Chapter 74: Firecrackers blasted in the bustle
Pei Yanqing accepted the appointment and was about to take up his post. Baozhu knew he was leaving, so she went to see him out of the city.
The horses moved slowly as they walked side by side. It felt like the journey out of the city was too short to say goodbye. Pei Yanqing tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. The string of jingling jewelry was still hanging around her waist. He also saw Baozhu wearing the gold bracelet he had given her, and he felt secretly happy for a moment.
His hand passed through Baozhu's hair, and there could be no more intimate gesture between the people coming and going.
Baozhu gathered her cloak. The wind was so strong at the city gate that it made her nose ache. She pointed at the food box in his hand and said, "Inside the box are puff pastry meat pies. I made them with my mother yesterday. They can be kept for ten days during this festival. If you're usually busy and don't have time to eat, at least a few pies can fill your stomach. These are just enough to last for ten days. I'll make more cakes and pastries when you come back from your day off."
Pei Yanqing looked at the food box and nodded, his eyes reddening. "Don't leave the city. Just send it here. Go back quickly. It's still cold, so you don't catch a cold."
He watched Baozhu until she disappeared, then he sniffed and turned to leave the city. He became more sentimental as he got older.
The restaurant is almost ready to open. Many old customers have been waiting here early these days, and from time to time someone comes to ask when the shop will reopen.
After the beginning of spring, only Baorong and Baozhu were left in the Zhen family. The store was renovated and it took nearly a month to complete it no matter how hard they tried.
Most of the people hired for this job in Baozhu's shop were farmers from the countryside. These people were diligent in their work. Many of the idle people in the city were lazy and wanted to take advantage of the situation. Baozhu was afraid to hire them to do the work even if it was cheaper. As soon as the weather got warmer, these farmers would go back to work. Baozhu paid more silver and only then did she renovate the shop before sowing.
This two-story shop wasn't very conspicuous on the street, as many of the two-story shops on the street, including the Jinlou Restaurant and even the cloth shop, were also quite a few. However, even if this shop wasn't conspicuous, it was still a bit more eye-catching than the previous one.
There is a striking plaque hanging above the door, and the signboard is also newly made in the most eye-catching color, with Baorong painted on it. From a distance, it looks like the real thing. The outside of the shop is painted with the same paint. There are several large windows on the first floor, and when closing time comes, they can be closed from the inside.
Now that the restaurant has expanded, diners who come here to order dishes must order wine. The Zhen family is not like those big restaurants that can brew wine. In the past, diners mostly had to have the waiters in the restaurant fetch wine for them. Now that the restaurant has expanded, wine is also indispensable.
Normally, if you want to sell alcohol, you need permission from the government. Brewing alcohol is very troublesome, and Baozhu's brewing skills are not very sophisticated. Ordinary fruit wine is okay, but it is difficult to sell sake to diners.
Baozhu talked to several restaurants and bought jars of wine from several large restaurants. She prepared more cheap wine and less expensive wine, so she didn't have to go out to buy wine.
We don't choose high-alcohol liquor because we're afraid that diners will cause trouble after drinking too much. Nowadays, there are few people causing trouble in restaurants. After all, my second brother has some reputation left, and ordinary minor matters can be handled in the restaurant. If there are those who are ignorant enough to make trouble, Baozhu is not afraid and will report to the police immediately to let the government handle it.
To see whether the store is busy or not, just look at whether there are guys selling snacks and the lady who serves wine and sells side dishes. Baozhu wants to ask Sister Liu to invite someone she knew from her time as a lady who made hot pot, so that she can sell nothing else but the dishes in the store.
"Just stay in my shop and don't worry about anything else. Just focus on selling the food." Jiang Shixian had to be in charge now, so asking him to be just a runner and do odd jobs would be a bit of a waste of his talent. It would be better to find a professional to do this job. "The monthly salary is not high, but the profit is a percentage of the food and wine sold. There is no upper limit."
Sister Liu had been a slop shop owner before, so she naturally understood what was going on. She was clearly just running a small business, but these customers often harassed her verbally and even tried to make advances on her. She worked in a restaurant, and with Baozhu watching over her, she never encountered those kinds of things again. You know, the Zhen family restaurant is now inaccessible to ordinary people.
She also had some ambition. Besides, seeing that Jiang Shi was now highly regarded, she also had a lot of ideas in her mind. Baozhu gave this matter to her, so naturally she wanted to perform well.
Mrs. Liu did not go looking for someone immediately, but thought carefully about who would be the right person. The person should be bold and careful, as well as have real skills. Selling dishes in a restaurant is much better than going to a restaurant and being looked down upon. There is a guaranteed salary, and there is also commission from selling dishes.
Baozhu naturally did not lose out. Originally, people came here only to order one or two dishes, but when someone recommended it to them, they were so tempted that they ordered three or four more dishes.
After a brief thought, Sister Liu had a candidate in mind, so she informed Baozhu and went to find someone.
The restaurant had expanded to a second floor, but Jiang Shi and Sister Liu were worried they wouldn't be able to handle it, especially since she often had errands for Jiang Shi to run. Baozhu calculated the restaurant's costs and realized they needed to hire two waiters and a kitchen assistant. Sister Chen couldn't manage the kitchen alone, and if it weren't for Baozhu's help, she would have been overwhelmed.
When Baozhu mentioned hiring another handyman, Chen Saozi immediately recommended her, "My eldest daughter is learning to cook from me. If the shopkeeper doesn't mind, I'll hire her to help. She doesn't need to be paid, just providing three meals a day would be great."
