After calculating the account, Gu Yin and Shopkeeper Zhou discussed the menu for the next day, and then went back to rest.
In fact, to leave it to future generations, there are still several empty rooms in the backyard of the store, which will be directly turned into staff dormitories, so Gu Yin and Wang will not have to run away from both ends.
But there are still many rules in this era. Even if the shopkeeper Zhou did not live in the back, it would be inconvenient for them to be women—after all, the backyard and the kitchen were separated by a small patio, and the back kitchen was mostly men, so they had to live in the back. Hanging clothes in the courtyard. Even if Gu Yin and Wang Shi didn't care, the guy would still feel uncomfortable.
Fortunately, Shiweitian has a good location, and it is only a quarter and a half away from Jinyi Alley.
Wang Shi 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 and were carried all the way to the house without waking up.
Afterwards, Mrs Wang boiled hot water and called the two of them up first.
Both Wu An and Gu Ye slept darkly, and they were both confused after being woken up.
Wu An opened his mouth and said, "The meat package is two yuan, the vegetable package is one yuan, the eight-treasure porridge is three yuan, and Chenghui is six yuan."
Gu Ye followed suit: "Kung Pao Chicken is gone, can you order something else?"
Come on, co-authoring these two guys are still working in the dream!
Wang Shi and Gu Yin were so happy that they hugged each other and carried them to the edge of the tub, and started to take off their clothes. Only then did they wake up completely. They all said that they would wash their own hands and kick their mother out.
After they finished washing, Mrs. Wang boiled the water and changed the water for Gu Yin to wash. Mrs. Wang didn't rest after washing, and had to wash all the clothes that the family changed that day. Gu Yin wanted to help, and asked Wang to push him directly back into the house.
After a busy job, the month to mid-day.
This is the first day of business. Gu Yin feels that it is not a problem to let her mother-in-law come back from work and then do housework. Although she said that these are nothing, but people are not iron, and they have to rest when they need to rest. .
You have to hire a helper yourself, and preferably a carriage or a donkey cart—
She was used to living in Zhenyi Lane, and Gu Ye had to follow the next door to learn martial arts. Gu Yin had no plans to change places for the time being. But after working all day, it takes nearly two quarters of an hour to come back, which is really torturous.
If there is a small donkey car, the family will hire a helper, and when you get home from the car, someone will boil the bath water, and you will feel comfortable when you think about it!
Before, the Wang family gave all the money in the family to Gu Yin, and today Gu Yin left all the money for tomorrow's vegetables to the shopkeeper Guan Huotou Zhou.
She opened her purse while thinking—
Only ten cents left!
Not to mention donkey carts, donkey hooves are not enough to buy one.
The next day, when Gu Yin arrived at the store, she asked the shopkeeper Zhou to write down the requirements for recruiting helpers when she wrote the notice, and then put on an apron and got busy.
Today's menu was changed again, and it was still ten items. Except for the preserved egg and lean meat porridge and steamed buns, the others were changed to sesame cakes, soup dumplings, fish wontons, and bean paste dumplings.
There were still many customers on this day, but at least there was no longer a situation where the store could not sit down and there were still long queues outside.
Not long after the door was opened, Mrs. Wen came over with her legs on.
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 today.
Gu Yin had long thought that he was coming over today, and reserved a window seat for him.
Mrs. 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 dishes for ordering have 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 vegetable sticks for the old man to choose.
The sticks were placed in two sticks, one with the top of the head painted in white representing the white case made by Gu Yin, and the other painted in red representing the red case made by the shopkeeper Zhou.
It was still early, so the old man took out a random one from the white case, and Gu Yin read the sign and went to the kitchen to prepare it.
…
When Bai Zixi arrived at his restaurant, he found that there were fewer guests in his restaurant today.
Although ordinary restaurants, like Wangyuelou in the past, are mainly engaged in the business of lunch and evening markets, the Hanxiang Restaurant in the Bai family is different. Their chefs are known for their white work skills - the second master of the Bai family. I went to the Liangguang Restaurant to beg and begged the corporal Li Xian, and paid a lot of money to invite him, so Hanxianglou is mainly engaged in morning market business. Basically, the profit of the morning market can account for half of the whole day.
