Chapter 159
159 Steamed Buns Tastes Good
The Wang Family Steamed Bun Shop had invited an old bun-making master. He was actually an acquaintance of the Wang Family. His name was Cai Niu. Back then, he was also the first person to taste the Wang Family’s wild fruits.
He had to pay five copper coins a day to set up a stall on Nanhe Third Street, and it was already the cheapest among the three streets.
On Nanhe Third Street, the Cai Niu could sell about 100 buns a day. When the weather was bad, there would be no profit that day.
Calculating it, even without deducting the cost, he could only earn a tael of silver a month. After deducting the cost, he would only earn 200 to 300 copper coins.
White flour was expensive, and the meat filling was not cheap.
Little Ah Yu had eaten his buns before. When she returned, she nagged at Old Madam Wang a few times and said that Uncle Bun’s buns were delicious.
Hence, before they prepared to open the steamed bun shop, Old Madam Wang said to Wang Chuanyuan, “Go and dig over that person called Cai Niu from Nanhe Third Street and get him to make buns in our shop.”
Wang Chuan was confused. “Mother, we haven’t even opened our shop and we have to hire people? Let’s use our own people first. What if we suffer a loss?”
Old Madam Wang wished she could slap him on the head. “You’re already a shopkeeper. Why are you still so stupid?! Remember, I’ll only say these words once-
As a shopkeeper, you don’t have to do everything yourself. If you can hire someone to do something, hire someone to do it. If you can think about the long-term, think about the long-term. If you’re already thinking about losing money now, you might as well not start the business. Go back to the village to farm and get your brother to come. The family can’t be filled with idiots like you!
Also, since we’re going to open a shop, it’s normal to lose money in the first year or two. Little Zhang and your cooking can be accepted at home, but if we really open a shop, it won’t be enough.
Don’t think that opening a shop is just setting up the shop and waiting for people to come. There’s a lot of things to do, so you can learn slowly. What you need to learn is to be a shopkeeper, not a chef. If you want to be a chef, I’ll pull some strings for you and let you work in the Nanhe Restaurant. You can be an apprentice there for 10 years before coming back to work in the shop.”
Wang Chuanyuan pondered for a long time and roughly understood what it meant. In any case, he was going to need to hire someone.
“Mother, how much do we pay him?”
“At most 500 copper coins. If you can negotiate lower, that’s your ability.” Old Madam Wang looked at Wang Chuanyuan. “You’re going to be a businessman in the future. You have to know how to consider everything. There are some things you have to learn to think for yourself.”
Hence, Wang Chuanyuan went to look for Cai Niu. It was very easy for him to poach him over. He only agreed on a salary of 300 copper coins a month.
When Old Madam Wang saw that Wang Chuanyuan had done a good job, her expression finally improved.
Old Madam Wang had already set the rules. Wang Chuanyuan and Madam Zhang worked in the bun shop and drew a salary. One was the salary of the shopkeeper, and the other was the salary of an assistant.
The rest of the profits belonged to the family. If they suffered a loss, the loss would be bourne by the family.
Old Madam Wang also stipulated that from the day the bun shop opened, everyone in the Wang family would have a monthly allowance.
The adults received 30 copper coins a month, and the children received 5 copper coins a month.
In addition, Wang Chuanfu and his wife, who were in charge of farming at home, were paid a salary for farming.
Wang Changgui mainly needed to study. Since Wang Chuanman and his wife wanted to find work themselves, she did not give them any additional allowance.
Although their monthly allowance was not much, they were already very satisfied. One had to know that in the past, the Wang Family did not even have enough to eat. Now that they still had a monthly allowance, what were they unhappy about?
The children were the happiest. This was the first time they had their own money.
The children were still in the business of selling candied hawthorns. The money they earned was placed aside by Old Madam Wang for their wedding.
Wang Wulang was also a smart person. Seeing that the bun shop still had a lot of free space, he took the initiative to say to Wang Chuanyuan, “Third Uncle, let us rent a spot in your bun shop. Look, renting a stall on Nanhe Third Street requires five copper coins a day. If we give these five copper coins to the shop, won’t we be able to save five copper coins for our family?”
“You’re quite smart. Alright, I’ll give you a small empty space. It’s up to you if you can make use of it.” Wang Chuanyuan agreed with a smile.
