Blissful Days After Widowhood

by Usui Takumii

not mine, word drain.

9. 141 to 160

Mrs. Wang was mopping the floor next to him, and when she heard the number, she almost fell to the ground in shock.

Five taels! That was half a year's worth of ordinary people's wages!

Gu Yin said helplessly, "Mother, be careful, it's not that we earned five taels, it's not over yet."

Of course, the gross profit was not accurate, because the labor costs were not counted.

Gu Yin thought that the follow-up business would probably fall back a bit, and then stabilized at a certain range, temporarily counting it as a gross profit of three or two tael a day.

That was 90 taels a month. The sum of the monthly pay of the four servers was twenty two taels, Manager Zhou was twenty two taels a month, and Chef Xu and his apprentices had not yet come, so they needed to hire five temporary chef helpers; they added up to 12 taels a month. There were three or four taels saved for store rents per month, plus taxes, firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea, and firewood, plus the loss of utensils, also around five taels.

They could earn forty taels a month, even if the business was very prosperous.

Because there were no outsiders, Gu Yin had counted all of that for Mrs Wang, and she was still excited after hearing it.

The initial investment was more than seventy taels, and if they earned forty taels a month, wasn't it possible to pay back the cost in less than two months? In her opinion, that was really no different from a falling pie from the sky.

Manager Zhou waited for Mrs. Wang to finish laughing before he said, "Actually, you missed something. You did the most work, and was busy in the back kitchen and the front hall. In addition to your craftsmanship, your wages cannot be less than twenty taels."

That sentence made Mrs. Wang calm down. Yes, her daughter-in-law did the work of several people by herself, and did not pay herself, so she seemed to be making a lot of money. If, like other restaurants, the owner only did simple and coordinated work, and hired a chef with a salary of twenty two taels on the white cuisine, in fact, the profit of the entire store would only be about twenty two taels in the first month, which was still calculated in a good business situation.

Mrs. Wang immediately made a decision, "No, you have to pay yourself twenty two taels!"

Gu Yin didn't argue with her about that, she just said, "Let's not talk about that, I think we have to recruit people. Today, Wu'an and Xiao Ye were both here, and the two little guys have also done a lot of work. But Wu'an has to study, and Gu Ye has to learn martial arts, so it's impossible to keep them in the store all the time. After all, we have to recruit more people."

The matter of recruiting people in the front had been Mrs. Wang's job. In order to save money, she thought that adding her own people would be enough. But after such a day of business, she knew that Gu Yin was right.

She nodded and said, "Okay!"

Anyway, a clerk costs a half a taels a month, and two people added up to an extra one tael of silver a month.

Although the money in the future had not yet been obtained, Mrs. Wang, who was used to being frugal and couldn't wait to split a coin into two halves, already felt that a tael of silver was nothing.

After speaking, Mrs. Wang reflected again, "Actually, I really don't understand this. You can just decide. You shouldn't listen to me and save money."

Gu Yin touched her nose and said, "It's not your fault. In fact, I also thought at first that we could save a little bit."

Mrs. Wang strangely asked her why, after all, Gu Yin was never stingy with the money she spent, and she didn't seem like someone who would disrupt her plans for a few taels of silver.

"Why else?" Gu Yin looked at Mrs. Wang and then Manager Zhou.

At first, she really thought it would be fine to spend twenty taels to buy things for internal design. Many of the things she had come up with were what she planned to buy after the money was enough. But after a detailed discussion, almost all of them were replaced. Everything was made to order, and the price was much more expensive than those one could buy then.

But after hearing her expectations, Mrs. Wang and Manager Zhou were extremely supportive. Mrs. Wang asked her to do it. Anyway, if the money wasn't enough, she could ask Wang Dafu for the debt. Manager Zhou was also a bit "outrageous", saying that he could take his pay a few months later to start the work. Anyway, the house he rented had been returned, and now he lived in the backyard of the new store. The food and accommodation were all in the store, and there was no cost of living.

Under the encouragement of the two of them, Gu Yin figured out all the things she expected, and that was how she came to such a stage.

So even if they seemed glamorous and bright, and the business in the store was extremely good. In fact, they only had the money for the next day's food in their pockets.

After calculating the account, Gu Yin and Manager Zhou discussed the menu for the next day, and then went back to rest.

In fact, there were still several empty rooms in the backyard of the store, which were directly made into staff dormitories. So Gu Yin and Mrs. Wang would not have to run from both ends.

But there were still many rules in that era. Even if Manager Zhou did not live in the back, it would be inconvenient for them as women – after all, there was a small courtyard between the backyard and the kitchen, and most of the people in back kitchens were men, so they lived in there with hanging clothes in the yard. Even if Gu Yin and Mrs. Wang didn't care, the guys would still be uncomfortable.

Fortunately, the store had a good location, and it was only a quarter and a half away from Jinyi Alley.

Mrs. Wang and Gu Yin each carried a child back home.

The two little guys had been busy all day, and by the time they were waiting for them, they had already fallen asleep on the table. They were carried all the way to the house as they didn't wake up.

Afterward, Mrs Wang boiled hot water and woke the two of them first.

Both Wu'an and Gu Ye slept deeply, and they were both confused after being woken up.

Wu'an opened his mouth and said, "The meat package is two coins, the vegetable package is one coin, the eight-treasure porridge is three coins."

Gu Ye followed suit, "Kung Pao Chicken is finished, can you order something else?"

The two were still working in the dream.

Mrs. Wang and Gu Yin were laughing. They hugged and carried them to the edge of the tub, and started to take off their clothes. Only then did the guys wake up completely, and they all said that they would wash on their own and drove their mothers out.

After they finished bathing, Mrs. Wang boiled the water again for Gu Yin to bathe, and Mrs. Wang did not rest after, and had to wash all the clothes that the family changed that day. Gu Yin wanted to help, but Mrs. Wang pushed her directly back into the room.

That was the first day of business. Gu Yin felt that it was not right to let her mother-in-law do housework after coming back from her work. Although she said that these were nothing, people were not made of iron and had to rest when they needed to.

She had to hire a helper, and preferably a carriage or a donkey cart—

She was used to living in Jinyi Alley, and Gu Ye had to go next door to learn martial arts. Gu Yin had no plans to change places for the time being. But after working all day, it took nearly two quarters of an hour to come back, which was really torturous.

If there was a donkey, the family would hire a helper, and when they come back home, someone would boil the bath water, which would be so comfortable.

Mrs. Wang had given all the money in the family to Gu Yin, and she left all the money to buy vegetables to Manager Zhou.

She opened her purse while thinking—

Only ten coins left!

Not to mention buying a donkey, it was not enough to buy a donkey's hooves.

The next day, when Gu Yin arrived at the store, she asked Manager Zhou to write down the requirements for recruiting helpers, and then put on an apron and got busy.

The menu was changed again. There were still ten items. Except for the preserved egg and lean meat porridge and steamed bread rolls, the others were changed to sesame cakes, soup dumplings, fish wontons, and bean paste dumplings.

There were still many customers on that day, but at least there was no longer a situation where they could not sit down and there were still long queues outside.

Not long after the door was opened, Old Master Wen came over.

When it opened the day before, there were too many people. The old man went home after watching the excitement at the door. He came to eat for the first time that day.

Gu Yin had long thought that he was coming over, and reserved a window seat for him.

Old Master Wen didn't eat the things that were usually sold in the store, so he urged Gu Yin to show him the menu.

In fact, the menu for ordering had been prepared long ago. But Gu Yin thought that when the store opened, so many people would definitely be too busy, so she did not open special orders for the time being, and did not hang the menu on the wall.

But the old man was naturally different, so Gu Yin took out a lot of sticks for the old man to choose.

The sticks were placed in two lottery boxes, one whose top was painted in white representing the white cuisine made by Gu Yin, and the other painted in red representing the red cuisine made by Manager Zhou.

It was still early, so the old man took out a random one from the white case, and Gu Yin read it and went to the kitchen to prepare it.

When Bai Zixi arrived at his restaurant, he found that there were fewer customers that day.

Although ordinary restaurants, like Full Moon Hall in the past, were mainly engaged in the business of lunch and dinner, Hanxiang of the Bai family was different. Their chefs were known for their white-cuisine skills. The owner went to Liangguang Restaurant and begged the Chef, also paid a lot of money to invite him, so Hanxiang was mainly engaged in morning market business. Basically, the profit of the morning market could account for half of the whole day.

Finding that there were fewer people, Bai Zixi immediately summoned the manager to inquire about the situation.

The manager said with a smile on his face, "The third young master is asking me? You and the second master are in charge of the back kitchen, so how can I, the manager, control whether we can get the customers or not?"

Hanxiang Hall was founded by Old Bai. The old man had two sons, and it was managed together by two people.

In the front hall, the people in the eldest brother's household were in charge, and Bai Zixi was in charge of the kitchen.

They had friction for a long time, so it wasn't the first time.

Bai Zixi didn't ask him any more questions.

A regular customer was just about to enter the store when a friend he knew happened to pass by and say, "Why are you here, Lao Li? It's almost time they will open the door, hurry up, or you'll be late with no place to sit."

The regular customer waved his hand and said, "I won't go, I like to eat dumplings in Hanxiang, and I can't eat it in other places. Also, although I didn't go there yesterday, I heard people say that they only sell fixed things. What's so delicious about the steamed buns?"

"Hey, you didn't go yesterday, don't you know? Their menus change every day! If you didn't have anything you like on the menu yesterday, I'm sure it may have one today. And I asked the little lady yesterday. They will be open for ordering in the next two days. If you like a particular dish, you can order it yourself."

There were no foodies who were not looking for something fresh, and Lao Li was also a little moved. His friend then lowered his voice and said, "Hanxiang Hall's dish costs tens of coins, and her food is cheap. It's only a few coins a piece, and the special ones are definitely not too expensive! Come on, aren't you foodie, why don't you try it?"

The man said a few words to him and ignored him, saying, "I got up late, so I have to go quickly, as I have to go back to the shop after eating in the morning."

Seeing that he was going to leave, Lao Li hurriedly followed, "Wait for me, I'll go with you. But let me tell you the bad news, we're not people who care about a few dozen coins. If it doesn't taste good, I won't believe you anymore."

"Hey, don't worry! Even if the dim sum was unpalatable, the authentic 'Old Master Wen's Porridge' is not a fake. Didn't you say that the pier is far away, and haven't tried it? Let's try it together."

The two said and left.

The name 'Old Master Wen's Porridge' was said to be known to everyone in Hanshan Town, but Bai Zixi and his father went out for a while, and when they came back, Gu Yin was no longer setting up a stall at the wharf. She was selling porridge for two coins. The porridge in a porridge bucket was often sold out as soon as it was placed.

How could a bowl of porridge that was so delicious be sold for two coins? Thinking like that, Bai Zixi never went to eat it, as thought that the porridge was sold so well because of the Old Master Wen's name.

He continued to sit at the door, and although there were no more cases of customers who came to the door being pulled away, within half an hour Bai Zixi was there, he had heard many customers mention Food of Heaven.

