Chapter 51 Making a Scene at the Door
The renovation of Shengyuan will take a month, and if all goes well, it can open for business in mid-September.
Besides checking on the construction progress at Shengyuan every now and then, Shengan is also preparing for the opening. The first step is to find suitable kitchen helpers and apprentices.
With plenty of money at his disposal, Sheng An went directly to the brokerage firm and explained his requirements to the broker.
The slave trader warmly welcomed Sheng An, took out a thick booklet, and circled the names of those who met the requirements in front of Sheng An:
"Boss, all twelve people here have four or five years of experience as kitchen helpers. You can hire them and they can start working right away. Moreover, their expected monthly wages are not high, between eight qian and two liang of silver."
Sheng An took the booklet and carefully examined the personal information of these people.
All twelve were male, the oldest being twenty-two and the youngest only seventeen.
They used to work in small, unknown restaurants and eateries.
Sheng An asked in bewilderment, "Aren't there any women?"
The slave trader was taken aback for a moment, then quickly explained, "Boss, you don't know this, but lifting a ladle is a physically demanding job. You see, most of the famous chefs are men, and they generally don't take women as apprentices."
The slave trader spoke so tactfully because he saw Sheng An as a woman.
In fact, no master chef will take on female apprentices.
Even if it's a family heirloom, it will be passed down to one's son.
He had no sons, so he preferred to adopt a son as an apprentice to inherit his mantle; he never had any daughters.
After a moment of contemplation, Sheng An said to the slave trader, "Pick a few suitable women for me, between the ages of twelve and eighteen, and they must sign indenture contracts, death contracts."
Let's take on a few apprentices first and see. If they can be trained, they'll all be money-making opportunities for her in the future.
The human broker carefully noted down Sheng An's requirements, indicating that he would reserve a suitable one for her.
As for the twelve kitchen helpers, the slave trader will inform them that Sheng An will personally select them two days later.
After leaving the brokerage, Sheng An did not go home immediately. Instead, he went to a famous porcelain kiln in Qingzhou City to order a batch of bowls, plates, cups, and spoons, requesting that they all be stamped with the words "Sheng Yuan".
The stove and other appliances haven't been ordered yet. They'll be made to the dimensions once the large kitchen at Shengyuan is finished.
Sheng An walked home in a cheerful mood. As he passed the entrance of a small alley, he unexpectedly heard Xu Cuilian angrily cursing.
"You stupid, idiotic bastard! I finally managed to find you a girl who's outstanding in every way through a matchmaker, and I wanted you to have a private chat with her. And what did you do? You told her about how you slaughter pigs, how the knife goes in white and comes out red, and you scared her away. Are you satisfied now?"
In the alley, Xu Cuilian walked and cursed. Not satisfied with just cursing, she grabbed her son Zhang Daikui by the ear and said, "Your father and I aren't stupid, and your two younger brothers are clever too. How could we have given birth to such a dim-witted thing like you!"
Zhang Daikui howled in pain, his voice filled with endless grievance: "Mother, I didn't say anything wrong. It's her cowardice, what does it have to do with me?"
The girl was tall and sturdy, and seemed like a perfect match for him. Who knew she was so timid? She was so frightened by his description of slaughtering the pig that she ran home crying.
This shows that appearances can be deceiving; that girl was not good enough for him.
"You still dare to talk? You still dare to talk? Are you trying to drive me crazy?"
Xu Cuilian tightened her grip, spitting as she cursed even more fiercely: "A fool like you, the only reason a girl would marry you is because your father burned incense and paper money for you during festivals. I think you're destined to be a bachelor for life!"
Zhang Daikui gasped in pain, but said nonchalantly, "So what if I'm a bachelor? I still have two younger brothers. You and Dad don't need to worry about the Zhang family line dying out."
Xu Cuilian was even angrier. Just as she was about to kick the good-for-nothing a couple of times, she caught a glimpse of Sheng An at the alley entrance out of the corner of her eye. Her hand involuntarily loosened, and a few embarrassed smiles appeared on her face: "It's An An. What are you doing here?"
Sheng An wasn't embarrassed at all. She naturally raised her hand to greet the mother and son, saying, "I went to the front halfway to take care of something and just happened to be passing by. If my aunt hadn't called me, I would have already walked past."
Xu Cuilian secretly breathed a sigh of relief, glared fiercely at her eldest son, and strode up to Sheng An: "I've been busy these past few days and haven't been to your house. Is everything alright at home?"
Sheng An smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, Aunt. Everything is fine at home. We're just moving soon, so please invite Aunt and Uncle to bring my three cousins to visit our new home."
The Xu family lives quite far from Shengyuan. Once Shengyuan opens for business, it will be inconvenient to travel back and forth every day, so the whole family will definitely have to move to Shengyuan.
Fortunately, Shengyuan is large enough with enough rooms. There is enough space for a family to live in a two-story building. By sealing off the left and right passages, it becomes an independent courtyard.
"Why are you moving when you're living comfortably? Where are you planning to move to?"
Xu Cuilian was shocked and hurriedly asked why they were moving, worried that something serious had happened to the Xu family that she was unaware of, forcing them to sell the house and move elsewhere.
Sheng An quickly explained, "Auntie, don't worry. We've decided to open a restaurant in Beicheng, so we're moving there."
Xu Cuilian breathed a sigh of relief, a joyful smile spreading across her face: "You mentioned before that you wanted to open a restaurant, and I was thinking it would take two years. I didn't expect you to have saved enough capital so quickly."
