Looking at the pile of copper plates on the table, even Pei Jianing felt a little excited. When she was a princess, she never felt anything for the pile of precious treasures in the palace. Instead, she looked down on those who would bow down for gold and silver. Now she knows that it is a different feeling to earn money by herself, which makes her want to make money by herself. She also wants to do something she likes and make money like her fourth sister-in-law.

In fact, she didn't mind being a cook, nor did she think there was anything wrong with helping her fourth sister-in-law do these things.

Of course, I did have some thoughts at the beginning, thinking that I had never done this kind of work before and it was a bit embarrassing, but after working for almost a month, I no longer had those tangled thoughts.

But there was very little she could do to help Fourth Sister-in-law. The most she could do was to scrape the fish scales and fish meat off the bones. She couldn't even fillet the fish.

There was also the pounding of fish paste, but she didn't have enough strength. The fourth sister-in-law said that because she didn't have enough strength, the fish balls made from the pounded fish paste wouldn't taste right.

So this job was also done by fourth brother.

She is not cut out to be a cook; she has no talent for it.

When she was in the palace before, she knew that her father was not feeling well, so she wanted to make soup for him herself. However, the soup she made according to Chef Yu’s instructions tasted completely different.

It's not as delicious as the soup cooked by my mother.

In fact, the soup cooked by my mother is just average, but my father always says it tastes good.

Thinking of his father, Pei Jianing felt a pang of pain in his heart.

My father really dotes on her.

If they were born in an ordinary family, they would definitely live a happy life.

Pei Jianing didn't come back to his senses until he heard the clattering sound of the copper plates on the table. He looked towards the table and saw that it was his fourth sister-in-law who started counting the copper plates.

Pei Jianing smiled and started counting the copper coins.

One hundred copper plates are strung together with a linen rope so that they can be counted easily.

In this way, ten strings of money are equal to one Guan.

Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er sat on a small stool in the kitchen and watched Mo Yu playing in the yard. In the kitchen, Xu Qinyu and Pei Jianing were counting money.

Pei Weixuan just sat there, watching Yu Niang and her sister counting money.

Yu Niang smiled so much that her eyebrows were curved, and she couldn't hide the smile on her face.

Sister Ning also had a faint smile on her face.

The family seemed to have changed under Yu Niang's influence. They no longer gave up on themselves and began to have the desire to live a good life.

Pei Weixuan didn't know why, but he felt a little soft in his heart.

He was slightly startled and pressed his hand against his chest. This seemed to be the first time he experienced this soft feeling in his heart.

When his elder brother and father got into trouble, he was also sad. He also had feelings for his family, but this sadness and feelings were more like a bond thicker than blood. He had never experienced this kind of soft-hearted feeling.

Xu Qinyu quickly counted the money and said with a smile, "Today I made a total of more than two guan and sixty-two coins."

There were about 100 portions of glutinous rice sausage and 200 tea leaf eggs, all of which were sold out in less than half an hour in the morning, and they cost 1,200 coins.

In fact, the money earned from breakfast accounts for the majority.

The braised fish with fish balls and fish head stewed with tofu in the afternoon cost only over 800 coins in total, but I still earned almost 600 coins from the fish balls.

Excluding costs, the total profit is about 40%.

That means today's net profit is almost one hundred thousand yuan.

If you do the math, you can earn more than twenty taels of silver a month.

Because the weather was too cold, it seemed that the stall fee at the pier had to be paid by oneself, otherwise he would be fined if found out. Xu Qinyu learned about this from Xia's sister-in-law, so he went to the government office a few days ago to pay a month's stall fee, thirty cents a day, which was nine hundred cents a month.

If you open a restaurant or a wine shop in the future, the cost will be much higher.

This is the commercial tax in ancient times, also known as market tax, or market rent, which is collected according to the location of the stall and the size of the shop.

She has not yet learned the details of the store's taxes.

In fact, it was because she earned a lot, so she didn't think that 900 wen a month as a stall fee was a big deal. Otherwise, if she could earn a hundred wen a day from the food stalls at the pier, it would be good, and she still had to pay the stall fee.

Pei Jianing murmured, "Are there so many?"

She knows how much an ordinary small business owner can earn in a day, and she also knows how difficult it is for ordinary people to earn money by working.

