TATSD Chapter 63

On their way back, the two passed by several shops, and Ji Wei occasionally stepped forward to inquire about the rental prices.

After the commotion on the street earlier, people were both afraid and respectful of Ji Wei. There was no reason not to answer his questions, so everyone responded honestly.

As soon as they left North Street, Liu Yimian couldn’t hold back and asked, “Are you planning to open a shop?”

Ji Wei had already fully handed over the pancake stall business to Aunt Zhou and the others, even giving them the cart, as he intended to focus on Western pastries.

However, with the increasing number of orders, the small backyard at the Ji family residence was too small to accommodate the growing number of workers.

And this was just for making butter.

With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, more manpower would be needed to make mooncakes, and that little yard would be insufficient.

Thus, Ji Wei had been considering whether to rent a larger yard.

He had originally planned to ask Old Master Zhang to help him keep an eye out when he next visited the Zhang family. He never expected that a casual stroll through North Street today would not only resolve the major issue with Liu Qing but also lead him to a shop he was quite satisfied with.

“The shop isn’t big, but I’m particularly interested in the yard behind it. It can easily accommodate twenty people. One group can make mooncakes while another continues separating butter, saving the trouble of running between two places.” He had initially thought of having one group work at the Ji family residence and another at a rented yard.

But after seeing the shop’s backyard, which was twice the size of the Ji family’s, he reconsidered.

What’s more, the rent for shops on North Street usually costs more than three taels of silver. If not for the less desirable location and the attached yard, the price could have doubled.

In this area, there are plenty of wine sellers, but Nine Miles Fragrance dominates with its superior flavor, pushing its competitors out of business.

As for Western pastries, Ji Wei’s shop would be the only one of its kind. If it opened, people would likely flock there from all four directions, and it wouldn’t attract any less business than Nine Miles Fragrance.

“And what about baking? Will you bake the goods there and then bring them over?” Liu Yimian asked, puzzled, thinking about the bread oven in their yard.

Previously, the butter was made in the yard, and when it was time to bake, it was conveniently available. If the butter-making process were moved to North Street, it would take an hour just to transport everything back and forth, making things quite inconvenient.

Ji Wei had only come up with this idea after seeing the shop’s backyard and hadn’t thoroughly thought it through. Liu Yimian’s question hit the core of the issue. Without solving this problem, even more complications would arise once the plan was put into action.

After thinking it over, Ji Wei concluded that the most efficient solution would be to build a bread oven in the new yard after renting the shop.

This would save time on transportation, and they could bake and sell directly, which would also preserve the freshness of the pastries.

With this in mind, Ji Wei grew restless.

Shortly after lunch, he went around all four streets, looking for a better shop. However, street-facing shops with large yards were rare, and even if they existed, landlords would usually partition them to make them easier to rent out.

If it weren’t for the two rooms behind the teahouse, even An Huai wouldn’t have rented his place so easily.

Ji Wei searched all day and found several suitable yards, but none of them came with a shop. Adding to this, his cookies had become so famous that everyone knew they were made by Ji Wei. Even renting just the yard would cost two taels of silver per month.

In comparison, renting a shop with a yard was only slightly more expensive, making it an extremely good deal.

After making up his mind, Ji Wei went to find An Huai on North Street the next day.

When An Huai learned that Ji Wei wanted to sublease the shop, he was overjoyed and thought Ji Wei was joking.

An Huai couldn’t understand why, after his complaints the day before, someone would still be eager to take over what seemed like a losing business. He wanted to warn Ji Wei, but his wife saw through his intentions and scolded him fiercely, making him drop the idea.

After all, business had been slow, and their household finances were tight.

If they could sublease the shop, they’d get a two-tael refund on the rent they had already paid. Though not a huge sum, for the couple, whose monthly income was barely one or two taels, it was significant.

Both parties quickly reached an agreement, and An Huai took Ji Wei to meet the shop’s original owner.

As it turned out, the owner had a good relationship with Old Master Zhang and had already heard about their mooncake collaboration. To show goodwill towards Old Master Zhang, the owner waived Ji Wei’s rent and asked for payment in mooncakes instead.

Two taels of silver were equivalent to just four boxes of mooncakes, but since the owner had shown Ji Wei such kindness, Ji Wei couldn’t be stingy.

He made boxes with all sorts of flavors, including one box of snow-skin mooncakes.

He packaged them neatly in the first batch of paper they had just received and delivered eight boxes in total to the owner’s home.

Once An Huai and his wife moved their belongings out, Ji Wei immediately ordered lime, green bricks, and straw. He also brought Zhao Hu over to the space behind the shop to build the foundations for four bread ovens.

The hardest part of building the ovens was laying the foundations, but with Zhao Hu’s help, they were built quickly and sturdily. In just one afternoon, Ji Wei had already finished the tops of the ovens.

Though bread ovens are large, their capacity is still less than that of a large commercial oven, making them less efficient for baking large quantities.

However, the yard they rented was spacious, so Ji Wei went ahead and built four ovens, neatly lined up in front of the house. With a fence around them, people outside wouldn’t be able to see what was happening inside.

As everything was getting ready, Madam Lu’s birthday was fast approaching.

Ji Wei didn’t have time to hire more workers, so he asked Zhao Hu to help.

In addition to the regular part-time workers who worked at his home, Ji Wei needed to hire more people for the mooncake production. The workers had to be diligent and honest, preferably recommended by existing employees, and screened by Zhao Hu before they were brought to Ji Wei for approval.

