After Liu Yingying finished speaking, the entire room fell silent.
"What's wrong... are you complaining about the low wages?" She was about to say that if the snack shop did well, there would be a bonus at the end of the year...
But Zhang Hui interrupted her, "Sister Liu, I know now, you came to Beijing to do charity work!"
"Pfft!" Madam Wan and Xiaoxue couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Liu Yingying;...
The snack shop remained bustling with business for the next few days.
In other districts of Beijing, and even among the ladies and young women of powerful and wealthy families, after having tried skewers once by chance, they would send their servants to buy them almost every day thereafter.
For those who live far from the North District, by the time they arrived, all the snacks in the shop had already been sold out.
Then some people started complaining: "Hey boss, your shop is doing so well, why can't you open a branch in Dongcheng?"
This way, they won't have to make the arduous journey to the remote northern district every day...
Zhang Hui and Madam Wan were busy attending to customers when they heard this. They chuckled and said, "Your idea is good, but I still need to discuss it with our boss and get her approval to open a branch!"
Only then did the man realize that the two women were not the proprietresses.
On the sixth day of operation, Liu Yingying checked the accounts that evening and found that, apart from the costs and wages paid out, she had made a net profit of more than thirty taels of silver.
Thirty taels for six days, that adds up to more than one hundred and fifty taels a month.
Perhaps to others this was already a lot of money, but Liu Yingying was not satisfied.
However, this number is already the store's daily production limit!
She clicked her tongue and said, "It seems it's time to consider opening a branch."
At the same time, Huo Huaizhi had just returned to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
He should have returned long ago, but due to the recent frequent disasters and accidents in various places, the emperor temporarily assigned him another task.
So busy that I only got home today.
The Duke of Zhenguo was still far away on the frontier guarding the southern gateway of the Great Xia, and there were only his mother, Princess Jinyang, and his second younger brother, Huo Xizhi, in the mansion.
As is customary, Huo Huaizhi would first visit the Lingxian Hall to pay his respects to the Princess upon returning home.
But when he arrived, he was stopped by a maid.
"Madam is not feeling well today and has gone to bed early. Please go back first, young master, and come again tomorrow morning."
Upon hearing this, Huo Huaizhi understood immediately.
His mother disliked him from a young age. After his second brother was born, his mother only had eyes for his brother, but he never held it against her.
This was his first time back home in two years, but his mother avoided him, which made him feel a little sad.
"I wonder what's wrong with Mother's health? Has she seen a doctor?"
He was simply asking according to protocol; he never expected the maid to actually tell him the reason.
The reason was simply that his mother didn't want to see him.
Listen to what the maid said: "Young master, you may not know this, but it has been raining in the capital for days and the sun has not come out. The lady has not been out for a long time, and she has no appetite. She is listless all day long."
Huo Huaizhi then realized that his mother was indeed ill.
Then the maid continued, "However, today the Second Young Master brought back a novel snack from outside. I have lived in the capital since I was a child and have never seen such a way of eating before. Even the Madam praised it highly and ate quite a bit before going to bed early."
After leaving Lingxian Hall, Huo Huaizhi instructed Grey Falcon, "Go and find out where Xi Zhi bought the snacks today."
Grey Falcon nodded; "Yes, Young Master!"
Soon, Grey Falcon reported the information he had gathered to Huo Huaizhi.
"I've found out. The second young master bought it from a newly opened snack shop in the north of the city. It's said that the shop owner and the staff are all women."
"The way they make these skewers is something that has never been seen in the capital before, and their business is booming!"
After speaking, Grey Falcon glanced at Huo Huaizhi's expression, unsure if he was even listening, and asked another question.
"Young Master, would you like me to buy some tomorrow to present to your wife?"
"No need!" Huo Huaizhi finally spoke, a bitter smile appearing on his lips.
"As the eldest brother, I can't very well steal the credit from my second brother. If I want to be filial to our mother, I will find another way."
The next day, news of Huo Huaizhi's return to the capital spread throughout the entire Huo family.
Even if Princess Jinyang disliked this son, she couldn't keep avoiding him forever.
If word gets out, people will gossip.
So in the morning, he instructed someone to call him over to Lingxian Hall to have breakfast together.
When Huo Huaizhi arrived, he saw his second brother, Huo Xizhi, already sitting next to their mother, looking ingratiating and obsequious.
His steps faltered involuntarily.
In fact, he was already used to this kind of scene. Even though he and his second brother were both their mother's sons, it seemed that only his second brother was her biological son in her eyes.
In Huo Huaizhi's memory, he and his mother had never had such a scene of maternal love and filial piety...
"Second Brother is here!" Huo Xizhi looked at him with a smile.
"Mother, Second Brother!" Huo Huaizhi concealed the strange look in his eyes and stepped into the courtyard.
Princess Jinyang was wearing a light blue palace dress with gardenia patterns today. Even though she was over forty, she looked like she was under thirty.
Luxurious and elegant.
She smiled kindly and waved to Huo Huaizhi, "Huaizhi, come here quickly. Knowing you were coming back, Mother specially asked the kitchen to make your favorite dishes."
Huo Huaizhi walked over and sat down to the lower right of Princess Jinyang.
The maids began serving the dishes.
However, half of the dishes contained Sichuan peppercorns. Huo Huaizhi frowned slightly, but Princess Jinyang did not notice.
Huo Xizhi spoke up, reminding her, "Mother, how could you forget? Eldest brother has always been allergic to spending money."
Then she said to Huo Huaizhi, "Mother has been unwell and lacking energy lately, which is why she forgot about your allergy to Sichuan peppercorns, brother. I hope you won't take it to heart!"
"Yes, I really forgot about it, Huaizhi, please don't take it to heart!" Princess Jinyang also showed a hint of guilt.
Seeing that his mother and second brother had both said this, what else could Huo Huaizhi say?
Anyway, his mother never cared about him growing up, and he had long been used to it.
Huo Huaizhi could only eat no more than three dishes at this meal.
Princess Jinyang would occasionally ask him how he had been doing in the northern frontier these past few years.
Huo Huaizhi readily agreed with all of them.
Princess Jinyang said, "Your father wrote a letter a few days ago, saying that His Majesty will recall him to the capital this year, and then our family can have a lively and festive New Year."
Huo Huaizhi nodded; "It's what Mother said."
Princess Jinyang glanced at him again and suddenly brought up his marriage.
“Huaizhi, you are already past twenty and not young anymore. When your father comes back, he should arrange a marriage for you.”
"Do you have a woman you fancy?"
Upon hearing this, a hint of mockery unconsciously appeared on Huo Huaizhi's lips.
For aristocratic families like theirs, marriage is never a matter of personal choice.
His mother's question for his opinion was merely a formality.
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