Chapter 16 Are rich people this capricious these days?
After a lot of bickering, something seemed to have quietly changed, and the atmosphere between the two became more harmonious.
Sheng An didn't notice the change. After dinner, seeing that Xu Jinnian didn't go to the teacher immediately, he pulled him to the study and asked him to learn to read.
Xu Jinnian naturally agreed and first tested the dozen or so characters he had learned last time.
Seeing that Sheng An read it aloud word for word, Xu Jinnian couldn't help but praise her again and again, his handsome face full of admiration and pride for her.
After learning a dozen or so more characters, Sheng An decisively left the study, grabbed a basket, and headed to the Zhang family to get some pig bones.
This time, Xu Cuilian left her some extra, filling the not-so-large basket to the brim.
When Sheng An got home, Xu Jinnian had already left, but he didn't pay any attention and started preparing for the day's stall opening.
The next morning, Sheng An appeared at the stall on time.
Unexpectedly, the group of old men who had eaten wontons yesterday were already waiting.
Smelling the same mouthwatering aroma as yesterday, the old man immediately took out the bowl he had brought: "Boss, give me four large bowls, I'll take them home to eat."
Such delicious wontons should naturally be shared with family.
The other four followed suit, each pulling out their own oversized cutlery:
"I want six servings!"
"I want three servings!"
"I want three adults and two children!"
"..."
Fortunately, the pot was big enough and the fire in the stove was strong enough, so the two pots were cooked in no time.
This group of guests alone brought in two hundred coins.
Seeing this, some of the customers still in line asked Sheng An with envy:
"Boss, your wontons are so delicious, do you have some secret recipe? I've tried other places, but none of them can compare to yours."
Sheng An smiled, neither confirming nor denying: "I'm glad you like it, you're welcome to come anytime."
Although she didn't say it, everyone believed there was a secret recipe.
Leaving aside how delicious the wontons are, the soup base alone is so fragrant that it makes your mouth water, and it is in no way inferior to the nourishing soup carefully prepared by a high-end restaurant.
It must have taken a lot of effort.
The prices are reasonable, no wonder the business is so booming after only two days of setting up a stall.
Despite learning from yesterday's experience and making thorough preparations, Sheng An was still flustered and overwhelmed, with a long line of people waiting in front of his stall.
Some impatient customers, seeing that she was too busy, even offered to help her cook wontons.
However, Sheng An dared not agree. If she accidentally got burned or something else happened, her small business would probably be over.
Some people thought it was too slow, and after waiting for a while without getting what they wanted, they left the stall to buy something else.
Sheng An didn't mind and decided to go back to the village after closing up shop today to ask Grandma Sheng to come and lend a hand.
Outside the crowd, a servant-looking man walked forward dejectedly.
Unwittingly, he caught a whiff of an extremely tempting aroma, which made his already ravenous stomach rumble like a drum, and he couldn't help but swallow hard a few times.
Looking up and seeing the long queue, the waiter instinctively looked towards the source of the queue and spotted the bustling wonton stall.
He was in a hurry to return to the manor to report and receive his master's punishment, but his heels seemed to be rooted to the spot, and he couldn't take a single step.
By the time they realized what was happening, the servant was already at the end of the line.
For some reason, the waiter shook off his earlier dejection and tugged at the clothes of the person in front of him: "Brother, it's just a wonton stall, why are there so many people queuing up?"
The person being asked happened to have eaten wontons the day before, and upon hearing the servant's words, he said with spittle flying:
"Don't let its ordinary appearance fool you, the owner's skills are amazing. The soup base and wontons are both superb. I guarantee you'll crave them for a whole year after just one bite. Buy some and try it in a bit, and you'll see I'm not exaggerating!"
The servant, ignoring the spittle flying all over his face, grabbed the water bottle man's hand tightly and pressed him for an answer:
"Is it really that delicious? Even better than Yun Ji's wontons?"
Yunji is a time-honored brand in Qingzhou City, specializing in wontons, dumplings, and other noodle dishes. It is widely recognized and praised by the people of Qingzhou City; otherwise, it would not have become a century-old brand.
"I've been eating at Yunji's since I was a child. Compared to the wontons at this stall, Yunji's are barely passable."
The spray bottle guy was being objective and had no intention of belittling Yunji.
Upon hearing this, the servant's eyes lit up dramatically, and he looked at the wonton stall as if he were gazing at his dream lover.
The line moved slowly forward, and when it was almost time for the servants, Sheng An called out to those at the back of the line:
"There aren't many wontons left. We can only cook eight more bowls at most. Please don't line up. If you want to eat, please come early tomorrow."
