The speaker may not mean it, but the listener may take it seriously.
Jiang Yanyi felt that after the hot pot restaurant became stable, whether there were mice or not, he would have to get a cat, at least so that outsiders would not be able to find any reason to make trouble.
However, there are basically no local cats that catch mice on the market. Usually, they are bought among neighbors. When someone's cat gives birth, they will catch one and raise it when the cat is one or two months old.
A female cat can give birth to many cats in a litter, and ordinary people don't keep so many cats at home, so giving one away can be considered a favor.
Jiang Yanyi secretly kept the idea of raising a cat in mind.
The business on the opening day was so prosperous that she had far exceeded her imagination. After selling the two newly slaughtered sheep, she went to the butcher to slaughter two more to make up the number. The store was not open until the afternoon.
However, some dignitaries living nearby who failed to order a pot for lunch left a message asking them to make one later, and their servants were to pick it up after 3 p.m., and they were told to include roasted meat, even if it was sold for a higher price.
Jiang Yanyi had no idea whether these dignitaries simply wanted to eat delicious food, or they saw the new "antique soup" business and wanted to try something new. She had money to earn and didn't have the time to figure out what the dignitaries were thinking.
She cleaned up the table outside, got three more pots, cut several large plates of mutton slices and brought them out.
"Thanks to everyone's help today, I won't say any polite words, just eat to your heart's content!" She called to the firemen who helped today: "The dishes are all in the kitchen, add more if there's not enough."
"Enough, enough, Master Jiang, this mutton is expensive. We are all rough people and can't get used to it. Instead, we think pig offal is more delicious."
"Why call me Master Jiang? Now we should call me Shopkeeper Jiang!" Someone laughed, "Stop busying yourself, Shopkeeper Jiang. Sit down and eat. We are all friendly, so you don't need to greet us in person!"
Jiang Yanyi smiled and asked them to eat first, and went to the kitchen to call Chef Li to come out for dinner.
Cook Li used the mutton bones and white radish to make a big pot of soup. As he scooped the mutton and radish soup into the basin, he scolded Jiang Yanyi:
"Girl, you are allowed to eat anything you want. Are you still going to run your business? Do you think the business of the store can be so good every day? Those bastards are not picky eaters. They can drink up all the soup base of the lamb bone stewed with white radish."
Jiang Yanyi sprinkled the chopped coriander into the soup bowl. The mutton soup mixed with coriander had a stronger aroma.
She smiled and said, "It's all my duty. Today, I am so grateful to you, Master, and these brothers. Otherwise, I would be so busy opening the store and I don't know what to do."
When it comes to manpower, Chef Li spends the longest time at the stove. No one knows better than him how many people are needed for what kind of workload in the kitchen.
He said, "You have no experience in opening a shop for the first time, but I see that your business will not be as busy as it is today, but you will not be idle. You can prepare the soup stock in advance, but you still need to find a stove master so that you can keep busy."
"You'll need at least one more person to serve the dishes. Let the girl named Qiu Kui do the work of pouring tea and cleaning the table. You're the shopkeeper, so you should sit at the counter and look after the bills. If you want to continue roasting meat in the future, you'll have to hire another person."
At this point, Chef Li felt distressed again, "It's fine today, but don't give away roasted meat skewers in the future. What can Master say about you? Can't you use pork to roast meat? You're giving away so much mutton for nothing!"
Jiang Yanyi knew that Chef Li said all this for her own good. She had originally planned to hire only two waiters who knew kung fu, but after standing at the door all day today, she was surprised to find that this restaurant was getting busy, and it was almost as busy as when she was in Huotouying.
The staffing configuration analyzed by Chef Li for her was the most reasonable.
She nodded and said, "I won't send roasted lamb in the future. I only sent it today to make myself famous. But Master, as for the waiters you mentioned, I would like to ask if you have any connections. I would like to recruit two people who know martial arts."
Chef Li had seen the Hu family causing trouble this morning, and he also understood Jiang Yanyi's concerns. He said, "Dunzi, I can find you several waiters, but I'll have to ask Lao Zhao for the waiters who know martial arts."
Jiang Yanyi smiled flatteringly: "Thank you, Master."
"Master and disciple, let's not talk about these polite things. You can run a restaurant on the main street of the Protectorate so successfully. If you have something to do, Master will be proud to tell others about it."
