The family gathered together to eat a hot pot. A copper pot was placed on the square wooden table, surrounded by plates of dishes, white lamb tail fat cut into slices, tender lamb cut as thin as a cicada's wing, lamb legs cut by hands as thick as fingers, lamb brain cut by hands in the same thin slices, as well as wool tripe and various vegetables.
The mutton is made with the skill of Cheng Ge'er, who cuts the fresh mutton into thin slices as thin as a cicada's wing. The mutton leg is also cut into even thickness.
Cheng Ge'er has been learning from Xu Qinyu for almost a year. He is already very proficient in making side dishes and has very good knife skills. He can cut fish and meat slices as thin as cicada wings. The fish balls, braised fish and fish head stewed with tofu sold at the restaurant's door are also made by Cheng Ge'er, and they taste pretty good.
Xu Qinyu felt that in two years, Cheng Ge'er would be able to be the chef.
The others also learned very seriously. Luo Danniu was indeed very talented in making pasta and could already help Xu Qinyu make steamed buns and dumplings. Xu Qinyu also paid Luo Danniu 800 coins a month.
Feng Ge'er has average talent in cooking, but he is very hardworking. He works harder than others and practices more every day. He believes that diligence can make up for lack of talent. Not only that, he also spends his spare time doing horse stance exercises in the backyard of the restaurant.
The lame Diao Ge'er is quite sensitive to taste, and Xu Qinyu is also specially cultivating his talent in this area.
Xu Yu, Xu Shun and Erniu are still too young, and apart from washing vegetables and preparing side dishes, they just help with miscellaneous chores.
Except for Xu Qinyu who was still in the restaurant, everyone else was with Old Lady Zhu.
The old lady was unable to get out of bed, so she sat on a rattan chair nearby. The chair was covered with thick bedding and a thick, soft pillow, and she leaned against the pillow.
Zhu fed the old lady the boiled mutton with sesame sauce, one chopstick at a time.
After tasting the mutton hotpot, Governor Zhu and Mrs. Zhu were impressed by its delicious taste.
I thought the brown sugar rice porridge, pickled pork with preserved vegetables and turnip soup made by Miss Xu were already amazing enough, but the hotpot I ate today was even more delicious.
Shabu-shabu mutton itself is fragrant, similar to the fragrance of hot pot, and almost no one can resist this fragrance.
Zhu fed the old lady a lot.
After boiling the mutton and vegetables, when you have almost finished eating, cook some noodles.
The noodles were wide noodles rolled by Xu Qinyu by hand and boiled in a copper pot for half a quarter of an hour. When the noodles were cooked, they were served in a bowl and topped with sesame sauce. Everyone who thought they were full ended up having another bowl of noodles each.
The whole family was a little full.
Both Governor Zhu and Madam Zhu couldn't help but wonder where this young lady's teacher came from and how she could have such amazing cooking skills.
After eating and drinking, Zhu stayed to accompany the old lady at night.
When Xu Qinyu returned to Guihua Lane, the old lady had already gone to bed.
After washing up in the evening, Xu Qinyu took out the wild ginseng that her fourth brother had dug up in the mountains. This ginseng was of excellent quality, had been processed, and had intact roots.
Although there are many mountains in the southwest, there are very few wild ginseng. I don’t know how Fourth Brother dug it up, but he was very lucky. Judging from the appearance of this wild ginseng, it must have grown for hundreds of years. It is a good thing that can be used to prolong life.
Xu Qinyu planned to send this wild ginseng to Old Lady Zhu. The old lady was already on the verge of death, and this wild ginseng might be of some use to her. Wild ginseng is a tonic, and it would be good if it could help the old lady live longer and enjoy more family happiness with her grandmother.
Wen almost forgot about this wild ginseng.
However, after the son dug up the wild ginseng, he was going to sell it and give the money to Yu Niang to open a restaurant. Later, Yu Niang stopped him from selling it and asked him to prepare the wild ginseng. Yu Niang said that it would be a pity to sell such a good thing, and it might be able to save lives in the future. Yu Niang was right.
Wen was very grateful and thanked Yu Niang.
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Mom, please don't thank me. This was originally dug by Fourth Brother. It's only right that Fourth Brother's things should be given to her great-grandmother. Fortunately, she didn't sell it in the first place."
If wild ginseng of this quality were sold, it would be impossible to buy it even if you wanted to.
The next morning, Xu Qinyu went to see the old lady.
