Chapter 47

Bai Yu naturally couldn’t understand what Xu Qinyu was saying. It just lifted its head and continued to look at Xu Qinyu expectantly, hoping she would eat the prey on the ground. After all, it had gone through great hardships to finally learn how to hunt and wanted to bring the prey back for her to eat.

She had raised it since it was young. In its eyes, this creature, although different in appearance, was considered its mother, the closest being to it. But one day, it was suddenly thrown back into the mountains. It felt a bit lost and initially just wanted to find its way back to them.

Later, it wondered if it was because it couldn’t hunt and was too weak that it was abandoned and thrown back into the mountains. Only the weakest young ones that couldn’t hunt would be abandoned by their mothers. So it started learning to hunt. At first, it couldn’t catch anything, and sometimes, it had to eat bugs from trees, often going hungry. Gradually, it managed to catch some mice, and later, the prey it caught grew larger, including wild chickens.

Actually, it had secretly sneaked back to the town a few times before, making mistakes several times before finally finding its way home. But it couldn’t catch large prey yet, so it didn’t come back.

When it could skillfully catch wild chickens, it happily caught prey and returned home. Seeing its ‘mother’ naturally made it very happy. It climbed onto the bed to sleep with her, waiting for her to wake up so it could offer the prey it had caught.

But now, as she pointed at it, it didn’t understand what she meant. However, it remembered that she would point at it when she was angry and shout, ‘Xu Bai Yu.’

Bai Yu shrank back, its eerie red eyes showing a hint of sadness.

Seeing it like this, Xu Qinyu’s anger suddenly dissipated. It always looked like this when Hei Yu bullied it.

When Hei Yu bullied it before, it would slither to her side with this expression, and although it might seem absurd to see expressions in animals, she indeed saw sadness in Bai Yu’s eyes.

Xu Qinyu realized that although she feared snakes, she didn’t seem scared of Bai Yu. At that moment, she probably understood that she thought releasing Bai Yu was good for it. Of course, she was also a bit afraid that Bai Yu would grow too big and scare the townspeople. But in reality, her behavior was akin to abandoning a pet. Or in Bai Yu’s eyes, it was like a ‘mother’ abandoning her child, causing significant harm to Bai Yu.

Thinking of this, Xu Qinyu squatted down and gently touched the smooth snake’s head.

Bai Yu straightened its body and rubbed against her palm.

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, “Alright, since you want to stay here, I won’t send you back to the mountains anymore.”

Unless Bai Yu wanted to leave and return to the mountains, she wouldn’t force it. At worst, she would just earn more money and strive to live in a large five-entry house, preferably one with a large backyard and garden, so Bai Yu could stay in the house and have the garden to move around in, without scaring others.

Given Bai Yu’s current growth rate, it would take at least a year or two to grow into a three or four-meter-long python. At that time, she should have been able to buy a large house!

For Bai Yu, she would work hard to earn money.

Finally, Xu Qinyu pointed to the pitiful wild chicken on the ground and told Bai Yu that it didn’t need to hunt for food for them.

Bai Yu still didn’t quite understand. At that moment, Mo Yu suddenly ran in from outside. Seeing Bai Yu, it happily howled and rushed towards Bai Yu, placing its front legs on Bai Yu and then riding on it with its hind legs. The whole leopard lay on Bai Yu, trying to bite it, but found it couldn’t quite manage.

Seeing Mo Yu riding on it, Bai Yu immediately rolled over and wrapped its body around Mo Yu.

After playing for a while, Bai Yu released Mo Yu.

Mo Yu licked Bai Yu once, probably finding the texture not as pleasant as fur, so it stopped. Then it smelled the wild chicken nearby, ran over to sniff it, and showed a look of disdain.

Bai Yu understood Mo Yu’s disdain.

Bai Yu suddenly also understood Xu Qinyu’s meaning and looked at her with a bit of dejection.

Xu Qinyu laughed and didn’t bother with them anymore. She went over and used a sack to pack up the wild chicken. It wasn’t good to just leave it on the road. If a wild dog took it, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but she was worried that someone might pick it up and eat it. After all, it was regurgitated by a snake, and she didn’t want anyone to get sick from it.