And almost all of them were praised, saying that what her family sold for a mediocre price, but in conclusion, it was delicious! It was absolutely delicious for that price!

Of course, there were also bad ones, but it was not about eating, but complaining that there were too many people and there was a long queue outside. They were late, and didn't even make it to breakfast time, only to catch up with lunch. The hot dishes in the lunch market covered several different cuisines, they were delicious and affordable. But they were still made by Manager Zhou, who used to work in Full Moon Hall. However, those of them who loved to eat dim sum were still worried that they had not eaten the morning breakfast stuff.

Hearing that, Bai Zixi finally couldn't sit still.

He didn't have a good red cuisine cook and he had long wanted to dig up Manager Zhou from Full Moon Hall.

But after several contacts, the kitchen offered 50 taels a month, but they were not able to dig him over.

Later, there was an accident in Full Moon Hall, and Bai Er and Bai Zixi were not in the local area. When they came back, the case was settled.

It was also at that time that they heard that Manager Zhou applied but was sent away by the people in the eldest brother's household.

That made the father and son angry, and they went to the old man to complain.

When he heard that Manager Zhou went to the little-known Food of Heaven, Bai Zixi immediately inquired about the location and rushed there.

When he arrived, 'Food of Heaven' was already full of guests, and there was only one table left in the corner.

He followed Mrs. Wang's instructions to get a few plates and bought all the food on the counter, which cost less than 30 coins in total.

Thirty coins was not enough to even order a specialty in his restaurant! This restaurant was too shabby!

How could someone like Manager Zhou go to such a small restaurant?

The more Bai Zixi thought about it, the more angry he became. He sat down in the corner with a food plate, picked up a flower roll and stuffed it into his mouth—

The flower roll was as soft as a cloud, and it melted in the mouth almost without chewing, filling a mouthful of fine grains. And the scallion fragrance on the rolls was even more difficult to ignore. The slightly salty scallion flavor, paired with the soft dough, was harmonious as if they were born to match.

Ordinary people may only find it delicious when they eat them, but for people like Bai Zixi, they could taste other things.

That… that was only sold for a coin!

Bai Zixi's eyes widened, and he went to eat something else in disbelief. The sesame cake was fragrant and crunchy, and it was delicious. The fish ravioli was fragrant and smooth, and it was not fishy at all, but very delicious. Not to mention the bean paste wonton, the bean paste inside was sweet but not greasy, it was fragrant, the delicate bean paste rolled on the tip of the tongue, and when it slid down the throat, it made people want to close their eyes with happiness. And the well-known "Grandpa Wen's Porridge", the dark preserved eggs did not look very good, but the taste was mellow and strong, a taste that even he had never tasted…

The result was that it tasted unbelievable no matter what.

Injustice! The owner of this food was not a human. Where did he find such a powerful white cuisine master? He could only cook food for a few coins, wasn't his heart aching?

Old Master Wen sat opposite Bai Zixi. That seat was a VIP seat reserved for him by Gu Yin, so there was no one at his table.

The old man was waiting for Gu Yin to make a dish for him, so he just bought a bowl of preserved egg and lean meat porridge to drink.

The place was full, and when Bai Zixi proposed to join the table, the old man nodded in agreement.

It was a bit strange that Bai Zixi bought food for several people by himself. What was even more strange was that every time this person ate the same thing, the expression on his face would change, as if he liked it and then was angry.

After a while, Gu Yin came over with a small steamer. In the steamer were five steaming crystal shrimp dumplings.

The method of crystal shrimp dumplings was not particularly complicated. After cleaning the shrimps, picking the shrimp skin, half of it was made into shrimp paste, half of it was cut in pieces, then she added minced ginger and water chestnuts into the shrimp meat, with salt, sugar and pepper, beat it a few times, and finally added some oil, then the meat filling was prepared.

Then she put wheat starch and potato starch in a large bowl, a little salt, added boiling water and stirred while pouring, and finally added a little lard and kneaded it into a dough. That kneading was a hard job. It was necessary to thoroughly knead the dough until it was smooth and delicate. Finally, she rolled the dough into long strips, cut into small circles, wrapped the cooled shrimp stuffing in the shape of a crescent moon, and finally steamed for five minutes on high heat, and the crystal shrimp dumplings were ready to serve.

The shrimp dumplings were uniform in size, and the dumpling skin was as thin as a cicada's wings, revealing the pink shrimp meat inside, which was crystal clear and looked appetizing.

"I just bought and peeled the shrimp, so you had to wait a little longer. You can try it while it's still hot."

The old man liked to eat shrimps. When he saw the shrimp dumplings in the steamer, he smiled, "It seems that I am lucky today. I just picked it at random and got what I was craving for."

As he said that, he took a shrimp dumpling and put it in his mouth. The thin skin melted in the mouth, and the shrimp meat inside was extremely light, but it restored the deliciousness of the shrimp. The fresh and sweet taste lingered in the mouth for a long time, and the aftertaste was endless.

There were only five, and the old man couldn't bear to eat them all in one go after eating two.

When Bai Zixi, who was sitting across from him, saw him, he raised his eyebrows in surprise and said, "Isn't this a dim sum from Guangdong and Guangxi? Does your shop also have this?"

Gu Yin looked at him, but still replied, "Yes, and much more."

"Give me a basket of these shrimp dumplings too!" Bai Zixi thought about it after saying that, and continued, "It's not only that, what else is your white cuisine chef good at? Give me a dish from each of everything!"

When Gu Yin declined, Bai Zixi said, "Do you think I can't pay the money?"

In order to show that he was not short of money, he also unpacked his bulging purse and put it on the table.

There were a total of thirty dishes of Gu Yin's specialty in the lottery box. Of course, she didn't look down on anyone. She felt it was too much trouble, so she refused to cook thirty dishes in one go, but… she didn't have the money.

Her money had been used in the decoration and custom-made items in the store. There was no money to buy the raw materials for these delicate dishes. As for the old man ordering the shrimp dumplings, she bought it for him.

Therefore, even if the not-poor person in front of her took out his bulging purse, Gu Yin couldn't buy all the ingredients for the dim sum for a while.

She could not tell him that, Gu Yin only said, "Please don't be impatient, our specialities are not expensive, such as the shrimp dumplings that the old man just ate, which is only 30 coins per basket. So I didn't think you could not afford the money and refused. But it will take a day to make these thirty dishes, and you can't finish it all by yourself. The main reason is that our special order service has not yet opened."

Anyway, they had to allow her a few days to earn the money for the expensive ingredients. Doing business without liquidity really killed people, and Gu Yin was very regretful that she had invested all the capital in one go.

Bai Zixi frowned and said, "The special order service has not yet opened, so how did this old man order? He can order, but I can't? What's the reason?"

Old Master Wen looked at Gu Yin in embarrassment, and immediately said, "I have deposited money in advance, I am a VIP!"

That statement was actually correct. He got twelve taels less of the rent a year for Gu Yin, which was equivalent to buying a VIP seat for twelve taels. Of course, Gu Yin opened the back door for him only because of her relationship with the old man, but it would make the new customer feel that she was discriminating, so the old man only mentioned money.

"Can you be a VIP with a pre-deposit? Then I would also pay, how much have you paid, old man?"

"Twelve."

"I will pay as well! Quickly bring the lottery that the old man mentioned. I really can't finish the thirty dishes, so I will order five first!" Bai Zixi proudly took out twelve silver ingots.

With him taking the lead, others also came to join in the fun.

Among them was Lao Li who was pulled by a friend from Hanxiang Hall. After eating the steamed buns, he liked them, but he still preferred delicate meals. He heard them and said, "The soup dumplings are really delicious, tender and juicy, and full of fragrance. I prefer soup dumplings. Come, I will pay you to make soup dumplings for me every morning."

His friend laughed when he heard it, and said, "Lao Li, you were not happy when I brought you here in the morning. Now, you are ready to pay twelve taels, can you pay it?"

Lao Li felt ashamed when he heard his words, and said, "Thank you for bringing me here. These twelve taels can be counted as a deposit for the two of us, right? I'll invite you to eat half a month's meal as a VIP."

His friend waved his hand dismissively and refused, "I will pay the pre-deposit myself."

Someone muttered a word later and said, "The chef has two hands. Now three people have paid the deposit for special orders and they have all ordered their favorite food. But we can only pre-order one dish per day, right? No matter what, I'd still line up early."

Because of that, there were two more deposits of silver in advance.

Gu Yin received fifty taels of silver in one fell swoop.

With it, not to mention recruiting a few servants and helpers, it was enough to recruit anything. Pony carts and donkey carts could also be arranged.

In fact, when she found out that she was short in money, she also thought about whether to offer a pre-deposit discount for opening a membership card like a modern store, but later she thought that such stores were usually chain organizations, or they had a certain customer base.

Even modern people didn't pay for membership easily as they were still afraid that the store would run away with their money. People in the era were more conservative, and she was afraid that it would not work.

There was no foundation, no advertising. The old customers were either out-of-town guests who came to taste the porridge of Old Master Wen, or the poor people on the wharf, who could come to support them on the opening day. But they didn't have silver to come everyday.

So she thought about at least building up her own reputation first, and then starting this VIP membership system to attract members.

Unexpectedly, the shadowless willows formed a shade, and the members found the membership feature on the second day of opening – and they were all rich and powerful, giving her twelve taels for it.

After receiving the money, Gu Yin also gave them a receipt and recorded it in the account book, so that they would use that note to eat in the future, and then transfer the money from the account.

She finally gave Bai Zixi a deposit slip, because she was grateful to him for taking the lead, she specifically said, "Would it be convenient for you to come over tomorrow? I'll make the five dishes you want first."

Bai Zixi met her dark, bright eyes, and said without realizing, "Make the five dishes first, don't be in a hurry. I won't be able to finish it all for sure. It's always bad to waste food. But I'll be here tomorrow."

After getting the receipt, Bai Zixi went back to his restaurant.

His father Bai Er was looking for him all over the world. When he saw him, he said, "Where did you go in the daytime? Don't you know that this time is the most important for our family?!"

Old Bai was very old and his health was not very good. Especially during the Chinese New Year that year, he was seriously ill. The doctor said that it was time to prepare for the funeral. Although the doctor saved him, he was indeed running out of time and would die at any moment.

It was precisely because of that that the second household and first household had been fighting more. So he thought of showing a good performance in front of the old man. The eldest brother's household ousted Manager Zhou, the person who his father had been directly negotiating with, as when he entered the back kitchen, he would naturally be a person in the second household.

The eldest brother's household had two sons, and the second had only one son, Bai Zixi.

Bai Zixi was filial and had a straight mind. Unlike the two nephews in the eldest brother's household who followed their father but were sly, the second master naturally regarded him as a pain in the eye, but since the family was about to be separated, he hated that iron was not becoming steel. (resentful toward sb for failing to meet expectations)

Bai Zixi was scolded by his father and shrank his neck, but when he thought of what he had just done, he raised his chest again and said, "Don't be angry, father, I didn't go out to sneak around, but after I came here today, I saw that there were few customers in the store. After a while, the attendees mentioned a newly opened restaurant called 'Food of Heaven', so I went to take a look."

