What a coincidence! Not only did 'Meizhoulou' open today, but a rouge shop on this street also opened today. It's a fairly large shop, and I heard that the people coming in and out of it are all ladies and daughters of wealthy families.
Since the restaurant was currently empty, Zhao Guihua suggested going to the rouge shop. She thought that Zhao Guizhi, who was managing the restaurant in the county, couldn't always be holed up in the kitchen looking disheveled. Apart from dishes like bayberry stew with pork and spicy rabbit meat, which she needed to cook herself, the other dishes could be made by other chefs.
The tavern in town is now run by Mo Tianzhu's wife, Zhong Miao, and Mo Baoshan is also learning to cook.
Not everyone can learn to cook. First, you have to love cooking, and then you have to have talent. Mo Baoshan is considered talented; he also enjoys cooking.
The cook in town has been found, and the chefs for the restaurants in the county town also need to be trained as soon as possible. In case Zhao Guizhi becomes pregnant one day, someone will have to take over the cooking. It's not easy to find someone temporarily, and they don't trust outsiders.
“We can hire a few waiters. We’ll observe the kitchen staff for a while. If Tong Zhen, Tong Li, and Tong Hui are useful, we’ll select one of them to learn cooking. We can find women to do the vegetable preparation and washing. It looks like we’ll need to buy a few more people to make up the numbers,” Zhao Guizhi said.
"How about we find some people we know in the village to help us?" Zhao Guizhi suggested.
Zhao Guihua thought for a moment and shook her head gently, "Let's forget about it. If the Zhou family finds out, they'll definitely cause trouble again. If they come to the county town to make a scene, that would be so embarrassing."
"Then let's buy a few more people, or should we go to the brokerage firm now?" Zhao Guizhi was a woman of action; she couldn't wait to do what she wanted to do.
"Aren't you tired after being busy all morning? Let's wait until tomorrow, why are you in such a hurry?" Zhao Guihua said coquettishly. "Come on, let's go to that newly opened rouge shop and buy you some rouge and face powder."
She herself doesn't need them, has never used them, and isn't used to them.
“You should buy some too. Don’t just stay busy in the fields all the time. Keep an eye on the taverns in town. You have to make the dishes from the secret recipe yourself. Don’t pass it on to outsiders,” Zhao Guizhi emphasized patiently.
The secret recipe on the bamboo slips will be their family's ancestral recipe, and they must never let anyone else steal it.
"Remember, I'm not that stupid." Zhao Guihua was both amused and exasperated. She pulled her out the door quickly, "Stop talking nonsense, let's go shopping."
"Mom, wait for me! I want to go shopping too!" Xingxing quickly caught up with him, her short legs trailing behind her.
Zhao Guihua picked up Xingxing and said with a smile, "Weren't you two eating in the kitchen? How did you know we were going to go shopping?"
“We’ve finished eating. Ruru and I heard you and Auntie talking about going to buy rouge. We’ve never been to a rouge shop before, so we want to go and take a look,” Xingxing replied obediently.
“We’re going to join the fun. There are so many people in the shop, it’s bound to be a lot of fun,” Chen Yueru said honestly.
"Alright, alright, I'll take you. We mainly want to see what's going on. To be honest, it's my first time visiting a rouge shop, so I'm really curious." Zhao Guihua said in a light tone, but her words evoked a strange sense of sadness.
In short, Zhao Guizhi felt very uncomfortable.
Today was the opening day of the restaurant, and she and Zhao Guihua specially chose their most presentable clothes to wear, but when they arrived at this rouge shop, they were surprised to find that...
Tsk tsk, they really can't compare to these wealthy families. Look at their silk brocades and jewelry, they're truly exuding wealth.
When Zhao Guihua and her entourage walked in, they looked rather shabby. "Why do I feel a little uneasy?"
"Don't panic, we're not stealing or robbing, we're just browsing a shop, we can afford it, it's not like we're here for a beauty pageant, relax, don't think too much." Zhao Guizhi reassured her, though she was actually a little nervous herself, but she appeared calm on the surface.
In the brief moment of their conversation, the two little girls, Xingxing and Ruru, disappeared without a trace. This frightened the Zhao Guihua and Zhao Guizhi sisters so much that they lost all interest in looking at the rouge and hurriedly searched for them in the crowd.
"These two little girls are too clever for their own good. They usually seem so well-behaved, but why are they so troublesome once they're out the door?" Zhao Guihua stomped her foot in worry and annoyance.
On the other side, Xingxing and Ruru were holding hands and weaving through the crowd, having a great time. Suddenly, Xingxing was bumped by someone, and the little girl stumbled forward a few steps, bumping headfirst into a dark green figure.
The person groaned, as if hurt by the impact. Xingxing instinctively grabbed the other person's clothes with her two little paws to steady herself. After regaining her balance, she looked up blankly at the other person's face.
The old woman was about to lash out, but when she met the little girl's clear and bright eyes, she paused, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly relaxed her brows and smiled, "Oh, whose little girl is this? She's so pretty and adorable, like a little fairy who has just bumped into my arms."
"Grandma, I'm Zhou's daughter! What are you doing here? Are you here to buy rouge too?"
Xingxing hugged the old lady tightly, recognizing her as Madam Zhong, the one who had escaped being crushed by the building after her carriage was stopped, and who had even ridden in their oxcart on the way back to town.
Mrs. Zhong wasn't angry because she recognized Xingxing; she even smiled gently at her. What a coincidence! This was their third time meeting.
"Excuse me, my little esteemed guest has arrived. I am too busy to continue entertaining you ladies. Madam Fu, could you please entertain the ladies for me? I will take my little esteemed guest upstairs to sit for a while." Madam Zhong gave Xingxing a deep look, her smile growing even warmer and deeper.
"So Xingxing is Grandma's honored guest," Xingxing thought to herself, feeling a little smug. "Grandma, this is my little sister Ruru. She's your honored guest too."
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