lotus seeds are dried goods. Meng had prepared them some time ago. Now that Yu Niang is willing to accept her brother as her apprentice, she immediately went to buy celery.
Celery is ripe around this time and is already available at the market.
But the celery is still relatively tender now.
After buying them, Meng brought six ingredients back to the Pei family.
Wen Shuncheng personally handed the six apprenticeship gifts to Xu Qinyu, served her tea, and finally knelt solemnly in front of Xu Qinyu and kowtowed to her three times.
Only then can you become my disciple.
In fact, Meng had also prepared some silver, but Xu Qinyu refused to accept it, so she gave up.
"Get up." Xu Qinyu said with a smile.
Wen Shuncheng got up, his mouth almost stretched to his ears.
After becoming a disciple, Wen Zixiao and Meng went back to buy things. There were still many things missing at home that needed to be bought.
Aunt Bai naturally stayed here to talk to Gui, while Sister Tao wanted to stay and play with Sister Ning.
…
I don’t know if it was because he became a disciple, but Cheng Ge’er felt at peace.
In the afternoon, Xu Qinyu asked him to make a braised herring and stewed fish head with tofu.
The whole pot of fish to be sold is made by Xu Qinyu. Even if she is the chef, she has to start by making individual dishes. It is not easy to make a big pot of food, and it is even more difficult to make a big pot of food that tastes good.
Before, Xu Qinyu would occasionally let Cheng Ge'er cook a piece of fish by herself, and the taste was so-so. After all, Cheng Ge'er had some talent in cooking and knew the proportions of seasonings. As long as the heat was well controlled, the fish would not be bad. However, it would be extremely difficult, almost impossible, to reach Xu Qinyu's level. Every aspect of her cooking was just right, and she knew by nature how to bring out the best taste of food.
This time, Cheng Ge'er's braised black carp and fish head stewed with tofu were better than the previous two days. The skin of the black carp was crispy and the meat was tender, and the other seasonings were also good.
Xu Qinyu praised him, and Cheng Ge'er scratched his head and smiled, "Master is willing to accept me, and I feel at ease. I feel that my cooking skills are different."
It did have some impact. He used to think too much and was worried that his fourth sister-in-law would not want to accept him as her apprentice. Even if he had some talent, he would make mistakes in this tense feeling.
Xu Qinyu also realized this and apologized to Cheng Ge'er, "I didn't think so much before. It's all my fault."
Cheng Ge'er hurriedly said, "Master, please stop blaming yourself. Now that you have accepted me as your apprentice, I will definitely learn more when my mind is at peace."
It is indeed as Cheng Ge'er said, he is improving day by day.
Five or six days passed in the blink of an eye.
Xu Qinyu went to the restaurant and Wen said that the day after tomorrow, April 20th, was an auspicious day and it was suitable to open the restaurant.
Xu Qinyu was planning to open the restaurant the day after tomorrow, so she went to take a look today. The wood paint had dried, and the restaurant was clean and tidy, looking brand new. The kitchen counter was also made of wood and had been painted, and other items were also arranged neatly.
The renovation, decoration and purchase of supplies for the entire restaurant cost a total of one hundred taels, because she also ordered some other kitchen utensils from carpenters, blacksmiths and porcelain kilns.
She still had about a hundred taels of silver left, and she had to buy rice, flour, grain, oil, seasonings, spices, etc.
There are still two days until the opening, and Xu Qinyu has been busy buying seasonings and various spices. She still hasn't bought pepper. It costs four taels of silver per tael, and one catty is forty taels of silver. She can't afford it in her current small restaurant.
Besides various seasonings and spices, she also ordered a large amount of vegetable oil and sesame oil from the oil mill. As for lard, she could make her own lard. She also ordered a variety of fine rice, millet, glutinous rice, and white flour, as well as various coarse grains and beans from the rice shop, all of which would be delivered today.
All the river seafood is delivered by Uncle He, including various fish, river shrimps, snails and river crabs.
