Chapter 36 Yangqiaomai
Guo's Spicy Hot Pot has been open for over a month now.
The daily customer flow to the store has gradually stabilized. Although there are more people at noon, each person does not order many dishes.
Although there are fewer people in the evening, the variety of dishes is more abundant.
After calculating the daily quantities of vegetables and meat, Guo Baiwen placed the order for each day's purchases a day in advance.
If the vegetables run out on a particular day, they won't restock; they'll simply close the shop early for a break.
Today is Laba Festival.
Because it's a holiday, quite a few shops on this street are closed today.
When Guo Baiwen went to buy groceries early in the morning, he found that the tofu shop across the street had posted a notice that it was closed for the day.
Fortunately, the goods ordered yesterday have already been prepared, so it won't delay today's business.
Actually, the last Winter Solstice was also a major festival, but because the new store had just opened, all three of us in the family were working hard and no one thought about taking a break during the festival.
He had originally planned to take a day off during the New Year's Day holiday, but as the time on his watch approached January 1st, there were hardly any shops in the county town that were closed.
It wasn't until he was resting at night, lying on his pillow, that Guo Baiwen's mind slowly began to clear.
The New Year's Day he was used to in his previous life was added later because of the Gregorian calendar.
People nowadays only use the lunar calendar and don't even know what the Gregorian calendar is.
The New Year's Day mentioned here should be the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Fine, if I don't want to rest, then I don't want to rest.
However, precisely because they didn't close for the Winter Solstice festival, and many people wanted to try something new when the new store opened, their store's revenue that day was quite considerable.
But the group of people, who had been busy all day, didn't even get to eat the glutinous rice cakes and sweet rice balls for the Winter Solstice, nor did they get to participate in the 'mountain worship' ceremony for the Winter Solstice.
I heard that many markets were set up around the area this year to ensure the mountain worship ceremony could be held smoothly, and it was quite lively.
Guo Baiwen brought the vegetables back and discussed it with Grandma Guo and Guo Xiaohua. They decided to only open for half a day on Laba Festival and not open at night.
After that, the shop closed on holidays, so they simply followed the opening hours of the tofu shop across the street.
They've been working so hard these past few days, they deserve a good rest.
The family spent the whole morning washing and preparing vegetables, and before opening the shop at noon, they put up a notice that the shop was closed.
Those who live nearby and like this kind of food, or those who used to wait until evening to buy some hot pot for a late-night snack, are now buying their mala tang (spicy hot pot) at noon.
Fortunately, today's dishes were prepared according to the needs of the entire day's business, otherwise it really wouldn't be enough.
Thinking about the holiday, each customer who came to buy things today was given a dish of Laba garlic and a small cup of sweet rice wine.
The wine was the rice wine that Guo Baiwen had brought home before, which he had gotten from signing in. However, because the ingredients were so high-quality, Grandma Guo was reluctant to drink it directly.
So he added his own homemade fermented rice wine and honey water, turning that bottle of wine into a large jar that weighs more than ten kilograms, like those used by farmers.
Although the alcohol content has decreased significantly, the addition of honey gives it a taste similar to the sweet white wine popular here, making it suitable even for two- or three-year-old children to try.
It's not intoxicating.
The black dough balls that were originally served with spicy hot pot have been replaced with glutinous rice cakes today.
However, because glutinous rice is more expensive, a serving of glutinous rice cake is not very large, and the price is about the same as that of meatballs.
Most of the diners only order one or two pieces of glutinous rice cake to try, just for the festive atmosphere.
This glutinous rice cake wasn't homemade; Yang Qiaomai bought it from the rice shop.
The rice shop was open for half a day today. There were two men at the door, wearing short clothes that were neither yellow nor gray, revealing their muscular arms. They were pounding rice cakes with a wooden mallet.
It attracted a large crowd of onlookers.
Besides the pure glutinous rice cakes, there are also glutinous rice cakes sold with sweet soup and dipping sauce. Yang Qiaomai also saw that rice shops sell savory glutinous rice cakes with eggs.
However, glutinous rice cakes with added ingredients will naturally be more expensive.
Grandma Guo complained that the ingredients added by the rice shop weren't good enough, so she decided to buy some glutinous rice cakes and make them herself.
Guo Xiaohua expressed great concern about this.
After all, Grandma had only ever made simple brown sugar glutinous rice cakes before. She would grease the pan with some lard, fry the diced glutinous rice cakes, and then drizzle them with brown sugar water, and they were delicious.
This is my first time making savory glutinous rice cakes.
