After arriving home, the donkey cart owner helped Li Hehua unload the tables and chairs and move them into the yard. Li Hehua was very grateful and thanked him repeatedly, thinking that he would definitely look for this person next time he needed to move things.
Li Hehua carried the little guy to a chair in the main hall and kissed him. "Baby, this is where I live now. But I rented it because I don't have the money to buy my own house. But I'm working hard to make money and will soon be able to buy a better yard than this one. Then I'll take you to live with me, and you can also invite your friends to come over to play."
The little guy sat obediently, staring at Li Hehua with his bright black eyes, blinking his big eyes.
Li Hehua touched his head, "Okay, Mom is going to prepare the cakes for tomorrow's sale. Can you play by yourself for a while? Except that you can't go out, you can play freely in the yard."
Li Hehua plans to officially open the snack stand the day after tomorrow, and the cart will be delivered by then. She will start preparing the ingredients for the snack stand after selling the cakes tomorrow. As for this afternoon, she will just make some cakes.
Li Hehua started walking towards the kitchen, but her trouser leg was pulled after she took two steps. Li Hehua paused, lowered her head and saw the little guy sliding down from the chair, grabbing her trouser leg and looking at her.
Li Hehua pinched his little nose and asked, "Do you want to go to the kitchen with mom?"
The little guy blinked his eyes.
The little guy was thinking, "Okay, let's go with mom."
Li Hehua carried the little guy to the kitchen and put him on a chair beside the table. "Okay, just sit here and keep me company. I'll make you some double-skin milk when it's done. It just so happens that I bought some goat milk ice in the well yesterday."
The little guy sat obediently, staring at Li Hehua's hand.
Li Hehua smiled and shook his head, and began to get busy under the little guy's gaze. The little guy was different from normal children. He could sit in one place all day without moving, and he could stare at one thing all day without getting tired of it. Just like now, his big black eyes kept staring at Li Hehua, without any impatience, and he kept staring at him until Li Hehua finished making the cakes to be sold tomorrow and was still watching carefully.
Li Hehua felt helpless and amused. He walked over and scratched his little nose. "Why are you so quiet, little guy? Aren't you bored sitting here and looking at your mother?"
The little guy blinked his eyes, as if to say 'not boring at all'.
"You..." Li Hehua chuckled and turned to get the goat milk that was frozen in the well. "Then mother will make you some double-skin milk now."
She bought the goat milk from a man who came to the town to sell sheep. The man was originally selling sheep, and thinking about the high nutritional value of goat milk, she asked him if he had goat milk at home. The man said that he had a lot of goat milk at home and could not finish it every day. So she had an idea and told the man that he could sell her any goat milk in the future, for five cents a bucket.
The man was overjoyed when he heard this, and he would send her a bucket every few days afterwards.
However, goat milk has a strong smell. If most people don’t know how to process it, they will think that goat milk is unpalatable. In fact, if goat milk is processed well, the smell can be removed and it is very nutritious. It is especially good for children to drink and it can also be used to make delicious pastries. That’s why she bought so much and now she is making food for the little ones.
Li Hehua poured the goat milk into the pot, then put the almonds he had bought earlier into the goat milk and cooked it slowly over low heat to remove the strong smell in the goat milk.
After removing the mutton smell, add an appropriate amount of white sugar and stir it. The purpose is to increase the sweetness of the double skin milk. If it is not sweet, children will not like to eat it.
This is when eggs come in handy. Li Hehua took out four eggs, separated the egg whites, and then beat them with chopsticks until the egg whites were fluffy. He then slowly poured the processed goat milk into the egg whites, stirring as he poured, making sure the goat milk and egg whites were mixed evenly.
After mixing evenly, Li Hehua took two bowls, poured goat milk into each bowl, and then steamed it in a pot. It only took a few moments. When it came out of the pot, it was solidified into double-skin milk.
