"Boss, I used to think your snacks were delicious, but I didn't expect your dishes to be even better. I have eaten all over the country and have never eaten such delicious dishes. Today's trip was really worthwhile." The businessman named Wang praised you endlessly.
Li Hehua was very happy to be praised by him, and said with a smile: "Thank you for the compliment. If you think it tastes good, I will come often in the future."
The businessman surnamed Wang nodded naturally, "Of course, I will come when I have time." It's a pity that he is not from here, so he can't come here often. He can only eat once every time he passes by. Hey, he thinks that after eating this restaurant's food, eating other restaurants in the future will probably be tasteless.
His companions behind him also agreed with this at this time. They used to think that the dishes in this restaurant were too expensive, but now after eating them, they feel that they are not expensive at all. It is absolutely true that you get what you pay for. If this taste were sold in Beijing, it would probably cost dozens of taels per table and many people would eat it.
The businessman surnamed Wang was not in a hurry to pay the bill. Instead, he said to Li Hehua, "Boss, we will be on the boat soon. Please give me some more of your cakes and dry food. Your food is very delicious. My children love it and can eat dry food."
"No problem." Li Hehua nodded with a smile and asked, "Then how much of each do you want? I'll pack it for you."
The businessman surnamed Wang thought for a while and said, "Give me eight pieces of each kind of cakes and twenty portions of dry food." The next time we go ashore will be five days later, so we must bring more food.
He wanted too much, and Li Hehua didn't know if there were still so many cakes and dry food left, so he said, "Wait a moment, I'll pack it for you, but I don't know if there are so many cakes and dry food left, what if it's not enough?"
The businessman surnamed Wang said, "Then give me as much as you have."
Li Hehua nodded, walked out from behind the counter, went to the pastry area, and asked Cao Simei, "Big sister, do you still have eight yuan for each pastry?"
Cao Simei packed the cakes for a customer and finally had time to answer Li Hehua, "We sold a lot of cakes this morning. Cakes and red bean cakes are almost gone, but we still have eight pieces of other cakes."
Li Hehua said, "If you have eight pieces, pack eight pieces of each. If there are not enough for others, pack as much as you have left. You can also use the extra ones to make up the number. The guests over there are waiting to take them on board. Oh, and there are dry food. Pack ten servings of roujiamo and ten servings of jiangxiang bing for me."
When Cao Simei heard that someone wanted so much at once, she was very happy and started to wrap the cakes quickly. Li Hehua also picked up the clips and oil paper bags to help pack the dry food. Fortunately, she had made an enlarged version of the oil paper bag in advance for fear that someone would buy a lot at once. One oil paper bag can hold multiple cakes and dry food at the same time, which is much more convenient.
Because the things the merchant surnamed Wang wanted were so many, even if they used the largest oil paper bags, there were still more than ten bags, which were too heavy to carry with two hands. Li Hehua saw that they did not bring anything with them, and it would be inconvenient for them to carry more than ten paper bags. After thinking about it, he went to the backyard to get a basket, put the oil paper bags into the basket, and handed the basket to the merchant surnamed Wang.
"Here are the things you asked for. Some of the pastries are not enough, so I made up for it with other ones. Is that okay with you?"
The businessman surnamed Wang nodded and said, "Okay, okay, thank you, boss. However, this basket..."
Li Hehua said, "You have too many things. It's inconvenient to carry paper bags. It's more convenient to use a basket. I'll lend you this basket. Next time you come to eat, bring it to me. It doesn't matter if you forget. A basket is not worth much."
Seeing Li Hehua act so generously, the businessman surnamed Wang admired Li Hehua even more. Although this boss is a woman, she has none of the shyness and pettiness of women. She is generous and thoughtful in dealing with things, no worse than men. The most important thing is that her craftsmanship is so good. It would be strange if her business is not good.
He decided to talk more with the business people he knew and ask them to come to her house to eat, so as to attract business for the boss.
After the businessman surnamed Wang and his group left, the people in the remaining two private rooms also finished their meals, paid and left. Every table of guests felt that the money was well spent. It was obvious that Li Hehua's cooking skills conquered everyone's stomach.
It was not until mid-afternoon that the dining craze in the restaurant finally died down and everyone was able to take a break from their busy schedule. Li Hehua asked Xiaoqing and Xiaohong to prepare some food for everyone while she stood behind the counter and counted today's bills.
Today, there were four tables in the private room on the second floor, and we received a total of eighteen taels and four hundred coins, which is rounded up to eighteen taels. The snacks on the first floor earned about two taels of silver, and together with the cakes and dry food made today, we sold a total of one and a half taels of silver. So far, we have received almost twenty-one taels of silver, not including the money for dinner in the evening.
