The first step in the book is to start selling tofu

The three little ones finished reading it in a short while.

"So we worked hard for more than a month and earned fifteen taels of silver?" Dalang couldn't believe it.

Erlang immediately thought that Lin Zhi had calculated wrong, and silently calculated it again himself.

“That’s right.”

Erlang's calculation result was the same as Lin Zhi's, and he couldn't help but frown.

Always feel something is not right.

"That's right, I counted it several times."

Seeing that Dalang didn't believe it and wanted to calculate it again, Lin Zhi quickly spoke up.

Even though Lin Zhi said this, Dalang still didn't give up and counted again.

My heart died after counting them.

“So, the money we count every day is not ours!”

Dalang feels distressed!

Dalang has a heart attack!

Dalang was heartbroken!

Daya couldn't empathize with the three of them.

She felt that fifteen taels was a lot of money. When she was in the village, it took villagers several years to save up this much money.

Lin Zhi continued to calculate: "Fifteen taels of silver, minus your tuition fees, writing brushes, inkstones, and paper expenses, there will probably be five taels of silver left."

The total tuition for two people per month is four taels of silver. Pens, ink, paper and inkstone are consumables and need to be replenished every month, which is about two or three taels per person.

Daya's eyes widened: "No wonder mother said you two are money-eating beasts."

The two money-eating beasts: ...very innocent.

"There are still some expenses for the family that have not been taken into account. If we take them into account, there should be about three taels of silver left."

Most of the food and drinks for the family are those sold items, or they are the extras that the merchants bring when they deliver goods. Lin Zhi will make them into something else.

Unless there are special circumstances, she almost always eats those few dishes. Only when she is really tired of them will she go out to buy other ingredients.

After listening to Lin Zhi's calculations, everyone fell silent.

After a moment of silence, Lin Zhi let everyone go to bed.

Before dawn, the three kids got up and continued to make tofu. This has become their daily routine. Even if they are closed today, they still have to make it for Fu Man Lou.

After breakfast, Lin Zhi said to the three of them:

"The three of you should first prepare the stewed food from Fu Man Lou for the guests, and then clean the house thoroughly."

"Mom, where are you going?" Daya asked.

"I'll go to the government office to pay the taxes first, and then go to the market to see what vegetables to buy for cooking." Lin Zhi said and went out.

These days, government offices start working quite early.

Anyway, when Lin Zhi went there, everyone in the yamen had already started working.

The person who received Lin Zhi looked at her in surprise for a long time when he saw the account book that Lin Zhi handed over.

There aren't many businessmen who actively pay taxes these days, especially this guy who comes with such a detailed account book.

Before they even started dealing with each other, he couldn't help but have a much better impression of Lin Zhi.

"Two thousand and three pence in all."

Soon, the clerk calculated the tax. Lin Zhi took out the two taels of silver that he had prepared from the basket, and counted out three copper coins from the basket: "You count them."

The person at the reception started counting the silver on the spot.

Although he was very fond of Lin Zhi's actions, this fondness was not enough to make him trust him.

If he collects less money, he will have to pay out of his own pocket.

After counting the money and signing the registration book, Lin Zhi took the slip and paid the tax.

"You don't have to come every month in the future. You can come once every three or six months. Of course, if you don't think it's troublesome to come every month, there is no problem coming every month." The receptionist said before leaving.

Lin Zhi smiled and said okay, thanking him again.

The man looked at Lin Zhi's receding figure and the corners of his mouth twitched, but in the end, Lin Zhi's figure was far away and he didn't say a word.

In fact, he really wanted to say that there was no need to bring such a detailed account book, just a rough data would be enough.

But he thought that given his identity and position, saying these words would be like teaching people to evade taxes, so he didn't dare to say it.

Lin Zhi didn’t know what that person was thinking, but even if she knew she would still do as usual.

The account book she gave me was a condensed one. Some important financial transaction details could be seen, but no more specific details.

For example, in the section about Fumanlou’s supply, there is no mention of anything related to Fumanlou.

After leaving the yamen, Lin Zhi originally wanted to go to the market to see if there were any delicious vegetables to buy back home.

But when she came to the intersection, she thought that she was tired of cooking every day, so she turned around and went home.

She decided that the whole family would go out to eat today.

When they returned home, the three little ones had already cleaned out the ingredients.

Daya was making braised food, and the two brothers started cleaning.

"Didn't you say you wanted to buy some groceries? Where are the groceries?"

Seeing that she had nothing in her hands, Dalang couldn't help but wonder.

"I don't want to cook. After you guys clean up, I'll take you to a restaurant." Lin Zhi walked straight to his rocking chair, lay down, and watched the two brothers work.

"It's so expensive to eat out, why not just buy some food and cook it yourself!"

When Dalang thought about last night's bill, he had only one thought: they had to save money.

Lin Zhi raised his eyelids and asked, "You want to do it?"

Dalang choked and said, "Forget it, I will just waste the food."

So, the decision to go out for a meal was made.

When Xiao Fuzi came over to get the braised food, he also pulled the four of them back.

"Our chef talks about you every day. He would be so happy if he knew you passed away." Xiao Fuzi said while driving.

Ever since Lin Zhi taught the chef several ways to cook tofu, the chef has been looking forward to Lin Zhi coming every day to taste his cooking and see if he can make the delicious food that Lin Zhi has been talking about.

"I have to earn a month's salary to have just enough for a meal at your restaurant. How dare I just go there to eat casually?" Lin Zhi said with a smile.

"You're saying this. Everyone in the city knows that your stewed food is very popular!"

Even their restaurant attracted a lot more customers because of Lin Zhi's braised dishes.

"It's very popular, but it doesn't make money!" Lin Zhi said with a bitter face: "You know how expensive the ingredients used in those braised dishes are."

Of course Xiao Fuzi knows!

Their boss asked their family to come up with a recipe for braised food, and he was the one who bought the herbs.

After almost a month, several hundred taels of silver were spent on buying medicinal materials, but the chef still hadn't figured out the recipe.

The braised food made with the current recipe is at most 50% similar to Lin Zhi’s.

The chef said he couldn't make it look more like this because he felt that Lin Zhi's recipe should contain more than just the herbs he bought.

After hearing what the chef said, the shopkeeper almost gave up on researching Lin Zhi's recipe.