There happened to be red beans at home, so Li Hehua made some candied beans with the existing red beans, and then spread them on the double skin milk. This made the red bean double skin milk, which tasted better.
Generally speaking, double skin milk can be eaten hot or cold, but the little guy has a weak spleen and stomach, so it is best to eat it hot. As for the other bowl, put it in the well and sell it to the child in Mr. Gu's family tomorrow.
"Come here, baby, the double skin milk is ready, try it." Li Hehua sat next to the little guy with a bowl in his hand, scooped a spoonful with a spoon, blew on it, and fed it to his mouth.
The little guy immediately opened his mouth and ate it in one bite, his big eyes slightly narrowed, as if he was savoring it.
"How is it? Is it delicious?" Li Hehua could tell the little guy's emotions without looking at his expression. He must think it's delicious at this moment.
The little guy answered her with practical actions. He ate every bite with such sweetness that she felt very happy. She secretly thought that it would be great if the little guy could stay with her forever. She believed that within two months, she would be able to raise him to be plump and white, and he would definitely be more adorable by then.
Unfortunately, this idea is not very realistic.
It was still early after the little guy finished eating the double skin milk, so Li Hehua simply carried the little guy to the yard and sat him down. She sat down next to him, then took out the square wooden board that she had specially asked for from Carpenter Qian, and prepared to write a snack stand menu.
In order to adapt to this era, Li Hehua bought a book similar to a dictionary. The characters in the book were all traditional Chinese characters. Although she had never written them, she could recognize them roughly, so she planned to write the menu according to the characters in this book.
After deciding how to write almost everything, Li Hehua dipped a brush in ink, wrote the names of various foods on the wooden board, and then wrote the corresponding prices on the back.
She had thought about it beforehand. Ordinary fried rice, fried noodles and noodle soup were all four cents a bowl. Beef, pork, etc. could be added, and each additional item would cost two cents. As for dumplings, vegetarian dumplings were one cent for five, and meat dumplings were one cent for three. Rice with toppings was also divided into vegetarian and meat. Vegetarian was four cents a bowl, and meat was six cents a bowl. So there were basically two prices on her stall: four cents and six cents, which was easy to remember.
She also plans to sell some steamed buns and dumplings at the stall for the benefit of those who do hard labor. Those people probably wouldn't be willing to spend money on such expensive meals, so they can buy some cheap steamed buns. At that time, she will also make some vegetable soup as free soup. As long as the guests pay for the meal, each person can have a bowl of vegetable soup. This can also be regarded as a way to attract customers.
Although the price set by Li Hehua is generally a little bit more expensive than other noodle shops, she believes that the taste of her noodles is far better than other shops, and there are more varieties, so the higher price will not be a problem.
After the menu was written, Li Hehua naturally thought of the work in the kitchen. Before, she thought that she would do all the work in the kitchen by herself, but now it seems that she thought too simply and she probably can't handle it all by herself. Because there are too many types on the menu, she needs to prepare a lot of different ingredients every day after closing the stall. Not only does she have to prepare various dumpling fillings, but she also has to make fried noodles and noodles, and then knead the dough to make dumpling skins and buns. More importantly, she also has to make the pastries that Cao Simei sells.
With so much work to do, she would probably have to work until dawn to finish it all by herself. How could she bear it?
It seems like she needs to find someone to help her in the kitchen.
As for the candidate, she wanted to find a woman who lived nearby, worked until late every day and had good cooking skills. However, such a person might be difficult to find. Besides, she had just moved here and didn't know anyone, which made it even more difficult to find a suitable person.
Li Hehua felt that she had to ask someone who was very familiar with the people in the area. After thinking about it, she thought of the landlord, Sister Fang. Sister Fang's family also lived nearby, and her family had lived here for many years. She must be very familiar with the people in the area, so it would be right to ask her.
So, Li Hehua wrapped a few cakes in oil paper, picked up the little guy, locked the door, and went to Mrs. Fang's house.