Finding that there were fewer people, Bai Zixi immediately summoned the shopkeeper to inquire about the situation.
The shopkeeper said with a smile on his face, "The third young master asked me, how did I know? You and the second master are in charge of the back kitchen, so I, the shopkeeper, can control whether or not to keep the guests."
Hanxianglou was founded by the old man Bai. The old man has two sons, and now they are managed together by two people.
In the front hall, the people in the big room are in charge, and the kitchen in the back is in charge of the second room where Bai Zixi is.
It's not a day or two that the people in the two rooms don't show signs of it. Bai Zixi didn't ask him any more questions, but found an empty seat at the door to sit down and listen to the guests chat.
A regular customer was just about to enter the store when a friend he knew happened to pass by and stopped him and said, "Why are you still here, Lao Li? It's almost time to open the door, hurry up, or you'll be late. No place to sit."
The regular customer waved his hand and said, "If I don't go, I just love to eat the soup dumplings in Hanxiang Lou, which can't be eaten at other places. Also, although I didn't go yesterday, I heard people say, only Selling those things, what's so delicious about the steamed buns?"
"Hey, you didn't go yesterday, don't you know? People's menus are changed every day! If you didn't have one yesterday, I'm sure you will have one today? And I asked the little lady about it yesterday, They will be open for ordering in the next two days, if you don't have it, you can order it yourself."
There are no diners who are not looking for something fresh, and Lao Li is also a little moved when he hears this. His friend then lowered his voice and persuaded: "Hanxianglou is a feature that costs tens of pennies, and people's food is cheap. It’s only a few cents a piece, and the features are definitely not too expensive! Come on, don’t you pretend to be good at eating, 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, and I have to go back to the shop after eating in the morning."
Seeing that he was about to leave, Old Li hurriedly followed, "Wait for me, I'll go with you, but let's go ahead, we're not people with a few tens of pennies, if it doesn't taste good, I won't believe you anymore. already."
"Hey, don't worry! Even if the dim sum is unpalatable, the authentic 'Mr. Wen's porridge' is not a fake. Didn't you think the pier is far away, haven't you tried it yet? Just try it together."
The two said and left.
The name "Grandpa Wen's Porridge" can be 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, selling only two per day. The porridge in a porridge bucket is often sold out as soon as it is placed.
Where can a bowl of porridge be delicious for two cents? Thinking like this, Bai Zixi had never eaten it before, but felt that this porridge was sold so well because of the name of Mrs. Wen.
He continued to sit at the door, and although there was no more cases of guests who came to the door being pulled away, within half an hour of Bai Zixi's sitting, he had heard many guests mention that food is heaven.
And almost all of them are praised, saying that what her family sells is mediocre, but in conclusion, it is delicious! It's absolutely delicious for that price!
Of course, there are also bad things, but it's not about eating, but complaining that there were too many people yesterday, and there was a queue outside for a long time when I went late, and I didn't even make it to the morning market, only to catch up with the lunch market. Although the hot dishes in the lunch market cover several different cuisines, they are delicious and affordable. They are still from the shopkeeper Zhou, who used to work in Mochizuki Tower. However, those of them who love to eat Baian dim sum are still worried that they have not eaten them. Morning market stuff.
Hearing this, Bai Zixi finally couldn't sit still.
His own red case has never been a useful cook, and he has long wanted to dig up shopkeeper Zhou from Wangyuelou.
But the person from the shopkeeper Zhou admitted that he was dead, and after several contacts, their second room offered 50 taels of wages a month, but they were not able to dig anyone over.
Later, there was an accident in Wangyuelou, and Bai Er and Bai Zixi were not in the local area. When they came back, the case was settled.
It was also at this time that they heard that the shopkeeper Zhou had come to Hanxiang Building to apply for the application, but was sent away by the people in the big room.