"What 'Food of Heaven'? Is it amazing?"

Bai Zixi told Food of Heaven's special ordering mechanism to Second Master Bai.

After listening to it, Second Master Bai said, "Although this method is novel, it seems that the food sold is cheap, and it can't compete with us. Was it worth it for you to go there for half the morning?"

"I didn't go there just for that! I went there because I heard that Manager Zhou went to work there."

Hearing him talk about Manager Zhou, Master Bai's face also changed. He gritted his teeth and said, "Eldest Brother's household rejected Manager Zhou's application while us father and son were out of town for business! Such a good red cuisine Master Chef, how did he end up in that kind of place?!"

Bai Zixi thought about it and said, "I thought the same as you at first, but today I went to try it out. Although the store is small, the chef of white cuisine is also amazing! Even the most common things like steamed buns are made well. The food is very delicious, but unfortunately I haven't eaten her specialties, and I couldn't fully understand the strength of the restaurant… But it doesn't matter, I paid a deposit of twelve taels of silver to become a VIP there, and I can eat it tomorrow!"

After hearing that, Mr. Bai immediately laughed angrily, "You went to inspect your peers, and then paid twelve taels of silver to your peers and became their VIP?"

Bai Zixi felt a chill on his back when he heard his father's laughter, but after thinking about it, he didn't think he did anything wrong, he said, "Yes, yes, people who don't become VIPs aren't given their specialties. Fortunately, I acted fast, I am the first one to deposit today, I ordered a full five meals! But the ones who followed me, they could only order one!"

Second Master Bai pointed at him and asked, "Do you remember why you went to that restaurant?"

"For Manager Zhou!"

"Then have you seen Manager Zhou?"

"No, I have inquired about it. 'Food of Heaven' is newly opened. There is a shortage of staff, so Manager Zhou was busy in the back kitchen. He would only come to the front during lunch. I thought that you would be looking for me, so I came back first. Anyway, I'm going to eat five dishes there tomorrow, and I'll stay for a while."

"Stay a little longer and have lunch before coming back?"

Bai Zixi nodded and said, "Yes."

Second Master Bai took a deep breath, took a deep breath again, repeated the inhalation and exhalation four or five times, and finally swallowed the scolding words back in his stomach.

After Gu Yin received the deposit, she entertained the guests for a while in front. Afterward, seeing that there was nothing to do, she went into the back kitchen.

As soon as she entered the back kitchen, she finally couldn't help laughing.

Manager Zhou was already frying the hot dishes for lunch. Seeing her snickering, he couldn't help asking, "Why are you so happy, did you earn money?"

Gu Yin had to maintain a calm image when she was in front. She had nothing to worry about in front of Manager Zhou, and immediately walked up to him and said, "Almost!"

Then she told Manager Zhou about the more than fifty taels of silver she received.

Manager Zhou couldn't help laughing, not because of the silver, which was not a big deal in his eyes, but because of Gu Yin's smiling face.

She usually moved forward and back in moderation, as if everything was expected, showing a calmness that did not match her age, but at that moment she was smiling like a little mouse who stole cheese, a little more in line with her age.

"How are you going to spend this money?" Manager Zhou asked, "Would you like to make a custom set of knives like me?"

When Manager Zhou moved to the backyard of Food of Heaven, he brought two packages, one large and one small. The small package contained his daily laundry, and the large package contained a set of things he was used to using, such as a kitchen knife, a boning knife, a big iron pot, and a big iron spoon.

Gu Yin's eyes lit up. But she wasn't so jealous of the iron pot and spoon. After all, she used the steamer a lot, and she was jealous of his kitchen knife.

It was a jet-black kitchen knife. It looked really unremarkable.

He lent it to Gu Yin. Of course, it was much better to use than ordinary kitchen knives, but because the habit and size of the knife were based on Manager Zhou, it was not particularly convenient.

In modern times, Gu Yin bought knives from famous brands, which were good to use. She previously thought about buying it from a craftsman, but it was hard to find such veteran craftsmen in China. There were foreign ones, but the price was expensive and the making period was long. The eating habits of foreign countries were different from those of China, and the knives made would be almost meaningless.

Therefore, when Gu Yin heard Manager Zhou say that people who he knew could customize it for her, she was naturally very moved.

The reason for her not taking action was, of course, the lack of money.

Ordinary kitchen knife was only one or two taels, but a custom-made one was ten times more expensive.

She reached out and touched Manager Zhou's kitchen knife with admiration again, but she said, "I've been at a loss with no liquidity this time. So I'd better save and buy it when I'm rich. This money cannot be spent on the knife. We still need to recruit people and buy ingredients first."

Soon after the lunch market started, Manager Zhou's ten hot dishes were brought to the counter.

He was quite famous in Full Moon Hall. Knowing that these hot dishes came from his hands, there were a lot more guests at lunch than at breakfast.

There were also guests who heard that people deposited silver taels and reserved VIP seats to order dishes in the morning. For the craftsmanship of Manager Zhou, the guests were also willing to pay the pre-deposit.

However, unlike Bai Zixi who took the lead in the morning, only twenty four taels of silver were collected at lunch time.

At that time, half a day had passed, and the recruitment notice outside seemed to have been posted in vain. Gu Yin went out to read it and confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the notice, and the salary of the first half of the notice was not wrong, so she put it down.

Looking up, Gu Yin saw a sneaky figure.

The man was wearing a washed and whitish scholar's robe, with only a wooden hairpin on his head, and cautiously peered through the large window.

If it was someone else, Gu Yin would treat him as a villain with ulterior motives. When she saw him, she smiled, walked behind him and asked aloud, "Why don't you go in when you're here?"

Xu Qingchuan turned around when he heard her voice, his cheeks were flushed, he made a silent gesture, and stood to the side again.

To ensure that no one else in the store found him, he explained to Gu Yin, "My mother is working for the first time, so I came to take a look."

Gu Yin laughed. Wasn't it similar to the way modern parents send their children to kindergarten and peek at them with worry?

"Then what do you think after seeing her working?"

Xu Qingchuan said, "She is good."

She was really good.

Mrs. Xu was in charge of picking dishes at the counter. Although there were many people in the store, she had no time to spare as she was busy. But the calm and confident smile on her face was something Xu Qingchuan had never seen on his mother's face.

"I took a leave of absence, so I'm going back now," Xu Qingchuan bowed to bid farewell, and then pursed his lips.

Gu Yin said with kindness, "Young Master Xu, don't worry, I won't tell my aunt."

Xu Qingchuan's face turned even redder, he bowed again and left.

After watching him leave, she was about to enter the store, when someone asked from behind, "Are you hiring staff here?"

Gu Yin turned her head and saw a young man in his early twenties, dressed in a sackcloth, but still neat and tidy. She nodded and said, "Yes, it's written on the notice."

The man didn't even look at her. He went into the store and said, "Then invite your manager out."

Gu Yin was wearing the same light yellow dress as Mrs. Wang and the others, and so she was regarded as an ordinary employee. She was not surprised, and introduced him to Manager Zhou.

Seeing Manager Zhou, the man bowed slightly and introduced himself with a smile, "I used to work in a restaurant in Fucheng, and I was the second-in-command under the Manager. Now my mother is seriously ill, so I came back to Hanshan Town to take care of my mother and get a job."

Manager Zhou asked him a few basic questions, and he answered them perfectly.

The errand of serving was not particularly difficult. Gu Yin listened to the side and felt that the other party was doing well, so she was ready to let him start work.

But before she could speak, the man's eyes wandered around the store, and he lowered his voice, "Manager, allow me to ask, what's the matter with recruiting so many women in your store? It's letting people laugh at you."

Hearing that, the smile on Gu Yin's face faded, and she asked aloud, "What's funny about it?"

The man glanced at her and said as a matter of course, "Women should stay at home, so what's the point of coming out to show their faces? Isn't this a joke? Moreover, serving has been a man's job since ancient times, and the store has recruited so many women, so it is neither convenient nor easy to manage."

"Why is it not easy to manage?"

The man looked at her with a frown and said, "His majesty said, only villains and women are difficult to support. As it is now, when I was talking to the manager, you interrupted several times. It is very difficult to get along with you."

"Okay!" Gu Yin didn't bother to talk to him, "Then I'll tell you my decision, you can leave."

After she finished speaking, she went directly to the counter and helped Mrs. Wang and the others prepare a dish.

"This little lady is really…" The man muttered, and then said to Manager Zhou, "Manager, you should listen to me, don't hire these women in the store."

Manager Zhou said, "You don't need to tell me this, since my boss has spoken, you can leave."

The man obviously did not expect that the owner of 'Food of Heaven' was actually Gu Yin. He provoked the owner, and he knew that he would not be able to stay any longer, so he turned around and left, not before saying, "It turns out that the owner is a woman, why did she come to work?!"

Gu Yin was rarely angry, and hearing that also aroused a three-point anger. She frowned and asked Manager Zhou, "The notice has been posted for a long time, but only that person came. Is it because…"

Although the reason was a bit hurtful, Manager Zhou did not hide it from her, nodded and said, "You were busy in the back kitchen in the morning, when I went out to post the notice, someone asked, and the other party saw that the front hall was full of women. …and then left."

Mrs. Wang listened to the side and put the spoon in her hand on the counter angrily, "Someone came to ask about recruiting in the morning. They heard that I was in charge of the front hall, and that person walked away. It's better if they don't look down on us, women! Why did that bast*rd come here and mess around? What's wrong with women?"

Seeing that Mrs. Wang was about to go out to fight with others, Gu Yin hurriedly held him back and said, "Forget it, mother, if they look down on us, we won't hire them. Anyway, the notice is posted, and someone will come to see you sooner or later for work."

That afternoon, the store still didn't recruit anyone, but the good news was that Chef Xu came with his two apprentices.

Gu Yin was first surprised when she saw him, and then said, "I remember you said the contract ends in June, which is only half a month later. Did you break the contract?"

The contract had legal effect. If Chef Xu broke the contract, Second Master Wen could go to the yamen to sue him.

Chef Xu smiled and said, "Master, don't worry, I didn't come out on my own, but that iron rooster let me out."

Gu Yin wanted to laugh at first, but then she held back, "What iron rooster? Speak well."

"Oh, Second Master Wen allowed me to leave!"

Chef Xu wanted to leave at the beginning of April, the old man agreed, but Second Master Wen had to block him.

He could embarrass Chef Xu, and so Chef Xu could also embarrass him.

What was the cook's way of embarrassing people? That was to make the meal poorly.

The meals of the rest of the Wen family members were very normal, but the dishes of Second Master Wen were either bland or tasteless, or they were salty, as if they were beaten to death by salt sellers.

Second Master Wen scolded him an unknown number of times. Chef Xu was scolded obediently and was punished. Anyway, for a bad meal, the day's wages were cut.

In that way, Second Master Wen ate half a month of bad food, and was reluctant to eat out. In the end, he compromised and released the person.