After counting the money, Xu Qinyu put the stringed money back into the wooden box and locked it. She calculated that if she worked hard every day and earned more than twenty taels a month, she would be able to save more than a hundred taels in half a year, which would be enough to open a restaurant by then. She would definitely start with a small restaurant with a smaller investment. A restaurant is basically a one-story shop with a backyard and a kitchen.

Large restaurants are called wine shops, and they are generally two stories high.

The largest Donglaiju in the town has four floors.

It is definitely better to open a restaurant early. After opening the restaurant, you can take in a few apprentices and hire some helpers, then you won’t have to work so hard.

In her modern private restaurant, she has her own apprentices cook for her, and she spends a lot of time researching new dishes.

A table of dishes she cooks can be sold for as much as 100,000 yuan per table. It's her cooking skills that are really appreciated.

In fact, she already has the idea of ​​taking in a disciple, but she just hasn't met the right person.

Ning Jie'er definitely can't do it, she has no talent for cooking.

Even if you want to accept an apprentice, you need to have some talent in cooking.

After counting the money, Wen also came back. She came back late today.

Knowing that Yu Niang had sold more than two guan today and her profit was almost half, Wen was also surprised. However, she knew Yu Niang's craftsmanship. Even if Yu Niang worked in a big restaurant, she would earn thirty or fifty taels of silver a month!

After dinner, when everything for tomorrow's breakfast is almost ready, the family washes up and goes to bed.

Xu Qinyu was groggy before going to sleep and couldn't help but think of her original self.

She occupied the body of the original owner. Although she didn't want to come to this place, she was already here and there was probably no possibility of going back.

She hoped that the real second daughter of Marquis Dechang's mansion would be the same as her, or perhaps enter her body, which would also be good.

The original body was too weak and not suitable for survival in this dynasty. If she had gone to her era, she would definitely have been able to survive well.

No matter what, she hoped that her original body could live well and strong.

As she was thinking, Xu Qinyu fell asleep.

…

The Pei family slept soundly.

The Xu family was a little depressed when they had dinner today. After eating fish balls yesterday, they planned to buy some other things to try today. In the morning, they heated up the remaining three pounds of fish balls and ate them. In the evening, Xu Kongmu thought that he had to get off work early today, so he didn't ask the cook to buy fish from Guihuaxiang in the morning. It wouldn't be too late to sell it after he got off work.

The result was really late.

It was not yet the end of the afternoon when he went there, but all the food made by Miss Xu was sold out.

Seeing him coming, Miss Xu smiled and said, "If Xu Kongmu wants to eat, I will leave some for you tomorrow. You can come and get it after you are off work. What would you like to eat? I have fish balls, braised herring and fish head stewed with tofu."

Xu Kongmu asked Miss Xu to leave her five pounds of fish balls, a large braised herring and a large portion of fish head stewed with tofu.

But at night, we still ate the food cooked by the cook. It wasn’t bad, but the taste was just average.

But compared with the food cooked by Miss Xu, the food cooked by his cook is really bad.

The next night, when he left the government office and went to Guihua Lane again, all of Miss Xu's fish had been sold out. Fortunately, he had placed an order yesterday, otherwise he would not have been able to buy it today. After paying the money, Xu Kongmu went back with the food box.

After returning to the Xu family, Xu Kongmu asked the cook to heat up the three dishes without adding any other side dishes.

However, there were three other dishes prepared by the cook, lean meat with bean sprouts, stewed radish and a scrambled egg.

The scrambled eggs were specially prepared for Xiger, but after Xiger had eaten fish balls and fish head tofu, he refused to eat eggs. The braised herring had bones, so Xu Kongmu did not give it to his grandson. However, his grandson ate the other two dishes with gusto.

I followed Ms. Xu’s advice when making the fish balls, cutting them before feeding them to the children, otherwise they might choke.

The three fish dishes all had their own unique flavors and tasted very good, no wonder they sold out so quickly.

The other members of the Xu family also praised the three dishes.

Xu Yunlan asked a few more questions, "Dad, how old is my sister-in-law? It's amazing that she has such skills."

She thought that to be able to make such a delicious dish, she must be quite old.

Xu Kongmu thought for a moment and said, "He seems to be about the same age as you."

Xu Yunlan's eyes widened in surprise, "You're only fifteen and you already have such skills?" Then she is still a young girl.

