Because the store was short of staff and had to deal with the business of antique soup every day, the production quantity of instant noodles and seasoning sauces was limited, and the market demand was huge. Not only was Jiang Yanyi anxious, but even Chef Yao and Aunt Guo were worried about her. They got up early every day and came to her store to help.
Yang Xiubing Shao did not go home at night. He just put the benches together in the shop in front, put a quilt underneath and covered himself with another quilt and went to sleep.
The number of ovens increased from one to five, but it was still not enough.
Everyone is on edge. It feels like knowing there is a huge gold brick in front of you, but you can't move it!
The store's revenue still mainly comes from the pots. Jiang Yanyi knows that if they want to make money from instant noodles, they must start from scratch. They are now in a retail stage, working hard every day to make instant noodles, but the money they make is actually not as much as what they make from selling pots.
But if instant noodles can be mass-produced in the future, it will be a very considerable income.
After all, only a few people can afford to eat hot pot, but it is the general public who can afford instant noodles. The money earned from selling ten yuan of noodles is not as much as the money earned from selling a hot pot, so how can the money earned from selling one hundred yuan or one thousand yuan of noodles not be as much as that earned from selling one hot pot
Jiang Yanyi knew that she had to take it slow. In order to prevent the staff in the shop from getting exhausted, she limited the number of noodles she made every day and asked Yang Xiubingshao to find out if there was a noodle shop in the city that specialized in making "bearded noodles". The bearded noodles of this era were the later dried noodles, which got their name because the noodles needed to be dried in the sun, and the noodles hung down from the wooden poles like dragon whiskers.
Jiang Yanyi plans to cooperate with a noodle shop to produce instant noodles. People who have worked in a noodle shop are familiar with the technique of kneading noodles, and the process of making instant noodles is simple. If they can reach an agreement, she wants to borrow the noodle shop's space and workers to mass-produce instant noodles.
However, with so many people around, there are more and more eyes. It is only a matter of time before others learn from and follow suit. Jiang Yanyi plans to create a brand effect.
In this way, even if there are instant noodles stores everywhere, due to the brand effect, the main customer base will still be here.
She originally wanted to make rice sauce, but she was already exhausted from just making instant noodles. She was afraid that even if she opened up the market, the subsequent supply would not be able to keep up, so Jiang Yanyi had to put this idea on hold for the time being.
The money earned from selling instant noodles and seasoning oil these days was trivial and messy. Jiang Yanyi was not very good at using the ancient abacus. She held the homemade charcoal pencil and her eyes were blurry. Several times, the accounts did not match, and she was so worried that she pulled her hair. Once, Chu Yangui saw her getting crazy while calculating the accounts, so he said that he had nothing to do and helped her check the accounts.
Jiang Yanyi thought it was just a child's kindness and declined several times. Chu Yangui insisted again and again, so she handed him the account book to take a look. She wanted him to give up, but Chu Yangui read it quickly and soon found the problem.
"Sister, you missed a point here."
"This one doesn't match either. On the previous page it was 1.3 cents, but on this page it's 1.5 cents."
Jiang Yanyi was confused: "Really? Let me take a look."
She took the account book and found that there were indeed problems in the places circled by Chu Yangui. After correcting them, she carefully checked them and recalculated them. The account book finally matched the money received.
Jiang Yanyi was very surprised: "You are quite good at abacus."
Chu Yangui smiled with a pair of dimples: "If you trust me, I can help you keep an eye on the store's accounts in the future."
Jiang Yanyi shook his head: "I'm asking someone to find a teacher for you. Once you find one, you can focus on your studies. I can handle the store myself."
Seeing how hard Jiang Yanyi worked to run the store, Chu Yangui had always wanted to do something to help her. Upon hearing this, he said, "It won't take me much time to check the accounts."
Jiang Yan thought for a moment and said, "If I encounter a difficult account in the future, I'll come to you for help."
Although he only heard this sentence from her, Chu Yangui was still very happy.
The bricklayer that Jiang Yanyi hired had already connected the wall of her house with the west wing of Feng Mansion, and built a hanging flower gate.
