ATP Chapter 37

All the Protagonists I’ve Scummed Came To Me For Revenge Chapter 37: Abandoned Daughter of a Rich Family (8)

One thousand taels could buy a shop in Yunzhou, but that would leave little money, so Xia Yu chose to rent instead, for six months.
After renting the shop, which had two floors, Xia Yu took Xin’er to stay there instead of staying at the inn.
The shop hasn’t opened yet, and they’ve been in Yunzhou for several days. During these days, Xia Yu and Xin’er have been running around looking for people to supply ingredients and other things they need. If they can’t find anything, she buys the raw materials and makes it herself.
In her spare time, she would teach Xin’er to read.
“Give it a try.”
Xia Yu placed the fried chicken legs she had just finished in front of Xin’er and said with a smile, “Oil is a valuable commodity, so fried food like this will sell very well and many people will like it.”
Chickens and ducks aren’t very expensive; you can buy one for seventy coins. Chicken legs can be used to make fried chicken, while other parts can be used to make braised dishes.
Strongly flavored braised dishes are popular in modern times, let alone in ancient times. Once you’ve tried them, you’ll definitely want to come back for more.
Didn’t you see how happy Xin’er was?
Xia Yu felt like she had raised Xin’er into a foodie, and it seemed like she had gone astray.
“Tasty!”
Xia Yu smiled, once again relieved that this was just a fictional world, which is why chili peppers, an essential seasoning, already existed. Without chili peppers, many dishes would lose their soul.
She thought about it for a long time, but ultimately decided against opening a grocery store restaurant. After all, she was the only one living there, and to be honest, she didn’t want to spend all her time cooking in the kitchen.
So she found many spice merchants, bought a lot of seasonings, and also found a blacksmith to make many pots. She planned to open a hot pot restaurant.
As long as she controls the ingredients, if business is good, she can hire someone to help her prepare those things, and the braised dishes can be sold as snacks.
To be honest, it was something she wanted to eat herself.
There really weren’t many delicious foods in ancient times, and even if there were, they wouldn’t be something she could afford now.
Winter is almost here.
After scooping all the fried chicken out of the pot, Xia Yu sighed and turned to Xin’er, saying, “Come with me outside later. I’m planning to hire two people to help.”
This time, Xin’er didn’t say anything more. The shop had two floors, and the two of them couldn’t possibly serve everyone.
“Once things are on the right track, I’ll have time to teach you to write.”
Xin’er said, “Great! Oh, right, I’ve already learned all the characters you taught me to write last time, Sister Xia!”

“So clever.”

Yunzhou is very prosperous, but prosperity is only part of the story; there are also some people who live in poverty and hardship.

Xia Yu and Xin’er were walking outside. There were many snack stalls, but surprisingly, she didn’t find any candied hawthorns for sale on the street, a famous snack that could be seen everywhere.

The origin of candied hawthorn seems to be a prescription given by a doctor to treat the emperor’s concubine for anorexia. Later, it gradually evolved into the candied hawthorn that is loved by children.

She spent most of her time in the Magnolia Pavilion interacting with the protagonist, or riding in a carriage to the Xiao family; she never really explored this world properly.

Is it because it wasn’t described that this snack never came into being?

“Sister Xia”

“I’ve discovered another business opportunity,” Xia Yu said with a smile, putting her hand on her shoulder and saying mysteriously, “I’ll make you something delicious in a while; I’m sure you’ll like it.”

Upon hearing the word “food,” Xin’er’s eyes lit up again.

It seems I’ve really raised them wrong.

Xia Yu was both amused and exasperated.

Hiring people was relatively easy. Xia Yu hired a middle-aged chef who looked honest and had a good resume, and also hired two waiters to run errands.

“Come over tomorrow, and I’ll teach you how to run a business.” After speaking to the waiter, Xia Yu said to the chef, “I’m opening a new shop, and the food I sell is something that doesn’t exist in the market, so you’ll have to learn how to make those things from me first.”

“Okay, boss.”

Xia Yu is the boss when she gives money. If she gives money, whatever she says is right, and no one will want to argue with her.

Xia Yu was also very satisfied.

The next day, Xia Yu didn’t teach the chef any core skills or anything like that. She only taught him some simple things. The chef’s main job was still chopping vegetables, since you need to cook the ingredients fresh for hot pot.

Xia Yu had considered advertising and making some flyers, but movable type printing hadn’t appeared in this world yet. If she wanted to make a lot of identical flyers, she would have to develop movable type printing, which would be too troublesome.

After thinking it over, she decided to give up. By the time movable type printing was invented, her shop had already opened.

Let’s talk about printing technology another time.

The fragrance is the best advertisement. When it opens, the aroma will fill the air for miles, and people will naturally be drawn in to come and take a look.

“Have you remembered everything I said?”

“We all remember boss.”

“That’s good, shall we open for business then?” Xia Yu turned to Xin’er and said, “Xin’er, you can stay by my side and learn from me.”

She wanted to make a menu, but since there was no printing technology, there was no menu. She had no choice but to have someone carve the price list onto a wooden board and hang it on the wall.