Hence, on the day the Wang Family’s bun shop opened, everyone realized that there was a small stall beside the bun shop. It was actually selling wild fruits and candied haws.
The wild fruits looked especially big, and the color of the candied hawthorns were bright. It was obvious that it was not bad.
Little Ah Yu sat at the table at the entrance of the shop. She took a mouthful of steamed buns and a bite of candied haws every now and then.
Seeing that the child was eating so well, everyone said, “How much is this candied hawthorn? Let’s buy it and try.”
Wang Wulang hurriedly said, “Three copper coins for one and five copper coins to buy two!”
Those people frowned. “Why is it so expensive?”
Other people’s candied haws only cost one copper coin each.
These people were used to buying things on Nanhe Main Street and rarely went to Nanhe Third Street. In addition, the Wang Family did not go to town and sell candied haws every day, so they did not know that the Wang Family was selling them at a higher price.
Without waiting for the others to speak, Little Ah Yu swallowed the steamed bun in her mouth. She raised her little face and smiled especially brightly. “Uncle, our candied haws taste different. They’re especially sweet and delicious. They’re not sour at all. You can even grow taller after eating them!”
“Uncle, you’re so good-looking. You’ll definitely look even better after eating our candied haws!”
Eating candied haws could make one grow taller. This was what Little Ah Yu had summarized herself because recently, everyone had said that Little Ah Yu had grown taller.
Today, Little Ah Yu was wearing a yellow dress. Her hair was tied with green flowery bands. There were also a few embroidered three-dimensional osmanthus flowers among the band. She looked like a flower child, especially lovable.
As she spoke, the little osmanthus flowers on Little Ah Yu’s head jumped. Her small eyes blinked, making the people who bought the buns laugh.
“I feel happy just looking at this child. Her words are nice to hear as well. Alright, I’ll buy two sticks.” That person did not care about such a mere five copper coins and immediately bought two steamed buns and two meat buns, plus two sticks of candied haws.
When the others saw this, they also smiled and said, “Then we’ll buy some too-Little Shopkeeper, if we don’t grow taller after eating this candied hawthorn, can we ask you for a refund?”
He was talking to Little Ah Yu. Little Ah Yu’s eyes widened. She did not expect there to be such a question.
She hurriedly waved her hand. “Adults won’t grow taller!”
The others could not help but laugh when they saw her flustered appearance.
On the opening day of the bun shop, the price was slightly cheaper. Old Madam Wang even asked Madam Feng to make some pickled vegetables and some porridge to sell.
Seeing that the price was cheap, a few workers sat in the shop and ate a bowl of porridge, a steamed bun, and a plate of pickled vegetables. The portion was big enough that they could eat until they were full.
In this day and age, it was not bad to have a bowl of porridge at home. As for the problem of starving, everyone experienced it and did not think much of it.
Cai Niu was still a little nervous. He was afraid that his cooking skills were not good enough and would ruin the business of the bun shop. However, to his surprise, those who had eaten his steamed buns came to buy them a second time.
“I have to say, your shop’s steamed buns really taste different. They’re especially sweet and soft.”
“I was originally afraid that the new shop’s food wouldn’t taste good. Looks like it’s not bad. I can eat at your shop for a long time in the future.”
Cai Niu was in the kitchen, listening to everyone’s discussion. He was happy and relieved.
Although for some reason, the buns and steamed buns he made in this bun shop did taste better.
Only Little Ah Yu snickered as she listened to their discussion.
This was because Little Ah Yu had placed a few drops of gene repair fluid in the bun shop and the well in the house. According to Meatball’s instructions, she had only placed a few drops.
Don’t underestimate these few drops. The gene repair fluid was even more powerful than the Myriad Spirit Water. When applied to a wound, it could repair the damage to the bone marrow.
A few drops could improve the quality of the water. When the water was added with the gene repair fluid, the soil in the well would also improve. In the future, the water in this well would always taste very good.
And there were no aftereffects of diarrhea.
[It’s a pity that that person called Murong Run has left. Otherwise, if we trade with them a few more times, your mission will be completed. The exchange shop will be open, and we won’t have to be so restrained.]
Just as Meatball finished speaking, Murong Run, who was on the road, suddenly sneezed.
“Is Grandpa missing me?” Murong Run couldn’t help but rub his nose. “Let’s hurry up!”