After giving the orders, Ji Wei began to prepare for Madam Lu’s birthday celebration.

Changliu Town is located in the southern part of the Qian Dynasty, enjoying a warm and humid climate, especially during the summer, which is the season for mangoes to ripen. From the mountains, one can see numerous mango trees laden with golden fruit.

Recently, many people have been taking nets up the mountains to pick mangoes, which they then sell at the market. Since this is a zero-cost venture, mangoes are cheaper than other fruits, costing only five wen per pound.

When Ji Wei went out to buy fruit, he selected several plump, ripe, and soft mangoes, along with a small bag of red berries, and brought them back.

Considering the number of guests at the birthday banquet, Ji Wei used eight eggs to make a double-layer cake with six-inch and eight-inch cake layers.

Between the two layers, he filled them with a generous layer of mango milk pudding, and the frosting was whipped cream made with mango puree. He decorated the top with red berries arranged in the shape of a large “longevity” character.

After packaging it in a paper box, he took it with Liu Yimian and rode in a bullock cart to Daxi Town.

To accommodate the many people who came to enjoy the festivities, the stage was specially set up in a spacious and elegant location.

Near the county school, there is a large lotus pond. It is said that over a decade ago, a scholar used to read by the pond, and before heading to the capital for the imperial examination, he dreamed of a lotus fairy who wished him success. He indeed passed the exam and returned to plant a pond full of lotus flowers to repay the fairy’s blessing.

Not wanting the lotus pond to fall into disrepair, the county school had it maintained each year.

With the summer breeze blowing and the fragrance of lotus filling the air, the place became a sacred spot for scholars to study, especially after the scholar’s success.

For Madam Lu’s birthday celebration, the location was specifically chosen in consultation with the head of the county school.

To prevent people from stealing the lotus pods and damaging the pond, Lu Zhanhong had people patrolling the pond’s edge. Anyone caught misbehaving would be imprisoned for three days.

By the time Ji Wei arrived, the area near the county school was already crowded with people.

Standing outside, he could vaguely see the stage built high near the lotus pond, surrounded by dark red curtains and adorned with various props for the performance.

“Let’s go over there!” Ji Wei wrapped his left arm around Liu Yimian and cleared a path with his right hand.

After a considerable struggle, they finally reached the front row.

Seeing Lu Zhanhong nearby, directing his men while dressed in plain clothes, Ji Wei shouted out, and Lu Zhanhong turned to wave at him.

“Why did it take you so long to arrive? I was worried you wouldn’t come, and I was thinking about what gift I should buy for my mother.”

Noticing the paper box Liu Yimian was carrying, Lu Zhanhong squinted curiously and asked, “What’s inside? Why such a large box?”

“It’s the ice basin you prepared, but I’m not sure if it’s ready,” Ji Wei replied, feeling a bit anxious as he touched the paper box.

Lu Zhanhong assured him that everything was prepared.

Though the ice was rare, as the county magistrate, he could certainly manage to procure some.

He called for the ice basin, which was just slightly smaller than the eight-inch cake.

Throughout the journey, Ji Wei wrapped the cake in thick cotton cloth to prevent the cream from melting in the heat. Thankfully, he had added gelatin, which kept the cake stable even through the bumpy ride.

Ji Wei opened the paper box and sighed in relief as he placed the cake onto the ice basin.

“You can take it down now,” Ji Wei turned to instruct Lu Zhanhong, only to find him staring wide-eyed at the cake, clearly astonished as he had never seen a cream cake before.

“What is this?” Lu Zhanhong walked around the cake, unable to help but touch his nose. “What exactly is it?”

“I call it ‘Mango Cream Cake,’ a birthday gift for Madam Lu. It’s best to keep it sitting on the ice basin until it’s time to serve; do not take it off,” Ji Wei explained.

“Did you all hear that? Take it down, but don’t touch it,” Lu Zhanhong carefully instructed his subordinates until the cake was out of sight.

“I spent several months in the capital, and even in the best establishment, Tingyun Tower, I’ve never seen anything like this. Did you come up with this idea yourself?” Lu Zhanhong exclaimed, re-evaluating Ji Wei.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Ji Wei maintained a calm demeanor and replied, “This cake is something I’ve been pondering for a long time, and to present it at Madam Lu’s birthday celebration is truly fortuitous.”

“Ji Wei, you are truly a hidden gem! If you don’t rise to prominence, then no one else can,” Lu Zhanhong clapped in admiration.

Ji Wei chuckled, “You flatter me, Magistrate Lu.”

“No, these are my heartfelt words,” Lu Zhanhong’s expression turned serious again, returning to his former stern and upright demeanor as the magistrate.

“Feel free to look around here; I’ll go and prepare things. The birthday banquet will start in a quarter of an hour.”

Just then, someone ran past with a mooncake gift box from the front of the stage. Ji Wei stopped Lu Zhanhong, who was about to leave, and asked, “Is the performance ready?”

“Don’t worry, everything is prepared. Just sit in the front row and enjoy the show,” Lu Zhanhong assured him.

After a flurry of activity, rows of lanterns were hung around the dimly lit stage and along the lotus pond, illuminating the lotus flowers so that even the tiniest details were visible. The stage became the brightest spot at night.

“Thank you to all the elders and fellow villagers for taking the time out of your busy schedules to attend. Today is my mother’s fifty-fifth birthday, and we have set up the stage here by the lotus pond to host this banquet, inviting all of you to partake—”