Cheng Yang nodded, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Little sister, then just lend us ten taels, and with these twenty taels, it will be just enough."
When his younger sister separated from the family, he could only afford a few copper coins. Now that they need help, he wants to borrow ten taels of silver from his younger sister.
Even his rice bowl was given to him by his younger sister. As the eldest brother, he felt truly ashamed.
Cheng Yue chuckled as she looked at her older brother's awkward little expression and said, "You're my own brother, why are you being so polite with me!"
You only have twenty taels in total, take it all out and you won't need to eat! But this noodle stall is busy every day, so I won't lend you more, just fifteen taels.
Any more and they'd be under too much pressure. Fifteen taels is about twenty days' income for a noodle stall, and they could pay it off in a month.
Cheng Yang flashed a bright white smile and replied, "Okay! I'll listen to my little sister!"
Cheng Yue continued, "Master Chen will be at the dock tomorrow. When you see him in the morning, tell him quietly that we have reserved four shops. When I return to town in the afternoon, we will pay the money together."
“Alright! We’ll wait for you at the pork shop after we finish setting up our stall, instead of going home. Here’s the fifteen taels of silver we borrowed, little sister, you can keep it. You don’t need to go through us.”
Buying a shop was a first for them, like a young woman getting married.
Without my little sister by my side, I would have been a bit intimidated. Even with Master Chen, they didn't know how to communicate.
Cheng Yue smiled and said, "That's fine too." Anyway, we'll pay together tomorrow, so it doesn't matter who pays.
Cheng Jun, however, entered the room at some point and brought out a piece of paper. "Father, Mother, Aunt, Uncle, this is an IOU. Please sign it."
Are they really that serious? Before Cheng Yue could speak, Liu Shi and Cheng Yang excitedly signed and pressed their fingerprints.
"Little sister, brother-in-law, it's your turn! Hurry up and draw it."
"Fine, the person who borrowed the money seems quite happy." Chen An and Cheng Yue exchanged a smile. What else could they say? They could only sign and press their fingerprints.
With the money issue settled, the family was overjoyed. Mr. Cheng said, "It's even better now that we have a shop. We won't be afraid of the wind and sun, and it will always be our own property. It can't be run away from us."
Later, we can pass it on to Xiaojun and Xiaofeng. Even if they don't have any other business, they can still make a living just by collecting rent.
Mr. Wu agreed wholeheartedly, saying, "It's better to buy your own shop if you have the money. Look at our pork shop, we pay rent every month, but in the end, it's still our own."
These words made Cheng Yang and Liu Shi overjoyed, and their eyes shone even brighter as they looked at Cheng Yue. This was no little sister; she was clearly a god of wealth.
After the family chatted for a while, Cheng Yue added, "When the shop opens, I'll teach you how to make more different flavors of braised dishes, so that customers will have something new to look forward to."
She'd been thinking about this for a while, but she'd been too busy lately. She was already swamped with just running the braised food stall, and now she had to make some pastries.
Fortunately, there aren't many stalls at the dock now, so the selection is limited. A single flavor of he luo noodles is still quite appealing.
With the dock being expanded, the surrounding shops will definitely all be food stalls; there's no doubt about it.
When customers have more choices, it's definitely not good if their noodles only have one flavor.
If it's a specialty flavor, then we won't go into details. But if the meat sauce for noodles isn't like that, then we'll just have to add more flavors.
Liu waved her hand and said, "Little sister, we can't learn this for nothing. Xiao Jun has to pay tuition when he goes to school!"
However, this tuition fee arrangement isn't suitable for you. Let's just give you a share of the profits. Listen to me on this! You're not allowed to refuse!
Regardless of the flavor, it's still a recipe. If you pay money to learn it, it's like buying it outright. Wouldn't the girl be losing out?
After thinking it over, Madam Liu decided that the profit-sharing arrangement was reasonable. As long as the shop made money, her younger sister would get paid.
This time, Cheng Yue did not refuse. "Okay, we can discuss the details once the shop opens."
Great kindness can be as great an enemy, and the same applies to family members. Unrequited kindness and favors will only create pressure and imbalance in relationships.
Transactions based on monetary interests are actually more stable.
As expected, Cheng Yang and Liu Shi breathed a sigh of relief when Cheng Yue agreed without hesitation.
After finishing their business, Cheng Yue and the others didn't linger. Firstly, it was getting late, and secondly, they were worried about leaving the Chen sisters, Chen Tong and Chen Ning, alone at home.
Mr. Cheng and Mrs. Wu understood, so they didn't offer them a meal. Instead, they packed them a lot of food, including pork, pickled vegetables, dried vegetables, and eggs, before seeing them off.
Our daughter is doing well now and lacks nothing, but we must still give her what she deserves. Even if it's not as good as what she gets, it's still a token of our love as parents.
As soon as Cheng Yue left, Cheng's father and the others started discussing again, all of them excited and looking forward to the future.
With more people at the dock, their business will definitely boom. Even if the price of noodles doesn't increase, they will only make more and more money, since the volume is increasing.
In this way, not only will Xiao Jun's school fees be secured, but the brothers' marriages will also be settled. Life is getting better and better!
On the other side, after Cheng Yue and the others finished their meal, they sat together and ground the braising spices.
Cheng Yue bought two small stone mills, one for Chen An and one for Chen Lin, and then Cheng Yue, along with Chen Tong and Chen Ning, put them into a bag.
The family chatted and worked at the same time, and before they knew it, they had filled a large basket.
Cheng Yue thought it had been a long time, so she called the three children to go to sleep, and then went into the bedroom with Chen An.
The two counted their existing silver reserves and prepared the 105 taels needed to buy the shop before happily going to sleep.
The next day, Chen Lin, Zhang Shaowen, and Zhao Changyong stayed at the shop. Cheng Yue was still a little worried, but they couldn't stay together.
Not to mention that the rooms are too cramped, even if they wanted to stay there, they would have to bring Chen Tong and Chen Ning with them. Zhang Shaowen and Zhao Changyong are men from outside the family, so they have to consider their daughters' reputations.
Not going home isn't an option either; with so many chickens and ducks left unattended at night, something's bound to go wrong.
It seems that in the future, she will have to hire someone to look after the chickens and ducks. She will buy a small courtyard in the county town so that she won't have to travel back and forth every day.
As Cheng Yue was thinking, she soon arrived at the pork shop, where Liu Shi and Cheng Yang were already waiting. Cheng Yue picked them up and took them directly to the dock.
When Master Chen saw them coming over, he took out the blueprints. "These shops are all available for selection. Do you want them next to each other, or what?"
Cheng Yue looked around and found that the locations were all about the same, just a small street with shops facing each other, so there wasn't much to choose from.
Cheng Yang and Liu Shi winked at each other, saying, "It's so much better to be close together!"
If the noodle shop gets too big, they can rent the younger sister's shop and let her earn the money. This way, the good stuff doesn't go to outsiders!
Cheng Yue smiled and gestured, "Then let's put them together, these four will do."
After saying that, he handed the silver back to Master Chen.
Master Chen put away the silver and nodded, saying, "Alright, I'll go to the government office tomorrow, and I'll deliver the deed to your braised food shop."
Cheng Yue had no objection; she could simply pass on her brother and sister-in-law's share.
Cheng Yang and Liu Shi had no objections either. They were happy for their younger sister to keep it for them; they were afraid of losing it if they kept it themselves!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com