Chapter 13 013 Boiled Sliced Pork
As life gradually returned to normal, Wen Fan began to think of the sauces and fruit wines he had made in his previous life.
At palace banquets, ministers would flatter the emperor to please him, and the emperor would generously bestow gifts upon them on several occasions. These gifts later circulated outside the palace and became incredibly popular. Occasionally, eunuchs would come to flatter Wen Fan, saying they had seen sauce shops outside the palace making sauces based on those very sauces.
The taste is naturally not as good as that of the palace, but it sells quite well because it carries the subtle title of "coming from the palace".
When Wen Fan heard this news in her previous life, she sighed. When she was twenty-five, she had also thought about leaving the palace. However, before she could report it, the chief eunuch of the Empress's side came to deliver an imperial edict in a tone of bestowing favor, saying that the Empress, considering her meritorious service, specially granted her permission to stay in the palace.
Wen Fan had no right to refuse; her future was already laid out before her.
With no hope of leaving the palace, Wen Fan had no choice but to rethink her future. She even started selecting from the newly arrived palace maids, intending to take on a few as her personal apprentices.
She hadn't even taken on the role of apprentice when the accident happened...
Wen Fan shook his head, no longer thinking about the past within those red walls.
She compiled a list of several highly praised sauces from her previous life, most of which she couldn't make now. Even an emperor, with his vast wealth, received many rare and exotic fruits as tribute from foreign lands. Wen Fan wasn't even sure if some of the ingredients were still available.
After counting and considering, all we can do now is make watermelon sauce and soybeans.
Soak the soybeans until they are almost fully softened, then boil them in a pot of broth. Drain the cooked soybeans, coat them with flour, and then place them in a winnowing basket to ferment.
After finishing all that, Wen Fan finally had time to prepare today's meal.
The menu was decided last night; today we're having boiled sliced pork.
Cut the pork tenderloin into thin slices. Add salt, scallions, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, and water to the pork slices several times, stirring until the slices become smooth and tender. Then add a little cornstarch slurry and coat with a thin layer of oil to allow the meat to absorb the flavors. Heat the bottom of a wok, add plenty of oil, and then add various spices, especially several types of chili peppers.
When the red oil in the broth appeared and the aroma of chili filled the whole house, Wen Fan added the previously rested meat slices to the broth, stirred them gently a few times, and then it was ready to serve.
Finally, pour hot oil over the minced garlic, chopped green onions, and Sichuan peppercorns, and the sizzling sound signals the end of the dish.
The mother was so overwhelmed by the spiciness that she couldn't open her eyes, and with red eyes, she packed up the food.
There were more meals available today, and the delivery riders who came to pick them up looked troubled.
"This is too much; my suitcases are overflowing."
Wen's mother apologized to the other party with deep remorse and gave them a rice bowl, which finally allowed the meal to be delivered smoothly.
"How about we find a stable summer job as food delivery workers?"
As business boomed during the summer vacation, Wen's mother was heartbroken by the commissions charged by food delivery platforms. Whether it was a direct order from the platform or a delivery service, a significant portion of each order had to go to the platform. Delivery services were already expensive, and with so many orders, she couldn't deliver them all at once. After several trips, even the delivery fees became a problem.
But Wen's mother felt it wasn't worth hiring a full-time employee.
We don't even know if our own business can grow bigger. Even these past few days, we've only made four or five hundred a day. That's more than before, but we don't know how things will be when school starts.
The more Wen's mother thought about it, the more she felt that finding a stable rider was the most suitable option.
But who to ask was also a problem. She didn't trust strangers, so Wen's mother took the initiative to ask the neighbors who came to patronize her business.
The Wen family's restaurant has shops on both sides. To the left is a pharmacy at the end of the street, and to the right, towards the school, is a small shop.
The three families had no business competition and often ran into each other. Over time, Wen's mother became very familiar with both families.
The pharmacy's regular customer is the family's daughter, Qu Qingqing, who is a few years older than Wen Fan. After graduating from nursing school, she took over the family pharmacy. She didn't come often before, but recently she's been coming for every meal.
The shopkeeper was about the same age as Wen's mother; her name was Song Hui. She was plump and looked like a kind and honest person.
These were the two main questions Wen's mother asked. The two families' houses were not far apart, and they were far more familiar with the area than Wen's mother.
Upon hearing this, Song Hui slapped her thigh.
"You should have said so earlier! My husband has been lying around at home all day lately, working day and night like a weasel. He'd be perfect for that!"
Song Hui showed no pity for her son; her words were full of anxiety for Wen's mother to make a decision, and she launched into a tirade against Wen's mother.
“He plays video games every night and sleeps all day. This morning when I got up and looked in the kitchen, I almost thought it had been burgled. The whole house was a mess. I pulled the kid out of bed and asked him what happened, and he said he was too hungry last night and made himself something to eat…”
Song Hui was at her wits' end. Her son had just finished his driver's license test a few days ago, and now he had nothing to do. She couldn't find a part-time job at this hour, so she could only watch him laze around at home.
While Song Hui was rambling on and on, Qu Qingqing's eyes also lit up.
"No, Aunt Hui, if you put it that way, my brother would be suitable too. He just finished his exams and has nothing to do lately."
"Your brother hasn't submitted his college application yet, has he?"
"With his grades, there's no doubt he'll get into a local junior college. My parents haven't been happy with him lately, and if he stays home for a few more days, he'll probably be sent to the countryside."
