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MTL - Traveling Through Ancient Times To Be a Shopkeeper-Chapter 20 Hire Wei Lei
The boatmen on the wharf and the porters still have a cup of tea to get off work.
The porters who had no work on hand gathered together and talked about which stall to go to for lunch.
"I heard that there is a new food stall that makes super delicious pancakes. Shall we try it?"
"I saw a boatman eating it yesterday, and it smells really good."
"The wages of the boatmen are high. Our porters work so hard for so little money. The big cake is very expensive. I can't afford it for five yuan a piece."
"Five Wen a piece, and I eat steamed buns and dry food for less than five Wen a day."
"Let's not think about it, let's think about how much goods we can move today. With less farm work, there are more workers moving goods, and they all come to compete to move goods. My wages were several pennies less yesterday. In the past, I finished moving here. You can go to other merchant ships to move the cargo. Now, the other merchant ships are full of workers."
"Stop complaining. It's important to save energy to move a few more bags."
"Strength is limited. You think it's Wei Lei and the others who have great strength. In our group, they are the only ones who make the most money."
This group of movers are villagers from several villages in the lower south of the county seat, and they all work as porters on the wharf.
Wei Lei is also working on the dock. He and the three tall men next to him made friends while working on the dock. One of them is from the same village as him, and the other two are from other villages.
The four people are strong, and the appetite is equally large. To save money, they used to eat steamed buns and dry food. Today, one person mentioned to buy flatbread. Yesterday, he saw the flatbread bought by other people. , just want to eat.
Wei Lei had no objection, he handed over 20 Wen to his family every day. This was the salary he told his family, and he kept the extra money by himself. He might have the most money among them.
When Wei Lei and the others arrived, Wei Cheng was busy.
"Wei Lei, that's not Wei Cheng, it's actually Wei Cheng who sells the pancakes!" Wei Youli was very surprised to see that Wei Cheng was selling pancakes.
Wei Lei also saw it. It turns out that Chengzi's business is to sell big cakes. Looking at the long queue, the business is very good.
"Do you know the person who sells pancakes?" Li He, who was traveling with him, asked.
Wei Youli said: "It's not just acquaintance, we are still in the same village."
"The people in your village are really good. With such skills, look at how much that team sells in a day." Wu Pinglai is envious of how much he can earn.
Seeing that Wei Cheng was busy all the time, Wei Lei walked over. He didn't know what they were talking about.
"Chengzi, let me pretend for you."
Wei Cheng saw it and immediately asked, "Leizi, why are you here?"
Wei Lei picked up the extra clip on the side to hold the flatbread, "I'm moving goods at the dock, and I don't have a job right now, so come eat."
"Dinner? I'll treat you to a pancake, and I'll make you one with eggs. Wait for me."
Wei Cheng hurriedly said, "No, I'll help you first."
"Okay, you can collect the money for me, and I will treat you to dinner later."
Wei Cheng is also too busy, there are more people today than yesterday, and he kept urging him, he didn't even have time to catch his breath, and sometimes he didn't notice if he was given money or not, and Wei Lei helped him pack the cake and collect the money Well, he doesn't have to worry about making big cakes, and he is distracted to collect money, that's too tiring.
Wei Youli came to say hello, and Wei Cheng didn't have time to entertain them, so he asked them to make soup by themselves. As for buying pancakes, they still had to queue up, so many people were watching, so it was hard for him to ask someone to jump in line.
Wei Youli is also a sensible person. He has only a normal relationship with Wei Cheng, only with the same village. He was also happy when Wei Cheng asked him to drink soup. After ordering three soups, he went to queue. Shi Shi murmured, "They said they were from the same village, and they wouldn't even let them jump in line."
Wei Youli: "Wei Cheng and I don't know each other very well, and he even invited us to drink soup, which is also very good."
Wu Pinglai: "Isn't the soup a gift when you buy pancakes? Will we also have soup when we buy pancakes later. He looks down on you."
Wei Youli was stupid, and he was dissatisfied with Wu Pinglai's words, but he didn't want to argue with him, so he didn't say anything. On the contrary, Li He was very discerning: "There is not much soup in the bucket. If it is our turn, there will be no more soup. The fellow from the village of Youli is still there." Let us fight early because of strength."
