Chapter 20 – Hiring Wei Lei
The boatmen on the wharf and the porters still have some time before they could get off work.
The porters who had no work at hand gathered together and talked about which stall to go to for lunch.
“I heard that there is a new food stall that makes super delicious flatbreads. Shall we try it?”
“I saw a boatman eating it yesterday, and it smells really good.”
“The wages of the boatmen are high. Us porters work so hard for so little money. The flatbread is very expensive. I can’t afford it for five wen a piece.”
“Five wen a piece, and I can eat steamed buns and dry food for less than five wen a day.”
“Let’s not think about it, let’s think about how much goods we can move today. With less farm work, there are more workers moving goods, and they all come to compete to move goods. My wage is several wen less than yesterday. In the past, when I finished moving here, I can go to other merchant ships to move the cargo. Now, the other merchant ships are also full of workers.”
“Stop complaining. It’s more important to save energy to move a few more bags.”
“Our strength is limited. You think we are like Wei Lei and the others who have great strength. In our group, they are the only ones who make the most money.”
This group of movers are villagers from several villages in the lower south of the county, and they all work as porters on the wharf.
Wei Lei is also working on the dock. He and the three tall men next to him made friends with one another while working on the dock. One of them is from the same village as him, and the other two are from other villages.
The four people are strong, and the appetite is equally large. To save money, they used to eat steamed buns and dry food. Today, one person mentioned buying flatbread as yesterday, he saw the flatbread bought by other people and just wanted to eat one.
Wei Lei had no objection, he handed over 20 Wen to his family every day. This was the salary he told his family, and he kept the extra money by himself. He might have the most money among them.
When Wei Lei and the others arrived, Wei Cheng was busy.
“Wei Lei, isn’t that Wei Cheng? It’s actually Wei Cheng who sells the flatbreads!” Wei Youli was very surprised to see that Wei Cheng was selling flatbreads.
Wei Lei also saw him. It turns out that Cheng-zi’s business is to sell flatbreads. Looking at the long queue, the business is very good.
“Do you know the person who sells flatbreads?” Li He, who was traveling with him, asked.
Wei Youli said, “He’s not just an acquaintance, we are from the same village.”
“The people in your village are really good. With such skills, look at how much he can sell in a day.” Wu Pinglai is envious of how much he can earn.
Seeing that Wei Cheng was busy at this time, Wei Lei walked over. He didn’t know what they were talking about.
“Cheng-zi, let me help you.”
Wei Cheng saw him and immediately asked, “Lei-zi, why are you here?”
Wei Lei picked up the extra clip on the side for holding the flatbread, “I’m moving goods at the dock, and I don’t have a job right now, so I came to eat lunch.”
“Lunch? I’ll treat you to a flatbread, and I’ll make you one with eggs. Wait for me.”
Wei Lei hurriedly said, “No, I’ll help you first.”
“Okay, you can collect the money for me, and I will treat you to lunch later.”
Wei Cheng is also too busy, there are more people today than yesterday, and they kept urging him, he didn’t even have time to catch his breath, and sometimes he didn’t notice if he was given money or not. Wei Lei helped him pack the flatbread and collect the money, he only has to worry about making flatbreads, no longer distracted with collecting money, that was too tiring.
Wei Youli came to say hello, and Wei Cheng didn’t have time to entertain them, so he asked them to make soup by themselves. As for buying flatbreads, they still had to queue up- there were so many people watching, so it was hard for him to let someone jump in line.
Wei Youli is also a sensible person. He only has a normal relationship with Wei Cheng, only coming from the same village. He was also happy when Wei Cheng asked him to drink soup. After ordering three soups, he went to the queue. Wu Pinglai murmured, “They said they were from the same village, and he wouldn’t even let them jump in line.”
Wei Youli: “Wei Cheng and I don’t know each other very well, and he even invited us to drink soup, which is also very good.”
Wu Pinglai: “Isn’t the soup a gift when you buy flatbreads? Won’t we also have soup when we buy flatbreads later. He’s looking down on you.”
Wei Youli was a dull person, and he was dissatisfied with Wu Pinglai’s words, but he didn’t want to argue with him, so he didn’t say anything. On the contrary, Li He was very discerning, “There is not much soup in the bucket. When it is our turn, there will be no more soup. The fellow from the village of Youli is still considerate by letting us get ours in advance.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
When they were ordering soup, they heard the customers in the front complain that there were three fewer servings and that the people behind them did not have free soup, and that the boss was privately giving away public things.