Jiang Yanyi went over to take a look and found that the west wing had changed a lot. When she went to save the parrot from falling off the wall, there was no other plant in the west wing except a pomegranate tree, but now there are several red plum trees planted in the yard, which is obviously the work of Feng Shuo.
The house had been rearranged early in the morning, and it was fully equipped with furniture ranging from tables, chairs and benches to rugs and pillows, making it look completely habitable.
The room prepared for her and Chu Yangui was easily identifiable.
Chu Yangui's room was divided into two rooms, Chu Yangui slept in the inner room and Chu Zhongye slept in the outer room, making it convenient to take care of Chu Yangui.
Perhaps taking his mobility problems into consideration, the bed and desk were placed next to each other. On the desk were placed the four treasures of the study, the inkstone and the brush. Even an outsider like Jiang Yanyi could tell that they were not ordinary items.
On the other side was a bookcase filled with books. She flipped through a few of them and found that these books were not just stuffed into the bookcase to make up the number. Each book was very suitable for Chu Yangui to read. There were also poetry collections written by disabled people in the past. They were not decadent at all, but full of fighting spirit.
Jiang Yanyi had never known what it felt like to be pampered by someone, but at this moment she felt like bursting into tears.
Given Feng Shuo's status and family background, giving her a house was nothing, but he showed such meticulous care for her relatives.
The rooms of the brother and sister were both located in the east wing. Feng Shuo also placed a small bookcase in her room, where he placed all the travel notes she had read before that talked about local customs, people, and food.
On the yellow pear wood dressing table, there was a large silver mirror that reflected her body, almost reflecting half of her body. The table was filled with all kinds of rouge and powder, and the jewelry box was also full of pearl hairpins and jewelry. In the box, there were at least eight sets of seasonal clothes, all of which were the most fashionable styles, and each piece was made according to her size.
On the agarwood desk were the four treasures of the study, as well as a copybook for her to practice calligraphy. Jiang Yanyi opened the copybook and found a line of small words written on the first page: Practice one page of calligraphy every day, don't be lazy.
She didn't know when she had become familiar with his handwriting. Looking at the powerful thin gold script, she could even imagine his wrist being held straight as he wrote. He always looked very focused when reading or writing, with his jawline taut and an air of elegance and nobility.
Jiang Yanyi raised his hand and stroked the words on the copybook. The corners of his mouth curled up, but tears welled up in his eyes.
How could she be so worthy in her life to be loved by such a person
On the day of the winter solstice, all the details in the west wing were tidied up, and Jiang Yanyi decided to move there.
Qiu Kui insisted on living in a room next to Jiang Yanyi's and refused to take the large room in the west wing. Instead, she asked for the ear room next to Jiang Yanyi's house. Although it was an ear room, it was much larger than the room they lived in before, so Jiang Yanyi just went along with her.
There weren't enough rooms before, so Yang Xiu and Bing Shao had been living together with Chu Changping's other bodyguards. Later, they slept on the floor in the shop using benches. Now that the yard is big enough, they and Aunt Guo moved in together.
The house that Jiang Yanyi originally rented was just right to be used as a warehouse.
It was called moving, but the west wing had everything, and they didn't have much stuff originally, just some sheets, quilts and the like, so they moved everything in just a few trips.
However, the yard was several times larger, so sweeping the snow became very tiring. Fortunately, Jiang Yanyi and Qiu Kui no longer had to do this job themselves, as Yang Xiu Bing Shao took over the work.
Jiang Yanyi went to the kitchen to prepare dumplings.
Eating dumplings on the Winter Solstice is a custom that has existed since ancient times. There is even a folk proverb that goes, "If you don't eat dumplings on the Winter Solstice, your ears will freeze off and no one will care."
In the world where Jiang Yanyi originally lived, dumplings originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty and were created by the medical saint Zhang Zhongjing. Because they were mainly used to treat frostbite on the ears, they were called "dumpling ears" and were made into a half-moon shape, like ears.