The old lady was still in a coma, and Wen followed her and gave the wild ginseng to Governor Zhu, saying that Xuan Ge'er had dug it up in the mountains last year and had kept it at home after processing it. It happened that the old lady needed it, so she gave it to her to nourish her body.
Governor Zhu did not refuse. He took the wild ginseng and thanked the two of them. The doctor had said before that if they could afford the best wild ginseng, they might be able to extend the old lady's life for a while. He never thought that the old lady from Yuanbao Town would have such an opportunity.
Since he became an official, he has been incorruptible and has not taken a penny from the people. He really cannot afford ginseng of this quality.
Moreover, he had asked people to look for it in the medicine shops in various states and counties, but he couldn't find any wild ginseng of good quality.
Before going to bed yesterday, my mother was still talking to him, saying that it would be great if she could meet her great-grandson Xuan Ge'er.
My sister said that Brother Xuan went out to do business with a caravan, but he has been gone for almost a year and has not returned yet.
Zhu Taishou hopes that Xuan Ge'er can return safely.
The old lady was in a coma. Xu Qinyu and Wen went over to take a look at her and then went back to the restaurant to get busy.
Xu Qinyu was also very busy afterwards. She asked Cheng Ge'er to run errands for her and see if there were any shops selling ham in Guihua Lane or nearby alleys. She planned to pickle more ham this year, but there was definitely no place to store it at home, nor a workshop, so she could only buy a small house first. It would be even better if she had a workshop.
Xu Qinyu also told Cheng Ge'er that if there was a workshop for sale, he should tell her. If she thought the price was right, she might as well buy the workshop. In the future, whether it was pickling ham, making pickles, or other ingredients, they could all be made in the workshop.
She plans to pickle hundreds of hams every year. If they sell well, she can pickle more.
Cheng Ge'er helped out with errands these two days and actually found him a workshop.
The workshop is on the North Street. It is a winery. The owner is moving to Raozhou City, and he took away all the wine jars in the workshop, leaving only an empty workshop. It is about the size of a three-story house. Unlike the house, it does not have winding corridors and front and back houses and courtyards. The workshop is composed of workshops on all four sides, with a large area in the middle, which can be used for work or drying things. It is very convenient.
The place is on North Street, which is close to the dock and is a mixed crowd. But for this reason, the workshop is quite cheap, selling for only two hundred taels of silver.
When Cheng Ge'er told Xu Qinyu about this, Xu Qinyu took some time to go and take a look. She quite liked this place. It was already very clean inside and there was no need to buy anything new. She could just buy some hooks to hang the ham in the house to allow it to ventilate and ferment, and then a larger long table and some wooden boards.
Xu Qinyu immediately paid the money to buy the workshop.
After buying the workshop, she was busy buying pig legs.
It is best to use black pigs to make pickled ham, but there are no black pigs here, and there are no conditions to raise them. However, there are black pigs raised in the mountains, which are also good. Xu Qinyu asked the butcher Tian, because sometimes the meat on Tian's stall is this kind of black pig, and Xu Qinyu can still taste the difference when eating pork. Sometimes the meat is the kind of pig fed with bran and pigweed, which is generally raised by ordinary people at home and is fatter.
The hind legs are used to pickle ham, and the best time to pickle ham is from the Frost Descent to before the Beginning of Spring. The Frost Descent had already occurred a few days ago, so it is almost time to start pickling.
When Tian the butcher knew that Xu Qinyu wanted to buy hundreds of pig hind legs, he told her that there was a large pig farmer nearby and that sometimes she could buy pork from there when she couldn't get any.
Xu Qinyu asked Tian the butcher to help him order a hundred pig hind legs from there and have them delivered to the workshop on North Street.
She was still cooperating with the butcher Tian's pig intestines, and asked Gongger to deliver them to her every day after they were braised.
One hundred pig hind legs cost about seventy taels of silver, and each pig hind leg weighed about twenty to twenty-five pounds.
The long table and hooks that Xu Qinyu wanted were delivered in just two or three days, along with a lot of wooden boards.
These wooden boards are used to shape the ham and squeeze out the moisture after curing it.
For the next half month, Xu Qinyu had to go to the workshop every night when she came back. On her day off, she also went to the workshop to busy herself with pickling ham. Cheng Ge'er and Feng Ge'er also came to help her.
Cured ham needs to be salted twice. After it is fully coated with salt, rub the salt repeatedly, and then rub it with salt again the next day.
The ratio of salt to ham must also be appropriate. Xu Qinyu will check the ham pickled with the help of Cheng Ge'er and Feng Ge'er. Only after it passes the test will she start to trim the fat edges to make the ham look better. The trimmed ham will be clamped with a wooden board to squeeze out the moisture, and then it can be fermented.
