The next day, before Meng Zhao and the others had finished washing up, they heard a noise outside the door. Gu Shi went to open the door and sure enough, it was Aunt Feng'e who had arrived early.
Farmers don't have any new clothes. Aunt Feng'e's clothes today had patches sewn on the shoulders and cuffs, but although the clothes were old, they were clean and her hair was neatly combed and wrapped in a cloth.
Her nails were cut close to her skin, without leaving a single gap. It was clear that her requirements had been carefully remembered, which made Meng Zhao even more satisfied.
Today's breakfast was millet porridge and meat pies, with homemade pickled vegetables as a side dish.
Aunt Feng'e was extremely satisfied with the pie Meng Zhao made. For no other reason than this, she would continue working here just for this one bite of food.
I'm not planning to make cold noodles today because I don't have enough flour and other ingredients at home.
When Aunt Feng'e arrived, Meng Zhao didn't let her touch anything on the stove, but only asked her to wash and prepare the vegetables first.
Having one more person makes all the difference. Usually, when I go out to set up my stall, the yard is always a mess. I don't have time to put away the pots and pans I've used. I can only do it when I get back.
Now that there's one more person, and a little free time, we can cook and tidy up at the same time. When all five of us go out together, the yard is still clean.
Aunt Feng'e felt a little flustered. She hadn't done much work all morning; she had only been busy with the usual household chores.
She felt embarrassed to accept so much pay for such a small amount of work, so she insisted on pulling the cart.
Meng Zhao did not agree. The load on their cart was quite heavy, and it would be impossible for one person to carry it alone. So the three of them took turns.
When they arrived at the stall, some customers hadn't seen Aunt Feng'e before and asked curiously, "Boss Meng, are you here to help you?"
"Yes, I'm really too busy with this stall, so I asked my aunt to come and help me."
"Oh, now that Boss Meng has hired someone, the cold noodles we talked about yesterday should be served soon, right?"
Meng Zhao laughed loudly, "Hahahaha, good, the cold noodles will be served tomorrow."
"Then I definitely have to come early tomorrow, otherwise I'll miss it." Someone nearby immediately echoed this sentiment.
"I need to come early too, I want to try what this cold noodles taste like."
Aunt Feng'e has a loud voice and is very enthusiastic. To be honest, she is more suited to setting up a stall than Gu Shi.
They took turns eating lunch, and Meng Zhao served Aunt Feng'e a full bowl so she would have the energy to work later.
After closing up shop, the group went to buy flour, which cost nine coins per pound. They bought a total of 50 pounds. They also bought the side dishes needed for making cold noodles. They already had all the seasonings at home, so there was no need to buy any new ones.
Liangpi (cold skin noodles) also needs to be served in a bowl, but fortunately many grocery stores have them ready-made, so there's no need to order them separately.
He first bought thirty large bowls, and then some chopsticks. His stall had all the trays, but some chopsticks were missing or deformed and unusable, so he had to replenish them from time to time.
After walking such a long way, they felt sticky all over. After arriving home, they washed up and rested for a while. Once it wasn't so hot anymore, Meng Zhao started teaching Aunt Feng'e how to wash her face.
Washing the dough isn't actually difficult; it's just time-consuming. According to Meng Zhao's calculations last time, one pound of flour can make about seven to eight sheets of cold noodles and the corresponding amount of gluten.
Adding in other ingredients and labor costs, Meng Zhao plans to set the price of liangpi (cold skin noodles) at six coins per serving. If people feel that the portion is too small and not enough, an additional three coins will be charged for each additional serving.
Meng Zhao likes to eat a crispy cake with her cold noodles. With her own appetite, one cold noodle and one crispy cake is enough to fill her up. But Meng Zhao has seen the appetites of the workers at the stall, and she knows that this amount is definitely not enough for them.
If you have a big appetite, add a plate of cold noodles for nine coins, and buy two pastries for a total of eleven coins, which is the same price as the boxed lunch with two meat dishes and one vegetable dish in her shop.
This way, the cold noodles won't be too cheap and affect the boxed meal business, nor will the price be too high and make it unaffordable for the stall's usual customer base.
After all, it was the first day, and Meng Zhao was worried that the cold noodles business would not be good, so he did not make too many and only used 5 catties of flour.
Meng Zhao kneaded the dough with Aunt Feng'e, which sped things up considerably. Gu Shi tended the fire and steamed the gluten. Since the quantity was small, it was ready in about half an hour.
All that was left was for the batter to settle slowly. Seeing that he had almost finished with his work, Meng Zhao told Aunt Feng'e to go home first.
When this stall introduces new food items, it inevitably takes away some of the sales from boxed meals. Today, when Meng Zhao was cooking, he reduced the portion size.
But the number of stalls didn't decrease much, since their stalls were in high demand every day.
After more than two months of training, Gu Shi has gradually become proficient. Today's dishes are all her specialties, which puts Meng Zhao at ease.
Aside from occasionally offering some pointers, Meng Zhao devoted most of his time to making liangpi (cold skin noodles).
The batter from yesterday had settled, so after bringing the fire to a boil, Meng Zhao began steaming the cold noodles, stacking them one by one.
Aunt Feng'e exclaimed in surprise, "I never imagined that flour could be used in this way. The resulting cold noodles are crystal clear and look delicious!"
Shen Qingyu: "My sister-in-law's liangpi (cold skin noodles) is especially delicious, sour and spicy."
Meng Zhao had weighed out the seasonings the night before, so they could be cooked directly in the pot.
One should always be wary of others. Although Aunt Feng'e has a good relationship with them, it's still best to be cautious when it comes to business matters.
Before leaving home, Meng Zhao prepared a bowl of cold noodles, put in two sheets of dough, and also packed two meat pies, intending to take it to Shen Qinghe to try today.
The group worked together to lift the table from the house onto the cart. Although the cart was a bit old, it had been modified and was very sturdy. Even with so many things loaded on it, it was still stable and had truly done a great service to her stall.
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