Of course, the iron rooster name was not for nothing. He was not going to pay him for April, and he also asked Chef Xu for a severance pay.

That was right, severance pay. Whether that fee was in the current era or in modern times, she had only heard that bosses paid the employee, not the other way round.

But Chef Xu really didn't want to waste time at Wen's house, so he happily gave two months' wages and went to join his master with his two young apprentices.

Even though she had a good relationship with the old man, when Gu Yin heard it, she couldn't help but think of the name he gave to Second Master Wen, it was true and correct!

Later, when Chef Xu saw Manager Zhou, his excitement was beyond words, and he almost cried on the spot.

Only after Gu Yin asked did she find out that Chef Xu had gone to find work at Full Moon Hall before he went to Wen's house.

However, with his layman's craftsmanship, he was naturally not recruited. Later, he went to work at Wen's house. It was also Manager Zhou who instructed him, saying that although he was not proficient, he was fast and could do the work of three or five people. He might as well try it in the rich area.

The chef hired by the rich family had to cook for the whole family to eat and drink. Although Chef Xu's craftsmanship was a little worse than that of a serious chef, it was always enough to cook some home-cooked dishes.

Unexpectedly, when the world changed, the two met again.

"Thanks to your guidance back then, I went to Wen's house and got a job. After earning for several years, I got to know my master!"

Chef Xu was about to give a big gift to Manager Zhou, but he turned sideways to avoid it, "Chef Xu, no need to be polite, I just mentioned it back then, and the rest was your own ability."

After talking, Chef Xu pulled Gu Yin aside and whispered, "Master, can you find me a place to live?"

"It's simple. Several rooms in the backyard are empty, but the place is not big. Would you dislike it?"

"I won't dislike it, I won't dislike it," Chef Xu happily took his little apprentices to drop off the package.

Although he had worked in the Wen family for several years and also ate there, he saved half of the wages for his two younger apprentices, to give it to them to start a family in the future. Because he was getting fat day by day, and his appetite was getting bigger, his own share of the money entered his stomach.

After paying ten taels of silver to get out of Wen's house, he couldn't even afford to rent a house.

But no matter what, Food of Heaven solved his problem.

Chef Xu served as the second chef for Manager Zhou and Gu Yin, and his two young apprentices and other helpers in the back kitchen could also serve as waiters in the front hall when there were many people.

At the end of the day's business, Gu Yin and Manager Zhou checked the accounts and calculated the gross profit for the day, which was better than she thought. The gross profit for the day was about four taels of silver.

When the two settled the accounts, the employees sat at a table with Wu'an, who had come from Wen's house, and Gu Ye, who had come back from playing outside, for an evening meal.

Chef Xu could really eat. There were no dishes left from the dinner meals. For the evening meal, Chef Xu casually took the remaining ingredients in the back kitchen and made three dishes, and took the twenty steamed buns leftovers. Yes, he ate ten by himself.

After everyone had finished eating, he was still eating the steamed buns dipped in vegetable soup.

Mrs. Wang and the others were stunned. His two little apprentices started to pull on his sleeves, and he remembered that he was not at Wen's house. So he quickly put down the steamed buns.

"Actually, I don't usually eat so much, and I can eat a little less in the future," Chef Xu blushed and clenched his fist to assure.

Mrs. Wang burst out laughing, waved her hand and said, "It's okay, you can eat as much as you want. Anyway, if you don't, the leftovers would be wasted. I don't mean that you are not allowed to eat, but you are getting old, I'm afraid you won't be able to restrain yourself."

Gu Yin helplessly said, "Mother, he's only twenty-eight, and he's not married."

Everyone else in the store, including Manager Zhou, were stunned.

So Chef Xu's title changed from Chef Xu to Xiao Xu. After all, except for Gu Yin and Mother Tian's daughter, everyone in the store was older than him, and they were his elders.

…

The next day, Gu Yin got up earlier to make the specialties that the VIPs wanted.

First, the five dishes that Bai Zixi wanted, and then the other four.

A total of nine exquisite specialities took Gu Yin an hour of work.

When the sky was bright, the door of the store opened, and the customers who had ordered the specialities came early.

Especially Lao Li who deposited money with Bai Zixi, he was the first.

He ate the dumplings made by Gu Yin the day before, and he liked them very much, but personally he preferred soup dumplings. Later, he heard that he could pay money to become a VIP to order food, and Lao Li's brain became excited.

After he went back, his wife pinched his ears, saying that he was really confused. He had not eaten what he liked, but instead gave away the money.

Twelve taels of silver was nothing to his family, but that approach was really stupid.

If the soup dumpling made by the store was not delicious, didn't that mean that everything was in vain?

Lao Li was scolded, but he argued strongly at that time, "The most ordinary things like steamed buns and sesame cakes are delicious, why can't the dumplings soup be delicious?"

He really didn't have the confidence in his heart. But he just hoped that the special food of 'Food of Heaven' would be as delicious as Hanxiang Hall, otherwise he would have had to pay twelve taels of silver in vain and let his wife taunt him about it for a month.

Gu Yin brought the dumplings soup to him.

For her, the dumpling soup was not complicated to make. The difference between it and ordinary dumplings was that by biting into it, the juice would burst.

She did not use the same method as the dumplings, using frozen pork skin to make the sauce, but used a different method-choose thirty percent fat, seventy percent lean pig foreleg, pounded it into puree, added salt, sugar, pepper, soy sauce and sesame oil, the most crucial mushroom water, then stirred the meat filling into a mashed meat with small bubbles in the middle, and finally added minced green onion and ginger, to wrap it into dumplings as usual.

The dumpling was crystal clear, and the meat filling inside was vaguely reflected.

Lao Li took one while it was still hot and put it in his mouth. As soon as he took a bite, the soup overflowed in his mouth. There were only two words in his mind, fresh and fragrant!

After tasting the soup inside, the meat filling was between firm and loose, and it melted in the mouth with a slight touch of the tongue.

The mouthful was full of meat, even if it was not dipped in vinegar, there was no smell of meat at all. With the tender dumpling, Lao Li ate one after one and sweated profusely. When Gu Yinzhe came back and brought chili and vinegar, he had eaten the whole plate.

Lao Li gave a thumbs up, pursed his lips and said, "If I knew that your soup dumplings are so good, I should have ordered more. I haven't eaten enough."

Gu Yin put down the things she brought and said, "Otherwise, would you like to eat something else? The dumpling you said was good yesterday is also available today."

Lao Li nodded and asked for another bowl of dumplings.

In the eyes of ordinary people, soup dumplings and normal dumplings were actually similar things.

But in the eyes of diners like Lao Li, these were two completely different things. The soup was made of pigskin jelly. The chef of Hanxiang Hall was from Guangdong and Guangxi. Although he had made improvements, the dim sum was a little sweet, and it was something Lao Li didn't like at all.

Although a great store, like Food of Heaven, would minimize the greasy taste of pork skin, but for someone like him who couldn't eat greasy, it was still average.

After a while, Lao Li looked at the two small dishes that Gu Yin put down.

One was vinegar, and the other was fresh red chili sauce.

The people in Hanshan Town didn't like spicy food very much. They usually made chili noodles with chili peppers. That kind of bright red chili pepper was rarely seen.

Out of curiosity, Lao Li mixed the chopped pepper sauce into the vinegar, and then picked up the dumplings for dipping.

After taking a small mouthful of it, the fresh and sweet soup filled the whole mouth, but before Lao Li felt tired, the vinegar mixed with chopped pepper sauce gave the palate a heavy blow. The tip of his tongue got numb, and then his mouth was full of sour and spiciness, which completely neutralized the greasy taste of the soup, and he only tasted the sweetness of the gravy.

That kind of feeling was too novel for people who didn't eat spicy food very much and were used to eating dim sum in Guangdong and Guangxi. After Lao Li finished eating one, he hissed and picked up the second one…

Not long after, Lao Li's friend also came.

The day before, he brought Lao Li to Food of Heaven, and he also made a pre-deposit to the newly opened store.

In fact, he was also worried that the soup dumplings of 'Food of Heaven' would not be able to conquer Lao Li's cunning tongue. When he entered the store and saw his friend eating, he finally was relieved.

"It seems that the soup dumplings here are very similar to your taste," the friend said and sat down next to Lao Li. But when he saw that he was eating dumplings, he was surprised, "Why are you not eating soup dumplings? Didn't you say yesterday that the dim sum is not too sweet, but it still tastes like pork skin?"

Lao Li's face was flushed, pointed at the chopped pepper sauce and said, "Mix this with vinegar, and you won't get tired of eating it at all!"

His friend also took a pair of chopsticks from the chopstick tube, picked up a dumpling and dipped it in the ingredients. After eating, his mouth was numb, but he had to admit, "It's spicy, but it's so exciting to eat!"

At that time, Gu Yin also brought up the speciality dish for his friend. After listening to him praise the chopped pepper sauce she made, she smiled and said, "If you like it, I will bring you another plate."

The other customers heard them and it was novel seeing the red and bright chopped pepper sauce, so they asked Gu Yin, but she said, "This is not for sale for the time being."

To put it in modern times, if the customer wanted chopped pepper sauce, she would definitely send a plate to them directly, or put it in the store for the customer to use. It was just that the chili peppers were really expensive at the moment, and the price of a small plate exceeded the ordinary dumplings, and she really couldn't afford to make it for normal customers.

And it was indeed not for sale. The chopped pepper sauce was not made immediately, but Gu Yin thought that Eldest Master Wen liked spicy food, pickled it in advance, and gave it to him as a gift.

Later, there was still half a jar left at home, and they were the only ones who ate spicy food. Gu Yin specially gave it because she wanted to thank Lao Li and the others who were the first to deposit silver for VIP membership.

Lao Li and his friend misunderstood, and immediately laughed, "That's right, we are all VIPs who have deposited money, this is the treatment of VIPs!"

"No, if you want to eat, pay for a VIP seat yourself!"

The two friends talked and enticed two guests to join the VIP membership of Food of Heaven.

That was not to mention, from that day onward, Lao Li and his friends had become loyal guests of Food of Heaven. They went there every morning, and also brought other acquaintances with them.

Just like in later generations, depositing silver in advance was a very good way to keep customers. If they couldn't think of what to eat, they would definitely go to the restaurant where they deposited silver. Especially 'Food of Heaven' could make any dim sum, and there was no situation where they would get tired of eating. These old gluttons had completely separated from Hanxiang Hall and took root in 'Food of Heaven'.

At the end of the month, Gu Yin checked her accounts. Even if she deducted her own twenty two taels of wages, the new store earned forty taels in the first month. It was double than she expected, and the liquidity was even more incredible, as many as hundreds taels.

Some people were happy and some were worried. They were prospering, while Hanxiang Hall had been deserted a lot. However, the Bai family couldn't care about business at the moment, because Old Bai suffered another serious illness in the middle of the month. He struggled for half a year. A month later, he passed away.