Xu Qinyu hung the pickled ham under a high beam in the room, opened the windows for ventilation, and then left it alone. After all, it would take more than a year to be eaten. If you want to eat it raw, it would take two or three years. If you want to eat ham that is more than two years old raw, it must be well pickled and under good fermentation conditions.
The wall of this workshop is built quite high, and people outside have no idea what is going on inside.
Xu Qinyu, Cheng Ge'er and Feng Ge'er spent half a month to finally pickle, hang and ferment all the 100 hams.
Apart from the seventy taels of silver used to buy the ham, the remaining money was spent on salt. Including the cost of salt, the total cost of pickling the ham this time was about one hundred taels of silver.
After all the hams were pickled, Xu Qinyu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The remaining ham from the last time she made pickled pork with preserved vegetables for Old Lady Zhu was still hanging at the Pei family's house. When spring comes, Xu Qinyu plans to add some pickled pork with preserved vegetables and other dishes made with ham to the restaurant. She certainly won't add much, only about two or three servings a day, and she'll also preheat the ham in advance so that there will be plenty of ham to eat next winter.
The one hundred hams were hung in about four or five rooms, leaving quite a few rooms empty.
Xu Qinyu bought a lot of jars and pots to pickle vegetables and other things.
With this workshop, it is indeed much more convenient for Xu Qinyu. All the pickled vegetable jars at home have been moved here.
…
As for Old Lady Zhu, the next day, Governor Zhu mixed the wild ginseng given by Xu Qinyu into the medicine and gave it to the old lady to drink every day.
Governor Zhu only said that he had found some good ginseng and asked the old lady to take care of her health so that she could talk to Shu Niang more often, love her more, and wait for Xuan Ge'er to come back.
He was afraid that the old lady would feel bad, so he kept the approximate price of the ginseng a secret.
The old lady was also very obedient and drank the medicine as soon as she was given it.
He ate obediently during breakfast and evening meals, and the food cooked by Xu Qinyu was the most delicious. Breakfast and evening meals were served by Zhu from the restaurant.
Three or four days passed like this. The old lady was awake more often every day and looked better than before, but she still couldn't get out of bed and could only lie down.
After waiting for another half a month, although the old lady's complexion was not better, she was not as thin and had gained some weight. However, there was still no significant improvement in her health and she still spent most of the day lying down.
Xu Qinyu also thought of a wheelchair and drew it out specially, asking the carpenter and the iron shop to make it as soon as possible.
The wheels of a wheelchair need to be made of iron so that it is easy to push.
In about ten days, the wheelchair she wanted was made and covered with a soft velvet blanket. Mrs. Zhu occasionally pushed the old lady out for a walk.
The old lady doesn't like to go out much, she just wants to spend more time with her daughter.
In fact, the old lady is now in very poor health and her internal organs are no longer functioning. Using wild ginseng is just a way to prolong her life. It is estimated that she can only live for another half a year or so at most. However, the old lady does not feel any regrets. Instead, she will cherish this last bit of time.
There was no way that Prefect Zhu could stay in Yuanbao Town forever. Three or four days after the old lady left Yuanbao Town, he returned to Raozhou City to handle official business and asked Zhu to stay here.
Mrs. Zhu stayed at the mansion for more than half a month, worried about the master and the children and grandchildren. Old Lady Zhu saw that her daughter-in-law still cared about the mansion, so she asked her to set off back to Raozhou City. "Zhenniang, you go back and take care of Wenyi. I have Shuniang here, and Yanniang and Yuniang come over on weekdays. There's no need for so many people. Besides, I feel better now, so I should be able to live for a few more days. Zhenniang, you have been worrying about me these days, and you are tired. Go back and rest. The Chinese New Year is in half a month. You can come back then. This year, our family will celebrate the New Year here."
The old lady did feel a little stronger.
After taking the medicine for more than half a month, and eating and drinking well every day, I have the strength to speak again.
Zhu's name was Zhen.
She listened to the old lady and returned to Raozhou City the next day.
When Governor Zhu knew that his mother was able to speak now, he felt relieved.
He is also busy at the end of the year. He can only take a day off on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, and he will start to get busy again after the 7th day of the first lunar month.
Xu Qinyu's restaurant was also busy.
Before the New Year, there was a heavy snowfall that lasted for three or four days. The snow was up to the calf level, and every household was busy sweeping the snow.
