The beloved baby has a space

Chapter 158 Steamed Buns and Mantou Taste Good

The Wang family's steamed bun shop hired a master steamed bun maker who was actually an acquaintance of the Wang family. His name was Cai Niu, and he was the first person to taste the wild fruits from the Wang family's farm.

Setting up a stall on Nanhe Third Street costs 5 coins per day, making it the cheapest option among the three streets.

On Nanhe Third Street, Cai Niu can sell about 100 steamed buns a day, but if the weather is bad, he will not make any at all that day.

In total, without deducting costs, one can only earn a little over one tael of silver a month; after deducting costs, it's only two or three hundred coins.

White flour is expensive, and minced meat isn't cheap either.

Little Ayu had eaten his steamed buns and had mentioned them to Grandma Wang several times, saying that Uncle Baozi's steamed buns were delicious.

Before opening the steamed bun shop, Old Mrs. Wang said to Wang Chuanyuan, "Go and poach that guy named Cai Niu from Nanhe Third Street and have him make steamed buns in the shop."

Wang Chuanyuan was completely bewildered: "Mom, we're hiring people before our shop even opens? Let's have our own people do it first, otherwise what if we lose money?"

Old Mrs. Wang wanted nothing more than to slap him on the head: "You're a manager now, how come you're still so slow-witted?! Remember this, I'll only say this once—"

"A shopkeeper shouldn't do everything himself. Hire others to do what you can, and think long-term when you can. If you're already thinking about the shop losing money, you might as well quit and go back to the village to farm. Let your older brother come. We can't have a house full of blockheads like you!"

"Also, since you're going to open a shop, it's normal to lose money for a year or two. Your and Xiao Zhang's skills are good enough to watch at home, but if you really want to open a shop, they won't be good enough."

"Don't think that opening a shop is just about setting up the store and waiting for customers to come in. There's a lot to do, and you'll learn slowly. What you need to learn is how to be a manager, not a cook. If you want to be a cook, then I'll put in a good effort for you and get you a job at the Blue River Restaurant as an apprentice for 10 or 8 years before you come back and open your own shop."

Wang Chuanyuan pondered for a long time and roughly understood what it meant; in short, he needed to invite someone.

"Mother, how much should we pay him?"

"500 coins at most. If you can negotiate it down to a lower price, that's your skill." Old Mrs. Wang looked at Wang Chuanyuan. "You're going to be a businessman in the future. You need to be able to consider everything and learn to think for yourself."

So Wang Chuanyuan went to find Cai Niu and easily recruited him, agreeing only on a monthly wage of 300 wen.

Seeing that Wang Chuanyuan had handled things so well, Old Mrs. Wang's expression finally improved.

Old Mrs. Wang had stipulated that Wang Chuanyuan and Xiao Zhangshi would be paid according to wages when working at the steamed bun shop; one would receive the manager's wages, and the other would receive the helper's wages.

The remaining profits belong to the public, and any losses are also attributed to the public.

Grandma Wang also stipulated that from the day the steamed bun shop opened, everyone in the Wang family would receive a monthly allowance.

Adults receive 30 coins per month, and children receive 5 coins per month.

In addition, Wang Chuanfu and his wife, who are responsible for farming at home, are paid extra wages based on their farming work.

Wang Changgui and his wife mainly wanted to study, while Wang Chuanman and his wife wanted to find work themselves, so they didn't pay them extra wages.

Although the monthly allowance wasn't much, they were already very satisfied. You have to understand, the Wang family used to not even have enough to eat. Now they even get a monthly allowance, so what could they possibly be unhappy about?

The children were overjoyed; it was the first time they had their own money.

The children are still selling candied hawthorns, and the money they earn is carefully saved by Grandma Wang to be used for their weddings.

Wang Wulang was also quick-witted. Seeing that there were still quite a few empty seats in his steamed bun shop, he took the initiative to say to Wang Chuanyuan, "Third Uncle, let's rent a spot in your steamed bun shop. You see, renting a stall on Lanhe Third Street costs five coins a day. If we give those five coins to the shop, wouldn't we be able to save five coins for the family?"

"You're quite clever. Okay, I'll give you a small slot. Whether you can sell it or not is up to you." Wang Chuanyuan agreed with a smile.

