Chapter 16 Chapter 16 Everyone is busy with the warmth and coldness of human nature
The four small stoves were already lit. Baozhu was picking up the side dishes, and her eldest brother came trotting over to help.
The two of them worked together like this, asking whenever a boat came. Because it was the first day, they didn't prepare many dishes and were worried that they wouldn't be able to sell them all. However, they were all sold out before noon. Baozhu went back to cut some bacon and sausages, and after noon, only these bacon and sausages were left to go with the rice.
After all, the stall fee has been paid. Although it is only two cents, I still want to occupy it for the whole day. After all, it costs two cents whether I leave early or late.
In the evening, my second brother came back from school and said that someone in the school wanted to order food the next day.
At noon, Baozhu delivered food to the Imperial College and said that she and her elder brother had set up a stall. She also asked her classmates if they still wanted to order food as they had asked last time. If so, she would deliver it the next day.
That's why my second brother came home specially.
In the evening, the brother and sister poured all the copper coins they had earned that day on the table. They originally wanted to test the waters today and did not prepare many dishes, but unexpectedly the business was good. In the end, they were reluctant to close the stall, so they continued to sell the bacon and sausages that they had just cut. It seems that they will have to prepare more dishes tomorrow.
The ingredients of Baozhu are good. There are not only porters and laborers working at the dock, but also many passengers and boat workers. As long as the food tastes good, there is no need to worry about no one buying it.
Some passenger ships only stopped in Bian Jing to rest, and after buying supplies they had to go further south or further north. The canal of this dynasty was well developed, and merchant ships came and went like crucian carp. Bian Jing was even more prosperous, and there were many ships docking there. As long as you went to the side of the ship and shouted, people would see the food and be tempted by it because they had been hungry for a long time. After seeing and smelling it, they would buy it.
String the copper coins together one by one with a hemp rope, and count to a hundred coins to form a string.
I made a total of more than 900 coins today. Not counting the money I spent on the cart and clay pot, after deducting the cost of today's vegetables, including bacon, duck eggs, rice, etc., I still made a net profit of more than 200 coins. What's more, I only sold them at half the price today to attract people's attention, and I will sell them at the full price tomorrow.
The officials from the Inspection Office ordered four servings of minced meat and eggplant, the Imperial College ordered six, and someone on a passenger ship today ordered five. Apart from the officials from the Inspection Office, the rest ordered either cured meat or mushroom and chicken rice. These alone cost nearly four hundred coins!
After listening to her elder sister's account, Baorong also raised her hand. She had been drawing a picture of the Dragon Boat Race at home these days. Seeing that her elder brother and elder sister were too busy, she volunteered to help.
Baozhu and her eldest brother smiled at each other and said, "Go and help me, and I'll give you 10% of the profit."
It just so happened that she was worried that she wouldn't be able to work well tomorrow. Baorong grew up in the restaurant since he was a child. He had a smiling face and worked efficiently. With his elder brother by his side, Baozhu had nothing to worry about. She just told him to stay near the stall and not to run away.
Tomorrow at noon she has to deliver the meals she has ordered to several places first, and then come back to help.
Although we are opening today, we still need to sort out the accounts. I took a pen and paper and wrote down today's accounts one by one. I remembered clearly the amount of vegetables, rice, firewood, capital and interest, so that I could settle the total account by the end of the month.
The eldest brother carried a basin of water and washed dishes in the yard.
On the second day, we prepared more dishes and cleaned all the small casseroles. With Baorong's help, the pots and bowls could be washed in time, so we didn't have to worry about not having enough bowls.
The Imperial College ends early, Baozhu calculated the time and went to the Imperial College first. Her second brother came out to get food, and several students who had ordered food followed him out. Zhen Erlang had eaten delicious food yesterday, and several students were craving it for half a day. When school was over in the evening, they hurried to urge Zhen Erlang to go home.
He took the meal and smelled the fragrance through the lid. Without waiting for the evening, he told Baozhu that he wanted to order more. The second brother waved his hand to drive away the few people and told Baozhu to go and do her business. If anyone wanted to order more, just tell him, and he would tell Baozhu when he got home from school. Fortunately, they lived nearby, otherwise it would be inconvenient for the second brother to go back and forth every day.
After returning and getting the food, he went to Xishuimen to deliver food to the officials from the Inspection Office. He announced the name of Lord Luo, who came out to take the food and paid the remaining money. Baozhu smiled politely and asked if he would order again tomorrow.
This Lord Luo shook his head, "I won't be on duty tomorrow. If you want to eat later, just go directly to the stall. If you want to order, send someone to tell me in advance."
Baozhu smiled, thanked him, and hurried to leave. She had given them two pieces of marinated chicken breast as a gift with their meal today, with the intention of showing them some kindness. She hadn't tried to please them, as they would always see her eating.
The sailors and boatmen on the boat had also ordered meals yesterday. Since they were nearby, they were afraid that they would not be able to make it in time, so my brother ran over and delivered it long ago.
I was exhausted after a day of work. I didn't count the sales of various items today, but I only calculated that I sold about 130 pieces, which is a lot more than yesterday, and they were all sold at the regular price.
Baorong was used to shouting, and although the food was at full price today, there were more people than yesterday. Several stools were occupied, and some boatmen, sailors, or passengers on the boat ordered food to be taken back to the boat to eat. After a while, the eldest brother had to go and collect the bowls.