The servant's heart tightened, and he quickly counted the people in front of him in line.
Fortunately, he was the eighth one.
Those behind, knowing they wouldn't get any, complained with frustration:
"I missed out yesterday, and I'm late again today. This small business owner really doesn't know how to do business; he doesn't even know to prepare more."
"Exactly, they have money but they don't know how to make it. Is the boss stupid?"
"..."
Sheng An didn't hear the complaints. Early in the morning, she kept wrapping and cooking wontons, and also had to collect money, collect bowls, and wash dishes. Her hands were so tired that they almost didn't belong to her anymore.
She finally breathed a sigh of relief after serving the last bowl of wontons and handed it to the last customer sitting at the small square table: "Eight coins, very kind."
The servant quickly handed over the money and eagerly picked up a spoon to begin tasting.
The first sip of soup was bursting with freshness and aroma, instantly awakening my taste buds and making me clamor for another bite.
The fatigue from several days of travel seemed to vanish in that moment, leaving only the small bowl of wontons in front of me.
The servant finally believed that the old man with the spray bottle hadn't exaggerated. Compared to this ordinary wonton stall, Yunji's wontons were indeed barely passable.
Suppressing the urge to continue eating, the servant tried to ask Sheng An:
"Boss, I'd like to take this home for my dad to try. Can I return the bowl and spoon tomorrow morning?"
Sheng An was tidying up his stall when he heard this. Without looking up, he replied, "Pay a deposit of four coins, return the bowls and spoons tomorrow, and the deposit will be fully refunded."
The servant hurriedly took out his money, but there were no copper coins in his purse. He simply put down a piece of silver and said, "Keep the change, boss. I'll come back tomorrow."
After saying that, he picked up the wontons and left quickly without looking back.
Sheng An: "..."
Are rich people this capricious these days?
With the help of a kind passerby, Sheng An and the passerby lifted the large stove onto the cart and made it home relatively smoothly.
Seeing that his daughter-in-law was back early again, Xu Chenglin knew that business was good. He quickly urged Sheng An to sit down and rest, and to wait for Xu Jinnian to come back and do the washing and cleaning work.
Sheng An was indeed exhausted. He poured Xu Chenglin a glass of water and began to tally up the day's earnings.
She didn't keep track of the number of wontons, only that there were significantly more than yesterday.
After counting all the money, it totaled four hundred and twelve coins.
After deducting costs, the net profit is around 270 coins.
That's a considerable profit.
Selling wontons was a promising business, and Sheng An was full of energy. Without taking a break, he told Xu Chenglin and rushed to the village without stopping.
She didn't go home empty-handed; she made a special detour to Zhang's pork stall and bought three catties of pork to take home with her.
The Zhang father and son didn't want to accept the money, but Sheng An dropped it off and ran away, not giving them many chances to refuse.
On this trip to Huai Shu Village, Sheng An did not encounter the annoying Liu Huazhi and arrived at the Sheng family home without any problems.
Since Grandpa and Grandma Sheng were working in the fields, she had no choice but to slip the pork through the crack in the door. Following her memory, she arrived at the Sheng family's fields and, sure enough, saw the two elderly people busy at work.
"An'an, why did you come back so suddenly? Is something urgent?"
Grandma Sheng was both surprised and delighted to see her granddaughter, and quickly put down her hoe to greet her.
"Grandma, I'm fine, I just came back to ask you for help."
Sheng An briefly explained her difficulties, then grasped Grandma Sheng's hand and shook it affectionately.
"Grandma, I really can't manage all this by myself. If no one helps, this business definitely won't go anywhere, and your precious granddaughter will starve!"
Grandma Sheng was genuinely happy for her granddaughter and also wanted to go to the city to help her.
Looking at the fields waiting to be planted with rice seedlings, she was filled with conflicting emotions: "Can we postpone it for a few days? Once the work in the fields is finished, Grandma will definitely come and help you."
This is crucial to the entire year's harvest; if the seedlings aren't planted in time, we'll go hungry next year.
"Grandma, hire someone to do it, and I'll pay for the labor."
Sheng An immediately offered advice to Grandma Sheng, listing the benefits of hiring someone to do the work:
“Labor is cheap in the countryside. If my grandma helps me sell wontons, the extra money I earn each day can hire several people to work for the family. It’s a very worthwhile deal.”
In the countryside, there are many families with more labor than land. These extra laborers can't just sit idle, so they have to go to other people's homes to work and earn some hard-earned money.
For just twenty coins a day, you can hire a strong young laborer.
The price of less than three large bowls of wontons seems absurd, yet it's a reality.
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