Chapter 71 Chapter 71 The exchange of the engagement letter is a natural process
Pei Yanqing had secured a job. The emperor had given his word, and since he was allowed to choose for himself, he would naturally choose the best place. Kaifeng County was close to the capital, and commuting was very convenient. The head of the Ministry of Personnel did not make it difficult after receiving instructions from above. Pei Yanqing only had to wait for the appointment letter to come down before he could take up his post.
Pei Yanqing had been recuperating for the past two months and had rarely gone out. He was now much better. Baozhu tore off his clothes and saw that the wounds had healed and the scabs had almost fallen off. However, the scars left were shocking, and traces of burns could still be seen. Fortunately, there were no scars on his face, otherwise it would have hindered his career in the future.
The two of them have become closer these days. Baozhu blushed and her heart beat fast when she started to help him change the bandages. Now it was no different from watching a plucked chicken or duck. Pei Yanqing, on the other hand, kept tense so that people could see the muscles he had built up in the past few months.
His injuries had probably healed, and as soon as he was able to go out, he would often come to the restaurant to help out. The restaurant was very busy during the year, and he had nothing to do anyway, and he couldn't do heavy work, so he helped with odd jobs, sweeping the floor and wiping the tables.
This clay pot soup is quite attractive and sells for a high price. Ever since the soup was put on the shelves, there has been a long queue of people waiting to drink it.
The soup is simmered slowly over the fire at the bottom of the stove and tastes extremely fresh. The colder the weather, the more popular the soup is. After drinking a bowl of soup, you will feel sweating all over and warm from your stomach to your feet.
Since the clay pot soup was her specialty, Baozhu simply went to the clinic to ask the doctor for advice on which soup was best suited to which medicinal ingredient. As time went by, people who regularly drank the soup began to feel that their bodies seemed to be better than before.
We didn't have lunch in the store until mid-afternoon. We came in early in the morning to eat something to fill our stomachs, and then we have been busy non-stop until now. We want to make more money while business is good in the twelfth lunar month. When the guys are hungry, they eat a piece of bread to fill their stomachs. We can only have a proper meal after lunch when there are fewer people.
When it is cold, each person can have a can of soup, add a handful of rice crust or fried rice, soak it briefly, and it will taste even better.
Fried rice is also a long-standing food in the Jiangnan region. Select glutinous rice, steam it, dry it, and then fry it. Stir it twice over low heat and it will pop into plump grains of rice popcorn in the pot. Not only can the fried rice be eaten with soup, but in winter it can also be used to make rice popcorn candy.
Pei Yanqing brought out his bowl and chopsticks and set them on the small table, intending to eat alone with Baozhu. Jiang Shi, with a look of deliberation, shooed everyone away to the large table next door. Baozhu, having something to say, didn't notice Pei Yanqing's thoughts and sat down at the large table as well. She had just eaten some bread and wasn't very hungry. Seeing this, Pei Yanqing brought his bowl and chopsticks again, squeezed past Sister Liu, and sat down next to Baozhu with a serious look on his face.
They often discuss things in the store together. Although Baozhu is the store manager, sometimes she may have a different view on things from them, and they can sometimes point out things to her with just a word.
Baozhu only spoke after everyone had finished eating.
"This winter, we had a lot of snow, and business seemed good, but after calculating, I realized it wasn't as good as last year. The prices of chicken, duck, fish, and meat have all gone up, and some vegetables are even more expensive than meat."
Clay pot soup alone is not enough. The prices of vegetables and meat are rising, but the prices on the restaurant menu remain the same. Because of this, many customers who have not been to the restaurant for a long time come to dine.
"How can we retain those guests who haven't come in a while? And how can we get those regular guests to come back more often?"
The waiters all shook their heads, but Jiang Shi stood up. "As for taste, our food is top-notch. As for freshness, we often serve new dishes. Those diners who haven't been here for a while tell me that it's either too far to come or they're too short on money to come."
Baozhu nodded. Jiang Shi was right.
"I was thinking of renovating the shop after the New Year, but if our daily revenue remains the same, I'm afraid we won't have enough money to pay for the renovations. We used to offer discounts to customers when we had new dishes or during festivals."
"I'm thinking of asking customers to come to the restaurant to get a food card. If they deposit five or more coins, they can get a card. Next time they dine here, they can get a 10% discount, which is a 10% discount. The money they deposited will be recorded in their account. From now on, they can dine at the restaurant directly. The amount will be deducted from the food card. If there is a shortage, they can make up for it. If there is a surplus, they can use it again next time they come back."