In general, after deducting various labor and costs, this restaurant can earn about sixteen taels of silver a day. Li Hehua is satisfied with this price. Although he cannot become rich, he can be considered to be well-off, and this is a good life.
If she continues at this pace, she will soon be able to save enough money to buy a house for Zhang Lin and her family to live in, and then she can finally put her mind at ease.
Li Hehua was thinking happily when her cheek was pinched.
"What are you laughing so happily for?" Zhang Tieshan's low voice sounded in his ears.
Li Hehua raised the account book in his hand and said, "I want to calculate how much money I made today."
Zhang Tieshan curled the corners of his mouth, thinking that she was quite cute when she looked like a money-grubber, well, it was similar to when she was drunk, and he couldn't help but pinch her face again.
Li Hehua put away the account book and asked, "You finished eating so quickly?"
Zhang Tieshan nodded.
Seeing that others were still eating, Li Hehua said to Zhang Tieshan: "Please help me find a house."
Zhang Tieshan was puzzled, "Looking for a house? What for?"
Li Hehua knew that if she said she bought it for them, Zhang Tieshan would definitely get angry and would definitely not accept it. She now understood this man's temper and knew that he was not someone who would rely on a woman, so she had no choice but to say, "I want to buy another yard so that I can live there if I need it in the future."
Zhang Tieshan pursed his lips, thought for a while, and then said, "Okay, I'll go find someone to ask."
Li Hehua smiled, knowing that this man was reliable and would definitely get the job done if he was handed over to him.
"There's no rush about this. We can take our time looking for a place. But the yard must at least be able to accommodate the whole family. It's best to have three or four rooms. We won't accept a house with less than three rooms." Since the house will be for Zhang Qingshan to marry and have children in the future, the number of rooms must naturally be taken into consideration. The children will need at least two rooms, so the number of rooms cannot be too small.
Zhang Tieshan thought that Li Hehua was thinking that they would live together as a family in the future, and that they would have other children, so she asked for more rooms. He couldn't help but feel happy, and with a smile on his face, he nodded and said, "Okay, leave it to me."
At this time, Cao Simei came over after finishing her meal and said to Li Hehua, "Sister, the cakes are selling very fast today. They are all sold out. I have nothing to do this afternoon."
Li Hehua said, "Since they are all sold out, you can take Daya back this afternoon and come back tomorrow morning."
Cao Simei nodded in agreement and packed up her things to take Daya home. At this moment, Li Hehua suddenly had an idea and called Cao Simei again.
Cao Simei was puzzled, "What's wrong, sister?"
Li Hehua suddenly remembered the basket he had just given to the businessman named Wang, and an idea suddenly came to his mind.
Now there are many people who come to her to buy pastries. Many people buy them not only for their family members to eat, but also for others to give as gifts, such as to take to their mother-in-law's house, to visit the sick, or to manage relationships. These are all good things that can be shown off.
Of course, there are many people like the businessman named Wang who buys in large quantities at a time. Every time they buy, they have to wrap them in oil paper one by one, and then pile up a bunch of oil paper bags together, which is very difficult to hold.
So, why don’t they launch a pastry bag, just like the modern paper bag, which can hold a lot of things and can be carried directly, which is convenient and beautiful.
And this idea is actually very easy to realize. Just cut the purchased oil paper, stick it into a paper bag, and then draw some nice patterns on it, and it will look very classy.
The principle is just like a modern fruit basket. Just because there is an extra basket, the price goes up suddenly, but there are still many people buying it.
All the food vendors in the town wrap their food in oil paper. If they introduced this kind of bag, it would definitely be very popular and the price would be high.
Thinking of this, Li Hehua felt that it was necessary to promote this kind of oil paper bag and make more of it.
A lot of paper bags would definitely be needed, and this kind of manual work requires manpower and time. They certainly don't have the time to do it themselves, but they can ask the women in the village to do it, and pay them a certain amount of money for each one, and that's all.
Li Hehua said to Cao Simei, "Sister, I want to make a kind of oil paper bag to pack our cakes, but we definitely don't have time to make it ourselves. I want you to go back and talk to the clever women in your village and ask them to help me make it. I will pay them and you can check the quality for me. Is that okay with you?"
When Cao Simei heard this, although she didn't know what the oil paper bag looked like, she thought that as long as Li Hehua said it, it must be right. It must be something that can make money. She supported it unconditionally and immediately guaranteed: "This is absolutely no problem. If the women in the village knew that they could make money, they would definitely rush to do it. I promise to make it well for you."
Li Hehua nodded and said, "Okay, I'll make a sample tonight, and then you can take it back and show it to others, and let them do it the same way I do."
Cao Simei said it was no problem.
When it was time to close the shop at night, Li Hehua lit two oil lamps and placed them on the table. He spread the oil paper he had bought on the table, then went to the kitchen to get a piece of charcoal and used a knife to sharpen the charcoal into a pointed shape. This was a simplified version of a pencil.
