First of all, the milk tea that was made for the old man was first remade.
As for the home version of cola made before, because there was no baking soda in this era, Gu Yin used alkaline water—that is, water after clarification of plant ash water instead. The taste of alkali was too strong and the taste was not good, so it was abandoned. .
Then mung bean soup and sour plum soup.
These two things are very common in modern times, and Gu Yin is very familiar with them.
The first is mung bean soup. After cleaning the mung bean, soak it in boiling water for a quarter of an hour, let it cool and then freeze it on ice. After freezing it into ice cubes, put it directly into the pot, and boil it in a casserole for a quarter of an hour. Add some sugar, and finally turn to low heat and simmer for a quarter of an hour.
The sour plum soup is made of tangerine peel, hawthorn, mulberry, licorice, black plum and dried tangerine peel in proportion. Soak it for an hour, then put it in a pot to boil, turn to low heat and simmer for half an hour, and finally add rock sugar to taste and filter impurities. .
Of course, considering the cost, there is not much sugar in the beverages sold outside, mainly because of the sweetness of the food itself.
The milk tea is fragrant, the mung bean soup is sandy and glutinous, and the sour plum soup smells sour.
Gu Yin is a loyal milk tea party, so she first took a bowl of milk tea and sipped it.
Shopkeeper Zhou, Mrs. Wang and the others also started drinking.
Shopkeeper Zhou likes sour plum soup the most, while women including Wang's prefer milk tea like Gu Yin.
While drinking, Gu Yin thought with some regret in her heart that the store opened in April missed the time to store ice in winter.
I originally thought that saltpeter could be used to make ice, and the saltpeter could be evaporated, recrystallized, and recycled, but unfortunately, this thing was the raw material for explosives—one sulfur two nitrate three charcoal, which is the saltpeter. The folks control saltpeter very strictly, and it is hard to buy some that are only enough to produce one or two pots of ice. Of course, there are also ships on the canal that transport ice and sell ice, but the price of buying ice in this season is several times higher than in winter. Shiweitian is a cheap business, and the profit is not enough to cover the ice money.
If these drinks don't have ice in summer, the fun will be less than half.
In particular, the Dragon Boat Festival will be held in the town, and people from Shili Baxiang and other small towns will come to watch the fun. At that time, they may not have the effort and spare money to go out for a meal, but it is completely affordable to buy a refreshing drink to quench their thirst.
If there is no ice, the drink will be hot as soon as it is put outside, and I know that it can't be sold, so I can only sell it in the store.
Gu Yin was worried in this room, and Mrs. Wen came over for dinner.
The Wen family is only a quarter of an hour away from food. After Chef Xu left, Mr. Wen Er invited a cook next to him, but because he still only paid 5 taels of silver a month, he asked to cook food for a large family. There are few cooks like Chef Xu who are 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 the Wen family couldn't eat food when he came back from school.
So now the old man eats all three meals outside.
Seeing that the old man was sweating profusely, Gu Yin brought a bowl of chilled sour plum soup over to him, "It's getting hotter every day, otherwise I'll have someone deliver it to you when it's time for dinner, or I'll have Wu An give it to you when he's gone after lunch. Do you bring one too?"
"No need, sweating more after summer is good for your health."
The sweet and sour plum soup at the entrance is very thirst-quenching, and the cold air travels down the esophagus to the stomach, and the heat of early summer is suddenly relieved.
"It's comfortable to eat something cool after summer." The old man let out a comfortable sigh, "Are you tinkering with something new to sell?"
"Yes, but it probably won't sell too much. There's no ice in the store," Gu Yinwei said, "It's not easy to buy saltpeter."
"What's so difficult about this?" The old man squinted at her with an 'I can do it' expression.
Gu Yin pursed her lips and smiled: "Hey, do you always have a way to buy saltpeter?"
Of course, the old man has a way to buy more saltpeter, but this is not what he said, "Isn't it just ice, the rich households in the town will have it, and generally they can't be used up. I'll ask someone to borrow some for you. Wait for the winter. You will still be there when the time comes."
Chef Xu went to the front to help, and whispered when he heard the words: "Where can I borrow it? Wen's family has it. Every winter, a cellar is full."
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 for a cellar every year, but in a season like this, they won't be able to open a cellar. In dog days, some masters can use some ice in their houses, and other servants are still I can't touch it at all, 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 he bought ice last winter, but he was so angry at that time that he didn't even ask about the affairs of the house. Now that he has not seen the ice in the summer, he thought that Mr. Wen Er was too stingy and didn't save it in winter. He frowned and asked, "Then why does he save the ice?"
