Lunch lasted for more than two hours, and all the food and drinks were eaten up.
After the meal, Wang Yuan quietly paid the bill. Chen Jing only found out that the bill had already been paid when he asked the shop owner to pay.
He laughed and patted Wang Yuan on the shoulder: "Brother Yuan, things are different when you make money. I remember three or four months ago, you even called five or six of your brothers to beat me up over a few dollars in rent."
"Brother Jing, let's not talk about such disgusting things." A rare hint of embarrassment appeared on Wang Yuan's usually carefree face.
"What are you worried about? You went from being penniless a few months ago to being able to easily treat people to meals and spend hundreds of dollars in just three or four months. That proves you can make money now."
Chen Jing laughed and waved to his new acquaintances: "Don't worry, I have the ability to make money. As long as you are willing to follow me, I will teach you how to make money and I will never let you suffer from poverty again."
"Brother Jing is awesome!" The underlings cheered excitedly.
Hou Xiaolian and Chen Qiuyu asked Ji Xia in surprise, "This kind of meal costs over a hundred yuan?"
Good heavens, what kind of food is this? In the countryside, a lavish banquet would only cost around twenty yuan.
Is the food at this restaurant really that expensive?
Ji Xia smiled faintly: "It shouldn't cost a hundred, but prices in the capital are higher than in the countryside. Not to mention anything else, just a plate of roast duck costs more than ten yuan, and the sea cucumber is also quite expensive, nine yuan and ninety cents a plate!"
"Besides the food, don't forget, these drinks and sodas are free! They drank two cases, more than twenty bottles! All in all, it probably costs seventy or eighty yuan."
Well, there were eleven or twelve of them, and they ordered sixteen dishes, so it's normal for the total to be seventy or eighty yuan.
Chen Qiuyu and Hou Xiaolian were speechless; this meal could have cost them a month's salary.
"Let's go buy pots and pans and bowls later. We can cook for ourselves tonight. Eating out is too expensive."
Upon hearing this, Ji Xia couldn't help but chuckle. In fact, if you're alone, eating a regular meal outside for a few meals wouldn't necessarily bankrupt you.
However, her spending habits differ greatly from Hou Xiaolian's, which is understandable.
Hou Xiaolian and her brother lost their parents at a young age and relied on each other for survival, living in poverty.
Before Chen Jing brought the two siblings into the Sansheng Workshop, they couldn't even get enough to eat every day, let alone have any luxuries.
Even though Ji Xia didn't earn money, she was still the youngest child in the family. The Ji family was quite well-off, and she never had to give any household expenses to the family after she started working, which showed the Ji family's living conditions.
She was truly poor in her previous life after getting married; in this life, she has never been poor!
A group of people walked out of the small restaurant arm in arm. Ji Xia looked at the hot weather and said, "A Jing, let's split up and go shopping. You and Hou Fang go to the market to prepare kitchen utensils, such as clay pots, iron pots, and stoves. I'll take the two of them to the department store to buy some daily necessities."
Chen Jing looked at his brothers beside him, thought about it, and agreed.
Three months ago, they rented a place with only a small coal stove and a kettle; they had no other kitchen utensils.
If you have too many things to buy, it will be faster to go separately.
Ji Xia took Chen Qiuyu and Hou Xiaolian to the department store to buy daily necessities: soap, towels, water cups, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and slippers.
Towels, slippers, and toothpaste are fine, but why are soap, toothpaste, and water cups provided individually for each person?
The essential kitchen items include oil, salt, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, a spatula for stir-frying, chopsticks, bowls, soup plates, and vegetable plates.
Other foods include red dates, goji berries, kelp, dried shrimp, seaweed, brown sugar, malted milk powder, candies, and biscuits.
Chen Qiuyu and Hou Xiaolian followed behind Ji Xia and saw her constantly having people fetch goods and issue invoices as if money were no object. The two large baskets she had specially bought were filled to the brim, and she could hardly stop.
Then, they saw Ji Xia take out a large stack of national receipts and a large stack of banknotes from her small bag.
The two girls exchanged glances several times, thinking, "Sister Ji Xia is amazing, she's so generous with money."
It took two whole days to tidy up the house, organize the yard, and clean up the kitchen.
The three girls tidied up the courtyard house, cleaning the house and kitchen before heading to the yard, where they planted trees in the specially reserved open space.
Autumn vegetables and fruits were planted in the open space beside the path, and fruit trees were planted in the corner of the wall and in the yard.
There are cherries, plums, peaches, and pomegranates in spring and summer, and oranges, apples, pears, and grapes in autumn and winter.
Hearing that grape seedlings are most likely to survive when transplanted in autumn, Chen Jing bought twenty or thirty grape seedlings that were two feet tall and built a grape trellis along the path, just waiting for them to grow into a shady green corridor next summer.
Because Ji Xia wanted to make wine, Chen Jing also bought twenty or thirty catties of Kyoho grapes and Longan grapes, as well as a twenty-catty glass jar.
Hearing that wine was being made, not only the two girls were curious, but also Wang Yuan, Ah Xiong, and a few of his underlings gathered around to watch.
On the night of the housewarming party, Ji Xia and two girls started making wine.
The grapes were soaked in well water with salt for twenty minutes, then spread out in a basket to drain.
Wash the glass jars thoroughly, scald them inside and out with boiling water, drain them, put the grapes into a clean bowl, crush them one by one with a wooden pestle to extract the juice, then pour it into the jar and add rock sugar in the correct proportions.
A 20-pound jar was filled with 30 pounds of mashed grapes.
Finally, she sealed the jar and let it ferment in the room. To make the wine look better, she covered the jar with a dark cloth to block out the light.
After finishing everything, Ji Xia sat down to rest. Wang Yuan asked curiously, "Is it that simple? Is that all?"
Ji Xia smiled and nodded: "Actually, it is indeed simple. Just get the proportion of rock sugar right. The biggest concern is that if hygiene is not done well, bacteria can easily grow."
"So, just make sure it's clean and hygienic. How long will it take to turn into wine?"
"Once fermentation is complete, it will take about half a month to a month in autumn and winter. In the hottest part of summer, it can take a week to ten days. Then you can filter out the residue."
Everyone nodded in agreement, showing great interest.
Wang Yuan asked in detail about the ratio of fruit to rock sugar, the steps, etc.: "After my sister-in-law finishes making this wine, I'll try it too. If it's good, I'll make some myself."
"I heard this is the wine that foreigners love to drink. I didn't expect my sister-in-law could make it too. When I make money, I'll make it myself."
The group became more and more excited as they talked, and Chen Jing watched with a smile.
Once everyone quieted down, he smiled and said, "If you want to make money, you have to help out first. The sewing machine and overlock machine I ordered are arriving tomorrow afternoon. Who among you is free to help me pick them up?"
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