This made their father and son angry, and they went to the old man to complain. Today, the second master Bai didn't come with him, but he was still talking about it.
Now that I heard that the shopkeeper Zhou went to the little-known Shiweitian, Bai Zixi immediately inquired about the location and rushed back.
When he arrived, Shiweitian was already full of guests, and there was only one table left in the corner.
He followed Wang's instructions to get a few plates and bought all the food on the counter, which cost less than 30 cents in total.
Thirty wen is not enough to order a special feature in his house, this shop is too shabby!
How could someone like Shopkeeper Zhou let such a small shop leak
The more Bai Zixi thought about it, the more angry he became. He sat down in the corner with a dinner plate, picked up a flower roll and stuffed it into his mouth—
The flower roll is as soft as a cloud, and it melts in the mouth almost without chewing, filling a mouthful of fine grains. And the scallion fragrance on the rolls is even more difficult to ignore. The slightly salty scallion flavor, paired with the soft dough, is harmonious as if they were born to match.
The simpler things are, the more you look at Kung Fu. Ordinary people may only find it delicious when they eat them, but for people like Bai Zixi, they can taste other things.
This... this is only for a penny! ! !
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 to eat. The fish ravioli is fragrant and smooth, and the fish is not fishy at all, but it is very delicious. Not to mention the bean paste bag, the bean paste inside is sweet but not greasy, the fragrance is fragrant, the delicate bean paste rolls on the tip of the tongue, and when it slides down the throat, it makes people want to close their eyes with happiness. And the well-known "Grandpa Wen's Porridge", the dark preserved egg does not look very good, but the taste is mellow and strong, and it is a taste that even he has never tasted...
The result is that it tastes outrageous no matter what!
Injustice! The owner of this food is not a person. It doesn't count if you miss a shopkeeper Zhou. Where did you find such a powerful white case master? Master, you can only cook food for a few pennies, won't your heart hurt
Mrs. Wen sat opposite Bai Zixi. This seat was a VIP seat reserved for him by Gu Yinte, so there was no one at his table.
The old man was waiting for Gu Yin to make a snack for herself, so she just bought a bowl of preserved egg and lean meat porridge to drink.
The shop was full, and when Bai Zixi proposed to join the table, the old man nodded in agreement.
Bai Zixi bought the food for several people by himself. It's a little strange. What's even more strange is that every time this person eats the same thing, the expression on his face will change. It seems that he likes it and is angry. Happy.
Mrs. Wen didn't have much fun when Gu Yin came over with a small steamer. In the steamer were five steaming crystal shrimp dumplings.
The practice of crystal shrimp dumplings is not particularly complicated. Remove the shrimp heads from the live shrimp, pick the shrimp lines, chop half of the shrimp into shrimp paste, cut half of the shrimp into pieces, then cut the minced ginger and water chestnuts, put them all into the shrimp meat, and add salt. , sugar and pepper to taste, then stir in one direction, beat it a few times, and finally add some oil to make the meat stuffing.
Then put wheat starch and potato starch in a large bowl, a little salt, add boiling water and stir while pouring, and finally add a little lard and knead into a dough. This kneading is a kung fu job. It is necessary to thoroughly knead the dough, knead the particles in it, and knead it until it is smooth and delicate. Finally, roll the dough into long strips, cut into small doses, wrap the cooled shrimp stuffing in the shape of a crescent moon, and finally steam for five minutes on high heat, and the crystal shrimp dumplings will be ready to serve.
The shrimp dumplings are uniform in size, and the dumpling skin is as thin as a cicada's wing, revealing the pink shrimp meat inside, which is crystal clear and makes people appetizing just by looking at it.
"I just bought and peeled the shrimp, so I'll let you wait a little longer. You can try it while it's still hot."
The old man likes to eat shrimp. When he saw the shrimp dumplings in the steamer, he smiled and said, "It seems that I am lucky today. I like to smoke one at random."