Seeing that his grandmother was unusually energetic, Guo Baiwen didn't say anything.
It's all just sticky, glutinous food, and Grandma's cooking skills are top-notch, so even if it fails—it shouldn't taste too bad.
Even if the salty flavor is unpalatable, you can just add more chili sauce and eat it like spicy stir-fried rice cakes with filling.
However, the freshly made glutinous rice cakes smelled really good. When Guo Xiaohua saw Yang Qiaomai bring the things back, she couldn't help but go over to the basket to smell them.
The handmade glutinous rice cakes, still warm and slightly sticky, are perfect with soybean powder or dipped in brown sugar.
Seeing Guo Xiaohua's envious look, Guo Baiwen simply took some of his own family members to try first, euphemistically calling it a "tasting".
Seeing that the glutinous rice cakes she had just bought were still warm, in addition to the simple sweet ones, Grandma didn't waste any time and made savory glutinous rice cakes with vegetables and eggs.
I also cut up some homemade cured pork and sausage, and added some green beans, spicy radish and dried radish to cook together. When it was done, I even added a spoonful of chili oil.
Guo Baiwen took a bite and thought it tasted pretty much the same as boiled rice cake.
After all, both glutinous rice cakes and rice cakes are made from glutinous rice.
The freshly steamed cured pork and sausage smelled so good it made my mouth water. Grandma used much more generous ingredients than the rice shop when making it for her own family.
The ratio of glutinous rice cakes to cured pork is almost 1:1.
Guo Baiwen tasted a sweet one, then ate a bowl of savory ones, thinking to himself, "No wonder Grandma Guo looks down on the rice cakes with toppings sold at the rice shop."
It was almost noon, the closing time, and there wasn't much food left in the shop. "Grandma, let's divide up what's left and close the door."
As it approached late afternoon and business slowed down, Grandma Guo said, "Let's pack up and rest."
Closing the shop is much easier than opening it. We've used up almost all the food ingredients. Apart from a few glutinous rice cakes, offal, and meatballs, there's nothing else left. All we need to do is clean the shop and wash the dishes and strainers.
Yang Qiaomai was squatting by the well in the yard washing bamboo bowls and chopsticks when she saw Guo Baiwen walking over with a cloth bag. She quickly put down what she was carrying, wiped her hands, which were wet with soapy water, on the front of her clothes, and stood up from the small stool she was sitting on. "Shopkeeper."
Guo Baiwen still felt a little uncomfortable hearing those two words after hearing them for so many days.
But he was indeed the employer of the hired man, so he could only silently convince himself that he was used to it. Looking at Yang Qiaomai, whose cheeks had become a little fuller in the past few days, he handed over the cloth bag in his hand.
Although she didn't know what was inside the bag, Yang Qiaomai accepted it from the shopkeeper since Guo Baiwen had handed it to her.
Upon opening it, I saw that it was full of copper coins. Although I couldn't count them carefully, I estimated that there were probably one or two hundred.
The person was stunned and stood there dumbfounded.
Looking up again, I felt my once-burning enthusiasm suddenly turn cold. "Shopkeeper, what does this mean?"
I was supposed to work a trial period for a month, and I only became a full-time employee yesterday, receiving my first month's salary of six hundred coins.
Why are they suddenly giving him so much money? Could it be that he did something wrong these past few days and the shop owner isn't going to let him continue working here?
But my sister was happy for him last night that he had found a long-term job.
Moreover, today is Laba Festival, and he has already planned to take his niece, Tianqiao, out for a stroll.
Now, how is he going to tell his two family members that he has lost this hard-won job?
The thought of this possibility made Yang Qiaomai, who was precocious and sensible, panic. She was only twelve years old after all.
He tried his best to suppress his sobs and spoke in a calm tone, "Is the shop owner planning to fire me ahead of schedule?"
Guo Baiwen could tell from his expression that he had misunderstood.
He quickly reassured her, "No, no, no, this doesn't mean I'm firing you."
Yang Qiaomai breathed a slight sigh of relief. After his emotions had fluctuated wildly, he quickly composed himself and managed to force a warm smile. "So, is this money what the shopkeeper wants me to run errands to buy?"
It's like running errands to buy glutinous rice cakes in the morning.
Hey, there's just too much money in this bag.
That's why he couldn't help himself and misunderstood.
Hopefully, the shop owner won't have any bad feelings towards him because of this.
