Chapter 77: Selling wontons. Focusing on making money.
The courtyard is located on the edge of the village. It seems quite large from the outside, but once you step inside, you will find a completely different world.
My grandmother had never been to such a house, let alone lived in one.
She kept smiling all the way and found everything new and exciting.
"Although this courtyard is far from the shop, everything about it is nice." Compared to the small house in town, Qiu Xuan really likes this spacious place.
Apart from anything else, the living rooms are bigger than the others, and are fully equipped with tables, chairs and benches.
"That's right." After walking around with them for half a circle, the grandmother felt tired and waved her hand to let them walk around on their own.
She sat on the porch and looked at the wild flowers blooming in the yard.
It’s great that spring is here.
Qiu Xuan continued to take them to the back, where there were two separate courtyards, which was also the place where Qiu Xuan originally wanted them to live.
"Go and pick one, tell me which one you like." Qiu Xuan patted Huai Xue's shoulder and let her choose by herself.
Huaixue looked up at her, "Second Aunt, can I live in whichever one I like?"
"That's natural, go pick it."
After everyone left, Qiu Xuan finally opened her mouth to ask Yue Yang.
She had noticed Yueyang was unwilling in the restaurant yesterday, but she had to ask again today.
"Sister-in-law, I know you mean well. I discussed it with Sanlang last night, and he said forget it. It's too much of a bother for you."
Since she said so, Qiu Yun didn't mention it again and changed the subject.
"I heard that Brother Liu also rented a small courtyard recently?" The Brother Liu that Qiu Xuan mentioned was Liu Zhong, Liu Yueyang's biological brother.
"It's right behind his butcher shop, quite close. He lives with his sister-in-law in the small courtyard right at the entrance."
Qiu Xuan was surprised. "Your eldest brother is actually married. I asked him to help in the shop during these days. I thought..."
Yueyang smiled and said, "My eldest brother got married a long time ago. My sister-in-law's family is not in our mountain. She happened to go back to her parents' home a few days ago and is back now."
-
Outside the courtyard, the Zong Xiao brothers had already moved all their things in, but some were still on the mountain and they had to go up again.
It just so happened that Zong Anji had something to say to him, so he followed him onto the cart.
This was the first time the two brothers had been alone together in many months.
"Second brother, Yueyang and I won't live in your courtyard anymore. Just leave a room for mother." Zong Anji said while chewing grass roots as he sat next to Zong Xiao.
"Mr. Yuan, your second sister-in-law has been saving land for you." Zong Xiao glanced at him and continued.
"If you want to live alone, I won't try to persuade you anymore. But if it's because of the family division, then as your elder brother, I have to say a few words. It's all in the past, and no one cares about it anymore. We're all a family now, making money, so we should all work together. Instead of wasting money on renting another one, it's better to save it. You'll be a father someday, so you need money."
Zong Anji's face turned red.
He hummed in response, "I understand, second brother. I'll ask Yueyang when I get back."
Zong Xiao didn't say anything else. He got to the point: it was their business what they decided. Anyway, if they moved in, there would always be a room for them in this courtyard.
At noon, the two sides finally got together again.
The things in the yard have been almost cleaned up, and the livestock on the mountain have been locked up in the backyard.
The smile on the clan mother's face never stopped. She rolled up her sleeves and spoke to everyone.
"Today, I will cook. You just wait and eat."
"That's so bad." Zong Anji stood next to his mother, looking like she was asking him to move aside and let her do it.
The clan mother pushed him away from the stove and said, "You guys have been cooking all day. Today is the day you finally get a break. Let me come."
Several people obediently moved away, but no one left the kitchen. They helped wash vegetables and cut vegetables.
Smoke rose and the aroma of rice wafted out.
Four dishes for six people, two meat and two vegetable.
This is the first meal since moving in, and also the only family reunion dinner in this month.
The restaurant was so busy that they didn't have the chance to sit down and have a proper meal.
"I'm so relaxed today. I feel a little uncomfortable not cooking all of a sudden. How about you, second sister-in-law?" Zong Anji stretched out his arms and turned his head to look at Qiu Xuan.
After all, the dishes in that restaurant were cooked by the two of them together. They were very busy every day and no one had a moment of leisure.
Qiu Xuan drank half a bowl of soup before saying, "I'm a little uncomfortable, but when my third brother can cook on his own one day, I think I'll get used to it."
Zong Anji looked at her in shock, "Second sister-in-law! Are you planning to quit?!"
Qiu Xuan had an idea last night, and today she said it directly while everyone was around.
"I do have this idea. Other restaurants like ours only have one chef." Qiu Xuan looked outside and smiled. "I was thinking that if you could handle this job by yourself one day, your second brother and I would set up a stall out front, and then we could earn two pounds."
Everyone looked at her in disbelief.
This small restaurant has only been open for about a month.
"The restaurant's business is now stable, and the number of people coming every day is no longer much higher than before. I think if Third Brother can control the quantity, then the kitchen won't need two people."
In the final analysis, Qiu Xuan still wants to make more money.
This guy, once he has money in his hands, never wants to let it go.
Qiu Xuan wanted to take advantage of the good business now to attract more customers, so that she could buy a few acres of land to make a living when she retired.
Qiu Xuan: "Take your time, there's no rush."
Zong Anji groaned in pain. He complained, "Second sister-in-law, you don't want to arrange everything we said that day, selling breakfast in the morning, stir-fried dishes at noon, and skewers in the evening."
Qiu Xuan nodded. "Yes, it's already April. In two months, the weather will be hot. Selling skewers will make a lot of money then. We can take advantage of that time to make some extra money."
"We are renting the shop and yard now. When we make more money in the future, we can buy them."
