Chapter 106 Recruiting
"That's right, that's the Song Mansion, General Song's home. Being a cook in the Song Mansion is such an honor!"
Mother Ge lamented, "If we establish a relationship with General Song, we won't have to worry about pirates anymore!"
The Ge family members expressed their regret, but soon they recovered from the shock that General Song had paid a high price to invite Jiang Tangtang to be a cook in his house, but Jiang Tangtang had refused. Their attention shifted to the Lu family's plan to open a shop in the county town.
"Sister Jiang, is what you just said true? Are you really planning to open a shop in the county town?" Mrs. Ge looked at Jiang Tangtang with a burning gaze. She couldn't seize the opportunity to work as a cook in the Song family, and she couldn't just run away from the opportunity to work as a helper in the Lu family shop!
Jiang Tangtang said: "Yes, there is such a plan!"
"So you need to hire someone to open a shop?" Ge Ersao asked, "What do you think of me?"
Not to mention Second Sister Ge, even the usually calm First Sister Ge looked at Jiang Tangtang expectantly.
It is true that you need to hire people, but when running a food business, the biggest fear is that someone may have bad intentions or something.
She didn't know the Ge family very well. Now, not only did she have a conflict with Baiweizhai, she might have also offended General Song. Jiang Tangtang didn't dare to agree to it, but changed the subject and said, "I remember you have winter melon and taro at home. Do you want to sell them?"
"For sale!" Mrs. Ge said enthusiastically.
Jiang Tangtang asked, "I wonder how Mrs. Ge plans to sell it?"
Baiweizhai learned how to make a few snacks like cat ears and glutinous rice noodles, but never learned how to make winter melon candy and egg yolk pastry.
Jiang Tangtang planned to continue making these two dishes after the shop opened, and also add taro chips as a dish.
"Two catties of taro cost one penny, and three catties of winter melon cost one penny." Mrs. Ge was a little nervous when she said this, after all, taro and winter melon are both heavy items.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Tangtang agreed immediately after hearing this and said, "Okay, this is the price. As long as it's in good condition, I'll take any amount."
Hearing Jiang Tangtang say this, Mrs. Ge immediately became interested.
Winter melon and taro are not considered precious things in farmers' homes. Most of the time, they don't even like to eat them. They just want to save food, so they often eat them with coarse grains.
But if these two things can be exchanged for money, who would still want to eat them?
She also remembered that her parents had harvested a lot of winter melon and taro this year. She would go and collect them and sell them to Jiang Tangtang. Not only could she help her parents, but she could also make some money from it.
After Mrs. Ge confirmed again and again that Jiang Tangtang had purchased a huge quantity, she no longer had the energy to pester Jiang Tangtang about hiring workers in the shop.
Mrs. Ge Er wanted to ask more, but Mrs. Ge Da called her back to the cellar to pick up winter melon and taro.
Jiang Tangtang collected several hundred kilograms of winter melon and taro at once, which not only maintained a good relationship between the two families, but also purchased a large amount of food for the shop.
She was happy and decided to make some snacks to cheer herself up.
It is simple to make taro chips. Just cut them into thin slices, fry them in oil, and then sprinkle them with seasonings such as pepper and salt.
The job of cutting taro slices was naturally given to Lu Shiyan again.
His hands were clean and slender, the kind of hands that could be used as hands for commercials in modern times. At this moment, his left hand held a heavy kitchen knife, and his right hand pressed on a taro. In the blink of an eye, a taro turned into thin slices of even thickness in his hand.
The speed was even faster than a machine. The quality was even better than a slicer. The key was the person standing in front of the stove—it was a delight to watch.
He had lost some weight, but his features had become even more profound and handsome. He had sharp eyebrows, a straight nose, and a tall and straight figure...
Jiang Tangtang was fascinated by it unconsciously.
*
On the other side, Butler Song went to find General Song angrily.
But when he saw General Song, he didn't show any of the arrogance he had at the Lu family. Instead, he praised her sincerely, "Sir, Jiang is indeed a talented person. When I went there, I don't know what she was cooking in her room, but the food was so delicious that I almost swallowed my tongue."
General Song smiled, but just as Butler Song finished praising her, he sighed and said, "It's a pity that her husband is very strict and won't let her come to his house to be a cook! I've already offered a price of a thousand taels, but he still remains unmoved."
The smile on General Song's face suddenly disappeared. Housekeeper Song looked at him with a hint of pride in his heart, but said with regret: "If there was a cook like Jiang in the mansion, the old lady's appetite would definitely be better."
"You haven't even invited anyone yet, what's the point of you talking all this nonsense?" General Song said with a gloomy face.
Steward Song knelt on the ground and apologized. After slapping himself hard on the face several times, he offered advice, "Sir, let me tell you, the reason Jiang Shi refused to come to your house to be a cook is because of her husband. As long as we get rid of her husband, she's a weak woman. Why don't you find a way to support her?"
Seeing General Song frowning and silent, the confidant nearby worried that he would be too proud to embarrass the Lu family over a cook, so he hurriedly said, "Sir, we've suffered a lot of losses fighting the pirates this time. Isn't it time to recruit soldiers?"
"Has the casualty list been reported?" General Song asked.
Wu Zhouquan said, "This time, thirty-eight people were seriously injured, fifty-four died, and there are more than two hundred people who were slightly injured. In addition to the old soldiers who should have retired, the battalion should recruit soldiers."
General Song nodded and said, "The recruitment will be handled by you personally!"
Soon, the recruitment notice was posted.
When the people of Zhounan Village heard the news, they immediately wailed, "What the hell! The pirates just left, why are they recruiting soldiers again?"
"Is there still a way for people to survive?"
…
After wailing and complaining, those who had the means began to look for ways to escape the conscription.
Manager Xia was naturally the first to look for ways to help his sons avoid military service. However, he didn't expect that all the ways that had worked before would not work this time.
This conscription not only required that every household with male members must send one person to serve in the military, but also prohibited the use of donations to buy replacements.
Wang Lachun looked at Manager Xia worriedly and said, "Dad, what's going on? We used to be able to pay for someone to take over the military service, so why can't we do that this time?"
Manager Xia shook his head and sighed, "I haven't found out the details of what happened, but I just heard that this was a special order from above. This time, recruiting soldiers cannot be done through connections."
"What should we do? Are we really going to send the children to serve in the army?" Wang Lachun couldn't help but wipe away tears. "Wouldn't that be sending them to die?"
Zhao and Xiao Wang also wiped their tears secretly.
Xia Zhirong looked at his tearful wife, then at his troubled parents, and took the initiative to step forward and said, "Dad, I'll go!"
"Brother, let me go!" Xia Zhigui said.
"What are you going to do? You haven't started a family yet." Xia Zhirong patted his shoulder and said, "You stay at home and find a good wife to make your parents feel at ease."
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