Judging by Bai Yu’s appearance, it probably wouldn’t swallow the regurgitated prey again. When Cheng Ge’er came to catch eels outside the town, they could bury the wild chicken outside the town.

Just as she was thinking this, Cheng Ge’er and Gong Ge’er arrived. The two brothers saw Bai Yu in the courtyard and weren’t scared; they were excited.

“Fourth Sister-in-law, there’s a white snake!” they said, wanting to catch it.

Xu Qinyu said, “This is the white snake we raised before the New Year, called Bai Yu. After the New Year, we thought it was growing too big and might scare people, so we released it back into the mountains. I didn’t expect that it would find its way back after a month and a half and even bring prey for me.” She pointed to the sack beside her.

Wen Shuncheng came over and looked at the contents of the sack, showing a complicated expression. But he couldn’t help but say, “This snake is quite intelligent.”

When had they ever seen a snake that brought food back to its owner?

Xu Qinyu couldn’t help but nod. Snakes are cold-blooded animals and don’t usually get close to humans, let alone their owners.

Bai Yu was indeed different from other snakes, so Xu Qinyu knew that if she continued to raise it, it wouldn’t attack people randomly in the future.

Xu Qinyu asked Cheng Ge’er and Gong Ge’er to take the sack outside the town and bury the contents.

The two left with the wild chicken.

Before long, the rest of the family got up. Madam Wen, Ning Jie’er, and the two children were also surprised to see Bai Yu back.

Ning Jie’er said, “The wild animals that Fourth Brother brought back from the mountains seem very intelligent, different from ordinary wild animals. It’s good to raise them. Since they are intelligent, they won’t attack people randomly.”

Xu Qinyu nodded.

Only Madam Gui had never seen Bai Yu and was startled. She was a bit afraid of snakes, but knowing that Bai Yu was intelligent, she wasn’t too scared.

Xu Qinyu started braising the intestines and began preparing breakfast.

By the time breakfast was almost ready, Cheng Ge’er and Gong Ge’er came back with a basket of eels. Today’s eels were quite plump.

Looking at the fat eels, Xu Qinyu thought it had been more than half a month since they last ate eels, so she asked Cheng Ge’er to keep them for dinner. Stewing them would retain their original flavor, remove the earthy smell, and make the bones tender and the meat soft.

Cheng Ge’er and Gong Ge’er were also craving eels. It had been a long time since they last ate them, and Fourth Sister-in-law’s eel dishes were unforgettable.

Cheng Ge’er poured the eels into a wooden basin to keep them alive. Xu Qinyu went over to take a look and found several snails. She exclaimed, “Aren’t these snails?”

Since no one had ever eaten them, and there were no dishes with snails in her original memory, she didn’t know if they had them here.

Cheng Ge’er said, “Fourth Sister-in-law, are you talking about river snails?”

Can these be eaten? After all, anything Fourth Sister-in-law mentioned was definitely edible.

Xu Qinyu nodded, “Yes, they are river snails and can be eaten. There are many ways to cook them. In the future, if you have time, you can go to the ponds and fields to catch some, and I’ll cook them for you.”

River snails can be braised in oil, stir-fried, cooked with spicy flavors, added to chicken and olive soup, stir-fried with chives, or made into toothpick snails. They are also a main ingredient in snail noodles, which people either love or avoid.

Xu Qinyu was the type who liked to eat everything, including snail noodles, durian, stinky tofu, cilantro, and mint. She wasn’t picky about food; all ingredients were delicious to her. In short, any ingredient had at least dozens of ways to be cooked in her mind.

Cheng Ge’er immediately agreed.

After breakfast, Cheng Ge’er took the braised intestines to the butcher Tian, while Xu Qinyu took the lease agreement to find Sister Yao. They agreed to meet at the shop at the beginning of the hour of the snake to sign the lease.

When she arrived at the eatery, Madam Yao was already waiting at the shop. Upon seeing Xu Qinyu, she took the lease agreement and carefully read through it. She didn’t find the terms excessive, but rather unnecessary. Why would Young Lady Xu worry about her arbitrarily raising the rent? She had even considered lowering the rent by a few taels if the shop couldn’t be rented out again. Did Young Lady Xu really think she could make a fortune running an eatery, to the point of making others envious?