At this point, Chef Li sighed again, "But sometimes people have to look at the long term. When you stand out, there will always be people who are jealous of you and will secretly use shady tricks to mess with you. Today it's the Hu family who came to cause trouble, and tomorrow we don't know which family it will be. The Protectorate is next door. As the old saying goes, 'A distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor.' If you visit more often during the holidays and get in touch with this person, those people who hide in the gutter and can't stand seeing you do well won't dare to act rashly."
Jiang Yanyi recalled Feng Shuo's gesture of handing her tea before, and felt a little uncomfortable, but still nodded: "I remember it."
The cook outside came in to serve the dishes, and Chef Li didn't say anything more to Jiang Yanyi and left the kitchen with his hands behind his back.
The firemen sat at two tables and were sweating profusely. When they saw Jiang Yanyi and Chef Li, they quickly asked them to sit down and eat.
Zhao Tou'er, who was sitting at another table, urged him, "Old Li, you've been dithering for so long that the pot is almost cold."
Chef Li glared at Zhao Tou-chi: "There's charcoal burning under the pot, how can it get cold? You're too greedy at your age, and you're not ashamed of it."
The two were old friends, and they often quarreled with each other when they were in Huotouying. The people in Huotouying were no longer surprised by this.
Jiang Yanyi went out to call Mrs. Chen and her husband to come for dinner, but Mrs. Chen refused to come, saying that she had already eaten. Jiang Yanyi then brought her a bowl of roasted lamb.
Jiang Yanyi had no idea that Madam Chen felt bad for accepting the bowl of roasted lamb, so she rushed to make her a piece of clothing as a return gift over the next few days.
After finishing their meal, Chef Li and his men returned to the military camp. After all, they still had to walk some distance from the city to the Xizhou camp on the outskirts of the city.
Jiang Yanyi glanced at the time. It was just the Shen time, which was about three o'clock in the afternoon. He told the people who had reserved the pots for the evening to come and pick them up after the Shen time. In ancient times, one hour was equivalent to two hours in later times, which meant they would only come after five o'clock in the afternoon.
Jiang Yanyi remembered that he was very busy today and had not had time to go to the greenhouse to check on the pepper seedlings. He was also afraid that if there were customers in the store, he would not be able to greet them, so he half-closed the store door and went to the Protectorate to water the pepper seedlings.
These days she goes there once in the morning and once in the evening. When the doorman hears the knock on the door at the appointed time, he knows it is her and greets her with a smile and warmth every time, and this time was no exception.
After opening the door, he said, "Manager Jiang, you didn't come this morning. I thought you were too busy today to remember."
Jiang Yanyi smiled and said, "The restaurant is open today, so I'm a bit overwhelmed. I'm only free now."
The concierge bowed and congratulated: "Good luck on your opening. I wish Shopkeeper Jiang a prosperous business."
Jiang Yanyi thanked him and went to the greenhouse.
Although the Feng Mansion was large, Jiang Yanyi had been in and out so many times and had hardly ever encountered any maids on the way. Rough work like sweeping and cleaning was done by servants or elderly maids.
She had heard vaguely that the King of Liaonan was not interested in women, and before the Empress Dowager came to live out her days, there was not a single young maid in the mansion.
Now there are maids in the mansion, and they all serve the Grand Empress Dowager and are not allowed to leave the courtyard where the Grand Empress Dowager lives easily.
Jiang Yanyi thought about her impression of Feng Shuo and felt that either she or the world must have some misunderstanding about Feng Shuo.
When she arrived at the door of the greenhouse, she found that the servant who usually worked here was not there, and she felt a little strange.
When she walked into the greenhouse carrying a half-bucket of water, she was stunned when she saw a figure squatting beside the field where she was growing pepper seedlings.
The sunlight shone through the glazed tiles on the roof, casting a hazy halo over everything in the greenhouse. Feng Shuo half-knelt on the ground, with the hem of his clothes embroidered with dark red rolling clouds and serpents hanging down to the ground. There was a bucket next to him, and his hands, which were used to holding a pen or a sword, were now holding a wooden ladle, carefully watering the pepper seedlings that had already sprouted green buds.
Hearing the noise at the door, he turned his head slightly, and when he saw Jiang Yanyi standing at the door, his expression changed slightly.
