Steward Jin went down with the boy, washed off the dust from the journey, changed into clean clothes, and ate a few pieces of freshly cooked snacks, before urgently asking the boy to ask if he could go over now.
When Meng heard the report, she smiled and shook her head. She knew that Steward Jin was keen on business, otherwise her parents would not have sent him over when the family had so many stewards.
“Let him come over.”
The boy went to pass on the message and Steward Jin quickly came over and after saluting, he looked impatiently at Song Wangyue, “Miss Sun, could you tell me more about the barbecue buffet?”
Song Wangyue gestured for him to sit down and told him in detail the formal flow of the barbecue buffet.
Steward Jin listened attentively and carefully.
As soon as Song Wan Yue’s words were out of his mouth, he said, “If that’s the case, the more types of food we prepare, the better, and how much silver per person is appropriate for the charge?”
Song Wan Yue nodded approvingly, she was worthy of being a steward from the Meng family, she had thought of the main point right away.
“This will be up to you to decide.”
“Me?”
Steward Kim froze slightly.
Song Wangyue nodded, “I have already given my grandmother a good deal, the restaurant is under her control, which means it is under your control, I am only responsible for coming up with ideas, you and grandmother make the rest of the decisions.”
Steward Jin looked at Meng.
Meng nodded her head.
Steward Jin instantly felt a great responsibility, Miss Sun had given him such great power, if he did not run the restaurant well, he would not be able to live up to Miss Sun’s trust.
Immediately, he got up, “Then I’ll go for a walk down the street first and find out about the prices here.”
He had been living in the capital for over thirty years, and the prices there were naturally quite a bit higher than in this tiny county, and he couldn’t base his prices on the prices in the capital.
“There’s no need to be in such a hurry, you’ve just arrived, it’s better to rest and rest first.”
“I’m not tired, I’m in good spirits, please also send me a servant, Madam, to take me out for a walk.”
Seeing his insistence, Meng asked Sister Wu to call for a servant to follow him.
Steward Jin bowed to the two men and then retreated out.
Meng shook her head and laughed, “You’re over fifty years old, and you’re still so windy.”
“Not really.”
Sister Wu smiled as she lifted the curtain and entered, “He’s always been like that, I thought he’d be better as he got older, but to my surprise, his temperament hasn’t changed, he forgets everything when he hears about money-making business.”
She and Steward Jin had both been in the Meng family since they were children and had come to the capital with Meng, so they were old acquaintances.
“What are you talking about, so lively?”
The curtain was lifted again and Xu walked in with a smile, knowing that Song Wangyue wanted to buy people, she took someone to the cloth shop and bought two cotton cloths to come back and make clothes for them.
Sister Wu smiled and returned, “It says that Steward Jin is here.”
“Is he here?
“Here he is, after hearing Miss Sun’s plans for the tavern, he went around the streets without stopping.”
“That’s like Steward Jin’s way of doing things.”
Xu smiled and sat down, looking to Song Wan Yue, “Yue’er, is there anything you need Mother to do?”
“You just need to keep Grandmother well company, Sister Wu lend it to me.”
“Me?”
Sister Wu was delighted, “I can help Miss Sun?”
“Yes, and a big help at that.”
Sister Wu was overjoyed, “You say.”
“We have to pickle some salted duck eggs and put them in the restaurant for the customers to eat when the time comes.”
Sister Wu’s joy receded, she had always served the madam and had never done this, she could not help Miss Sun.
Looking at her expression, she guessed what she was thinking, and Song Wangyue smiled, “I’ll teach you, you just have to follow it.”
“Okay, okay, okay.”
As soon as she heard Song Wangyue teach her, Sister Wu nodded her head in a panic.
Meng jumped at the chance, “Yue’er, Grandma can learn too.”
“Madam ……”
Sister Wu said discontentedly, “How can you steal work from the slave girl.”
A roomful of people laughed.
Song Wan Yue got up, “Let’s go, let’s go buy duck eggs first.”
Sister Wu hurriedly followed her, her footsteps so fast that she was afraid that Meng would really steal the job from her.
Xu lost her smile as she watched.
Song Wan Yue and Sister Wu left the house and went to the market.
It was mid-morning when the market was bustling with the sound of hawking and shouting.
Sister Wu followed Song Wan Yue every step of the way, walking from one end of the market to the other, and only halfway through the market did she see a stall selling duck eggs.
The two of them stopped in front of the stall.
“How do you sell duck eggs?”
When he heard someone ask, the vendor with his head hanging down instantly raised his head. These duck eggs were all laid by his own ducks, and he had thought of picking them up and bringing them to the market in exchange for some money, but after setting up his stall for half a morning, only a few people had come to ask, let alone sell them.
“One penny a piece.”
After saying this, he looked at Song Wangyue’s face.
Duck eggs had a heavy fishy taste and were cold in nature, far less popular than eggs. The eggs were one yuan each, and he thought that it should be fine if the duck eggs were large and also sold for one yuan, but the people who asked in front of him left as soon as they heard this price.
“How many are there in total?”
The vendor didn’t respond for a moment.
“I’ll take them all.”
The vendor understood, couldn’t believe how many people he had, and froze.
It was the vendor next to him who reminded him, “Say something.”
Only then did the vendor believe it was true, and with trembling lips, “Forty, forty.”
Somewhat less, Song Wangyue looked up towards the front.
The vendor looked in his eyes, his excited heart instantly cooled by half, “Little, young lady wants, if it’s too expensive, I, I can ……”
The vendor gritted his teeth, “Give you a cheaper five wen yuan.”
“I need two or three hundred of them, this forty of yours is too little.”
The vendor’s heart dropped and he said, “There are other people in the village who raise ducks, so if you need them, I’ll ask them to sell them too.”
Many people in the village raise ducks, and almost every family has duck eggs, so they can’t eat them themselves, but it’s hard to sell them.
“What village are you from? Is it far from here?”
“Not far, it’s just twenty miles from here in Wu’s village, I’ll go back now and bring them to you this afternoon.”
“Good then, you go ahead and deliver these to us as I do.”
The vendor busied himself with his voice, put the duck eggs carefully back into the basket and carried them after them to the front of the Song family’s residence, where Sister Wu gave him forty pieces of money and took the basket over, “Deliver the duck eggs here this afternoon.”
The man answered, took the money and counted it in front of the two men, forty wens, one no more and one no less. He turned and ran happily.
Song Wangyue and Sister Wu went to the courtyard over to the kitchen and asked the boy to fetch water, wash the duck eggs one by one and soak them in the vinegar, while Song Wangyue went into the kitchen and boiled the ingredients needed.
After an hour, she fished out the duck eggs soaked in vinegar and put them in the stall, poured in the right amount of white wine, poured in the soup she had just boiled, covering the duck eggs, and sealed the lid, “It will be ready to eat in twenty days.”
It was the first time Sister Wu had seen this way of pickling salted duck eggs, she was very rare and jumped at the chance to try it, “When they send the duck eggs, let the slave servant do it.”