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And when it was Wei Youli’s turn, the soup was gone, but Wei Cheng added eggs to the flatbreads they bought without eggs.
Wei Youli and Li Ping were very happy to thank them. Adding eggs was a penny more expensive, so they saved a penny just now. Wu Pinglai also came to thank him, but he thought in his heart that he shouldn’t, that acquaintance should give more.
Wei Lei asked the three of them to go back first, and he wanted to help here.
Wei Youli left first.
The boatmen were finally off work, and Lu Dashan and the others hurried over to the stall. Not only Lu Dashan and the others, but also a group of people followed. They begged for the miso that Lu Dashan had yesterday, and they all liked it. The price was a bit expensive, but at least they had a good meal while on the boat.
A group of people followed, thinking that something happened in front of them, and they all followed thinking they’ll be watching a good show.
People who saw them thought they were looking for trouble, but they didn’t know that this group of people rushed over to buy miso and chili oil.
A group of people from Lu Dashan’s group came aggressively, and the customers at Wei Cheng’s stall thought that they were there to trouble Wei Cheng, so many of the customers who lined up ran away.
Wei Cheng: “…”
Wei Lei thought that Cheng-zi had offended someone, and was worried, “Cheng-zi, they have a lot of people, and we can’t beat them. If there is a fight, we will find a chance to escape.” The stall is not needed, and the money has already been collected.
Wei Cheng: “……”
After an explanation, everyone knew that they didn’t come to trouble the boss but to buy miso and chili sauce.
Lu Dashan and his group knew that they scared away the customers of the flatbread stall owner, so they were embarrassed and apologized, saying that they’ll also buy flatbreads, and they just happened to be able to buy them when the others ran away.
Wei Cheng rolled his eyes, asked Wei Lei to help sell miso and chili oil, and told him the price, saying that he still borrowed some things from the stall next door, and gave them money as a reward.
After the customers knew that this was a transaction, they continued to line up to buy the flatbreads. Some customers secretly complained that they were preempted by this group of people, and there was another person who had to be queued even later, and now they had to be rearranged.
The passers-by who came to watch the excitement, and those who came out of the food shop learned that there was such a delicious flatbread there, and those who wanted to eat had formed a long queue.
The flatbreads in Wei Cheng’s stall were sold out in more than an hour. The portion he brought today was more than yesterday, and they were all sold out. The customers who couldn’t buy them were complaining and disappointed.
The group of boatmen divided all the ten catties of miso that he brought and five catties of chili oil. If there were still customers who wanted to buy could buy a little.
“Boss, remember to bring miso for sale tomorrow, it’s not enough.”
“…”
After the customers dispersed, Wei Cheng made the remaining flatbread for Wei Lei.
He had already said he would give the other some so how could he sell them all out?
Wei Lei was not too polite, they were already brothers, and he ate the flatbreads as soon as they received them. He stood at the stall and smelled the fragrance. He wanted to taste it a long time ago, and it was really delicious. “Cheng-zi, you’re craft is really great!”
“Let’s find a place to sit.”
Wei Cheng asked the peddler next to him to help watch the cart, and the peddler agreed in a hurry because Wei Cheng said that he would give him a flatbread tomorrow.
The two went to a noodle restaurant. The noodle restaurant had noodles soup and rice with fried vegetables. Wei Cheng asked Wei Lei to order. He only wanted a bowl of herbal tea. Wei Lei asked for a bowl of noodle soup, as he was not completely full.
Wei Lei: “Why do you just drink herbal tea, aren’t you hungry?”
“My wife cooked lunch, I’m leaving my stomach empty and going back to eat.” Wei Cheng showed off with bright eyes, he has a wife who cooks, and eating outside is not as delicious as his wife’s food.
Wei Lei: “……”
He felt that the change in his friend should be due to the fact that he married a wife. He is no longer dull, but very energetic and confident in his speech.
He wants to marry a wife as well and see if he can change himself and become more confident. Although he usually doesn’t talk much, he is calm and confident even when he doesn’t speak, but when he talks a lot in front of outsiders who are superior to him, he doesn’t have much confidence.
He and Yuan-zi were worried about Cheng-zi’s livelihood before, but now, Cheng-zi’s business is so good, he married a wife and is living a stable life. Instead, he should consider whether he and Yuan-zi are going to work hard to make money and marry a wife.
