Before they knew it, the opening day arrived. Tian Sangui specifically instructed that the whole family wear the new clothes he had bought the day before.
This made Zhang feel a pang of heartache, as she felt that dressing too nicely for work was a waste of clothes.
She was instilled with the idea of thrift above all else from a young age, and the concept that new clothes could only be worn during the Lunar New Year was deeply ingrained in her.
Tian Sangui understood and patiently explained to his family that wearing new clothes was to leave a clean and tidy impression on guests. In the past, when they were at home, they would naturally do whatever made them comfortable.
Nowadays, when doing business, appearance matters. If you are dressed sloppily or covered in patches, even if the food you make is delicious, customers will not like you.
Business will suffer greatly, so no matter how poor you are, you can't skimp on this. Only by broadening your horizons can business thrive.
New clothes are meant to enhance the look of delicious food.
Upon hearing Tian Sangui's words, the couple suddenly understood. So that was the intention. No wonder the village head always dressed up in formal attire when he went to see the county magistrate, otherwise he probably wouldn't even be able to get through the gate.
Zhang stopped dawdling and quickly put on her silver-gray diagonally buttoned dress, then put on a dark orange sleeveless long coat over it. The color scheme was the same as what Tian Sangui was wearing, only the coat was a shade brighter.
The men in the family were all dressed in matching gray jackets, instantly making the whole family look more energetic and prosperous, which was pleasing to the eye.
Since it was still early, Tian Sangui began preparing twice-cooked pork and heating up some braised meat.
Zhang helped heat up the steamed buns. Tian Laosi had taken a day off today. The news that his family was going to open for business had already spread throughout the construction site. The foreman had already spoken to him on the condition that he bring him a few roujiamo (Chinese hamburgers). Upon hearing this, Tian Laosi immediately flashed his big white teeth and told him to wait patiently.
Soon, the shop was filled with delicious aromas, welcoming the first wave of regular customers to start work.
"Hey, Brother Tian, you're dressed really grand today! You've completely transformed into a wealthy landowner, hahaha!"
As soon as the coworker entered, he saw Tian Laosi busy tidying up the tables and chairs. He patted Tian on the shoulder and teased him.
This caused a stir among the workers who followed them into the shop.
"It's just a piece of clothing, how can it compare to a landlord's? Brother, don't laugh at me, come inside and sit down!"
The honest and unassuming man felt a little embarrassed by his coworkers' praise and quickly invited them to come inside and sit down.
Tian Er, quick-witted, ran over with the menu: "Gentlemen, what would you like to eat?"
The coworker who received the menu looked at it with great joy, but upon seeing the neat and orderly handwriting, his bright smile visibly faded, eventually turning into a frown and embarrassment.
"This character is a good character, but...it recognizes me, but I don't recognize it?"
The worker held out the menu with both hands, looked at his colleagues on either side, and admitted his lack of literacy.
Not to mention them, even Tian Er himself didn't know them, but he had heard Tian Sangui talk about the cuisine, and he had a good memory and remembered it all.
"No problem, let me introduce what we have in our store."
"There are braised noodles in meat broth, hot and sour knife-cut noodles, wide noodles in beef bone broth, steamed buns made with white flour, leek and egg buns, scallion and three-delicacy meat buns, and the most classic roujiamo (Chinese hamburger)."
"What would you like to eat, sir?"
Watching his son speak so fluently, Tian Laosi could finally relax.
Apart from San Gui, who learned to read and write a lot thanks to her master's instruction, the rest of the family were illiterate.
He was so anxious he almost went to the kitchen to ask his daughter for help, but luckily his son remembered, which was much more useful than his father.
"Hey, so much food! Give me two of those chive and egg buns to try, and three more roujiamo (Chinese hamburger). I came here today just for these roujiamo, hahaha!"
"Young shopkeeper, we're all ordering the same thing as Brother Guo: four roujiamo (Chinese hamburgers). We haven't had them in so long and we're really craving them."
"That guy, he's more concerned about her than he's about his wife, hahaha!"
Brother Beard joked around, making everyone laugh again.
Tian Er dashed into the kitchen, lifted the floral curtain, and called out to his mother and sister who were busy inside.
"Mother, Third Sister, we have guests! We have seven portions of chive buns, two per pack, plus three roujiamo (Chinese hamburgers) for one portion, and four roujiamo for six portions."
Upon hearing this, the mother and daughter exchanged a delighted glance and busied themselves with their work. Tian Da and Tian Er, who were in charge of tending the fire, carried steaming hot buns to serve the guests.
"Wow, is this what they call egg buns? The patterns are so beautiful. I've never seen such pretty buns before."
After saying that, he put a bite into his mouth without fear of the heat. With a gentle bite of the tender chives, the rich chive juice flowed between his teeth. Paired with the bouncy and golden egg, the taste was fresh and the skin was smooth, making him very appetizing.
"My goodness, the taste is absolutely amazing! Give me four more!"
It smelled so good, the two were gone before I could even get my fill of them.
"And there are the four of us!"
The workers at the next table did the same. Hearing someone take the lead, they followed suit, raising their hands to order food before they had even finished swallowing their buns.
"Alright, please wait a moment, it will be right away."
"It's so delicious! I'm going to come back tomorrow to try other flavors of buns. Maybe they'll be even better!"
This worker voiced the sentiments of everyone present: they were simply too busy to talk.
The Tian brothers' daughter is so capable that they are quite envious.
As dawn broke, the shop saw off its last group of workers and welcomed a surge of students.
The menu from Tian Er's middle school finally came in handy. When the students heard that it was the shop run by the owner of the roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) shop they hadn't seen for a few days, they felt a sense of familiarity and ordered food without restraint, filled with anticipation.
After all, roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) is really delicious, and I imagine other foods are just as tasty.
Sure enough, it soon won unanimous praise from the students, who spontaneously wrote a name for their shop: "Jue Wei Zhai" (meaning "Exquisite Flavors").
Tian Sangui held it in his hand and examined it carefully. The calligraphy was elegant and unrestrained, showing its sharpness.
“Excellent calligraphy. I will take it to the carpenter tomorrow to have it carved into a plaque and hang it on the eaves. Jueweizhai thanks you, sir, for the calligraphy and name you bestowed upon us.”
Tian Sangui was adept at flattering people, and the students immediately became incredibly arrogant, declaring, "From now on, we will be regular customers of Jueweizhai. Young manager, you must prepare more delicious food to entertain us. As long as we eat well, we will certainly receive generous rewards!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a "snap" was heard, and a silver tael suddenly appeared on the square table, its silvery light gleaming and captivating.
Why open a shop? Isn't it all for this moment?
"Dear students, please feel free to come. Jueweizhai is certainly worthy of this name."
"good!"
After warmly seeing off the students and ending the morning rush hour, I finally have a little free time after a busy morning.
The cleaning was left to the father and his two sons, while the mother and daughter hid in the backyard counting the loose change on the table.
The more they counted, the happier they smiled, and the more at ease they felt.
"A total of 2,100 coins!"
Tian Sangui fiddled with the abacus, adding up the numbers the two had counted to get an integer.
When Zhang heard the number, her heart pounded and her eyes widened. She simply couldn't believe that her family could earn so much money in their lifetime; was she dreaming?
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