My sister became the empress, but I'm still growing vegetables and raising chickens

Si Muyan clapped her hands. "Of course it's not cheap, but I've been to the taverns and restaurants in the market and found that a meal for one person costs at least fifty coins, which is not cheap. Besides, in business, price is definitely not the most important thing. Customers are what matters."

The younger sister said, "Our porridge, except for the white porridge, has increased by one cent. But in the past, there were still many people eating porridge. Those who could afford to go to the shop to eat porridge didn't care about a few cents at all."

Si Muyan added, "Besides, I've calculated before that our current business can support our expenses. If I'm making lunch now, I only need to consider the basic costs, and I don't even need to factor in the storefront costs. Give it a try, and you won't lose money."

Everyone reached a consensus and was very happy.

The second sister asked again, "We need manpower to cook and sell lunch. If there are only a few of us, I'm afraid it won't be enough."

Si Muyan nodded: "Here's my plan. You and Aunt Jin cook well. When I'm done, I'll teach you how to cook. My younger sister is very smart and will greet the guests. Second Brother Zhu is a man and will be in charge of the chores outside. My younger brother and Second Sister Zhu will be in charge of preparing the dishes and washing the dishes."

The younger sister nodded excitedly: "That's great, and we can do it not only at noon, but also at night."

"We can't do that at night. Brother Zhu and his wife get up in the middle of the night to make porridge. It's too hard. Even if we don't let them work at noon and night, they won't be able to rest well because we're so noisy outside. So we only work at noon."

"Ok."

Si Muyan calculated all this, but then shook her head: "If that's the case, and my second sister and Aunt Jin also go there, what will happen to the family?"

Mrs. Zhu said quickly, "It's okay. I'm here. Your father is here too."

Si Xingzhi pursed his lips, wanting to protest, asking why his daughters hadn't brought him along when they were planning. But he was too embarrassed to protest. He didn't understand business, and he didn't know how to do the job.

No wonder his daughters don’t consider him, he’s simply… useless.

Don’t they even rely on him for housework now?

"I...I can take care of the family." Si Xingzhi still expressed his opinion.

That’s confirmed.

In the afternoon, Si Muyan went to the vegetable garden and built a small greenhouse. She scattered some star anise and chili seeds inside and earnestly told Mrs. Zhu, "This is something I brought back secretly. It's something that no one else has, so don't let anyone steal it."

Mrs. Zhu said, "Don't worry. I have nothing else to do all day except Xiaoxiaer. I'll take care of it for you."

The next day, the sign of Sijia Food Store was hung up. When my younger sister was selling porridge in the morning, she also advertised that the store would have new food at noon that was cheap and delicious.

As a result, many old customers nodded and said they would definitely come to support the business.

This spicy hot pot and spicy hot pot are not made like the modern ones where you can just take whatever you want. Instead, they are fixed and can be eaten by one person, two people, or four people.

One person eats 35 coins, two people eat 68 coins, and four people eat 125 coins.

This price is relatively cheap compared to other restaurants.

Looking again, the food was a combination of meat and vegetables, with a very rich variety, and the portion was very large.

This price is really a good deal.

On the first day, Si Muyan prepared fifty servings each, and they were sold out after noon. For those who wanted to come later, my younger sister had to apologize one by one and persuade them to leave.

The second sister hadn't been this busy in a long time. She was so tired that she couldn't even straighten her back. Aunt Jin helped her to the side to rest, but she was still cheerful: "Business is good today, will it double tomorrow?"

The younger sister said, "I think there will be so many tomorrow. Some of them are regular customers. What if they don't come tomorrow?"

Si Muyan said, "The broth needs to be stewed in advance, and the base ingredients need to be prepared in advance. I've calculated it all, and fifty servings of one a day is just right."

Judging from everyone's reactions today, they seem to be more interested in the spicy hot pot with a more stimulating taste, which is actually within Si Muyan's expectations.

But she didn't plan to change the portion size, because for people here, they are not used to such strong flavors. It's nice to try it occasionally, but most people prefer the non-spicy Malatang on weekdays. What's more, Malatang also comes with sauce, so if you want a stronger flavor, you can dip it in the sauce.

For several days in a row, the business of Sijia Restaurant was booming. Customers spread the word that the lunch here was cheap and delicious, but one had to queue.

Si Muyan asked a carpenter to make some wooden signs with numbers engraved on them, ranging from one to one hundred.

In this way, people who come to queue up every day will line up in order with number plates corresponding to the number of people. Once they have finished queuing, the remaining people will not have to continue.

After returning home, Si Muyan went to Zhu Laosan's house again and said to Aunt Zhu: "Aunt, if you are free, please follow my brother to the county town to sell porridge every morning, and help wash the dishes at noon. I will give you 15 coins a day. Is that okay?"

We've been a bit short-staffed these past few days, so while most of the dishes have been prepared in advance, we still have to keep distributing them. My younger brother is the only one washing the dishes, and he's so busy he has no time to go to the front of the house to collect them. My younger sister and Zhu Laoer, both busy serving guests and dishes, also have to find time to collect the dishes, which is a bit too much.

So Si Muyan thought that if she called someone else, she wouldn’t be so tired.

Aunt Zhu hesitated and said, "I... I'm clumsy with my mouth and hands, and I've never done this before..."

"You can always wash dishes, right? Just wash the dishes."

Aunt Zhu was the most timid and dull, but when she thought about it, fifteen cents a day was much more than what she earned from mending work, and she only had to work half a day.

Dachun quickly said, "Aunt San, just go. My parents have gone, so of course you can go too."

Zhu Laosan also agreed: "Yes, I don't have any work. I have Dachun and I at home, so don't worry."

Aunt Zhu gritted her teeth and agreed, and early the next morning, she followed her younger brother to the county town.

In the afternoon, Si Muyan took her second sister to start making the base ingredients. Fifty portions of base ingredients could be made in one pot in one afternoon. It was not difficult. The difficult part was the ratio of the base ingredients.

These are most suitable for the old-fashioned second sister. She strictly follows Si Muyan's requirements and prepares each seasoning. She even wishes she had a delicate little scale to weigh them one by one.

The younger sister counted the past few days' accounts and ran in happily, saying, "Sister, sister, I've calculated. We've earned a total of more than six taels in these four days! After deducting all the costs, we've earned more than six taels!"

The second sister was stunned for a long time before turning back: "How much? How much did you say? Six taels? Not six hundred wen!"

"Six taels, not six hundred wen!" The younger sister grinned happily. "Six taels, we can earn forty taels a month, that's a lot."

"That's a lot!" The second sister felt that the spatula in her hand weighed a thousand pounds. She had never thought that she could earn so much money with her spatula.

The younger sister continued, "Sister, I think we can stop serving breakfast and just do the lunch and dinner business. We can make eighty taels a month, or even more!"