This is so tempting. What could be more attractive than owning your own shop?
Zong Anji stopped eating and slammed the table to make his decision, "Okay, I'll listen to my second sister-in-law!"
-
Time flies and it is mid-April in the blink of an eye.
In just half a month, Zong Anji was able to take care of the stove almost by himself, except when the orders were particularly diverse and he was a little overwhelmed. Fortunately, he could handle it most of the time.
Seeing this, Qiu Xuan immediately found the things she used to set up the stall.
The stall is set up in the area in front of the restaurant, which is spacious and in a good location.
She came home early in the morning and started setting up the stall. Now she no longer sells noodles, but wontons instead.
The small portion contains 10, and the large portion contains 15. Qiu Xuan's wontons are shaped like small ingots, which is auspicious just by looking at them.
In order to make the soup more delicious, she also bought some small shrimp skins. Just like eating wontons at home, she also prepared all the seasonings.
She has vinegar, chili peppers, and everything you want to eat.
"Boss Qiu, two small bowls of wontons and a sliced pancake, please."
"Okay." Qiu Xuan counted out twenty wontons and put them into the pot. While waiting, she moved to the pancake-making area and helped Zong Xiao pour the batter onto the pancake griddle.
When the diners saw this, they couldn't help but ask a few questions.
"Shopkeeper Qiu, why are you and your wife selling it outside at the stall instead of in the shop?"
Qiu Xuan: "It's the same thing. Stir-fried vegetables inside and wontons outside. It would be a mess if they were sold together."
As she spoke, Qiu Xuan took out the cooked wontons and brought them to the two of them.
It was breakfast time and there were many diners coming and going.
When everyone saw that this stall was run by a Tianjin restaurant, they knew that the food must be better than the others.
When I asked the price again, it was the same as the stall next to me.
Looking at it this way, it’s natural to buy wontons from Tianjin Restaurant.
On the first day of setting up her stall, Qiu Xuan was busy from morning to noon.
Fortunately, we prepared enough meat filling, otherwise there would not be enough to sell.
But in business, the more you sell on the first day, the more money you make.
At night, the candlelight flickers and human shadows are reflected on the window.
Qiu Xuan poured the copper coins on the table and strung them together one by one with a hemp rope.
There were only two of them selling wontons today, so all the money went into their pockets.
After Qiu Xuan finished stringing one string, she continued to string the next one, and in the end she had more than four strings.
This means they collected about four hundred copper coins.
A bowl of small wontons costs nine cents, a bowl of large wontons costs thirteen cents, and a pancake costs three cents.
By this calculation, they sold at least thirty bowls of wontons today!
"I really made a lot of money. Look." Qiu Xuan told Zong Xiao the cost price. She became happier and happier as she spoke, with smiles in her eyes.
Zong Xiao stood behind her, pinching her shoulders and praising her, "You were the one who came up with this business. Save the money and see how much you can save by the end of the month."
"You know, I feel like this money is free money. If we only run a small restaurant, we wouldn't have this much."
With the good business of the wonton stall today, Qiu Xuan is looking forward to summer more and more.
She thought that when summer came, she would sell grilled skewers outside, including lamb and pork skewers. There happened to be a wine shop next to their restaurant, so this combination was perfect for attracting business.
"Making money is good, but don't get tired." Zong Xiao pinched her fingertips and said, "I'll make the meat filling tomorrow. You should get some more sleep."
Having gotten up early today, Qiu Xuan is already feeling sleepy.
She yawned and said, "Then I'll go take a shower and go to bed early today."
Maybe she was too tired, but she fell asleep as soon as she lay down.
She slept so soundly that she didn't even notice there was someone else in her bed at night.
The next day, Zong Xiao got up before dawn.
He glanced at the sleeping person in his arms and gently pulled away.
It was still dark outside, but the cool breeze was not cold.
Zong Xiao took the machete and went out. There were weeds outside the yard. They grew wildly in spring. No matter how hard he cut them, they would grow again.
The rabbits at home are quite lucky as they can eat fresh food every day.
Zong Xiao was mowing the grass outside the yard when suddenly a voice came from the opposite side.
Although it was dark, Zong Xiao could still see clearly that it was an old man.
"Master, what's the matter?"
The old man opposite walked towards me slowly. Although he was using a crutch, he did not look weak.
"Young man, do you live here?"
"I just moved here a few days ago."
"No wonder, I've never seen you before. You look unfamiliar." The old man stroked his beard, looked him up and down, and asked, "Do you have rabbits at home?"
Zong Xiao raised his eyebrows and replied, "You can see that too?"
The old man waved his hands and said, "No way, it's you who smells like rabbit."
Zong Xiao lowered his head and sniffed, but couldn't smell anything.
The old man showed no intention of leaving, and during the conversation he couldn't stop talking about rabbits.
"You want to buy a rabbit?" Zong Xiao finally figured it out.
"Hey, young man, you're quite smart." The old man moved closer to him and whispered, "Young man, I'm in a hurry to go out today and I don't have enough money. Can you buy me one on credit and I'll pay you back at noon?"
Zong Xiao: ...
It was the first time that Zong Xiao saw Bai Yao speak so bluntly.
Before he could open his mouth to refuse, the old man said, "If you don't want to, we can exchange it. My son can make tofu. How about I trade a plate of tofu for a rabbit? But you have to get the tofu yourself."
A plate of tofu weighs at least thirty pounds, and nowadays a piece of tofu costs two cents.
If you calculate it this way, it's possible.
Zong Xiao agreed, "Okay, wherever you live, I'll send it to you."
"It's the first one at the entrance of the village, the one with the red letter on it." The old man smiled and said to him, "Remember to pick a fat one for me."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
