Travel back to ancient times and open a Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 142

At night, Zhong Ruyi poured all the money he had earned in the past few months onto the bed and counted it bit by bit.

Adding the dividends from Lao Wu's Tavern and Manxianglou in the past two months and the income from braised goods shared equally with my second brother every month, the total amount is two hundred and fourteen taels of silver.

"Mom, I want to rent the house next door." She said this after she finished calculating.

Mother Zhong had her eyes closed and was about to fall asleep, but she woke up immediately after hearing these words.

"If you rent it, will you still sell braised food like here?"

She shook her head and said, "Give the stewed food to my second brother. I want to open a restaurant."

"It's too tiring for you to do this alone. Your second sister-in-law is pregnant now, and your second brother can't leave. I can't help you for now. Even if you want to open a restaurant, why don't you wait a little longer?"

Zhong Ruyi was also struggling with this issue. If she were to open a restaurant, she would of course need manpower, and it would be better to have people she was familiar with and who had good cooking skills.

"Mom, is there anyone in our village who can cook delicious food and is easy to get along with?"

Zhong's mother asked, "Why? Do you want to ask the villagers to help?"

She nodded. "I think a restaurant would need about four people, a waiter, a cashier, a chef, and one person to wash the vegetables and dishes."

"Some of the more difficult ingredients to handle during the day can be prepared at night, and I can do the work in the kitchen. It would be even better if I could recruit the right person in the future."

Seeing how serious she was, Zhong's mother began to think, "Your Aunt Zhao in our village is a good cook but she has a lot of land at home so she probably won't be able to come. Your Aunt Wu is also okay but she has a bad temper."

After much thought, it turned out that there was no one available. Everyone hadn't finished their work in the fields, unless it was the slack season. But then they could only work for a few months and then go back to farming. This wasn't acceptable as it would have a huge impact on the business of the store.

She suddenly thought, "Oh, right, didn't your father just plant the peppers? Don't all the dishes you mentioned require peppers?"

Zhong Ruyi smiled slyly, "I have a lot of them in my space. If someone asks me, I will say that I picked them from the mountain. If the villagers ask me, I will say that I bought them in town."

"When my father's peppers are grown, I won't be afraid of others asking me."

Mother Zhong was still a little worried, but after hearing from her daughter that she had to wait until someone was hired, she decided to go find a broker to ask about the store next door.

If you really want to rent the place, you will have to decorate it and buy pots and pans, which will take time. There is no rush to recruit people in advance. It would be better to find a suitable one.

"Mom, go to sleep, don't worry." Zhong Ruyi whispered to comfort her mother, and saw that her mother's brows were furrowed with worry.

Mother Zhong sighed, closed her eyes and went to sleep.

A few days later, after finishing her work in the store, Zhong Ruyi wanted to find a broker to ask about the store next door. When her second brother heard about it, he wanted to take her with him.

"I was in a difficult situation when I went to rent this store before. It was your second sister-in-law who found her brother from her mother's family to get it done."

Zhong Ruyi exclaimed, "It's not like we don't have to pay to rent the store, why are you making things difficult for me?"

The second brother shook his head. "Those people always think they are superior to others. If you ask a few more questions, they will humiliate you. They are just looking down on others."

"Go and take a look first. If it's really difficult, you can go find your second sister-in-law's brother later." said Zhong's mother.

Mother Zhong was worried, so she followed him.

The second brother took them to the market, stopped at a house, and knocked on the door, "Is anyone there?"

After a while, someone came out to open the door, looked them up and down and asked, "What's the matter?"

Zhong Lao Er smiled and said, "Excuse me, is Brother Yang Er here? I have something I want to ask him."

The man said, "Come in and wait first," and then he went in.

The three of them stood in the yard for a while, but still no one came out. They waited for a while before a middle-aged man came out.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" asked the middle-aged man.

The smile on Zhong Lao Er's face deepened, "Brother Yang, long time no see."

When the middle-aged man heard this, he looked up and down at Zhong Laoer, and then looked at the two women following behind him.

He asked with some confusion, "Who are you?"

Zhong Laoer said, "I am Liu Gang's brother-in-law."

"So you're Captain Liu's brother-in-law. Excuse me, please come in and have a cup of tea!"

The middle-aged man suddenly realized what was going on and finally smiled. He led them into the lobby.

After they sat down, he smiled and said, "I heard from Captain Liu that his sister and brother-in-law opened a braised food store, and the business is very good. Why don't you come and sit with me today if you have time?"

Zhong Lao Er waved his hand and said, "Brother Yang, that's not true. I just do a small business, barely enough to support my family. I won't tell you about it and make you laugh."

"I came here today to ask if the store next door is for rent. I thought if it is, I don't have to go to other places to ask."

"The store next door?" Brother Yang pondered for a moment, "Is it the one that sold oil before? It's still empty now, but someone came to inquire about it some time ago. During the Chinese New Year, my people took them to have a look, and they are interested in renting it."

Zhong Ruyi spoke up, "Second Brother Yang, have they paid the rent?"

If you don't have to pay rent and are just going to take a look, they can also rent it.

Brother Yang shook his head. “After they went to see it that day, they seemed to think it was a little small. Then my people took them to see other stores, and they thought it was too big again.”

"They said they would come to book it in the next few days, but they haven't come yet. If you want to rent it, I can ask someone to take you there first. Whoever pays the money first will rent the store, regardless of first come first served. After all, my men have been waiting for them for several days. It's not like I didn't give them time, right?"

"Okay, let's go take a look. Thank you for your help, Brother Yang."

"It's okay! We are all family, there's no need to be so polite!" Brother Yang smiled brightly, called one of his men to get the key and took them to see the store.

When I arrived, I found that the door of the empty store next to Zhongji was open. When I walked in, I saw several people talking inside.

Yang Erge's men, who were taking Zhong Ruyi and the others to look at the store, were still confused, "Why did Luo Lao San bring people here?"

Zhong Ruyi asked him, "Brother, are these the people that Brother Yang said wanted to rent this store?"

"I'll go in and ask. The people who came last time were received by Luo Laosan."

The young man went in to look for Luo Laosan, and Zhong Ruyi went back to Zhongji next door to wait.

After a while, the young man came over with an apologetic look on his face, "Boss Zhong, Miss Zhong, I'm really sorry, the store next door is about to be rented out, they are here to take another look, and after they are done they will come back to us to sign the deed and pay the rent."

Zhong Ruyi didn't expect that the house next door was rented out so quickly, but there was nothing she could do. She could only say that she asked too late. However, if she had asked earlier, she would not have had the money.

I don't know what kind of business the neighbors are doing, but the whole street is full of food, selling steamed buns, fried dough sticks, wontons, noodles, sesame seed cake shops and all kinds of food, or oil shops, and there's also Aunt Chen's tea shop next door.

The street in front is mostly inns, restaurants, taverns, pawnshops, and cloth shops, while the street behind is blacksmith shops, grocery stores, carpentry shops, and pharmacies.

I can only go somewhere else to see if there are any vacant stores. I originally thought that if it was next door, it would be close to Zhong Ji, but it turns out that it is now rented by someone else.