People here don’t eat river crabs very often, but for Xu Qinyu, it is also a very delicious river delicacy.
At present, Mr. He’s children and grandchildren basically do not have to work outside. They go to the river or lake to catch river fish. Mr. He’s son even plans to buy a small boat when he makes money so that he can go to the canal to catch river fish in the future.
These chicken eggs and duck eggs were bought cheaply for her by Mr. He in the village.
Pork must be ordered from Tian the butcher, and for mutton, Tian the butcher also has acquaintances.
The chickens and ducks are all bought alive and placed in the woodshed. They are slaughtered and eaten right after.
Beef is something you can only come across by chance.
She hasn't bought the pork and mutton yet, and will definitely wait until the opening day to buy them.
Today we will buy these things, and tomorrow we will make the final preparations at the restaurant.
The purchase of these seasonings, spices, rice, flour, grain, oil, etc. cost another eighty taels of silver. The main reason was that she bought a lot. Rice, flour, grain, oil, seasonings and spices were all bought on a monthly basis. After all, spices, sugar and brown sugar were really expensive. The small restaurant had not only a small firewood room in the backyard, but also a utility room, which was specially used for her to store these seasonings and ingredients.
If it were other people, they would basically not dare to buy so many seasonings, spices, rice, flour, grains and oils at one time. They would have to worry about the flow of customers and the subsequent business. If the business is not good, all these things will be wasted.
Xu Qinyu was not worried at all.
The only meat left to buy was pork and mutton, and the rest were some vegetables, which were relatively cheap, so there was basically no money left to spend.
She still had about twenty taels of silver in her hand.
The main reason was that she had a lot of money. The 150 taels of silver supported by her mother and uncle were enough for her to spend freely. Otherwise, even if she saved for another two months, she probably wouldn't be able to spend money on renovating the restaurant, painting it, and building a cooking table. She would not buy so many other things as a reserve because the money was simply not enough.
Originally, there were only two women waiters recruited, and later Xu Qinyu randomly picked one from the remaining list selected for her by Xia's sister-in-law.
The preparations are almost ready.
As for Xu Ji Restaurant, both breakfast and dinner are served.
People here only eat two meals a day, breakfast around nine or ten in the morning, and dinner around four or five in the afternoon.
Even modern restaurants basically only serve lunch and dinner, while most breakfast shops specialize in breakfast.
Even if she had to cook breakfast and dinner, she could handle it by herself, but she was a little tired. If you want to make money, it's not easy at the beginning.
For breakfast, Xu Qinyu planned to make it in the style of Cantonese morning tea, with all the food in small steamers. As for tea, she would not make it for the time being and could replace it with some hot drinks, such as hot soy milk or hot milk tea.
As for breakfast snacks, she plans to prepare custard buns, milk steamed buns, braised pork buns, glutinous rice and pork intestines, shrimp dumplings, steamed buns, and porridge with raw fish slices.
These are all relatively light dishes, but for those who prefer something stronger, she also added a dish called "oil-splashed noodles." This is also simple to make. After the noodles are boiled, add the seasoning, sprinkle a spoonful of oil and chili, mix well, and it's ready to eat. She also adds a small spoonful of peanut butter to the oil-splashed noodles, which makes it even more fragrant. The peanut butter is also made by her earlier. Because of the peanut butter, the oil-splashed noodles are not only spicy and refreshing, but also have a particularly rich taste.
The others were all steamed snacks, which she only had to prepare in advance and steam until cooked. That is, when the guests came for breakfast, she only had to prepare the raw fish porridge and fried noodles, which was quite manageable.
When I find a kitchen helper later, I can have more variety of breakfast options.
As for evening food, it is just ordinary dishes.
Of course, the taste is not ordinary.
…
While selling fish that night, Xu Qinyu smiled and said to the neighbors around her, "Aunts and sisters-in-law, my 'Xu Ji Restaurant' will open the day after tomorrow. I'll continue to sell braised herring, fish balls, and fish head stewed with tofu there. It's located at the very back of the West Street Market."
