He Wenlin thought that Xu Jing and Zhou Liping would not come looking for her again.
Two days later, it happened again.
She came with Zhang Xiaojuan.
"Linlin, we've rented that shop over there. We plan to sell egg rolls and breakfast items," Zhang Xiaojuan said with a smile.
He Wenlin looked at them and asked, "Are the three of you going to open a shop together?"
Because they had rented the storefront and would be opening soon, Xu Jing was very excited and nodded quickly: "Yes, the three of us are partners. We're all roommates, so of course we'll make money together!"
Xu Jing is easygoing but very loyal.
He Wenlin didn't say anything about it, but she wasn't optimistic about it. It wasn't that she thought they wouldn't make money, but she didn't think the three of them could succeed as a partnership.
However, since they had already made their decision, He Wenlin couldn't say anything more.
All I can do is offer my blessings.
"We're planning to learn how to make glutinous rice balls, wontons, dumplings, and xiaolongbao from you," Zhou Liping said. "How much is the tuition?"
As soon as Zhou Liping finished speaking, Zhang Xiaojuan immediately said, "Linlin, we're from the same hometown and we know each other so well, you have to give us a discount on tuition."
He Wenlin didn't reply, but said, "Learning how to make xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) isn't that quick. If you want to learn it in three or four days, the others are no problem."
Let alone kneading and proofing the dough, even making xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) is a bit more difficult than making dumplings.
"How long will it take?" Xu Jing asked.
"It depends on individual aptitude. If you learn all of these, the tuition is 2,800 yuan, which is a friendly price. If you don't want to learn xiaolongbao, the tuition is 2,500 yuan. If you decide to learn, you pay 2,000 yuan first, and the rest will be paid after you complete the course."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaojuan said, "Can't you make it any cheaper?"
Zhang Xiaojuan felt the price was too high. She felt that since they were already familiar with each other and she had been a regular customer of He Wenlin's business, He Wenlin should give her a discount.
"This is already a friendly price. You all know how much it costs to learn how to make glutinous rice balls from me. Nowadays, it costs five or six hundred yuan to learn how to make fried dough sticks outside. And if you learn from me, I will definitely teach you with all my heart and soul so that you can graduate as soon as possible and not delay your business opening. By the way, have you set a date for your business opening?"
Zhou Liping: "It's not finalized yet. We just rented it and came right away. Does the tuition fee of 2,500 include your chili sauce?"
"Chili sauce is charged separately. I won't teach chili sauce if the tuition is less than eight thousand. I suggest you put vinegar on your table, or buy chili sauce from me. I can sell it to you at zero profit, fifteen yuan a jar, about seven ounces a jar."
He Wenlin must have spent a fortune learning how to make chili sauce in her past life. It's delicious whether you're dipping dumplings or xiaolongbao in it, or mixing it with noodles or braised dishes.
A can costs fifteen yuan, but He Wenlin doesn't make any money at all because she doesn't specialize in this, so her costs are not low.
Zhang Xiaojuan was bothered by He Wenlin's refusal to teach how to make chili sauce, and said, "We're not competing with you for business. Yuecheng Foreign Language School is twenty miles away from here, so why don't you teach us?"
"This really won't work."
The tuition was too expensive. They had opened a shop and needed to do some simple renovations, as well as some equipment, tables, and chairs, so they couldn't afford to learn how to make chili sauce for the time being. He Wenlin refused to lower the price, so they could only listen to He Wenlin's suggestion—to buy chili sauce from her!
"Which of you three will learn?" He Wenlin asked again.
“I’ll come and learn,” Zhang Xiaojuan said. “Jingjing and Pingping are in charge of the shop’s decoration, setting up tables and chairs, and selling egg rolls. I can come and learn tomorrow.”
Zhang Xiaojuan quit her job at the factory today, but she hasn't moved out yet, so it's most convenient for her to come and learn from them.
He Wenlin: "The tuition fee is fixed, there's no way to reduce it. You can go back and discuss it tonight. Once you've decided to learn, bring two thousand yuan for tuition tomorrow morning at four o'clock. Making glutinous rice balls and dumplings is easy, just practice more. The most difficult part is making the crispy filling and dumpling filling."
If these two things aren't done well, the rice balls and dumplings won't taste good.
If it's not crispy enough, the rice ball loses its soul.
If the dumpling filling isn't made well, the texture will be coarse and it won't taste good.
When it comes to the food business, taste is definitely the most important thing.
After the three of them left, Zhang Xiaojuan complained, "I thought I could learn it for 1,500 or 1,600 yuan. Linlin actually charged us such an expensive tuition. It seems that she doesn't really care about our relationship."
“You can’t say that,” Xu Jing said. “I have a cousin who learned to make fried dough sticks and fried rice cakes. He paid 1,200 yuan for the course and worked at the shop for more than two months before he learned it. Linlin may not have given us a discount, but if she really taught us in three or four days, it would be equivalent to saving us two months of time. If we convert those two months into wages, it would be at least 1,700 or 1,800 yuan, if not 2,000.”
Zhou Liping nodded repeatedly, agreeing with Xu Jing's words.
Hearing their comments, Zhang Xiaojuan immediately became agitated and raised her voice sharply, saying, "You're still defending her! Two thousand five hundred yuan in tuition! Not only is the tuition expensive, but she doesn't even teach how to make chili sauce, and she still wants us to buy from her! She wants to make money off us! She's so cunning in business!"
"So, are we going to learn it or not?" Xu Jing asked.
“Now that we’ve paid the transfer fee and everything, are we just going to close down?” Zhou Liping said. “We’ll just buy from her. Each jar is about seven ounces. A customer will only need about a few ounces for a whole basket of dumplings. Let’s give it a try first.”
Xu Jing: "Let's pool our money together in a bit. Xiao Juan, you can give it to Linlin tonight and learn from her tomorrow morning."
Now that the transfer fee has been paid, Zhang Xiaojuan has no choice but to learn it, even if she doesn't want to. She's a little unhappy, but she can only listen to them.
Around 7 p.m., He Wenlin received 2,000 yuan in tuition fees from Zhang Xiaojuan.
When paying the money, Zhang Xiaojuan felt a pang of heartache.
He Wenlin laughed and said, "It's only a little over two thousand. If you three split it, each of you only spent a little over eight hundred, but you all learned a skill. It's a good deal."
Zhang Xiaojuan used the money of the three of them to learn the trade. After Zhang Xiaojuan learned it, she would definitely teach the other two. Isn't that the same as one person paying for the three people to learn the trade?
Hearing this made Zhang Xiaojuan feel much better.
Thinking about opening her own shop and becoming her own boss, Zhang Xiaojuan was so excited that she couldn't sleep. She arrived early the next morning.
He Wenlin first gave her the recipe for crispy filling and the recipes for wonton and dumpling filling.
Then, together with her, we prepared the wonton filling.
He Wenlin helped her prepare a total of ten kilograms of wonton filling. Around 5:30, the wonton filling was ready, and He Wenlin then taught her how to make crispy dough.
He Wenlin's crispy snacks are in high demand, since both stores use them.
So He Wenlin had her watch her mix one pot, and then had her mix two more pots.
The dough was ready; it was already 6:15. The crispy fried dough could wait until after the morning rush hour. Now, He Wenlin asked her to practice making glutinous rice balls.
Like all beginners, my first few buns were slow and ugly, so I had to eat them myself.
Zhang Xiaojuan had no patience. She couldn't wrap a few properly, so she got angry, her face turned extremely ugly, and she started throwing things in frustration.
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