When diners come to eat, they just need to find the roster, record the bill, and deduct the money. It doesn't take much effort. Nowadays, most transactions are still made in coins. Deducting and marking the bill on the roster is better than counting the coins slowly.
"Any first-time diners who apply for a food card will receive a 100-wen bonus credited to their card. If they pay 10 taels of silver, they will receive 500-wen credited to their account."
"If you deposit 20 taels of silver, you'll get a bonus of 1 tael of silver added to your account. A 20 tael food card gives you a 20% discount at the restaurant. That means if you order a meal that costs 1 tael of silver, you only have to spend 800 coins with this card."
"Fifty taels of silver, and I'll give you three taels of silver to put into your account, a 30% discount."
With money in the food card, even the diners who seldom come here often have to come and have a look. Jiang Shi and Liu Si'er persuaded people, and Baozhu's words were convincing, so for a while there were quite a few customers who wanted to apply for food cards.
Baozhu registered each person one by one, and the names had to be engraved on the food tags to prevent impersonation. Some tricks had to be used to prevent counterfeiting. Only a deposit of 200 wen was collected in the next few days, and the rest of the money would be paid when the tags were ready in three days.
In the twelfth lunar month, the Zhen family began to prepare for the wedding. They had to order wedding candies, wedding cakes, peanuts, longans, red dates and the like in advance. Many people got married in the twelfth lunar month and the first lunar month, so the wedding shop became more and more lively day by day.
My second brother drew up a list of people to whom the invitations should be sent, most of whom were his peers or classmates and colleagues.
Although the second brother is an official now, the Zhen family rarely interacts with the families of other officials. Firstly, the second son of the Zhen family works in a low-income government office, and it is not easy for him to make a name for himself, so naturally no one wants to curry favor with him. On the other hand, there are many etiquettes when visiting a wealthy family, such as banquets for appreciating lotus, chrysanthemums, and plum blossoms.
Madam Xu could not cope with such a situation. When she first came to Bian Jing, she had met many wives of officials at the Jinming Lake Dragon Boat Race. They were still polite to her out of respect for Aunt Zhen. But now she was invited to a banquet. Since she was invited, the three generations of the Zhen family would probably know everything about it. Her actions and words would be picked out and talked about. Even if Madam Xu thought she was thick-skinned, she could not withstand the blatant ridicule.
No matter how eloquent a person is, he or she cannot stand the contemptuous look of others. The Zhen family was excluded by those wives of officials. Perhaps they felt that giving them a letter was already a sign of respect.
The first time Xu Niang went back to investigate, she got mad. After that, she went alone to accept invitations and never asked to bring Baobao and Zhurong along.
No matter how impulsive Miss Kong is, her family has taught her these etiquettes of social interaction since she was a child.
Thinking of this, Madam Xu breathed a sigh of relief, as if she had someone to support her.
The Zhen family accepted this invitation several times, and they were all families that could not be refused. She would be left out in the cold and become a laughing stock, but no matter what, these people would not want to offend the Kong family.
After Laba Festival, Pei Yanqing first came to ask Madam Xu for a date. When the three elders, Father Zhen, Madam Xu and Grandma Zhen, were all at home, he and Grandma Pei brought two official matchmakers to the house.
"I'm afraid it would be impolite if grandma comes alone. Even though I'm from my own family, I won't say much about etiquette. But according to the old custom, this happy event means couples, so I'll come with grandma." Pei Yanqing performed the ceremony first.
The two official matchmakers who came were dressed in purple clothes and wore purple hats on their heads. Official matchmakers were not ordinary matchmakers and did not need to flatter them, but the two of them took a look at Zhen's father and Xu Niang and poured out a lot of auspicious words, which made everyone who heard them feel happy.
Both families knew the truth, and it was natural for them to exchange their birth dates.
When the neighbors saw the official media coming to the house, they all came to congratulate them, saying that the Zhen family had had many happy events recently and they would definitely come to ask for a glass of wedding wine.
Madam Xu invited the neighbors who came to congratulate her to sit in her house, brought out some snacks and steamed buns, and served them tea, jokingly saying, "One cup is not enough. On this wedding day, everyone should be drunk."