Zhang Tieshan didn't leave as usual. He held Shulin and sat beside her, watching. When he saw her using a knife to cut a piece of charcoal, he was really confused. "What are you doing? Your hands are all black."
Li Hehua chuckled, "I'll use this to draw lines on the oil paper later. The lines drawn this way will be very thin and light, almost invisible."
Zhang Tieshan understood, smiled silently, then carried Shulin to the room. When he came out, he was holding a piece of cloth in his hand and brought a basin of water.
Zhang Tieshan wrapped the other end of the charcoal with cloth, leaving only the pointed tip exposed, so that his hands would not be completely black.
Li Hehua smiled at him and blinked to express his gratitude.
Zhang Tieshan patted her head, picked up her charcoal-black hands and put them in clean water, then helped her scrub them clean before letting her continue painting.
Li Hehua simply stopped being polite and said, "Zhang Tieshan, can you do me another favor and help me mix the paste for a bowl. I'll use it later."
Zhang Tieshan naturally did as he was told. He didn't feel annoyed at her orders. Instead, he was happy about it. The fact that she was willing to order him around showed that she was really starting to rely on him and was getting closer to him. He couldn't wish for that.
Li Hehua drew lines on the paper with a charcoal pencil according to the size he wanted, and then cut along the lines with a knife. After cutting, he took the dough prepared by Zhang Tieshan and glued the pieces of paper together. In a short while, an oil paper bag was ready.
Zhang Tieshan picked up the oil paper bag, looked it over, and had to admit that it was really a very good thing. It looked much better than simply wrapping it in a piece of paper, and it was very convenient to use.
How come this little woman in his family has so many ideas?
Li Hehua snorted and put a few pieces of cake into the oil paper bag. Then he put his finger through the hole at the top and lifted it up like a basket.
"How is it? Not bad, right?" Li Hehua said, shaking the paper bag in his hand.
Zhang Tieshan nodded approvingly.
Shulin also nodded along with his father, saying, Mom is the best.
Since the two were so polite, Li Hehua took out some cakes from the paper bag and gave each of them a piece. "This is your reward."
Shulin took it quickly and started eating happily. Zhang Tieshan, on the other hand, did not know whether to laugh or cry. However, with Li Hehua's "encouragement", he still took it and started eating it with his son.
Never mind, as long as she is happy.
After the two of them finished eating, Li Hehua waved to Shulin, who was standing aside obediently, and said, "Shulin, come over here."
Shulin ran towards Li Hehua with a grin, hugged her legs and said in a soft voice, "Mom——"
Li Hehua kissed him on the forehead and said, "Shulin, Mom wants you to do me a favor now, is that okay?"
Shulin nodded again and again without hesitation, his eyes shining. The little guy was very excited to be able to help his mother.
Li Hehua pointed at the oil paper bag and said, "Shulin, I want you to draw a cake on the surface and write the words 美味居 on the bottom. Is that okay?"
Shulin nodded, and with a step of his short legs he ran into the calligraphy and painting room, and after a while he ran back with his writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone in his hands.
Li Hehua had complete confidence in Shulin's ability, so she handed the oil paper bag to him and let him do what he wanted. She continued to cut the oil paper bag, intending to make several in different sizes.
By the time Li Hehua finished the other one, Shulin had already finished his work and showed his painting to Li Hehua.
There was a plate painted on the front of the oil paper bag, with three cakes on the plate. Although there were only a few strokes, the cakes were painted so vividly that anyone could tell that they were cakes.
And at the bottom of the plate, there are three big characters written in regular script: Delicious House.
It’s so beautiful!
Li Hehua was very proud. She held Shulin's little head and kissed him several times. "Baby, your painting is so good. Mommy likes it so much. Thank you, baby!"
Shu Lin's eyes were almost narrowed with smile.
"Hmm!" A deliberate cough sounded beside him.
Li Hehua looked towards the big man who made the sound. He was staring at her calmly, his eyes clearly expressing something.
Li Hehua wanted to laugh. Sometimes men are really like children. You say he is mature, and he is more mature than anyone else, but when he can be childish in some aspects, it is very unbearable, like now.
Li Hehua sighed, leaned over, and gave the grown man two kisses on the face. Only then was the man satisfied.
childish!
Li Hehua asked Zhang Tieshan to take Shulin to wash up and coax him to sleep. She took advantage of this time to make two paper bags of different sizes. Then she planned to go to the seal engraving place tomorrow to make a seal according to the one drawn by Shulin. In the future, she would directly stamp the paper bag, which would be the logo of their restaurant.
Moreover, she thought that this paper bag can not only be used to pack cakes and dry food, but also to pack meals. She could pack them up and take them home to eat without bringing plates and baskets. How convenient!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
