Chapter 85 Thirty Strings of Cash "This was never mentioned before, why bring it up all of a sudden..."
"This wasn't mentioned before, so why the sudden talk of rest?" Upon hearing Steward Zheng's report, Madam Qi's eyebrows furrowed, and a sense of displeasure welled up within her.
In her opinion, if she hadn't done Su Zhihan a favor and given her the opportunity to organize a banquet at Master Peng's mansion, allowing her to make a name for herself, how could she have had the chance to organize banquets at other people's homes?
Qi complained inwardly, "Why didn't you mention it at all? You're so young, no one has taught you anything, and you don't know any better."
She turned her head and thought for a moment, recalling their recent conversations. Suddenly, her heart skipped a beat, and she became suspicious: "Wait? Could it be that this girl is upset that I wanted to hire her as a cook? Have you inquired with other families? Has she accepted any invitations to the Zhou or Wu families' banquets?"
The Zhou and Wu families were both closely associated with the Qi family. They had eaten dishes prepared by Su Zhihan when they had a meal at the Peng family mansion, and afterwards they often asked Su Zhihan to prepare banquets.
"This... I didn't ask."
"Why don't you hurry up and go find out!" Madam Qi said angrily. The more she thought about it, the more she suspected that Su Zhihan had been lured by someone with benefits. If that happened, she would have a hard time finding a cook who was both excellent in cooking and cheap in price.
Furthermore, she was worried about what would happen if Xu Lang came to visit the mansion next time without Su Zhihan preparing a feast.
This whole affair was all Peng Yuanwai's fault. He had repeatedly tried to persuade Su Zhihan to sign a contract of indenture and come to the manor to work as a cook. At first, Qi Shi suspected that Peng Yuanwai had some ulterior motive and scolded him. Later, she learned that Peng Yuanwai wanted to buy Su Zhihan's contract of indenture and then give her to Xu Lang.
In Master Peng's view, this was a win-win situation. Xu Lang, having acquired such a agreeable female chef, would surely treat his family differently, while Su Zhihan, an ordinary commoner, should be grateful to be able to work as a chef in a prestigious household like the Xu family. As for Su Zhihan's own thoughts, he didn't even bother to ask.
Zheng Guan had inquired at several households beforehand and was relieved to find that Su Zhihan had not accepted any banquets from any of them. However, fearing that Madam Qi would reprimand him again, he went to the marketplace to inquire further and also subtly asked Yao Lang before hurriedly returning home to report: "Reporting to Madam, the cook Su has not accepted any banquets from the Zhou or Wu families. I learned from broker Yao that she seems to be raising her prices."
Qi was taken aback: "A price increase!?"
She remained silent for a moment before asking with a serious face, "Did they say how much... the price will increase?"
"They say someone offered thirty-eight strings of cash." Before Qi could reply, Steward Zheng quickly added, "Yao the broker means it has to be at least thirty strings of cash."
"Thirty strings of cash... What a heartless girl! If it weren't for my family's help, giving this girl a chance to make a name for herself, would she be where she is today?" Madam Qi was shocked. Although thirty strings of cash for the kitchen staff was not considered expensive in the capital, but just an ordinary market price, Madam Qi had previously benefited from ten strings of cash, so how could she bear to spend thirty strings?
Her expression shifted between anger and uncertainty. After a long pause, she looked at Steward Zheng and asked, "Have you found out exactly which company offered this price?"
"This... I haven't been able to find out."
"However, I have inquired with the Zhou, Wu, Huang, Zhao and Zhong families, and none of them have offered this price. They were all quite surprised when they heard that Madam Su wanted this price."
"you mean……"
"I've been thinking about it," Manager Zheng said, bowing slightly. "Could it be that Chef Su thinks the prices were too low before and wants to raise them now? That's why she's asking for a higher price and saying she needs to take a break."
Madam Qi agreed, and sneered, "Since she wants to rest, let her be. I want to see who else will book a banquet for a girl her age if none of us book her."
Qi was confident and waited for Su Zhihan to come to the Peng family mansion to kowtow and admit her mistake.
That way, I can have a better chance of manipulating her again.
Even if she is unwilling to sign the indenture, we must force her to sign it so that we can have less trouble using her in the future.
While Qi Shi was making his plans, Su Zhihan had already prepared the menu in advance and confirmed it with Zhang Xuezi and others before finally settling on the menu.
On the third day of the eighth lunar month, as dawn broke, Su Zhihan got up early. She first called Mei Jie'er and her brother, instructing them to wash and prepare the vegetables, and then led Uncle Chai and Cai Mama into the kitchen.
A moment later, smoke rose from the kitchen.
Su Zhihan and the others were busy steaming, stewing, frying, and stir-frying. The rising heat made their faces flushed red, and everyone was sweating profusely.
Jiang Zhenniang, who had just returned from retrieving utensils from the pawnshop, was filled with heartache upon seeing this scene.
It was the height of summer, and the heat was unbearable. In just one hour, Su Zhihan's clothes were soaked with sweat and clung tightly to her body.
"If this continues, she might catch a heatstroke." Jiang Zhenniang put the silverware on the stove and felt even more distressed when she saw that her daughter didn't even have time to wipe her sweat and was just focused on working hard, let alone paying attention to herself.
Working in this cramped kitchen during the hottest days of summer sounds like torture.
She hurriedly summoned the remaining servants and maids, instructing them to bring all the remaining ice basins in the house to the kitchen, just so that her daughter could feel a little cooler and more comfortable.
Then, Jiang Zhenniang brought over several basins of cool water, added some crushed ice, stirred it, soaked the handkerchiefs, and handed them to everyone, so that they could either tie them on their heads or around their necks to cool off and breathe.
