Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 287 Miss Shen, do you want to be a chef in a restaurant?

Only then did Song Yuzhi realize that it was inappropriate to talk about these family matters in front of Shen Yu.

She said bitterly, "Third sister is actually quite pitiful. She is lazy and gentle, so she doesn't want to be a wife in an official family. But she is forced by her aunt to learn the rules all day long. She stays in the house every day and is almost bored to death."

"Mother, you like Third Sister too, so it would be nice to take her out to relax."

Seeing that Gao still had no intention of agreeing, Song Yuzhi rolled her eyes and said, "If it really doesn't work, we can come over later tomorrow."

"Look, there are no customers outside the restaurant now. If we put down the curtain, no one outside can see us. What's wrong with that?"

Gao was pestered by her little daughter, but she thought it was just a meal, so she nodded helplessly and said, "Then we will come later tomorrow."

"As for whether to bring Yurong with me, I'll go back and ask the old lady what she thinks. If she agrees, I'll bring her along."

"I don't want to discuss it with your aunt. She can't make any sense."

Thinking of the first lady's loud voice, the second lady couldn't help but shook her head slightly, as if she could hear the first lady making noise in her ear again.

Song Yuzhi got her mother's permission and said happily, "Thank you, mother. If my third sister knew about this, she would be so happy that she couldn't sleep."

"I'll come and see what we're going to eat tomorrow."

Song Yuzhi studied the menu on the wall and asked Shen Yu one by one what the dish tasted like and what it was made of.

After discussing with the Second Madam for a while, he finally decided on lychee meat, pickled fish, the signature pork belly skewers, scallion-fried tofu, plus a portion of red bean paste fried dough fritters and a portion of crispy small twisted dough sticks, to bring back for Madam Song to try.

Shen Yu wrote down everything, and the Second Madam took out two silver coins from her small purse, placed them in front of Shen Yu, and said with a smile: "This is for tomorrow's meal. Let's pay for today as well."

Shen Yu hurriedly said, "Madam gave too much. These four dishes plus snacks, one tael of silver is enough."

The Second Madam smiled and shook her head: "Miss Shen's cooking skills are so good, it's only right to increase the reward."

"Young lady, you don't have to be so modest in the future. If a customer gives you a tip, you should accept it without any hesitation."

"The dishes you cook are just as good as those made by chefs who have been cooking for many years even if they are served in a big restaurant. The rewards given by the customers are what you deserve."

Then he smiled and said, "Although I have only eaten one dish of pickled fish and one dish of fish balls you made, I think your cooking skills are really good. I am not praising you against my will. I have something to say to you, but I am afraid that you will not appreciate it."

As Gao spoke, she handed back the silver coin that Shen Yu had pushed over to her.

Shen Yu hurriedly smiled and said, "Madam, your praise is sincere. Yuzhi knows it. Madam, please feel free to say whatever you want to say."

The second lady paused, then said carefully: "Since the young lady is not angry, then I will tell you."

"Your cooking skills are like overkill in this snack bar. What a pity."

"If you become a chef in a big restaurant, you will have all kinds of ingredients, no matter if they are from the land or the sea. You don't have to consider the cost when cooking, and that's how you improve your cooking skills."

"Besides, the chefs in restaurants get a commission for cooking, and their monthly salary is very high, and they don't have to work as hard as those working in snack shops."

"Miss Shen, do you want to work as a chef in a restaurant? If you want to, I have a distant relative who runs a restaurant in Ji'an Prefecture. It's quite large. I can recommend you there."

Shen Yu suddenly realized. No wonder the Second Madam asked for the job of delivering the reward money. It turned out that she also liked his cooking skills and wanted to learn from him.

Since coming here, Shen Yu has deeply felt the difficulty of being an ordinary citizen.

Not only can she not afford to offend officials, she can't even afford to offend wealthy people.

She didn't want to work in a restaurant again and experience the feeling of being squeezed out by people with connections at any time.

It would be better to open a snack shop of your own in a corner of this small county town, save money slowly, and live a good life with your family by eating and drinking.

But the Second Madam had already spoken, so how could she refuse?

Shen Yu was in a dilemma and didn't know how to refuse.

Song Yuzhi, who had been listening nearby, said disapprovingly, "Mother, I think it would be great for Miss Shen to open her own restaurant."

"If you work as a chef in a restaurant, you get paid a lot per month and can cook a lot of dishes. However, the customers have the final say on what dishes you want to cook."

She looked at the restaurant with envy: "I just want to be like Miss Shen, open a restaurant, decide what to sell, open the door when I want to, and close the door when I don't want to, and make delicious food for myself. How nice it is that no one can interfere."

Gao burst out laughing and pointed a finger at Song Yuzhi's forehead: "You think everyone is like you, like a crazy girl. Tell me yourself, one day Aunt Qiu will come to me to complain. If you continue like this, Aunt Qiu will be pissed off by you and run away."

For a moment, all three of them laughed.

Shen Yu thought for a moment and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Madam. I'm not afraid of you making fun of me. Although my restaurant is not big, it is a livelihood for seven or eight people."

"I'm the only one who can really cook. If I go to the restaurant, what will we do without a chef here?"

"I can't just close the shop and leave everyone at home idle."

"No matter how much I earn, it will still be hard to support such a large family."

"It's better to open a restaurant so that everyone has something to do and can help each other."

Gao was a little disappointed to see that Shen Yu had no such intention, but it was also within her expectations.

She was not annoyed. Instead, she felt that Shen Yu was a good girl because she was not greedy for wealth and cared about her family.

Gao nodded gently and said with a smile, "Yes, I forgot about your family. So it would be better for you to open a restaurant of your own. I was wrong."

He looked outside and said, "It's getting late. We've been out for half a day. We'll go back first. We can come back tomorrow at noon."

Shen Yu quickly agreed. The two of them put on their veil hats, lifted the curtain, walked out of the shop, and greeted Aunt Qiu and Cui'er who had been waiting at the door.

Cui'er walked over, woke up the coachman who was dozing off while waiting nearby, drove the carriage over, and the four of them got on the carriage and left.

Shen Yu stood at the door of the store and watched the carriage leave. Only when he saw the carriage disappear did he breathe a sigh of relief and return to the store.

Zheng Sanniang saw the Second Madam and the others had left, so she came over. While rolling up the hanging curtain, she asked worriedly, "Miss, they are coming here to ask you to go to the Song Mansion to cook again?"

Shen Yu shook her head and smiled to comfort her: "Don't worry, Sister Zheng, it's a good thing that the Second Madam is here this time."