Yesterday, we ate lunch in the late afternoon and were all starving, so we can't rush it today.
When things weren't too busy, Meng Zhao used a large bowl she brought from home to serve herself a bowl of rice. When she was serving the vegetables, Gu Shi kept stopping her.
"Zhaozhao, don't serve me meat, I'm fine with vegetarian food."
Mrs. Gu felt a pang of heartache seeing this; for every boxed meal they ate, they would lose seven or eight coins, which was truly a painful expense for them.
Influenced by Gu, the two children were also a little reluctant to eat.
"Sister-in-law, I'm not hungry yet. I'll just eat the leftover scraps."
"Sister-in-law, I didn't do any work, so I don't need to eat meat. Could you serve me some soup? I'll just mix it with rice. The food and soup you make are both delicious." Shen Qingyu was always good at talking, and she didn't forget to praise Meng Zhao's cooking at this moment.
Meng Zhao naturally wouldn't listen. Based on his observations of everyone's preferences over the past few days, he served each person a vegetarian dish and a meat dish.
After setting out the bowls one by one, he said, "We're in the food business, how can we go hungry? You not only have to eat, but you have to eat as much as you can. Only when we eat it ourselves will others think our food is clean, and only when we eat it well will others think our food tastes good."
The three listened to Meng Zhao's profound words and felt that they were indeed true, so they picked up their bowls and began to eat.
While eating, the two children pondered Meng Zhao's words. The more they ate, the louder they became, occasionally muttering things like, "It smells so good!" "How can it be so delicious?" "It's really too delicious!"
At first, Gu was a little embarrassed, but thinking that Meng Zhao's words made sense, she began to agree while eating.
Seeing the three's slightly awkward acting, Meng Zhao couldn't help but laugh and quickly called for a stop. If they continued, they probably wouldn't even be able to eat.
The real promotional effect came from the diners squatting nearby, eating and drinking heartily, stuffing their mouths with mouthful after mouthful, their eyes filled with satisfaction and joy at enjoying the delicious food, which made people's appetites soar.
Today we made twenty more boxed meals than yesterday, but they sold out in about the same time. The new plates haven't been ordered yet, so we brought a few large bowls from home with us today. After customers returned the plates, Gu's family quickly washed them to barely manage to rotate them.
It seems that we can't increase the quantity of food until the new plates are ready. We need to get used to it first. We'd rather sell out quickly and go home early than waste food.
By the time the custom-made plates were ready, it was already the end of the month, and Meng Zhao and his team had been selling boxed lunches at the dock for several days.
During this period, we accumulated a number of regular customers, mainly dockworkers.
Meng Zhao also noticed that many customers, like Zhou Cheng, had large appetites and one boxed meal was not enough for them.
Meng Zhao also made some changes in response. First, he adjusted the rice ratio. Previously, it was half fine rice and half brown rice, but now it is two-thirds brown rice and one-third fine rice. This way, for the same cost, more rice can be served.
Customers didn't complain about the change. Everyone knows the price of rice, and even at home, it's not possible to eat rice every meal. Not many people care about the taste; being able to eat their fill is the most important thing.
Another solution was for Meng Zhao to approach the owner of a nearby steamed bun shop and discuss having them deliver a certain number of steamed buns daily.
Customers who need it can buy two more steamed buns for an extra coin. Even those with big appetites can buy four more steamed buns, eat the vegetables sparingly, and dip them in the vegetable soup given by Meng Zhao, and they can still eat their fill. It will only cost thirteen coins at most.
The steamed bun shop owner also offered a discount: one bun for every five coins spent. Meng Zhao ordered twenty steamed buns every day, and if there were any leftovers, he would take them home to eat himself.
The business gradually stabilized, and through continuous adjustments and adaptations, their schedule became more reasonable.
As dusk fell and the sun gradually set, Meng Zhao did some exercise in the courtyard after dinner.
These days she exercises for half an hour every night because she has already been active enough during the day, so she doesn't do anything too strenuous.
Simply doing some exercises to loosen your joints can prevent joint aging from maintaining one posture for too long and can also promote sleep at night.
It was obvious that Meng Zhao's physical strength and endurance were gradually increasing.
Under Meng Zhao's guidance, Gu Shi, Shen Qingze, and Shen Qingyu also joined the exercise group. Meng Zhao taught them the Eight Pieces of Brocade that he had learned in modern times.
When Shen Qinghe arrived home, he witnessed this bizarre scene.
Meng Zhao stood at the front, raising his hands and circling them, his neck turning along with them. Gu Shi stood behind him, doing the same thing, and his younger siblings followed suit, but they stood shakily, making the posture even more strange.
Even the usually composed Shen Qinghe was so shocked by this scene that he took a step back, his mouth slightly agape, and stood there stunned for a while, thinking that they had been possessed by something unclean.
They didn't notice him until the people in front of them turned around.
"Qinghe, you're back! Oh dear, I've been so busy these past few days that I completely forgot it's your day off today. Have you had dinner yet?" Madam Gu slapped her thigh, suddenly remembering that her son gets a day off on the first and fifteenth of each month.
"Second Brother, you're back." Qingze and Qingyu ran up and each grabbed one of Shen Qinghe's hands, pulling him to sit down at the table.
Awakened by the calls, Shen Qinghe hurriedly stopped Gu Shi, who was about to heat up his food, saying, "Mother, I've already eaten at the academy, you don't need to prepare anything for me."
After saying that, he frowned slightly, a hint of doubt in his eyes, "Mother, what were you doing just now?"
“We’re exercising. These days we go to town every day to set up a stall to sell boxed lunches. When we’re cooking, we often have to bend over and bend over. Zhao Zhao says that exercising is good for our health.”
After these few days of setting up a stall, Gu's overall energy and spirits have improved a lot, and her voice sounds much more confident.
He had heard his mother mention the stall, but he was initially suspicious of it, thinking that Meng Zhao had ulterior motives. However, seeing that his mother and siblings were all safe and sound, he said, "Then Mother and Sister-in-law, continue dancing. I'll rest in the yard for a while."
"Okay, then sit down and rest for a bit. If you get hungry, just tell your mother."
After Gu finished speaking, she continued to dance the Eight Pieces of Brocade with Meng Zhao. Shen Qing and her younger siblings who were standing next to her also joined in.
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