The man first introduced himself: "My last name is Gu, and my family is from Changhe Village. Everyone calls me Gu Da, and you can call me that too." After briefly introducing himself, Gu Da explained the purpose of his visit: "We are here to ask you to prepare the banquet. My youngest son is getting married at the beginning of next month. Chef Li, please help us."
Changhe Village? Where is that? She didn't know it at all. How did this couple know her? Li Hehua was confused and didn't dare to agree rashly, so she asked: "Uncle Gu, how did you know me? I have never been to your village for a banquet."
Gu Da's wife answered before Gu Da did, "We heard about you from our neighbor. My family was originally going to ask Zhou Laogen to prepare a banquet, but it ended up being a bit unhappy. Then my neighbor told me about you. She said she has relatives in Lianhua Village and she had the banquet you made last time. It was delicious and she said it was much better than Zhou Laogen's. So she asked us to find you, so we heard about you and came to invite you to prepare a banquet."
Li Hehua suddenly realized that this was the case. This neighbor must have eaten the banquet noodles she made at Old Man Wang's house last time. If that was the case, there would be no problem in making the banquet noodles.
However, before agreeing, the price issues involved in the meal still need to be made clear. She has to ask about the distance first and charge based on the distance. It would not work to charge the original price for far places.
So Li Hehua asked, "Uncle Gu, Aunt Gu, how long have you been here?"
Gu Da thought for a moment and replied, "It takes about an hour and a half to walk from my home to here."
An hour and a half was too far for Li Hehua. It would take most of the day to go there and back, and she had to go there before dawn in the morning so as not to delay the preparation of the banquet.
Then the fee for this meal will be eight cents per table.
Li Hehua decided to first discuss the price with the couple. "Uncle Gu, Aunt Gu, it's no problem for me to prepare the banquet for you, but I need to tell you the price in advance. You can decide whether it's okay or not."
"Your home is quite far from here. I will have to waste most of the day on the road to and from here, so I will charge eight cents per table. Do you think you can accept this price? If you can, I will cook for you."
"What? Eight cents..." The two were shocked when they heard that it was eight cents per table. Didn't she charge five cents per table? They came to her because they heard that her dishes were not only delicious but also cheap. Why is it eight cents per table at their place?
Gu Da said hesitantly: "This... I heard that you charged five cents per table before? Why do you want eight cents from us?" Could it be that Chef Li is also raising the price like Zhou Laogen?
Li Hehua knew that they must have asked about her previous meal prices before they came, so it was normal for them to have such doubts now, so she explained to them seriously: "I did charge five cents per table before, but those were places close to my home. I would not be delayed except for the day of the banquet, so I charged five cents per table as usual. But for places far away, I would have to spend most of the day just traveling, which means I can't do other work for a whole day. If I charge five cents again, I will lose money, so it's better not to do the banquet. Don't you think this makes sense?"
"This..." The couple knew that what she said made sense, but this added up to three cents. With a table of food costing eight cents, they were reluctant to spend that.
Seeing the two people hesitating, Li Hehua did not force them, and said with a smile: "Uncle and aunt, how about this, you go back and think about it, if it's okay, I will do it for you."
The couple couldn't make up their minds for a moment and wanted to go back and think about it carefully, so they stood up and said, "Then we'll go first and discuss it after we go back."
Li Hehua politely sent the two of them out. She didn't have any expectations about whether this business would be successful. If it was successful, she would do it. If not, she would continue selling her pastries and make money.
After the people left, Cao Simei continued to light the fire for Li Hehua and said, "Big sister, to be honest, the banquet noodles you made are really delicious. In fact, I don't think that the eight cents you charge is expensive at all. On the contrary, it is worth it. But it is understandable that the people in the village can't accept it all at once. Before you, Zhou Laogen, who made banquet noodles, charged five cents per table. Now suddenly a table is charged three cents. It's normal to be hesitant."
Li Hehua knew this, of course, and smiled, "Big sister, I know, but you can see that I am making money from selling cakes now. If I set up banquets in places too far away, it would be tiring, and the money I make would not be as much as what I make from selling cakes. Wouldn't it be stupid for me to do this? So I decided to charge eight cents per table for places far away. If people think it is too expensive, then there is nothing I can do."