Lamb is the most nutritious meat in winter. Jiang Yanyi plans to make lamb dumplings. The most nutritious vegetable to go with it is carrots.
Making dumpling wrappers naturally involves the step of kneading the dough. The dough for steamed buns needs to be soft, while the dough for noodles needs to be slightly harder. The dough for rolling dumpling wrappers is somewhere in between the two. How to strike the right balance depends on the chef.
But there is a little trick. If the kneaded dough is not chewy enough, you can add some salt to improve the toughness and gluten of the dough.
The pastry chef who makes steamed buns often says an old saying: "Alkali is the bone and salt is the tendon." There is a lot of knowledge involved in making a small ball of dough.
The dough that Jiang Yanyi kneaded this morning was just the right strength, and there was no need to add salt to increase its toughness.
While the dough was kneading, she began to prepare the filling.
Now that Aunt Guo has moved in, Jiang Yanyi has someone to help her with everything. While she was kneading the dough, Aunt Guo had already helped to chop the mutton stuffing and also chopped some pork stuffing. Jiang Yanyi just had to add the seasonings.
When making dumplings stuffed with mutton, adding some pepper water can effectively remove the mutton smell. Onion, ginger, cooking wine, and salt are of course indispensable. In order to enhance the flavor, Jiang Yanyi also poured a few spoonfuls of broth prepared last night, stirred it evenly, and poured sesame oil into the stuffing to lock in the moisture.
It is said that if the filling is made of mutton and pork in a ratio of 3:70, the dumplings will taste better. Jiang Yanyi also prepared a bowl of mixed meat filling.
She peeled the carrots, washed them, and cut them into small cubes. Afraid that some people might not like carrots, Jiang Yanyi specially prepared some stuffing and then mixed the carrot cubes into the mutton stuffing.
The kneaded dough is cut into small pieces to make dough pieces, which are then rolled into thin skins with a rolling pin and can be directly wrapped with stuffing. Every time Jiang Yanyi scoops stuffing into the dough, he always puts a full spoonful of stuffing. The dumplings are wrapped with beautiful folds, bulging bellies, and look very cute.
Qiu Kua made a fire and boiled the water in the pot. Jiang Yanyi put some salt in the pot before putting the dumplings in, so that the dumplings would not stick together after cooking.
Many people like to use only aged vinegar as the dipping sauce for dumplings, but Jiang Yanyi prefers spicy ones. While the dumplings were cooking in the pot, she found two small bowls, poured vinegar into one bowl, and put oil-splashed dogwood chili, crushed garlic and aged vinegar into the other bowl.
As soon as the dumplings came out of the pot, the aroma of meat wafted out of the kitchen. Jiang Yanyi asked Qiu Kui to call everyone to eat, and she packed some dumplings of each of the three flavors, put them in a food box and sent it to Feng Mansion.
Aunt Guo smiled when she saw this.
Her affair with Feng Shuo had not been made public yet, and Jiang Yanyi was shy, so she sent the dumplings to Feng Shuo on the pretext of thanking her neighbors, and also sent a plate of dumplings to Mrs. Chen from the clothing shop.
There was a carriage parked in front of Feng's mansion. Jiang Yanyi guessed that Feng Shuo might be meeting a guest, so he did not go to see Feng Shuo in person, but asked the doorman to bring the dumplings to Feng Shuo.
When she returned, no one had started eating yet, obviously waiting for her. There was also a plate of braised pork head on the table, which was a return gift from Mrs. Chen.
Everyone in the restaurant had a great time enjoying the winter solstice dumpling feast when they gathered together.
When you bite into the dumpling skin, the soup inside is hot but extremely rich and delicious. It is delicious even without dipping it in sauce.
Jiang Yanyi was originally worried that some people might not like carrots, but it turned out that she was worrying too much, as the ones with carrot filling were the most popular.
Chu Yangui wanted to dip it in hot sauce several times, but Jiang Yanyi didn't allow it.
