In the book, I was fed by my sister

The Winter Solstice, the biggest festival of the year in the Great Xia Kingdom, has arrived as scheduled.

On this day, the emperor would lead officials to celebrate this festival full of joy and peace.

People also burned incense and prayed, asking for the gods' protection.

On this special day, everyone has a consensus: Winter Solstice is a good time to nourish the body, and having a good meal is the best way to prevent the invasion of cold evil.

In Fengxian County, people drink soft mutton soup on the winter solstice.

Song Ran piled fertilizer on the seedlings in the field and covered them with a layer of straw to ensure that winter wheat, rapeseed and other crops could safely survive the winter.

After finishing all these, she hurriedly drove the donkey cart to the city to buy mutton.

Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice. All shops in the city are closed, and people have to prepare ingredients for the Winter Solstice one or two days in advance.

There was a long line of people selling mutton in the market, and two empty sheep skeletons were hung on bamboo poles.

"Little darling, go and line up first. I'll find a place to tie up the donkey and come over."

On the wooden board, charcoal wrote: Today's mutton offal is 40 cents per pound, and mutton is 60 cents per pound.

Although many people are illiterate, everyone still knows the numbers from one to ten. The notice is hung up to prevent people from lining up and then realizing that the mutton is expensive.

"The price of mutton has risen dramatically this year," lamented a customer.

"I'll raise a few sheep next year too. This business looks like it could make a lot of money," another customer agreed.

Finally it was Song Ran's turn. She pointed at the sheep bones on the bamboo pole and asked, "Brother, do you want to sell the sheep skeleton?"

For those who cannot afford mutton, you can buy some mutton bones and stew them with radishes to get a bit of the mutton flavor.

"Ten cents a pound, how much do you want?"

"A whole set of lamb ribs, two pounds of lamb meat, and two pounds of lamb offal."

"Okay, I thought the girl was just buying bones to add flavor, but I didn't expect she would buy so much meat."

Butcher Zhang took the lamb ribs off and weighed them. "11.5 catties, I'll give you 11 catties, plus the meat, a total of 310 coins, and I'll give you 3 catties of lamb blood as a gift."

The people behind him heard this and said regretfully, "It's better to buy two more pounds of meat than to spend more than a hundred dollars to buy an empty rack."

"This butcher is an expert at cutting mutton. He even scrapes the meat between the bones so that you don't get scratched."

Everyone burst into laughter, and Butcher Zhang felt a little proud.

"Young girls don't know how to manage a household. When they go back, they will inevitably be ruled by their mother-in-law."

"That's right, I guess she's the new daughter-in-law, and it's her first time buying groceries. Girl, you should buy meat!"

Song Li turned around and looked at the people who were complaining, "I didn't spend any of your money, but you're feeling bad about it."

A four-year-old child said that to them, and they were a little embarrassed. "It's hard to persuade a damned ghost with kind words..."

Song Ran held the full load of meat in both hands and said, "Let's go. It's getting dark early. We have to go home quickly."

"Where's the beef and stuff that Sister Xiaoxiao mentioned? Sister, do we still need to buy some?"

"She said she was going to prepare and asked me not to worry about it."

Since there is a holiday for the Winter Solstice tomorrow, Su Xiaoxiao gave her servants an early holiday as well and paid this month's wages in advance so that everyone can have a happy holiday.

She picked up the store's account book. Since the holiday was coming soon, she decided to settle the money that should be settled and distribute the dividends before the holiday.

When she arrived at Song Ran's house, she smelled the strong smell of mutton soup. She pushed the door open and said, "Isn't it the winter solstice? Are you going to cook the soup today?"

Song Ran replied, "It will take quite some time. Aren't we having lunch tomorrow? I'll stew it in advance in case you're late."

When Song Ran got home, he chopped off the sheep bones with a hatchet, washed them, blanched them, and put them into a large iron pot. After the soup boiled, he simmered it over low heat.

In this way, the bone marrow and collagen in the sheep bones can be boiled into the soup.

Meat alone is not enough, without that it has no flavor.

Song Ran scooped out the cooked mutton, cut it into thin slices and added it to the boiling soup when eating it tomorrow.

Su Xiaoxiao looked at Song Ran's busy figure and couldn't help laughing. She picked up a bag, shook it vigorously, and said happily: "Look, what is this?"

"What, good stuff?" Song Ran was stunned for a moment, then clapped his hands and laughed, "Boss Su, you are giving out bonuses!"

"Where are Grandma Gu and the others? We still have their share."

"She went back to her parents' home to attend the wedding banquet, and brought Barley with her."

Su Xiaoxiao put the silver on the table and said, "Then I'll give you your share."

"Why are there so many? Did you go to the bank to exchange them? With so much silver on you, you are not afraid of being targeted by thieves. I heard not long ago that someone was targeted when he left the bank. He was dragged into an alley when he passed by. Fortunately, the thieves didn't kill him."

Su Xiaoxiao touched her nose. She had put all the money in the space.

She had heard about the money house robbing other gangs. The medicine shop in the city that was robbed half a year ago was now completely bankrupt. After paying everyone's money, the money left in the money house could not be withdrawn at all.

"Then I am lucky this time. I have to be more careful next time."

"This is the money you paid for the meat. I also paid for the firewood."

At first, Song Ran was responsible for the daily preparation of braised meat, including the entire process of meat purchase, marination, and distribution.

At that time, Su Xiaoxiao was still exploring ways to run the business, attracting customers and promoting the business.

As time went by, the store gradually accumulated word of mouth, more and more repeat customers came, and the business began to make a profit.

Su Xiaoxiao specially customized a large stew pot and hired two workers to be responsible for the braising work in the city. In this way, Song Ran can focus on studying the taste of the braising sauce and ensure the quality of the product.

"I didn't keep a detailed account, so I'm afraid I gave too much." Song Ran said. She was only responsible for the work for the first ten days or so. Now she was given ten taels of silver. How could she spend even one tael of silver a day?

"This is yours. You didn't ask anything at first, you just went ahead and did it. I remember everything." Su Xiaoxiao said. She remembers the good things about others for a long time. She also forgets the bad things quickly. She never keeps things in her heart.

"This is your salary for the past three months. I pay each of you 800 wen a month as a laborer in the store, and the same goes for you."

"I still have my wages. This time I'm really working for Boss Su."

"Then follow me. You won't suffer any loss."

"Screw you."

"This is the account book of the first braised meat shop, take a look." Su Xiaoxiao took out the account book of a braised meat shop.

"How can I understand the account book?"

"I have done it very clearly. Revenue, cost, and expenses. If you can read, you will definitely understand."

Song Ran opened it. Although Su Xiaoxiao's handwriting was not beautiful, it was clear and every income and expenditure was recorded in an orderly manner. Her eyes moved line by line, and the data of daily net revenue and monthly cumulative net revenue appeared in front of her one by one.

"Look, our net revenue this month has exceeded ten taels!" Song Ran couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise.

She knew that Su Xiaoxiao had recently opened two more branches in good locations in the city, and the revenue of these two stores was probably even greater.

"For the first store, the money you invested was based on 20 shares in the agreement we signed. The technology of stewing meat is yours, and the technology investment will be counted as 10 shares. You will have 30 shares in the first store, and you will have 10 shares in each store in the future. I have estimated the cost for three months, and the remaining dividends will be five taels of silver."

Song Ran nodded. Su Xiaoxiao had told her all this when she signed the agreement.

As for the budgeted three months' cost, she understood it. After all, the shop had to continue running, and the money earned could not be distributed all at once.

After all, Su Xiaoxiao is planning to open 18 braised meat stalls to cover Fengxian County in all directions.