The plaque of the shop was done by Mrs. Wen.
Horizontal and vertical, the three big italic characters of "Food is the sky" are decently squared, and two private seals with different fonts are tapped in the lower right corner. Although it is simple, it has a sense of grandeur.
Not to mention the materials used, Gu Yin didn't recognize them anyway, but felt that the glossy wood hanging in front of her own shop raised the level of the entire shop.
The day before the opening, Mrs. Wen also said that he hired someone to come for the lion dance. Gu Yin was also a little moved at the time. Of course, the more lively the opening, the better, and after watching so many lively lion dances in TV series, who wouldn’t want to see them with their own eyes? See what
After inquiring about the price, Gu Yin could only... Excuse me, leave!
Of course, the expenses for publicity are definitely necessary. Gu Yin renewed the lease for the stall on the dock for a month, but she no longer let anyone go there. She only set up a card to indicate the location and opening time of her new store, and then she also thought of the future Popular flyers.
At this time, printing was not yet popular, and unless you paid for a printing plate yourself, it would be more cost-effective for someone to transcribe it.
Later, Wu An took over the job. Anyway, he had to practice calligraphy at home every day. Gu Yin only wanted to be understandable by ordinary people, not beautiful.
In half a month he wrote a total of 100 flyers. Although the number is not large, the number of literate people in the town is not particularly large, and it is enough to put it in the wealthy area near the Wen's and Wang's old houses.
Gu Yin gave him 100 wen wages, but he refused to accept it at first. Later, he finally persuaded Gu Yin to accept it. He turned his head and gave it to Wang, and Wang gave it to Gu Yin. Still spinning in the hands of three people.
The work of handing out flyers is done by Gu Ye. He likes to go out and wander around every day, and handing out flyers is a convenient thing. He didn't say no and said he would not accept the wages, but only said that he couldn't put it in his small purse, and asked his mother to save it for him first, and then marry a wife.
At that time, Gu Yin and Mrs. Wang couldn't stop laughing. Mrs. Wang looked at his small bean-like body and asked her, "Do you know what it means to marry a daughter-in-law?"
Gu Ye said blankly: "I don't know, but I heard people say that when you get older, you have to marry a wife and spend a lot of money."
This matter kept Gu Yin and Wang Shi happy until the opening day.
That morning, Gu Yin first had a bunch of hanging whips placed, and then came out with shopkeeper Zhou to say a few scenes one after another, even if it was a simple opening ceremony.
Because of a little bit of publicity, the trend of "Grandpa Wen's porridge" has not yet passed, and many people knew the news and came to line up in advance.
After entering the store, the customers first felt novel about the layout of the store.
Walking into the store, there are two rows of square tables against the wall on the left and right. This square table was custom-made by Gu Yin. It is a circle smaller than the original square table in the shop. Of course, it must be enough for four people, but it saves some space. , so that there were only enough places for six tables, and now there are eight tables.
The wall that had only opened a few small windows had also undergone a major renovation. The upper part was almost completely knocked out, making it a half-person-height large window. And it's not the kind of window that is pushed open from the middle, it's the kind of slatted fan, and the customer chooses to open or close the window next to him.
If it weren't for the glass of this era, which is still a rarity, Gu Yin would have arranged the floor-to-ceiling windows.
In the middle of the store, there is a large counter in the shape of a zigzag. There is a circle of single low tables and round stools around the counter, which can seat more than 30 people.
As for the space between the counter and the square table by the wall, Gu Yin originally wanted to make a smaller table for two, but after a rough calculation, the store can now seat 60 or 70 people. As a newly opened store, This capacity should be sufficient, so it will be put on hold for now.
There were four service staff in the store. The lead was Mrs. Wang at that time, then Mrs. Xu and another pair of Mrs. Tian who lived together in Zhenyi Lane.
Mrs. Xu was invited by Mrs. Wang. Of course, she wanted to do good things together, but in fact, Mrs. Wang was afraid that she would not be happy at first. elegant.
But Xu Shi did not expect that he would accept it in one bite.
The Xu family's income is only the rent of two small yards, which is seven or eight taels of silver a year. This money is only half of Xu Qingchuan's beam repair.
In recent years, he has mainly eaten the old money left by the Xu family.
But the contribution is far greater than the income. After the old money has been eaten for these years, Xu's hand has not much money. Especially after the spring of this year, she found that Xu Qingchuan was copying books for the bookstore in private, and she felt more and more uncomfortable.