While eating, Yang Xiu mentioned what Jiang Yanyi had told him a few days ago. There were quite a few noodle shops in Xizhou City that made whisked noodles. He had talked to the managers of all the noodle shops, but the results were not satisfactory. There was even a noodle shop that, seeing the momentum of instant noodles, shamelessly said that it wanted to buy out their instant noodle recipes.
Speaking of this, Yang Xiu also had a gloomy face: "There is also a noodle shop. The old owner died, and the young owner is a gambler and owes a lot of money to the gambling house. When I went to discuss the business, there was not even a manager. The young owner was drunk and said that we might as well buy his noodle shop."
He mentioned this, and Jiang Yanyi really got interested. She raised her head and asked, "How much does it cost to buy that noodle shop?"
Yang Xiu was stunned by Jiang Yanyi's question and replied, "At least three to five hundred taels."
Jiang Yanyi asked again: "Are all the experienced noodle makers in the noodle shop here?"
Yang Xiu was a little confused: "This... I haven't asked so much, I'll ask later."
Jiang Yanyi nodded: "As soon as possible."
The remaining money she had would only bring her guaranteed profits, whether she used it to expand her store or open branches. It was risky to throw it into a noodle shop that was on the verge of bankruptcy.
But Jiang Yanyi knew very well that the business of her antique soup shop had stabilized and she did not need to spend too much effort on it at the moment. However, if she wanted to expand the antique soup shop in a short period of time, it was unrealistic as there were restrictions in all aspects.
But instant noodles are different. From the perspective of market demand, instant noodles are more popular and easier to popularize.
From the perspective of cost and technology, the cost of making instant noodles is relatively low, and the technical content is also lower than that of making pots. If a noodle shop is established, it will be much easier to open branches later than opening branches of Gudonggeng.
Even if the taste is worse than that of industrially produced products in later generations, it is good enough in ancient times when there was no convenient fast food.
She is just a cook and cannot deal in preservatives to keep food fresh and of good quality, but she has opened stores in every prefecture, county and city, and can still get the people of the Daxuan Dynasty to buy her instant noodles!
There was no such thing as a franchise in ancient times, but Lai Fu Restaurant copied everything from her antique soup shop, which also gave Jiang Yanyi a lot of inspiration. Imitation may be late, but it will never be absent.
The ancients did not have as many marketing strategies in the area of commodity marketing because they had not practiced enough and could not learn skills from various commercial competitions like later generations. But they were not stupid and could tell which path was the easiest to make a profit.
She had done it herself first, and her power was strong enough. Only then could she attract others to join her business and achieve the effect of franchising. Before, Lai Fu Gudonggu Soup was like a follower, learning everything from her. The reason why he was so confident was because her Gudonggu Soup shop was not big enough. At this time, even if she took the initiative to approach him and wanted to cooperate, the other party would not look down on him and even wanted to take over her shop.
The benefits brought by instant noodles may seem small now, but if extended to the entire Da Xuan Dynasty, it would become her main economic chain, which could not only provide financial support for her hot pot restaurants, but also lay the foundation for her hot pot restaurants to open in other places.
"Sister, the dumplings are cold."
"Sister?" Chu Yangui called Jiang Yanyi several times before she came back to her senses.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Yanyi interrupted his thoughts and turned his head to look at Chu Yangui.
Chu Yangui said: "The dumplings in your bowl are cold."
Jiang Yanyi was lost in thought for too long, and she was too embarrassed to put down her chopsticks. "I'm done eating."
Chu Yangui saw that they were busy these days and knew what Jiang Yanyi was worried about. He said, "Sister, if you want to open a bigger store, just do it. Don't worry about the money. I have it here. When I left the Chu family, my grandmother secretly gave me a lot."
Jiang Yanyi interrupted him and said, "Keep those banknotes for yourself in case of emergency. The money in my shop can be used for the time being. In fact, if you want to live an ordinary life, it's good to maintain the status quo, but I want to try and see how far I can go."
***
Fengfu.
As soon as the large plate of dumplings that Jiang Yanyi brought was placed on the table, an old man with gray hair and ragged clothes picked up one with wooden chopsticks and put it into his mouth.
