Chapter 121: Chapter 121: Everyone Knows (Extra Chapter for reaching 45 Monthly Tickets, Fourth Update)
Translator: 549690339
Retreat a step and speak, if Zhuang Qingning no longer opened this tofu shop in the future, Zhuang Mingliang could also stand on his own two feet, and would no longer worry about making a living.
Not to mention a raise in his wages?
And it was quite a substantial raise.
“Miss Ning, rest assured, I will definitely instruct Mingliang to work hard and learn diligently from you.” Mrs. He was somewhat lost for words: “You should also be at ease, Mingliang is a honest child, he definitely won’t forget his roots once he learns the craft of making tofu…”
Zhuang Qingning suppressed a smile. No one else could replicate her secret to making tasty tofu. She wasn’t worried about the saying, teaching the apprentice, starving the master.
“I also think Mingliang is reliable, I trust him.” Zhuang Qingning laughed, “Although we will have to wait until the shop is all set before we can start making tofu, in the meantime you could help me look around and see if there are people who could work in the tofu shop, we need two shifts so the grinder doesn’t rest.”
“Alright, leave it to me, I’ll find people for you.” Zhuang Yonghe kept nodding his head. He chuckled, “To be honest with you, Miss Ning, when I was looking for people to work in the tofu shop last time, there were many who wanted to come but couldn’t. Some regretted after seeing others earn money from the work. There were quite a few who discreetly asked whether there were vacancies.”
“Knowing that you are looking for people to work, just spreading the word without even needing to look, people will come on their own.”
“I’ll help you screen, only good ones are recommended to you, you can make the final decision.”
“Ok,” Zhuang Qingning laughed: “Thank you, uncle, for your efforts on this.”
“Don’t mention it again,” Zhuang Yonghe said: “We all benefit from your tofu business, so it’s our duty to help you. If you keep being so polite, I would be upset.”
“Alright, no more of that,” Zhuang Qingning replied, brimming with laughter.
After she finished discussing the tofu shop with Zhuang Yonghe and Mrs. He and chatted for a while, Zhuang Qingning prepared to go home.
Mrs. He handed her a bunch of vegetables to bring home.
“Auntie, not that I’m turning down your kindness, but there are a lot of vegetables at home, Qingsui and I can’t finish them all. If I took these, it would be a waste,” Zhuang Qingning declined.
Hearing this, Mrs. He burst into laughter: “That’s right, the vegetables you grow arc truly good. They’re so abundant I can see them over the wall. I see the pumpkin leaves are thick and plushy. I bet the pumpkins will be big and sweet. Just by observing this, I know the other vegetables you grow are not inferior.”
“The land where we previously slaughtered pigs and sheep is rich, so the vegetables grow really well,” Zhuang Qingning chuckled softly: “The chives are growing like crazy, we can’t finish them. Auntie, if you ever run out of vegetables, feel free to pick some at our place.”
Instead of giving Zhuang Qingning vegetables, she wound up offering her vegetables. Mrs. He, of course, declined. Eventually, Mrs. He gave Zhuang Qingning a small basket of peanuts to take home for boiling with porridge, which would give it a fragrant taste.
Since Zhuang Qingning didn’t plant peanuts at home, she accepted the gift and returned home with the peanuts.
She began grinding the tofu at midnight, walked to town in the early morning, and when she sold most of the tofu, she asked Zhuang Qingsui to watch over the tofu stall while she tidied up the shop.
After cleaning the shop inside and out, she let Lian Rong bring over the shelves, boards, tables and so on, which Mrs. Deng had mentioned. She also had Zhuang Yonghe find a carpenter to make some special boards for placing tofu and chopping boards for cutting tofu.
Zhuang Qingning also had a signboard made, which she hung at the entrance of the shop as an advertisement prior to the opening.
Zhang Yongchang also specially prepared some items for the tofu shop, including talisman paper for purification and copper coin strings symbolizing the shop’s success, all for ensuring good Feng-Shui.
Zhuang Qingning was helpless about this, but seeing how serious Zhang Yongchang was about Feng-Shui, she did not dissuade him and let him be.
With grinding tofu, selling tofu, and preparing the shop, Zhuang Qingning was extremely busy.
The news that Zhuang Qingning had rented the shop with bad Feng-Shui for a tofu shop was gradually spreading throughout the town.
“Listen, did you hear? The shop with bad Feng-Shui has been rented out.”
“Who’s so bold and unafraid of a financial loss or that their family might be cursed because of the shop?”
“You know, the two girls who’ve been selling tofu at a stall in town. It looks like they think the tofu business is going well and it’s inconvenient on windy and rainy days. So, they’ve rented a shop to sell tofu.”
“Wow, those two girls have been in town for a while. They should have heard about this. Why would they still rent this kind of shop? Aren’t they afraid they’ll have no business later on?”
“Who knows? They’re probably too young to be afraid of anything. Even if they knew, they’d still take the risk to prove their abilities. When they can’t do business anymore, then they’ll understand the consequences. They are oblivious to it now.”
“Feng-Shui matters are tricky. It’s said that if one’s luck is strong, they can overcome it. Who knows?”
“True, but those girls arc bold. They must not be afraid of losing money or having something go wrong.”
Such a topic is a surefire way to arouse people’s interest. By word of mouth, it didn’t take long for the entire town to know two things.
The first one, the shop with bad Feng-Shui had been rented out.
Second, Zhuang Qingning’s tofu stall was getting upgraded to a tofu shop, which was, in fact, the shop with bad Feng-Shui.
“Look, just like I said, the shop with bad Feng-Shui has its own advantages. Now, without me having to shout and beat the drum, everyone knows that my tofu shop is going to open,” said Zhuang Qingning, laughing.
“It seems like you do have some ideas,” Zhang Yongchang said, giving Zhuang Qingning a disgruntled look.
He did not like the shop with bad Feng-Shui, but faced with the situation at hand, he had to admit that Zhuang Qingning’s plan was indeed good.
Not to talk about whether it was good or not, but now everyone knew about it.
Seeing that Zhang Yongchang kept refusing to admit that he was wrong, Zhuang Qingning didn’t press him but just laughed and chatted about other things.
The tofu shop was being prepared in full swing. As the items being sold were not very diverse, it didn’t require much decoration. It just had to be clean and tidy, which took only three or four days.
The opening day was then set for three days later, a day considered auspicious for business openings.
Having settled one thing, Zhuang Qingning breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhuang Qingsui, on the other hand, frowned..
