With Ah Fu's mediation, the children began to trust Si Li and Meng Tao Tao. Of course, Si Li was more suspicious because the one-cent-per-day payment they had agreed to was too much.
You know, one penny can buy a pound of coarse flour. Although she knows that Daning has never suffered from famine, who would not be happy to eat better and improve their lives?
There were many children who were called over by their friends near Zhifang Hutong. Most of them were about five or six years old. Their heads of more than twenty were only as tall as Si Li's legs. They looked over eagerly, their eyes full of anticipation, which made people's hearts melt.
"When does it start? Can I ask Fang from next door to come with me?"
"How far do I have to run? My mother told me not to run around."
"What do you want to sing? How many times do you want to say it?"
The barrage of questions destroyed their lovely filters.
"Come one by one." Si Li stopped the chaos. "My sister and I are going back to work now. You can wait here. When we are done, I will teach you to sing the jingle. You will start singing from tomorrow. I will have someone come to pay you in the evening. Of course, if you are willing to send someone, you can come directly to get it. You can find someone else to sing with you. When we come to teach, everyone who comes can get one penny per day, but after that, everyone can only get a piece of cake or something else. You can discuss it among yourselves. The west, south, and east directions are close, so you can all run, but remember, the most important thing is to pay attention to safety."
The oldest child looked no more than ten years old. He stood up with an air of adultery and said, "I believe in Brother Afu. We'll wait for you here." Si Li nodded with a smile. The older child didn't look at her and turned away. "Go back and call people. Those who are at home should tell their parents. If they don't come, we'll go to Dongcheng to look for them!"
A blatant threat.
Si Li shook her head in amusement and left quickly with Meng Taotao.
Wang Ting was unloading goods from a donkey cart in the store. Si Li greeted him and walked through the front hall to the backyard. The leading mason in the backyard was leaning against the wall, smoking a pipe, not looking like he was working in a hurry. Si Li raised his eyebrows slightly, "Master, are you guys fast or slow?"
The sound of the bricklayers discussing the poverty of the shop was not only heard by Wang Ting, but Si Li also heard it clearly. Why were the bricklayers who were shouting that they wanted to finish the work early still dawdling here?
The bricklayer tapped his pipe and said, "Didn't we agree on three days?"
Si Li vaguely dug out the time Wang Ting mentioned when he brought people back from his memory, but there was no five-day time limit task set by the system at that time. The masons here have to work for three days, and it is definitely not possible to open the door to welcome customers with all kinds of noises in the backyard before the work is completed. The opening time is delayed, and there are only two days left to complete the task.
How can this be possible?! The mission requires receiving 100 people, which averages out to 50 people a day. It may not seem like much, but it is actually equivalent to the number of visitors on the third day of the Buddhist Conference. Wanglaiju has just entered the capital and has no foundation. It is better to dream of achieving this number of visitors.
"We still have to put up a plaque and open the shop. Can't you shorten your time? If you finish early, you can go to work for other companies, right?" Si Li was sincerely thinking about them. Bricklayers charge for both labor and materials, and they don't get paid no matter how many days they work, so there is no benefit for them to waste time.
The bricklayer turned a deaf ear and continued to instruct his apprentices to fix the work here and there.
After Si Li said it three times, the bricklayer finally shouted at the top of his voice, "Do you think I don't want to? If you dare to live here before the mud is completely dry, I won't let you live here. If you keep asking, I will pay more money to exchange it for a brick and wood house. That's faster."
When the money was mentioned, Si Li said nothing, made a gesture of invitation, and quietly left the backyard. In the front hall, Meng Taotao poured a bowl of warm water and waited. Obviously, he had heard the unsmooth communication, and consoled, "It happens to be the beginning of winter in three days, and many people will rest during the solar term, which is a good thing."
Si Li pressed his brows and said helplessly, "A blessing in disguise?"
"How about this? The Beginning of Winter Festival, the Dumpling Festival, the opening of Dongbian Wanglaiju, a dish of French fries like butterflies, a plate full of tofu wolf teeth, when the guests come in and take a bite, the gods will take them away in their dreams." Meng Taotao changed the subject. She was indeed a successful candidate. While Si Li was still negotiating the price with the children, she had already made up a jingle. If the opening time had not been decided, she could have followed it up seamlessly once Si Li had agreed.
Si Li nodded repeatedly, and then showed the danger of being the client, "But you have to add a free promotion. Tao Tao will go over after he finishes the revision, so as not to delay too late and affect your reading."
As the night gradually enveloped the earth, Meng Taotao went to the South City Hutong with the revised jingle, and the forty copper coins he had paid in advance were gone.
The next morning, Si Licai dismantled the shop door and opened the door to wait for the masons and Wang Ting to come. Tang, the owner of the dessert shop who had to work until the sun rose in the past two days, came to look for them, "Miss Si, look at that milk tea..."
Si Li put on a business smile, "Good morning, Manager Tang, have you eaten?"
"I ate it." Shopkeeper Tang laughed. "Well, it's not because we were afraid of guests coming that we made your milk tea early so we can rest assured."
Xiao Que followed Si Li to the shop next door. Meng Taotao was reading a book while waiting for Wang Ting in the shop. The ingredients of the dessert shop were quite complete, and there were no other shortcomings except that the quality was very ordinary.
Shopkeeper Tang raised his chin and said proudly, "The milk just squeezed out today is so fresh."