She really wanted to find a job to do, but there were not many places to recruit female workers in the town, and she was pampered in the first half of her life, and she didn't have any skills. All she could find was the work of washing and sewing. This kind of work is not only hard, but also She made a small amount of money. She wanted to do this kind of work several times, but Xu Qingchuan refused. He also said that he wanted to read books in private, and copying books was only for reviewing the old and learning the new.
Wang's invitation was tantamount to giving help in the snow to Xu.
She responded immediately. Later, Mrs. Wang said that there were still two people left in the store, Mrs. Xu recommended her to Tian’s mother and daughter who lived in Zhenyi Lane.
The Xu family also moved here later, while the Tian family has always lived in Zhenyi Lane. They can talk because Tian Shi is also a widowed mother and a daughter.
Tian's life was really rough. The young man lost his husband and took his daughter alone to seek a living. After finally waiting for her daughter to grow up and marry someone, her son-in-law also asked the imperial court to enlist into the army a few years ago, but there was no news.
Her daughter's mother-in-law was also cruel. Thinking that her youngest son would probably not be able to come back, she drove her daughter back to her parents' home, claiming to the outside world that it was Tian Shi and her daughter who were in bad luck, otherwise how could the mother be a widow? When the daughter's marriage is less than a year, the husband is also on the front line, and his life and death are uncertain
Tian's mother and daughter had a bad reputation under the propaganda of the mother-in-law, and the work of sewing and pulping was very difficult - after all, there were many people who believed in those in this era, so they were somewhat taboo.
After making the recommendation, Mrs. Xu also told these facts truthfully, and added: "Tian's mother and daughter are both quick-witted and diligent people, even in the cold winter and twelfth lunar month, the well water is piercing, and they have never delayed their work, just their reputation... So I just Recommended, it's up to you whether you use it or not."
Gu Yin wanted Wang to take up the position of lobby manager in later generations, so she delegated the power to recruit people.
Immediately, Mr. Wang said indifferently: "Whatever you do, my Qingyi has been criticized for a bad fate in the early years! I want to say that this is what those warlocks deliberately made up to deceive people. I don't believe in fate. Yes, it is better to believe in yourself than to believe in those!"
Later, under the recommendation of Mrs. Xu, Mrs. Wang and the mother and daughter of the Tian family met. It was exactly as Mrs. Xu said, both mother and daughter were able to work at first sight. Although the clothes on their bodies were old and could not see the color, they were clean. Flat, with calluses on both hands and scars from severe frostbite, and the house is in good order.
Wang himself is a person who loves cleanliness. He felt very satisfied at the moment, but he didn't finish his words. After returning, he discussed with Gu Yin.
Gu Yin didn't even pay attention to those who were evil or not, and let the Wang family make the decision.
So the four maids headed by the Wang family were also ready to go. They were wearing uniform light yellow dresses, so light that if they were a little dirty, they could be seen clearly. But as long as it's cleaned, just looking at it makes people feel that the store's things are extra clean.
Their heads were covered with cloth towels of the same color, and pure white cloth gloves were on their hands. They did not come out to greet the guests, but stood at the counter.
Looking at the counter, one finger-deep and three-foot-long wooden trays of uniform size were lined up neatly together.
The food on the wooden plate is naturally food, because it was in the morning when it opened, and the food in the store was mainly made by Gu Yin.
Steamed buns, flower rolls, meat cabbage buns, bean curd, leek cakes, meat patties, eight-treasure porridge, green vegetable porridge, and of course the most famous preserved egg lean meat porridge... There are as many as ten types, all displayed on a wooden plate.
And there is a price tag in front of everything. Steamed buns and rolls are worth 1 cent each, vegetable buns and leek cakes are worth 2 cents, meat buns and meat patties are 3 cents, vegetable porridge is 2 cents a bowl, and eight-treasure porridge and bean curd will take some work. The most famous preserved egg and lean meat porridge is three cents a bowl.
In fact, under the name of "Grandpa Wen's Porridge", some people will buy it even if it is twice as expensive, but Gu Yin thought that when her family was not famous, this porridge was sold for two cents for a large bowl. For fame, I only mention a penny, but the bowls in the store are not sea bowls, just the size of a home-cooked bowl. I mention a penny, but there will be more preserved eggs, and the profit is already a little more than before.
