Blissful Days After Widowhood

Others said that cooking is delicious, and Wang Shi and Gu Yin also listened to it.

But Gu Ye, this little brat, has a stubborn tongue. After eating the food made by Gu Yin on the pier, he will not eat the food made by others.

It can be said that he is close to Gu Yin, a large part of which is because the food Gu Yin makes is delicious.

Even when he went to the state capital, Mr. Wang had never heard Gu Ye praise the delicious food made by others.

Gu Yin stood up and said, "If that's the case, then I'll send you a friend with you."

In the beginning, both Gu Yin and Wang Shi subconsciously thought that Gu Ye's friend was a child similar to him.

Now I hear that he can cook and cook deliciously, obviously he is an adult.

It always feels weird for an adult to make friends with such an older child.

Gu Ye thought about it for a while, his friend was very happy when he heard that he now has a home, and kept praising her mother for being a kind person, so she probably wouldn't mind him taking her with him.

The mother and son left the house holding hands.

Gu Ye walked with Gu Yin for two quarters of an hour to an ordinary house.

The door opened, and a burly middle-aged man came to open the door.

When Gu Yin met him, both of them were a little surprised.

"Treasurer Zhou?"

"Little lady?"

I'm still an acquaintance!

Gu Ye turned to look at the shopkeeper Zhou and then at her mother, wondering how they knew each other.

Gu Yin's adoption of Gu Ye is well known on the dock, but not elsewhere.

Especially the shopkeeper Zhou and Gu Yin only met by chance. They only knew that her family was poor, and she had to go out to find work in the snowy days of winter. She never thought that she would be the one who adopted Gu Ye.

"It turned out to be a little lady who adopted this child, Zhou admires it."

Shopkeeper Zhou clasped his fists and Gu Yinfu returned the salute.

Because the shopkeeper Zhou was a single man, it was inconvenient to greet Gu Yin into the house, so the two of them stood at the door talking.

After chatting, Gu Yin realized that when Gu Ye disappeared last winter, it was the shopkeeper Zhou who was taking care of him.

"It was very cold at that time. When I got off work and left the back alley, I saw a small group of things in the corner. At first I thought it was a wild cat. Only then did I realize that it was a fainted child. I took him home that day, fed him porridge and soup, and kept him warm for half the night, and the child disappeared as soon as I opened my eyes in the morning..."

Shopkeeper Zhou laughed as he said, "After that, he waited for me in the back alley every day. I wanted to take him home, but he wouldn't let me approach. No way, I'll be in the back. I made a nest for him in the shack in the lane, and gave him some food every day. I suddenly disappeared a few years ago, and I was worried that he was... In short, I see him well now. I was adopted by a kind person like the little lady, and I can too. Feel free to leave here."

Speaking of this, Gu Yin naturally asked, "Where is Mr. Zhou going?"

Shopkeeper Zhou's eyes dimmed, "I'm not a shopkeeper anymore, I'm just a little girl, just call me Uncle Zhou. As for the future... Wangyuelou can't stay any longer, Zhenzi There is only a restaurant in Hanxianglou, and I only applied for it a few days ago."

He laughed to himself, "To tell the truth, the owner of Hanxianglou has poached me more than once before, but this time I went again, and the owner also changed his face. The wages are more than what they said before. Half of it doesn't count, and let me be the second chef."

Treasurer Zhou was the one who turned Wangyuelou into profit and brought him back to life. He asked him to be the second chef and fight, no matter how good his temper was, he couldn't stand it.

Seeing Gu Yin frowning, the shopkeeper Zhou said, "None of the other restaurants in the town have any plans to recruit people. After searching for a few days, there is no result. So I'm going back to the state. Let's take a look. There are many restaurants there. Even if you don't work as a chef in a big restaurant, it's not difficult to find a chef job in an ordinary restaurant. Don't worry, little lady, we can't starve to death in the famine years. There is always a way out. of!"

With shopkeeper Zhou's ability, it's certainly not difficult to find an errand, but his salary is not affordable by ordinary restaurants, and when he is employed, it is the boss who chooses the work, and the boss also chooses the boss. , the requirements are not low.

Hearing that shopkeeper Zhou has plans to become a chef in another small shop, Gu Yin will be a fool if he doesn't do it again!

"My family is about to open a shop, and the shop has been selected. It is at the intersection of Wencheng Street and Anxing Street. Will you come with me to see if you have time?"

The sky was getting dark at this time, and the trip could not be done that day. Gu Yin made an appointment with him to meet at the shop tomorrow morning.

The mother and son went back along the same road, and it was completely dark when they reached Zhenyi Lane.

Wang has already prepared the evening meal, and Wu An also came back from school, waiting for them.