Because of the heavy snow, the restaurant's business became better and better. There were many people eating hotpot every day. Some people who didn't want to queue up made reservations with the restaurant in advance, and asked the servants at home to come and pick it up at dusk. The pot was also easy to pack up. They just needed to prepare the copper pot, and put the clear soup and ingredients in a lunch box. After eating, they would ask the servants to deliver the copper pot and plates to the restaurant the next day.
In the last half month of the year, the cash flow of Xu Ji Restaurant was much higher than that of the previous half month. In this half month, she made an extra hundred taels of silver than before, and she earned back all the money she spent on the ham.
On the evening of the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, the restaurant closed early and did not receive any late-night diners. Cheng Ge'er prepared a New Year's Eve dinner for the restaurant. Everyone in the restaurant could have a good rest after having the dinner in advance, and would open again on the fourth day of the New Year.
Those who run shops for a living certainly cannot rest until the seventh or eighth day of the New Year like ordinary people and officials do. Restaurants open on the third or fourth day of the New Year.
Xu Qinyu plans to open the shop on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year and take one more day off.
The restaurant door was closed, the windows were open, and there was a round table full of dishes, including chicken, duck, fish and meat.
Cheng Ge'er was the chef and everyone sat around the table. There were Xu Qinyu, Wen, the three waitresses, Da Niu, Er Niu, Cheng Ge'er, Gong Ge'er, and the four brothers Feng Tiao Yushun. It was a bit crowded, but no one mind at all and everyone had a smile on their face.
Xu Qinyu poured each person a glass of wine. This was some leftover wine that she had specially kept for the New Year. But there wasn't much, only about twenty bottles. Five bottles were opened today, and the remaining fifteen bottles were to be drunk during the New Year's dinner at home.
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "The restaurant business is very good this year, thanks to everyone. Without your help, I can't run the restaurant on my own. I won't say anything more. Everyone, eat and drink well, and rest for a few days. I will give everyone red envelopes later. Please continue to work hard next year."
After saying that, he picked up the wine and everyone started drinking together.
Throughout the whole year, Xu Qinyu's restaurant earned about five thousand taels of silver. Adding the more than one thousand taels of silver from the wine, she currently has about six thousand taels of silver.
Because there are many things to buy on a daily basis, I have to buy kitchen utensils one after another and replace them with new ones after depreciation, plus the expenses at home, so I spend a lot every month, and I have a surplus of about 6,000 taels of silver, but it is already very good.
Xu Qinyu gave red envelopes of ten taels of silver each to the three waitresses, as well as Cheng Ge'er, Gong Ge'er, and the big girl Xu Feng and Xu Tiao.
The remaining three little ones, Erniu, Xu Yu and Xu Shun, each received three taels of silver.
Xu Qinyu prepared a silver note of one hundred taels for Wen, intending to give it to her after returning. Wen helped her as the shopkeeper, and usually didn't even want to be paid. Xu Qinyu was worried that she would not accept the silver note of one hundred taels.
Lin, Yuan and Chen had never expected that when they first came to work, Miss Xu said that she would give them a red envelope during the New Year. They thought it might be a few hundred coins, and they would be very happy if it was a few hundred coins. Who would have thought that it would be ten taels of silver.
The three of them were holding two small ingots and were at a loss. "Dong, Dongjia, isn't this too much?"
It is equivalent to their annual salary. Together with the red envelope of ten taels of silver, they get almost twenty taels of silver a year. Even if they work as waiters in a big restaurant, it is not bad to have ten taels of silver a year. Even big restaurants are unwilling to hire women like them. But when they come to Xu Xiaoniang's restaurant, they are paid twenty taels of silver a year.
The three of them were really too excited.
Xu Qinyu did give a lot, but that was because everyone was very hardworking and wholeheartedly caring about the restaurant, with no ulterior motives. Every time she finished making dinner, they would go home first, and the rest would be cleaned up by them. She never had to worry about anything, and they would rush to do the work. Where could she find such good employees?
Besides, she earns so much in a year, so she deserves a little more red envelope.
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "That's what you guys deserve. The cleaning of the restaurant is always thanks to you."
All three of them love cleanliness. Not only do they keep the front hall spotlessly clean to ensure that diners enjoy their meals, they also clean the kitchen every day without any grease or dirt.
Xu Qinyu added, "Next year, the wages of the three aunts will all be raised to one tael of silver. As long as everyone works hard, the wages will continue to increase."
She should be considered a good boss. She eats meat herself and also gives her employees a lot of broth.
