Chapter 58 Chapter 58 (Updated on the 9th) Busy with new ideas...
The two looked at each other. Baozhu knew that the more she explained, the more confusing it would become. She hurriedly finished her Yuanxiao and pulled Pei Yanqing, who was still sitting there and laughing foolishly, to leave. She saw that he had been sitting on the stool for a long time without moving.
"Once this task is over, I will go to your house to propose marriage. How about that?"
Now what I am making is the king's sword, and I have to be more careful than my waist. If I am not careful, something bad will happen. Now the relationship between the two has not been exposed, and it is also for Baozhu's sake.
A pair of eyes stared at Baozhu, waiting for her answer. It was freezing cold, and Baozhu looked at his serious expression and nodded imperceptibly.
For two people who love each other, it is a natural thing.
Pei Yanqing saw her nod, and immediately followed her, feeling as sweet as if he had eaten honey.
I came out to set up a stall today because it was not a big deal and I could do it alone. My family didn't say anything. After all, the Lantern Festival was coming and there were countless imperial guards patrolling, so there was no need to worry about anything happening.
He just came back pushing the cart, and when he reached the alley entrance, he saw his second brother coming back from a banquet at the Kong family. The second son of the Zhen family had gotten a Lantern Festival holiday and rushed home again.
He just looked at Pei Yanqing with suspicion, squeezed through the two of them and took the cart. He lowered his voice and muttered a few words to Baozhu in a voice that Pei Yanqing couldn't hear. Seeing that Baozhu didn't dare to argue, he pushed the cart home.
That evening, Baozhu asked Baorong to come into the house to collect money. "There were many people here today, so I made over twenty strings of cash." "I'll go over the store accounts tomorrow. I've made quite a bit of money this day."
After the Lantern Festival, several discounts in the store were temporarily cancelled, only these drinks and side dishes were still given away, because diners also have to make a living and they only spend the money they earn throughout the year in the first month of the lunar year. It would not be cost-effective to offer such discounts if there are fewer people.
Therefore, the business was a bit worse, but compared with ordinary shops, Zhen's Restaurant was still full at the time, but there were fewer people queuing.
Madam Xu occasionally had business in the first month of the year, and the goods in the warehouse were not in a hurry to sell. However, silk was in short supply during the New Year, so she helped people sell several batches of silk. If there was no business, she would entertain guests at home and rarely came to the store.
Zhen's father was not in the store today, and Madam Xu had just helped someone to close a silk business at noon. The stove at home was cold, so she didn't need to light the fire. She planned to go to the restaurant to eat something to fill her stomach. She would stay in the restaurant to help in the second half of the afternoon. Jiang Shi would be in Xuzhou for the New Year, and would not be back for a few days.
Although there were fewer people in the store after the Lantern Festival, there were still more people than on normal days. Since there was one less person in the store and Zhen's father was not there, he was worried that Baozhu would be too busy to handle it.
But when she arrived at the kitchen, she saw Lady Pei sitting under the stove, burning the fire as if she was more skilled than her, and Liu Si'er followed behind her, looking as if hesitant to say something.
When Madam Xu thought of the recent changes in Master Pei, her heart began to pound.
"You, you, you are really——"
Lord Pei immediately stood up and looked at Baozhu's face before he spoke, but asked Madam Xu to stop him.
"If the shop is short of staff, tell Mother. Mother will give you some money every month to hire some new staff. It's not right to ask Master Pei to do all the work."
Baozhu poured a cup of tea for her mother at the right time to help her calm down.
Madam Xu glared at Master Pei, her tone rather hostile, "Baozhu is young and naive, how can you be so clueless at such a young age?"
Pei Yanqing felt as if a knife was stabbed in the chest when he heard this. He was the same age as the eldest son of the Zhen family, and what Madam Xu said made him feel as if he had half a foot in the ground. Madam Xu was so powerful that he nodded in agreement and didn't dare to say anything, let alone explain anything.
He had felt hungry before, but now he wasn't hungry anymore. He stared at the man with his eyes as sharp as knives and followed him until he walked away. He was still worried until the afternoon, so he kept helping in the store. He only went home with Baozhu after the store closed in the evening.
Baozhu wanted to remind Pei Yanqing, but her mother was watching her closely, so she couldn't say anything to him.
Madam Xu was not stupid either. When she returned home in the evening, she quietly asked her husband whether Mr. Pei from next door often went to the restaurant.
Father Zhen nodded and smiled.
"Yes, he comes here often. He has done our family a favor. Baozhu said we should treat him well. This gentleman has a good temper. He doesn't get angry when there is no room in the store. Sometimes he will lend a hand when he sees that the store is too busy."
"You're such a pig!" Lady Xu was furious at him for not fighting back. "I'm not here to eat, I have other motives."
After she finished her complaints, she thought about the Pei family. Lord Pei was a man of high aspirations and excellent character and appearance. Even she could not find any fault with him. Moreover, he had just bought a house in Bian Jing and did not have any bad habits. He was not a drunkard or a womanizer.
She compared Pei Yanqing with Dong Hengzhi and felt that this young Master Pei was better.
Baozhu felt sympathetic, and now her mother had caught her red-handed. Actually, if she had said that she was just helping out in the store, her mother wouldn't have thought it was a big deal, but the two of them were not very upright in their hearts.
A Niang has always been suspicious, and I don't know what she's thinking right now. I wanted to explain to her, but I knew my explanation would only make things worse.