When they were ordering soup, they heard the customers in the front complain that there were three less servings, and that the people behind them did not have free soup, and that the boss was good.
But Wei Cheng said, he invites his friends to drink the soup, so is it okay for me, the boss, to invite friends?
Those who have opinions can’t say no, after all, this soup belongs to the boss, and it’s only natural for him to invite friends to eat it.
And when it was Wei Youli's turn, the soup was gone, but Wei Cheng added eggs to the pancakes they bought without eggs.
Wei Youli and Li Ping were very happy to thank them. Adding eggs was a penny more expensive, so it saved a penny now. Wu Ping came to thank him, but he thought in his heart that he shouldn't, that acquaintances should give more.
Wei Lei asked the three of them to go back first, and he wanted to help here.
Wei Youli left first.
The boatman was off work, and Lu Dashan and the others hurried over to the stall. Not only Lu Dashan and the others, but also a group of people followed. They begged for miso at Lu Dashan yesterday, and they all liked it. The price was a bit expensive, but at least Have a good meal while taking the boat.
A group of people walked by, thinking that something happened in front of them, and all good things followed to see.
People who saw it thought they were looking for trouble, but they didn't know that this group of people rushed over to buy miso and chili oil.
A group of people from Lu Dashan came aggressively, and the guests from Weicheng thought that they were here to trouble Weicheng, so many of the guests who lined up ran away.
Wei Cheng: "..."
Wei Lei thought that Chengzi had offended someone, and worried: "Chengzi, they have a lot of people, and we just can't beat them. If there is a fight, we will find a chance to escape. The stall is no longer available, and the money will be collected first."
Wei Cheng: "......"
After an explanation, everyone knew that they didn't come to trouble the boss, but to buy miso and chili sauce.
A group of men in Lu Dashan knew that they scared away the customers of the pancake stall owner, so they were embarrassed to apologize, and said that they also bought pancakes, and they just happened to be able to buy them when the others ran away.
Wei Cheng rolled his eyes, asked Wei Lei to help sell miso and chili oil, and told him the price, saying that he still borrowed from the stall next door, and gave Erwen money as a reward.
After the guests knew that this was an oolong thing, they continued to line up to buy the pancakes. Some customers secretly complained that they were preempted by this group of people, and there was another person who had to be queued to him, and now they had to rearrange.
The passers-by who came to watch the excitement, and those who came out of the food shop, knew that there was such a delicious flatbread here, and those who wanted to eat had a long queue.
The pancakes in Weicheng were sold out in more than an hour. The portion he brought today was more than yesterday, and they were all sold out. The customers who didn't buy them in the future were complaining and disappointed.
The group of boatmen divided all the ten catties of miso that he brought, and five catties of chili oil. If there were still customers who wanted to buy yesterday, they could buy a little by three or two.
"Boss, remember to bring miso for sale tomorrow, it's not enough."
"..."
After the guests dispersed, Wei Cheng made the remaining pancake for Wei Lei.
Everyone said please eat the big cake, how could it be sold out.
Wei Lei was not too polite, they were all brothers, and they ate the pancakes as soon as they received them. He stood at the stall and smelled the fragrance. He wanted to taste it a long time ago, and it was really delicious. The breakfast last time was even more delicious.
"Let's find a place to sit."
Wei Cheng asked the peddler next to him to help watch the cart, and the peddler agreed in a hurry because Wei Cheng said that he would give him a big cake tomorrow.
The two went to a noodle restaurant. The noodle restaurant had noodles in soup and rice with fried vegetables. Wei Cheng asked Wei Lei to order. He wanted a bowl of herbal tea. Wei Lei asked for a bowl of noodle soup. completely full.
Wei Lei: "Why do you just drink herbal tea, aren't you hungry?"
"My daughter-in-law cooked lunch, and left her stomach to go back to eat." Wei Cheng showed off with bright eyes, he has a wife who cooks, and eating outside is not as delicious as his own food.
Wei Lei: "......"
