Seeing this amount, Wang Yan felt very disappointed. When she was in the manor, she didn't have to do anything for a month, and her dividends were basically around this amount.
Moreover, it was like this: after the Lady Hou rewarded everyone with a large sum of money after the item was made, the other households would only give small purses of one or two hundred coins, and they could still collect several dozen taels a month.
If you prepare food or snacks that will make the host look good in front of the guests, you'll be rewarded with several small purses, usually containing a gold ingot weighing an ounce or several silver coins.
Or it could be gold and silver jewelry, such as fine gold wire bracelets, silver-plated hairpins, or solid silver bracelets.
In that case, they could earn dozens of taels a day. After that, she, Aunt Wang, and Sister Ying worked together for a month and earned more than 20 taels.
"That's so little!" Wang Yan said, her face long and unhappy. Meanwhile, Aunt Wang was beaming with joy.
"This is quite a lot of money. Embroidery only earns a little over one tael a month, sometimes two taels, right?"
Wang Ying nodded, "That's right! We earn more than the boatmen. Last time I heard Uncle Chuan say that they earn a maximum of four hundred coins a day now."
Wang Yan said listlessly, "That's because the river is almost frozen over now. You'll have to wait until next spring. Earning one or two taels of silver a day is nothing to them."
Wang Ying and Aunt Wang realized the benefits of leaving the mansion; once outside, there were many more ways to make money, and the returns were much better!
The two of them were laughing like crazy, and they had a cup of tea with oranges in it.
Wang Yan then chimed in coolly, "That's right! If it weren't for the fact that the manor provides for our food, drink, and clothing all year round, without any rewards, it would be difficult to even buy a single pearl hairpin in this capital city with just those monthly wages!"
Anyway, when Wang Yan was in the manor, she never saw Qingqian and Qingmei living on their monthly allowance.
Aunt Wang and Wang Ying had been away for over a year, but they hadn't really noticed much change in prices until they started doing business.
Because the money in the mansion is pure income, they don't have to worry about food, drink, or clothing. Even the jewelry they wear and the hair oil and perfume they use every month are provided as welfare benefits on a quarterly basis.
Seeing a few taels of silver, they felt it was a huge sum. In order to demonstrate frugality, the Marquis's mansion officially distributed very small monthly allowances to its masters and servants.
However, they would often find various excuses to give them money, but it was mostly from the inner courtyard.
Even though the third young master Gu Ting was disliked by the second wife, in addition to his monthly allowance, the third family could still get about one hundred taels of silver from his account every month.
In this respect, Zheng Jin is very fair and does not deduct money from people's pay.
Does this mean that Wang Yan really earns less money?
Of course not, she earns a lot; she's already considered a high-income earner.
After all, the food sold in his shop is visually appealing and novel; if he were to sell ordinary food in the inner city, he might not achieve the same effect.
I estimate that if I could earn ten taels a month, that would be quite an achievement. It can't compare to those authentic old shops.
Of course, their income couldn't compare to the extravagant lifestyles of the masters in the Marquis's mansion; it was worlds apart. But they were still considered to be among the highest-income earners.
Boatmen earned a lot of money by rowing boats to transport goods across the four rivers. Trade was booming, and they made a decent living, though it was seasonal.
The income of an ordinary person in the city, like the old women hired by these small shops, is about 50 coins a day.
In large restaurants like Fanlou, the waiters did a lot of work and also handled takeout business, earning an average of about two hundred coins per day.
Like Wang Ying, who used to only earn a little over one tael of silver a month by embroidering purses, the two of them lived quite comfortably.
However, even though their income is very ordinary, they don't have any pressure. The key point is...
Wang Pangzi paid his monthly wages on time and would occasionally take some food and drinks from the main kitchen to send back to Wang Yan, who received many rewards from him.
Even when they were servants in the Marquis's mansion, they were treated the same way. They didn't have to spend a lot of money to improve their food and drink; the food they ate was always top-notch.
Therefore, Liu Xiang'er's mother was extremely jealous of this. Her own son would order a plate of fried pork intestines, which would be finished in a few bites and cost around 20 coins, while the Wang family ate fish and meat every day. How could she not be angry!