Old Bai also knew that after he passed away, it would be impossible for the eldest and second brothers' households to maintain the peace on the surface as before. Forcing the brothers of the Bai family to work together would definitely be a bad thing. He simply left the Hanxiang Hall to his eldest son to operate, while the second son had the right to audit the accounts, and could get half of the profits from Hanxiang Hall every year.

Master Bai made a drastic move. Except for his white cuisine chef, he kicked out everyone who was hired by the second's household from the Hanxiang Building.

After that, he spent a lot of money to buy a mysterious condiment from overseas.

And Wang Dafu of the Wang family, after lying in bed for ten days, also struggled to get down to the ground, sold everything that could be used in the family, and collected 1,110 taels to go to the underground bank to redeem Full Moon Hall. Although the previous deed stated the deed could be redeemed, they all came to know that it was a plan made by Wang Dagui, and the deed was stolen by bandit No. 9. If the people at the bank insisted on saying that, they would be involved in Wang Dagui's case.

Full Moon Hall was no good without Manager Zhou, and Wang Dafu tried other means.

The three stores stood on three fronts, and they were about to fight in the arena.

At the end of the month, Gu Yin held a staff meeting.

The front hall was under Mrs. Wang's charge, and the back kitchen was under Manager Zhou's charge. Of course, the managers on both sides had to express their views and experiences.

Mrs. Wang didn't have much to say. There were four people in the front hall including her. Although Mrs. Xu and her were usually noisy and bickering, when it came to work, they didn't do anything. Old Tian and her daughter were honest people. They were more active in work than Mrs. Wang, and were not lazy at all. They were afraid that they would lose this good job if they were not careful.

As for Manager Zhou, he was indeed the management talent Gu Yin had long been interested in. He spoke very sharply, and immediately said, "In addition to me and the boss, there are eight other people in our kitchen. Xiao Xu and his two little apprentices must have a long-term job, and there are other people… I won't say more about who it is, anyway, the problem lays on the short-term helpers. If you really don't want to work here, don't do it. You don't have to do things behind our backs."

Recently, both Hanxiang Hall and Full Moon Hall were undergoing major changes, and were short of manpower. These two families were also damaged, and they all hit the ground running.

They poached Chef Xu and his two young apprentices first.

Although the three of them came later, there was no doubt about their loyalty, so they turned around and told the news to Manager Zhou.

Of course, in terms of intimacy, Chef Xu should definitely tell Gu Yin. But as early as when they came, she had told them about the planning and layout of the store, so that the employees could find their own bosses when they had some difficulty, and didn't easily make reports.

The years Manager Zhou spent in Hanshan Town weren't in vain. He went out to inquire immediately, and soon found out who in his store was contacted by the two.

If one observed the daily work status of these people, they would naturally know who did not switch to other stores, and which ones were already active.

Sure enough, as soon as he said these words, the two active helpers immediately panicked.

The store was hiring people, and the notices for recruiting people had been posted, but no one had been recruited so far. So Manager Zhou just transferred the dishonest people to the front to help, not letting them go to the back kitchen to touch the food. He just didn't want to throw out those people at once.

After the two of them finished speaking, Gu Yin made a summary at the end, which probably meant that everyone had worked hard in the past month, and of course she would not treat everyone badly, and they would be happy to work together in the future.

After the meeting, she and Manager Zhou went to talk alone.

"If it wasn't for you to find these out, I wouldn't believe that both of those two families have put their minds on our restaurant."

It was not that Gu Yin was arrogant and underestimated them. In fact she felt that she didn't have the capital to compete in the arena.

But the two were old classic restaurants, while they had opened their restaurant only for a month. Although the business was really good, they were just more than ordinary people. It was estimated that they earned a fraction of a big restaurant's income.

Manager Zhou said apologetically, "Actually, this is also my fault."

Needless to say, he came from there. When Wang Dafu reopened Full Moon Hall, he would definitely deal with him as a "traitor".

Hanxiang Hall also heard that 'Food of Heaven' recruited him, so they paid attention to it. In addition, Gu Yin was really good at craftsmanship, and she won several regular customers of Hanxiang Hall within a month. Hanshan Town was so big, and there were so many rich customers who could drink morning tea for tens or hundreds of coins. If they didn't suppress 'Food of Heaven' at the beginning, it would be hard to say what would happen later.

"How can I blame you?" Gu Yin smiled disapprovingly, "Anyway, we have to adopt flexible countermeasures according to the specific situation. When I quickly find two more people, I will dismiss those two. We can't have any problems internally. We will focus on serving ordinary people, so those two restaurants would have nothing to do with us. It's fine if we earn less each month in the future."

Manager Zhou had worked for people for so many years, and that was the first time he heard the boss being so light-hearted, saying that it was not a problem to earn less money.

Gu Yin was embarrassed by the admiration Manager Zhou's eyes, and explained, "It's not that I don't want to compete with them, it's that I don't have a complete competitive relationship with the big restaurants."

Gu Yin decided early in the morning that the core of good food was the ordinary customers of the middle-level. As long as the two restaurants did not touch that area, she had nothing to worry about.

When the boss said so, he didn't worry anymore, and said, "Then I would follow along. Don't think about it. You can think about how to spend the money you earned this month."

Gu Yin still kept the forty taels she earned in the store, and made working capital together with the hundreds of taels deposited by several customers. As for her own wages, it must be used to improve her family's life.

First of all, the little donkey cart that Gu Yin wanted was already arranged, and it cost five taels of silver to even buy the donkey.

It was a good donkey in its prime of life, and could usually be tied to the backyard of the store to pull the mill. The carriage was also spacious and new, which was the first big addition to the family after Gu Yin transmigrated.

She and Mrs. Wang finally no longer had to walk to work, and they could also take Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Tian back to Jinyi Alley.

Mrs. Tian and her daughter kept complimenting her, saying that they had never seen such a kind boss, not only was she generous in the payment, but also the considerate way of taking them to and from work together…

It was embarrassing for Gu Yin.

If she really had that power, of course, she would provide a shuttle bus for all employees, and it was not impossible to even set up a women's dormitory.

The other was to buy new clothes for the family.

In winter, Gu Yin bought clothes for the whole family. In the spring, everyone wore their old spring attire. Gu Ye was the worst, wearing Wu'an's old clothes.

She was afraid that it would be like the previous time. After she bought clothes previously, Mrs. Wang was reluctant to use the money, so she had made an excuse to exchange it. Hence Gu Yin left the store half an hour earlier and took everyone to the ready-to-wear shop.

If it was the past, Mrs. Wang would have said that she had enough clothes to wear. Although her family's situation was much better than before, she could save as much as she could.

But when she was the boss's mother, if she didn't dress well enough, it may make people laugh at Gu Yin. So she still picked good clothes that she didn't dare to look at before.

Gu Yin also picked clothes that were worthy of her status as a boss. The bright yellow corset skirt and the azure large-sleeved shirt were both light and beautiful.

The two children each chose their favorite small shirts and trousers. Gu Yin didn't interfere with them, but in the end, she couldn't help changing the white trousers in Gu Ye's hand to a darker color.

Gu Ye looked pitifully at his mother, but she didn't look at him at all, she just said, "You really don't know how much scourging you are. Your grandma and I are busy all day, we don't have much time to wash your clothes."

"The storyteller in the teahouse said the heroes all wear white, all dressed in white," Gu Ye kicked the ground and argued in a low voice.

"Oh, you let him wear it, I will wash it."

"Mother…" Gu Yin glanced at Mrs. Wang helplessly, but she did not continue.

Her mother-in-law was also strange. When facing Wu'an, she was the standard strict mother.

But since Gu Ye was taken as Gu Yin's child, she became more kind to him day by day.

In the end, Gu Ye still couldn't dress in white like the hero that the storyteller mentioned, and when he got home, he felt a little sad.

Seeing that he was not in high spirits, Gu Yin said to the children, "You all helped on the opening day, and I haven't paid you any wages yet. Especially Wu'an, your birthday was in April, and I was busy at home before. We didn't even celebrate it when I opened the store, and I didn't even give you wages for the 100 flyers you made. Well, you can make another wish."

Wu'an's eyes lit up, and he asked tentatively, "Then I… can I get papers and a square inkstone? The most ordinary ones would do."

Studying was inseparable from brushes, papers and inkstones. Eldest Master Wen did not hesitate in these, and chose good ones for his only student.

It was just that he chose too well. Wu'an, who had just been studying for a few months, felt that he was not worthy of such good things. But he also knew that his family was not wealthy, so he never mentioned it. He was cautious every time he practiced calligraphy, because he didn't dare to loosen his hand to practice calligraphy. His calligraphy progress had not been great. It was not until Gu Yin prepared another brush and papers for him to write the flyers that he loosened his hand and practiced hard.

"Oka,." Gu Yin agreed and turned to Gu Ye.

Gu Ye had been waiting for a long time, and said, "I, I want a maid."

"What do you want, Xiao Ye?" Mrs. Wang, who was washing the new clothes next to him, almost fell off the bench.

Gu Ye rushed over to stabilize Mrs. Wang, and said blankly, "What's wrong? I want a maid."

Mrs. Wang said with a smile, "Where did you hear that? People are heroes even without maids!"

"No, the hero didn't have a maid, but a young master can."

The young master and the maid…

That if said by a boy of fourteen or fifteen years old, would create a charming association. But it coming from a small bean was not charming, but strange.

"Master Gu, why do you want a maid?" Gu Yin held her forehead helplessly. She was already thinking whether she let this kid be free too much. How could someone so small want a maid? What did he learn outside?!

Gu Ye said as a matter of course, "I want a maid to do the laundry, so I can wear white clothes."

Both Mrs. Wang and Gu Yin couldn't help laughing to tears.

"Where to buy her for you?" Mrs. Wang wiped her tears and said, "Otherwise, you can go around and see who sells a maud. Buy her yourself, and bring her back for me and your mother to give the money."

In disaster and famine years, it was the norm to sell daughters. It should not be uncommon in those places where there was chaos.

However, under the management of the county magistrate and Officer Caotou, the people of Hanshan Town lived and worked in peace and contentment. No matter how incompetent men went to the wharf to carry sandbags, they could still earn enough to feed their family. If there was no man in the family, then just like the mother and daughter of the Li family, they did some sewing and washing work. If there was a young child, then a welfare home would take over.

Although the county magistrate was not a rare person in the world who was particularly wise and martial, and judged cases like a God, he was also a rare and honest official who did not take half a coin of silver from the people. Whoever wanted to sell their sons and daughters, the county magistrate would definitely charge them.

Gu Ye nodded after listening, and said seriously, "Then I'll buy a maid myself."

Before he finished speaking, he ran out.

After learning from Officer Caotou next door for a month, that little brat had learned the basics of breathing and internal strength, and when he ran, he would make a gust of wind under his feet. Before Gu Yin could say something to stop him, he had already run out of sight.

That night, Gu Ye came and brought back an eleven- or twelve-year-old and strong little girl.

Both Mrs. Wang and Gu Yin were dumbfounded and asked him, "You didn't really buy yourself a maid, did you?"

Gu Ye shook his head and said, "I didn't buy her, I picked her up."