Jiang Yanyi greeted awkwardly: "Your Majesty, are you here to water the flowers too?"
Feng Shuo nodded hesitantly, stood up and poured the remaining half bucket of water on the four-season peony that was in full bloom nearby, and said with a cold and noble look on his face: "Well, seeing that these green buds are growing well, I watered them."
Jiang Yanyi glanced at the several pots of peonies placed next to the greenhouse and found that only the one he had just watered had moist soil at the bottom.
If he didn't know that the pepper seedlings were his, why would he bother explaining it
All sorts of thoughts flooded into Jiang Yanyi's mind at once. She did not expose his lies, but bowed and thanked him: "Thank you for your trouble, Your Majesty. This is a piece of land I rented from your housekeeper. I plan to grow some small things."
Feng Shuo threw the wooden ladle back into the bucket and washed his hands with the water in the bucket: "Oh, so that's how it is. What are you growing?"
Jiang Yanyi was afraid of causing him to misunderstand, so she didn't say it directly: "It's a seasoning. With it, the dishes will taste better."
Feng Shuo was silent for a while.
He originally thought that she had gone to great lengths to find a greenhouse and would grow some rare flowers and plants, but in the end they were just condiments for cooking.
This answer is really... unexpected, yet reasonable.
Jiang Yanyi also realized that her answer was indeed a waste of the greenhouse, and she didn't want to say more. Fortunately, the pepper seedlings had been watered, so she didn't need to stay here any longer, so she said, "I'll take my leave."
Feng Shuo half-closed his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking. When she was about to reach the door of the greenhouse, he asked, "You... are you still going to look for your fiancé?"
Jiang Yanyi's steps froze, thinking that he didn't know her identity and had been behaving strangely in recent days. He was probably asking her this question to test her attitude.
Her true identity was so tricky, and she had been deceiving Feng Shuo before. If he knew all this, who knows how he would change his attitude. Even though she knew that he had some feelings for her, Jiang Yanyi didn't dare to gamble with such a matter that concerned her life.
She said, "Of course I have to look for it."
She was very clear that she felt mostly admiration and respect for Feng Shuo, and these feelings were far from love.
Not to mention the disparity in their status now, even if she regained her status as the legitimate daughter of a noble family, it would be impossible for her to have an equal relationship with Feng Shuo.
It was common for ancient people to have three wives and four concubines. Maybe he is interested in her today, but who knows, his eyes may fall on other women tomorrow.
If she let herself fall into it, she might become a resentful woman out of jealousy, or she might struggle for the safety of her children in a large mansion, or she might be desperate and ask for a letter of divorce... No matter which one it is, it is not the ending she wants to see.
This is the trend of thought in this era. Coming from another world with that world's view of love, it is undoubtedly absurd and ridiculous to want to be together for the rest of your life here.
She couldn't believe that she would be able to meet a man who would treat her well all his life after traveling through time and space just because she had read a lot of romantic novels in which the male and female protagonists were loyal to each other until death before traveling through time and space.
Once you take the wrong path, it's hard to turn back.
Therefore, it is better to abandon some feelings that have not yet sprouted as soon as possible.
Feng Shuo listened to her words, twisting a petal of the Four Seasons Peony in his hand. The strength of his fingertips had already crushed the petal, but his tone was extremely calm: "What a long-lasting love, what if he doesn't have any feelings for you?"
The word "long-lasting love" is used in a subtle way, but it's a pity that Jiang Yanyi is very confused now, and his mind is full of him, a prince. Is it appropriate to ask himself
She vaguely guessed that Feng Shuo wanted to tell her something, and her hands hidden under her long sleeves pinched the corner of her clothes nervously, "If he doesn't have any interest in me, it would be fine for me to continue running a restaurant by myself for the rest of my life."
The implication is that marriage will no longer be considered.
After hearing what she said, Feng Shuo recalled the day when Lu Linyuan bowed to her outside the store and she knelt down to return the greeting.
After that ceremony, she let go of the past and was only willing to be a cook in this remote place. Was she heartbroken by Lu Linyuan
Throwing away the crushed petals in his hand, he looked at Jiang Yanyi standing at the door of the flower room. The darkness in his eyes slowly rose up, deep and depressing, but the words he said were calm and light. He said, "Very good?"
The two cold words fell into Jiang Yanyi's ears, causing her heart to palpitate for some unknown reason.
