Chapter 642 The Passing of Time 7
Zhou Xiuhua's eyes widened. "How much? Thirty silver dollars for a table of dishes?"
"Mother, after all these years, if it weren't for our daughter... we wouldn't have saved even ten silver dollars!"
"Heh, once we get into the city, I'll show you around. A banquet costing thirty silver dollars is out of the question, but we can manage to eat out for a couple hundred and three silver dollars!"
Zhou Xiuhua quickly replied, "You're kidding me! You're just wasting money! Three silver dollars can last the two of us several days on white flour pancakes."
Ningxia Sheng laughed and said, "Look at you, you have money but don't know how to spend it. Is eating out the same as eating at home?"
Zhou Xiuhua got a little anxious: "I don't care if they're the same or not!"
All I know is that we need to save that little bit of money for buying a house.
I also know that we need to prepare a dowry for our daughter's marriage.
I also know that food prices have gone up, and you can't buy it if you don't have the money.
I know even more…
Ningxia Sheng reached out and pressed his wife down onto the kang (a heated brick bed), then pulled the quilt over her head: "Go to sleep!"
That silly woman.
...
The next morning, the Ning family members arrived at the stall on time. Around 11 a.m., a big customer came to the stall.
"Boss, how many steamed buns do you have left? I'll take them all."
Ningxia Sheng: "There's not much left, we're about to close up shop."
After saying that, he lifted the lid of the steamer and counted, "Including steamed buns and mantou, there are only thirteen left."
"Oh dear, this is far too little."
Zhou Xiuhua: "You seem quite anxious, what's wrong?"
The shop assistant then explained that he was a shop assistant for the Huang family, a large landowner in town.
Today, we started plowing the fields and hired a lot of people to work. Around mid-morning, all three cooks in charge of preparing the food started vomiting and having diarrhea. We called a doctor and gave them medicine, but it didn't help much, so we definitely couldn't cook any food.
Mr. Huang could only send his servants out to buy some ready-made food.
But there was just too much food to buy for the lunch of hundreds of strong laborers. There were only a few food shops in town. The shopkeeper bought from all three food shops, but still didn't have enough. That's when he started to worry.
After the waiter finished speaking, he said, "Never mind, just wrap them all up for me."
"Oh, so you're a family of three, right? Why don't you come help out at my house this afternoon? My husband said it's urgent, two dollars for half a day. Are you willing?"
Ning Xiasheng readily agreed, "I'm willing."
Only a fool would refuse; that's two silver dollars. In his wife's words, it could buy white flour pancakes and feed their whole family for several days.
Moreover, he had nothing to do at home, so he got those two dollars for free.
"Then it's settled. This half-day's work won't be easy, and those people will be well-fed."
"Try to come early this afternoon so you can get ready quickly and don't miss anything. If you do a good job, you might be able to continue tomorrow. I doubt those three cooks will recover in a couple of days; they're practically living in the toilet."
Ningxia quickly picked out the steamed buns and dumplings, let the other party take them, and after receiving the money, the family hurriedly packed up their stall, put the goods on the cart, and put the items that couldn't be carried back in the backyard of the general store. The family then pushed the cart home.
I had something to do in the afternoon, so I made something easy for lunch. There was some porridge left, so Zhou Xiuhua mixed some cornmeal with it. I also stewed cabbage and vermicelli in the pot, and stuck cornbread around the edge of the pot. The cornbread was ready when the vegetables were cooked.
The porridge was warm, so there was no need to heat it up. The family of three quickly ate lunch, and then Ningxiasheng took his wife and child to help at the Huang family's house.
People in town say that the Huang family owns several thousand acres of land, and that's no exaggeration. The Huang family owns more than 3,400 acres of land, excluding the nearly 2,000 acres that are rented out.
There are also more than 1,000 mu of land that they cultivate themselves. These lands employ long-term workers, and in addition, they hire short-term workers during spring planting and autumn harvest. Besides wages, they are also responsible for three meals a day.
Many people from nearby villages have worked for the Huang family.
Ning Xiasheng entered the Huang family home with his wife and children. The gatekeeper first informed the steward, who then led the three to the kitchen. "Tonight's meals will be in Mr. Ning's hands."
No special preparation is needed. Just make whatever your stall sells—steamed buns, mantou, porridge, and a big pot of stew. Are you sure you can handle that?"
Ning Xiasheng laughed and said, "No problem, it's very simple."
The foreman was satisfied. "That's good. There are a total of ninety-three people eating tonight. You can make more food, but there must not be not enough. The farmhands work hard, so they must not be short of food."
The manager gave some instructions, then assigned someone familiar with the kitchen to tell the Ning family where everything was before leaving.
After he left, Ning Xiasheng immediately washed his hands and prepared dinner. Assuming each person eats five buns, they would have to make five hundred buns that afternoon, so they wouldn't have a moment to rest.
In April, it gets dark around 6 PM, and by then it's time to eat.
The manager came to the kitchen to inspect the food. The plump, white steamed buns and mantou were all ready. He picked one up and tasted it. It turned out to be filled with radish. "Delicious! Boss Ning's skill in making steamed buns is truly impeccable."
Ningxia felt pleased to be praised. "We also have pickled cabbage and minced pork vermicelli here, as well as cabbage and pork filling. Would you like to try a couple more?"
"Try it, and get me a bowl."
Ningxia Sheng found a bowl, took two of each kind of filling and put them in the bowl. At this time, the farmhands also returned. This group of people automatically lined up to get their food. After the food was distributed, the people who had finished getting their food first were already praising it.
"Manager Wang, could we please keep the meals up to this standard every day from now on? The dishes made by the previous three were like pig swill, and they tasted absolutely awful."
Manager Wang had already finished four steamed buns and was holding another one filled with radish filling. "I wanted to too, but Boss Ning has his own stall. He was only brought here to help out today, and he'll have to go back to his own business tomorrow."
The farmhands immediately sped up their eating. They had seen that there were still buns and vegetables in the pot, and they wanted to finish such delicious food quickly so they could have some more.
After the farmhands and helpers finished eating and left, Ning Xiasheng tidied up the kitchen carefully one last time before preparing to leave.
However, the manager in charge of paying wages, Mr. Wang, had disappeared.
Zhou Xiuhua said, "Don't rush, let's wait. If it doesn't work, we'll go to the front yard to look."
Fortunately, Manager Wang didn't keep the three of them waiting too long. "Boss Ning, I just went to check on those three cooks. They're all dehydrated and definitely won't be able to cook tomorrow. How about you help out for one more day? I'll give you three silver dollars."
Ningxia Sheng and his wife discussed it and neither of them had any objections. After all, they couldn't earn three silver dollars a day by setting up a stall.
"Okay, then I'll help you out for one more day."
"Oh, that's great! Let's have this again tomorrow morning. Just write down what you need and I'll have someone go and buy it right away."
The order process took up some more time. Manager Wang glanced at the situation and said, "The farmhands get up at 4:30 to work and eat at 7:00. You all need to start working much earlier. Otherwise, the three of you can stay at the manor tonight. There are rooms available, so you won't have to go through the hassle of moving around."
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