Being in a good mood, one big and one small, Gu Ye is happy that the shopkeeper Zhou did not leave today, Gu Yin is naturally happy that the shopkeeper Zhou took the olive branch she handed over - they are all smart people , Shopkeeper Zhou naturally knew Yayi by hearing the song, and was willing to go to her shop to have a look, it was half done.

Of course, the other half has to look after Gu Yin's own abilities. After all, it's just an empty shop at the moment.

So after two bites of food, Gu Yin and Wu An asked for a pen and paper.

Not used to writing brushes, Gu Yin took charcoal and started planning to open a store.

The first item, have a loud store name.

Everyone who has opened a store knows how important a sign is.

In her last life, Gu Yin inherited the Gu family porridge shop from her grandfather. Now this shop is not owned by her alone, but co-organized by her and the Wang family, and she is not only planning to do white cases. The name is not suitable.

The second item is the decoration design of the store.

The third step is the arrangement of staff in the store.

The red and white chefs are all necessary. The assistant chefs are Chef Xu and his two apprentices, and the back chefs are enough. If shopkeeper Zhou can come, then the person for the shopkeeper will be decided. In addition, waiters are also needed, that is, the so-called running halls, secondaries, etc. in this era, to entertain guests and other chores in the store. A mother-in-law alone is definitely not enough.

The third step is the food that the store mainly sells in the future, and it is also the future business direction of the whole store.

She said this alone, she had to wait for the shopkeeper Zhou to join the team and discuss it together.

Gu Yin used charcoal to write and draw on rice paper, and it was midnight before she knew it.

Because she was too excited, she simply didn’t sleep, got up and made buns to cook porridge. The buns were still for the Ge family, and they only sold porridge with preserved eggs and lean meat. , but the shop hasn't opened for a day, and the dock's rent this month has to be paid. There is no income for a day, so I still have to earn a little bit. Moreover, in this era, information and communication are not developed. Although my mother-in-law has gone to the pier to promote it, there must be a large number of foreign visitors who do not know about it. In order to prevent the loss of these customers, it is still necessary to promote slowly.

The guy in the family has even let Wang sell it at a discount, so Gu Yin boils not much porridge. Then there is no need for those guys, just bring some empty bowls, and just come back with buckets and bowls after they are sold.

He went to Wencheng Street with the project he wrote overnight and waited for Shopkeeper Zhou to come over.

When the sky was bright, Mrs. Wen and Shopkeeper Zhou came over.

Gu Ye was faster than the old man, so he rushed back and reported to the child, "That fat one is not coming."

I heard that her master was able to open a shop. Chef Xu was even happier than Gu Yin herself. I visited her yesterday, and Chef Xu had already helped her figure out what to buy, and said Waiting for Gu Yin's order, the purchases were wrapped up on him.

So hearing that he won't come today, Gu Yin was quite surprised and asked, "Is he only unable to come today or does he not want to come?"

Not waiting for Gu Ye to answer, the old man came over, he said with a sullen face: "Of course he wants to come, it's my family's Tie Gong... that second son, don't let anyone go."

Chef Xu's craftsmanship is average, he knows more and is less good at it, but he is fast and has two apprentices who are also quick and quick. The total is 5 taels per month, which is higher than that of ordinary cooks. Some, three masters and apprentices can at least support six or seven people.

If it weren't for him being cheap and easy to use, Master Wen Er would have stopped him from doing it since he saw that he was getting fatter in his kitchen.

Now that he says he will quit his job, where can Mr. Wen Er find such a cook? If you invite a few cooks to take care of the food and drink of the whole family, the wages must be doubled or tripled at least.

And not only this, Master Wen Er also got news that the old man rented the shop he was interested in to Gu Yin, and Chef Xu was going to help Gu Yin, he did not dare to confront the old man , and deliberately stuck Chef Xu.

Chef Xu is not the long-term worker of the Wen family, but the contract is limited.

It is only the beginning of April, which means that it will take two months for Chef Xu to regain his freedom.

Cook Xu turned to Mrs. Wen for help. Mrs. Wen felt that he was only working for his own family, and he turned his head and helped his second son.

Master Wen Er didn't talk about it, just because: "The deed was signed by Chef Xu himself, and it was not forcing him by his son. The order of this world must not be in chaos?"

His words sounded high-sounding, although the old man guessed his careful thinking, but he couldn't say anything.

After briefly talking about what happened, the old man was quite ashamed, he really didn't want to admit that he raised such a son!

Gu Yin saw that the old man was unhappy, so she persuaded: "Don't be unhappy, originally our store will not open in a few days, after all, it's just waiting for two chefs Xu. It’s only a month, and it’s up to you whether to hire some part-time workers or do more for your own family.”

