The four members of the Su family were wearing the same uniform, all of them were tailor-made navy blue jackets, with a halter-neck apron tied around the waist with a pocket at the waist, and the words “Li Ji Lu Zhu” embroidered on the chest. Because Li Zhouzhou had cut the hair of the four people before and it was still short, they all tied it up and wore hats.

　　It looks clean and hair is not likely to fall in meal easily.

　　They were given full names, with the character Jia added to the middle of Ge’er. Xiaohe was named Su Jiayu, and Cao’er was named Su Jiaying. The two boys, Goudan and Shuanzi, were named Su Shilei and Su Shiyi.

　　When Li Zhouzhou was naming his child, he looked through his Zhou Zhou textbook, as well as the book of characters that his husband had used to name Fubao. He looked in them and found the character Jia (佳) to have a good meaning, and Xiaohe (小河) to have the character water, so Li Zhouzhou looked for the character in characters that had been stained with water.

　　The word “Yu” means change. The word “Ying” means heroic.

　　I hope that the two brothers can persist and have perseverance, just like the weeds in the field. If the wind doesn’t blow them down, they will continue to grow and live a good life on their own.

　　The boy had almost the same idea.

　　As strong and firm as a rock.

　　Now the four of them were dressed in new clothes. They had been taught by Liu Shu for more than a month and had changed from the timid and restrained attitude they had when they first arrived. At least now they stood in the shop looking like real people.

　　The oldest one is Su Shiyi, who is said to be sixteen years old at the beginning of the year. On the way from the prefecture to the capital, it was Su Shiyi who took money to take care of the three younger ones. According to Liu Shu’s later statement, “It is not clear whether he can hold on now, but among the four, he looks like he can hold on. Let’s put him in the shop outside to greet people first.”

　　Li Zhouzhou had the same idea. He couldn’t let the two little ones go.

　　Su Jiayu and Su Jiaying are young, busy at the stove in the back. Su Shilei is the one who carries and delivers heavy objects, running around. Of course, in the morning, all four of them work together, and the two brothers do the packaging and boxing.

　　Li Zhouzhou also found a maid who came to cook for the four people every day and did laundry and tidying up. He would come to look after them during the day, and Xiaoshu would also come to take care of them.

　　Just use it like this for now, and add more when there’s not enough manpower later.

　　Every day before dawn, there would be people delivering live ducks to the back door. On the first day of opening, Li Zhouzhou thought about it and ordered thirty ducks. When Liu Shu saw this, he gave Brother Zhouzhou a thumbs up.

　　”Brother Zhou Zhou, you are brave now.” Liu Shu admired him.

　　Li Zhouzhou said, “I counted and there are nearly 20 families living here. It’s close to the main street and there are other food shops nearby. It’s quite busy with people coming and going. If we can’t sell all the food, you and I can take it back to eat when we finish work.”

　　Braise fifteen in the morning and fifteen in the afternoon.

　　Half a duck for half a tael of silver – Li Zhouzhou originally wanted to sell a duck for half a tael, but after calculating the cost of renting a shop, the duck, spices, charcoal, manpower, and packaging, it would be fine to sell it for half a tael, but in this area, the original route was –

　　Before, Li Zhouzhou saw a young girl dressed in brocade and satin, who spent two taels of silver just on rouge. At first he thought that the girl was the daughter of that family, but later he thought it was not right. An unmarried lady would not easily go to the street to buy things, and even if she did, she would have to clear out the shop, but the shop was busy with people coming and going.

　　Furthermore, when a young lady travels, she is usually accompanied by a large group of maids and servants.

　　I heard from the shop assistants that the girl was a servant of the eldest daughter of the Dai family and was a second-class maid. She received one and a half taels of silver per month and went out every month to buy rouge for other roommates.

　　A second-class maid in a mansion would spend one or two taels of silver on rouge. When Li Zhouzhou saw it, he immediately ordered a gift box of braised duck from his shop, which cost half a tael of silver for half a duck, or one tael of silver for a whole duck.

　　As soon as the shop opened.

　　Four shops are connected. Two of them are used for shelves, cashiers, and packaging, which are for trading. The two shops next to them are equipped with round tables and chairs, dried goods, melon seeds, and tea. This is the rest area where people can wait.

　　Li Zhouzhou and Liu Shu sat in a corner of the rest area.

　　The store was empty and quiet. Su Shiyi poured tea for Madam Yan and his cousin. Li Zhouzhou saw that Su Shiyi’s hands were shaking as he poured the tea and said, “No one is in the store now. Madam Yan and I are family. What are you afraid of?”

　　As he was speaking, the carriage stopped at the door and someone got out.

　　Liushu said, “Someone is coming. Go and greet them.”

　　But when Su Shiyi saw the visitor, his legs became weak because of his clothes. Liu Shu wished he could roll up his sleeves and do some work. Li Zhouzhou pressed Xiao Shu’s arm and also frowned. He watched Su Shiyi talking to the visitor, and his words were so stammering that he couldn’t speak clearly.