Grandma Pei was indeed concerned, but unfortunately she was not in good health and did not know the rules of Bianjing.
Anyway, the appointment documents had not yet come down, so Pei Yanqing went to find the official matchmaker and wrote down all the things that needed to be paid attention to regarding the marriage.
After the engagement, the son-in-law has to deliver gifts to the Kong family during the New Year. All the eight gifts for the four seasons must be present. Richer families are more thorough in their etiquette. For the New Year gifts, Erlang of the Zhen family collected ten gifts and pulled two carts to the Kong family. The Pei family pulled another ten gifts to the Zhen family.
The cart was filled to the brim with pigs and sheep, and several large boxes of ginseng and other medicinal herbs for nourishing the body were also filled. There was also some wine and various cakes and cloth.
Zhen's father took Pei Yanqing to drink a pot of sake. Zhen's father was not a good drinker and usually did not drink much, but since the two families exchanged engagement letters, he always had a few drinks in the evening. After drinking, he talked more and always took advantage of the alcohol to talk to Baozhu.
Since there were no outsiders around, the whole family sat together to eat, and Baozhu also drank a few glasses of plum wine.
Pei Yanqing came this time not only to give New Year gifts, but also made a pair of heavy gold bracelets for Baozhu, which were inlaid with a circle of rubies in accordance with the recently fashionable style. There was also a ring inlaid with rubies, which was placed heavily in a satin box.
Baozhu knew that the Pei family was quite wealthy, but she was still dazzled when she first saw the two thick bracelets. Not to mention the gems on them, the weight of the two bracelets alone was probably enough to cover the rent of the two shops for two years.
A pair of slender hands, the rubies making the wrists look as white as jade. Pei Yanqing leaned down and put the gold bracelet on her hand with a smile. The face was very close to her. Perhaps it was because of the aftereffect of the plum wine, seeing the serious look on the man's face with lowered eyebrows, her heart began to beat faster.
When she looked down carefully, she found that there was a small mole at the corner of his eye that she had never noticed before. She was distracted and he looked up without warning. Their noses were almost touching. There was a faint fragrance of plum blossoms lingering around. Baozhu saw his eyes through the mole. When their eyes met, Baozhu lowered her eyes and saw his sparkling lips.
Food, sex and nature are all part of human nature. She swallowed and pushed the person away a little.
Only then did she react and saw the man sitting on the ground in a daze after being pushed by her. His usually serious face was now red to his ears.
Baozhu stretched out her hand to pull the man up, but he dragged her to the ground without saying a word. Her head banged into his chest, and her ears could hear his frantic heartbeat.
There was a blanket in the room and charcoal was burning, so it didn't feel cold.
Baozhu turned over and rested her head on his arm. Listening to the low voice beside her ear, she felt drowsy.
"I have nothing to do this year, so I've just sorted out all the things going on in the farm and the shop. I wanted to have the manager send all the money to you, but I was afraid your mother would find it impolite, so I locked it up first."
"My mother's original dowry list and property deeds were all taken away by my uncle's family. They were worried that after my parents passed away, my grandmother and I would be bullied and the property would be seized by the clan members. So they put my mother's dowry away so that they would have a way out if anything happened. Now that they know I'm getting married, they have asked someone to return all the property deeds."
Pei Yanqing's uncle's family was in the medicinal materials business. Although they were not very conspicuous, they were wealthy and had a good business. After making some money, they became a small official in the Hedong area. After that, they became more low-key.
"The old managers in Hedong are watching over the properties back home. They pay us rent and interest on the land every year. We don't need to worry about anything else. We just need to hold the land deeds in our hands."
Pei Yanqing counted the family properties one by one with Baozhu. They were all land and shops. They only needed to be paid rent every year and did not require too much effort to manage.
As Baozhu listened to him speak, she felt her head grow heavier. She became alert and raised her eyelids with great effort to ask Pei Yanqing, "Window...is there a crack in the window?"
"How did you fall asleep so quickly? What kind of bed?"
Pei Yanqing moved closer to her, wondering how she fell asleep so quickly. He could only hear her mumbling in her sleep, but he had no idea what she was saying.
Baozhu used the last bit of her strength to hit him, "Charcoal... charcoal poison!"
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The author has something to say: It’s the end of the month~
Babies whose nutrient solution is about to expire, please irrigate me as much as you can~ [Starry Eyes][Starry Eyes]
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