Chapter 72 Chapter 72 New Year's Day, Erlang Gets Married
Carbon poisoning?
Pei Yanqing heard this clearly and stood up hurriedly. He also felt dizzy. He looked around and saw that there was indeed no gap in the window of the room. He opened the window first, then staggered out holding Baozhu.
Madam Xu was shocked to see people stumbling. She looked at Baozhu, who was in a daze. In a panic, she pinched her Ren Zhong point and poured water into her mouth. Only then did Baozhu wake up slowly. Then she saw Pei Yanqing's eyes were also dazed. She had to fan him and pour water on him to finally wake him up.
Every year there are people who cannot be cured from carbon monoxide poisoning, and even if they are cured, they become fools. Madam Xu went to ask a doctor again, and was relieved when she heard that there was nothing serious.
There are two happy events to be held in the family next year. Taking advantage of the fact that there are many people working on the street during the New Year, Madam Xu called a few people back to repaint the yard. Originally, a piece of land in the yard was set aside for growing vegetables, but now that there are weddings, it is not convenient to grow vegetables anymore. The radishes and coriander in the field have been dug up, and only a small area with stones is left for Grandma Zhen to spend her days.
The remaining open space was paved with bluestone slabs, making it difficult to plant flowers at this time of year. I'd wait until next spring to transplant some flowers and plants. Winter was cold, and the vegetation withered. Only two plum trees in the yard were in full bloom.
The yard was newly decorated, and even after a light snowfall, it added a touch of charm.
Since the two families had exchanged engagement letters, gifts were also being prepared. The matchmakers had communicated to both sides, and on the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Pei Yanqing arrived to seal the engagement. He presented Zhu Cui jewelry, two sheep, and eight bottles of golden wine—ten gifts in all—and hired someone to bring them to the Zhen family.
Zhen Jiali returned the fish chopsticks.
Pei's grandmother is old, so Pei Yanqing runs around all by himself and handles many things by himself. The Zhen family knows the Pei family's situation and does not demand too much from them.
Pei Yanqing will be going to Kaifeng County to take up his post after the New Year. Although Kaifeng County is not far from the capital, it takes a lot of time to travel back and forth. Now, while he has no work to do, he will prepare the gifts as soon as he has free time. He originally bought a house in Bianjing with this day in mind, and many things have been prepared in advance. After agreeing with the matchmaker, he brought the gifts to propose marriage.
It was just before the New Year and it was busy, so on the 26th day of the 12th lunar month, Pei Yanqing hired people to carry twelve loads of betrothal gifts to the door. The Zhen family knew from the matchmaker that he would come today, so they started working early, prepared two tables of good food and wine, invited the hired matchmaker to have dinner, and gave him some copper coins as a gift.
The two families agreed on a date in June, three auspicious days in the next year. The Zhen and Kong families had already calculated it when they were discussing the marriage, and both the Zhen and Kong families had set the first month of the year. Since the dates were too tight, Baozhu's marriage was naturally scheduled for June.
The Zhen family celebrated the New Year with great fanfare this year. The invitations for the second brother's wedding had been sent out, and people came to visit one after another. There was not much work to do during the New Year, but when his superiors learned that Erlang was getting married, they gave him a few more days of leave.
He and Pei Yanqing have become quite familiar with each other now. Although they are a few years apart in age, they get along very well and often discuss things with each other, making them feel like close friends.
Since Baozhu mentioned making food cards in the shop last time, this task has been handed over to Jiang Shi. She was thinking of training Jiang Shi so that if she opened a branch in the future, she could directly ask him to be in charge. Therefore, any urgent or difficult matters in the shop are now handed over to him.
Jiang Shi took the job and immediately made arrangements. He first hired people to distribute discount notices everywhere, saying that it was a reward for new and old customers.
He went out to solicit customers, and Baozhu stayed in the store, responsible for registering the diners who had paid money.
Normally, it would cost five or six strings of coins to dine in a restaurant a few times. Now, you can get a discount by charging five strings of coins and bringing your food card. I heard about this discount, and Jiang Shi said that you can get a hundred coins for free if you charge five strings of coins. This hundred coins is enough to order a big meat dish.
Most of the regular customers think it is a good deal and they think that any savings are worthwhile and there is no need to be stingy with the money in their pockets.
Some diners who used to come only once in a few days thought the discount was a good deal and paid their money. Anyway, with the food card they could get a discount on their meals in the future. These diners who used to come infrequently came more frequently because they paid their money.
Some people also had doubts and simply said that Baozhu Shop would close down after collecting the money.
"Everyone, rest assured. We do business with integrity. Our shop is doing well, so why would we give up such a good business and close it down after collecting a sum of money? We are in this business for the long term, so there is really no need to do such a thing as sacrificing the main goal for the sake of the trivial. This food license is for regular customers who patronize the store more cost-effectively. If you don't want to apply for a license, we won't force you."
As soon as Baozhu said this, the rumors stopped.
When I closed the shop on the morning of New Year's Eve, I counted and found that there were more than 170 people who came to apply for the food card in the past few days. Most of them only paid five strings of cash to get a food card. It was not because they had no money, but they just wanted to see if the food card was reliable.
Some people paid ten taels of silver, but only three or four people were willing to pay twenty taels, and there were no more. After all, this was a snack bar, not a big restaurant.
Jiang Shi had already asked a carpenter to make this restaurant sign. A small iron piece was embedded in the middle of the wood, and the name of Zhen's Restaurant was engraved on it. If you don't split the wood open, you can't tell the name of the restaurant. Once you compare it with the registration book, it would be difficult to forge it.