"Selling money, Wen Tieji can make a lot of money every year selling ice."
Mrs. Wen asked him, "Wen what?"
Chef Xu panicked all of a sudden, looked at Gu Yin for help, Gu Yin glanced at him, and explained to the old man, "Don't get angry with him, he's just a rude, bald man, I'll deduct his wages later."
Mrs. Wen was not angry with Chef Xu. After all, he knew that when his second son let Chef Xu out, he even asked him for 10 taels of silver. It was normal for Chef Xu to be angry, but he still felt that the second son was not. As for stinging this - it is stingy if you don't save ice in winter, but if you save it and don't use it, you turn around and sell it to earn the difference of dozens of taels of silver.
After lunch, Mr. Wen went back to Wen's house. When Mr. Wen'er came back in the afternoon, he called Mr. Wen'er into the study and told him that he wanted to open the cellar with ice.
"It's not hot today!" Mr. Wen Er's first reaction was to refuse. As soon as the cellar opened, the ice would begin to melt. Wherever the ice melts, it is silver!
Seeing that the old man's face was not worried, he then added: "You only caught the cold a while ago, so you should wait until you fall into the ambush before using ice."
"I got cold in the early spring, and now it will be the Dragon Boat Festival in a few days. What's this called the former one?" Mrs. Wen waved irritably, "The cellar will be opened today, and the servants who work in the house will be sent first. Keep half for myself, and the other half I want to give away."
Seeing that Mr. Wen Er was crying, the old man finally added: "Let's take the account of the public, and let me and you buy it?"
There was a smile on Mr. Wen Er's face, and he asked tentatively, "Is that based on winter... or is it based on the price of ice in summer?"
Grandpa Wen laughed angrily and told him to get out.
"Wen Tie Chicken, it's really not wrong!" The old man couldn't help muttering.
…
But with the help of the old man, there is still ice in Gu Yin's store.
The Wen family's cellar is large, and the half-cellar ice that is divided just fills a cellar in Shiweitian's store.
With so much ice all at once, it would be a waste 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 is available, the next step is to customize the container. The dragon boat race is held at the pier, which is quite a distance away from Shiweitian. It is difficult to attract customers there, so cold drinks have to be delivered to the pier for sale.
Because of the tight schedule this time, Gu Yin didn't have time to draw the drawings, and asked the shopkeeper Zhou to take her to find the carpenter who worked with him last time.
Shopkeeper Zhou took her to the wood shop, where Carpenter Feng was sitting on the small bench in front of the shop, working in front of the sky.
As soon as he saw them coming, Carpenter Feng jumped up from the bench and was about to run into the store.
"Old Feng, what are you running for!" Shopkeeper Zhou strode to keep up, and suddenly stopped people.
Feng Carpenter had to stand still and cried, "Old Zhou, why are you here again?"
Shopkeeper Zhou smiled and said, "How do you talk? 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 had many children. During the festival, make some gadgets and send them to the market to sell.
Later, the shopkeeper Zhou, who was still in the Moonlight Tower at the time, discovered his craftsmanship and gave him the orders from the Moonlight Tower.
After cooperating for several years, after having a stable and large order, Feng Carpenter finally saved up the money to open a shop, and the business became more and more prosperous.
The things that Gu Yin made when he opened the store before were all made by him.
Although the wages given are generous, it cannot stand those things that Feng Carpenter has never done, there is no precedent to follow, and they are 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 Shopkeeper Zhou hadn't come forward, Carpenter Feng would really not want to take on this 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 same, 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 Get up, "And the big counter, the small table, and the partitions, there's really no burr at all, it's ingenious!"
Feng Carpenter laughed when she praised her, and said, "It's no wonder that the little lady's business is so prosperous. Your mouth is so clever."
"No, no, your craftsmanship is really good."
Although Feng Carpenter has a lot of business, he rarely encounters such approachable customers as Gu Yin. When he thinks of the arrogant appearance of the Wangyuelou steward after the big change, he directly asks: "Little lady wants this time again. What are you going to do? Say it earlier, and I’d better start doing it earlier.”
What Gu Yin wanted was a bamboo cup in the style of a disposable cup in a later beverage shop, 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 the later freezer. Active, but also 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 and habits this time, the construction period is shorter, and it is required before the Dragon Boat Festival, so you can talk about the wages. ."