Cao Simei felt that what Li Hehua said made sense. If it were her, she would not be so stupid as to charge only five cents per table. That would be a loss. "But sister, actually think about it carefully. If you charge eight cents per table, the host family is not at a loss. I won't say that Zhou Laogen's cooking skills are not as good as yours. Just talking about the price, although Zhou Laogen only charges five cents per table, he has a bad temper and also asks for extra things, such as cigarettes and alcohol. If you don't give them, he won't cook for you. Adding up everything, this table may cost more than eight cents."
Li Hehua raised his eyebrows and declined to comment on Zhou Laogen's actions.
Cao Simei continued, "Actually, if I had to choose, I would choose you. You don't want extra things, your attitude is good, and your cooking is delicious. It would be stupid not to choose you and choose Zhou Laogen instead."
Li Hehua smiled, "Forget it, big sister. It's up to them to decide who to choose and who not to choose. If they want me to prepare the banquet, then I will do my best. If they don't want me, that's fine too."
Cao Simei nodded in approval.
After that, Li Hehua put the matter behind her and concentrated on making cakes. As a result, the next day, when she and Cao Simei came back from selling cakes, they met Gu Da and his wife again.
Seeing Li Hehua coming back, the couple smiled and greeted him, then said, "Chef Li, we thought about it yesterday and decided to invite you to cook for our family. The price is eight cents per table as you said."
The Gu couple originally thought that eight cents per table was too expensive, three cents more than Zhou Laogen's charge. The entire banquet would cost sixty cents more, which was not a small amount of money. So they thought, let's go to Zhou Laogen. Even if he has a bad temper and is a little difficult to serve, they can bear it with patience.
But when they went back to discuss it with their sons, none of them agreed with their idea. The eldest son said, "Although Zhou Laogen charges less money, his attitude is really infuriating. Besides, everyone knows that he has to invite guests before he prepares a banquet. Every time he goes, he always brings all kinds of goodies. Those things alone must cost more than 60 coins, right?"
The second son agreed with this and said, "Yes, Dad, Zhou Laogen is too arrogant. In my opinion, we should not invite him and curb his arrogance. Anyway, our family can afford the extra sixty cents."
After the children in the family said so, Gu Da's thoughts gradually changed. He felt that what the children said made sense, and it was really difficult for him to lose face and ask Zhou Laogen for help. In this case, let's ask Chef Li.
So today the couple came to invite Li Hehua to prepare a meal again.
Li Hehua didn't say much. Since they invited her again, she naturally agreed. "Okay, I'll cook for you then. What's the specific date for your event? How many tables in total? Do you want to cook for two days or one day?"
Gu Da answered one by one: "The date is set for the first day of next month. This time, there will be 20 tables of banquet, which can be completed in one day. We can simply cook and eat the banquet the day before at home. The next day is the main banquet, so I will trouble you."
Li Hehua likes this way of preparing banquets, which means that she only needs to work for a day and come back. If she leaves early and comes back late, she will only be delayed for one day.
Li Hehua nodded and said, "Okay, I understand. I will rush over early that morning. You guys buy the ingredients and I will decide the menu based on the ingredients. I will discuss it with you later."
The Gu couple nodded in agreement and then left the He family.
Fourth Sister Cao listened to the whole thing. When she saw that everyone had left, she said, "We're going to do things on the first day of the new year. There aren't many days left. Today is already the twenty-fifth."
That means there are still five days left, but this has no impact on Li Hehua. The only impact on her is that the first day of the new year will delay her job of selling pastries. If she doesn't go to sell, she won't be able to earn the money from the pastries.
Originally, she planned to let Cao Simei sell alone every time she went to prepare banquets, but now her mind has changed a little. However, she still needs to discuss with Cao Simei whether this change can be realized.
So, after dinner that day, Li Hehua told Cao Simei about his new idea: "Sister, I originally planned to have you go alone every time I went to cook, and then I would go with you to sell cakes when I came back. But now I have a new idea, and I want to talk to you about it. See if you and brother can agree."
When Cao Simei and He Da heard her say this, they listened attentively.
Li Hehua said, "I was thinking, when I'm going to prepare the banquet, can I ask your children to help me sell cakes? I'll pay them the same as you, four yuan and a penny. Do you think it's okay?"