She tightened her hand holding the bucket and almost ran away: "I'll take my leave."
***
As the days passed, Jiang Yanyi's business has been good since the hot pot restaurant became famous on the opening day.
It is difficult to find a waiter who knows martial arts at the moment, after all, being a waiter does not make money. Those who are really capable of doing this either go to the escort agency or work as security guards in wealthy families.
Master Dunzi, Chef Li, did introduce someone to Jiang Yanyi. She was a woman in her early thirties, surnamed Guo. She was broad-shouldered and thick-bellied, but not as fat as Mrs. Hu. She was really strong.
It is said that the husband of the family was originally a pig butcher, but he died of illness last year. Aunt Guo ran a pork shop for a while, but it didn't work out. She wanted to work as a chef in a restaurant, but others thought it was unlucky because her husband had just died, so they didn't want her.
Jiang Yanyi doesn't mind these things as long as the other party is capable.
What really made Jiang Yanyi realize Aunt Guo's merits was that one time when they went to buy meat, the butcher in the butcher shop was busy slaughtering sheep for another family and had no time to pay attention to them. Aunt Guo went ahead and slaughtered a sheep herself. Her movements were even more skillful than the butcher's.
With such a capable helper, Jiang Yanyi indeed felt a lot more relaxed.
The store hasn't hired any waiters yet, so the three of them have to work harder. As long as they are not greedy and take on too much business every day, they can get by.
Old customers know that their store is busy, so after Jiang Yanyi launched the ordering system, if they want to eat in the store, they are willing to make an appointment in advance, get a number, and set a time to go, so they can avoid queuing.
It was a coincidence that a wave of "hunger marketing" that was forced upon him after he became famous made Jiang Yanyi's hot pot restaurant even more famous among the powerful circles in Xizhou City.
After all, everyone knows that the pots in this store are in short supply. Which powerful and wealthy people get the number and which ones can't, it has become a kind of comparison invisibly.
Jiang Yanyi has always been worried that her store would become a thorn in the eyes of her peers. Although the hot pot restaurant is thriving, she has not let her guard down.
She consulted with Zhao Tou'er on food purchasing to ensure that all ingredients were fresh. She also checked every corner of the store herself for fear of cockroaches or rats.
Jiang Yanyi had never forgotten about raising a cat, so she asked Chen Niangzi to ask around, but winter was approaching and basically no female cats had given birth.
Jiang Yanyi simply spent money to find a farmer to buy a cat, but this cat did not catch mice, but instead tried to steal snacks in her shop and even the mutton in the kitchen. It was quite wild, and perhaps because she had raised it since it was a child, it was not close to people at all. Jiang Yanyi saw that it was dirty and wanted to wash it, but she had no chance to get close to it. Even if she wanted to touch it occasionally, she had to risk being scratched.
The local cat basically never stays in the store all day and is always elusive. Every time Jiang Yanyi sees it, it is when it is stealing meat in the kitchen.
After barely raising the cat for two days, Jiang Yanyi became very troubled. She couldn't catch the cat. She kept the meat and snacks very carefully. The cat had nothing to eat, so it ran away from home in anger and never came back.
Jiang Yanyi realized later that raising cats and dogs is all about fate.
The only consolation was that the parrot Feng Shuo gave her was exceptionally sensible.
However, this perception was quickly denied by Jiang Yanyi.
When Jiang Yanyi got up that morning, he felt that it was much colder than usual. He opened the door and found that there was a layer of frost on the bluestone floor tiles in the yard, which made a crackling sound when he stepped on them.
She went to check on the parrot that had been placed by the stove all night, and was relieved to find that, apart from some dust on its beautiful green feathers, the parrot was still in high spirits.
When it got cold at night a few days ago, Jiang Yanyi didn't dare to hang the parrot under the eaves, for fear of the temperature dropping at night. So he kept a fire in the stove every night and put the parrot's cage next to the stove. He got up once at night to add silver charcoal. By the next morning, the stove was still warm and the parrot would not be frozen.
As soon as she entered the kitchen, the parrot jumped up and down in its cage, complaining and shouting, "Starving bird! Starving bird!"
She took out some barley from the cupboard and put some in its trough. "You're not starving to death yet."
The parrot pecked at the barley in the bowl very quickly, but stopped when it heard Jiang Yanyi's words, and continued to complain with its head tilted back: "I'm starving! I'm starving!"