Even the veteran chef who has worked as a chef at Donglaiju for 30 years can't make food that tastes like this. The taste is simply incomparable.

Xu Kongmu nodded. "It's indeed not big, but the craftsmanship is very good."

Xiang said, "It's not just her cooking skills that are great. I'm afraid there's no one in the entire Yuanbao Town who can match her cooking skills. If we host a banquet for your superiors in the future, can we also invite this young lady to come to our house and cook for us?"

Xu Kongmu nodded. "Ms. Xu sells food to support her family. It should be fine. When we host a banquet for the top officials, I will go and say hello to Ms. Xu in advance."

Of course, remuneration is essential.

Xu Kongmu will be out on a case tomorrow, and he has already told Miss Xu that the cook will come to serve the fish tomorrow.

Such delicious food would not make you sick of it even if you eat it for ten days or half a month, so he gave her the money for the next ten days’ food.

…

In the following days, Xu Qinyu's business was also very smooth. Both breakfast and dinner at home were sold out quickly and the stall was closed.

Nowadays, more and more people from Xixiang come to buy fish, carrying food boxes or clay pots. On the way back, they can also meet other people. Some of them are familiar with each other, so they naturally stand and chat for a while, talking about where they are going and where they are going. People who buy food from Xu Qinyu naturally say that they come to Guihuaxiang to buy fish, and how delicious the fish is.

In short, within a few days, Xu Qinyu's reputation for cooking fish gradually spread. At least everyone in South Street knew that there was a young lady in Guihua Lane who could cook fish, and the fish she cooked was delicious without any earthy smell.

Some people believe it, and some people have deep-rooted ideas about fish, thinking that fish has a strong fishy smell and is unpalatable, and that it can never be delicious. Otherwise, why doesn't Donglaiju have a chef who can cook fish?

Maybe it is because of the deep-rooted idea about fish that chefs here rarely study how to make fish delicious.

However, even if someone wanted to come to Guihua Lane to buy fish to try, they couldn’t buy any.

Because her fish are now only enough for the neighbors in Guihua Lane and Laixi Lane to buy.

Even so, sometimes some people still can't afford it.

As the days passed, the snow became heavier and lighter, occasionally stopping for a few days.

However, it always snowed heavily every time Fourth Brother took a medicinal bath.

Fourth brother has finished his four medicinal baths. By the last time, there was almost no black substance in his meridians, but they were not the blue color of ordinary people's blood vessels, but still a little dark.

Xu Qinyu was also a little worried, and secretly asked her fourth brother whether the poison in his body had completely disappeared.

Pei Weixuan just said, it’s almost done.

He didn't tell Yu Niang that this poison could not be completely cured, but she was able to survive. As for how her body would be in the future, he actually had no idea.

The whole family breathed a sigh of relief when the fourth brother recovered.

Xu Qinyu's breakfast and evening food stall also continued.

By the time the Chinese New Year was approaching, Xu Qinyu had saved nearly forty taels of silver.

When she had time, she widened the wooden shed in the yard and covered the corners of the wall so that she could put jars and pots in the corners, which were filled with kimchi and pickled vegetables she made. When the weather gets warmer, she plans to make a jar of bean paste, which she will definitely need when she opens a restaurant in the future. Bean paste is an indispensable condiment for cooking.

As the Chinese New Year was approaching, the snow stopped and everyone started busy preparing for the New Year.

If it is based on previous years, the southwest will only have two snowfalls around the New Year, sometimes heavy and sometimes light, but the weather here is not particularly cold anyway.

The snowfall in various places this year is abnormal.

There are chickens, ducks, fish and pork at home, and there is no shortage of food and drink. Xu Qinyu bought some raw melon seeds and peanuts and fried them herself. As for pastries, she often makes egg cakes for the two children. She plans to make some on the 28th or 29th of Ramadan, and some mung bean cakes by the way. The family also bought red dates and made some date paste rice cakes.

She even bought some mutton to eat during the New Year.

We sometimes eat mutton at home, but we don’t see any pregnant ewes and no one sells goat milk.

She planned to take a break and have a holiday on the 28th day of the Lunar New Year, and then resume selling breakfast and dinner around the 8th day of the Lunar New Year.

Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er have been eating the food she prepared for more than two months. They have become visibly fatter and their skin has become fair and tender again. They are both beautiful children. After being well raised, they have become as delicate as delicate jade. They are so beautiful.

Even Sister Yan refused to speak, and Brother Feng was born dumb and could not speak since birth.

If a person is born deaf, he or she basically cannot speak, because he or she cannot hear any sound and naturally does not know how to make any sound. But Feng Ge'er can hear and is very well-behaved.

Sister Yan witnessed the death of her mother and younger brother with her own eyes, which traumatized her and made her unwilling to speak.

Pei Weixuan knew medicine. He said that Sister Yan had a knot in her heart, and she would not be able to speak unless she was willing to speak in the future.

So the family members don’t force anything. Now they just hope that the two children can eat well and grow up well.

On the 28th day of the Lunar New Year, after selling all the fish, Xu Qinyu smiled and told her neighbors, "The Chinese New Year is in two days. Starting tomorrow, I will stop selling breakfast and dinner and start to take a break. I will probably wait until the eighth day of the Lunar New Year before I can continue selling fish."

The neighbors all expressed their understanding, and two days ago Xu Qinyu told everyone that she would rest on the 28th.

The neighbors in the two alleys had wanted to ask Miss Xu to make more fish balls for the New Year. The fish balls could be kept as they would be used to entertain guests during the New Year.

But every household needs them, and even if Miss Xu worked herself to death she still couldn't make that many fish balls.

So there is no other choice but to buy more fish balls a few days in advance and keep them at home without eating them first. They can be saved in a few days and used to entertain guests during the Chinese New Year.

Xu Qinyu was also very happy to be able to rest for ten days.

The New Year is coming soon. In addition to food and drink, everyone in the family has to prepare new clothes.

Both Mrs. Wen and Sister Ning know how to do needlework. In fact, the original body can do it too, but Xu Qinyu definitely can't. She is not the original body, and even if she has the original body's memory, she cannot have the same skills as the original body.

It would definitely be too late to make clothes now after buying the cloth. Wen and Ning Jie'er have a lot of work to do on weekdays, and it is not easy to make clothes.

Although Xia's family's house was a cloth shop, they also sold ready-made clothes and even embroidered purses. They made embroidered purses and consigned them to Xia's cloth shop for sale.

On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, Xu Qinyu and her family planned to go out for a walk after breakfast.

It didn't snow these two days, and the sun even came out. I have hardly seen the sun in the past two months.

Xia's shop is on West Street, so they plan to go shopping there.

I asked Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er if they wanted to go, and both children nodded.

If both children went, they would definitely be seen at home, so Pei Weixuan chose to stay at home to look after the house, as he did not like shopping.

Wen took Feng Ge'er out, while Xu Qinyu and Pei Jianing took Yan Jie'er out.

The snow on the road was melting, making a crunching sound when stepped on.

Most of the people live on South Street, and there are not many shops, except for some small vendors here and there. There is a market on North Street, but the Xia family cloth shop is on West Street, so they went directly to West Street.

I have already bought the ingredients for Chinese New Year such as melon seeds, peanuts and dates. I came here today to buy clothes.

When we arrived at the Xia family cloth shop, Mrs. Wu was also there. It was almost New Year, and the cloth shop was busier than usual, so she came to help. Shao Ge'er was also brought along. Xiao Cui was watching Shao Ge'er in the backyard, and Zhuzi was also helping in the shop.

Seeing Xu Qinyu and the others, Mrs. Wu was also very happy, "Miss Xu, why are you here?"

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Come here to pick out new clothes for the New Year. Sister-in-law wishes your business a prosperous future."

Who wouldn't like to hear this? Mrs. Wu had a smile on her face.

"You can choose whatever you like, and we'll give it to you at a lower price later."

"Okay, Sister Xia, you go get busy first."

After the Chinese New Year, the weather will get warmer. They already have two thick long jackets, so they definitely cannot buy any thicker clothes. So they picked out thin short jackets and long skirts. Of course, they were made of the most common fabrics, and cost more than a hundred coins each. On weekdays, she had to do some work, so the colors she picked were not bright. This time, she chose a sandalwood brown short jacket and a Yuanqing long skirt. They were both darker colors and more resistant to dirt.