So on the day Wang's steamed bun shop opened, everyone discovered that next to the shop, there was a small stall selling wild fruits and candied hawthorns.

The wild fruit looked exceptionally large, and the candied hawthorn skewers were brightly colored; they looked quite good.

Little Ayu sat at a table at the shop entrance, eating a steamed bun and then taking a bite of candied hawthorn every now and then.

Seeing how much the little boy was enjoying his candied hawthorn, everyone said, "How much is one? Let's buy some and try them too." Wang Wulang quickly replied, "Three coins each, five coins for two!"

Those people frowned: "Why is it so expensive?"

Other people's candied hawthorns only cost one penny each.

These people usually shop on Lanhe Street and rarely go to Nanhe Third Street. In addition, Old Wang's family doesn't sell candied hawthorns every day, so they don't know that Old Wang's family sells them for more.

Before anyone else could speak, Xiao Ayu swallowed the steamed bun in her mouth, raised her little face, and smiled brightly: "Uncle, our candied hawthorns taste different. They're especially sweet and delicious, not sour at all. Eating them can even help you grow taller!"

"Uncle, you're so handsome, you'll definitely look even more handsome after eating our candied hawthorns!"

Eating candied hawthorns can make you grow taller, this is a conclusion Xiao Ayu came to herself, because everyone has been saying that Xiao Ayu has grown taller recently.

Today, little Ayu is wearing a light yellow dress, her hair is styled in a bun and wrapped with a light green hair flower. The hair flower is also decorated with a few embroidered three-dimensional osmanthus flowers, making her look like an osmanthus flower child, which is especially endearing.

As she spoke, the little osmanthus flower on Xiao Ayu's head bounced up and down, and her little eyes blinked, making the people who came to buy steamed buns unable to help but laugh.

"This child looks cheerful and is worth listening to. Okay, I'll buy two skewers then." The man didn't care about the small amount of 5 coins and immediately bought two steamed buns, two dumplings, and two candied hawthorns.

Seeing this, the others laughed and said, "Then we'll buy some too—young shopkeeper, if eating these candied hawthorns stunts our growth, can we ask you for a refund?"

The words were spoken to Xiao Ayu, whose eyes widened in surprise, not expecting such a question.

She quickly waved her hand: "Adults don't grow tall!"

Everyone else couldn't help but laugh at her flustered little appearance.

On the first day of the steamed bun shop's opening, the prices were slightly lower. Old Mrs. Wang also asked Mrs. Feng to make some pickled vegetables and cook some thin porridge to sell with the buns.

Seeing that the prices were cheap, the workers sat down in the shop and ate a bowl of thin porridge, a steamed bun, and a small dish of pickled vegetables, which was enough to fill them up.

These days, having a bowl of thin porridge at home is considered good. As for getting hungry quickly, everyone experiences that, so it's not a big deal anymore.

Cai Niu was still a little uneasy, afraid that his skills were not good enough and that he would ruin the business of the steamed bun shop. But to his surprise, everyone who had eaten the steamed buns came back to buy them a second time.

"I really have to say, your steamed buns and dumplings taste different; they're exceptionally sweet and soft."

"I was worried that the food at the new store wouldn't be good, but it seems to be quite good. I can eat here regularly from now on."

Cai Niu was in the kitchen, listening to everyone's discussion, feeling both happy and relieved.

Although I don't know why, the steamed buns and mantou he made at this shop did taste better.

Only Xiao Ayu listened to their discussion and chuckled to herself.

Because Xiao Ayu had put gene repair fluid in both the steamed bun shop and the well in the house, and according to Tuanzi's instructions, she only put in a few drops.

Don't underestimate these few drops. Gene repair fluid is even more powerful than elixir. Applying a little to a wound can repair bone marrow damage.

Adding a few drops can improve the water quality. Once the water with the gene repair fluid is added is also improved, the soil in the well will also be improved, and the water in this well will always taste good.

Moreover, there was no aftereffect of diarrhea.

It's a pity that Murong Run left. Otherwise, if we sold a few more times, your mission would be complete, the shop would open, and we wouldn't have to be so constrained.

Just as Tuanzi finished speaking, Murong Run, who was on the road, suddenly sneezed violently.

"Is Grandpa calling me?" Murong Run rubbed her nose, feeling unbearably itchy. "Let's hurry on our way!"

(End of this chapter)