Divorced woman with child travels through time

The next day, Wang Hanyang and Dazhuang took Chu Yi to the shop to sell goods. Both Wang Hanyang and Dazhuang were good drivers. Chu Yi had been in school for a long time and now everything was new and interesting to him. He wanted to learn everything and kept pestering Dazhuang to sit in the front and learn to drive. Dazhuang got annoyed and started to teach him step by step. Chu Yi was smart and quickly learned.

Chen Wenfang had mentioned hiring yesterday, and early this morning, as soon as she woke up, Chunlan came to find her, a little shyly saying, "Hello, Madam Chen!"

Chen Wenfang thought she was usually quite approachable, but this girl probably hadn't met many people, so she smiled and said, "Chunlan, is there something you need?"

Chunlan tugged at the hem of her clothes and said, "Madam Chen, if you need help, I have a friend who is a very nice person and trustworthy. I wonder if you could let her come and try out the work tomorrow?"

Chen Wenfang looked at her with some surprise. Chunlan usually buried herself in her work and rarely came to him on her own initiative. For her to speak up like this, they must have a very good relationship. So she smiled and said, "Sure, you can have her come to see Aunt Liu tomorrow. If Aunt Liu says it's okay, then it's fine. We girls don't need to be afraid. If you have something to say, speak up and be confident."

"Okay!" Chunlan was happy that her wish had been fulfilled and went back to work.

Uncle Liu Hai and Wang Xiaoguang picked 100 jin of chili peppers in the field early in the morning. After washing them, they returned to the yard and everyone gathered around to pick the peppers, peel the garlic, chop the peppers, cut the garlic and ginger, stir-fry them, and make chili sauce. With everyone working together, they quickly finished. Chen Wenfang had arranged the tasks, and most of them knew how to do these things, but only a few people knew how to make the sauce. Aunt Liu and Uncle Liu Hai were one of them, Chunlan and Wang Xiaoguang, who were teaching the sauce, were another. Zhuan Tou wasn't very good at it yet, so he was helping out. With so many people, it was quite fast. They could make 500 jin a day without any problem. With four woks, they could take turns and keep up the work.

Since the day they set up their stall and made their chili sauce famous, the Chen family courtyard has been making chili sauce and rice every day, then loading the goods onto a horse-drawn cart and delivering them to shops in town.

Aunt Liu also selected two more people from Wangjiazhuang. One was Chunlan's friend Yanxia, ​​and the other was surprisingly Chahua. Aunt Liu later said that Chahua was a good person and she could trust her, so Chen Wenfang trusted her. Aunt Liu knew all the gossip in the village and even the whole town, and she knew a lot about people's character. In her previous life, Chahua would have been a high-level HR professional, and it would have cost a lot of money to hire her.

Wang Hanyang and his men, being veterans, worked quickly. With Wang Erniu and Chen Wenfang in charge, the shop was set up in just five days. They made some minor modifications: the four large tables in the main hall were replaced with small square tables, and a counter was placed around them. Long benches were placed next to the counters, so that more people could sit without taking up too much space. The counters were the same kind of cabinets that Chen Wenfang usually used for his stall, with storage underneath. Inside the counters were wooden cabinets with dividers for different jars and containers of pastries, arranged low, somewhat like a pharmacy from his previous life. The scales and pastries were displayed on the counter, weighed and packaged in front of customers, so they could eat with peace of mind.

Chen Wenfang originally didn't plan to open a restaurant; hot dishes were too troublesome. She thought she should open a teahouse instead. She needed some things to make it better. She didn't like the tea she was used to, and she didn't have any tea leaves to make her own. So she decided to buy some tea leaves and make her own teahouse. That way, she could make the teahouse a hit. Besides, it was June, so she had tea leaves available now. She also bought some local tea powder, which she could provide if customers wanted to order it.

Wang Erniu wrote the signboard and sent it out. Now the signboard for Chen's Teahouse is up, and there's a big notice next to it. They buy soybeans, red beans, peas, broad beans, peanuts, syrup, garlic, ginger, eggs, fresh fish, etc. Now they've added fresh tea leaves to the list.

The receiving of goods was mainly handled by Chu Yi. This kid had a sharp eye and could spot things at a glance. He was as meticulous as a girl and could tell at a glance if something was not fresh. He also knew how to price things accurately, paying more for good items. The boy Chen Wenfang had trained was quite good. He was kind-hearted but not too weak. He didn't discriminate based on the person he met, nor did he act like a pushover. Some poor families liked to come to him. He would accept good items, but he wouldn't accept bad items no matter how much they begged.

To Chen Wenfang's great surprise, it was Wang Xiaoer who was the guy; she felt like she had struck gold.

After getting to know Wang Hanyang and the others at the shop for the past few days, he must have found that they all had excellent personalities and got along very well. He also learned from them that this Madam Chen was indeed the kind, righteous, kind, and generous woman, like a female knight-errant, just as everyone had described.

He then approached Chen Wenfang and, as if he had opened a floodgate, began to talk at length about the original situation of the shop.

He knew the shop's situation incredibly well; he could not only tell which customers were generous and which dishes they liked to order, but also remember the names of regular customers. Chen Wenfang couldn't help but look at him with new respect. He also told Chen Wenfang that he was on good terms with the head chef of the previous shop. The previous chef, Wang, had left after arguing with Manager Fang, and after he left, the shop's business plummeted. Manager Fang couldn't find a head chef for a while, and his son was pressuring him to take over, so he wanted to transfer the business.

Seeing that Madam Chen was a good person and that the shop was indeed short-staffed, he grasped at this opportunity like a lifeline and asked if the former head chef could come back for a trial period. Chen Wenfang readily agreed. Wang Xiaoer was very happy to be trusted by Chen Wenfang and told her, "Madam Chen, the wages I used to receive here were 800 wen a month, and Chef Wang's was 1.4 liang. Madam Chen can pay me according to that. The wages aren't high for this area. Is that acceptable to you?"

Chen Wenfang was somewhat taken aback. This Manager Fang was a bit greedy. The wages were so low. She had inquired and found that in the nearby restaurants, the waiters' wages were at least one tael or more, not to mention the head chefs, who all started at three taels of silver.

Chen Wenfang smiled and said, "Your wages are too low. I won't lie to you. We do a lot of work in the village, but the workers are all paid two taels of silver a month. You'll be paid the same. As for Chef Wang, you can have him come and try out the job first. If he's satisfied, his wages will definitely not be lower than your previous wages. How about that?"

"That's wonderful, thank you, Madam Chen!" Wang Xiaoer said, bowing happily. "Then I'll go and inform him. He lives in town. Madam Chen, I'll be right back."

“Go ahead.” Chen Wenfang agreed. It would be good to hire a chef. It’s inconvenient for Aunt Liu to come to town. The village still does large orders. The shop sells snacks, and having a chef can cook other people’s ordered dishes and hot meals. We can sign a contract later, so we don’t have to worry about anything.