The neighbors had long known that Xu Qinyu was going to open a restaurant. Now that they heard that she was planning to sell fish and other things there, they were a little worried and couldn't help but ask, "Ms. Xu, how much do these foods cost..."
Originally, even if these foods were sold to them at a low price so that ordinary people like them could afford to eat meat every day, now that they want to open a restaurant, they certainly cannot continue to sell them too cheaply, otherwise they will have to pay the restaurant rent, waiters, the shopkeeper who does the accounting, etc., and how can they make any profit? They can't sell them to them at a loss.
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Don't worry, the prices won't go up. They'll remain the same as they are now. The restaurant I run mainly sells breakfast and dinner. Breakfast includes custard buns, steamed buns, braised pork buns, glutinous rice dumplings, pork intestines, and shrimp dumplings, etc. For dinner, we have all kinds of dishes. We can make basically anything. So the fish balls and braised fish will remain at the original price. But we'll still sell them at the entrance of the restaurant as usual, and you still need to bring your bowls to buy them."
After all, she has to do other business. Otherwise, if people continue to sit inside and eat such cheap food, she will lose other customers and only lose money.
When the neighbors heard that the price remained the same but they could only buy the food to take home, they all expressed their understanding.
However, they didn't know that Miss Xu could cook all kinds of food. They thought she was only good at cooking fish and continued to sell fish in the restaurant she opened.
Xu Qinyu also told everyone that she would teach her apprentice how to cook fish in the future, and in a few days, these fish would also be cooked by her apprentice.
But I assure you, they all taste delicious.
Everyone accepts it as long as it tastes good.
In their eyes, the food in ordinary restaurants tastes pretty good, as long as these fish can taste like those in ordinary restaurants.
As long as it's cheap and delicious, they are satisfied. After all, Miss Xu's cooking skills are amazing. She sells it to them at such a low price that they sometimes feel a little uneasy when eating it. Now that Miss Xu wants to pass on these fish-cooking methods to her apprentice, they don't think it's a big deal. If they have money in the future, they can go to the restaurant opened by Miss Xu to eat breakfast and dinner.
…
The next day, after selling the fish, Xu Qinyu and her family used a donkey cart to transport the big pot and stove in the yard to the restaurant. After all, they would not be selling fish here in the future, so keeping the pot and stove here would be useless.
The donkey cart was borrowed from Xia's sister-in-law. She only had twenty taels of silver, and she would buy a donkey cart when she made money in the future.
The wooden barrel fermented bean curd, pickled vegetables, kimchi, fermented black beans, and broad bean paste that Xu Qinyu had made before were all moved to the restaurant.
Xu Qinyu also asked Tian the butcher to deliver pork and mutton tomorrow.
I'll buy vegetables tomorrow morning.
The lard has also been refined.
The sign of "Xu Ji Restaurant" has also been hung up and covered with red cloth, and the red cloth will be taken down tomorrow for the official opening.
At night, Xu Qinyu and the Pei family were a little unable to sleep. Xu Qinyu was even more emotional in her heart. When she came to the other world, she had finally taken her first step.
The next day, Xu Qinyu got up before dawn.
The other members of the Pei family also stood up.
Today is the opening day of "Xu Ji Restaurant". Everyone actually didn't sleep well. Wen is the owner of the restaurant, so she naturally has to go along. Ning Jie'er is also worried about her fourth sister-in-law because it is her first day opening the store. She wants to go over and help out a little, so she won't make dumplings today.
Wen Shuncheng and Wen Shungong also got up early to look for Xu Qinyu, and the whole family went to the restaurant.
The three waiters who were hired also got up and went to the restaurant.
Xu Qinyu set the starting time as the end of Yinshi, which is five o'clock in the morning.
You must arrive at the restaurant at five o'clock. The time of finishing work in the evening is not fixed because there is no fixed time for evening meal, but you can basically finish work at the hour of Xu, which is around eight o'clock in the evening.
Although the working hours are long, there are basically two hours of rest after breakfast and before dinner.
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