Even after they got out, it was true. The money that Aunt Wang and her husband earned each month was more than enough to buy food, clothes, and other necessities for their home.
Yang Mei, for example, worked in the mansion for a month, and at that time she could earn two or three taels of silver a month by embroidering.
Wang Yan thought about it and understood the principle, but even though she understood it, she still felt uncomfortable when the effort and reward were not proportional.
But she didn't consider that the reason she could receive so much money in the Marquis's mansion was because of her recipe, which people considered precious.
Even if the masters want to use it, they will reward them with a large sum of money. Whenever they order this dessert or something else, they will reward them with more money.
But in Wang Yan's mind, recipes were the least valuable thing. After all, in modern times, you can find hundreds of recipes online with a simple swipe. Her labor was far more precious than any recipe.
Seeing her listless appearance, Aunt Wang got angry! What's wrong with her?
While her family was beaming with joy, the little rascal had a long face.
Just as she was about to go over and say a few words to her, Wang Yan's childhood friend, whom she had just thought of, came to find her with a group of little girls.
"Chunyan!" Chunye spotted Wang Yan sitting outside the shop from a distance and excitedly called out to her!
Then a group of people came running over, and Wang Yan forgot all about whether they were making money or not! Her mood visibly improved.
"Why are you here!"
Chunye pouted, "How dare you ask? Didn't we say when we left the manor that we'd come find you as soon as we had a break? Have you forgotten about us sisters?!"
Wang Yan quickly smiled apologetically, "Don't mention it, don't mention it, I was just too happy!"
With all her friends arriving, it was impossible to let them only eat spicy tofu for lunch.
Aunt Wang bought a fish, a pound of meat, and a basket of shrimp. She spent a total of one hundred coins. Because she was doing business right by the river, the fishmongers gave her a cheap price.
"Take it! Take it! It's not worth much money!" Aunt Erhua (the fishmonger) even grabbed a handful more river shrimp and put them in.
"Oh dear, look what this mess has become!" Aunt Wang said embarrassedly as she carried a bag of fish and shrimp back home.
Wang Yan is going to make boiled fish, spicy shrimp, and stir-fried pork strips with bok choy for her friends at noon today.
Cut the fish into slices, cut off the fish head, chop the fish bones, add salt to the fish slices, marinate for a while, and then wash with water.
After washing the fish, add pepper, scallions, ginger water, an egg white, and some cornstarch, and mix well. Then add a spoonful of oil to the fish fillets.
Since we didn't have bean sprouts or tofu skin, we used tofu and greens directly. Blanch the tofu and greens in boiling water and then drain.
Heat oil in a wok, add chopped fish bones and pan-fry until fragrant on both sides. Pour in an appropriate amount of boiling water, add a few slices of ginger, and simmer to make a white broth.
After the soup is served, heat oil in a wok again. When the oil is hot, add chopped scallions, minced ginger, minced garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, and chili powder, and stir-fry until fragrant.
Then pour in the white broth, add two tablespoons of light soy sauce, and once the water boils, add the marinated fish fillets and blanch them. Find a bowl, put the greens and tofu in it, take out the fish fillets and place them on top of the vegetables, then pour in all the broth.
Place some minced garlic, chili powder, and chopped green onions on top of the bowl, then drizzle oil in small amounts several times. This simple spicy boiled fish dish is now ready.
The shrimp that Aunt Wang bought were small river shrimp. She just put them in the pan and cooked them normally, adding an extra portion of chili powder.
Stir-fry another dish of bok choy with pork strips. Cut the pork into strips about 10 centimeters long and marinate them with pepper and egg white.
I peeled the bok choy hearts when I was making boiled fish.
After working for most of the hour, several dishes were successfully served. We also added braised tofu and mapo tofu.
The main course is rice cooked in the restaurant, and the boiled fish fillets are tender, spicy, and fragrant.
Chunye was the first to pick up her chopsticks, but tears streamed down her face after just one bite. She took deep breaths and drank large gulps of orange honey water to relieve the spiciness.