Mrs. Fang was sitting in the yard picking vegetables. When she saw Li Hehua coming over, she quickly stood up and said, "Sister Hehua, why are you here? Come in and sit down!" She saw the little one in Li Hehua's arms and asked, "Who is this child?"
Li Hehua introduced: "This is my son. He doesn't like to talk. Please don't mind, sister-in-law."
Mrs. Fang quickly said no.
Li Hehua handed the cake in his hand to Sister Fang, "Sister Fang, this is the cake I made. I brought some for you and the children to try."
Mrs. Fang quickly refused, "No, why do you come here and bring food? Take it back and feed the children."
Li Hehua pushed forward again: "Sister-in-law, please don't be polite. I just sell cakes. Don't be polite to me for these things. I will have to rely on you to take care of me in the future. If you are polite, I will be embarrassed to disturb you if I have something in the future."
Seeing what Li Hehua said, Mrs. Fang had no choice but to accept the cakes. She said embarrassedly, "Then I'll accept it shamelessly. Don't bring anything next time you come."
Seeing that Sister Fang accepted it, Li Hehua sat down on the stool she brought, and without saying anything else, he directly stated his purpose: "Sister-in-law, I came here today because I want to ask you for help with something."
Mrs. Fang said quickly, "You tell me, I will definitely help if I can."
Li Hehua said, "It's like this. I plan to set up a snack stand at the corner of the street to sell some food, but I can't handle it alone, so I thought of finding someone to help me. But you know, I just moved here and I don't know anyone, so I want to ask you, sister-in-law, for help. You are very familiar with this place."
Mrs. Fang suddenly realized, "So that's what's going on. You asked the right question. I've lived here for more than ten years. I know everyone in this area. Tell me what you want and I'll help you find someone."
Li Hehua knew that it was right to find Fang's wife, so he told her what he wanted: "I want to find someone who lives nearby and can go home late at night, because I will probably be late preparing the ingredients. In addition, this person must be good in the kitchen and be clean and hardworking. The kind of person who is petty and greedy will not do."
Mrs. Fang nodded, "That's right, don't worry, I won't introduce you to those who are greedy for small gains, people like that are not reliable." Then she began to think, "Let me see who is more suitable..."
Mrs. Fang pondered for a while, and suddenly clapped her hands, "I've thought of it, there is someone who meets your requirements, she lives in the alley behind us, her husband's surname is Xie, she is two years younger than me, everyone calls her Mrs. Xie, she is a good cook, and she is clean and capable, she is a good hand at taking care of housework." As she said this, Mrs. Fang suddenly sighed, "But,
Her life was a bit hard. Her husband was a bricklayer and the family lived a pretty good life. But one time, he accidentally fell off the roof while building a wall. He was finally rescued, but he was paralyzed and had to lie in bed from then on. The pillar of the family had fallen, and it was difficult for the four orphans and widows to make a living. So the burden of making money fell on her, but what could a woman do? She could only wash clothes for others and didn’t make much money. ”
After Fang's sister-in-law finished speaking, she was afraid that Li Hehua would misunderstand, so she patted her hands and explained, "Sister, I'm not telling you this because I sympathize with her and recommend her to you, but because she really meets your requirements. Her craftsmanship is very good, and she is a nice person. You can go and see for yourself. If it works out, it will be considered as helping her. If not, I can think of someone else for you."
Li Hehua doesn't mind helping people in need. As long as Mrs. Xie really meets her requirements, why would she be unwilling to do so?
"Then sister-in-law, please take me to meet Sister-in-law Xie. If it is really suitable, I will ask her to help me."
Mrs. Fang was very happy. She immediately put down the food in her hand and stood up. "Okay, okay, let's go now. It's right behind us, very close."
Sister Fang took Li Hehua to Sister Xie's house. Sister Xie was washing a large basin of dirty clothes in the yard. When she saw Sister Fang coming, she quickly washed her hands with water and said, "Sister Fang, why are you here? Come in and sit down." As she spoke, she saw Li Hehua following behind her and asked in confusion, "Who is this?"
