Chapter 295

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

Though she had not seen those several creditors nor learned the reason, Song Miao had long ago been reminded by an acquaintance and knew that recently someone was privately buying up her debts everywhere.

After returning home, she first settled accounts with Cheng Erniang on the food shop's profits so far, shifting around whatever funds could be moved, and scraped together the money she had always saved, but it was still far short.

The total of these several amounts was really too much.

No matter how many lice, no itch, but one's head is only so big—there was no more room on top.

Song Miao did not want to add more creditors; she had originally considered mortgaging the house, but seeing the current situation, with someone scheming behind the scenes, she dared not act rashly.

Knowing that once she spoke, whether Du Haoniang and Xin Feng, or Chen Fuzi, or He Qi, and even finally Young Master Han, none would stand by with folded arms, and there would always be silver to back her up, Song Miao did not rush to panic, but only calculated in her heart, summoned Cheng Erniang and Zhang Siniang, and asked: "If we let customers deposit silver in the food shop—for example, deposit three hundred wen and receive one new steamed bun, deposit five hundred wen and receive two, one thousand wen and receive five—do you think anyone would be willing?"

The two almost in unison asked: "What steamed bun?"

Song Miao said: "I have recently been pondering making a few new flavors, planning to sell them only in the shop—some salty with a touch of sweet, similar in taste to the Char Siu Roast Meat Bun, each with its own merits, only they do not need to be roasted in advance, are made faster, and there are both salty and sweet versions; the filling is nothing special, only the bun skin can be made fluffier and softer."

Song Ji's Char Siu Roast Meat Bun has never been enough to sell.

Other common-flavor buns, even if not bought from Song Ji, can be bought elsewhere, but this char siu bun is unique to this shop, with no other branch.

But the char siu in the filling must be roasted first; every morning at most two batches can be roasted, and even with advance orders, one must observe first come first served, and may not be able to order, so it is very sought after.

Hearing that it could rival the char siu bun, both of their eyes lit up.

"Actually there is no need to create new flavors; even using the original buns as gifts, surely not a few people would be willing to deposit silver," Cheng Erniang hurriedly said, "There have always been people asking if our place has any bargains, and saying they eat here year-round, there should be some benefit, only our family never lowers prices; now giving buns is actually equivalent to lowering prices!"

Cheng Erniang formerly had only three or four subordinates, but now she manages over ten people, and also handles many outside connections and social obligations; her words carry more and more weight, and in dealing with people and viewing matters, she naturally starts from the big picture rather than looking at just one aspect.

She has followed Song Miao the longest, knows the food shop's situation most clearly, and understands what happened in the past even better; the more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt.

"Young Lady, I do not know who is causing trouble behind the scenes; we had better not let the outside world get wind of it, perhaps we can flush the person out sooner—just say the food shop is about to open, wants to raise funds, let me check how much is lacking, calculate it, and release just enough for deposits."

She added: "Young Lady, rest assured; with our Song Ji's reputation, as long as we speak up, among former old customers, at least half of those with spare means will agree."

Her tone was very certain.

Zhang Siniang at the side also said: "Er Niangzi is right; do not release too large an amount. From what I have quietly observed on the side, the more something is sought after, the more people covet it; besides, if people are allowed to deposit silver freely, this time we really will have given up a lot of profit!"

She calculated: "Young Lady says this new bun and the Char Siu Roast Meat Bun go together; one Char Siu Roast Meat Bun sells for ten wen, three hundred wen gets ten wen—that's a thirty percent discount! If too many people deposit silver, it's equivalent to us earning less; since we earn less, isn't that a loss!"

Hearing this "equivalent" and "isn't that," Cheng Erniang could not help but exclaim: "Good heavens, let you manage the accounts from now on! You know how to save money even better than I do!"

Hearing them say this and joke around, Song Miao could not help but smile: "If there is a chance in the future to open many new shops, I will give Siniang a post as an inspector of shops and a reducer of expenses, to teach all places how to save money!"

At once Cheng Erniang said: "Young Lady, go ahead and busy yourself; Siniang and I will work out a method and come talk again!"

Sure enough, the two found a place and discussed thoroughly.

Wanting to accept deposits naturally could not be settled with a single sentence.

Depositing is easy, but how to keep accounts, how to reconcile accounts—all need a solution.

By afternoon, Cheng Erniang and Zhang Siniang came to find Song Miao holding the prepared things.

The two planned to print something to give to customers who deposited silver on account at Song Ji.