Jiang Yanyi used a small brush to gently clean the dirt off the parrot's feathers: "You're not starving to death, you're just dirty."
Jiang Yanyi had never raised a parrot before, so she didn't know whether she should bathe it on weekdays. However, the weather was getting colder, so even if she wanted to bathe the parrot, she didn't dare to take the risk.
The parrot tilted its head, apparently not having learned how to say "so dirty".
It waited for a while and found that Jiang Yanyi had no intention of continuing to teach, so it buried its head and continued to peck at the Job's tears in the bowl.
Jiang Yanyi thought this parrot was quite smart. When it wasn't so cold before, he hung the bird cage at the door of the store. He only taught it a few times, and whenever someone entered the store, it would say "Welcome", and when leaving, it would say "Come again next time".
Many diners said that the parrot was very intelligent, and some even offered a high price to buy it, but Jiang Yanyi refused to sell it.
As you raise small animals, you develop feelings for them. They can't be replaced with just a few coins.
After the parrot finished eating the Job's tears, Jiang Yanyi opened the cage and poured warm water into its special bowl. The parrot drank some water, flapped its wings contentedly, and went to the yard.
Jiang Yanyi was not worried that it would fly away. The parrot would fly around the yard every morning and fly back on its own when the time came.
She lit a fire and planned to cook breakfast.
The hotpot restaurant only opens for business at noon and in the evening, so they can be lazy and have a good sleep in the morning.
Aunt Guo has a house in Xizhou City. She doesn't stay in the store at night, but just comes to work at noon. Only Jiang Yanyi and Qiu Kui live here.
Jiang Yanyi was kneading dough in the kitchen to prepare steamed dumplings when Qiu Kui's voice suddenly came from the yard: "Huahua, the parrot seems to be stuck on the wall and can't get down!"
Jiang Yanyi put down the work in his hands and went out to take a look. Sure enough, he saw the stupid parrot standing on the courtyard wall, not moving for a long time, with its eyes opening and closing as if it was dozing off.
This is obviously a sign of being severely frozen.
Jiang Yanyi hurriedly went to find a handful of bamboo and placed it against the wall, letting Qiu Kui hold it steady underneath while he climbed up and brought the parrot down.
"Huahua, be careful."
There was frost on the bluestone floor tiles, making them a bit slippery, and Qiu Kui was very worried.
That stupid parrot was quite good at choosing its place to stay. The place where it stood faced the flower bed and it couldn't put its roots down, so it had to rest on the side. After climbing onto the top of the wall, it had to walk a few steps forward before it could be caught.
Jiang Yanyi was not afraid when he was climbing the wall, but when he stood on the top of the wall and could see the ground at a glance, he felt terrified.
The wall was made of blue bricks and was about a foot thick. As long as one was careful, nothing would happen. But there was frost today and it was a little slippery to walk on. Jiang Yanyi took every step carefully.
Just as she was about to walk up to the parrot, the parrot suddenly woke up as if from a doze, and flew away flapping its wings.
Jiang Yanyi was so angry that she almost vomited blood. She was worried that the stupid parrot was frozen and couldn't fly, but it turned out to be dozing off on the wall!
She was about to turn around and leave when she suddenly felt something was wrong. She glanced towards the courtyard of the Protectorate and found that Feng Shuo had stood at the gate of the west wing at some point, looking at her with an unfathomable look in his eyes.
Since that day's chance encounter in the flower room, she had never run into Feng Shuo again when she went to the Protectorate to look at the pepper seedlings, and he had never come to the store. Only the housekeeper of the mansion had come a few times, saying that the Grand Concubine liked to eat pot and roasted meat, and asked to send some to the mansion.
Jiang Yanyi had no time to care about why Feng Shuo appeared in the unused courtyard of their house. He only felt that all the embarrassment in his life ended at this moment.
When her eyes met Feng Shuo's, she miraculously understood what he was thinking at that moment and quickly explained, "I'm not trying to climb over the wall, I'm here to save the parrot!"
But on the bare wall, apart from her, not even the parrot's feathers could be seen.
Feng Shuo just stared at her quietly, his eyes clearly showing "You don't need to explain, the king understands."
Author has something to say: Jiang Yanyi: I want to cook the parrot in a red soup pot