Chapter 63 Intentionally, "Grandma Chen, I'm here to change the signboard." Su Zhi...
"Grandma Chen, I'm here to change the signboard," Su Zhihan replied with a smile, glancing casually at the stall in the pavilion: "Huh? Where's Xiao Hong?"
"She's making dried tofu at home."
"At this time?" Su Zhihan was slightly surprised. As far as she knew, the business of the pavilion stall was mainly during the noon and evening hours, and it was still morning now. Logically speaking, the first batch of goods should not have been sold out yet.
"The child said she wasn't feeling well yesterday, so she made less," Grandma Chen explained when she saw Su Zhihan's puzzled expression. "She was worried that the goods she made yesterday wouldn't be enough to sell, so she insisted on going back and making some more."
"I see." Su Zhihan nodded, a worried look on her face. "I'm free right now, I'll go check on her later..."
"It's just a cough, why would you need to visit him?" Grandma Chen shook her head repeatedly, and before Su Zhihan could speak, she changed the subject, saying, "Speaking of which, why change the signboard? The old one is still usable."
There are now two signs hanging on the pavilion stall, one for Jiang's braised tofu and the other for Grandma Chen's stinky tofu.
Su Zhihan smiled and said, "Now that we've opened a shop, everything has to be unified."
"What's the big deal? It's a waste of money."
"Oh, it didn't cost much! Grandma Chen, don't mention it. By the way!"
Su Zhihan held up the package containing old clothes and handed it to Grandma Chen: "These are all my old clothes. Although they are not newly made, the materials and workmanship are still quite good. If you don't mind, you can take them back and let Xiaohong try them on. Keep the ones that she likes."
Grandma Chen responded, took the package and put it aside, then watched as Su Zhihan brought a stool and stood on tiptoe to reach the signboard and flag on the pavilion stall.
Last time, the craftsmen were in charge, and Su Zhihan had a hard time reaching the top using just a stool. She frowned, jumped off the stool, and looked around.
"Han-jie, you leave the signboard here, I'll find someone to replace it later..." Before Grandma Chen could finish speaking, Su Zhihan called over the sedan chair bearers and asked them to help her step onto the stool and take down the signboard.
The sedan chair lady was tall and strong, and moved nimbly. In a few moments, she took down the two signboard flags from the top, and then hung up the new signboard that Su Zhihan had brought.
Su Zhihan carefully examined the sedan chair, feeling satisfied. Then she lifted the curtain and sat back down in the sedan chair.
Just as the sedan chair bearers lifted the chair and took two steps, Su Zhihan saw someone step forward to buy something: "Boss lady, I want five servings of stinky tofu and two packs of braised tofu."
"Okay, coming."
"Madam, why did you change your shop sign?"
The sedan chair entered the crowd, the noise drowning out Grandma Chen's response. Su Zhihan withdrew her gaze and let the sedan chair take her home.
...
That evening, Grandma Chen returned home with the bundle of clothes. She put the package in a corner, but Xiao Hong, who came in behind her, still saw it: "Grandma, what's in this package?"
"Just a few pieces of clothing."
"Clothes?" Upon hearing this, Xiao Hong reached out and opened the bundle, letting out a loud exclamation upon seeing the items inside.
She unfolded her bundle and picked out a few clothes. The jackets and skirts were made of fine cloth or silk, with flowers embroidered on the edges. Although they were not luxurious, the stitches were fine, the materials were of high quality, and the styles were unique and beautiful.
"Grandma, did you make this for me?"
Little Red's eyes sparkled. She held one piece of clothing in her left hand and another in her right, her eyes constantly glancing at the other clothes in the bundle, finding them all beautiful.
Just as she picked up a light green dress and held it up against herself, Grandpa Hu, who came out of the house, noticed her and exclaimed, "Oh my, our Xiao Hong is so beautiful, like a fairy descended from heaven!"
"Grandpa, you're talking nonsense again."
"How could I say anything nonsense? Why don't you try it on? I think this color suits you very well." Grandpa Hu chuckled and urged his granddaughter to go inside and change.
As Xiaohong went inside to change her clothes, he looked at Grandma Chen and asked, "How much did you spend? Look at these fine silk and satin clothes, they must have been expensive."
"They're not nice clothes, just old clothes that people don't want anymore," Grandma Chen replied.
"Are they old clothes? Oh, they must have been sent by Madam Su, right?" Grandpa Hu was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized that Su Zhihan had sent them twice before, and they were not cheap.
Before he could ask Grandma Chen any questions, Grandpa Hu caught a glimpse of his granddaughter, who had changed her clothes and was coming out of the house: "Xiao Hong looks so pretty!"
"Hehe, really? Grandma, Grandma! What do you think?" Little Hong lifted her skirt and twirled in front of Grandma Chen, looking at her expectantly.
Grandma Chen looked at Xiao Hong's happy expression, her feelings were quite complicated. She nodded and followed her husband's words, praising, "Your grandfather is right, you look so beautiful in that."
"Then I'll wear this outfit on the Qixi Festival!"
"...Okay." Grandma Chen hesitated for a moment, but still agreed.
That night, she tossed and turned in bed.
From the very beginning, Grandpa Hu felt that Grandma Chen's reaction was a bit strange. He turned around and looked at Grandma Chen: "Hey, what are you doing not sleeping in the middle of the night? Lady Su gave you a little red dress, why are you still unhappy?"