Thinking of his family and the matter of marrying a wife, unless he leaves that family, there will be no stable life.
“Lei-zi, how much are you paid for a day at the dock?”
“If there is a job, the maximum is 40 wen a day, usually 30 wen a day, and when jobs are slow, it is at least more than a dozen wen. What’s wrong?”
“I’m considering renting a stall. There are a lot of tools in the stall and I won’t have to move them every day and it will help with the business. I also want to hire someone here and I wanted to find an acquaintance. Yuan-zi’s family has a lot of farm work, so I want to ask you if you’d like to come and help me?”
Wei Cheng wanted to rent a stall to increase food intake. Now that the business is booming, he doesn’t have to worry about poor food sales. He can rent a stall. The stall has stone eaves to cover his head, and he can set up a shed within a certain range and put out tables and chairs- he’ll also not have to worry about the sun and rain.
Now this consideration is also because his wife said he would help him open a stall. The stall has no tiles to cover the sun shining at them at noon otherwise it doesn’t matter if he is exposed to the sun all day.
Wei Lei pondered for a moment, and said, “If you think I can do it, I have no problem.” Wherever he goes to work is also a part-time job, why not help Wei Cheng?
“Okay, then let’s put it this way, the wages must be higher than your moving jobs.”
“You can earn so much at this food stall.” Compared with his previous wages, that’s less than fifty wen a day, this is a very high wage. If it was fifty wen a day, life would be much better.
Wei Lei rarely joked, “You are not afraid to hire me for nothing.”
Wei Cheng said, “Don’t worry, I, your brother, never do business at a loss.”
“You come to help tomorrow morning, breakfast and lunch are included, fifty-five wen a day, and there is basically no need to work in the afternoon.” He estimated that it would be afternoon when the flatbreads were sold out.
Wei Lei: “……”
For fifty wen, he would have to work hard every day and would have to do more, but he didn’t expect that he would only work for half a day.
Cheng-zi gave such a high wage, is it really not for the sake of being brothers?
It wasn’t until he started working that he realized that Cheng-zi’s wages were high, but he also earned a lot.
Wei Cheng had to rush home for lunch, and he also had to prepare the things Steward Wang wanted.
Knowing that the flatbreads were all sold out, Zhou Yuan felt unreal with the money bag in his hand.
If so much can be sold every day, wouldn’t it be a few dozen taels earned in a month?
When did money become so easy to earn?
He was not at ease anymore.
Wei Cheng: “What’s wrong?” His expression is so serious
Zhou Yuan: “I’m wondering if this money will be too easy to earn, I’m not at ease.”
Wei Cheng smiled, “It’s not easy to make money. I wake up before dawn every day, and I only earn one or two taels of silver after a busy day. It’s not much.”
This speed of making money may be amazing for the ancients, but for a person who is used to doing business like him, this speed is very slow, and he still thinks it is too little.
“Not much!” His husband was too demanding, one tael of silver, thirty taels a month, he had never seen such a money-making man, he felt like he was dreaming, finding a husband who would make much money and the savings at home also increase.
This is something he never thought of.
“When we open the stalls and attract more customers, we will earn more than we are now. Don’t you think it will be more by then?”
Zhou Yuan asked in surprise, “Our family will open a stall?”
Wei Cheng: “We need to open a stall, the food at home is too monotonous, and customers will get tired of eating cold noodles and flatbreads for a long time, and there will be fewer customers buying by then, so we won’t be able to make so much money. Only a few more types of food can retain customers.”
Zhou Yuan thought for a while and decided to keep the customers and open the stalls as soon as they could.
“I’ve taken care of the jelly, can I help you set up a stall tomorrow?”
“I met Lei-zi at the pier today, I hired him for fifty wen a day, I’ll eat breakfast and lunch at our house, leave the trivial work of cooking at home to you, Lei-zi and I will do the heavy work, and Lei-zi and I will open the stall soon.”
Zhou Yuan: “……” Fifty wen a day, why not just hire him?!.
However, Zhou Yuan will not object to any decision made by his husband. Anyway, the family is not short of money, and if they earn so much every day, it is okay to give fifty wen as wages.
What’s more, Wei Lei is his husband’s good brother.
“I’m going to the inner county later, you and I will go.”