Before she could think of how to tell her mother, she saw her mother going next door to look for Grandma Pei the next day. She didn't say anything else, but just asked in a roundabout way when Master Pei would move out.
Pei Yanqing was returning home from work, and the two of them exchanged a few words. Lady Xu came back and told Baozhu that Master Pei would be moving into a new house in two days. Baozhu observed her mother's expression, unable to fathom what she was thinking.
Ever since her mother had met her, she'd been making secret visits to the shop from time to time, a fact Baozhu found amusing. Even her father had been keeping a close eye on her these past few days. She'd wanted to ask Pei Yanqing about it, but with her parents in such a state, she didn't want to worry them even more, so she couldn't.
As I was thinking about this, the neighbors started moving. They didn't have much luggage or belongings when they first came, and they didn't have much luggage or belongings when they left. There were not many people in the family, so they renovated the new house. Pei Yanqing was the kind of person who could just sleep on a board, so they didn't add many things to the house, except for the room where his grandmother lived, which was cleaned up.
He had secretly asked Baozhu what flowers and trees she liked, and had heard she liked osmanthus trees, simply because they were fragrant and could be used to make pastries. He had heard that, so he went to the nursery and picked out a few mature osmanthus trees. He would have them transplanted when the weather warmed up this spring, so they could bloom in the fall. Besides the osmanthus trees, he had also built a swing. He had overheard Baozhu mentioning that they had a swing back in Suzhou, too, and that when they were little, they often argued with Baorong about swinging on it. He would slowly add the rest later.
When the Pei family usually left, the courtyard next door would become empty. Madam Xu was busy asking people to remove the partition in the middle of the courtyard. When the partition was first repaired, she felt that her home was small and crowded, but after she got used to it, she didn't feel anything. Now that it was all removed, she suddenly felt that her home was much bigger, and there was room to entertain guests.
Baozhu Zhurong and eldest brother's rooms were not changed, while second brother's room was moved to the other side.
The Pei family, who lived next door, also took good care of their house. If there were any repairs needed, Master Pei would do them himself. There was nothing to renovate. Perhaps fearing she might worry, Pei Yanqing somehow tracked down Baorong and asked her to bring back a letter. Baozhu opened the letter and saw the handwriting. His handwriting was as sharp as his own, softening slightly when he wrote her name.
The letter only said that he had confessed to her mother last time, and would not be so bold as to joke with Baozhu casually in the future to damage her reputation. Being an official now was a dangerous job, so he would give up this position and find a small official position, and then he would come to propose marriage.
Originally, Madam Xu was just angry at him for being rude, but after listening to his confession, her anger subsided a little. Then, after hearing that his plans were all for Baozhu's sake, her anger completely dissipated.
After reading Xin Baozhu, I suddenly understood. No wonder since the last time she talked to him, A Niang acted as if nothing had happened and everything was still as usual.
Baozhu thought everything was normal, except that she occasionally received a few letters that he asked Baorong to bring back. There was nothing special in the letters, mostly just some gossip about the daily life. Baozhu wanted to write him a letter, but the letter was too big, so she had to cut a small piece of paper, write a few words on it, and put it in her purse, asking Baorong to give it to him when he saw her.
When the ice on the river melted and the city of Bianjing was filled with spring, Baozhu realized that she had not received any letter for half a month since she asked Baorong to give her the purse last time.
Baozhu couldn't help but feel worried, guessing that he had some errand to go on.
To avoid overthinking, Baozhu simply threw herself into the restaurant. Jiang Shi also returned, and since it was the off-season, business was naturally not as good as before.
Although it is the off-season for restaurants in spring, there are more and more dishes that can be prepared. Every morning, people from the suburbs outside Bianjing City come into the city with baskets to sell vegetables. In addition to the vegetables grown by themselves, most of them are small vegetables dug from the mountains and fields, such as shepherd's purse and Chinese toon. In spring, people go out to enjoy the scenery, and scholars love to return to nature. Food made from wild vegetables is quite popular.
After the spring began, the store was decorated with willow green and peach red, and the decoration attracted many literati and poets.
The restaurant has also added spring vegetables and flower dishes.
Spring vegetables are dishes made from local vegetables, while flower dishes are dishes made from fresh or dried spring flowers.
Even though these new dishes are expensive, they leave a lingering aftertaste in your mouth and are even more elegant. Although Zhen's Restaurant is not very close to the Imperial College, and although my second brother has become an official in the court, his former classmates from the Imperial College still come here often, and one by one they spontaneously spread the word about Zhen's Restaurant.
Last year's cold spring plates are still sold this year. In addition to spring plates, there are also flower plates, which are shortbread cakes made with various flowers. Since Zhen's father often prepares banquets at wealthy families, he can talk to them.
After he promoted these spring plates and flower plates, these wealthy families would often send people to buy them when they went to enjoy the spring in the gardens.
Baozhu was busy at the stove when she saw Jiang Shi lead someone in.
"This sister-in-law saw the job recruitment notice at the door and said she wanted to give it a try."
The restaurant has been trying to find a suitable chef for northern cuisine but has not found one. The talented ones have all gone to restaurants or wealthy families and will not leave easily. The good chefs in this snack shop don't look down on them, and Baozhu is afraid that those with poor cooking skills will drive away customers, so this matter has been put on hold.
Baozhu saw that the woman who came in was dressed neatly and had a blue cloth headscarf on her head, so she knew that she was a meticulous and capable person.
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