　　It looks like we need to find someone to manage it.

　　Even with all the stuttering, the deal was done. The other party bought four boxes of whole ducks, which brought in four taels of silver. Su Shiyi’s hands were shaking as he took the money. This, this is four taels of silver?

　　”Cousin, four ounces of silver.”

　　Liushu gave Su Shiyi a look that told him to shut up. Su Shiyi was just holding the silver and feeling happy, but when he saw Madam Yan glaring at him, he immediately stepped aside. It turned out that the customer who bought the duck put the duck away and came back in, looking straight at his cousin.

　　”Are you Madam Gu? I am from the Lin family.” The man bowed to Li Zhouzhou.

　　As soon as Li Zhouzhou heard the surname Lin, he knew what was going on. The Lin family had heard the news and came to support his family. He smiled and stood up and said, “You’re welcome. This is my mother’s shop. I came to take a look.”

　　The old servant of the Lin family performed the ceremony, said hello, and said a few auspicious words. Without being annoying, he took his leave politely.

　　Liu Shu had taught Su Shiyi before, but now that the diners had all gotten into the car, Su Shiyi went out eagerly to see them off and said in a low voice, “Welcome to come again.” Liu Shu frowned at the sight. If he hadn’t been in the store on the first day of opening, he would have scolded him.

　　”He’s still a half-grown child, and in this kind of place, we have to wait a little longer on the first day.” Li Zhouzhou sighed in his heart but didn’t show it on his face. He had to quickly find a shopkeeper to take charge.

　　It’s impossible for him and Xiaoshu to sit in the shop and work every day, right?

　　The Lin family bought four ducks, and soon the Liang family came to buy one too. The restaurant was full of regular customers early in the morning. At noon, there was a sign at the door saying that the restaurant was temporarily closed and would reopen at 3 pm.

　　At the end, Su Shiyi’s face and eyes were red, and he was about to cry, but he held it back. He was a boy and the oldest of the four people in the Su family. If he couldn’t handle it, what would happen to the others? But he was afraid. What if he didn’t do his job well and was chased back?

　　Liu Shu’s face was dark. “What did I teach you? You forgot it all morning? I’m not going to talk about the first time, but you should be familiar with it after two or three times. What’s going on?”

　　Li Zhouzhou didn’t say anything. He didn’t speak when Xiaoshu scolded the four people. After Xiaoshu finished scolding, Li Zhouzhou said, “You and Shi Lei will take turns guarding the shop and standing in front. Hold on for two days. Be more disciplined. When I find someone——”

　　Before he finished speaking, the four people, especially Su Shiyi, could not stand up and were about to kneel down. Li Zhouzhou quickly helped them up. He looked down at Su Shiyi’s eyes full of tears and said, “I haven’t finished speaking yet, and you three should listen carefully. You are young now, and these business operations are new to you. I will give you a chance to learn. If you still can’t learn, then I won’t accept useless people here. I will give you money for travel expenses and send a caravan to take you back at the end of the year. I can’t control you anymore.”

　　”You know clearly what kind of life you lived in the past. Whether you want to start a new life or not is up to you.” Li Zhouzhou patted Su Shiyi’s shoulder. “You are my father’s relatives, but my father passed away and our two families haven’t been in touch for many years. I won’t feed you for free. It doesn’t make sense. Do you understand?”

　　The four of them nodded with tears in their eyes and fear turned into determination.

　　”Okay, let’s eat.” Li Zhouzhou said to the cook.

　　Liu Shu and Brother Zhou Zhou were eating the same thing together. When the door was closed, Liu Shu said with admiration in her eyes, “Brother Zhou Zhou, you were so awesome just now. I don’t know how to describe it. Now I remember it. It’s what my man calls coercion! It’s awesome!”

　　”How’s your account study going?”

　　”I’ve been learning a lot and I’m very smart. Don’t worry, how about you test me?”

　　Li Zhouzhou believed Liu Shu and said, “I need to invite a manager to come over. This manager will be busy in the front, and you will be in the back to take care of the daily accounts. The incoming and outgoing goods are all counted. You will be in charge of the money and the wages.”

　　”Okay.” Liushu nodded readily.

　　Brother Zhou Zhou asked him to manage the money because he trusts him.

　　Li Zhouzhou was troubled by the shopkeeper’s problem, but the problem didn’t last even a day. The next day, the Liang Mansion sent someone to lend them a hand.

　　Gu Zhao returned home that afternoon.

　　”I’ll borrow the shop manager from my senior brother Liang to take care of the four little ones.” Gu Zhao massaged his wife’s shoulders and said, “Those four are still half-grown boys. They can do manual labor, but I think it’s not appropriate for them to deal with people and do business. So I told Senior Brother Liang and asked him if he could help me find someone experienced in business.”