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 inside was extremely light, but it restored the deliciousness of the shrimp 100%. The fresh and sweet taste lingers in the mouth for a long time, and the aftertaste is endless.
There are only five in a small cage, 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 it's more than that."
"Give me a basket of these shrimp dumplings too!" Bai Zixi thought about it after saying this, "It's not only this, what else does your master Bai An have good at? Give me a recipe for each one!"
Gu Yin said no, and Bai Zixi said, "Do you think I can't pay the money?"
In order to show that he was not short of money, Bai Zixi also unpacked his bulging purse and put it on the table.
There are a total of 30 dishes of Gu Yin's specialty in the lottery box. When customers come to order food, of course, she doesn't look down on others, or thinks it's hard and troublesome, and refuses to cook 30 dishes in one go, but... she has no money!
Laodi has explained the decoration and custom-made items in the store. There is no money to prepare the raw materials for these exquisite snacks. Otherwise, as for the old man ordering a crystal shrimp dumpling, she has to go out to buy shrimp temporarily
Therefore, even if the not-poor owner in front of him took out his bulging money bag, Gu Yin couldn't buy all the ingredients for the dim sum for a while.
It's not easy to tell the story, Gu Yin only said: "Please don't be impatient, our characteristics are not expensive, such as the shrimp dumplings that the old man just ate, only 30 cents per basket, so I am not I felt that you couldn’t afford the money and refused. But it will take a day to make these thirty desserts, and you can’t finish it all by yourself. The main reason is that our order has not yet opened.”
Anyway, I have to allow her to earn a few days to earn the money for the expensive ingredients! Doing business without liquidity really kills people, and Gu Yin is now regretting that he has invested all his capital.
Bai Zixi frowned and said, "Ordering hasn't opened yet, so how did this old man order? He can order, but I can't. What's the point?"
Mrs. Wen looked at Gu Yin in embarrassment, and immediately said: "I have deposited money in advance, I am a VIP!"
This statement is actually correct. He waived Gu Yin's rent for 12 taels a year, which is equivalent to buying a VIP seat for 10 taels. Of course, Gu Yin only opened the back door for him because of her relationship with the old man, but it would make the new customer feel that Gu Yin divided them into three, six, nine, and so, so the old man didn't mention those, only money.
"Can you pre-deposit as a VIP? Then I will also save, how much have you saved, old man?"
"Twelve."
"I saved it! Quickly bring the lottery bowl that the old man said. 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 is the old Li who was pulled by a friend from Hanxianglou. After eating the steamed buns and cakes, he felt that he was right, but he still prefers delicate desserts. He heard the sound and said, "You The soup dumplings at home are really delicious, tender and juicy, and full of fragrance. I prefer soup dumplings. Come, I will save one and make me a cage of soup dumplings every morning."
His friend laughed when he heard it, and said, "Lao Li, you are not happy when I called you in the morning. Now, if you save 10 taels, you can save it?"
Lao Li was ashamed by his jokes, and said, "I thank you for bringing me here. Are these 10 taels counted as a success for the two of us to save together? I'll invite you to eat the morning meal for half a month."
His friend waved his hand dismissively and said no, "I save one myself."
I don't know who mumbled a word later and said, "The chef has two hands and one person. Now three people have saved it, and they all ordered their favorite food. Can you make more than one? No way, I'd still line up early."
Because of this, there are two more deposits of silver in advance.
Gu Yin received fifty taels of silver in one fell swoop!
Now don't talk about recruiting a few court servants and domestic helpers, it's enough to recruit anything! Pony carts and donkey carts can also be arranged!
In fact, when she found out that the money was in short supply, she also thought about whether to offer a pre-deposit discount for opening a membership card like a modern store, but then she thought that such stores are usually chained and guaranteed, or they have loud signs and certain customer base.
Modern people deposit members are still afraid that unscrupulous stores will run away. People in this era are more conservative, and they are afraid that it will not work.
There is no foundation, no loud signboard, but there are old customers, but they are either out-of-town guests who come to taste the porridge for Mrs. Wen's name and whose home is not yet local, or the poor people on the wharf, who can come to support them yesterday. It's not easy to go to a new store, and you can't expect them to keep cash at home.
