Jiang Yongtian covered his heart and tiptoed out of the house, fearing that his movement would bring a gust of wind that would blow down the delicate pepper seedlings.
The greenhouse has been built, the pepper seedlings have been planted, and watered with spiritual spring water. As long as they are well taken care of, I believe a batch of peppers will be harvested before the New Year. What remains now is the tricky five-spice powder.
That night, Ke Xin held the first family meeting for everyone.
"From now on, the two of you will run this food business. You can keep the money you earn. It's hard work, but you can still make a few taels every month."
When the eldest aunt Xue Ying and the second aunt Zhuo Qiaohong heard this, their eyes narrowed into slits with laughter: "Jiu'er, your eldest aunt and I can't take this stall from you for nothing. So, if we make any money, we can split it equally among the three of us sisters-in-law."
Ge Shuzhen was deeply moved when she heard her second sister-in-law say this: "Don't worry about me. I have enough money at home now. You can just keep the money you earn in your own pockets. When you have enough money, you can find wives for the boys."
The unmarried boys who were named blushed.
Ke Xin smiled. Her brothers’ unmarried status had become a source of worry for her aunt and mother. The first thing they thought about when they made money was to find marriages for their children.
She coughed lightly and continued with the next task: "Let's proceed in four steps."
"First step, Second Brother, Sixth Brother, you two will go to the village to harvest cabbages. We want to harvest 3,000 kilograms this time."
"Step two, Fifth Brother and Shan Brother will go buy fifty large vats and clean them thoroughly. Remember, don't let any grease get on the vats, not even pork. Then, place the vats in the newly built makeshift house."
"Step three, big brother, fourth brother, I and uncle, let's go to the county town to sell things."
"Grandpa is in charge of the overall situation. Dad and Second Uncle, you stay home and keep an eye on it. If there's a shortage of people in that area, you guys can fill in."
It was their first time attending a meeting, and they were still confused. But after hearing what Ke Xin said, everyone understood what they were going to do. They were immediately very curious and agreed.
"I guarantee to complete the task." Sixth brother raised his hand and said with a smile, looking cheerful like a sunny boy.
Jiang Xin felt unhappy after hearing this: "Sister, why didn't you assign me any work? I'm fine now."
Everyone had work to do, but she was left aside, which made him feel like a waste.
Ke Xin licked her lips, looked at her elder brother who was in a bad mood, and smiled. The dimples on her face were faintly visible, which was quite cute.
"Now that you're well, come with us to the county town. We're going to buy a lot of things this time. If you can handle it, come with us."
When Jiang Xin heard that they were going to the county town, his eyes lit up: "I can do it. Even killing a sheep right now is no problem."
He said it in a decisive and heroic tone.
Everyone laughed and had a great time, and then started discussing the cabbage and the big jar.
Ge Shuzhen remembered her daughter's mention of spicy cabbage, and while she was talking about it, she asked, "Three thousand kilograms of cabbage made into pickles, I'm afraid it won't sell well."
"Pickled vegetables?" Zhuo Qiaohong exclaimed, looking at Kexin and said, "Oh, if it's pickled vegetables, I don't think this business will succeed. Every household pickles pickles in winter, so who would be willing to spend money to buy pickles?"
Not only did the second aunt say this, but even the quiet eldest aunt said, "Every household eats this cabbage. If we sell it, I'm afraid it won't work. How about you think about it, Jiuer?"
Ke Xin shook her head firmly: "First of all, I don't make kimchi because I don't have enough raw materials and can't make it."
"This time I want to make pickled sauerkraut, which is a fermented cabbage dish. It tastes sour and is a great dish to go with any meal, whether it's stir-fried, stewed, or served in soup."
Sauerkraut?
Everyone thinks that this name is not a good thing. After all, sauerkraut is made of cabbage and it is sour. You are not a pregnant woman. Who would eat sour food for no reason? It would be strange if your teeth don’t fall out.
But no matter what everyone said, Ke Xin's determination to pickle sauerkraut never wavered. Everyone had no choice but to follow her. If they could sell it, that would be the best. If not, the worst that could happen was that they would be pregnant again and eat it with their eyes closed.
The next day, at dawn, everyone was busy with their own things.
Ke Xin took people to Liu Ji early in the morning. Today was the time to settle the commission for half a month as well as the money for five-spice powder and all-purpose dipping sauce. The abacus in Fang Yaozu's hand was clacking loudly, and it was obvious that he was a cultured man.
In the account book, Ke Xin looked at the daily summary, how many servings of this dish, how many servings of that dish, she silently calculated it in her mind, and before the abacus stopped, Ke Xin threw out a sentence.
"In fifteen days, we produced a total of 1,300 dishes. The commission for each dish was seven wen, which makes a total of nine taels and one hundred wen. Furthermore, the all-purpose dipping sauce used seventeen catties in half a month, at three taels per catty, for a total of fifty-one taels. Furthermore, the five-spice powder used one catty, which was five taels of silver. The total for these three items was sixty-five taels and one hundred wen."
As Ke Xin finished speaking, Fang Yaozu finished his calculations. The numbers matched exactly. He was so shocked that he was speechless. However, Ke Xin stared at the account book, which showed that 1,300 vegetables were produced in 15 days.
A restaurant this size doesn't even sell a hundred dishes a day? And that's for lunch and dinner, so the average serving is less than 50 dishes per day...
Could it be that the dishes I made were too expensive? I should think about it again and make something cheap and affordable that goes well with rice. Maybe I can make more money this way.
"I didn't expect Miss Jiang to be so good at math. She can even figure it out without an abacus. It really opened my eyes."
A man's joking voice came from behind.
Ke Xin looked back and saw him wearing a red brocade robe. The weather in mid-October was already chilly, but he still had the fan in his hand. She didn't know if he was trying to be cool or if he was really experiencing early menopause and was fanning himself because he was feeling hot inside.
She scoffed and threw the account book to him: "Young Master Liu, you're concerned about the wrong thing. Your restaurant can't even sell a hundred dishes a day. It's shameful to tell others about it."
After she finished speaking, she looked back at Fang Yaozu who was still in a daze, and knocked on the table: "Did I calculate correctly? If so, give me the silver. I have something else to do."
"Oh... yes, that's sixty-five taels and one hundred coins." Fang Yaozu turned around and immediately calculated the amount for her. He was wondering how she had calculated it so quickly, but his hands were counting the silver swiftly.
Seeing this, Ke Xin frowned slightly and said, "Give me fifty taels of silver notes and the rest in silver. Otherwise, it will be inconvenient for me to carry it with me when I go out."
Behind her, Liu Feiyang's face gradually darkened as she stared at the account book. The red words for profit on the account were so big, but in her eyes it was still too little.
Knowing that today was her settlement day, he got up early instead of sleeping in. However, he was ridiculed by others. He felt embarrassed when he told others about it.
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