Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 125 The whole family is mobilized to make money together

After listing the fillings and prices, Shen Yu looked through them carefully again and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that there were no problems.

Yucheng had washed the dishes, and just as the brother and sister sat down at the table, they heard the gate of the courtyard open. Li and the others had returned.

Li and the others knew that they would be busy with the reunion cakes after Shen Yu came back, so when they were steaming buns for lunch, they set aside enough for the whole family. They would eat porridge and buns when they came back, which was both convenient and time-saving.

While the Li family and their friends were having lunch, they listened to Shen Yu telling them about what happened at the He family's house in the morning.

Li stopped eating the buns and said worriedly, "This is a good thing. I didn't expect Madam He to help us like this. I just don't know if you can make so many at once. Yuzhi, you also spent a long time making those boxes yesterday."

Shen Yu smiled and said, "Mom, don't worry about this. We were just trying it out yesterday. It's actually the same as when we steam buns at home. The time it takes to steam and make a basket of buns is not much longer when there are five baskets. As long as there are enough people, it won't take much longer. The same goes for making small reunion cakes."

Li thought about it and realized that the steamed buns at home were indeed as Yuzhi said. Recently, she had to steam several more baskets of buns than before, and the time was indeed about the same.

Thinking of this, Li became confident and said hurriedly: "Yuzhi, whatever you say, we will do it. We will follow your arrangements and will never hold you back."

Jiang also assured, "I have learned how to knead dough these days, but I need to be slower when making dumplings. I can still help. Miss Yuzhi, you can arrange it. Besides, I can also cook three meals a day at home."

Shen Yu smiled and nodded, then said: "Then I'll tell you, everyone has to work hard these few days. If we do well, we can earn a lot of money before the Mid-Autumn Festival. By then, everyone can buy new clothes and eat delicious food during the festival."

Yu Cheng listened for a while and suddenly became anxious. He shouted in grievance: "Sister, didn't you say I can still go to school?"

Shen Yu hurriedly said, "Yucheng, don't worry. You should put your schooling first. I promise that as soon as the Mid-Autumn Festival is over, I will arrange for you to go to school. The autumn semester of the school starts at the end of August, and the summer heat has subsided. You can catch up with this batch."

When Li heard this, she immediately felt guilty and blamed herself, "Look at me, I have been thinking about how to make more money these days and have forgotten about this serious matter. I blame you for being so stupid. Fortunately, your eldest sister thought about it. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, we will go find a school for you."

Yu Cheng was happy when he heard this, and said seriously: "Sister, I don't need new clothes. My clothes are still wearable. I can save the money to pay the tuition."

Shen Yu teased him intentionally, and then said seriously, "Yes, the tuition fee for going to school is a large sum of money, so it's good to save some. Otherwise, when there is something delicious, you can save your share and not eat it, which can also save some money."

When Yu Cheng heard that he couldn't eat the delicious food, he uttered an "ah" and his shoulders slumped. He hesitated for a moment, nodded reluctantly, and then asked in a low voice: "Then can I eat less, just to taste it? It shouldn't cost much money."

Shen Yu couldn't pretend anymore and couldn't help laughing. The whole family couldn't help laughing when they saw Yu Cheng's painful look of giving up his love.

Yucheng looked up and finally realized that his elder sister was teasing him. He touched his head embarrassedly, and then, thinking that he would still have a share of the delicious food, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and laughed with everyone else.

After laughing for a while, Shen Yu took the paper and read out the plan one by one to everyone. The whole family said that they would do as Shen Yu instructed after dinner.

Shen Yu took out the small purse given by He, gave the money to Jiang and Yutao respectively, and asked them to pay when they received the goods. Then he picked up a box of small reunion cakes and went straight to Qiaozuoju.

When they arrived at Qiaozuoju, the middle-aged man saw Shen Yu coming again, took a breath with a bit of toothache, and said with a smile: "Miss, do you want to order a new cake mold again?"

Shen Yu knew that he was upset because Master Song charged too little for the cake molds last time, so he quickly picked up the box of small reunion cakes and said, "I didn't order the molds today, I came to buy some cake boxes. Whether Master Song is here or not, I made some small reunion cakes with the cake molds he made, and sent them to him to show him what the cakes look like, and let him taste my craftsmanship."

When the middle-aged man heard that it was not an order for a new cake mold, his face immediately turned from gloomy to bright, and he smiled attentively, saying hurriedly: "Yes, yes, wait a moment, young lady, I will go and ask my master to come over."

After a while, footsteps were heard from behind the shop. Master Song was wearing the apron he used for carving, with sawdust on the hem of his clothes, and his face was smiling like a flower.

Shen Yu squatted down and bowed. Master Song said impatiently: "Yuzhi girl, I heard that you brought the finished cakes. Open them and let me take a look!"

Shen Yu smiled slightly, put the box on the small table, untied the silk ribbon, opened the lid and put it aside.

Master Song picked up the box with his hands, put it close to his face, squinted his eyes, and looked carefully at the nine small reunion cakes inside.

He nodded as he looked at it, then frowned and muttered to himself, "The cut here is a little shallow. If it's deeper, the petals will look better."

Shen Yu and the middle-aged man stood aside quietly, and no one made a sound to disturb them.

After looking at it for a long while, Master Song finally put down the box with a smile on his face and said to Shen Yu, "Yuzhi girl, I have made so many cake molds, and you are the first one to show me the finished cakes. In the past, customers took the finished cakes away. If you want to see what your cake mold looks like, you can either pinch a piece of dough and press it out to see how it looks like, or you can only go to the cake shop to buy it."

After saying that, he shook his head with some emotion.

Shen Yu was silent. In this era, craftsmen were just artisans and had no status to speak of, let alone respect.

Shen Yu smiled and changed the subject, "Master Song, everyone said the small reunion cakes made with the cake molds you made were good and wanted to ask me to make custom ones. I came here today to buy some more cake boxes. Let's buy thirty first, just the same style as the one you gave me last time."

When Master Song heard that his molds were loved by everyone, he threw away the emotion he had just felt and said happily, "Oh, that's great. I still have a lot of cake boxes here. Just bring them over later."

After that, he said to the middle-aged man standing beside him: "Fusheng, bring a small plate and bamboo chopsticks."

Fusheng didn't know what Master Song suddenly wanted the plates and chopsticks for. He agreed but didn't move, looking puzzled.