Finally, he picked out a rosewood-colored, dark purple robe for Pei Weixuan.

Mrs. Wen and Sister Ning also picked out thin shirts that they could still wear after the New Year.

I even bought some for my two children. They are very clean and don’t need to help adults with any work, so I bought them brighter colors.

After picking all these, Xu Qinyu saw the consignment purse and the scattered pieces of cloth and fur next to it, and suddenly an idea flashed through her mind.

She glanced at Wen and Ning again, and finally picked up the scattered bits of satin and fur scraps and prepared to buy them.

Mrs. Wu was also very surprised to see Xu Qinyu holding some scraps of cloth and fur, and she didn't know what the young lady was trying to do.

These scraps are usually sold cheaply to others and can be used to sew purses, but the purses made are of mediocre designs and few people buy them.

The leftover fur materials were even less useful, as few people wore hats here. It was only when she saw Miss Xu and her husband always going out in the wind and snow that she thought of using the leftover fur materials to make two not-so-nice hats and gloves for them.

Mrs. Wu asked curiously, and Xu Qinyu said mysteriously, "I want to take these fur scraps back to make something, and then I'll tell my sister-in-law."

Mrs. Wu did not ask any more questions, and finally sold the six sets of clothes along with the scraps to Xu Qinyu for six hundred yuan.

After buying clothes, Xu Qinyu did not disturb Mrs. Xia. She went to the Gold and Silver Shop next door to have a look. The jewelry there were all very beautiful, but she was reluctant to buy any of them because she still had to save money to open a restaurant.

Mrs. Wen and Sister Ning had no interest in the jewelry in the gold and silver chamber and thought they were just average.

They have lived in the most noble palace in the world. What kind of treasures have they not seen?

Even the jewelry inlaid with filigree and various gemstones and pearls is boring.

Wen originally wanted to let Yu Niang buy one or two pieces of jewelry to wear, but seeing that Yu Niang refused, she did not persuade her much, because she knew that Yu Niang only wanted to earn more money to open a restaurant.

In fact, she wanted Yu Niang to sell the ginseng that she had found on Xuan Ge'er Mountain before, so that the money would be enough to open the restaurant.

But Yu Niang hesitated and did not agree. She said that in a place like this, wild ginseng of that quality could not even be found in a pharmacy. It was a good thing that could sustain life, and if it was sold, it would be gone forever.

Mrs. Wen thought that she could earn thirty cents a day by washing clothes, so she saved some and gave it to Yu Niang when she needed it.

There was very little she could do to help with other aspects of cooking. She just helped to select vegetables, process ingredients and keep them clean. She couldn't do much else, so she went out to wash clothes.

After browsing the jewelry shop, Xu Qinyu decided to go back.

When I get home, I have to prepare all kinds of fried nuts, snacks, and fried vegetables for the New Year.

Just as they were about to go back, the group ran into a girl wearing a rabbit fur cloak as they came out of the jewelry shop. The girl had a bright face, with new makeup from the capital city, which made her look even more radiant. She was also wearing a rabbit fur cloak, which attracted a lot of attention along the way. The girl felt a little proud to be followed by such attention.

The girl was accompanied by another girl of similar age and two brothers.

The two brothers who looked 70% alike had impatient looks on their faces and were obviously not very willing to follow the girl.

When Xu Qinyu saw the girl, she was stunned. Isn't this Wen Lingling, the niece from Wen's maternal side?

If Deputy Captain Chen hadn't intervened on the way to exile, she might have had a fight with this girl.

But why are these members of the Wen family in Yuanbao Town? She thought they would abandon the town and choose to stay in Raozhou City.

The three people behind Wen Lingling seemed to be brothers and sisters of the Wen family.

However, regardless of whether the Wen family was also in Yuanbao Town, Xu Qinyu had no intention of dealing with the Wen family. Although they were her stepmother-in-law's family, they did not regard her as their own family, and her stepmother-in-law did not have any deep feelings for them, except for her biological mother, Aunt Gui. But Aunt Gui was Old Lady Wen's concubine, and it was difficult for her to leave. Divorce in ancient times was not so easy.

Xu Qinyu was about to leave, but Wen Pingling also saw her, turned around and stopped in front of Xu Qinyu.

"Fourth sister-in-law, aunt, sister Ning, what a coincidence."