In the afternoon, the man returned with his men and delivered a total of two hundred and twenty duck eggs, which Sister Wu took and gave them two hundred and twenty coins.
When they had left, she immediately turned to the kitchen, had the boy fetch water, she personally cleaned them one by one, soaked the duck eggs into the vinegar, and had Song Wan Yue watch, she boiled the ingredient water according to the proportions, and carefully asked, “Miss Sun, did I do it right?”
Song Wan Yue gave her a thumbs up, “Sister is worthy of being on Grand Grandmother’s side, you know how to do it after only watching it once.”
Sister Wu had received many compliments over the years, but never once had she been so happy.
Steward Jin heard about the salted duck eggs when he returned and had the boy lead him over, entering the courtyard door and seeing several large pots full of duck eggs, he laughed, “It’s still Miss Sun’s good idea.”
The duck eggs cost a penny each, even if the guests ate ten, it was only ten pennies, which was not a bit cheaper than the meat.
“What do you think?”
Song Wangyue asked with a smile.
“I’ve probably got a bit of a picture in my mind, so I’ll go around for another day tomorrow.”
Song Wangyue didn’t stop and said, “Apart from salted duck eggs, I’m also going to make some haloumi.”
Steward Jin’s eyes lit up, he had been looking around today while thinking about what else he needed to prepare besides meat, and Miss Sun had settled on several items at once.
“I visited a few dim sum shops and talked to their bosses, it shouldn’t be a big problem, all that’s left is the meat, we need to find a shop that we can work with for a long time.”
“Just make up your mind, I have to go out for a while.”
Song Wangyue went to Xu Laosan’s house.
Xu Laosan’s daughter-in-law had just come back from helping out and was preparing to cook, when she saw Song Wangyue coming she quickly invited her in, “What do you want to do here?”
“I need someone to help me with the brasserie, but I need to sign a contract for five years, two taels of silver a month.”
When she heard the contract, Xu Laosan’s daughter-in-law was about to refuse, but when she heard the two taels of silver a month, she swallowed the words that were on her lips, opened her mouth to say something, but swallowed it again, and deliberated for a moment before speaking again, “I wonder what the contract is about?”
If she was asked to sell her body, she would not agree to any more silver.
“You will need to keep the method of making the marinade a secret, and you must not divulge half a word even to your family.”
“I shall do so.”
Xu Laosan’s daughter-in-law, who was already a quick-witted person, immediately agreed when she heard that she was not being asked to sell her body.
“You can help me find a courtyard, not too big, just similar to the one in your house, and build a few more stoves inside.”
Xu Laosan’s daughter-in-law agreed, and after sending Song Wangyue away, she stopped cooking and went to look for a courtyard.
Song Wangyue did not return to the house, but went to the northern city.
There were already diners eating at the Lu family’s food shop. Lu Xing came from the kitchen with a bowl of noodles, and when he looked up, he saw Song Wan Yue coming down from the carriage, so he hurriedly put the bowl of noodles in front of the customer and quickly greeted her.
He had been ordered by the dean not to enter the academy for three years, so he had to study at home every day. On the day Song Si returned from winning the scholarship, he ran to the city gate to see him, seeing Song Si in his scholar’s uniform, sitting on a high horse.
“Miss Song, what brings you here?”
It had been a long time since he had seen her, and Lu Xing had become much more composed.
“Came over to look for you.”
Lu Xing froze slightly.
“What, you won’t invite me in to talk?”
Lu Xing returned to his senses and busily invited her in.
As soon as Song Wangyue stepped into the courtyard at the back, Lu Xing’s daughter-in-law came out with the baby in her arms, and when she saw her, she shouted joyfully, “Miss Song.”
Since Song Wan Yue had taught them how to make meat marinades, the food shop was getting more and more customers every day, and the silver they earned was not only enough to cover the family’s expenses, but also a little surplus, and her mother-in-law’s health had also improved.
“How old are the children?”
Lu Xing’s daughter-in-law smiled and came forward to say, “Almost ten months old.”
It was a boy, following Lu Xing, who was currently looking at her with big, curious eyes.
Song Wangyue took out the gift she had prepared, a silver lock, and Lu Xing and his wife were shocked and refused to take it, “This is too expensive, we can’t take it.”
Song Wangyue put the silver lock into the child’s hand, “Take it, it’s a gift for the child.”
The two men could not refuse, so they had to accept it and invited Song Wangyue into the house.
Song Wangyue looked at Lu Xing and opened the door, “I am short of a bookkeeper in my restaurant, I wonder if you are willing to help me?”
Lu Xing was once again slightly stunned.
The dean had ordered him not to enter the academy for three years, which meant that he was not allowed to take the imperial examinations for three years, and he had thought about not staying at home all the time and going out to find work, but he could not carry his shoulders and hands, and he could not do physical work, let alone wait on people, so he had not found any work for the past half a year.
“Two-year contract, ten taels of silver per month.”
Ten taels!
Lu Xing’s daughter-in-law covered her mouth and looked at Lu Xing.
Lu Xing was so excited that he forgot to react.
With ten taels a month, that was one hundred and twenty taels a year, two years was two hundred and forty taels, with this silver, he would not have to worry about not having any silver when he went to take the government exams.
“Sang-jun.”
Lu Xing’s daughter-in-law whispered to him.
Lu Xing reacted and suppressed the excitement in his heart, “I won’t hide from Miss Song, although I have also learnt the arts and mathematics, I have no experience in being a bookkeeper.”
“No problem, I will ask my second brother to teach you.”
Lu Xing gratefully rose and bowed, “Lu Xing thanks Miss Song.”
……
It would be dark before Song Wangyue returned to the mansion and went to the old gentleman’s courtyard.
She had not been seen all day, and the old gentleman did not know how many times he had looked into the courtyard.
When he saw her enter the courtyard, Xu Liang hurriedly lifted the curtain and the old gentleman heard the movement and looked towards the door.
“Grand-great-grandfather.”
Hearing the crisp shout, a smile involuntarily surfaced on the old gentleman’s face.
“Finished with your work?”
“Not yet, there is one more thing that I need Grand Great Grandfather’s help with.”
Hearing that he could help too, the old man’s smile grew even stronger, “Go ahead.”
“I’ve thought of a name for the restaurant, it’s called ‘Xiao Yue Lou’ and I’d like you to write a plaque for it.”
“It’s a small matter, grandfather will write it for you.”
Song Wangyue replied with a smile and went to the desk to study the ink, watching the old man put pen to paper before she went to the side of the table and got herself a cup of tea, which she held in her hand before walking back to the desk.
If it were Xu Yan or Xu’s who came over with tea like this, the old gentleman would have reprimanded him for not following the rules, but he was so focused on the inscriptions that he didn’t see Song Wan Yue, in fact, even if he didn’t inscribe, he wouldn’t have said anything when he saw Song Wan Yue come over with tea.
The old gentleman calmly put down his pen, and the three characters of Xiao Yue Lou jumped off the paper, strong and powerful, with elegance and atmosphere.
“Good ……”
Before the word was uttered, Song Wangyue saw the old gentleman put the paper aside unsatisfactorily and re-lay the paper again, dipping it in ink.