A new shop opened, but people weren’t interested; the location wasn’t great either. Xia Yu had a solution: she cooked a pot of hot pot broth at the entrance, and the aroma carried on the wind through the streets and alleys.

Soon someone came over, but when they saw the price, they were immediately scared away.

The broth is made with too many spices, so the hot pot is not cheap; one pot costs one or two taels of silver, and that’s without even eating anything.

However, some are quite generous.

Yunzhou is not short of wealthy people. Many people can spend tens of taels of silver on a meal, and there are even quite a few playboys who spend lavishly at the Magnolia Pavilion.

Each plate used to hold the food is different, which makes it easier to count the dishes.

Xia Yu taught Xin’er at the door for a while, then said, “Then I’ll leave this place to you. Just have Zhang An follow you around to collect the money. Have you learned all the math I taught you?”

Xin’er asked uncertainly, “Can I manage by myself?”

“I believe you.” Xia Yu glanced at the door and said half-jokingly, “I can’t just sit by the door forever, can I? You saw it yourself.”

She has already been approached by three men.

Those people were fairly well-mannered and were also customers, so she didn’t physically kick them out, but she was definitely furious.

“All right?.”

“Don’t worry, I believe in you.”

Xia Yu returned to the kitchen, where Chef Li Quan was busy chopping vegetables and plating them. With the new store opening, the customers were mostly wealthy young men, so they wouldn’t pick out many vegetables and would order mostly meat.

The kitchen was also busy. Xia Yu didn’t want to chop vegetables, so she arranged them on plates and sorted them into categories so that it wouldn’t be troublesome for Zhang An and the others to take them.

She also bought a lot of sweet wine from a wine seller and sold it at a price higher than the market price. Many people ordered it, since hot pot is really spicy and it’s uncomfortable not to drink something.

She also asked someone to buy some saltpeter to make ice, which was then used to preserve meat and freeze sweet wine.

There are still not enough people.

Xia Yu thought to herself.

She wanted to be a hands-off manager, so she wouldn’t need to show her face and could just stay in the back directing traffic and collecting money.

Today, the name of this hot pot restaurant has spread like wildfire throughout Yunzhou City, and most of the city now knows about it.

Hot pot is perfect for friends to eat and drink together, and in this era lacking entertainment, such gatherings are even more fun.

Xia Yu prevented anyone from getting drunk and causing trouble at the root, because she sold sweet wines with little alcohol content that could only be used as beverages, as well as some concocted black teas.

If she can get drunk from this, she’ll write the character for “summer” backwards.

It’s no exaggeration to say that this hot pot restaurant makes a fortune every day. A single table costs at least ten taels of silver. There are twelve seats on the first floor and fifteen seats on the second floor, and it’s basically full every day.

Not only hot pot, but also the braised food and fried chicken on the first floor became a huge hit.

Unlike hot pot, which requires an ounce of silver for the broth, fried chicken and braised food can be bought directly. You can even buy just one chicken foot, so they sell very well.

In just half a month, this place has become a must-visit spot in Yunzhou. If it weren’t for the intense heat, some people would want to eat hot pot every meal and come here every day.

Xia Yu hired two more people, one to run errands and one to cook, and Xin’er became more and more restrained in her journaling.

Xia Yu still had many things she wanted to buy, and when purchasing ingredients, she asked many people to keep an eye out for certain things for her.

“You said some people complained that the store was too monotonous.”

Xia Yu looked at Xin’er, who had finished today’s accounts and reported her own numbers, with a puzzled expression. She wondered if she had misheard; this was a place to eat.

“It’s true.” Xin’er scratched her head and said, “Many people have reported this.”

“But this isn’t a teahouse. Wouldn’t it be inappropriate to do those things here?” Xia Yu said speechlessly.

Weren’t they eating and chatting at the same time?

Chatting can be boring Xia Yu couldn’t quite understand it.

Xin’er said strangely, “They hope that you can hire a musician, sister.”

Xia Yu, the “musician,” twitched at the corner of her mouth and said, “Am I crazy or are they crazy?

Hiring a musician to play music in a hot pot restaurant? I don’t even want to do storytelling, and they want me to hire a musician?”

“I did say that, but those people said money wasn’t an issue; they just wanted to listen to some tunes while they listened.”

Xia Yu: “…”

Please have a musician.

It’s amazing that these rich young men could come up with such a thing.

When the musicians arrive, will they suggest that she find another dancer to free up a stage? If that’s the case, why didn’t she just set up a teahouse from the beginning?

“Just listen to these things casually, don’t take them to heart.” Xia Yu chose to ignore these suggestions and said, “If you want to listen to music, just turn left and walk a few hundred meters. Don’t spoil us too much.”

“Sister, there have been a lot of strange people lately. I suspect they’re trying to steal our recipe.” Xin’er said angrily.

Stealing the recipe?

Her products are so popular, it would be strange if no one wanted to steal the formula. She needs to seriously reflect on her actions.

Those people didn’t take action, perhaps because they found out he had been to the Xiao family and suspected he had a connection with them.

“This matter…”

Those who try to take everything for themselves without the ability will not have a good ending.

Xia Yu closed her eyes and pondered for a while before saying, “You don’t need to worry about it. I will handle this matter.”