“…It’s not that I’m unhappy.” Grandma Chen said after a moment of silence, “I originally wanted to make a dress for Xiaohong…”
"This saves you money, you should be happy," Grandpa Hu laughed, tugging at the blankets.
"What do you know?" Grandma Chen turned around and patted Grandpa Hu on the shoulder. "Look at your clothes today, such nice stuff... How did Han'er end up leaving the Marquis's mansion?"
"You've mentioned it several times already."
"I think it's just that people don't like being in the Marquis's mansion."
Grandma Chen sat up: "How could that be? The Marquis's mansion is such a big place!"
Grandpa Hu, with his eyes closed, casually replied, "You want to go in, but not everyone in the world wants to go in. What if Madam Su is skilled and prefers to open a shop outside rather than be a servant?"
"..." Grandma Chen didn't think so. She taught her granddaughter to recognize Han Jie'er as her master because Han Jie'er was young and worked as a cook in the Marquis's mansion. When she and her husband got old or passed away, Xiao Hong could follow them into the Marquis's mansion to work.
But now... but now...
What future could a woman have who runs a shop outside, especially a small inn?
Grandma Chen thought and thought, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Seeing her husband snoring with his eyes closed, she dragged him out of bed, determined to come up with an idea from him.
In the dead of night, the elderly couple were talking in hushed tones in their room, but we'll leave that aside for now. Let's just say that after Su Zhihan returned home, she continued to manage the family business as usual.
Jiang's braised meat shop's duck and pork business is booming, with a constant stream of customers coming and going, making it an enviable success.
However, the braised pork rice and milk tea sold in the same shop are not very popular. Although they have accumulated a small group of loyal customers, they are still far from the bustling atmosphere of other shops selling duck products.
Although Su Zhihan felt a little regretful, she knew that this matter could not be rushed and she could only proceed slowly.
As for the matter of arranging the banquet, progress was minimal. Although Jiang Zhenniang had heard some rumors from the diners about the birthday celebration of the nearby Yuan family and the banquet hosted by the Li family, her family's connections were weak, she had no relationship with these wealthy families, and had no way to reach them. Even if Jiang Zhenniang wanted to recommend herself, she had no way to get in and ultimately had to give up.
Later, Jiang Zhenniang learned from the diners that some merchants in the surrounding area were looking for cooks. However, people who heard about the reputation of Jiang's braised meat shop were willing to come and buy some braised meat for their meals, but they did not mention asking Su Zhihan to come and cook the other dishes, which was really discouraging.
Fortunately, the business of Jiang's braised meat shop was booming, and Jiang Zhenniang's mind was mostly occupied by the busy business, so she didn't have time to be depressed, which made Su Zhihan breathe a sigh of relief.
As June drew to a close, she began to think about the upcoming Qixi Festival. Unlike later generations when a man was forcibly added to make it the Qixi Festival, the current Qixi Festival was still simply a girls' festival for young women.
Besides the activities of threading needles to pray for skill, observing spiders to predict skill, throwing needles to test skill, and offering sacrifices to the Mohele (a mythical creature), flower viewing parties are also held in the capital. All kinds of shops in the city gather at the flower viewing parties, and it is said that the scene is as lively as the Lantern Festival.
As for why it was only "rumored," that was what Yao's wife told Su Zhihan. At this time last year, Su Zhihan and Jiang Zhenniang had just arrived in the capital. They were living in dire straits and had no leisure to go to a flower viewing party.
Therefore, any shop with a little reputation in the city would set up a stall at the flower fair to do business.
When Su Zhihan heard this, she was immediately taken aback: "If everyone can get in, wouldn't it be even more crowded?"
Yao's wife took a sip of her milk tea and couldn't help but laugh: "Of course, not everyone can go in. The flower fair at the very back requires a special invitation and is held in one of the city's top restaurants and hotels."
"Those further out must have an invitation letter from the government; otherwise, they can only set up stalls on the outermost edge."
"It's a bit of a pity about Han Jie'er's family."
"If you had opened last year, you probably could have gotten an invitation from the government," Yao's wife said with a hint of regret. "Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time, so I doubt you'll get one."
Su Zhihan smiled and said, "It's alright."
The two were chatting idly in the shop when someone came in from outside: "Madam Su, pack five bags for me. One bag needs a pig's ear and four duck feet, one bag needs half a pig's trotter, two duck heads, and a duck neck, and one bag needs..."
It was a long and rambling piece.
Su Zhihan hurriedly got up to help pack the food, her eyes smiling: "Is this another gift for the government officials, Master Song? You should tell them that while the braised food is delicious, you shouldn't eat too much."
"I've been eating this for several days in a row. I need to stop now, otherwise I'll get a sore stomach and it will be terrible."
Ever since that day when he ate a free meal at the Jiang family's house, Master Song started buying from them regularly, and every few days he would bring some for other people in the government office.
Recently, he has been bringing more and more, and each time he can bring out three or four hundred coins at once.
Su Zhihan was happy to do business, but she also had some concerns. After all, Master Song was only a ninth-rank official, and although his salary was decent, it couldn't withstand such spending. Su Zhihan intended to use the excuse of his temper to try and persuade him, but Master Song just smiled and left with his things.
Su Zhihan shook her head helplessly and sat back down in front of Yao's wife. Yao's wife watched the departing figure of Master Song and winked at Su Zhihan: "You silly girl, how can you be so clueless about romance? Master Song probably has feelings for you."
-----------------------
Author's note: =3= Happy Lunar New Year's Eve, everyone! Wishing you all good fortune, good health, peace, joy, and prosperity!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
