Great!
Ninth Brother said Madam Shen’s shop also had a wonderful confused soup pancake, and she really wanted to try it!
So Xie Shiniang excitedly instructed the servant following the carriage to turn the carriage around and head straight to Willow East Lane by the Jinliang Bridge.
***
Meanwhile, Shen Miao, who Xie Shiniang was eagerly thinking about, was sitting across from Aunt Gu during the quiet noon hour, listening to her explain how to hire workers from the “labor broker”-she couldn’t take it anymore.
She had been washing dishes and cleaning until midnight for three or four days in a row.
Although business had been booming these past few days, and the money jar was so full it was overflowing, she hadn’t had time to count it yet, but she roughly estimated… she had earned over ten strings of cash.
The money was good, but it was too exhausting!
She, Ji Ge, and Xiang Jie had been working like spinning tops these past few days, and with insufficient sleep, their minds were dull.
In the past two days, she had even dropped bowls, broken things, and made mistakes with the pancakes.
She could endure some hardship, but the two younger ones were still growing, and they were so tired that their steps were unsteady.
That was just cruel.
So today, after much persuasion, she sent Xiang Jie and Ji Ge to the bookstore to rest for a day, forbidding them from staying home to work.
She had to hire someone.
The popularity of instant noodles was beyond her expectations.
After all, they were convenient to eat, but not so convenient to make!
The effort required was more than that of regular noodles.
Before making the pancakes, she had to knead, rest, and stretch the dough, then boil the noodles until half-cooked, cool them in cold water, and drain them.
This step couldn’t be skipped, as only the stimulation of hot and cold could make the noodles crispy and chewy after frying.
Then, she added secret seasonings like Sichuan pepper and salt to the drained noodles before frying them.
Frying also required patience; the oil had to be at medium heat, and the noodles had to be fried until set, then gently flipped to continue frying.
Not to mention the broth, roasted vegetable bits, marinated eggs, and marinated meat?
With her experience from her previous life, she was already quite efficient, but she still couldn’t produce in large quantities.
The craze had lasted for several days now, and although it was slowly subsiding, there were still many people coming specifically to buy instant noodles every day.
To sustain the business in the long run, she couldn’t keep struggling like this.
Now, to supply two hundred instant noodles every day, her breakfast stall and other noodle dishes were almost discontinued.
To her surprise, even “scalping” had appeared.
She felt that this couldn’t continue in a healthy cycle and could easily collapse like a bubble.
The instant noodles were popular now because they were novel and convenient, but as with any food, some people would love it, and others wouldn’t.
Like people, it was impossible to please everyone.
She could foresee that this excitement would eventually subside.
She couldn’t rely solely on this to make a living; she had to ensure the diversity of her menu and smooth operation.
Otherwise, once it was imitated, it would be even worse.
But imitation was inevitable.
In the Song Dynasty, intellectual property protection relied on moral agreements, such as noting in printed books that they were published by a certain bookstore and forbidding reprinting.
But this was futile, as there was no formal legal protection.
Craftsmen like Shen Miao or Old Man Yang relied on secret family or master-disciple traditions to maintain their advantage.
But even in later generations, this was hard to prevent, let alone a thousand years ago.
The Chinese people had always been exceptionally talented in imitation over thousands of years, and Shen Miao didn’t dare underestimate the wisdom of the working class.
One day, the recipe for instant noodles would be cracked, so she had to prepare for that time.
The preparation, in detail, started with hiring people.
She needed to free her hands from tedious and repetitive chores to focus on making delicious food, more and more diverse delicious food.
To forge iron, one must be strong; good craftsmanship is the only way to keep customers forever.
Aunt Gu also knew her troubles.
Hearing that she intended to hire workers, she nodded in agreement and explained to her:
“Now there are more than ten labor brokers in the inner city. I found Zhang Yazi, who is quite honest. You can tell him in detail what kind of person you’re looking for, and he will find people for you.”
“In about half a day, he will bring four or five people for you to interview. If you don’t like them, he will look for more. If you find someone suitable, agree on the wages, and he will find a familiar lawyer to draft a contract. That’s it.”
Aunt Gu, while sewing clothes, glanced at the dark circles under Shen Miao’s eyes,
“I’m not saying this as your aunt, but you should have hired someone before opening the shop.”
Shen Miao smiled bitterly,
“Who knew it would suddenly become like this?”
Having seen all kinds of instant noodles with various flavors and brands in her previous life, she had underestimated the ancient people’s enthusiasm for such food.
Perhaps in her previous life, when instant noodles were introduced in Japan, they were also popular worldwide?
“But I think you shouldn’t hire people; you should buy two servants,” Aunt Gu suddenly lowered her voice, giving Shen Miao advice from her own experience,
“My family also has a secret ancestral recipe for brewing wine, and this must never be revealed! So in our family, we only hire two temporary laborers in March and September to move wine jars, and they are not allowed to touch any other work.”
“Usually, your Uncle Xie and Tu Su handle everything, and the brewery is never open to outsiders. Even the yeast must be kept secret.”
“But you’re different. If you hire people to wash dishes, clean, or fetch water and chop wood, your kitchen is so small that you can’t avoid them. What if those workers learn your secrets?”
“It’s better to buy two servants, hold their contracts, and make them serve you for life, unable to switch to another master. That’s the safest way.”