This Young Lady Xu seemed quite confident in her cooking skills.

But Madam Yao was an honest person. Even if Young Lady Xu made a lot of money from the eatery, she wouldn’t raise the rent out of envy. Everyone had their own fortune, and she would never think of making money through dishonest means.

The conditions in the lease agreement were not excessive, and Madam Yao readily pressed her fingerprint on it.

Xu Qinyu also pressed her fingerprint on it.

The lease agreement was made in duplicate, and both parties pressed their fingerprints on it. This made the agreement legally binding without needing to be stamped at the Yamen. If either party reneged on the agreement, they could take the lease to the Yamen and file a complaint, which would be upheld. In these times, the law might not be as comprehensive and reasonable as in modern society, but the punishments were much harsher, and most people didn’t want to go to the Yamen.

Both kept copies of the lease agreement. Madam Yao smiled and said, “If you need any help in the future, feel free to come to me.”

Xu Qinyu nodded and paid Madam Yao the fifty taels of rent.

Madam Yao wrote a receipt, and both of them pressed their fingerprints on it. Xu Qinyu took the receipt and felt relieved. Although it wasn’t her first time opening a shop, the tension and joy in her heart were indescribable.

After handing over the keys to Xu Qinyu, Madam Yao left.

Xu Qinyu hadn’t left yet; she needed to see how many things the eatery needed to be furnished with. The tables and chairs in the dining hall needed to be made by a carpenter, and the counter was already very old, so she planned to redo it. The kitchen utensils in the back kitchen also needed to be sorted out.

Xu Qinyu stayed in the eatery, leaning on the counter and writing down the things she needed to buy. She also drew the tables, chairs, and counter styles, as she would need a carpenter to come to the eatery to make the counter.

Xu Qinyu was focused on writing and drawing.

The female shopkeeper of the cosmetic shop next door already knew that the young lady who had asked her about the shop two days ago had rented it. She came over to look and saw the young lady leaning on the counter, writing and drawing. She didn’t disturb her; she just shook her head and left.

Xu Qinyu spent more than an hour writing and drawing. Seeing that it was time to go back and cook fish, she reluctantly packed up her things and returned to Osmanthus Alley.

Cheng Ge’er still couldn’t cook fish on his own.

Xu Qinyu planned to spend this month teaching Cheng Ge’er to master fish balls, braised fish, and fish head tofu soup.

Because the eatery needed to be renovated and furnished and the menu needed to be listed, it would take more than a month before it could officially open.

Xu Qinyu planned to name the eatery after her private kitchen from modern times.

Xu Ji Shi Fu (Xu’s Food Mansion).

Even if it became a large restaurant in the future, this name could still be used.

After returning home, Xu Qinyu cooked fish, with Cheng Ge’er helping beside her.

After selling the fish and having dinner, Xu Qinyu lit the oil lamp and continued her writing and drawing. She designed the tables and chairs for the three-front shop, which could accommodate nine tables.

Two large round tables could seat eight or nine people, six long tables for four people, and one small square table for two in the corner.

As for the counter, since it needed to be redone, she also designed it. The counter was U-shaped, with shelves behind it for placing drinks. The counter itself was for daily accounting and didn’t need to be too large or spacious. The smaller counter would make the dining hall appear more spacious.

The eatery’s name was Xu Ji Shi Fu (Xu’s Food Mansion). Xu Qinyu asked her family for their opinion, and they all said it sounded grand and pleasant. So, the name of the eatery was decided.

Xu Qinyu worked until the hour of the pig before going to bed.

For the next two days, she focused on writing and drawing. After drawing everything, she needed to find a carpenter to do the work.

Previously, when making the cart, Madam Wu had introduced Xu Qinyu to a carpenter named Mr. Gao. Mr. Gao’s craftsmanship was good, so Xu Qinyu continued to hire him.

Carpenter Gao told her these tables, chairs, and the counter would take about a month.

Xu Qinyu nodded, “A month is enough time. I still need to buy other things.”

The eatery’s floor was paved with blue bricks, which didn’t need to be replaced. The blue bricks were good, but the windows were a bit old and needed to be repaired and repainted by Carpenter Gao.

