When Aunt Feng'e went back, Meng Zhao stopped her and told her something else.
"Auntie, when you go back today, please ask Shen Yun if she would like to come and work for me."
The boxed lunch business at the dock should last for about two more months, barring any unforeseen circumstances. Although with the current daily output of 100 boxed lunches, it's more than enough for two people to handle.
But once the shop opened, there would still be a shortage of manpower, so Meng Zhao thought of Shen Yun.
Although the child is young, she is brave and fearless. When she saw Li Yunxiang fall into the water, she dared to go up and rescue her. Later, she was also willing to run around helping. When she sold her the green plums, the fruits she selected all met the requirements. She is a serious and meticulous girl.
If we were to send her to work in a workshop, it wouldn't be suitable since she's not very strong. It would be better for her to work at her shop, where she can help out by running errands and doing accounting. These jobs aren't too strenuous.
Aunt Feng'e slapped her thigh and said, "Zhao Zhao, is there even a need to ask? Of course she's willing. You have no idea how popular it is to work under you. Many people ask me if you're still hiring. I don't dare to tell you, for fear that someone else will steal my job."
Meng Zhao couldn't help but smile, her eyes full of laughter as she said, "Auntie, I'm doing just fine here, how could I let someone steal your job? If I need more people, I'll naturally hire new ones. It would be best if Shen Yun could agree, so you can come together and have company on the way."
Aunt Feng'e nodded happily, as long as she could continue working for Meng Zhao.
Because this place is closer to the county school, Shen Qinghe no longer needs to live in the academy. When he returns, it will be just in time for dinner. Shen Qinghe also gives high praise to the braised meat made by Meng Zhao.
After the meal, Shen Qinghe found Meng Zhao and asked, "Sister-in-law said this morning that she needed to see me. What is it?"
Meng Zhao then told him her idea, "You usually teach Qingze and Qingyu to read, right? I was thinking of adding a few more students for you."
Shen Qinghe looked at Meng Zhao with a puzzled expression. Meng Zhao then explained, "It's Mother, Aunt Feng'e, me, and Shen Yun from the village. We'll be working in the shop from now on, and we might need to do some bookkeeping and accounting. It's not good for us to be completely illiterate, so I thought I'd ask you to take some time every few days to teach us."
Upon hearing this, Shen Qinghe understood. He nodded and said, "Of course, I can teach one class every three days. This will give everyone some time to review and prevent them from working too hard."
Meng Zhao nodded in agreement and added, "The content to be taught doesn't need to be too complicated. Some commonly used characters will suffice. You can teach more about arithmetic."
She worried that Shen Qinghe would come up with some poems and songs for him, since what they needed was some practical knowledge.
Shen Qinghe smiled knowingly and nodded, saying, "Okay, don't worry, sister-in-law, I know."
After everything was settled, Meng Zhao led Gu Shi and the two children to prepare to practice Baduanjin. When Gu Shi saw that Shen Qinghe was about to return to his room, she quickly reached out and pulled him back.
"Qinghe, you sit all day studying, that's not good. Come on, move around with us."
Shen Qinghe was not used to such large and sweeping movements at first. His hands and feet seemed to be somewhat out of control, and his movements were stiff and clumsy.
After doing it for a while, he was surprised to find that these seemingly simple and slow movements seemed to be specially designed to relax the body. After doing them once, he felt that his tense shoulders and back, which had been strained from reading and writing for a long time, were much more relaxed.
***
The next day, when Aunt Feng'e came, she brought Shen Yun with her. The little girl rushed over as soon as she saw Meng Zhao.
"Sister Meng Zhao, thank you for taking me on as a worker. Don't worry, I will definitely work hard."
Seeing how enthusiastic she was, Meng Zhao was very happy. First, he took her measurements to make work clothes. Everyone else's clothes were already made, only Shen Yun's were left. After taking the measurements, Meng Zhao quickly went to the tailor shop to expedite the customization so that everyone could wear them when the store opened.
***
On the day of the opening, Meng Zhao and Gu Shi got up early and put the meat needed for the day into a pot of cold water, added scallions, ginger and white wine to blanch it, then took it out, washed it and set it aside.
Heat oil in a cold pan, add sugar and stir-fry until caramelized, then pour in hot water and add the prepared braising spices.
Only Meng Zhao knew the recipe for this braising spice. To prevent being targeted in the future, she always bought the spices from different shops.
Once the braising liquid is ready, you can add the blanched meat to stew. Pork and chicken can be braised together. Pork is oily and can make the braising liquid more flavorful, and the braised chicken will not be dry.
Chicken itself enhances flavor and can make braised pork more fragrant; the two complement each other perfectly.
Pork offal has a strong, unpleasant smell, so it needs to be braised separately to prevent it from mixing with other meats. Duck, on the other hand, has a strong earthy smell, so it needs to be cooked separately with spicy spices to mask it.
While waiting for the braised pork, Meng Zhao led them to prepare skewers, skewering the meatballs and vegetables they had prepared in advance and stacking them in a basin. The group skewered more than a thousand skewers before stopping.
After the braised meat was ready, the group packed all the braised items into buckets, loaded them onto a donkey cart, changed into brand-new work clothes, and headed to the shop. Although they had been busy all morning, their faces were beaming with joy at the thought of opening for the day.
The shop signboard had already been hung up. When Meng Zhao arrived, he first removed the wooden planks from the shop door.
Her shop is located on the street, next to a general merchandise store on the right. She and Meng Zhao had met a few days ago when Meng Zhao came to renovate. Seeing Meng Zhao arrive now, she came out to greet him.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