Then Gu Ye took out a piece of paper and stuffed it into Gu Yin's hand. She was so shocked that she couldn't say a word – that was actually a contract of sale, and both the buyer and the seller had their fingerprints pressed.

Mrs. Wang looked at it with a probing gaze, and exclaimed, "Where did you get the contract? Xiao Ye, can you write?"

Gu Ye said no, and explained, "I bought it for ten coins from the street."

"You…" Gu Yin really didn't know what to say for a while. She turned to look at Mrs. Wang, who felt guilty and hid —

She was just joking with the child at that time, but she didn't expect him to take it seriously. He brought the girl back the same day, and even signed the deed of sale.

As soon as they spoke, the silent little girl suddenly fell to the ground.

Mrs. Wang scooped up the girl and carried her back to the house.

After taking care of Gu Ye, she had almost become half a doctor. The girl was breathing evenly and her pulse was strong. She knew that the girl was hungry when she touched her flat stomach.

The family now ate in the store, and there was nothing in their kitchen, so Gu Yin boiled white porridge.

While waiting for the porridge to get ready, she called Gu Ye to her side and asked him where he picked the girl from.

Gu Ye replied, "I found her near the Temple of the City God. She is so stupid. She didn't even eat the offerings when she was hungry. I said my family had food and wanted a maid, so she left with me."

"Don't talk about people like that." Gu Yin poked his nose and asked him again, "Then who wrote this contract?"

"There was a scholar setting up a stall next to the Temple of the City God. He heard us talking and took the initiative to tell me about it." Gu Ye touched his purse in pain, "Ten coins is so expensive."

Not long after the bowl of white porridge was boiled, Gu Yin brought it into the room. The girl woke up smelling the fragrance. She devoured the bowl of porridge and then began to thank them.

The girl's accent was not local. Mrs. Wang asked her if she was separated from her family, and said that there was a very good officer who lived next door who could help her find her family.

The little girl became anxious when she heard that, struggled to get down to kneel for them, and begged them not to report to the officials.

Comforting people was not Mrs. Wang's forte, so she got up from the kang and asked Gu Yin to talk to her.

Gu Yin said warmly, "Don't worry, we just want to help you find a family member, not to drag you to see the official. Since you don't want to, we naturally won't alarm the people in the official government. What happened to you?"

The little girl bit her lip and hesitated for a long time before she said, "I'm not from here, I lived in Bailiu Village, Yunlai County. I haven't seen my father since I was born, and my mother remarried a few years ago, so she kept me in my hometown. This year, a few aunts said that there were too many children at home, and they couldn't support them. They wanted to marry me to a lame man in the city. I pawned the silver my mother left for me and got in the boat."

"Yunlai County…" Mrs. Wang recalled carefully, and couldn't help exclaiming, "My dear, it's thousands of miles away from us, how did you run so far? Did your mother remarry here?"

She said no, digging her fingers and embarrassedly said, "I don't know where my mother has gone. I have never been out of the village, I only heard that I can go to other places by boat, so I just sat there casually, but I didn't expect to come out like this as soon as I sat on it. Thank you for your life-saving grace, I will work hard in the future and repay you well!"

After she finished speaking, she went down to the ground, knelt down with a thud, and kowtowed to the two of them. Mrs. Wang and Gu Yin took a step slowly, and then heard the sound of "bang bang". She had already kowtowed twice.

Hearing that, Mrs. Wang was in pain, so she quickly pulled the person up, pressed her back on the kang, and said, "You really don't need to, it's just a bowl of porridge."

Speaking of it, the girl's stomach growled again. Gu Yin said that there was still some in the pot, and went to bring another bowl over.

When Gu Yin went out, Mrs. Wang also followed and whispered to her, "Xiao Ye is right, this girl seems to be stupid…"

Gu Yin glanced at her, and Mrs. Wang changed her words, "She looks strange and sincere."

When the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law arrived at the kitchen, Gu Yin got the sea bowl and filled a large bowl of porridge. Mrs. Wang rummaged through the box and found a half-jar of pickled vegetables for the New Year.

With the pickles, the girl drank another large bowl of porridge in three or five gulps.

It was also late. After bathing, Mrs. Wang asked the girl to rest in her room, while she slept in Gu Yin's room.

Before going to bed, Mrs. Wang and Gu Yin confirmed that the money had been locked in one place, the front and rear doors were locked, and the room where they slept was also locked, only then did they sleep.

After a few hours, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were woken up by the sound of "bang bang" in the middle of the night.

The two put on their clothes and got up to look, and they saw that the tanned strong little girl was chopping wood in the patio with an ax.

Mrs. Wang pulled Gu Yin behind her and asked her what she was doing.

"Did I just wake you up? I… I just wanted to help you with some work. I wanted to fetch water for you, but the yard door was locked, so I couldn't get out, so I had to chop wood."

Seeing that Mrs. Wang was protecting Gu Yin behind her, she hurriedly put the ax on the ground and waved her hand, "I really don't want to do anything bad!"

Looking at the piles of firewood that was chopped and piled into small hills, Gu Yin couldn't help but think in her heart that she was really stupid. How could anyone use an ax to chop firewood in the middle of the night on the first day at someone else's house? It was really scary!

Seeing her helplessly twisting the hem of her clothes, she still couldn't bear to scold her.

In another half an hour, Gu Yin had to go to the store. She didn't sleep well at all, and together with Mrs. Wang, she asked the girl what she was planning to do in the future.

She scratched her head and said, "I'll just work hard at your house, I don't need to eat such fine grains as I did yesterday. Beans and rice would do."

Saying that, she noticed something was wrong, and she widened her eyes and said, "Do you… do you not want me? I signed the contract to sell myself."

The more she spoke, the quieter she became, and then she couldn't help crying. She kept her mouth pressed down and cried. Although she didn't make a sound, she cried so hard.

When Gu Ye heard that, he pointed at Mrs. Wang, "As promised, I bought a maid myself. She is my maid!"

Mrs. Wang also felt guilty, looked at Gu Yin and said, "Otherwise, let's keep her?"

Gu Yin touched her aching head. She first told the girl to stop crying, then glanced at Gu Ye, who insisted on keeping a maid, and Mrs. Wang, who was guilty, finally said, "Since she has nowhere to go, she can stay here. At dawn, we will go to the yamen office. But we aren't going to consider that sale contract, just let her sign the same employment contract as Mrs. Tian and the others."

"The store is just short of people. Although the little girl is young, she is strong and able to work." Mrs. Wang accompanied Gu Yin back to the house to change clothes, without waiting for the scolding she opened her mouth, and said, "I won't talk to the child again next time!"

Before dawn, Gu Yin went to the store first, while Mrs. Wang took the girl that Gu Ye picked up to go to the government for the record.

Child labor couldn't be employed in the era, but very few people would hire a child in early teen. After all, children of that age ate no less than adults, but did not do as much work as adults. But in general, the procedures went smoothly.

After leaving the yamen, Mrs. Wang also came to know that the girl's surname was Song. Because there were many children in the family, and she didn't have a serious name, the family called her Shiliu. (十六:Sixteen: Shiliu)

Sixteen didn't seem like a serious name, so Gu Yin simply changed her name to Shiliu.

(石榴: Shiliu: Pomegranate)

At first, Gu Yin just wanted to arrange her at home to be responsible for household chores such as chopping firewood, boiling water, and washing clothes, but then the two stupid guys in the store offered to resign together. There were two less people in the store, so Song Shiliu was arranged in the front hall of the store.

Although this girl was stupid, she was really used to doing chores since she was a child. She was only twelve years old, but could work like an adult.

Still no one was recruited in the store, and they were in need of one more person to work. It stood to reason that the number of staff should be even less.

But there were fewer customers in the store – Hanxiang Hall and Full Moon Hall were taking the next step again, and they both imitated Food of Heaven's routine of VIP membership. VIPs could enjoy special menus, and there were also discounts for depositing ten taels and they got one tael food for free.

Both of them were well established, especially Hanxiang Hall, which had never had any trouble. With that kind of promotion, it was very popular.

Like Lao Li and his friend, their deposits were almost spent in Food of Heaven, and they were thinking of continuing for the next month. After that event, they went back to Hanxiang Hall.

The wealthy customers that usually went to eat breakfast there decreased all of a sudden, and there were even people who wanted to take back the money that they had deposited before. Fortunately, Gu Yin never touched the money. When the customers wanted to withdraw it, she also let them. The working capital was suddenly reduced by fifty taels.

The Bai and Wang families were both waiting to see Food of Heaven's trouble, but Gu Yin was not in a hurry at all.

What was the hurry? At that time, the matter of depositing the silver to win over the VIPs was brought about by unintentional intervention, and it was not something she wanted to use. Those silver coins helped her get through the initial difficulties in turnover, which was a surprise.

Although there were fewer rich customers, the business of their own cheap fast food was good.

She and Manager Zhou pondered new snacks and dishes every day, and everything they made was sold out, and the profits were exactly in line with her initial expectations.

She unintentionally shrank, and the situation in the town turned into a sparring between Hanxiang Hall and Full Moon Hall.

In the past, the two families were different, and the competition relationship was not very clear, but after the promotion of VIP deposit, the two became real competitors. As far as silver was concerned, if it was deposited in one store, it would not be allowed in another store.

Hanxiang Hall first launched a new discount. Originally, they could get one tael free food when they gave ten taels. After they became a VIP, they could order food at a 20% discount.

Full Moon Hall had followed suit, and the VIP order price was with a discount of 30%.

Hanxiang Hall then gave two taels worth free food for ten taels deposit and Full Moon Hall gave 3 taels.

Confused, the two of them didn't know how to win against each other.

And Gu Yin was preparing to launch new things in the store.

When it was May, and the weather was starting to heat up, it was time to tinker with some drinks for sale.

First of all, the milk tea that was made for the old man was the first item.

As for the home version of Coke that she made before, because there was no baking soda in that era, Gu Yin used alkaline water—that was, water after clarification of plant ash instead. The taste of alkali was too strong and not good, so it was abandoned. Then she made mung bean drink and sour plum drink.

These two things were very common in modern times, and Gu Yin was very familiar with them.

The first was a mung bean drink. After cleaning the mung beans, she soaked them in boiling water for a quarter of an hour, left them cool and then froze them in ice cubes. After that, she put them directly into the pot to boil in a casserole for two quarters of an hour, added some sugar, and finally turned to low heat to simmer for a quarter of an hour.

The sour plum drink was made of tangerine peel, hawthorn, mulberry, licorice, black plum, and dried tangerine peel in proportion. They were soaked for an hour, then put in a pot and boiled. She then turned the heat to low temperature and simmered for half an hour, and finally added rock sugar to taste and filter impurities.

Of course, considering the cost, she did not use much sugar in the beverages sold outside, mainly because of the sweetness of the food itself.

The milk tea was fragrant, the mung bean drink was nutty and glutinous, and the sour plum one was sweet and sour.

Gu Yin was a loyal milk tea fan, so she first took a bowl of milk tea and sipped it.

Manager Zhou, Mrs. Wang and the others also started drinking.