Additionally, she needed to buy kitchen utensils, with various iron pots being the main items. She went to the iron shop and ordered several iron pots of different sizes, as well as iron plates and frying pans.

After paying the rent, she still had 197 taels of silver. The tables, chairs, counter, and window repairs would cost about 30 taels of silver. Although the tables and chairs she wanted were not made of expensive wood, they were more expensive because they needed to be painted. Painted tabletops wouldn’t easily absorb the grease from food, making them easier to clean.

In this era, painting is not like modern mixed paints; it is all-natural and without pollution. It requires a base, sanding, and various complicated processes, so the painting process is quite expensive.

The woodworking costs thirty taels. The iron pots and other items also cost about twenty taels. In this way, she used up a year’s rent for the shop, leaving her with more than one hundred and forty taels. Even the various bowls and plates were custom-made from a porcelain kiln, with designs she had drawn.

Of course, she couldn’t expect colored porcelain, which was exorbitantly expensive, so she opted for ordinary white porcelain, which cost about ten taels. The rest would be spent on buying ingredients when the eatery was about to open.

In short, the money she had was enough.

Of course, opening an eatery also required hiring waitstaff. Two would be enough, and they would not only serve but also wash dishes and clean.

As for the manager, it was mainly for accounting. Xu Qinyu would definitely be busy in the kitchen and unable to manage the front.

However, hiring a dedicated manager seemed wasteful. Since Madam Wen and Ning Jie’er were at home and didn’t make bags every day, they had plenty of free time. So Xu Qinyu planned to ask Madam Wen and Ning Jie’er if they wanted to manage the eatery. If they didn’t, she would hire someone.

In the afternoon, Xu Qinyu asked Madam Wen and Ning Jie’er.

Madam Wen said she could go to the eatery every day to help with accounting, and Ning Jie’er could stay at home to make bags. After all, the bag designs were mostly Ning Jie’er’s ideas, and she was more skillful. So it was better for Ning Jie’er to continue making bags, and Madam Wen could help at the eatery, ensuring that no one bullied her daughter-in-law.

With Madam Wen willing to help at the eatery, Xu Qinyu felt much more at ease. The remaining task was to find waitstaff. She planned to hire women between the ages of twenty-five and forty. Since the chef and the manager were both women, she decided to hire female waitstaff as well, preferably women with strong personalities. Younger girls were not suitable, as they might encounter troublemakers.

Having only one chef was not enough; she needed to hire an assistant chef. She could teach the assistant chef any dishes they didn’t know how to make.

After all, it would take Cheng Ge’er another two years to become proficient in cooking.

Gong Ge’er didn’t like cooking. When he helped Cheng Ge’er kill fish, he was clumsy and didn’t have the talent to be a chef.

Gong Ge’er was almost ten years old, but in Xu Qinyu’s eyes, he was still a child. So she didn’t plan to let Gong Ge’er work as a waiter. Of course, when he had nothing to do, he would definitely stay in the eatery with his brother.

Xu Qinyu wrote a recruitment notice and posted it at the courtyard’s entrance, where customers who came to buy fish could see it.

Most of the customers were residents of nearby alleys, and many people in their families were still unemployed.

Xu Qinyu offered a salary of 800 wen per month.

This salary was already considered high but required washing dishes and cleaning, so Xu Qinyu planned to hire three people for now. The requirements were clearly written: women between the ages of 25 and 40, strong and sturdy, with a bold personality, and able to endure hardship. She offered 800 wen for the waitstaff, and she would also give red envelopes during holidays. All of this was written on the notice.

Just the monthly salary of 800 wen was enough to attract people. Even the men in the family might not earn 800 wen a month working outside. So, the women from the nearby alleys were eager to apply for the job.

Xu Qinyu wasn’t in a hurry. She planned to hire only three people and had a month to do so. She carefully recorded the names, ages, and addresses of the women who applied. She planned to check their character or ask around the neighborhood. Even for hiring ordinary waitstaff, she hoped to find reliable and hardworking people.

After selling the fish balls, Xu Qinyu had almost completed the list of applicants. In the past two days, 30 to 40 women had applied.

Just as she called Cheng Ge’er to pack up the stall at the entrance, Xu Qinyu saw Madam Lin approaching with pursed lips.