"Hey! It's stuffed with mutton!" The old man bit into it and a mouthful of delicious soup came out. He praised: "This mutton tastes authentic!"
While he was talking, Chi Qing had already picked up another one and started eating.
The old man was so angry that he hit Chi Qing's hand with the end of his chopsticks: "You traitor, you have no respect for your teacher at all, put down your chopsticks slowly!"
Chi Qing's cheeks were puffed up, and he muttered in dissatisfaction: "How can you ask others to give way to you when eating!"
Feng Shuo watched the speed at which the two people picked up their chopsticks. The veins on his forehead jumped. He reached out and took the plate of dumplings away, put it back into the food box and covered it. "This plate is a little cold. The kitchen is cooking dumplings now. We'll be able to eat it soon."
The old man sensed something fishy. Seeing the Jiangji emblem engraved on the food box, he remembered that the address given by the girl who ordered wine from him was also Jiangji. He gave Feng Shuo an elbow and said, "You little bastard, are these the dumplings that girl made the other day?"
Feng Shuo's ears turned slightly red. He pretended not to hear the old man's question and spoke seriously about official business with a stern face: "Prince Xinyang and Fan Wei have formed an alliance and cut off the imperial court's food supply. The army in the south that is suppressing the rebellion may have to collect food from the people on the spot..."
The old man didn't buy it and continued to ask: "I'm asking you a question, right?"
Feng Shuo glanced at the old man and said, "You already know everything, yet you still ask."
The old man clicked his tongue and shook his head: "The apprentice is grown up and no longer under the master's control. He can't even eat the dumplings made by his apprentice's wife."
Feng Shuo frowned tightly and said disdainfully: "When I was in the Imperial College, you only taught me half a fu. How dare you call yourself a respected teacher?"
The old man stiffened his neck and said, "Once a teacher, always a father. I have been your teacher for half a day, so I am still your respected teacher for half a lifetime."
Chi Qing continued, "Your Majesty, the dumplings are stuffed with carrots. Since you don't eat carrots, I can help you with that."
Feng Shuo: “…”
Aren’t this master and disciple really just starving ghosts reincarnated
Chi Qing was quick to back off. Seeing that Feng Shuo looked unhappy, he quickly put down his chopsticks and sat up straight.
Only the old man slammed his chopsticks on the table in dissatisfaction, and stood up and left: "I'll take the wine to that girl!"
Chi Qing turned his neck and shouted at him: "It's the Gudongtang shop next door. Go in and order a mutton hotpot. I'll be here in a while."
The old man was a little relieved, and turned his head to deliberately say to Feng Shuo: "At least there is still a person with a conscience."
Feng Shuo raised his eyelids slowly and said, "Why don't you ask him whether he came to help you eat or to help you pay the bill."
The old man looked frightened.
Chi Qing smiled cheekily: "Don't be afraid, old man, we will keep the public accounts."
The veins on Feng Shuo's forehead began to twitch again, and Chi Qing looked innocent.
As soon as the old man left, Feng Shuo said, "He came here specially to see you. You two can go and have a good chat."
Chi Qing glanced at the food box beside him. Why did he feel that Feng Shuo said this in order to get him out of the way so that they could eat dumplings quickly
Feng Shuo noticed his gaze and asked with a cold face: "What are you looking at?"
Chi Qing reacted quickly and said, "I am wondering whether I should report something..."
Feng Shuo was too lazy to expose him, and said, "Report."
"Earlier, when searching for the Turkic prince, Lu Linyuan seemed eager to make a contribution. But recently, he has suddenly stopped making any moves. A woman has even moved into his house. She rarely goes out and I don't know where she came from."
This was the news that the spies had just found out recently, and Chi Qing just happened to remember it and told them about it.
The author has something to say: 1. Carrot: Introduced to China during the Song and Yuan dynasties in the 13th century.
Chili peppers were introduced to China during the Ming Dynasty in the 16th century. Since chili peppers have already appeared in the text, we can assume that carrots also exist and are a common vegetable.
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