A 1970s mom raises a cute baby, and a crazy boss spoils her

"It's not tiring. I'm used to it. When I was young, my family ran a shop and I had to help my dad make hundreds of kilograms of food every day."

She originally wanted to say that she didn't feel tired doing these jobs, but after she said that she was worried that others would feel annoyed, so she stopped talking.

Gu Qinghuan noticed her reserve.

"Really? You're so amazing! I'm not good at making pastries. My hands don't obey me, and what I make is not what I imagined. This one you made is very good, beautiful and delicious, better than the ones sold at the counter of the department store.

I'll order some for gifts first, and I'll come back to you if I need them later."

When Xia Lian mentioned her expertise, her eyes lit up and she instantly became much more confident.

"My craft was passed down from my ancestors for generations, but unfortunately my father didn't have a son. Then a lot of things happened in my family, so I took down the shop and stopped doing it.

Now ordinary people are not allowed to start their own businesses, so I can only secretly make some and sell them to old customers. Everyone who has eaten them says they are good.

If you like to do this, I will teach you when I have time." Xia Lian is very gentle, like a boudoir girl in the old society, she speaks politely but makes people feel very comfortable.

Gu Qinghuan couldn't help but slow down his speech.

"Goodbye, your craft is decades old, there is no way I can learn it.

Don't worry, life will get better and better. If you don't have a son, you still have a daughter like me. Maybe one day you'll be able to put up a sign again."

"Really? I'll take your good words. I'm really looking forward to that day. When my father dies, he will remember our family's signboard!"

They sat for a while, and Gu Qinghuan took out the money he had prepared long ago and gave it to her.

"This is the price I agreed with Uncle Xu a long time ago. Please order it."

Xia Lian waved her hand: "No, I've already received your deposit, just enough money for the materials, you can keep these."

"That won't do. We've already agreed on this. There are so many pastries, and they don't cost just one or two dollars. No, you have to accept them, or I won't want them." Gu Qinghuan pretended to be angry and stuffed the money into her arms.

"Xiao Gu, I really shouldn't have taken this money from you. Old Xu's family was poor back then, and it's thanks to your family's care that he is where he is today. Making some cakes is nothing, I'm just contributing a little." Xia Lian said sincerely.

Gu Qinghuan thought to herself that Xu Lei and his wife were both kind people.

Precisely because they are kind people, we should not bully them.

Besides, she ordered these pastries to help them and ease the financial pressure on their family. If she didn't charge them, that would be meaningless.

"Aunt, don't refuse anymore. We will visit each other often in the future. I am not making an appointment with you just this once. Even brothers have to settle accounts clearly, right?" Gu Qinghuan advised earnestly.

Xia Lian was shaken.

"Well... this money is still a bit too much. How about I take half? I'll give this back to you." Xia Lian gave her half.

Gu Qinghuan stepped back and said, "You came so early, have you eaten? I just made some buns, let's eat some together."

It just so happens that dinner is about to start.

Gu Lanting had already glanced at her a few times in the kitchen, asking her with his eyes when dinner would be ready.

"Lanting, put breakfast on the table. Dabaobei and Youran, please help your uncle! Don't forget to call Aunt Ruxue!" Now Ming Ruxue basically eats at their house.

Several children were reading picture books on the sofa. Upon hearing this, they immediately rushed to the kitchen.

These picture books were all Gu Lanting’s former collection. When he left Gu’s house, he only brought some simple daily necessities and some books.

The three children liked Gu Lanting reading them picture books very much.

Even You Ran could listen with great interest.

Soon the meal was served.

Xia Lian had no choice but to accept the money and have breakfast with Gu Qinghuan and the others.

Zhong Luoning couldn't eat all of this, so Gu Qinghuan had already prepared millet porridge for her.

Her stomach needs to be taken care of slowly, but recently she has been drinking a cup of Lingquan every day and taking some Chinese medicine, and there seems to be obvious improvement. Before, she even felt sick and couldn't eat millet porridge, but now she can drink a big bowl of it.

She needed to rest during this period, so Gu Qinghuan didn't let her go downstairs. He bought her many books and put them in her room for her to read slowly. Reading can make people forget many worries.

Let’s get back to the point. Gu Qinghuan’s buns are really delicious. The main reason is that they have enough ingredients. The stuffing is made of chopped meat with alternating fat and lean meat, and it is full of oil and water. How can it not be delicious?

Gu Lanting ate five or six of them in one go with millet porridge. He was a big eater despite his small stature and had become visibly stronger recently.

Ming Ruxue also stuffed herself with four big meat buns, and her belly was full.

"Sister, if I continue to eat this kind of food in your house for another month, I will gain 20 pounds."

The three little ones each ate two buns and half a bowl of porridge.

As a guest, Xia Lian would definitely feel embarrassed to eat so much of other people's big meat buns, which are actually good stuff.

She drank half a bowl of porridge and ate a bun and that was all she needed. Seeing this, Gu Qinghuan forced another bun into her hand, which she then ate.

Before leaving, Gu Qinghuan wrapped the remaining five big meat buns for her in oil paper and took them away.

Xia Lian couldn't refuse, so she accepted it gratefully.

After Xia Lian left, Gu Lanting asked her who these cakes were for?

Gu Qinghuan only said: "Secret."

She pretended to take the pastries out in batches, but actually kept them all in the space.

Yes, her vending machine hasn't been stocked with goods for a long time, and she plans to put these authentic old Beijing pastries on the shelves and sell them.

Just leave some for the family to eat.

These pastries have no preservatives and will not last long, so they must be disposed of as soon as possible.