"I heard you say before that you wanted to bring your children here. Have they come now?" When the shop was being renovated, Mrs. Chen went back to her hometown and said that she wanted to bring her children to Bian Jing.
Mrs. Chen nodded and shook her head. "Sister came with me, but brother was spoiled by his family and was afraid of suffering, so he didn't want to come."
As she spoke, her eyes began to turn red. Baozhu asked and realized that she had spoken too lightly.
It turned out that her husband had taken another mistress at home, and her son was heartless and completely sided with that young woman. She had originally gone to work as a cook in a wealthy family, hoping to give her children a better life, but she had never expected that after so many years away from home, all her money had been spent elsewhere by that beast.
She hadn't been home for a few years. When she opened the door, she saw a pregnant woman smiling and calling her sister. Her daughter was sitting in the yard washing clothes, her hands swollen like a radish in the middle of winter.
The man spoke gently at first, trying to coax her into continuing to go out and earn money for the family. But when he saw that his coaxing didn't work, the whole family wanted to beat her.
That beast also said that since she could make so much money, she must be in the sex trade. Since she was unfaithful, he would just marry a younger one, and it was considered kind of him not to divorce her.
Mrs. Chen was naturally no match for the whole family alone. Not only was she slapped in the face, but all the silver she brought back was also confiscated by those jackals.
Knowing that he would not be able to end well, he had to say some soft words and continue to make money for the family in order to get out of the situation. He also said that his eldest sister could make money in Bian Jing at her age, so he could take her away with him.
As long as they can pay, the family doesn't care what kind of work they do outside. Not to mention the years of famine, even in this prosperous age, there are still people who pawn their wives to others to bear children for money.
"My brother is just as clueless as that beast. When he sees me, he just tries to coax me into giving him money and then joins his father in calling me dirty. From now on, I'll just pretend I don't have a son." Mrs. Chen wiped her tears with her sleeve. "He's still my brother, so I won't treat him any worse than I did. It's just a pity that my eldest sister has suffered so much for the past few years. From now on, I will only take care of her and sever all ties with that beast and his family."
"Don't worry, boss. I taught my eldest sister how to read when I was home. She's been cooking for the past few years since I was away. She's quite talented at cutting and cooking, so she's perfect for helping me. Take a look at her first. If she's a good match, keep her. If not, don't force her. After all, we can afford to keep only her."
Baozhu asked her to bring her eldest daughter first. The little girl was twelve years old this year, not much shorter than Baozhu, with a dark face and thin appearance. Seeing that Baozhu did not show any fear, she stared at her for a while and said unconsciously, "The girl looks like a fairy in the painting."
Mrs. Chen pushed him away before she came to her senses. "Boss, you're welcome. Just call me Dani'er. Everyone in the family calls me Dani'er! I can cook, cut vegetables, wash dishes, and do anything..."
Danier spoke with her country accent and went to the kitchen to stir the pot.
Baozhu saw that she had quite a bit of strength in flipping the wok and she was very skillful in cutting vegetables, so she decided to keep her.
"The monthly salary is two guan for the time being. Start working for now. If you do a good job, your salary will be increased later. If you don't do a good job, your salary will be reduced."
Mrs. Chen immediately waved her hands, "That's not going to work!"
"Look at how efficiently Dani works. She's more capable than the average worker. I think if she does a good job, she can rent a small house for seven or eight hundred coins. Two strings of cash is nothing in Bianjing."
Danier smiled, revealing her big white teeth. "That's great! I usually don't get this much even after hunting rabbits for a whole year!"
Speaking of the big rabbit, Mrs. Chen explained that Dani'er had knee pain at night because she was growing taller, but she couldn't eat enough.
The whole family had eggs to eat every day, but the eldest sister couldn't even have a bite of thick eggs. She couldn't go up the mountains or down the rivers, so she would secretly roast whatever she caught outside and eat it. If she caught a big animal, such as a rabbit, she would sell it for some money to buy some food.
As if afraid of being criticized for eating too much, Danier scratched her head sheepishly. Baozhu patted her head and said, "We run a restaurant. We don't have much else to offer, but we do have a lot of food. At night, if there's leftovers, you can eat as much as you want. Eating more helps you grow taller."
Danier smiled, revealing her big white teeth and a faint dimple on her face, making her look very festive.
During the New Year, there were many customers who bought food licenses, and this item alone brought in more than a thousand strings of cash. In addition, the business was booming every day, and in just the ten days of the first lunar month, the business brought in more than two hundred strings of cash, which was equivalent to the business of the previous month.
Baozhu and Jiang Shi went to Jiang together to exchange the copper coins for silver ingots. By applying for a food license in advance, they could get some money to expand the restaurant. They might not make so much money every month in the future.
The job of doing odd jobs in the kitchen was settled, and then it was the rest of the waiters. Mrs. Liu went to ask, and they were naturally willing. The other two waiters, Liu Si'er and Wang Da, recommended one each, and they were both diligent and hardworking people.
Baozhu arranged their respective tasks, and Jiang Shi was promoted to manager. Now he no longer had to do odd jobs and only had to look after the store to prevent any trouble.
The restaurant reopened on an auspicious day, firecrackers rang, and a huge amount of gold was thrown in. The lion dance troupe they hired also started dancing enthusiastically. The New Year had passed, and such excitement was rare. Half the people in the street gathered around to watch.
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