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 cents a set, even the cup with the straw you mentioned. Plus five more Two silver rush fees."
Gu Yin felt embarrassed when she heard it, and said, "It's only 12 taels in total, otherwise 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 don't earn his money, but the construction period is really short, so I can only do it for you as much as possible. That cup may not be able to count to five hundred."
"It's alright, do your best."
After negotiating, Feng Carpenter went into the backyard and shouted for his ten children to start work.
"When the money is handed over..."
"Don't worry, the owner, I'll save it." Shopkeeper Zhou said, "His wife loves my food, so I'll give them a note of 10 taels and ask them to have a few meals in the store."
The two were about to leave after talking, and they happened to meet a young man wearing a muslin bunt.
Gu Yin looked at this man with familiar eyes, but she 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 owner and shopkeeper of Shiweitian?"
Shopkeeper Zhou reminded Gu Yin in a low voice: "Is there any impression of the owner who came to see the job before?"
Gu Yin remembered the job applicant who shouted that women shouldn't show up and rob men.
She nodded slightly, as if to say hello, but did not stop at her feet.
The man stepped forward to block her, and then smiled: "Little lady is a noble person who forgets things a lot, don't you remember me?"
In someone else's shop, Gu Yin didn't want to quarrel with him, she just said calmly: "I remember, but I still remember that I sent you a sentence 'the way is different and not the same thing', since it's not the same thing, see you on the road In fact, there is no need to say hello.”
The man's face first showed an angry look, and then he smiled to himself: "Little lady doesn't know yet, I went to Wangyuelou to see a job later, and now the size is also a small butler. Speaking of which, I have to thank you. You, if it weren't for you not accepting me, I'm afraid I wouldn't have the opportunity yet!"
Gu Yin said no, "You mainly rely on yourself... You are annoying enough by yourself. Otherwise, if you are normal, I will accept you."
"You!" The man was very angry, "What a little lady with sharp teeth and a sharp mouth. Hmph, but I also know that these days, we are equally divided between Wangyuelou and Hanxianglou, and we can only run on the little lady's food for the sky. Doing 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 Shopkeeper Zhou around him 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 gift boxes, the ones used for the Dragon Boat Festival, are still the ones used last year, but they need to be carved a little more delicately!"
Feng Carpenter glanced at him and said, "If you can't do it, you should find another home."
"Why can't you do it? Hasn't your family been cooperating with our Mochizukilou? You can do it in previous years, but you won't be able to do it this year?"
Carpenter Feng explained: "In previous years, it was custom made a month in advance. Now it's the day, and your house still has to carve, so you may not be able to catch up. And it's unfortunate that you came, I have already picked up other things on the Dragon Boat Festival. List."
Don't say that he really took up the work of Shiweitian, otherwise, he would face the attitude of the person in front of him, and Feng Carpenter didn't want to take it.
"I think you don't want our restaurant's order anymore!" the young man threatened.
Carpenter Feng didn't raise his eyebrows.
In the past, when Shopkeeper Zhou was still there, he would definitely not want to lose such a big customer as Wangyuelou, but since Wangyuelou's blood change, his style of doing things has completely changed.
He is selling his craftsmanship, not selling himself to Wangyuelou as a slave, there is no need to suffer from this kind of arrogance!
Seeing that the other party was unmoved, the man thought for a while, then changed his face and said kindly: "I just had a bad attitude, Master Feng, don't have the same knowledge as me. You said that you have taken the order, it should be an order that eats for the sky. Right. They asked you to order something? Is it also a gift box for the Dragon Boat Festival? Please tell me carefully."
As he said that, he took out another silver chip, and was going to put it in Feng Carpenter's hand.
This is completely challenging Feng Carpenter's professional ethics, and he immediately asked people out of the store.
The man spat fiercely at the door, and said bitterly in the direction Gu Yin left: "What's so arrogant in a widow's shop? Sooner or later, you won't be able to do it!"
After going to another home to order a gift box, the man returned to Wangyuelou to return to his life.
Wang Dafu didn't dare to be lazy now, and he couldn't find a more conscientious guy than Shopkeeper Zhou, so he simply acted as the shopkeeper of Wangyuelou.
Seeing him coming back, Wang Dafu asked him, "Li Cheng, what did Carpenter Feng say, is it time to do it?"
Then Li Cheng said with a smile: "Feng Carpenter said it was too late, but the owner can rest assured that the younger one has found another one. The craftsmanship is not inferior to his, and it will definitely not miss your Dragon Boat Festival plan."