Madam Lin was the daughter-in-law of Old Madam Luo, who had previously eaten Xu Qinyu’s braised fish, claimed it was bad, and demanded a refund. They lived at the end of Osmanthus Alley.

Old Madam Luo not only wanted to eat for free but also tried to steal Xu Qinyu’s recipe. In the end, Xu Qinyu outsmarts her, and she not only fails to learn the recipe but also loses some money.

After that, Old Madam Luo tried to reconcile, but Xu Qinyu scared her away with a kitchen knife. Since then, she didn’t dare to cause trouble for Xu Qinyu anymore.

Of course, in the past few months, Xu Qinyu hadn’t sold any fish to Old Madam Luo’s family.

Xu Qinyu glanced at Madam Lin.

Madam Lin mustered up the courage to say, “Young Lady Xu, I also want to work as a waitress at your eatery. Please give me a chance.”

“Sorry,” Xu Qinyu directly refused Madam Lin. She couldn’t give Madam Lin any hope. Even just writing down Madam Lin’s name now and rejecting her later wouldn’t work. Because even that would make Old Madam Luo think she had a chance, and Xu Qinyu didn’t want to invite such trouble.

If Madam Lin could get a divorce, Xu Qinyu would be willing to help her and let her work at the eatery in the future. But if she couldn’t take the first step, Xu Qinyu couldn’t help her.

If she could take the first step, her life would be completely different. It couldn’t be worse than staying with the Luo family.

Sure enough, when Madam Lin heard these words, her face turned pale. She clenched her palms and murmured, “I understand. Sorry to trouble you, Young Lady Xu.”

Xu Qinyu sighed.

There were still some days before Xu’s Food Mansion opened, and Xu Qinyu had nothing else to do, so she continued to focus on making braised intestines and fish.

The braised intestines sold very well at Madam Tian’s stall, with people lining up to buy them every day. Once they were sold out, that was it. But after the eatery opened, the braised intestines could be handed over to Cheng Ge’er, who would oversee the braised intestines and fish. Then they could supply more braised intestines to Madam Tian’s stall.

Madam Wu knew that Xu Qinyu’s eatery needed to be renovated, so she lent her Zhu Zi, who watched over the work at the eatery every day. So Xu Qinyu only went to the eatery every few days to check on the progress.

Zhu Zi was very diligent in overseeing the work.

Xu Qinyu also took the time to pickle many vegetables and a jar of spicy cabbage. Spicy cabbage’s shelf life was short, and after fermenting for fifteen days, the eatery would be just about ready to open. The spicy cabbage could be served as a free appetizer before the main dishes.

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After Madam Lin returned from Young Lady Xu’s house that day, she saw her mother-in-law looking at her expectantly. “How did it go? Did that little brat let you work at her eatery?”

When Madam Lin heard her call Young Lady Xu a little brat, she lifted her head and said with a wooden expression, “Young Lady Xu is not a little brat. She is skillful.” She had never seen such a capable young lady. If only she could be as capable as Young Lady Xu, not afraid of anyone, and able to scare away such an old shrew with a kitchen knife.

Old Madam Luo thought she had misheard and glared, “What did you just say?”

“I said, Young Lady Xu is not a brat. You are. You are a disgusting old shrew!”

Madam Lin didn’t know why, but she had never had such courage before. At that moment, all she could think of was the image of Young Lady Xu wielding a kitchen knife and scaring her mother-in-law. She was really at her wit’s end, being pushed to the limit by Old Madam Luo. She usually went out to help people wash clothes, earning about two hundred wen a month, all of which her mother-in-law took.

Even so, Old Madam Luo still resented Madam Lin and her daughters for eating and drinking for free at the Luo family, often humiliating and beating them.

This time, when Old Madam Luo learned that Young Lady Xu would open an eatery, she cursed Young Lady Xu’s ancestors for eighteen generations at home and finally told Madam Lin to go to Miss Xu’s house to ask for a job. Madam Lin usually wouldn’t go, but she desperately needed money, so she went. Because last night, she overheard Old Madam Luo and her husband, Luo Dagen, whispering.

T/N: The author keeps changing between Madam Wu and Sister Xia, who are the same person. Xia is Madam Wu’s husband’s surname, so I’ll translate it to Madam Wu to avoid confusion.