He felt that the change of his friends should be due to the fact that he married a daughter-in-law. He is not dull, but also very energetic and confident in his speech.
He wants to marry a daughter-in-law, and see if he can change it and become more confident. Although he usually doesn't talk much, he is calm and confident when he doesn't speak, but when he talks a lot in front of outsiders who are superior to him, he doesn't have much confidence. Emboldened.
He and Yuanzi were worried about Chengzi's livelihood before. Chengzi's business is so good, and he married a daughter-in-law again, living a stable life. Instead, he should consider whether he and Yuanzi are going to work hard to make money and marry a wife.
Thinking of his family, marrying a daughter-in-law, unless he leaves that family, there will be no stable life.
"Leizi, how much do you pay for a day at the dock?"
"If there is a job, the maximum is 40 yuan a day, usually 30 yuan a day, and when there is a difference, it is more than a dozen yuan. What's wrong?"
"I'm considering renting a stall. There are a lot of tools in the stall. I have to move it every day and help with the business. I also want to hire someone here. I want to find an acquaintance. Yuanzi's family has a lot of farm work, so I want to ask Would you like to come and help me?"
Wei Cheng wanted to rent a stall to increase food intake. Now that the business is booming, he doesn’t have to worry about poor food sales. He can rent a stall. The stall has stone eaves to cover his head, and he can set up a shed within a certain range and put it on the table. Chair, not to worry about the sun and rain.
Now this consideration is also because his wife said she would help him open a stall. The stall has no tiles to cover the roof, and the sun is shining again at noon. It doesn't matter if he is exposed to the sun all day.
Wei Lei pondered for a moment, and said, "If you think I can do it, I have no problem." Wherever you go to work is also a part-time job, why not help Wei Cheng.
"Okay, then let's put it this way, the wages must be higher than your moving jobs."
"You can earn so much at this food stall." Compared with his previous wages, that's less than fifty cents a day. This is a very high wage. If it was fifty cents a day, life would be much more affluent.
Wei Lei rarely joked: "You are not afraid to hire me, and the work is for nothing."
Wei Cheng said: "Don't worry, your brother, I never do business at a loss."
"You come to help tomorrow morning, breakfast and lunch are included, fifty-five a day, and there is basically no need to start work in the afternoon." He estimated that it would be after noon when the pancakes were sold out.
Wei Lei: "......" For fifty cents, he still wanted to work hard every day and do more, but he didn't know that he would work for half a day.
Cheng Zi opened such a high wage, really not for the sake of brothers.
It wasn't until he started working that he realized that Chengzi's wages were high, but he also earned a lot.
Wei Cheng had to rush home for lunch, and he also had to prepare the things Steward Wang wanted.
Knowing that the pancakes were all sold out, Zhou Yuan felt unreal with the money bag in his hand.
If so much can be sold every day, wouldn't it be only a few dozen taels a month?
When did money become so easy to earn?
He was not at ease anymore.
Wei Cheng: "What's wrong? His expression is so serious."
Zhou Yuan: "I'm wondering if this money will be too easy to earn, I'm not at ease."
Wei Cheng smiled: "It's not easy to make money. I wake up before dawn every day, and I only earn one or two taels of silver after a busy day. It's not much."
This speed of making money may be amazing for the ancients, but for a person who is used to doing business like him, this speed is very slow, and he still thinks it is too little.
"Not much!" His husband was too demanding, one tael of silver, thirty taels a month, he had never seen such a money-making man, he felt like he was dreaming, finding a husband who would make money, Savings at home are also increasing.
This is something he never thought of.
"When you open the stalls and attract more customers, you will earn more than you are now. Don't you think it will be more by then."
Zhou Yuan asked in surprise: "Our family will open a stall?"
Wei Cheng: "We need to open a stall, the food at home is too monotonous, and customers will get tired of eating Liangpi pancakes for a long time, and there will be fewer customers buying by then, so we won't be able to make so much money. Only a few more types of food can retain customers.”
Zhou Yuan thought for a while, and decided to keep the guests, and open the stalls as soon as they opened.
"I've taken care of the jelly, can I help you set up a stall tomorrow?"