These days, the food license alone has brought in over a thousand guan. Baozhu calculated it herself and was quite surprised. Other restaurants and diners have quite a few people on credit. Although many people come to the restaurant to eat, not many are willing to stay for a long time and pay in advance. Besides, this is not the best time for restaurant business. During the New Year, the restaurant is more crowded, which makes the food license issue easier to deal with.
Jiang Shi nodded. "Boss, I was told that we won't be issuing the five-string meal card after the New Year. I've inquired with the regular customers who have the card, and they're the only ones who have it, and they feel very proud to have it. If everyone gets the card, it won't seem so novel."
Originally, she just wanted to earn enough money to renovate the shop. Baozhu was very satisfied that she could donate the money. When she saw Jiang Shi mention this matter, she was pleased that he was becoming more and more thoughtful. She responded to him,
"You can decide what to do after the New Year. I'll leave this matter to you."
Now that she had more money, Baozhu thought about expanding her store. If the two shops next door were not doing good business, she would not rent them out easily. Baozhu wanted to rent another one and connect the three shops together to form a large store.
On New Year's Eve, the restaurant was closed in the morning as usual and only prepared the dishes that people had ordered in advance. The prepared dishes were delivered to each household by Jiang Shi and Liu Si'er, and some wealthy families even sent people to pick them up.
It's the end of the year and it's the last day of work. Even if it's just errands, they are both very motivated and willing to do it. Although there is no money for running errands, in this important year, they can at least earn a few copper coins by delivering vegetables to wealthy families.
The braised pork in the restaurant is very delicious. This year, most of the people who ordered food ordered this dish as a side dish.
The meat was for the banquets that Zhen's father would prepare at various houses these days. He specially ordered the meat from a local pig collected from the countryside from a butcher.
Farmers in the countryside often carefully raise pigs free-range, and the resulting pork belly, with its rich, lean texture, tastes even more delicious than farm-raised meat. Seeing Baozhu also wanted it, Zhen's father ordered the butcher to deliver an extra 40 to 50 kilograms of pork belly daily, which he would use exclusively for this braised pork dish at Baozhu's shop.
Fresh meat does not smell fishy at all. It is only lightly cooked with onions and ginger, then fried. When the skin is fried until it is crispy, it is sliced and placed in a bowl.
The preserved vegetables were brought by merchants from the south. Originally, Madam Xu only weighed one or two pounds of homemade steamed pork with braised pork belly to eat. Baozhu thought that this dish with rich oil and red sauce should also sell well in Bian Jing, so she bought a lot of preserved vegetables in the store.
The meat is at the bottom of the bowl, and the vegetables are on top. After steaming thoroughly, they are placed on a plate. When served, the color is translucent, and the meat is tender and the vegetables are fragrant.
Since the people no longer have to endure the craving for food, this dish was served promptly. Since the arrival of this preserved vegetable braised pork, most diners in the restaurant have ordered a plate of it.
A small plate cost over a hundred coins, but once I tasted it, I didn't think it was expensive. Besides, it was during the New Year, and a pound of meat cost seventy or eighty coins, so this price wasn't expensive at all.
After the dishes that people ordered were prepared, the restaurant still had plenty of meat, so Baozhu asked Mrs. Chen to make some more so that the waiters could take them home.
Everyone had worked hard all year, and Baozhu had already prepared the red envelopes, and each of the employees received two taels of silver. In a hurry to go home for the New Year, no one stayed in the inn for dinner.
Jiang Shi did not go home for the New Year this year because Baozhu said that the store would be renovated after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. He thought of going home to take a look during the renovation period. The New Year is also the busiest time for the store, and he can't just be lazy since the owner treats him well.
After the whole family offered sacrifices to their ancestors, they set out a meal. Madam Xu asked Erlang to read the letter sent by his eldest brother again as a reunion.
After the second brother finished reading the letter, the family started eating.
After growing up, a year passed in the blink of an eye. Baozhu noticed that her mother had wrinkles on her face. A few days ago, she found that her grandmother suddenly lost hearing in one ear. She went to see a doctor, but the doctor just said it was a common thing for people to get old, and sent them away without prescribing any medicine.
Grandma Zhen was quite open-minded and always had a smile on her face. She was either tending to the small piece of land in the yard or staying in the temple with her neighbors for a few days to enjoy vegetarian meals.
The sixth day of the Lunar New Year was the day when my second brother was getting married. The Zhen family had sent the wedding gifts to the Kong family three days in advance, and the Kong family also returned the gifts.
There were many things to do at home on the fifth day of the New Year, and the shop also opened on this day. Baozhu led the shop assistants to open the shop. After giving out lucky money, they rushed back to help.
Young Madam Xu renovated her house, replaced the wall tiles where necessary, paved the yard with large bluestone slabs, and kept the yard clean and tidy.
The shop was always busy after being closed for a few days. It was afternoon when Baozhu returned home. The Kong family sent someone to make the bed and hang up the bills. Red silk and colorful satin were hung everywhere in the house.
Tea was brewed on the table in the yard, and the two newly hired maids served snacks and tea to the guests. When the aunts from the neighborhood saw Baozhu coming back, they teased her.
After the people from the Kong family made the bed, they asked two strong maids to guard the door to prevent outsiders from breaking in and disrupting the good luck of the new house.
The new house has just been cleaned. The sun has been shining brightly these days, making the house warm. Such good weather is rare in winter. The warm weather will keep Miss Kong warmer when she goes to pick up the bride tomorrow.
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