The coins jingled as they fell into the box, and it was a delight to hear them.
In the evening, the family sat together for dinner. Xu said that she would close another deal in the next few days, and when she got the money from the middleman, she would buy a set of fabric for each family member to make summer clothes.
Grandma Zhen and a few other women had cleared some wasteland in the back street. They'd just harvested leeks and cabbages, and after they'd tasted them, they'd had the government take it away. They'd also posted a notice forbidding anyone from planting again, threatening to jail and slap anyone caught doing so. The old lady was so furious she beat her chest and stamped her feet, saying someone must have been eyeing the land long ago and was waiting for the vegetables to grow before harvesting them.
With nothing to do, Grandma Zhen was bored at home, so she asked her aunt to take her daughter away these days. I heard that the mother and daughter would sleep together at night. Grandma Zhen was a talkative person, and she stayed with her aunt every day, wishing she could tell her daughter everything she had not said to her in the past few years.
Everyone has their own things to do.
Zhen's father is the quietest person in the family, and he has been looking even more embarrassed these days when he comes home.
Baozhu kept asking and finally found out. It turned out that not only was the work in Fanlou tiring, but Zhen's father had always been bad at dealing with people. The chefs in the kitchen took advantage of him because he was new. The head chef was good at cooking northern dishes, and seeing that Zhen's father had already gained some reputation after just arriving, he often joined forces with the kitchen staff to exclude him.
"The restaurant owner is familiar with my brother-in-law. I went in to ask for his help. If I were to complain to him about this, he might accuse me of being suspicious, but I'm afraid he'd look down on your uncle. The kitchen staff are always very careful, and they always leave me speechless. Today, a hair fell into the dish we served, and a customer caught it. The owner apologized to the customer, and it took a lot of effort to calm him down. He didn't blame me, and if this goes on for a long time, I'm afraid this job..."
Zhen's father's voice was full of guilt, and his back was lowered lower and lower. In the kitchen, he was the only one who wrapped his headscarf the tightest, so there was no way a single hair could fall in.
Baozhu looked a little distressed. Her own father often couldn't say it out loud, but he was a thoughtful person. It seemed that he had hesitated for a long time before saying it today.
As expected, Xu scooped him a spoonful of soup and said nonchalantly,
"No wonder I have to turn over and make pancakes every night. So there is such a thing. It's just a job. I won't starve to death anywhere. Bianjing is a big city. I can make a living by begging. Tomorrow I will go and tell them that I am quitting. I will also give those people a bad taste before I leave."
Zhen's father looked at Xu, his eyes and heart moved. He straightened his back immediately after hearing her words, and shook his head again, "She's just a little difficult to get along with, but everything else is fine. Now that the food is ready, some guests even asked me to cook some southern dishes."
Xu knew that agreeing with him would help him relieve his anger, so she scolded those black-hearted people in the kitchen. After hearing this, Zhen's father felt much better.
The kids at the table looked at each other and smiled as if they were used to it.
Baozhu has always been protective of her father and didn't want to see him being bullied, so she said, "The work at the kitchen is the most tiring. If Dad isn't happy with it, we can gather some guests and prepare a private banquet for them."
Xu also nodded. "I'm out and about every day, and I can socialize with people. Next time someone's hosting a banquet, you can go and try your hand at it. For now, you can only stay in the restaurant for the time being. The chef down there can cook northern dishes, so you can learn from him. You're really good at cooking southern dishes now, but we're in Bianjing now, and the officials and wealthy families like to order northern dishes."
"Next time a guest wants to give a tip, Dad, find a way to start a conversation and tell them that they are so kind. If they want a southern dish in the future, I will cook it for them for free."
This is the advantage of being a chef in Fanlou. After all, it is a famous restaurant. You can improve your reputation after working there for a while. On the other hand, an unknown chef outside has to build his reputation slowly on his own.
The family was chatting when they heard the door being slammed. Dalang got up to check and when he opened the door he saw Axiu, the maid from the scholar's wife's house next door, crying and calling for help.
"My wife is about to give birth, and there's no one at home right now. Please help me, madam."
The whole family put down their bowls and chopsticks upon hearing this. Mrs. Xu told the children not to come out and then asked Ah Xiu, "Who is the midwife your wife often uses? Does she have a regular doctor?"
Ah Xiu shook her head, "I haven't found a midwife yet. My wife said the baby won't be born for another month, so there's no rush."
Xu's eyelids twitched when she heard this. "Another month?"
"My wife said she had a stomachache after dinner..."
Xu couldn't stand to hear much. Although she usually didn't like the behavior of Zhao Xiucai and his wife, the child in her belly was innocent after all. Zhao Xiucai didn't know where he went at night, and there was no one in charge of the family. Although she wanted to help, giving birth to a child was a big deal, and she didn't want him to bring trouble to her family later.
There was such a commotion here that several families had already opened their doors to see what was happening. Xu immediately shouted,
"This scholar's wife is about to give birth! I just moved here, and I don't know which midwife would be suitable. I'll go and help invite one!"
"Mother Zhang at the end of the alley is in good hands!"
As soon as they heard that someone was giving birth, the women all came out. Life and death are big matters. The neighbors who only saw each other once in the past were also ready to come and help.
The author has something to say:
----------------------
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