"I met Leizi at the pier today, I hired him, fifty cents a day, eat breakfast and lunch at my house, leave the trivial work of cooking at home to you, Leizi and I do the heavy work, and Leizi and I do the stalls son."
Zhou Yuan: "......" Fifty coins a day, why not give him money.
However, Zhou Yuan will not object to any decision made by your husband. Anyway, the family is not short of money, and if they earn so much every day, it is okay to give fifty Wen as wages.
What's more, Wei Lei is his husband's good brother.
"I'm going to the inner city later, you and I will go."
Wei Cheng wants to bring his daughter-in-law with him, so that he can see more, he won't keep people in the mansion, he wants Zhou Yuan to be side by side with him.
The Cao family is a wealthy family, and everything inside will definitely open people's horizons.
Wei Cheng took a brother with him, but Steward Wang was surprised when he received the notice from his servants.
Butler Wang had inquired about Wei Cheng's background, and knew that he was married to a brother, so it should be his wife who followed Wei Cheng. I feel that this Weicheng is ignorant, so I brought my brother with me when I came to Cao's mansion.
Steward Wang had a plan in mind, no matter whether he bought the jelly raw material or not, if he needed it in the future, he would assign a servant to buy it, so that the person would not have to come to the door.
Butler Wang rejected Wei Cheng's contacts. He didn't know about Wei Cheng, and he didn't care if he knew it. He was busy comforting Zhou Yuan now. The luxury of the mansion made him very cautious, cautious, afraid of offending others.
Wei Cheng has seen buildings like imperial palaces before. In his eyes, Cao Mansion is a mansion with a garden. He is not at all cautious, let alone cautious. He still has the mind to point to the garden scenery all the way to teach his wife science, of course all in a low voice. To put it bluntly, he couldn't be so stupid as to point and talk nonsense in front of Cao's servants.
Zhou Yuan's attention was diverted, and he gradually relaxed.
Under Wei Cheng's secret explanation, everyone became eager to learn and opened their eyes.
When Wei Cheng and Zhou Yuan came in front of Butler Wang, neither of them showed their ignorant expressions like the countrymen, and they were also cautiously nervous.
Butler Wang didn't dislike Wei Cheng so much, he changed his mind, but the first sentence Wei Cheng said made Wang Butler's face twitch.
"Hi, Steward Wang, this is Wei's wife. I brought my wife here today because I wanted to come to Cao's Mansion. We have never seen the aura of a wealthy family. It's rare to come here. Let my wife come to see and see together. If you are rude to your mansion , please forgive me."
Butler Wang: "..." If you really dare to say it, you won't be afraid of being kicked out.
Steward Wang has never been in contact with anyone, scoundrels, flatterers, and relationship seekers...but this is the first time he has met such a weirdo like Wei Cheng, and his eyes are open and frank.
Butler Wang really couldn't understand Wei Cheng for a while.
Steward Wang didn't waste time, took Wei Cheng to the kitchen and asked him to make jelly with raw materials. Wei Cheng was making it, and the cook was learning by the side.
The finished jelly has not yet formed and is in a state of water.
Wei Cheng explained: "To make the jelly into a paste, you must wait for the jelly to cool down."
Butler Wang: "Is there no other quick way?"
"Yes, if your house has ice, it can be formed quickly." The big family always has an ice cellar.
"Go get the ice," Steward Wang assigned his servants to fetch the ice, and the servants quickly brought the ice back.
With ice cubes, the jelly really took shape very quickly, turning into a paste, transparent ice and cold, under the freezing of the ice cubes, it was icy cold.
Wang Steward was satisfied, and discussed the price with Wei Cheng. Wei Cheng offered a price of sixty Wen per catty, and one catty could make almost two hundred bowls.
Steward Wang felt that Wei Cheng's price was a bit low, and he did this to curry favor with the Cao Mansion.
Steward Wang, you are overthinking.
In Weicheng, he didn't set too high a price, he wanted to popularize the jelly, rather than becoming an exclusive food for wealthy families.
"That's the price, no kidding."
The author has something to say:
The fact that jelly jelly is made into powder is purely fictitious. This is also for the convenience of writing, so don’t take it too seriously!