Song Hui's eyes darted around: "Your brother is eighteen?"
Qu Qingqing paused for a moment, then said, "It'll only be a few days. Besides, I can start working as soon as I turn sixteen. What's the problem?"
Song Hui: "Qingqing, don't put pressure on your brother. He finally gets a chance to rest and catch his breath. Let him rest this summer."
Qu Qingqing: "He's still taking a break? He got this score, and he's taken plenty of breaks these past few years. He's had a great time during his three years of high school."
Wen's mother, Song Hui: ...
Ultimately, it was Wen's mother who made the decision.
"Then let all the kids come. My shop doesn't have many orders, mainly because I deliver meals to the library at noon. Sister Hui, Qingqing, I won't say much, I'll cover lunch and dinner, how about a monthly pass of one thousand yuan per child?"
This was the first time Wen's mother had spoken to someone like this. As soon as she spoke, her heart pounded. She was afraid that she hadn't said enough, and that the two of them would feel that she hadn't said enough, and that the neighbors wouldn't be able to get along.
To everyone's surprise, Song Hui and Qu Qingqing's eyes lit up: "It's settled then!"
Is a thousand yuan a small amount? It is a bit little, but consider how small Wen's mother's shop is. Song Hui and Qu Qingqing's families didn't want their children to work too hard; they just let them run around a bit around mealtimes and provided two meals a day!
Song Hui couldn't wait to go back and talk to her son.
"I'll take the bait for this brat. It doesn't matter how much he earns, as long as he doesn't keep working day and night like this!"
Qu Qingqing simply lowered her head and sent a series of messages without even looking for a reply: "Qu Xiaoyu is fine, he'll be at the store in a bit."
Wen's mother gave a dry laugh, thinking that Qu Xiaoyu on the other end probably didn't have the right to say no.
Wen's mother turned off the food delivery platform's delivery service and opted for self-delivery. However, she immediately noticed something was wrong after making the selection.
Originally, the store did not have any promotional activities, but at some point, a "spend 25 and get 10 off" promotional sign appeared under the store's name on the platform.
When Ms. Wen checked her earnings in the backend, sure enough, there were five more orders than expected. However, each order had been eligible for a discount, making them much cheaper than in the store. What's even more outrageous is that the backend showed a deduction of 500 yuan, which was for purchasing promotional traffic.
Ms. Wen called the salesperson who had previously made the sale: "Hello, we didn't participate in the activity, why is there a platform activity suddenly appearing?"
The salesperson dodged the question: "We're a new store. I've checked the reviews these past few days, and they're very good. We just need a little traffic. The platform is running this promotion for your benefit, providing a stable 3,000 visits per day. Our orders will definitely increase day by day..."
Mrs. Wen frowned: "We don't plan to participate in any activities for the time being."
Currently, the store's orders come from three sources: dine-in, which is always full during mealtimes; library delivery, which is steadily increasing; and takeout.
Actually, Wen's mother had noticed the problem with the food delivery platform a few days ago. The initial reviews were all good, but the number of orders just wouldn't increase. The platform only processed seven or eight orders a day, and some customers even said they couldn't find their store on the platform.
Wen's mother knew this was because her daughter wasn't running promotions, which was why she wasn't getting traffic from the platform. But she still suppressed her anger: "Please take down the discounts. Our store doesn't offer discounts for purchases over a certain amount."
The salesperson on the other end hesitated, and soon someone else answered the phone.
A haughty male voice rang out: "Xia Yingzhi, right? Your store's online traffic is terrible. I only gave you a push because I think you have potential. Don't be so stubborn. If you don't earn much from delivery orders, you can pack less, use smaller boxes, and cut costs..."
Mother Wen: "This isn't about cutting costs. Who do you think you are?"
"I'm the person in charge of this area. To be honest, your store has been open for a week now. If you don't start promoting it, you'll just be relegated to the bottom of the rankings. I've read all the reviews for your store, and it has the potential to become a store with a thousand orders..."
This person talked for a long time.
Wen's mother still insisted: "No need, please take the event down, otherwise I will file a complaint."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. Then the phone was switched to another person, and the salesperson took the call again, saying helplessly, "Okay, I'll process the refund for you, and the promotion will be taken down."
The call ended.
The salesperson looked at the manager beside him: "I told you this store wouldn't agree." This manager was newly appointed, and it was the end of the month, so he was determined to achieve good results. However, this kind of behavior of secretly participating in promotions without the store's knowledge would be punished by headquarters if they found out.
The manager smoked irritably, his voice tinged with frustration: "I told you to just do it half-heartedly, but this guy is so stubborn."
"So I refunded her?"
"Remove it, demote this store. It's ridiculous that they think they can grow big just by relying on dine-in. Nowadays, restaurants that don't do online sales are basically facing a slow death. I've seen too many small shops like this; a large number of them go out of business every year. They don't want to participate in promotions, huh? Fine, they don't need to participate in any more promotions from now on. Let's see when this store closes down."
Wen's mother was unaware that someone was waiting to see her make a fool of herself. All she knew was that with two part-time workers in place, her daily food delivery schedule would be taken care of.
Qu Xiaoyu and Yang Tao were pulled into the store by their parents. As soon as they entered, they were hit by a spicy aroma that made them sneeze twice.
Mother Wen said gently, "Come, come, let's eat first and then we can talk."
The anger that had been building up when their parents pulled them out of bed suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon, and Qu Xiaoyu and Yang Tao obediently sat down.
A note from the author:
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