She still couldn't handle the spiciness and was jumping around in circles. Seeing her like that, the others didn't dare to eat anymore.
She only dared to put her chopsticks on the braised tofu to go with her rice. Who would have thought that after Chunye caught her breath, the first dish she picked up was still boiled fish.
Others: "..., huh?"
Fuling looked at her and asked, "Isn't this fish strangely delicious?"
"Shh..., shh..., mmm mmm!"
When Chunye returned, she still wanted to eat, so Wang Yan brought her a cup of orange tea and told her to rinse it before eating.
When Fuling asked her a question, her forehead veins throbbed from the spiciness, and it took her a while to finally manage three "uh-huhs" in response!
The others looked around, hesitated for a moment, and then decided to rinse the orange tea with it and try it.
Wang Yan was running around helping to pour orange tea, but she felt embarrassed because she was only adding a handful of chili powder because she wanted to favor her friend.
Although the group had eaten spicy strips at the mansion, those were modified by Aunt Sun, which were fried with various seasonings and had a strong aroma. They were nothing like this spicy strip that would make people's eyes water.
But after the spiciness, there was a wonderful feeling of relief; Chunye felt her head clear up a bit. The spiciness had cleared her throat.
The food on the table was completely devoured, and the group ate with great satisfaction.
After the meal, each person took a piece of Eight Treasure Cake they had bought earlier from the shop, sat in the partitioned-off small room, opened the window, enjoyed the cool breeze, and chatted.
Chunyan, how have you been doing since you came out?
Chunxi asked her with difficulty, "Why is it so difficult?" "Because I just ate chili peppers and my lips are swollen from the spiciness!"
Wang Yan didn't answer her question, but looked at her mouth with worry, "What will you do tomorrow if the ice my sister buys doesn't reduce the swelling?"
Chunxi waved her hand, "It's okay, just give me another packet of chili powder!"
Wang Yan: "..."
After chatting for a while, it was afternoon and the group was about to head home. Wang Yan gave each of them a packet of chili powder to take home and use for cooking.
"Don't put too much chili powder in when you get back. Even though it's ground into a fine powder and doesn't show much color now, it's still quite spicy."
"Understood, understood." Everyone waved and followed Sister Qingmei back in the carriage.
After they left, Wang Yan hurried back to the partitioned room.
Good heavens! Inside there is still the dividend money that Aunt Sun asked Fuling to give her.
How could Wang Yan not panic when the bed was just casually placed there?
He practically ran back home, and after closing the door, he immediately grabbed a small purse, counted the dividends, and quickly put the money inside.
In the past month, thanks to the previous spicy strips, rice crusts, wontons, and the like, the profit after splitting the profits was exactly 37.5 liang (approximately 18.5 kg).
Since the old lady's birthday banquet had just ended, guests from outside the area would give an extra tip for taking these snacks.
Logically, the amount shouldn't be so small. After all, when it comes to gifts from guests, people usually give generous amounts to save face.
The reason she only received 37.5 taels was because Wang Yan gave her half of the money she received from Fuling.
"When you get back, tell Aunt Sun that we three will split any reward money we receive in the future. I won't be able to help much after I leave the manor, so I'll trouble Fuling to do my best to show filial piety to Aunt Sun on my behalf."
"I thank you in advance, elder sister, but I can't let you go to all this trouble for nothing. Please take this money and don't argue with me anymore. Qingmei is still waiting outside, so hurry up and go out."
As she spoke, she pushed Fuling out, and Fuling, not wanting to say anything in front of others, could only take the half of the money Wang Yan had given her and go back.
Upon returning to the Marquis's residence and relaying Wang Yan's words, Granny Sun's face immediately broke into a wide smile.
"This kid is just an honest person, don't you think?"
He glanced at the money pouch in Fuling's hand and said, "Here, take it. From now on, we'll split it equally among the three of us."
Chunyan is right. I've seen how hard we've worked with Fuling over the past few years. Taking this is fair and deserves it. Take it!
Fu Ling felt very comforted after hearing this.
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