Manager Zhou liked sour plum drink the most, while the women including Mrs. Wang preferred milk tea like Gu Yin.

While drinking, Gu Yin thought with regret in her heart that since the store opened in April they missed the time to store ice in winter.

She originally thought that saltpeter could be used to make ice. The saltpeter could be evaporated, recrystallized, and recycled, but unfortunately, it was the raw material for explosives—one sulfur, two nitrate, three charcoal. The government controlled saltpeter very strictly, and it was hard to buy some that were only enough to produce one or two pots of ice. Of course, there were also ships on the canal that transported ice and sold ice, but the price of buying ice in the season was several times higher than in winter. 'Food of Heaven' was a cheap business, and the profit was not enough to cover the money for ice.

If those drinks didn't have ice in summer, the fun would be reduced to half.

In particular, the Dragon Boat Festival was going to be held in the town, and people from Shili Baxiang and other small towns would come to watch the fun. At that time, the people may not have the effort and spare money to go out for a meal, but they may afford to buy a refreshing drink to quench their thirst.

If there was no ice, the drink would get hot as soon as it was put outside. It couldn't be sold out, so she could only sell it in the store.

Gu Yin was worried when Old Master Wen came over for dinner.

The Wen family was only a quarter of an hour away from 'Food of Heaven'. After Chef Xu left, Second Master Wen hired a cook next to him. He still only paid five taels of silver a month, but asked to cook food for a large family. There were few cooks like Chef Xu who were both fast and not bad. The chef he hired was said to be a level worse than Chef Xu, and even Wu'an couldn't help but say that he wouldn't eat at the Wen's house when he came back. He would eat for the day during the lunch break.

So the old man ate all three meals outside.

Seeing that the old man was sweating profusely, Gu Yin brought a bowl of cold sour plum drink over to him, "It's getting hotter every day, otherwise I'll have someone deliver a meal to you when it's time for lunch, or I'll have Wu'an send it to you after lunch. Do you have to come here?"

"No need, sweating more in summer is good for health."

The sweet and sour plum drink at the entrance was very thirst-quenching. As the cold drink traveled down the esophagus to the stomach, the heat of early summer was suddenly relieved.

"It's comfortable to drink something cool in summer." The old man let out a comfortable sigh, "Are you tinkering with something new to sell?"

"Yes, but I don't think it would sell too much. There is no ice in the store and it's not easy to buy saltpeter," Gu Yin said.

"What's so difficult about it?" The old man squinted at her with an 'I can do it' expression.

Gu Yin pursed her lips and smiled, "Hey, do you have a way to buy saltpeter?"

Of course, the old man had a way to buy saltpeter, but that was not what he meant, "It's just ice. The rich households in the town store it in winter, and generally they use it in summer. I'll ask someone to borrow some for you. It will still be there when the time comes."

Chef Xu went to the front to help, and whispered, "Why do you have to borrow it? The Wen family has it. Every winter there is a cellar full of them stored."

The old man said strangely, "No way, I haven't seen ice at home in the past few days."

Chef Xu explained, "The Wen family buys ice every year, but in a season like this, they won't be able to open a cellar. During the hot days, only some masters use it in the house. It's not used much, including the big kitchen that is hot like a charcoal stove. I get heat stroke every summer, and I'm used to it."

The old man had already returned to Hanshan Town when the second master bought ice last winter, but he was so angry at that time that he didn't even ask about the affairs of the house. So when he didn't see the ice in the summer, he thought that Second Master Wen was too stingy and didn't save it in winter. He frowned and asked, "Then why did he save the ice?"

"To sell it for money, the Wen's iron rooster earns a lot of money every year selling ice."

Old Master Wen asked him, "Wen's what?"

Chef Xu panicked all of a sudden, looking at Gu Yin for help. Gu Yin glanced at him, and explained to the old man, "Don't be angry with him, he's just a rude, bald man, I'll deduct his wages later."

Old Master Wen was not angry with Chef Xu. After all, he knew that when his second son let Chef Xu leave, he asked him for ten taels of silver. It was normal for Chef Xu to be angry, but he still felt that the second son was not good. He thought that he was stingy because he didn't save ice in winter, but he saved it to sell to earn a few dozens of taels of silver.

After lunch, Old Master Wen went back to Wen's house. When Second Master Wen came back in the afternoon, he called him into the study and told him that he wanted to open the cellar.

"It's not hot today!" Second Master Wen's first reaction was to refuse. As soon as the cellar would be opened, the ice would begin to melt. The ice that would melt was silver.

Seeing that the old man was not worried, he then added, "You just caught a cold a while ago, so you should wait until you get better before using ice."

"I got a cold in the early spring, and now it will be the Dragon Boat Festival in a few days. I have recovered already." Old Master Wen waved irritably, "I will open the cellar today, and send some to the servants who do the work in the house first. Keep half for myself, and the other half I want to give away."

Seeing that Second Master Wen was about to cry, the old man finally added, "You can put it on the household's account, let me buy it from you."

There was a smile on Second Master Wen's face, and he asked tentatively, "Is that based on winter's price…or is it based on the price of ice in summer?"

Old Wen laughed angrily and told him to get out.

"Wen's iron rooster, it's really not wrong!" The old man couldn't help muttering.

…

But with the help of the old man, there was ice in Gu Yin's store.

The Wen family's cellar was large, and the half-cellar ice just filled a cellar in 'Food of Heaven'.

With so much ice all at once, it would be a waste not to make ice drinks. Gu Yin still wanted to think about other things, but unfortunately the time was too short, so she just didn't think about it for the time being.

Once the ice was available, the next step was to customize the container. The dragon boat race was held at the pier, which was quite a distance from Food of Heaven. It was difficult to attract customers there, so cold drinks had to be delivered to the pier for sale.

Because of the tight schedule that time, Gu Yin didn't have time to draw, and asked Manager Zhou to take her to find the carpenter who worked with him last time.

Manager Zhou took her to the wood shop, where Carpenter Feng was sitting on the small bench in front of the shop.

As soon as he saw them coming, Carpenter Feng jumped up from the bench and was about to run into the store.

"Old Feng, why are you running?!" Manager Zhou strode to keep up, and stopped him.

Feng Carpenter had to stand still and cried, "Old Zhou, why are you here again?"

Manager Zhou smiled and said, "What do you mean? I must be here to take care of your business."

Feng Carpenter became an apprentice to an old carpenter in the same village when he was seven or eight years old. His craftsmanship was very good, but his family was poor and he had many children. During the festival, he made some gadgets and sent them to the market to sell.

Later, Manager Zhou, who was still in Full Moon Hall at the time, discovered his craftsmanship and made him make things for the restaurant.

After cooperating for several years, after having a stable and large order, Carpenter Feng finally saved up the money to open a store, and his business became more prosperous.

The things that Gu Yin wanted to make when she opened the store before were all made by him.

Although the wages given were generous, Feng Carpenter had never done those. There was no sample to follow, and they were also very fragmented. Just like the one or two hundred wooden dinner plates and bento boxes, they were all hand-milled by him and the children at home. If Manager Zhou hadn't come forward, Carpenter Feng would really not want to take on that kind of torturing piece of work.

"Master Feng, don't hide, your craftsmanship is really good, the size of those dinner plates are exactly the way I wanted them. If I didn't know that they were all polished by hand, I would have thought that the wood looked like that!" Gu Yin boasted with a smile, "And the big counter, the small table, and the partitions, there's really no mistakes at all. They were all made perfectly!"

Feng Carpenter laughed, and said, "It's no wonder that the little lady's business is so prosperous. You are silver tongued."

"No, no, your craftsmanship is really good."

Although Feng Carpenter had a lot of business, he rarely encountered such approachable customers as Gu Yin. When he thought of the arrogant appearance of Full Moon Hall's manager after the big change, he directly asked, "You want something this time for sure. What do you need? Say it, and I'd better start doing it as early as possible."

What Gu Yin wanted was a bamboo cup in the style of a disposable cup in a later beverage store, with a hole in the middle of the lid, a bamboo straw inserted, and a half-person-height box for storing drinks, similar to the style of a freezer, with stratification and ice storage locations.

She also knew that this thing was very troublesome, and smiled flatteringly, "Two large boxes, ten small boxes, and 500 sets of cups this time. We need them fast. It is required before the Dragon Boat Festival, so you can decide your wages."

—–

Miao:

Iron Rooster: 铁公鸡 is used to describe a person who is very stingy about money matters.

Carpenter Feng smiled bitterly and said, "Two large boxes are worth one tael of silver, ten small boxes are three taels, and bamboo cups are worth two taels a set. With the straw you mentioned, let's add one tael. Plus five more taels for the rush fee."

Gu Yin felt embarrassed, "It's only twelve taels in total, you'd better add more."

It was the first time that Carpenter Feng heard a client ask him to add money. He waved his hand and said, "How many years have Lao Zhou and I been friends? I won't take more money, but the time is really short, so I can only do five hundred cups only."

"It's okay, do your best."

After negotiating, Carpenter Feng went into the backyard and shouted for his ten children to start work.

"When the money is handed over…"

"Don't worry, boss." Manager Zhou said, "His wife loves my food, so I'll give him ten taels of silver and ask them to have a few meals in the store."

The two of them were about to leave after talking, and they happened to meet a young man.

That man had familiar eyes, but Gu Yin couldn't remember where she had seen him for a while.

When the man saw them, he took the initiative to stop, cupped his hands and smiled, "Isn't this the boss and manager of 'Food of Heaven'?"

Manager Zhou reminded Gu Yin in a low voice, "He is the one who came to seek a job before."

Gu Yin remembered the job applicant who shouted that women shouldn't work and rob men's jobs.

She nodded slightly, as if to greet him, but did not stop.

The man stepped forward to block her, then smiled and said, "Little lady, you are a noble person who forgets things, don't you remember me?"

Gu Yin didn't want to quarrel with him in someone else's store, so she just said calmly, "I remember, but I still remember saying our thoughts don't match. In fact, there is no need to say hello."

The man showed an angry look, and then he smiled to himself, "You don't know yet, I went to 'Full Moon Hall' to seek a job later, and now I'm a helper. I have to thank you. If it weren't for you not accepting me, I'm afraid I wouldn't have had that opportunity!"

Gu Yin said no, "You relied on yourself…you were annoying enough. Otherwise, if you were normal, I would have accepted you."

"You!" The man was very angry, "What a woman with sharp tongue. Hmph, but I also know that these days, the wealthy crowd is equally divided between 'Full Moon Hall' and 'Hanxiang Hall'. 'Food of Heaven' has to do business for ordinary people, you must be very uncomfortable…"

Before the words were finished, Gu Yin didn't pay any attention to him at all, and took Manager Zhou and left.

He clenched his back molars angrily and patted the counter to let Carpenter Feng come out.

When Carpenter Feng came out from behind, he directly instructed, "One hundred boxes, the ones used for the Dragon Boat Festival. They are still like the ones used last year, but they need to be carved a little more delicately!"

Carpenter Feng glanced at him and said, "I can't make them, you should find another person."