Gu Yin pushed out a wooden cart and said with a smile, "Please pick up the dinner plate here."
The guests felt novel everywhere, so naturally they answered her words and took their plates.
The wooden dinner plate is also custom-made, which is like the stainless steel dinner plate used in the cafeterias of later generations. There is a large grid and several small grids. There is a groove in the upper right corner, which just fits the wooden bowl.
After getting the plate, the guests went to the counter to choose their food. From one end to the other, the tail was the cashier. There were two small signs "Cashier" and "Order" on the counter. , let the guests pay the meal fee together after choosing, of course, if there are other things they want to eat, they can also order food here, hand over the money, and get a lottery.
But because today is the first day of opening, the special order has not yet opened.
This cash register work is naturally done by the Wang family, but because everyone rushed in on the first day, it was definitely too late to check the cash alone, so Gu Yin asked Wu An to use the ten-day leave, he stood on the small bench and Wang Shi together to collect money inside.
Wu An's arithmetic is really good. Gu Yin told him the price once, and he remembered it all. As long as he glanced at the food on the plate, he could immediately calculate the price, which was almost as fast as the scanning equipment of later generations. Slow, so even if there was a long queue in the store that day, the checkout speed did not slow down.
After the meal is finished, the guests can sit down and eat at any place in the hall.
The steamed buns are small and delicate, extremely soft, and if you chew them twice, they will immediately melt in your mouth, leaving only the sweetness of a mouthful of refined grains.
The outer skin of the cabbage cake is also fragrant and soft, and the vegetable stuffing inside has the aroma of lard, which is delicious and delicious.
The meat of the meat patty is even more full of gravy, and the mouth is full of fragrance when you bite it, and it is so delicious that you can close your eyes.
The bean curd is fragrant and smooth, the eight-treasure porridge is fragrant, and the most famous Wen Lao Tai Ye porridge is more mellow and special because of the extra preserved egg.
In the beginning, most people just came for the name of "Grandpa Wen's Porridge". Later, when they saw others buying anything, they would be surprised and praised twice, so they went to the counter to buy the food next to them.
After the meal, the guests gave Gu Yin a thumbs up.
Especially the regular customers on the pier who came to take care of her business specially, and even praised: "I only ate a few dishes made by the little lady before. I didn't expect the little lady to be so much at this age."
Gu Yin smiled and said, "Actually, I'll be there. From now on, there will be a sign at the door every morning, with the special dishes of the day written on it."
While they were talking, the well-fed guests went out one after another, but the number of guests queuing outside was gradually increasing.
Mainly, the two wide open windows facing the street exposed Gu Yin's food to the outside.
Not to mention the fragrance, anyway, passers-by have to pause when they smell it, and then look at the look of the diners sitting inside enjoying their meals. Even if they are not very hungry, they will think about whether they can still eat.
After about half an hour, Shopkeeper Zhou came out of the back kitchen, and together with Mrs. Wang, they removed the large plates that were almost sold out on the counter.
The guests who were queuing outside saw it through the big window and immediately stopped working, shouting: "We haven't queued up yet! What's the matter with you taking everything away? Did you only prepare so much food on the first day of opening? ?"
Gu Yin came out and explained with a smile: "Don't be impatient, the food in the morning is indeed sold short, but look at this day..."
The opening time was the time she deliberately chose between the morning meal and lunch, so after a round of the morning meal was sold, the sun was on its way, and it was close to noon.
"So it's not that we don't sell it, but our lunch market is already open."
After explaining, Gu Yin moved the standing sign of the morning market at the entrance into the hall, and replaced it with another sign of the lunch market, with red paper on it, which said the dishes of today's lunch market.
Just after the brand was changed, Shopkeeper Zhou, Mrs. Wang and others had already placed new large wooden plates on the counter.
The lunch market is naturally the home of the shopkeeper Zhou. Braised pork, fried crispy pork, Kung Pao chicken, fried pork with cabbage, eight treasures tofu, vinegared cabbage, and Shiweitian’s unique preserved egg tofu… Hot and cold dishes, meat and vegetables All.