“I’m not asking you to run errands,” Guo Baiwen couldn’t keep up with Yang Qiaomai’s jumping thoughts. This time, he finally finished saying what he wanted to say. “Today is Laba Festival. I should give you some holiday allowance, like rice, noodles, meat, and wine. The money I gave you yesterday was your wages for the previous month. I didn’t prepare anything in advance for today’s festival, so I thought it would be more convenient to just give you the holiday allowance.”
"If you want to buy something, you can use this money to buy it directly."
He didn't know the rules for paying wages here, so he decided on the date of payment each month based on the completion of a full month of work.
Yang Qiaomai worked very hard in the shop, not only keeping the dishes and chopsticks very clean, but also eagerly taking on any errands or other tasks.
Although Guo Baiwen had a lingering unease about employing child labor, it was common for people of Yang Qiaomai's age to work these days.
These days, there's no such thing as the five social insurances and one housing fund. His little shop can't even offer a single day off, let alone two days off per week.
But if he were only given wages, Yang Qiaomai didn't seem like someone who wasn't short of money.
Instead of thinking about what holiday benefits to give him, it's more convenient to just give him holiday money.
"Yesterday's pay was the monthly salary of 600 cash, which was set before the trial period. Since it's a holiday today, in addition to this money, I'll pack some glutinous rice cakes for you to take with you later."
"There isn't much money in this bag, I counted it and it should be 120 coins. You can take it if you want, it's good to buy something to eat tonight during the festival."
As Yang Qiaomai listened to Guo Baiwen's words, one after another, she felt as if a huge pie had suddenly fallen straight into her head in broad daylight.
The impact left him feeling somewhat dizzy.
Unable to resist, he instinctively grabbed a ginkgo tree for support amidst the dizziness. When Guo Baiwen suddenly asked anxiously, "Are you alright? Are you having a hypoglycemic episode?" he simply shook his head.
He didn't understand what the shopkeeper meant by 'low blood sugar,' but he felt that the Guo family was truly a kind and honest family, and that the job that Brother Zhao gave him was a stroke of incredible luck.
I only worked for a month, and with the savings I got today, I've already earned more than half a year's rent money.
The extra money might even be enough to buy Tianqiao a big bag of maltose to eat, so that she can know what the 'sweetness' in her name really tastes like.
With the money he received today, he can now start looking for better houses outside Huaihua Lane.
Although he had discussed this matter carefully with his sister when he got back last night.
Although he didn't have much money, if he just rented a small courtyard house with three rooms in Meihua Alley in the west of the city, with a deposit of one month's rent and two months' rent paid in advance, his wages would be barely enough.
Once I move out of Huaihua Alley, I won't have to worry about what might happen to my older sister and niece while I'm at work every day.
Moreover, Sister A doesn't have to keep Tianqiao confined indoors every day anymore. When the weather is nice, they can sit in their own yard and enjoy the sunshine.
Even though she had no money left after paying the rent for the new house, her sister said she would take on more sewing jobs and grit her teeth, and she should be able to make it until he got paid next month.
Aside from rent, which is the biggest expense, other household expenses are actually quite low.
I was originally thinking that I could just tough it out and get through it eventually.
But now, the unexpected 120 coins have completely solved his urgent problem.
During the days he worked there, not every day, but every now and then he would bring home a lot of leftover ingredients.
In just over a month, not only have both he and Tianqiao gained some weight on their faces, but their older sister's cough has also become much less severe than before.
The doctor who came to see me before was right. My sister didn't eat enough good food and didn't take good care of herself, which is why she developed postpartum illnesses.
So, even without taking any fancy food, just eating more tofu and offal meatballs makes a difference to one's overall energy and spirit, even without medication.
If he hadn't gotten this job, he wouldn't have dared to think whether his sister's illness would have improved.
The tears I had been holding back suddenly turned into large raindrops, falling one by one.
Guo Baiwen, who was initially anxious about whether to make him a bowl of sweet soup, unconsciously fell silent.
He knew that Yang Qiaomai lived in Huaihua Lane.
Although I don't know how many people are in his family, judging from how he acts as the pillar of the family, I know that there must not be many people in his family, and that they must be having a hard time.
Although life was difficult for the Guo family at the beginning, he was still able to be a child loved by others because his grandmother was still alive.
If he hadn't also linked to the sign-in system, his life might have been even worse than Yang Qiaomai's.
After thinking for a moment, looking at the child who was a few years younger than himself, Guo Baiwen felt a little sad. He pretended not to have seen anything and turned to leave from under the ginkgo tree.
Before leaving, he gently patted Yang Qiaomai on the shoulder.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