In fact, Li Hehua was a little embarrassed to say this, because in her heart, Daya and the others were still children, and it seemed bad to ask children to go out to work and earn money. However, this era was different from the modern era. Many children in their teens helped their families to earn money. When she was in the town, she often saw children of twelve or thirteen selling things on the street. In this era, children from poor families had to take on responsibilities early, and they were not spoiled like in modern times.
So Li Hehua tentatively said it out. If Cao Simei and her husband loved their child, then they could just pretend she didn't say anything. If they thought it was okay, then both sides could make money.
Before Cao Simei and He Da expressed their opinions, Daya and Xiao Saner nodded first. Daya said first, "Auntie Hehua, I'll go, I'll go! I'll sell them for you. I used to go to town with mom to sell eggs. I know how to do this and I'm sure I can sell them well for you."
Xiao San'er was also very enthusiastic, "Auntie Hehua, I'll go too. I can shout and count, and the goods I sell will definitely be no worse than what mom sells."
Li Hehua didn't expect the children to agree so actively, and felt very touched. They are really sensible children. If it were in modern times, parents would probably not be able to ask them to go out and buy a bottle of soy sauce, but they actively wanted to help, just to earn more money for the family.
Li Hehua looked at Cao Simei and He Da, asking for their opinions.
Cao Simei certainly didn't have the same thoughts of loving and pampering her children as Li Hehua did. She was so happy that her children could take on this job. Daya was already fourteen years old, her eldest son Dahe was thirteen, and her youngest son Saner was almost ten years old. They were considered big kids in the countryside and could already help with a lot of housework. She had taken her children to sell eggs before, so she was very confident about them.
Now Li Hehua offered to let the children do this job, which means that the family can have an extra income. Such a good thing is hard to find, so Cao Simei hurriedly said: "Sister, of course we agree. Don't worry, our children can do the accounting and collecting money, and they will not make mistakes. You can rest assured to hand over the business to them, and they will definitely do a good job for you."
Seeing that Cao Simei and He Da had no feelings of grievance or reluctance at all, Li Hehua thought to herself that she had really thought too much, so she decided that if she didn't have time to sell cakes in the future, she would leave it to the three children.
Time soon arrived on the first day of the new year. Li Hehua got up before dawn, washed up, had some breakfast, and then rushed to Changhe Village.
She was not too worried about selling cakes today. She had already prepared all the cakes for today yesterday afternoon, and then explained to the three children of the He family how to sell them. In fact, she took the three children to the market a few days ago and let them watch how to sell cakes. The children were very smart and soon became proficient. With the help of Cao Simei, Li Hehua was still very relieved.
Li Hehua walked for more than an hour before he reached Gu's house. By then, it was already bright and the sun was high in the sky. It was estimated to be around nine in the morning, so it was a good time to prepare lunch.
The Gu family politely welcomed Li Hehua in, then took her to the kitchen and gave her a brief introduction to the kitchen and the location of various items. The next step was to introduce her to the ingredients purchased today.
Li Hehua found that the ingredients were no different from the previous two banquets, all of which were chicken, duck, fish and meat. Perhaps these were the fixed ingredients that farmers used to prepare banquets.
So, without giving it much thought, Li Hehua directly used these ingredients to come up with a table of dishes. He told the names of the dishes one by one to ask for their opinions.
The Gu family didn't expect that Chef Li would discuss dishes with them. They were surprised and happy at the same time. Previously, Zhou Laogen was invited to the weddings of the eldest and second sons. Zhou Laogen cooked the banquet without saying anything. He cooked whatever he wanted and never discussed with the host. Everyone was used to it. They served whatever he cooked and never objected. Chef Li was quite different from Zhou Laogen.
Gu Da said happily: "The dishes you mentioned are very good, and they sound very prestigious. We have never heard of many of them, but we trust you, so just do it." In fact, they believed what their neighbor next door said. The neighbor said that the dishes made by Chef Li were very novel and delicious. They asked her to make sure it was right. They have been neighbors for many years and she would definitely not lie to them, so they believed Li Hehua and naturally had no objection to the dishes.
Seeing that the Gu family had no objection to the dishes, Li Hehua immediately put on an apron and began to prepare the table.
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