So she thought about at least building up her own reputation first, and then starting this VIP membership system to attract members.
Unexpectedly, there will be no shadows and willows, and members will be recruited on the second day of opening - and they are all rich and powerful, and they save ten taels!
After receiving the money, Gu Yin also gave them a receipt, which was recorded in the account book, so that they would use this note to eat in the future, and then debit the money from the account.
She finally gave Bai Zixi a deposit slip, because she was grateful to him for taking the lead, she said: "Would it be convenient for you to come over tomorrow? Make the five dishes you want first. If you have a good meal, you will have time to make them."
Bai Zixi met her dark, bright eyes, and said without feeling ashamed, "Let's do five dishes first, don't be in a hurry, if you do too much, I won't be able to finish it, it's always bad to waste food. But I'll be there sooner."
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 to take time off in the daytime? I don't know that now is the most important time for our family?!"
The old man Bai is very old and his health is not very good. Especially during the Chinese New Year this year, he was seriously ill. The doctor said that it was time to prepare for the funeral. Although he saved his life at the back, he was indeed running out of fuel and would die at any time.
It is precisely because of this that the second room of the Bai family's first room has been fighting more and more recently, so I thought about showing off well in front of the old man. It will keep shopkeeper Zhou out of the door - he is the person who Bai Er's master has always been talking about to poach corners, and when he enters the back kitchen, he is naturally a person in the second room.
The big house has two sons, and the second elder Bai has only one son, Bai Zixi.
Bai Zixi is pure filial piety and has a straight mind. Unlike the two nephews in the big room who follow their father and have a heart, the second master Bai naturally regards him as a pain in the eye, but now that the family is about to be separated, the second master Bai will Some hate that iron is not steel.
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 'Shiweitian', so I went to take a look."
"What's 'food for the sky', is it amazing?"
Bai Zixi told Shiweitian's special ordering mechanism to Mr. Bai Er.
After listening to the second master Bai, he said, "Although this method is novel, it seems that all the food is cheap, and it can't compete with us. Is it worth it for you to go there for half the morning?"
"It's more than that! My son went there because he heard that the shopkeeper Zhou went to that house."
Hearing him talk about Shopkeeper Zhou, Master Bai's face also changed, gritted his teeth and said, "That one in the big room doesn't worry, while our father and son are going out of town to talk business, keep Shopkeeper Zhou out of the door! Good red. Master Chef, how did you end up in that kind of place!"
Bai Zixi thought for a while and said, "My son thought the same idea as his father at first, but today I went to try it out. Although the shop is small, the chef Bai An is amazing! It's the most common thing like Hanamaki steamed buns. Everything is very delicious, but unfortunately I haven't tasted the characteristics of his family, and I can't fully understand the strength of his family... But it doesn't matter, I saved 12 taels of cash to become the VIP of that family, and I can eat it tomorrow!"
After hearing this, Mr. Bai Er laughed angrily, "You went to inspect your peers, and then saved 10 taels of silver with your peers, and became their VIP?"
Bai Zixi's back was chilled by his father's laughter, but when he thought about it, he didn't feel that he did anything wrong, and he said, "Yes, yes, people who don't become VIPs don't give them special features. Fortunately, I act fast, I am The first one to save today, I ordered a full five! Like the ones who followed me, they can only order one!"
Second Master Bai pointed at him and asked, "Do you remember why you went to other people's store?"
"For shopkeeper Zhou!"
"Then have you seen Shopkeeper Zhou?"
"No, my son has inquired about it. Shiweitian is newly opened. There is a shortage of staff in the store. The shopkeeper Zhou is busy in the back kitchen. He will only come to the front during the lunch market. The son thought that his father should find me, so he came back first. No problem. 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."
Mr. Bai Er took a deep breath, took a deep breath, repeated the inhalation and exhalation four or five times, and finally swallowed the scolding words back in his stomach.