After hearing what she said, the old man calmed down and asked him, "Aren't these things ready-made? Why does it take several days?"

At this time, the shopkeeper Zhou also came.

Gu Yin showed everyone what she wrote in the middle of the night.

Being a boss and opening a shop at her age is actually not very reassuring.

Like the shopkeeper Zhou, he knew that Gu Yin had a craft, but Gu Yin looked too young and tender. At her age, it was extremely rare to master a craft and run a shop seriously Afraid of being clueless. It was because of some friendship that the shopkeeper Zhou agreed to come and take a look.

Before she came, the shopkeeper Zhou had the worst plan, but now that she was writing in a sound manner, her heart settled down.

It wasn't until she saw what she wrote that the shopkeeper Zhou knew that it was too shallow to speculate on a person's ability based on his age!

The old man said first: "This name is simple, I can help, do you have any ideas?"

Gu Yin said with a smile: "There are a lot of ideas, at first I thought of 'evil mother-in-law's snack shop', after all, my mother-in-law is famous on the pier, but after thinking about it, isn't it true? Her notoriety? She is actually a very kind person, so it's still inappropriate if people don't always misunderstand her. Later, when I heard Wu An recite the phrase 'the people take food as the heaven', I felt that the three words 'food as the heaven' are very Yes. I'll tell you a big story, don't laugh, although I'm only opening a slightly larger store, but in the future I want to open a restaurant, or even open a branch in a big place like the prefecture and the capital, so the sign It's better to be more atmospheric, and then you can use it all the time."

"These three words are really good, 'the king takes the people as the sky, and the people take food as the sky', from "Historical Records Lisheng Lu Jia Biography", it can carry you Big ambition."

Gu Yin nodded with a smile, and then hesitantly said, "It's the name...will it be too big."

"What's this?" Mrs. Wen said indifferently, "I'll write this sign for you, and then print it with my seal. When people ask, you can say the name is my name. Yes."

When it comes to the seal of Mrs. Wen, the origin is deep.

The seals of ordinary people are either carved by themselves or by famous masters.

Hand carved.

The power of two private seals can be imagined.

Gu Yin doesn't know the origin of the old man's seal, but she is very fond of the old man.

"As for this second thing, I'll help." Shopkeeper Zhou said, "I've been the shopkeeper in Wangyuelou for so many years, and I also have some connections, little lady... No, the owner is just saying How to arrange it, I will help with purchasing and scheduling."

Gu Yin heard that the shopkeeper Zhou changed his words, her eyes were crooked with laughter, and hurriedly said: "Then this will trouble the shopkeeper."

Speaking of which, the Wang family also sold out the porridge and came over from the pier.

"Mother's arrival is just right, we are discussing the recruitment of personnel, you think that people are better than me, would you like to come and help come up with ideas?"

In fact, Gu Yin can make up her own mind about this matter, but she does not regard the shop as her own, so she still has to let her mother-in-law feel involved.

"I don't know how to recruit people," Wang said, "but I count as one, and your aunt Xu counts as one. Although the store is large, the two of us are about the same. I will do other chores. Just do it and save some.”

Gu Yin thinks it's not good, the store can have seven or eight tables, if the business is good and the customers are full, the two waiters are definitely not enough. But what Wang said also makes sense.

After asking for fifty taels from the Wang family, she had a total of more than seventy taels in her hands. She had given more than 13 taels of rent for one season, and there were nearly sixty taels left.

Chef Xu and his young apprentice gave up their original work to help him, and the wages offered to them naturally couldn’t be lower than that given by Master Wen Er.

Buying pots and pans and simple decorations, Gu Yin temporarily counted them as twenty-two.

Although Wang is her own family, at the end of the year, Gu Yin plans to share dividends for her, but she usually has to open a salary. She is also a person who can do the work of two or three people. The wages of half a tael.

The big head is the shopkeeper Zhou, he is both the chef and the shopkeeper of the red case, and because the new store is currently understaffed, the shopkeeper Zhou still has to act as the cashier, doing the work of three people alone, without opening At twenty-two, Gu Yin felt embarrassed.

This is almost fifty taels of the project, and if you invite a few more people, it will be even more difficult.

Gu Yin did some mental calculations, her eyes suddenly lit up, she took charcoal and drew a counter in the shape of "hui" on the paper.

Ordinary counters take up a lot of space and only serve as a checkout. But if it is made into a "back"-shaped counter, seats can be set up around the outside, and Gu Yin can make dim sum, steam dim sum on the spot inside, and the following items don't have the smell of oil smoke, and then there is a flue to exhaust smoke. , which can not only increase the number of seats, but also save the number of waiters needed.