"Since the deposited silver varies in amount—three hundred, five hundred, one thousand—different papers can be printed, with the customer's name written on top. We have a shop seal, don't we? Print that shop seal on every sheet, so others cannot forge it; then make a small seal, and each time a small seal is stamped, it counts as one bun consumed..."

"Also, a personal ledger must be built; it is troublesome, and since this is the first time doing it, I fear I will make a mess, but I am not afraid of trouble!"

Cheng Erniang said: "It was all Siniang's suggestion—she said that when Young Lady was in Hua Prefecture, that was how it was done. When the time comes, we will check the issued deposit slips against our own accounts every day, so there are no omissions or errors."

"For one thousand wen, only one hundred sheets need to be issued, and that would be one hundred small fifty strings. In my opinion, not counting other places, just the Capital Prefecture Office and the Zhuque Gate Patrol Station here could issue one or two hundred sheets!"

Zhang Siniang also said: "The Hanlin Academy, the Du Shui Jian, the Imperial Medical Institute—those places, and also the Xu Family Wuguan area, not counting those academies—at least two or three hundred sheets could be sold!"

The two had already worked out a framework for how to distribute them and how to keep accounts afterward in a cost-effective way; Song Miao first looked it over, then listened to the explanation, only made a few minor checks to fill gaps and plug leaks, without needing to spend much effort—it was extremely reassuring.

The two rubbed their hands together eagerly; not waiting until tomorrow, they went at once—one to find the printing block, one to find the seal carver—and taking advantage of Wang Sanlang going out to deliver goods, they followed him along the way to first sound out a few places, testing the waters.

By afternoon, Cheng Erniang returned first, beaming as she told Song Miao: "Young Lady, I only mentioned it to the officials and runners at the Capital Prefecture Office and the Zhuque Gate Patrol Station, and every one of them said they wanted to buy, and asked whether this good thing of depositing silver could last long in the future!"

Whether the Capital Prefecture Office or the Zhuque Gate Patrol Station, many people treat Song Ji as their breakfast canteen, ordering almost every day.

A large portion of glutinous rice is eight wen, buns are five, eight, or ten wen, and there are also Snow Steamed Cakes and such; soup and drinks are extra. Now it is almost autumn, and presumably they will start serving baked wheat cakes again. Depositing three hundred wen and eating freely would not last a month; even if scrimping, it would be gone in a month or two.

The silver would be spent anyway; Song Ji keeps it here and it won't run away. They have eaten here for so long and are all regular customers; everyone trusts Song Xiaoniangzi's character, and besides, Xin Feng and Han Li are backing it from behind, so no one worries about being cheated—who would dare cheat the Capital Prefecture Office or the Patrol Station? They care more about whether this free benefit is just a fleeting bloom.

Not long after, Zhang Siniang also returned, shouting: "Tremendous! The Xu Niangzi of the Xu Family Wuguan asked if, when they deposit a larger amount of silver at once, they could have the new buns delivered by headcount when they hold banquets and feasts later!"

She added: "Also, someone asked whether, besides buns, they could receive Meat Gan, or after depositing silver, when they come to eat, have it deducted from that, with a dish or a drink given!"

The two recounted the daytime's events once—

It turns out the world has long suffered from Song Ji not lowering prices; now seeing a bargain, though the bargain is not large and is limited in quantity, for some reason, everyone felt they must grab a share or be a good-for-nothing, rushing urgently.

Zhang Siniang said, and then with effort took down a Bazi from her back, placing it on the table with a "clang."

As she untied it, she told Song Miao: "Young Lady, what should I do? As soon as I mentioned this, I didn't expect someone with a big mouth in the Hanlin Academy to shout it out at once, and a crowd gathered immediately. Hearing that the quantity this time is not large, they all shouted that they must get in first, insisting on grabbing a spot!"

Hearing this, Song Miao stepped forward and looked at the opened Bazi—inside were all strings of coins; a rough count came to at least twenty or thirty strings.

Cheng Erniang swallowed and said: "This... this... how many portions is this? Our 'Song Ji Qian' isn't ready yet—the printing block said the earliest it can be made is tomorrow..."

Zhang Siniang said: "Everyone said to let me record it first, to take the money, and issue them after printing; they were afraid that if it was late, they wouldn't be able to grab it..."

Speaking, she took out several folded papers from her pocket and spread them for the two to see.

"No need for me to record; the officials themselves had people write it down, even calculated the accounts clearly, and told us to follow this."

The several papers were full of names and amounts, written neatly; turning to the end, there was even a separate small stack of paper slips.

The paper slips were only about the size of an adult's palm; their texture, color, and material varied; many names had already been written in the upper right corner, along with their respective departments and offices.

