Chapter 72 Unable to outdo them, utterly unable to outdo them.
The people of the Great Wei Dynasty were open-minded, and Nanfeng Pavilions were everywhere.
Some men, not necessarily homosexual, would go to brothels to spend the night with male prostitutes out of curiosity, a desire for conquest, or the influence of current social trends.
At first, Sheng An wanted to buy two men and two women as waiters, but later felt that male waiters were relatively safer, so he bought the four people in front of him.
When you're running a business, you're bound to encounter all sorts of weirdos and freaks.
Even if the probability is extremely small, Sheng An wants to prepare the four people so that they know what they might encounter.
The four waiters became somewhat nervous. One of them, whom Sheng An had named Shuqi, cautiously asked, "Master, what if we speak up to stop them and anger the guests?"
Sheng An said calmly, "People who can eat at Sheng Garden are not insignificant; they care about their reputation."
Even if you encounter someone shameless, it's not difficult to deal with them.
She reminded the four of this partly because she didn't want them to suffer a loss, and partly because she was afraid they might have inappropriate thoughts that would tarnish Shengyuan's reputation.
The four of them, including Shuqi, were unaware of Sheng An's concerns and assumed that she was only thinking of them. They were all deeply moved and assured Sheng An, "Your servants will definitely be careful with their words and actions."
Sheng An glanced at the sky, nodded, and said, "That's all for today. We'll continue tomorrow."
When they returned to the small building, Grandma Sheng was cooking lunch in the kitchen, Grandpa Sheng was tending the fire in front of the stove, and Xu Chenglin was chatting with them at the door.
Upon seeing Sheng An, Xu Chenglin asked casually, "An'an, guess how much money we made this morning?"
Upon hearing his question, the two elders of the Sheng family couldn't help but look at Sheng An.
Sheng An glanced at her father-in-law, noticing the corners of his mouth he couldn't suppress, and guessed that business was good today. But she deliberately gave a low figure: "The location of the shop isn't very good, and it's the first day of opening. It would be good if we could sell a hundred or so coins."
Xu Chenglin shook his head repeatedly: "Too little, too little."
Sheng An pretended to think, then added a little more: "One hundred and fifty coins?"
Xu Chenglin felt that his daughter-in-law looked down on him. He widened his eyes, pointed at himself, and then at Grandpa Sheng and Grandma Sheng: "The three of us have been busy all morning. One hundred and fifty coins is not enough."
Sheng An also widened his eyes in mock assailant: "It actually exceeded one hundred and fifty coins? You guys are amazing!"
As she spoke, her face was full of admiration, as if she thought, "You were born to do business and make a lot of money."
Sure enough, Xu Chenglin was flattered and couldn't help but reveal the actual figure: "It's a total of 288 coins. After deducting costs, we made a profit of about 180 coins."
Sheng An's expression became even more exaggerated, and he clapped his hands loudly: "Amazing, amazing! You can earn so much on the first day. You can earn at least five or six taels of silver a month."
Xu Chenglin waved his hand modestly: "It took the three of us working hard to earn this much. You earned more than this by yourself when you were setting up your stall."
Sheng An laughed and said, "You can't calculate it like that. There are more people in the market in Nanfang than here."
Grandpa Sheng chuckled and said, "We don't think it's too little. We can earn five or six taels of silver a month. I never dared to dream of that before."
Grandma Sheng sighed, "Selling wontons isn't tiring at all. We farm to the bone, and we don't even earn six taels of silver a year."
Let alone six taels of silver, even one or two taels would be good.
The two old folks had been farming for decades, but they couldn't grow a decent dowry for An'an. All they could do was send her to her husband's family with a tattered bundle.
Grandma Sheng felt increasingly uneasy as she thought about it. Looking at her granddaughter with guilt, she secretly resolved to sell wontons well and save money to make up for her granddaughter's dowry.
The kitchen was filled with laughter and chatter. Even after Xu Jinnian returned on his little donkey, they were still discussing how to expand and strengthen their business.
Xu Chenglin saw his son and proudly showed off his day's haul.
Xu Jinnian was particularly supportive, but not of his own father: "It's all thanks to An'an's good teaching. Dad, remember to buy An'an delicious food when you earn money."
Xu Chenglin was speechless and glared at him irritably: "You're the only one with a mouth."
Xu Jinnian smiled without saying a word, and led Sheng An into the house.
Not only did he fail to receive positive praise from his son, but his daughter-in-law, who was good at praising people, also took him away. Xu Chenglin was so angry that he cursed his unfilial son.
Xu Jinnian ignored him and asked Sheng An in a low voice, "Could you spare two days at the end of the month? Brother Fang and Brother Ye are hosting a banquet at their homes and would like to invite you and me to attend."
Fang Qingzhou and Ye Yunhua both passed the imperial examination at the county level, so their families naturally held a banquet to celebrate.
Sheng An asked, "When exactly are the banquets hosted by the Fang and Yun families? I received a reply from Master Ding today saying that he and his grandson will be there on time, so I definitely won't have time that day."
Xu Jinnian nodded: "The Fang family is twenty-eight, and the Yun family is thirty. They just missed each other."
Sheng An smiled and said, "Okay, you prepare the gift, and we'll go together."
Xu Jinnian coughed before saying hesitantly, "Brother Fang and Brother Yun hope you can send them a few roasted chickens with your secret sauce."