Five cents a spoonful of meat dishes, three cents a spoonful of half meat dishes, and two cents a spoonful of vegetarian dishes. The spoons are all long-handled wooden spoons that are used for scooping porridge. One spoon is just enough to cover a grid of the plate. The staple food can choose steamed bread and rice, hand-rolled noodles, steamed buns are still a penny, rice is a penny a spoonful, hand-made noodles are not expensive, a big bowl of three cents, the bowl is a sea bowl, if you want noodles, you can add vegetables as toppings .
It's like an ordinary man with a big appetite, three cents a bowl of plain noodles, plus two cents a spoonful of vegetarian toppings, five cents can also be full in it.
However, the people who came to cheer on that day were all people with a decent living standard in the town, and they all tried several kinds of hot dishes with a variety of colors and flavors.
The menu was drawn up with the help of Gu Yin. At that time, she also inquired about Shopkeeper Zhou's specialty dishes, for fear that the home-cooked dishes she thought of were not within the scope of Shopkeeper Zhou's expertise.
Unexpectedly, shopkeeper Zhou gave her another surprise.
Shopkeeper Zhou is from the capital. Unlike Chef Xu, who is a layman who has learned a little about the fur, he learned it from chefs of various cuisines in his own restaurant as a child. It was only after the family fell out that he came out to make a living.
He knew most of the dishes Gu Yin said, and even if he didn't know, after listening to her how to do it, Shopkeeper Zhou would be able to make it right away.
The hot dishes are full of flavor and flavor, and the flavor spreads farther than those of the Baian dim sum.
Outside, the dissatisfied guests who watched them remove the wooden plate immediately stopped complaining, and just smelled the fragrance while urging the people inside to come out quickly after eating.
Some of the guests at the tables next to the window were so troublesome that they closed the window beside them, and some were cramped. Eating with white steamed buns doesn't count, and he deliberately shouted praise.
"Oh, this braised pork is fat but not greasy, so fragrant!"
"This Kung Pao Chicken, cucumbers and peanuts are all crunchy, this chicken is extra smooth and fragrant!"
"This preserved egg tofu. Wow, it turns out that this black preserved egg can also be used as a salad, it's delicious!"
The people queuing outside asked him angrily, "Why do you say fragrant, fragrant, delicious! Can you change the word?"
The man smiled proudly: "What about me? I'm happy! Oh, it's delicious!"
I was mad at the guests outside and greedy, but seeing that he really eats deliciously, I have been queuing for so long, and it is about to be my turn, so I can't go straight!
Gu Yin predicted that there would be many guests on the first day, but she didn't expect it to be like this. Seeing that the guests by the window would make the people queuing outside anxious, she simply opened a separate take-out window temporarily.
There is no disposable tableware in this era, so the food box that was taken out was also custom-made by Gu Yin, which is a wooden bento box.
This box has to add two cents, but if you wash it and return it after eating, the two cents can be refunded.
The guests outside looked towards the large window to see the dishes inside. After ordering, Gu Ye took the money and gave it to Gu Yin. Gu Yin was in charge of packing the bento, and then he was in charge of sending the bento out.
Dine-in and take-out are two-pronged, and by noon, the hot dishes in the store are already sold out.
Just when the guests who didn't have the rounds later felt discouraged, the shopkeeper Zhou had already prepared a new round of dishes.
But even so, it was another hour, and the dishes were still sold out.
But fortunately, there were no customers who did not eat at this time, and everyone in the store could finally take a breath and take advantage of this time to eat lunch.
Gu Yin and Shopkeeper Zhou rested for half an hour, and then they entered the back kitchen to prepare the evening food to be sold in the evening market.
In the evening market, red and white cases are mixed, with five kinds of steamed buns, dim sum, porridge and hot dishes, but both of them are fast, and they can complete all of them in an hour.
When it was time to eat the evening meal, the shop began to come in again.
Of course, after a lively day, there were fewer guests in the evening. Especially in this era, people pay attention to working at sunrise and resting at sunset. There are no entertainment activities in the town. Every family eats early and sleeps early, so they arrived At the beginning of Xu Shi, that is, after seven o'clock in the evening, the store even ended the day's business.
After it was over, Mrs. Wang let Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Tian go back to rest, while she stayed behind to do the follow-up cleaning work.
Gu Yinze reconciled with Shopkeeper Zhou. She really did not expect that business would be so hot today. At that time, she felt that she could be responsible for bookkeeping, but later she was in charge of packing lunch boxes. Shopkeeper Zhou also cooked two rounds of dishes. Can go to the front to help.
