The tenth day of the twelfth lunar month.
It's a rare nice day. Although the temperature is still below minus twenty degrees Celsius, the sun is shining and, most importantly, there's no wind.
Xu Zhi didn't sleep well last night, so she got up at four in the morning, washed up, and then brought Bai Guo and Bai Ying to the shop.
Many people live in the backyard of the shop. Many of them haven't slept well for several days because of today's opening. After so many days of preparation, although Xu Zhi is the behind-the-scenes boss, the shop has grown from nothing to what it is today under the witness of everyone and with everyone's efforts. It can be said to be the result of everyone's joint efforts and the beginning of everyone's career.
Soon, its secrets will be revealed to the world.
Xu Erzhu, who was appointed as the manager of the Liaodong branch of the Yuanfang Weidao Cake Shop, didn't sleep a wink all night.
Xu Erzhu was a servant born into the Marquis's household. Xu Erzhu's grandfather was a servant of the old Marquis and had followed the old Marquis to the battlefield. Later, he married a maid from the household and settled down in the Marquis's mansion.
As a servant born into a noble family, especially one whose family had been in the Marquis's manor for generations, Xu Erzhu's father was now the head of a manor on the outskirts of Beijing. When he heard that the Ninth Miss was going to recruit a group of people from the manor to go to Liaodong to learn a trade and become shopkeepers in the future, Xu Erzhu's father immediately signed him up.
As a father, what I want to see most is that my children can succeed. However, success requires not only hard work, but also a certain opportunity. Only by seizing the opportunity can one's efforts become the foundation for success. Otherwise, no matter how hard you try, it will only be a waste of energy.
Xu Erzhu's father was getting old and knew he wouldn't be able to hold his position as head of the estate for many more years. He had to make plans for his children. Xu Erzhu was the youngest in the family. His older sisters had gone to serve the Marquis's mansion since they were young, and his eldest son was learning to be a shopkeeper in the Marquis's mansion. Xu Erzhu's parents couldn't bear to part with their youngest child. Xu Erzhu was already sixteen years old, but he was still working on the estate with his father. Xu Erzhu's father was getting anxious.
Xu Erzhu's father felt that the Ninth Miss's recruitment of people in the mansion was an opportunity for his son. He helped Xu Erzhu seize this opportunity, hoping that his son would work hard under the Ninth Miss and become someone who would command respect, whether he became a manager or learned a trade.
After Xu Erzhu's father told him all this, Xu Erzhu felt quite excited.
The Marquis's mansion is large and prosperous, with a large population, especially the servants. Every year, the Marquis's mansion selects some of these servants to either learn martial arts and become the Marquis's mansion's personal guards, or to work as shop assistants in various shops, learning how to do business from the shopkeepers and eventually becoming the Marquis's mansion's shopkeepers.
Xu Erzhu's elder brother was chosen by the Marquis's mansion to work as a shop assistant. He has become the second manager of the shop and lives with his wife and children in the alley behind the Marquis's mansion. Xu Erzhu has been there a few times. The people living in that alley are those who serve the Marquis's mansion. They live according to their rank, either several families live in one courtyard or each family lives in a small courtyard.
Xu Erzhu followed his father's arrangement and came to Liaodong Prefecture from the capital with about ten other children of similar age. After arriving, they were assigned to learn this and that. After more than a month of learning, Xu Erzhu stood out from the group of children and was appointed as the manager of the Liaodong Prefecture branch of the "Flavor of Distant Places".
"Manager! He's the manager right off the bat! His elder brother worked his way up to second manager after more than a decade in the shop!" Upon receiving the appointment, Xu Erzhu felt an immense weight on his shoulders and was incredibly nervous.
Since they were going to be shopkeepers, there were naturally experienced shopkeepers who had been in the business for many years to teach Xu Erzhu and his team how to be a good shopkeeper. Xu Erzhu felt that he had learned enough, but when he actually arrived at the shop and took office as the shopkeeper, he felt that there were still a lot of things to do. Since the shop was renovated, Xu Erzhu, along with two cake makers and a few young female assistants, had been busy at the shop.
How to be a good shopkeeper? Xu Erzhu now has a deep understanding. All sorts of big and small matters in the shop need to be handled by the shopkeeper. The relationship between the shop and some surrounding shops needs to be managed well, which naturally depends on the shopkeeper. And those external social interactions also require the shopkeeper's involvement.
To train the selected shopkeepers, Xu Zhi had Xu Erzhu and several other friends who were preparing to open shops in other places work together, from decorating the shop to registering with the government and purchasing various raw materials. After a few days of hard work, Xu Erzhu felt like he had been skinned alive.
However, seeing the store changing every day and the opening ceremony tomorrow, Xu Erzhu was so excited that even though he hadn't slept all night, he was still very excited.
As Xu Zhi stepped through the side gate of the backyard into the darkness, she saw the brightly lit west wing, which served as the processing room, and the aroma of cakes wafted out of the room.
Before Xu Zhi could even go inside, Xu Erzhu had already come out after receiving the message and quickly bowed to Xu Zhi upon seeing her.
Xu Zhi waved her hand and asked, "Manager Erzhu, what time did you get up and start working?"
Xu Erzhu said embarrassedly, "Ninth Miss, let's go inside and sit down first. We really can't sleep, so we'll just stay awake and get up at midnight to start the furnace."
Xu Zhi frowned and said, "Manager Erzhu, this won't do. Doing business is about taking it slow and steady. You can't close down unless there are special circumstances. You didn't get any rest tonight, what are you going to do tomorrow?"
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