Baozi Xishi's Struggle

After listening to Shen Yu's words, Li didn't say anything at first. She thought silently for a while, and seemed to have figured something out. She slammed the table hard, which scared the three children.

Li tucked the scattered hair behind her ears and said ostentatiously, "Well, Yuzhi is right. I don't understand what is said in the book, but I do understand what is sung in the opera. Which of the young ladies from the wealthy families in the opera is not well-educated and can read and write?"

Seeing that the three children were listening attentively, he said proudly, "That's why she is the daughter of a wealthy family, living a good life without worrying about food and clothing. If she couldn't read, her husband's family would look down on her and laugh at her when she married."

Thinking of Shen Qingyuan, Li said with some resentment: "Your father is afraid that girls will miss out on housework if they study. He is afraid that you sisters will be unwilling to farm and cook after you learn to read and study."

Shen Yu didn't expect Li to say such a thing. In fact, she was right to think so. Girls from wealthy families don't have to worry about food and clothing by themselves, so they have free time to study and learn to read.

When the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace. If they don't solve the problem of food and clothing first, there is no way to take care of other things.

Shen Yu smiled and nodded, praisingly: "Mom, you are much more open-minded than Dad. I want to see if there is a school for girls. If there is, I will let Yutao go to school as well."

Yu Tao was shocked when she heard this. She blushed and shook her hands, stammering, "Yu Cheng can go. I'd better stay at home and help my mother and sister make the dumplings."

Shen Yu was just thinking about it today because he was inspired by recording the accounts.

The bun stall has just been established and the income is not much, so there is not enough money to allow Yutao and Yucheng to go to school immediately.

So Xiaoxiao patted Yutao's hand and comforted her: "We just started this bun stall, and we don't make much money yet. When our business is going well, we'll talk about it. You don't need to learn to read and write now, but when you need it in the future, you might even be eager to go to school."

After hearing this, Li calmed down and realized that she was not yet capable of discussing this, so she put aside the idea of ​​finding a school to study.

Thinking back to what Shen Yu had said about sending buns to various shops tomorrow, she felt distressed again and complained with some pain in her heart, "Yuzhi, it's a good thing to have all the shops order our buns, but you're being too generous."

Shen Yu was thinking about finding a school to study in when Li suddenly said this. He didn't understand what she meant for a moment and asked in confusion, "Mother, what are you talking about?"

Li counted on her fingers and said, "When you go to each store to order meals, just ask for the order. Why do you give out six buns to each store? Six buns may not seem like a lot, but if you give out six to each store, then there will be sixty or seventy buns. Two of each filling, eighteen cents for two meat buns, and twenty-four cents for four vegetable and red bean buns. Add it all up..."

Li couldn't figure it out for a moment, so he simply said, "I can't figure it out at the moment, but it must be at least 600 or 700 coins, which is not a small amount."

Shen Yu knew that she was worried about the money and felt that it was not worthwhile to give it away for nothing, so he quickly explained to her: "Mom, think about it, there are so many shops around here, after all, not everyone in every shop has bought our buns before. For those who haven't bought it before, if you ask them to order directly, we don't know how it tastes, and there will definitely be some who won't order."

Seeing that Li's face looked better, he continued to calculate the details for Li: "Send a few buns for them to try first. If they taste good, they will naturally be willing to order. Although we can't order every day, we can order for more than ten days a month. In the long run, won't we make more money than if they come to our house occasionally to buy? So, although sending a few buns may cost some money, it is still very cost-effective if we can make a long-term order."

Li didn't quite understand what was said, but he finally realized that the buns were not given away for free. They were given to get more shops to place long-term orders so that he could make more money, so he stopped talking.

Shen Yu was a man of action. After he prepared for the account keeping, he took out another piece of rough paper, cut it up, took out a piece, and wrote down the ten traditional Chinese characters from one to ten neatly, stroke by stroke. He taught Yutao and Yucheng to recognize them, so that they could learn to recognize these ten characters first. It would be even better if they could learn to write them.

When preparing the dough and fillings in the evening, Shen Yu estimated the quantities and prepared extra amounts for tasting in various shops tomorrow. He planned to deliver them to each shop after closing the stall tomorrow.

The business was better on the second day. It was probably because word of mouth spread among the diners in the past few days. Most of the people in the market stalls also knew that there was a food stall selling buns at the entrance of the market.

Many of the people who come to buy buns are new customers.

While queuing to buy buns, customers were bored and looked around. When they saw the Shen Ji Fengnian buns with the price tag in front of the stall, they realized that this bun stall was also famous and the young girl selling the buns was surnamed Shen.

Whenever customers bought a lot of buns, Li would get nervous. The more nervous she became, the harder it was to calculate the bill. Sometimes, the customers had already calculated the price for her, but she would still keep calculating for fear that she had charged too little.

She was also very fussy and would not give me even one extra bun no matter how much I bought.

If Shen Yu was making the buns at the dough counter and Li was selling them alone, after serving a few customers, the customers waiting in line behind her would become impatient and clamor for Miss Shen to come over and sell them before they would buy.

After a few times, Li let Shen Yu focus on selling buns and receiving guests.

She and Yutao made the buns, although slowly, and the buns they made were not as fast or good-looking as those made by Shen Yu, but they were much better looking than at the beginning, and did not delay the steaming process.

As soon as Shen Yu took over, the line moved forward quickly. While queuing, the customers looked at Miss Shen in front of the bun stall. She calculated the bill quickly and accurately, had a sweet mouth, and kept calling her "big brother" or "uncle". She was very likable.

Over time, the customers all liked Shen Yu for his frank conversation and generosity. If old customers bought a lot, he would give them one or two extra items.

Seeing that she had a pretty face and a sweet smile, people secretly said that the owner of the Fengnian steamed buns stall was a lively girl who was as beautiful as Xi Shi. Gradually, the name of the steamed buns Xi Shi spread, and the Fengnian steamed buns were put behind.

If Shen Yu hadn't reserved some for tasting this morning, the three baskets that were prepared to be sent to shops for tasting would have been sold out, causing Li to feel heartbroken and regretful, and she kept saying that she should have prepared more ingredients.

Shen Yu let Li yell in a low voice while he and Yutao made two buns of each filling, and wrapped six buns into a lotus leaf bun. Then he asked Li and Yucheng to be in charge of packing up the stall, while he and Yutao put the packed and hot lotus leaf buns into a prepared double-handled bamboo basket, covered it with a clean cloth, and then they lifted the two sides of the bamboo basket and walked towards the shops on both sides of the street in front of the market.

The clerks and shopkeepers in these shops received Shen Yu's promise yesterday that he would send some buns over to try as soon as the stalls closed today, so they deliberately did not go for breakfast and waited for Shen Yu to come.

As the sun rose, we saw Miss Shen, who had come to sell her own buns yesterday, coming to deliver buns, and she was all smiling.

Since most of these shops are branches, there is usually only a branch storekeeper and one or two waiters. There are not too many people. Although six buns are not many, they are enough for everyone to have a taste. If the storekeeper thinks they are delicious, the meal is settled.

As agreed, Shen Yu sent a portion of steamed buns to all the shops he had asked about yesterday, and agreed to come back at noon to get a reply. If the food was good, he would be able to eat the steamed buns delivered on time tomorrow at noon.

After Shen Yu delivered the buns to the shops, he returned to the market entrance. Li and Yucheng had already packed up their stalls. Shen Yu and Yutao pushed the carts on both sides and went home together. When they passed Hulu Lane, Yucheng brought the buns that Uncle Yang had ordered and delivered them to him.