Wei Cheng wants to bring his wife with him so that he can see more, he won’t limit the person to the house, and he wants Zhou Yuan to be side by side with him.
The Cao family is a wealthy family, and everything inside will definitely open people’s horizons.
Wei Cheng brought a ger with him, so Steward Wang was surprised when he received the notice from his servants.
Steward Wang had inquired about Wei Cheng’s background and knew that he was married to a ger, so it should be his wife who followed Wei Cheng. He feels that Wei Cheng is ignorant, so he brought his ger with him when he came to the Cao’s mansion.
Steward Wang had a plan in mind, no matter whether he bought the jelly’s raw material or not, if he needed it in the future, he would assign a servant to buy it, so that the person would not have to come to the door.
Steward Wang refused to communicate with Wei Cheng. Wei Cheng didn’t know about Steward Wang’s thoughts and he wouldn’t care even if he knew it. He was busy comforting Zhou Yuan- the luxury of the mansion made him very cautious, and afraid of offending others.
Wei Cheng has seen buildings like imperial palaces before. In his eyes, Cao Mansion is a mansion with a garden. He is not at all cautious, let alone nervous. He still has the mind to point to the garden scenery all the way to teach his wife science, of course, all in a low voice. To put it bluntly, he couldn’t be so stupid as to point and talk nonsense in front of the Cao family’s servants.
Zhou Yuan’s attention was diverted, and he gradually relaxed.
Under Wei Cheng’s secret explanation, he became eager to learn and opened his eyes.
When Wei Cheng and Zhou Yuan came in front of Steward Wang, neither of them showed their ignorant expressions like the countrymen, and they were also cautiously nervous.
Steward Wang didn’t dislike Wei Cheng so much, he had changed his mind a bit, but the first sentence Wei Cheng said made the Steward’s face twitch.
“Hi, Steward Wang, this is my wife. I brought my wife here today because I wanted to come to Cao’s Mansion. We have never seen the aura of a wealthy family. It’s rare to come here. Let my wife come to see and experience, if we were rude to your mansion, please forgive me.”
Steward Wang: “…” If you really dare to say it, aren’t you afraid of being kicked out.
Steward Wang has been in contact with many types of people, scoundrels, flatterers, and relationship seekers…but this is the first time he has met such a weirdo like Wei Cheng, and his eyes are getting opened by how frank he is.
Steward Wang really couldn’t understand Wei Cheng.
Steward Wang didn’t waste time, he took Wei Cheng to the kitchen and asked him to make jelly with the raw materials. Wei Cheng was making it, and the cook was learning by the side.
The finished jelly has not yet formed and is in a state of liquid.
Wei Cheng explained, “To make the jelly into a paste, you must wait for the jelly to cool down.”
Steward Wang, “Is there no other quick way?”
“Yes, if your house has ice, it can be formed quickly.” A big family always has an ice cellar.
“Go get the ice,” Steward Wang assigned some servants to fetch the ice, and the servants quickly brought the ice back.
With ice cubes, the jelly really took shape very quickly, turning into a paste, transparent and ice-cold, under the freezing of the ice cubes.
Steward Wang was satisfied and discussed the price with Wei Cheng. Wei Cheng offered a price of sixty wen per catty, and one catty could make almost two hundred bowls.
Steward Wang felt that Wei Cheng’s price was a bit low, and he was doing this to curry favor with the Cao Mansion.
Wei Cheng: Steward Wang, you are overthinking.
For Wei Cheng, he didn’t set too high a price as he wanted to popularize the jelly, rather than it becoming an exclusive food for wealthy families.
“That’s the price, no kidding.”
Thanks for the update
Thank you for the chapter! 💟
Thanks for the chapter!
I wonder if the jelly has any flavor! 🤔
I think it’s like fruit jelly? Not the artificial ones though sold in packets
Oooh okay!
Thanks for the chapter!
And now I am hungry
Thanks for the chapter 🥰
I’m really curious about this jelly. Is it like the jelly that we eat right now? Like a jelly ace? 😭
I’ve finally caught up with the latest chapter! It’s such a good thing that we’re on the selling arc right now. I really hate Wei Cheng’s family, to the point that it irks me whenever I read their names in the novel. I can’t wait for the hard slaps to land on their cheeks, painting them red all over! (๑و•̀ω•́)و
Thank You for the new chapter ♡(˃͈ દ ˂͈ ༶ )