Shen Miao pondered for a moment but was still hesitant.
First, it wasn’t a famine year, and buying a capable laborer would probably cost thirty to fifty strings of cash, which was not a small amount; second, Shen Miao wasn’t cut out to be a ruthless boss.
Buying someone to serve her would make her feel guilty, and she didn’t want to mistreat them.
Once bought, she would have to take care of them for life, which required careful consideration; third, once bought, there was no turning back.
If the person was lazy, slow, or had a bad character, what could she do?
Could she sell them like cattle?
But hiring was different.
A contract could be made, a fair transaction at a clear price.
If the person didn’t perform well, she could return them to the labor broker and get a better one.
She could treat them with a normal, equal attitude.
But Aunt Gu’s point was also valid.
In this era, craftsmanship was everything, and she certainly didn’t want her skills to be stolen and used against her.
As the saying goes, “Teach the apprentice, starve the master.”
She didn’t want to starve either.
After much thought, Shen Miao sighed, “I’ll think about it.”
She bid farewell to Aunt Gu and dragged her feet back to her shop, where the empty shop quietly awaited customers.
The day before yesterday, she had stayed up all night and fried four hundred pancakes, selling them over two days, finally giving her some breathing room.
This morning, she sold two hundred, and there were still two hundred left in the kitchen, so she could leisurely prepare the two hundred needed for the day after tomorrow without rushing and making mistakes.
But because she could sell out early in the morning, the shop was less crowded in the morning than on the first day.
It seemed that many people didn’t know she also made other soup pancakes and only came for the instant noodles, buying them and leaving.
So after the initial rush, the shop became quiet again.
Especially just after noon, it was even emptier.
Shen Miao sat in her shop thinking about hiring people, while Leiting and the little dog lay by the shop door basking in the sun, their fur fluffy, and their amber eyes slowly closing.
Just as the dog was about to turn into a pancake, there was a rare commotion on the street outside.
“Is it you who said I didn’t have to pay, and let me try? I tried for a few days and wasn’t satisfied, so I don’t want to hire her anymore. Isn’t that allowed?”
“Who’s the one not keeping their word? Isn’t that what you said? Now you’re coming to pester me? Let go! Do you want to try my fist?”
Shen Miao looked up.
She couldn’t see where the argument was, but from her shop, she could see the ground slanting and a long shadow stretching out.
The shadow appeared to be a robust man with his hands on his hips, impatiently shoving the woman in front of him, who was thinner and shorter than he was:
“Get lost! If it weren’t for my kindness, you and your dim-witted daughter wouldn’t have had food these past few days! If you keep pestering me, I’ll report you to the authorities! Let’s see how you, a swindling old hag, fare against the soldiers’ clubs!”
The woman’s shadow was shoved to the ground, but she still desperately clung to the hem of his clothes.
However, upon hearing his threat to report her, she immediately let go in fear.
The man then snorted disdainfully, spat on the ground, and strode away with large, determined steps.
“Who would hire an idiot? Daydreaming!”
As the man’s footsteps faded, a mournful wail drifted over.
Shen Miao couldn’t help but stand up and peer outside, only to realize she recognized the woman.
On the street across the way, the once neatly dressed old woman now looked disheveled, with a bruised cheek and messy hair.
She sat on the ground, covered in dust and mud from her desperate pleas.
Her daughter, oblivious to the situation, squatted behind her, her hands and clothes still smeared with soot.
A crowd of curious onlookers had gathered, pointing and whispering.
The old woman instinctively spread her arms to shield her taller daughter behind her.
She stopped crying and instead gritted her teeth, trying to stand up.
But the fall had been too hard, and her hands slipped on the ground as she struggled to rise.
Finally, she lashed out fiercely at the onlookers,
“What are you staring at? None of your business! Move aside!”
Shen Miao didn’t hesitate for long.
She pushed through the crowd, bent down, and with a bit of effort, helped the old woman to her feet.
The old woman, her face still streaked with tears, looked up in surprise at Shen Miao.
The tears had carved two muddy trails down her thin, gaunt face, making her look both pitiful and somewhat comical.
Aunt Li, who had also been among the onlookers—she was always where the commotion was, especially since her shop was nearby had been watching with great interest, munching on sunflower seeds.
When she saw Shen Miao suddenly step in, she instinctively tugged at her sleeve,
“What are you doing, girl? Don’t meddle in this mess, or you’ll get tangled up in it too.”
Her voice wasn’t soft, and the old woman’s face flushed with anger at her words.
“You woman, stop talking nonsense! I’m not causing trouble, and I’m not swindling anyone! My daughter worked hard for ten days at Master Tao’s house, carrying water, chopping wood, and even staying up all night to tend the kiln without a moment’s rest!”
“And what did he give her? Two bowls of thin porridge a day, and now he won’t even pay her a single coin! I just wanted to demand what’s fair, but his servants beat and humiliated me! How is it that I’m the one being accused of causing trouble?”
“But isn’t your daughter an idiot? Can an idiot even work?”
“People said you agreed to a trial period without pay, so isn’t it you who’s going back on your word?”
“Exactly, it’s already a kindness that they were willing to hire an idiot…”
The old woman’s tears welled up again, and she clenched her fists in frustration and said,