Sheng An said modestly, "It's because Master Ding is so generous; the reward he gave is just enough to open a restaurant."
Xu Cuilian had no idea how generous Master Ding would be; she thought he would give at most one or two hundred taels of silver.
Even so, her gaze toward Sheng An was exceptionally kind: "You are a capable person, and Jin Nian and your father-in-law are also enjoying good fortune."
All of Old Zhang's family members combined are not as capable as this niece-in-law.
Look how well she's doing after only two months of marriage into the Xu family. If she could have a daughter-in-law like An'an, she would definitely treat her like royalty.
Thinking about it, Xu Cuilian remembered her eldest son who had just failed in his matchmaking attempt, and subconsciously slapped Zhang Daikui on the head: "You better do something right!"
Zhang Daikui felt wronged, not understanding why his mother, who was having a nice chat with his cousin's wife, suddenly hit him again.
He started helping his family slaughter pigs when he was twelve years old. Everyone in the neighborhood praised him for his competence. How much more could he possibly do to please his mother?
After parting ways with Xu Cuilian and her son, Sheng An continued walking slowly home.
As soon as I entered the alley where the Xu family lived, I could hear a fierce argument coming from afar.
At first, Sheng An didn't pay attention, thinking it was just neighbors arguing. But when she got closer and clearly heard Grandpa Sheng's roar, her expression changed and she ran forward.
At the gate of the Xu family's residence, Grandpa Sheng held a long stick high in his hand, glaring angrily at Kong Dazhuang and the others who were trying to force their way in.
Xu Chenglin, standing to the side, had sharp eyes and was holding a stool in his hand, as if he might raise it and smash someone at any moment.
“Grandpa, Dazhuang is your granddaughter’s biological father after all. Now that he’s in trouble, please do me a favor and persuade your granddaughter to help her father.”
The speaker was an old man in his fifties. He looked kind and benevolent, but his words implied that Grandpa Sheng was unreasonable and that Sheng An, who was not present, was heartless and unfilial.
Kong Dazhuang, deliberately dressed in tattered clothes and shoes that barely covered his flesh, then put on a pitiful look, hunching his back and wiping away tears insincerely.
"Father, no matter what, Shitou is An'an's own brother. Now he is sick and has no money to see a doctor. Please, for the sake of our relationship as father-in-law and son-in-law, let An'an save her brother."
As he spoke, his knees buckled, and he knelt down before Grandpa Sheng.
Ever since the elderly couple from the Sheng family moved to the city, Kong Dazhuang has been eyeing the Sheng family's land and house. He dreams of getting his hands on them so he can find a wife for his only son in the future.
Yesterday, as soon as Liu Huazhi found out the location of the Xu family, Kong Dazhuang gritted his teeth and bought several jars of wine to send back to his hometown, so that he could give them to his uncles and aunts to act as their intermediaries today.
Why not invite people from Huai Shu Village?
Because we simply can't find anyone to hire.
From eighty-year-old elders to three-year-old children, everyone in Huai Shu Village knows the "good deeds" he did after marrying into the Sheng family. It's impossible that he would shamelessly come to the Xu family to act as a persuader for him just for a jar of wine.
Grandpa Sheng was so angry he almost fell backward. Holding a stick, he looked at Kong Dazhuang kneeling on the ground crying. Anyone who didn't know the truth would think that this was a vicious father-in-law bullying his poor son-in-law.
"Get out! Get out of here! I have no son-in-law, and my granddaughter has no father. Get out of here!"
Grandpa Sheng's chest heaved violently, and his hands gripping the stick trembled slightly with rage: "If you don't leave now, don't worry about the stick in my hand not having eyes!"
Xu Chenglin was afraid that the old man would get sick from anger, so he quickly stepped forward to soothe him: "Uncle, this bastard did it on purpose, please don't fall for his tricks."
Upon seeing this, the crowd began to murmur among themselves:
"Didn't they say that Xu's daughter-in-law was an orphan, raised by her grandparents? Where did this man come from? Could he really be Xu's daughter-in-law's biological father?"
"Yes, she does. She looks quite pitiful. Isn't it a bit too cruel that Xu's wife doesn't even care about her own father?"
"Xu's daughter-in-law is very filial to her father-in-law, Old Xu. It's impossible that she would neglect her own father. There must be some hidden reason behind this. Let's not rush to conclusions."
Grandpa Sheng took a deep breath and looked at the chattering crowd around him:
"Don't listen to their nonsense. His son is as strong as an ox and is not seriously ill at all. He came here today just to swindle money."
As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd erupted in commotion, and suspicious glances fell on Kong Dazhuang.
Kong Dazhuang secretly resented this and pinched his thigh hard, tears streaming down his face again.
“Father, I’m not lying. Shi Tou is really sick. I had no other choice but to come here. Otherwise, I wouldn’t let outsiders talk about my own daughter.”
Grandpa Sheng was furious. He couldn't take it anymore and raised his stick to smash Kong Dazhuang's head: "You dare to ruin my granddaughter's reputation? I'll fight you to the death!"
Kong Dazhuang was terrified, never expecting that Grandpa Sheng would dare to commit such a violent act in broad daylight. He scrambled to the side to hide, still shouting:
“Dad, even if you beat me to death, it won’t change the fact that I am An’an’s biological father. She is my daughter, so I should pay for her brother’s medical treatment.”
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