Before the four of them left the day before yesterday, Sheng An also packed a secret-recipe roasted chicken for each of them.
Fang Qingzhou and Ye Yunhua brought some home to present to their elders, but it wasn't enough for them to share. The younger generation in the family were so noisy that they didn't dare go home, afraid of being caught and asked if they had any of the secret-recipe roasted chicken.
The two were so pestered that they had no choice but to turn to Xu Jinnian for help.
Sheng An was not surprised at all after hearing this: "A few is enough? Their family is so big and powerful, how come they have so few relatives and friends?"
Xu Jinnian said decisively: "Enough!"
Even if it's not enough, it has to be enough.
Sheng An saw through the man's little scheme at a glance and said with a smile, "Twenty for each family, and we'll have them send someone to pick them up later."
With the connections of the Fang and Yun families, there will be no shortage of people attending the banquet. A dish of braised chicken with secret sauce can bring a group of potential customers to Shengyuan.
Perhaps Fang Qingzhou and Ye Yunhua wanted to take this opportunity to help her.
Xu Jinnian patted her head and said, "You've worked hard, An'an."
Sheng An glared at him and pinched his waist: "You never learn."
Xu Jinnian remained expressionless, lowered his head and kissed her cheek: "Beating is a sign of affection."
Sheng An: "..."
You can't outdo me in flirting, you simply can't outdo me in flirting.
In the afternoon, Sheng An went to the large kitchen in the front yard and asked each of the four girls to make a signature dish.
They were all children from poor families, and like Sheng An, they had been busy at the stove since they were young, so cooking a specialty dish was no problem for them.
However, the best ingredients they had ever seen were pork and chicken, and now, seeing the ingredients laid out on the cutting board, they were very cautious about choosing pork as the main ingredient.
The other two choices were fish and eggs/chives.
Sheng An watched without saying a word, simply sitting at the kitchen doorway, quietly observing them bustling around the stove.
The first dish served to Sheng An was naturally a simple and easy-to-cook stir-fried eggs with chives.
The heat wasn't controlled well; the eggs were half tender and half burnt. The salt was added too early, the chives wilted and turned dark green, and the bottom of the plate was full of soup.
Sheng An picked up his chopsticks and took a bite. The taste was a bit bland, and the eggy smell was a bit strong.
Looking up at the nervous girl in front of him, Sheng An asked, "You're sixteen years old this year, right?"
Bao Lan replied in a trembling voice, "Master, this servant has just turned sixteen."
Sheng An nodded and pointed to the chair next to him: "Sit down."
Bao Lan sat down cautiously, occupying only a small portion of the chair, her head bowed, not daring to speak.
Sheng An sighed, recalling Bao Lan's background.
Bao Lan's home was not far from Qingzhou City. Because her eldest brother couldn't afford to get married, her parents sold her to a human trafficker.
The original intention was to sell it to a dirty place to get more money, but Bao Lan was of ordinary appearance, and the human traffickers were not stupid; they would not do a losing business.
The two sides haggled over the price in front of Baolan, and the slave trader eventually bought the person for six taels of silver.
Looking at the reserved Bao Lan, Sheng An softened her voice and asked, "Do you miss home?"
Bao Lan paused, her hands on her lap clenching nervously, biting her lip, unsure how to answer.
After a long while, she replied softly, "Yes."
Sheng An continued to ask, "Don't you hate your parents? They're the ones who sold you, and almost sold you to a filthy place."
Bao Lan shook her head, then nodded: "Sometimes I hate, sometimes I don't."
Sheng An didn't press further, but instead asked a different question: "If you were to gain your freedom one day, would you go back to your parents?"
Bao Lan's heart tightened, and she hurriedly pledged her loyalty: "Master, I am yours in life and in death, and I will never have any disloyalty in this life!"
When they were learning the rules at the brokerage firm, the matrons warned them not to have any improper thoughts, and even if they did, they must not let the master know.
Otherwise, they would not have gained the trust and respect of their masters, and would have remained lowly servants for their entire lives.
Sheng An shook his head, his calm, unwavering eyes seeming to see right through people: "I want to hear the truth."
Bao Lan panicked and gritted her teeth, saying fiercely, "Master, this servant doesn't want to go back!"
Sheng An became interested: "Why? Aren't you homesick?"
Bao Lan's eyes reddened: "My parents sold me for my eldest brother. If I ever regain my freedom and return home, they will sell me again for my younger brother."
At this point, she stood up and knelt down before Sheng An with a thud: "Master, this servant is not clever, but this servant knows that as long as I work hard with you, I will have a place to stay."
During her two days at Shengyuan, she ate well, slept well, was not beaten or scolded, and even had the opportunity to learn her master's skills. Why should she still worry about that home that couldn't tolerate her?
The six taels of silver she received for selling herself had already repaid her parents' kindness in raising her and completely severed any thought of returning home.
Baolan was given the name by her master. Now she just wants to do her job well. If she can eat her fill and be beaten and scolded less often, that would be even better.
"Get up."
Sheng An personally helped the tearful girl up. Looking at her thin face and calloused hands, he valued this opinionated and thoughtful girl even more.
"Work hard, and as long as Shengyuan exists, you'll have a full meal."
Bao Lan was moved to tears and bowed repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!"
Next, the other three people finished preparing their signature dishes one after another, and placed them in front of Sheng An, waiting for her to taste and evaluate them.
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