After looking around the narrow kitchen of the dessert shop, Si Li took a step back cautiously, "I said you should start with the steps. It would be bad if I bumped into your pots and pans."
Boil the thick raw milk, divide one third of it into another pot, add sugar, stir well, and simmer over low heat until fine milk foam rises. The slightly muttony milky aroma slowly spreads, as if the air is filled with toffee, or as if you are standing in front of a piece of fragrant cheese.
"Don't look at me, hurry up, stir it." Si Li didn't say the next step for a long time. Manager Tang turned back from time to time to confirm, which shocked Si Li and stopped him. She was not familiar with the job of boiling condensed milk, but she had seen it in the videos of food bloggers. If you don't pay attention to stirring, the bottom of the pot will be mushy in a few minutes.
Shopkeeper Tang said "Oh" and continued to repeat the boring action. This was not boring to him. He would do this step every day when making porridge and sugar water, but he had never heard that milk tea should be made in this way. There were many foreigners in the capital, and it was a common understanding that milk tea was made by pouring milk into the brewed tea. Who knew that the so-called "milk tea" of this little girl was much more complicated.
Seeing the milk paste getting thicker and thicker with a bunch of big bubbles, Si Li called a halt, "This is ready, put it aside to cool, and then change the pot to boil tea. Add the tea leaves and jasmine together and boil until they have color."
After pouring the milk into the brewed tea, she scooped a spoonful of the cooled milk paste, and it was all done. Shopkeeper Tang was confused and followed Si Li's steps step by step. After waiting for a long time, he didn't get any instructions for the next step. He looked back blankly and said in disbelief, "Is that it?" Isn't it also milk poured into the tea? What's wrong with this little girl! How can it taste good like this?
Si Li was even more unbelievable than him, "What else? Try it, is there no fishy smell now?"
Jasmine's technique of removing fishy smell was taught by a food blogger. To be honest, she could only confirm that the taste of the finished milk tea was not much different, but she had no idea what it was like.
Shopkeeper Tang was frightened by Si Li's righteousness and scooped a spoonful of milk tea doubtfully.
After taking a sip, he immediately realized that he was wrong, extremely wrong. The clear and slightly bitter taste of the tea became softer after blending with the sweetness of milk and sugar, and the fragrance of jasmine flowers was everywhere. The mutton smell that the milk could not remove before disappeared without a trace, replaced by a different wonderful taste.
Shopkeeper Tang rushed out with a spoon in his hand, and said excitedly, "I was wrong to blame you! Shopkeeper Si, what kind of food do you sell? Give me as many promotional posters and flyers as you can, and I will definitely promote it for you!"
"That's great." Si Li took a step back calmly, avoiding the big spoon that was about to fly onto her clothes. "This recipe is called Jasmine Milk Tea. The ratio of milk, sugar and tea can be adjusted according to taste. It's up to the shopkeeper to choose. And adding dumplings, jelly or cooking other types of milk tea is also possible."
Shopkeeper Tang's eyes lit up when he heard this. He was curious, but Si Li stopped talking and smiled, "But I think a jasmine milk tea is enough to show my sincerity."
"Of course, of course." Shopkeeper Tang laughed twice when his intention to get two more prescriptions was seen through.
What should be done has been done. Si Li talked about the main dishes of Wanglaiju at present. When Manager Tang heard that they mainly sell potato and sweet potato snacks, he began to frown. But since he had already received the benefit from others, it was difficult to say no, so he could only nod reluctantly.
Alas, the girl looks quite smart, why would she open a shop to sell those things? Who would buy them?
Si Li said goodbye to the shopkeeper Tang without further explanation and walked out of the dessert shop. A familiar child was pulling another child along the street, singing a jingle. The last sound of the three words "Wanglaiju" was still there, but the person was no longer running. Si Li was listening to the lyrics of their later songs when she saw the child running back and looking up at her, "Are you the sister from yesterday? Did you hear what I sang?"
"I heard it. Is this your friend?" Si Li squatted down and touched everyone's head. "You sang really well."
The child pointed at the unfamiliar child next to him and asked, "Should I give her that food?"
It turned out that he came to ask for his wages.
Si Li suppressed the smirk on her face and turned back to the dessert shop. "Manager Tang, how much are two bowls of jasmine milk tea?"
"You taught me how to make it. I just learned it. Why should I pay?" Shopkeeper Tang heard the conversation at the door and generously served two bowls. "Just this once."
"Why don't you thank uncle?" Si Li took two bowls of milk tea out and handed them to the two little girls.
"Thank you, uncle!"
Shopkeeper Tang also laughed.
After drinking the milk tea, the mobile advertisements held hands and ran away, spreading the sound of clear songs all the way in the East Market.
"The Beginning of Winter Festival, Dumpling Festival, Dongbian Wanglaiju Opening Festival..."
Going around the East Market, the Jingzhao government office is located in the East City near the Imperial City. The singing of children floats through the courtyard wall and reaches the ears of officials who have just started their shift and the atmosphere is still relaxed.
The chief clerk, who had spotted Si Li's name before, was delighted and said, "Wow, the store is about to open? It's only been a few days."
"What opening?"
"It's the one next to Qiyun Tower." The chief clerk winked and said, "It's just right, let's go there and have some fresh food on the beginning of winter."
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The author has something to say:
In fact, it is homemade condensed milk + tea + milk, with jasmine flowers added in the middle to remove the fishy smell. It is quite simple, but you can't put too much jasmine, otherwise the flower smell will be too strong and strange.