Mrs. Fang introduced her with a smile: "This is the new tenant of my courtyard." She pulled Li Hehua forward and said, "It's not me who came to see you today, it's her. She's planning to open a snack stand and needs help. I think you're a good fit, so I brought her here to see you."
Mrs. Xie was stunned for a moment, then she was surprised and happy. She wiped her hands on her apron awkwardly, "Oh oh oh... come in, come in," and shouted into the room, "San'er, pour two glasses of water!"
Li Hehua quickly waved her hand to refuse, "Don't be polite, sister-in-law, I just came to talk to you, please don't be busy."
Mrs. Xie didn't listen, she opened her hand and welcomed people into the main room, "I'm not busy, come in and sit down, we'll talk after we sit down."
Li Hehua followed Sister Fang into the house and said, "Sister-in-law, please stop busying yourself. Come on, sit down. Let's sit down and talk."
Mrs. Xie knew that Li Hehua wanted to see if she was suitable, so she sat down immediately, but her expression was a little nervous.
Li Hehua smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, I heard from Sister-in-law Fang that you are a very good cook. Can you steam buns?"
Hearing the familiar topic, Sister Xie breathed a sigh of relief and nodded quickly, "Yes, yes, we used to make it often in our family, and the children all liked to eat the buns and steamed buns I made."
Mrs. Fang then confirmed: "This is true. I have eaten the buns she made before, and they are no worse than those sold in the bun shops outside."
Li Hehua smiled and nodded to show that she understood. She didn't doubt the skills of Sister Xie, otherwise Sister Fang wouldn't have introduced her. She was mainly concerned about the person's character. She didn't want to hire someone with a bad personality. But now it seems that Sister Xie is an honest person, not a treacherous and scoundrel. Overall, she is not bad.
Li Hehua said, "Sister-in-law, I need someone to help me prepare the food. I'll start at the end of the afternoon. I might have to work a little later in the evening and won't have time to go home for dinner. I wonder if your family can take care of it?"
Sister Xie nodded and said, "Sister, my three children are all grown up and can take care of the house. I don't need to come back to cook dinner or watch over them, so it's okay to come back late at night. In fact, to be honest, I have to wash clothes until late at night every night."
After hearing this, Li Hehua's last worry disappeared. He thought that he could try it with Sister Xie first, and if it really didn't work, then he could just not use it.
"Okay, sister-in-law, let me introduce you to the work first: the time is roughly from the end of the Wei hour to the Wu hour, and what you do is to knead bread, make dumplings, steamed buns, etc. with me. As for the wages, it is temporarily calculated as ten cents a day. If you do it for a long time and do a good job, your wages will be increased." After speaking, Li Hehua asked sister-in-law Xie for her opinion: "Sister-in-law, do you think it's okay? If it's okay, let's give it a try first."
Mrs. Xie nodded without thinking, "Yes, yes!" How could this not be possible? This was a pleasant surprise to her. You know, she was doing laundry for others every day, and she could not earn ten cents a day from morning to night. Even a strong laborer carrying bags at the dock could only earn ten cents a day. Now she only worked half a day, and she could earn ten cents just by helping in the kitchen. Where could she find such a good thing?
Sister Xie seemed to be afraid that this opportunity would fly away, and asked hurriedly: "Sister, when can I go to work? I can go now."
Seeing that she was more anxious than himself, Li Hehua smiled and said, "Don't worry, sister-in-law. My stall will officially open the day after tomorrow. You can arrange your family affairs today and come to my house to help tomorrow afternoon."
This arrangement couldn't be better. Sister Xie nodded quickly and said, "Okay, okay, I'll go tomorrow afternoon and I'll do my best."
Seeing how excited Mrs. Xie was, Li Hehua knew that she cherished this job too much, and she thought to herself that if she did a good job, she would definitely treat her well.
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