But fortunately, I remember the account of grocery shopping clearly, and a gross profit can be calculated by subtracting the cost of grocery shopping from one day's turnover.
Gu Yin didn't plan to make plans, but shopkeeper Zhou played the abacus very fast. After one pass, the gross profit on the first day was about fifty taels of silver.
Wang was mopping the floor next to him, and when he heard the number five taels, he almost fell to the ground in shock.
Five two! ! ! This is half a year's worth of chewing for ordinary people in one day!
Gu Yin said helplessly: "Mother be careful, it's not that you earn five taels, it's not over yet."
Of course, the gross profit is not accurate, because the labor costs are 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 a day.
That’s 90 taels a month, the sum of the monthly money of the four maids of the Wang family is 22 taels, the shopkeeper Zhou is 22 taels a month, and the chef Xu and his apprentice have not yet come, so they have hired five temporary chefs. Helpers, five people add up to 12 taels a month, and three or four taels of rent per month, in addition to paying taxes, firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea, and burning firewood are all silver money, plus the wear and tear of utensils , it is also necessary to spread it out for twelve ounces a month.
If you can earn forty taels a month, even if the business is very prosperous.
Since there were no outsiders, Gu Yin had counted all these for Wang Shi, and Wang Shi was still excited after hearing it.
The initial investment is more than 70 taels, and I earn 40 taels a month. Isn’t it possible to pay back the cost in less than two months? In her opinion, this is really no different from falling pie from the sky.
Zhou Zhangui waited for Wang to laugh enough, and then said: "Actually, the owner has missed something. The owner does the most work, and the back kitchen and the front hall are busy. In addition to the owner's craftsmanship, the wages of 20 taels can't be less. of."
This sentence made Wang calm down, yes, the daughter-in-law does the work of several people by herself, and does not pay herself to start the work, so it seems that she is making a lot of money. If, like other companies, the owner only does simple and coordinated work, and hires a chef with a salary of 22 taels on the white case, in fact, the profit of the entire store is only about 22 taels in the first month, which is still a good business situation. Down.
Wang Shi immediately made a decision: "No, you have to pay yourself twenty-two wages!"
Gu Yin didn't argue with her about this, she just said: "Let's not talk about those, I think we have to recruit people. Today, Wu An and Ono are both there, and the two little guys have also done a lot of work, but Wu An wants to study. Ono wants to learn martial arts, so it's impossible to keep them in the store all the time. After all, they have to recruit more people."
The matter of recruiting people in the front has always been in charge of Mrs. Wang. In order to save money, she thought that adding four of her own people would be enough. Today, after such a day of business, she knew that Gu Yin was right.
She nodded and said, "Zhao, listen to you!"
Anyway, a court waiter spends two and a half taels a month, but the two people add up to an extra tael of silver a month.
Although the money in the future has not yet been obtained, Mr. Wang, who is used to being frugal and can't wait to split a penny into two halves, already feels that a tael of silver is nothing!
After speaking, Mrs. Wang reflected again: "Actually, I really don't understand this. Just make up your mind at the beginning. You shouldn't listen to me and save money."
Gu Yin touched her nose and said, "It's not my mother's fault. In fact, I thought at first that I could save a little bit."
Wang Shi strangely asked her why, after all, Gu Yinge was never stingy with the money she spent, not like someone who would disrupt her plans for a few taels of silver.
"Why else?" Gu Yin looked at Wang Shi and then at Shopkeeper Zhou.
At first, she really thought it would be fine to spend 20 taels to buy things and dress them simply. Many of the things that she has now come up with are what she plans to buy after the money is gone. After all, after a detailed discussion, almost all of them are replaced with Everything is made to order, and the price is much more expensive than those you can buy now!
However, after hearing her expectations, Mrs. Wang and Shopkeeper Zhou were extremely supportive. Mrs. Wang told her to do it anyway, anyway, if the money was not enough, she would go and ask Wang Dafu for a debt. The shopkeeper Zhou is also a bit "outrageous", saying that he will be paid a few months later to start the work. Anyway, the house he rented has been returned, and now he lives in the backyard of Shiweitian. The food and accommodation are in the store, and there is no cost .
Under the encouragement of the two of them, Gu Yin figured out all the things she expected, and this is how she is now.
So don't look at some people who are glamorous and bright, and the business in the store is extremely hot. In fact, only tomorrow's grocery shopping money is in their pockets!