The three Lin family members were so excited that their faces turned red. With tears in their eyes, they thanked Xu Qinyu and secretly vowed in their hearts that they would be more diligent in the future and would never do the same thing as what happened to the Sun family when they sold out the restaurant. Mr. Xu was good to them, so they had to repay him.
After finishing the New Year’s Eve dinner, everyone prepared to go home and asked everyone to pack up the remaining food to take home.
Xu Qinyu looked at the cleaned restaurant, locked it, and went home with Wen's Cheng'er and Gong'er.
Xu Feng and the other three still live near the restaurant. There are a lot of things and kitchen utensils in the restaurant, so they still live here to look after the restaurant.
When the Chinese New Year comes tomorrow, Xu Qinyu will invite the children to her home for New Year's dinner.
At the workshop, Xu Qinyu didn't let a few children go to guard it. The workshop was not suitable for living. There were three or four windows in one room, which were just for ventilation. It could only be used to store things, so the shoe workshop was locked. On weekdays, Baiyu and Moyu took turns to guard it at night.
Xu Feng and the others were still children, so it would be safer and more intimidating for Bai Yu and Mo Yu to guard the workshop. Anyone who had never seen Mo Yu would be scared when they saw her for the first time.
Mo Yu is now taller than Xu Qinyu's knees. His body lines are so muscular, his limbs are strong, his bones are strong, and his black fur is shiny and glossy. It feels as smooth as fine silk, which shows that he is well taken care of.
Even though Moyu has grown up, his personality has not changed much. He still likes to run around with things in his mouth and likes to play with Baiyu.
Bai Yu doesn't like to pay attention to it and usually likes to find a place to curl up and sleep.
Baiyu has grown a lot, and her calves are as thick as Xu Qinyu's. Her height is about two meters, which still looks a bit intimidating.
Having raised white jade for almost two years, Xu Qinyu is not afraid of it at all.
But if she encounters other snakes, she will definitely be afraid.
The ones she raised were different, and Baiyu was indeed different from other snakes and was very close to her.
No one except family members has ever seen Baiyu, and it really doesn't like to go out.
As for Moyu, the neighbors in Guihua Alley and several nearby alleys all know him and have watched him grow up. Therefore, even though Moyu has grown into a formidable-looking black panther, the neighbors aren't particularly afraid of him. They know he won't bite anyone, and they've never seen him do so. Sometimes, when they see him, they'll pet his head, and he'll accept petting, but he won't rub against anyone else. He only rubs against his family, and his personality is a bit like a dog's.
So Xu Qinyu let them take turns guarding.
You don't need to go there during the day because the workshop is quite busy with people coming and going. You only need to guard it at night, for fear that thieves will come in and see the ham and steal it.
Ham is not cheap. Not to mention the price after it is made, a fresh pig's hind leg alone costs hundreds of coins. The finished ham is even more valuable, but it is not well-known, so thieves just treat it as ordinary cured meat.
The division of labor between Mo Yu and Bai Yu is very clear. Anyway, Xu Qinyu saw Mo Yu tonight, and she will definitely not see it tomorrow night. Instead, Bai Yu will stay at home. The division of labor between the two is very clear and fair.
After Xu Qinyu and Wen returned home, Xu Qinyu gave Wen the silver note of one hundred taels that she had prepared.
When Wen saw the banknotes, she wanted to refuse them. "Why are you giving me banknotes, Yu Niang? Just keep them for yourself. You can use them when you want to open a restaurant in Raozhou in the future."
She knew Yu Niang's idea. When Cheng Ge'er could become the chef, she would let Cheng Ge'er manage the restaurant here. She wanted to go to Raozhou City to open a bigger Xu Ji Restaurant.
In fact, it’s also good to go to Raozhou City. It’s more convenient to do everything there.
But Yu Niang said that they couldn't move there within the next one or two years, as there was still a lot to teach Cheng Ge'er and his other disciples.
Moreover, she didn't spend any money on a daily basis. She had food and accommodation provided for her. Even the clothes she wore were sent by the Xia family at the request of Yu Niang. The rouge, powder, and facial cream she used were all prepared by Yu Niang. She really didn't need to spend any money at all.
Xu Qinyu still wanted Wen to keep the one hundred taels of silver, saying that she could use it to buy things she liked and she didn't have to worry about opening a restaurant in Raozhou City.
Finally, Wen had no choice but to accept the silver note of one hundred taels, but kept it in her own box, thinking that she would give it to Yu Niang when she needed it in the future.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