After she finished painting, she explained her thoughts, and the shopkeeper Zhou nodded and said, "The owner's idea is indeed novel, but even if we find someone to make such a counter, go down the flue and put the smoke out. The front row, but if it's summer, the store will be too hot to sit still."

This is indeed the blind spot of Gu Yin's idea. In this era, there is no fan air conditioner, so it really can't be like this.

Seeing that Gu Yin was a little annoyed, the shopkeeper Zhou said: "But this is really practical. In fact, I have also thought about it before. Some guests travel alone and are unwilling to share a table, so one person has to occupy a room. It's really inconvenient to have a table. According to the owner's idea, a circle of single tables is set up outside the counter, and a movable baffle is set between each seat, so that guests can choose whether to raise it, which is fresh and refreshing. Don't disturb each other."

This kind of shop with a single table and a partition is very common in later generations, but it is really advanced now.

This shopkeeper is so worth it!

Please put the matter on hold temporarily and discuss the future business direction.

The old man said: "The roasted skewers and spicy hot pot you made earlier, even I have only eaten similar, not the kind you made. If you sell those, naturally There is no rival."

This is naturally a fact, after all, it is a modern food, something that has been improved for hundreds of years.

Although the living standards of the people near Wencheng Street are much higher than those on the wharf, they have not reached this level of consumption.

In addition, the cost of selling these things has to be doubled. Gu Yin’s start-up capital is really not enough.

"I don't think this is better." Gu Yin began to write and draw on paper again.

Just like the cafeterias of later generations, she cooks snacks of various colors every day. Shopkeeper Zhou cooks home-cooked dishes in the red case, which are placed on the counter one grid at a time. Not only can you dine in, but you can also take out easily without waiting.

The price of this dish is cheaper, and the people nearby can afford it.

Of course, it also accepts orders from customers. The price of the food is slightly higher, which is 70% higher than the price of Wangyuelou. It is aimed at high-spending customers.

In this way, different customer groups can be taken care of, and the target customers of the entire store will be the people in the middle and upper classes of living standards in the town.

Of course, if the store is bigger, Gu Yin thinks that you can also set up VIP boxes, and prepare a special menu for VIPs, and separate access from ordinary users, which will cover a wider customer service group. .

It's a pity that although the backyard is large, she doesn't have the money to overthrow and rebuild for the time being, and there are almost no such cutting-edge customers in the town, and most of them are ordinary people. Just press the no table first, and then talk about it later.

After discussing with shopkeeper Zhou, he also felt very good.

For a big restaurant like Wangyuelou, ordinary people are willing to go to it once every year and festival. Although Gu Yin's restaurant is larger than ordinary restaurants, it is far less than the scale of Wangyuelou. If you want to pursue high prices High profits, but may lose money.

After the general direction was finalized, Mrs. Wen went back and wrote a plaque for her, saying that he hadn’t practiced calligraphy for a long time, so he had to pick it up and practice again, and he must write a good sign for her. There is no need for Gu Yin to worry about it, he does it all by himself, which is regarded as an opening gift for Gu Yin.

Wang went back to Zhenyi Lane to find Xu, although when it came to recruiting, the first thing she thought of was Xu, but she had to discuss with her before making a decision.

Manager Zhou was in charge of finding someone to customize the counter and simple decoration - especially Gu Yin said that she hoped to knock down half of the two walls facing the street and make the kind of large windows that can be opened and half a person's height, You have to take the blueprints to show the old craftsmen, and make sure that the wall can be beaten before you can find someone to build it.

Gu Yin asked him to stay for a while, and finally discussed the salary with him.

Manager Zhou did not hide it from him, saying: "When I was in Wangyuelou, my monthly salary was 32 taels, but the scale of the owner here is not as big as that, and naturally it does not need that kind of salary, you see Give it."

Gu Yin thought about twenty taels at first, but she never thought that Wang Dafu would give shopkeeper Zhou thirty taels of wages.

She thought about it, and finally decided to pay twenty-two wages a month, but at the end of the year, she will give bonuses and year-end bonuses. Afraid that Shopkeeper Zhou would not understand bonuses and year-end bonuses, Gu Yin was about to explain,

The shopkeeper Zhou has already smiled and said: "When the boss is not rich, he will adopt the children who meet by chance. I can trust you. In fact, twenty-two per month is very good for me now. . The bonus and year-end bonus that the boss said will be discussed at the end of the year."

Recruiting such good employees is no different from picking up money on the ground.

Gu Yin felt warm in her heart, "The shopkeeper is also relieved, I will do what I say."

…

In mid-April of this year, "Food for Heaven" officially opened at the intersection of Wencheng Street and Wenxing Street!