Jiang Zhenniang had done everything she could. She left the kitchen, turning back every few steps, and returned to the front shop. She devoutly bowed to the God of Wealth and the Kitchen God, chanting prayers and asking the two deities to bless her daughter with good fortune.
No sooner had Jiang Zhenniang finished speaking than Yao Lang and his wife, Lü Shi, arrived at the shop, saying they had come to help.
"Look at you today, you look really handsome."
"Hehe, thank you for your praise, Madam Jiang." Yao Lang was indeed dressed exceptionally well today, wearing a brand-new indigo robe, and two bright flowers were stuck in his equally new turban. He looked full of energy and spirit.
He straightened his clothes, then left his wife at Jiang's shop and walked briskly into the neighborhood.
He had already selected several well-dressed and quick-witted idlers, and now he planned to take a second look to avoid any mistakes that might embarrass Su Zhihan.
Hearing this, Jiang Zhenniang felt very relieved. After watching Yao Lang leave, she instructed the shop assistant to bring a stool for Lu Shi to sit down: "You are still pregnant, so you shouldn't overwork yourself. Just help me collect the money."
Mrs. Lü smiled and agreed. She had always been greedy and loved money. Now that Yao Lang had gotten the job as an intermediary for the Jiang family, his income in just one month was almost a third of her family's rent.
The rent is fixed. Unless the emperor suddenly issues an imperial decree to hold a special imperial examination, in which case the empty room might fetch a good price, the monthly income is always the same.
Now, Madam Lü saw hope in this job. If her husband could truly use the Jiang family as a starting point to become one of the top brokers, then there would be hope for the future.
Looking at the busy servants working in the shop, Madam Lü felt a surge of longing just thinking about it. She was determined to buy two maids to serve her and experience being waited on.
"Hey, hey? My lady." The diners called out repeatedly, waving their hands in front of Lu's eyes several times before finally bringing her back to reality from her reverie.
Only then did Madam Lü remember that she was still collecting money and doing the accounting, and she immediately blushed deeply: "Ah... I'm sorry, it's fifty coins in total."
Jiang Zhenniang was unaware that Madam Lü envied her for having so many servants and was worried that Madam Lü wouldn't be used to it. She helped with a few tasks to make sure Madam Lü wasn't tired and could keep up before turning around to do her own chores.
By the time Yao Lang returned with the idlers he had chosen, Su Zhihan had already made all the preparations. She served each carefully prepared dish into various bowls, plates, and dishes, then arranged them on a tray before finally handing them to the idlers.
"The rest will have to be left to Brother Yao."
"Leave it to me." Yao Lang patted his chest, picked up his wife's bronze mirror and comb, tidied his appearance, and then went out with great enthusiasm.
"Look at how vain he is." When Madam Lü, who came in from the front to check the situation, saw this, she was both annoyed and amused.
Seeing that everything was going smoothly in the kitchen, Yao Lang led a large group of people to the Imperial Academy, and only then did she feel relieved... or so she thought.
Like Jiang Zhenniang, Lady Lü clasped her hands together and bowed repeatedly before the images of the Kitchen God and the God of Wealth, praying that all the gods and Buddhas in the heavens would bless her husband and her daughter, Han Jie.
Unexpectedly, it wasn't until evening that Yao Lang was brought back in a blue cloth sedan chair. Two idle men carrying the sedan chair helped him out, and everyone then realized that Yao Lang was completely drunk.
Madam Lü had long since lost her initial excitement, her heart filled with worry. Seeing this, she was both anxious and angry, repeatedly pounding on Yao Lang's fists: "Why did you go drinking? We've been waiting for you at the manor for so long, and you…!"
She was angry that Yao Lang hadn't informed them, making everyone wait in vain, and she was also worried that Jiang Zhenniang and Su Zhihan would be dissatisfied and unwilling to entrust Yao Lang with any more work in the future.
Seeing that Yao Lang was so drunk that he was unconscious, she was about to apologize to the mother and daughter on his behalf when she saw that the two women had happy faces on their faces. They even ordered someone to make a hangover soup and gave a handful of copper coins to the two sedan chair bearers.
The two sedan chair bearers, having received their reward, smiled even more broadly: "This is all our master's fault. He thought the food was delicious, so he called Yao the broker over to talk to him and then pulled him to drink a few cups."
Who knew that the more they drank, the more intoxicated they became. When everyone was already quite drunk, the people from the Imperial Academy remembered where Yao Yaren had gone and hurriedly found their sedan chair bearers to carry him back.
Upon hearing this, Lady Lü finally breathed a sigh of relief, as long as Yao Lang wasn't secretly going out to drink.
As for Jiang Zhenniang and Su Zhihan, their joy was even greater. Sure enough, when Yao Lang sobered up, he told the mother and daughter that several people in the Imperial Academy had asked him for his name cards and had also asked when Su Zhihan would be available, suggesting that business prospects were promising.
Sure enough, starting the next day, people came one after another to book a table, and the price was as they wished, thirty strings of cash per table.
The Imperial Academy was filled with students from prominent official families, and Su Zhihan's fame spread as a result. Not to mention officials of the sixth or seventh rank or higher, even minor officials of the eighth or ninth rank frequently came to invite her.
On the other side, Qi Shi, who had been waiting for a long time without seeing Su Zhihan come to kowtow, finally couldn't stand it anymore. With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching and Master Peng often mentioning it, she instructed Steward Zheng to go to Su Zhihan's house to prepare the Mid-Autumn Festival feast.
As for the price, Madam Qi thought for a moment and said, "I'll give her ten strings of cash first, and if she does a good job, I'll give her another ten strings."
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Author's Note: Sorry, a family member has contracted the flu and is receiving IV fluids. Someone needs to be with them every day, so I can only start writing when I get home around 5 or 6 pm these days. Regular updates will resume in a few days.
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