The pastries made by Xia Lian are delicious and have authentic flavors. She had tasted them when Xu Lei sent them to her before.

There are more flavors delivered today.

Xia Lian had introduced it when she came. The pastries delivered were mainly the Eight Beijing Pastries, namely, Blessing Cake, Wealth Cake, Longevity Cake, Joy Cake, Taishi Cake, Pepper and Salt Cake, Jujube Flower Cake, and Sachima.

Because Xu Lei said she was planning to give it as a gift, she specially made a set of the Eight Beijing Pieces to make it look more beautiful and presentable. It must be said that she was quite thoughtful.

In addition to the eight Beijing snacks, there are also some other delicacies like donkey rolls, pea yellow, ox tongue biscuits, hawthorn pot cakes, starter steamed buns, Aiwowowo, etc.

There are so many varieties, I don’t know how she manages it all by herself.

A set of the Eight Beijing Pieces weighs about one kilogram. There are a total of fifty sets of the Eight Beijing Pieces, which weighs fifty kilograms.

In addition, the miscellaneous pastries added up to more than 50 kilograms, a total of about 100 kilograms.

Gu Qinghuan paid her by weight, at a flat price of two yuan per pound. There were about one hundred pounds in total, so she gave her two hundred yuan in total.

If sold on the market now, the price of each pastry is still different, but it is generally between one and two yuan.

Gu Qinghuan directly gave them the highest price, because he wanted to help them out as a way to repay Xu Lei for his help during this period.

Moreover, she can actually make money by selling these cakes, so it is a mutually beneficial situation.

In later generations, cakes were sold by the piece.

If you put these Beijing Eight Pieces in a nice box, wouldn’t the box be sold for ninety-nine yuan in the future?

She doesn't sell it at such a high price. She just buys the goods for two dollars a set and sells them for four dollars.

As for other pastries, they are sold by the piece, 30 cents a piece.

Gu Qinghuan ordered a batch of packaging boxes for Beijing Eight Pieces from the vending machine, packed fifty sets of Beijing Eight Pieces, and then put them on the shelves.

As for the others, they are sold by the block.

According to the vending machine's initial estimate, she could earn about 320 yuan after selling all the cakes.

In other words, after deducting the money she gave to Xia Lian, she could still make a net profit of 120 yuan.

No matter how small a mosquito is, it still counts as meat. I have been spending a lot recently and haven't had any money come in for a long time.

This business is worth doing. It can not only help Xia Lian increase her income, but also allow her to make some profit from the difference.

If the sales here are good, I can place another order from her in a couple of days.

On her way back on her bike, Xia Lian thought for a moment. Xu Lei had previously given her a deposit of 50 yuan, and today she received another 150 yuan. In total, Gu Qinghuan had given her 200 yuan.

I spent about 60 or 70 yuan on buying materials, and the rest was pure labor, which was not expensive at all.

This means that she earned a total of more than 130 yuan in these two or three days.

It is equivalent to almost three months' salary of her husband.

Xia Lian couldn't help but curl up the corners of her mouth and was in a good mood.

Although she would secretly take orders from some regular customers, they were not as honest as Gu Qinghuan. They only went to her because they could bargain with her and the products were well made and cheap.

Some customers would even deliberately lower the price, leaving her with almost no profit.

In the past, it was good if I could earn a few or ten dollars a month, but now I can earn more than a hundred dollars in just two days.

She was glad that she did not cut corners when she knew she might not get the money back, but instead made every pancake well. Now she could accept the money with confidence.

As soon as Gu Qinghuan's pastries were put on the shelf, someone noticed them.

Many people have set reminders so they can see it as soon as it’s on the shelves.

Old customers who have bought things from her place place their orders without thinking twice, fearing that they will miss out if they are too late.

I don't know how it changed from agricultural products to pastries this time, but the food here can't be bad.

Some people even directly snatched ten sets of Beijing Eight Pieces.

There were also people who were selecting cakes one by one, but were suddenly told that they were out of stock. They couldn't help but beat their chests and stamp their feet, hating themselves for being too slow.

In short, the batch of pastries she had just put on the shelves were sold out at the speed of light, and she received three hundred and twenty yuan.

Although these cakes do not have the added flavor of Lingquan, they have authentic flavors. The ingredients used are carefully selected by Xia Lian and are hand-processed using ancient methods. Even the molds are made by herself, which gives them a unique flavor.

Everyone who bought it thought it was worth it.

The guy who bought ten boxes of Jingbajian even posted a video on Tik Tok to show off.

Can't finish it, can't finish it at all.

Some people even sent him private messages, wanting to buy his stock at a high price.

After a pastry chef tasted it, he was immediately amazed.

He said that this store is simply a treasure trove, and the eight pieces of Beijing cuisine are exactly the same as the old-fashioned ones his grandmother had seen before.

It seems as if the craftsmanship from a hundred years ago was suddenly revived, and when eating it, there is a feeling of having a conversation with time and space.

I have to say he's telling the truth.

His son even asked him to make a video, the text of which was: A century-old craft, pastries that communicate across time and space.

By comparing the Beijing Eight Pieces bought from Gu Qinghuan's store with the Beijing Eight Pieces sold on the market one by one, everyone found that the pastries sold by Gu Qinghuan were of excellent craftsmanship, purely handmade, without any traces of machinery, and very conscientious pastries.

Everyone who has tried it says it’s delicious; even people who don’t like sweets can eat two pieces.

As a result, Gu Qinghuan's shop became popular again, and many people waited there every day just to get it as soon as her products were put on the shelves.