Wang Dafu was relieved, and seeing that he didn't leave after he finished speaking, he asked him if he had anything else.
Then Li Chengcheng said: "The owner doesn't know, I met the owner and shopkeeper Zhou of Shiweitian at Feng Carpenter's place. Their nostrils turned to the sky and their indomitable appearances are irritating, and they don't take our Wangyuelou in their eyes at all. They walked on the front foot, and I asked Carpenter Feng on the back foot, and Carpenter Feng said that he had already taken over other work."
"You mean that Shiweitian also has a big move on the Dragon Boat Festival?"
"Isn't it! They have been holding their hands and waiting for now."
The Dragon Boat Festival is a big festival. When visiting relatives and friends, they will send things like rice dumplings, tea eggs, salted duck eggs, etc. Ordinary people must have made them at home, and they will give them away. Rich households are particular about buying them in restaurants. They are packed in wooden gift boxes, which are both beautiful and classy.
For the annual Dragon Boat Festival gift box, Wangyuelou can't sell Hanxianglou. Something happened earlier this year, and Mochizukilou's vitality was greatly damaged. At this time, he was able to go up and make a custom wooden box, just to turn the battle here.
Now hearing that Shiweitian wants to get a piece of the pie, Wang Dafu said, "Then let's set the price down by 10%. Even if we lose money and make a profit, we have to run on those two companies."
Within two days, Mr. Bai of Hanxianglou also got the news, and he followed suit and reduced the price of this 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, on the Dragon Boat Festival, Gu Yin's cold drink stall opened!
And she didn't have to rent a stall temporarily. Her previous stall was still in the lease term, and Aunt Ge's family was only engaged in the morning market business, and they also lent the stall in an excellent location to Gu Yinyong.
Gu Yin said at the beginning that she wanted to pay rent, but Aunt Ge insisted that she would not ask for it, "You have already opened a shop, and you are still offering buns to my family as you did before, and don't be polite to me. On the Dragon Boat Festival, we were only selling food for the morning. The cold drink you made won't affect anything, even though it's sold at my place."
So on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, before dawn, Gu Yin got up and went to the store. First, she made three kinds of cold drinks on ice, and then made other morning meals. Because it was the Dragon Boat Festival, the morning market on this day also sold zongzi, which are sweet. and a hundred each of the salty.
When it was dawn, Mrs. Wang and Chef Xu helped move the freezer wrapped in quilts, and the group went to the pier.
The time for the dragon boat race is set in the morning, so in the early morning there is a lot of people on the pier, and the crowd is full of people, all waiting to watch the fun.
When they arrived, Aunt Ge's house was sold out.
Aunt Ge simply removed all the guys from her house and asked them to put two freezers on it.
Because the market is really good, as soon as they set it up, a customer came to ask: "What is your family selling? Why are you still wrapped in a quilt on a hot day, aren't you afraid of being spoiled?"
Gu Yin explained: "It's an ice drink. I'm afraid that the ice inside will melt. There are three kinds of it. Would you like to try it?"
Saying that, Gu Yin placed three bowls of mung bean soup, milk tea and sour plum soup that had been prepared for a long time on the stall.
The sun rose and the number of people on the pier was still increasing. The guest was sweating and asked for a milk tea for ten cents, while the other two were only five cents, and then ordered a green bean soup.
The ice drinks are all pre-packed. After Wang took a cup out of the freezer, he plugged in the straw, and immediately covered the freezer and wrapped it.
The guest 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 soup entered his mouth, which made him shudder. sigh.
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 cool!" He drank a whole cup in one breath, and asked for another cup to tell his brother, but when he turned his head, there was no one around him, and he said distressedly, "This stinky boy doesn't know how to run Where have you been!"
Gu Yin said it's okay, "We can take this cup away, but we have to pay an extra two cents. You can return the cup later, and we will refund the two cents to you. If you think the pier is crowded, you can also You can go to Wencheng Street to exchange money for food.”
It is not a loss to buy a brand-new novelty cup for two cents. The guest readily paid the money and went to his brother with an ice drink.
After an hour passed, one third of the 300 drinks that Gu Yin brought had been sold.
But the people from the yamen in the back began to clear the canal, and the dragon boat appeared at one end of the canal.
At this time, Gu Yin's second-hand preparations began to work. The ten children headed by Song Shiliu and Wu'an Gu Ye came over with small wooden boxes.