"Why can't you make them? Aren't you always cooperating with 'Full Moon Hall'? You could do it in previous years, but you can't do it this year?"

Carpenter Feng explained, "In previous years, it was custom-made a month in advance. The Dragon Boat Festival is a few days away, and we may not be able to finish making them on time. And it's unfortunate that when you came, I had already picked up another work for the Dragon Boat Festival."

He didn't mention 'Food of Heaven', otherwise with the attitude of the person in front of him, he may quarrel.

"I think you don't want to work with our restaurant anymore!" The young man threatened.

Carpenter Feng raised his eyebrows.

In the past, when Manager Zhou was still there, he would definitely not want to lose such a big customer as 'Full Moon Hall', but since the manager changed, his style of doing things had completely changed.

He was selling his craftsmanship, not selling himself to 'Full Moon Hall' as a slave, there was no need to suffer from that kind of arrogance.

Seeing that the other party was unmoved, the man thought for a while, then changed his tone and said kindly, "I just have a bad attitude. Master Feng, don't take my words to heart. You said that you have taken an order, it should be for 'Food of Heaven', right? They asked you to make things for them? Did they tell you to also make boxes for the Dragon Boat Festival? Please tell me carefully."

As he said that, he took one tael, and was going to put it in Carpenter Feng's hand.

That was completely challenging Carpenter Feng's professional ethics, and he immediately asked him to leave the store.

The man spat fiercely at the door, and then said bitterly in the direction Gu Yin left, "What's so great about a widow's store? Sooner or later, you won't be able to keep it!"

After going to another place to order, the man returned to 'Full Moon Hall'.

Wang Dafu didn't dare to be lazy, and he couldn't find a more conscientious person than Manager Zhou, so he simply took the role of the manager of 'Full Moon Hall'.

Seeing him coming back, Wang Dafu asked him, "Li Cheng, what did Carpenter Feng say, will it be done on time?"

Li Cheng smiled and said, "Carpenter Feng said he can't make them on time, but Boss, you can rest assured that I have found another one. His craftsmanship is no worse than his, and it will definitely be ready before the Dragon Boat Festival."

Wang Dafu was relieved, and seeing that he didn't leave after he finished speaking, he asked him if he had anything else to say.

Then Li Chengcheng said, "I met the owner and manager of 'Food of Heaven' at Carpenter Feng 's place. Their nose turned to the sky (arrogant) and the indomitable appearance was irritating. She didn't put 'Full Moon Hall' in her eyes at all. They walked out and I asked Carpenter Feng. He said that he had already taken over other work."

"You mean that 'Food of Heaven' also has a big move on the Dragon Boat Festival?"

"They have been waiting for now for sure."

The Dragon Boat Festival was a big festival. When visiting relatives and friends, they would send dumplings, tea eggs, salted duck eggs and other things. Ordinary people must have made them at home, and they would give them away. Rich households were particular about buying them in restaurants. They were packed in wooden gift boxes, which were both beautiful and classy.

For the annual Dragon Boat Festival gift box, 'Full Moon Hall' and 'Hanxiang Hall' competed. Something happened earlier that year, and Full Moon Hall's vitality was severely damaged. With the custom made wooden box, he was thinking of reviving the business.

So hearing that 'Food of Heaven' wanted to get a piece of the pie, Wang Dafu said, "Then let's set the price down by 10%. Even if we lose money, we have to win against those two restaurants."

Within two days, Mr. Bai of Hanxiang Hall also got the news. He followed suit and reduced the price of that year's Dragon Boat Festival gift box by 10%.

Just when the two of them were fighting like a cockfight again, in the blink of an eye, at the Dragon Boat Festival, Gu Yin's cold drink stall opened.

Moreover, she didn't have to rent a stall temporarily. Her previous stall was still in the lease term, and Aunt Ge and her husband only used theirs in the morning market business, so they also lent the stall to Gu Yin.

Gu Yin wanted to pay rent, but Aunt Ge insisted that she would not take it, "You have already opened a restaurant, and you are still making dumplings for me as you did before. Don't be polite to me again. At the Dragon Boat Festival, we are only selling food for the morning. That cold drink you made won't affect us, sell it at my place."

So on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, before dawn, Gu Yin got up and went to the restaurant. First, she made three kinds of cold drinks, and then made other morning meals. Because it was the Dragon Boat Festival, the breakfast on that day also sold Zongzi. (Zongzi is a sticky rice dumplings)

When it was dawn, Mrs. Wang and Chef Xu helped move the freezers wrapped in quilts, and the group went to the dock.

The time for the boat race was set in the morning, so in the early morning, there were a lot of people on the pier.

When they arrived, Aunt Ge's food was sold out.

She simply removed all the bowls from her stall and asked them to put the two freezers on it.

Because the market was really good, as soon as they set it up, a customer came to ask, "What is your stall selling? Why is it still wrapped in a quilt on a hot day, aren't you afraid of it being spoiled?"

Gu Yin explained, "It's an ice drink. I'm afraid that the ice inside would melt. There are three kinds of it. Would you like to try it?"

Saying that, Gu Yin placed three bowls of mung bean drink, milk tea and sour plum drink that had been prepared long ago on the stall.

The sun rose, and the number of people on the pier was still increasing. The person, sweating profusely, asked for a milk tea for ten coins, while the other two were only for five coins, and then ordered a mung bean drink.

The ice drinks were all pre-packed. After Mrs. Wang took a cup out of the freezer, she plugged in the straw, immediately covered the freezer and wrapped it.

The person saw that the bamboo cup with a straw was very novel. He took a sip from the straw, and the sweet and cold mung bean drink entered his mouth, which made him shudder.

Taking another sip, the mung bean paste at the bottom was sucked into his mouth, and the rust was glutinous, ice-cold, and he couldn't help but let out another sigh.

"It's so icy, so cold!" He drank a whole cup in one go, and asked for another cup for his brother, but when he turned his head, he didn't find him. He said in distress, "This stinky boy, where has he run to?!"

Gu Yin said it was okay, "You can take this cup away, but you have to pay an extra two coins. When you return the cup later, we will refund the two coins to you. If you think the pier is crowded, you can also go to Wencheng Street's 'Food of Heaven' to return the cup."

It was not a loss to buy a brand-new novelty cup for two coins. The person paid the money happily and went to his brother with an ice drink.

After an hour passed, one third of the three hundred cups of drinks that Gu Yin brought had been sold.

The people from the yamen in the back began to clean the canal, and the dragon boat appeared at one end of the canal.

At that time, Gu Yin's second-hand preparations began. The ten children headed by Song Shiliu, Wu'an, and Gu Ye came over with small wooden boxes.

Each of the ten children wore a cloth strip around their necks, and a wooden box was attached to the bottom of the cloth strip, and a small quilt was covering the wooden box.

Among them, Song Shiliu was the biggest, but it was not long after she entered the city. It was the first time she encountered such a big event, and she was entrusted with a heavy responsibility. She was so nervous that her legs were shaking.

"You two young masters…you have to follow me closely, don't get lost."

Although Gu Yin later returned the deed of sale to her, Song Shiliu felt that she was their maid, and she refused to change her title.

Before she could finish speaking, Gu Ye had already divided the people into two groups, "Team No. 1, go to the left. Team No. 2, go to the right. After they are sold out, go back to the stall to get more."

After pointing with a small hand, the people who were pointed in the direction immediately acted.

In the end, Gu Ye and Song Shiliu were in a team, and Gu Ye led her into the crowd.

"Delicious and cheap iced drinks!"

"Ice cold drink! It's delicious and cheap!"

The vigorous shouting of the children spread through the crowd.

Song Shiliu's face flushed with embarrassment, for she was still thinking about leading the two young masters, but even the more shy-looking Wu'an had more use than her.

"Shout!" Gu Ye pouted at her.

Song Shiliu took a deep breath and shouted.

The people on the side of the canal crowded shoulder to shoulder, and the weather was sultry on that day. Many people were dizzy, but couldn't let go of that annual event.

When suddenly they heard the children beside them, many people would ask what they were selling.

A cup of iced drinks of seven coins was not cheap for ordinary people, but there was no other alternative at the moment, and many people brought their own children with them. The adults could still endure the heat, but they were not willing to have their children suffer. The two coins for the cup could be exchanged later, so many people began to buy.

"It's so sour and cold!" The customer who bought the sour plum drink took a sip by himself, sighed, and quickly handed the cup to the child.

After tasting it, the child said that his teeth were sour and it did quench his thirst. The summer heat dissipated, and he continued to drink in small sips.

Gu Ye cleverly said, "The sour plum drink is sour, the mung bean drink and milk tea are sweet, buy another one."

There was no child who didn't like sweets. He looked at his parents eagerly. They came to the city only a few times a year, and were willing to spend a few coins.

The crowd began to sigh one after another, "It's so cold," and the children's business was getting better. When they sold ten cups in their boxes, they would run out of the crowd and go to Gu Yin's stall to replenish the goods.

Before the dragon boat race started, half of the five hundred cups Gu Yin had prepared had already been sold.

Chef Xu hurriedly put back some of the empty cups he had taken back for washing, then turned his head to prepare the ingredients for Gu Yin, and brought back the ice drink that was boiled by Manager Zhou.

By noon, before a lively dragon boat race was over, five hundred cups on Gu Yin's stall had already been sold, including drinks.

It was really hot at the time. Gu Yin had been busy until dawn, and couldn't wait any longer. So she told her own employees to go back, and gave Chef Xu and his two apprentices the freshly cold drinks. But there were no cups with straws, so they just brought some empty bowls to drink from at the stall.

When the group returned to the store, they were all sweaty.

Gu Yin quickly grabbed a bowl of iced milk tea and drank it, and at that time, Manager Zhou's hot dishes were also cooked and placed on the counter.

The weather was hot. There were neither air conditioners or fans in the stores of that era, and it got hotter with people sitting next to each other. In summer, people's appetite was also poor, and it was not a problem to make the storet's specialties at noon, but the business of the lunch market in the restaurant was deserted.

On that day, because of the dragon boat race on the canal, there was no one in the store except for the VIPs.

But Gu Yin didn't rest. She gasped for breath and immediately went to the back kitchen to start making cold noodles.

She kneaded the dough first, added salt to the dough, covered it with a damp cloth and left it for a quarter of an hour to rest. Then added water in the basin, put the dough in it, and rubbed it repeatedly with both hands like washing clothes.

When the water showed a white luster, she filtered it into another large basin, then repeated the process until the washing water was clear and yellowed gluten dough remained. The dough was steamed in a pot.

The filtered water was left for more than an hour. During that period, she shredded wild vegetables and cucumbers, and chopped peanuts into pieces.

When the filtered water got separated, she scooped off the top clear water, stirred the remaining slurry with a spoon, and then put it on a large flat plate that had been brushed with oil and steamed it in hot water.

When the slurry bulged and became transparent, she took it out immediately and replaced it with another plate.

Then the dough was peeled from the pan like a skin which was cut to make noodles.

Gu Yin got many such dough peeled from pans to make a hundred pieces of cold noodles.