bookcurios Chapter 178
Chapter 178
Baozhou Prefecture was still very lively at the end of October. As an important thoroughfare going south and north, west and east, people were coming and going all the time.
A two-story shop located less than a hundred meters west of Fuqian Street was freshly painted a few days ago, but it has yet to open to customers.
Many people passing by here couldn't help but take a second look.
There are also powerful merchants who are considering renting this shop.
When Shen Lingzhu and his group arrived at the back door of the shop, a woman in her fifties opened the door for them.
She looked at her grandfather who had arrived with her, and when she saw him nod slightly, she knew that this person was also sent by Captain Chen.
Although the woman had never seen her, she had heard Captain Chen describe the Shen family. The male and female masters would not go out easily, and the other Mr. Shen and Miss Shen were easy to recognize.
What's more, Shen Lingzhu also introduced himself.
The woman welcomed the group into the house and bowed profusely: "Ding family of the Xu family, greetings to Mr. Shen and Miss Shen."
"You're welcome, Aunt Ding." The brother and sister quickly moved away and did not accept her greeting.
Aunt Ding didn't hesitate and said immediately, "This shop is divided into three sections. To facilitate the business in the front, this section is for living, the middle section is for the kitchen, and the section in front is the two-story shop.
Our family of four currently lives in the back room of this entrance. The father and son take turns sleeping on the second floor in the front at night.
Young lady, please make further adjustments."
"A family?" Shen Xianzhu asked with a good face, are you really a family?
Aunt Ding nodded and said, "We are two old people, with our son and daughter-in-law, and they have no children.
Right now, everyone is shopping for ingredients at the lunch market."
"You don't have to move. There are enough empty rooms in the east and west wings." The shop is on an east-west street, with the door facing north.
Therefore, the two-story main building in the front is facing south, and the back building is much better than those houses facing north and south.
Shen Lingzhu likes to live in the west wing, so her eldest brother lives next door to her, and her grandfather lives in the same room with him.
The east wing is for cousin Zhixun, cousins from the Shen family and cousins from the Chang family, and the other room is reserved for uncle Jiu and aunt Jiu.
Well, after my seventh uncle and aunt come, the three brothers will move to live with my eldest brother.
It’s not that Shen Lingzhu has learned to be fair and choose one from each of the three families.
Instead, the other two brothers who had a talent for cooking were assigned to the food delivery point in the county town.
Xia Wang, who had always wanted to learn cooking, also wanted to come along, but because his older brother had just returned and was taking his parents to Pingding to propose marriage, he had to stay at home and take care of the bellows business.
After everyone was settled, Shen Xianzhu said, “I will take my brothers to Gua Bian to familiarize them with the kitchen and the main building.
Xiao Zhuzi and Grandma check to see what ingredients in the warehouse need to be replenished."
As soon as he finished speaking, Aunt Ding, who had been waiting outside, handed over the account book: "This is the food I bought recently.
Today my boss took away five taels, and there are still three taels and six cents left in the silver box."
"Okay, come to me and withdraw money with silver from now on.
I will pay your family's monthly salary this month, and you can collect it on the third day of the next Lunar New Year." Shen Lingzhu accepted it generously, because the money for the purchase was given to Captain Chen by her senior sister after the last contract was signed.
She and her grandfather checked the warehouse and found that the ingredients purchased by Aunt Ding's family were of the best quality.
"It's just expensive. Our shop only sells spicy soup, mutton soup, sweet soup, and steamed buns and fried cakes. It's all food for ordinary people.
Buying such high-quality ingredients is unbearable for a long time." This time, Grandpa was officially invited by Uncle to be the head chef, and he was not paid a monthly salary, but a 20% dividend from the daily profit.
Grandpa wanted to refuse, but uncle said that if he didn't accept it, he would invite someone from outside with the same conditions.
How could this be possible? It concerned the interests of their two granddaughters. After discussing it, the grandparents agreed because their son had returned home and could be in charge of his own meat stall while also looking for fresh meat for the shops in the county town.
They planned to divide the 20% profit into two parts, one for their children and grandchildren, and one for their two nieces.
Shen Lingzhu didn’t know what her grandmother was planning, so she said, “It’s too expensive to buy in the city, so it’s better to buy some in the countryside.
I think you can go to Dalidian and the nearby villages frequently and buy directly from farmers at a lower price.”
"Well, your second sister asked me to bring some food, which was quite foresighted.
She will send another batch over before she opens, which will be enough for us to use for a long time.
"There are also live sheep. Our Shenquan goats are not smelly and are extremely delicious. Everyone who has tasted them praises them." Grandpa chose to make goat soup instead of donkey soup because the goats in Shenquan are fresh, and the donkey meat is the best in Hejian Prefecture.
Moreover, there are too many sellers of donkey meat soup and sesame cakes in the capital city, so the characteristics of their shops cannot be highlighted.
He said, "Let's go to the street and compare prices."
"By the way, please pick up my Aunt Jiu and the others." Before Shen Lingzhu left, he heard that Third Grandma was scolding Uncle Jiu as usual during breakfast.
This was because his family of four said they were visiting relatives, but they ended up not coming back for several days. When Aunt Nineteen got married, only Uncle Nine Shen Xiao showed up for half a day, and then disappeared again.
"Tell Xianzhu." After that, Grandpa took Shen Lingzhu to stroll around the city. Both of them were in good physical condition and did not take a car at all.
As a result, I met an acquaintance on the street.
"Doctor Sun?" As soon as Shen Lingzhu saw him, he flew forward and clasped his fists.
In Ansu, when her family was in the most difficult time, they received sincere help from Dr. Sun.
"Miss Shen? You..." Doctor Sun first looked at her complexion, which was much rounder than when they first met, and she was a little taller.
Shen Lingzhu said: "My eldest aunt's twins are already one month old. My family opened a food shop on Fuqian Street in the city, and it will open on an auspicious day in two days.
An invitation is worse than an accidental meeting. If you are not in a hurry to go back to Ansu, please come and support us."
"Congratulations! I will come to congratulate you when I buy the herbs." Doctor Sun was really happy for her and her family.
Grandpa Huang Shouchuan, who was standing next to him, clasped his fists tightly towards Dr. Sun to thank him for helping his child.
Everyone boasted about their business to each other and told each other their addresses. It was still afternoon, and grandpa wanted to invite the other party to have tea in the teahouse, but the other party said that he had to go buy a batch of medicine and did not dare to waste any more time.
When Doctor Sun was about to leave, Shen Lingzhu asked, "What herbs do you want to buy?"
After listening to him list a few items, they were not expensive, but most of them were medicinal herbs for treating typhoid fever, so they were indeed in high demand in this season.
Shen Lingzhu's mind moved, and he said, "We have a large number of things like Bupleurum chinense, Asarum sieboldii, dried ginger, and dandelion grown in the Qixing Temple in Shenquanji. They are cheap and of good quality..."
"I'll buy it." The reason why Doctor Sun went to the provincial capital was to find cheap medicinal herbs.
If he fails to grab it this time, he will have to make another trip to Anguo.
"Well, I'll ask someone to deliver a letter to Qixingguan and have them deliver it over." She would try her best to help anyone who was listed as one of Shen Lingzhu's own. Qixingguan was considered the master's sect of her senior sister here, and rounding it off, it was also equivalent to her master's sect.