When it comes to being domineering, Ah Mian isn't afraid of these well-off employers.
Many years later, Xiao Ayue forgot many of the trivial things from her childhood, but for some reason, this scene left a deep impression on her.
Seeing her mother wearing a half-embroidered apron around her waist, she rushed to the backyard, picked her up with one arm, grabbed a kitchen knife from the kitchen with the other, and strode to the front yard: "Speak honestly! I didn't pay extra to poach your people. Do you think I'm easy to bully since this is my first time opening a shop?! Today I'm telling you, anyone who dares to bully my mother and me will be chopped into minced meat!"
Little Ayue joined in with loud squeaking and wailing, cheering, "Roar!"
“This young lady has such a quick temper; she’ll suffer for it in the future,” the portly landlord stroked his mustache. “I just heard some rumors and came to ask you about it.”
"Yes, yes, put down the knife. Peace brings wealth, peace brings wealth."
Ah Mian said, "If you're going to ask, then ask. Why bring such a bunch of people? Who are you trying to scare!"
"Roar roar roar!"
Originally, everyone's intention was to scare a naive young boss, but no one really wanted to make things too big. There was no need to go to extremes; that would just make them look foolish. It wasn't worth it!
Master Li said, "It's a misunderstanding, look at this mess, it's all a misunderstanding. Young boss, your job posting is written like this, it's a bit targeted at us, we're all just doing business..."
“I didn’t mention your shop in the job posting I wrote. If you’re not happy, you can write your own.”
In a short while, a crowd of onlookers gathered around, pointing and whispering, "You can't bully people like this!"
"It's not easy for that young woman, with a baby in tow!"
The onlookers, driven by a simple sense of morality, shouted with concern, "If you dare to act recklessly again, we won't let you off the hook!"
The crowd was indignant, and no one wanted to make a scene. The owners, like eels, smiled obsequiously, bowed to each other, said a few perfunctory polite words, and quickly slipped away.
In response to Ah Mian's job postings, many shop owners had to slightly increase the wages of their employees to retain them, which stabilized the situation.
In the tofu shop on the other side, little A-Yue, having learned something, would point at people with a small wooden stick all day long, accompanied by fierce words in her childish voice: "Those who bully us, mother and daughter, shall we be punished! We shall be punished for being punished!"
"..."
Meng Chijian glanced at A Mian, who ran to the front yard feeling guilty.
Several chefs have recently approached Ah Mian, but none have been suitable. Most of these chefs found Ah Mian's menu strange and unusual, including many self-created dishes that seemed "not very authentic."
Today, a young chef came to the shop. Ah Mian said, "My shop doesn't serve the dishes that everyone is used to. I have to come up with some new dishes every few months. Otherwise, it would be hard to survive if we only sold tofu. In short, I might even let you try some dishes that you might find 'outrageous'."
The man looked at the menu Ah Mian had written for a while. "I know most of the dishes here. How strange would it seem if you said you'd try new dishes?"
“Hmm…” A-Mian gave a very extreme example, mainly to see how accepting the chef was of new things, “For example, stir-fried tofu with oranges.”
The cook put his hand to his forehead and chuckled a few times. "I thought my pineapple fried rice that got me expelled from the school was bizarre enough, but I never imagined there were such masters in the world. Was your dish delicious?"
Amian shook her head: "It doesn't taste good. Oranges are hard to eat after being heated. They lose all their moisture. And they don't look very appetizing."
"I think so too, but I did think the pineapple fried rice tasted pretty good. Speaking of which, I've seen your sizzling tofu before, and it really impressed me because it was so novel. I thought that kind of cooking equipment must be able to make a lot of interesting dishes!"
"That hot plate is in the kitchen!"
The two hit it off and chatted happily. Meng Chijian came out carrying little A Yue and asked, "Baby said she wants a swing. Do you still have any ropes in the shop?"
"I don't think I can see it. I'll have to look for it."
The cook glanced at the man who had suddenly appeared: "And this is...?"
A-Mian said, "This is my husband."
The cook was momentarily speechless, unsure whether to call her "Master's Wife" (?) or something else. In other restaurants, the owner's wife was usually called "Madam".
In a flash, the cook said, "Greetings, Master and Madam."
Meng Chijian paused for a moment, gave a lukewarm reply, and then left.
The cook felt a chill on the back of his neck, but being a man who wasn't good at social interactions, he didn't understand the purpose of the male employer's wife's visit. He remarked, "The employer looks so young, yet he's already married and has such a lovely child."
"Yes. Come and try the dishes tomorrow. Just pick two dishes from the menu to make."
"Alright!" The cook patted his chest and left happily.
The next day, to A-Mian's surprise, the cook actually made chrysanthemum tofu. "I have good knife skills. One trick is that the knife and the tofu cannot be completely flat. There has to be a slope, and that's how you cut it."
Ah Mian tried it and managed to cut it. She immediately made a decision and decided on the chef.
After that, they hired a clever handyman, a little orphan girl from the charity, and that completed the hiring of all the necessary staff.
Although it hasn't officially opened yet, the shop assistants are very perceptive and come to help out, hoping that Ah Mian's shop will go smoothly and last a long time.
After the shop opened, the servants and waiters would live in the shop, while the cooks lived in the city and could travel back and forth daily.
Then, Ah Mian had another important matter to attend to. After little Ah Yue fell asleep that night, Ah Mian walked around the stone mill in the house, thinking that she had to move this big thing to the shop.
It's a bit too much for A-Dou to move on his own.
“What are you wandering around outside for?” Meng Chijian said. “Lu Amian! Come back and go to sleep. I’ll call Meng Er and A Dou to move your stone mill in a couple of days.”
Amian ran back into the house, happily saving the two laborers' wages for a day, "I'll cook you something delicious."
Everything was ready at the tofu shop, even the signboard was in place. The characters on the signboard were exceptionally large, probably visible from ten miles away, and boldly proclaimed "A Mian Tofu Shop".
However, it is not open for business yet, and currently it is covered with red silk.
They consulted a fortune teller and chose an auspicious date: the 10th of next month to open for business. Wangwang came by several times, praising them repeatedly: "A-Mian, I knew you could do it! Guess what good things I brought you? Oh, little A-Yue, come quick, do you remember your godmother?"
Amian said, "What are you doing? Why are you bringing so much stuff?"
The basket contained a bag of snacks and two plates of firecrackers.
She carefully put the firecrackers away on a high place, brought over two cups of tea, and listened as Wangwang mysteriously said, "Have you heard? The waiters and cooks at the fish soup shop all resigned! Not only that, they also took everything from the shop, even the account books!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