Song Miao glanced through them, quite surprised, and asked: "Where did this Flower-patterned Paper come from?"

The paper slips were already thicker than ordinary paper; the paper of Flower-patterned Paper was even thicker than paper slips, printed with patterns, complicated to make, higher cost, and naturally not cheap in value.

When on Pingyang Mountain, Suyi loved making paper and playing with ink, and also liked making incense; Song Miao, since childhood when practicing calligraphy and painting, always used the "Miao Qian" that she and Suyi made together, changing the patterns printed on them according to season and weather: spring had grass and wildflowers, summer had lotus flowers and lotus roots, autumn had chrysanthemums and crabs—Song Miao liked eating crabs...

Following Suyi's instructions, no matter how badly the characters were written or how much the paintings depended on personal interpretation, all of it was part of a child's growth; therefore, paper, brushes, ink, and everything else had to be made with care.

Only then could the child understand that nothing comes easily, and that there is joy in every part of daily life—there is pleasure in perfunctoriness, and enthusiasm in seriousness.

Song Miao had made various "Miao Qian," which were flower-patterned papers; seeing the paper sheets with gourd, cloud, bat, and dragon scale imprints now, she recognized them at a glance.

Zhang Siniang asked, "Does this paper have a name?"

She added, "It's the 'Song Ji Qian' chosen by those officials from the Hanlin Academy!"

It turned out that when she went to the Hanlin Academy, they happened to be taking a noon break for a meal, and she heard that Song Ji was selling "Song Ji Qian," and that recognition could be rewarded with freshly made steamed buns.

After hearing this, some official there suddenly felt inspired, saying he was a refined man, and that going to Song Ji to eat was for refined food, so "Song Ji Qian" must naturally be refined paper—how could refined paper be handled carelessly? Thus he had someone bring out the paper he himself had hidden away.

With this person taking the lead, the other officials all followed suit—who could accept their "Song Ji Qian" paper being inferior to their colleagues'?

By the end, when Zhang Siniang returned, she had brought back such a thick stack of paper sheets prepared by everyone.

Zhang Siniang explained while adding, "The officials also asked me to suggest one thing to the Young Lady—seals are troublesome, and if the ink runs out at once, the impression will be ugly, which is ultimately not good; it would be better to prepare some hole-punching clips, the things they use to bind books..."

"Then draw spots on the paper sheets, divide them into several sections, such as one section ten wen, one section five wen, one section three wen, one section one wen; if eighteen wen of breakfast is bought in the morning, punch one hole each in the ten-wen, five-wen, and three-wen sections..."

—helping to think through how Song Ji should keep accounts and make deductions.

The three had originally agreed on stamping in the morning, but upon hearing this suggestion from the Hanlin Academy, they all felt it was easier to operate; after discussing it, they readily agreed and decided to change it this way first.

Once the plan was settled, Cheng Er and Zhang Siniang only planned to wait until the "Song Ji Qian" to be stamped was made, then greet familiar customers and prepare to sell several hundred sheets to raise silver; if something came up, it would come in handy, and if it was needless worry, the loss would be limited—even by Zhang Siniang's reckoning, earning less counts as a loss, but at most one thousand wen would lose only thirty or fifty wen.

After this was said and Zhang Siniang went busy, Cheng Erniang added, "Young Lady, I went to Tianyuantang today, originally intending to invite Doctor Lin and Xiao Lian and several junior brothers and sisters to eat at the Food Shop, but sure enough they said it was inconvenient; then they mentioned the matter of Shen Niangzi, saying she has some fear of doctors, and Doctor Lin said she needs to go to Xin Gate tomorrow afternoon to get medicine, and can swing by to take a look along the way—telling us not to prepare any meals, as she has urgent business afterward, and after seeing the patient, she must hurry off."

Song Miao heard Doctor Lin agree and was naturally happy, but couldn't help asking, "Er Niangzi, from Doctor Lin's tone, does he truly have urgent business, or does he not want to trouble us, so he said not to keep him here for a meal?"

She added, "Inviting someone to our door, and not knowing if they will accept a consultation fee—right now they won't even eat, it's truly too neglectful!"

Cheng Erniang hurriedly added, "Doctor Lin said it's just a look, not an official consultation, and told us not to prepare consultation fees or gifts, not to make a table of dishes, otherwise he won't deal with us in the future..."

After all, he was her daughter's teacher, and Cheng Erniang was very afraid of doing something wrong and affecting the relationship; after thinking for a while, she couldn't help but sigh and say, "Young Lady, why don't we prepare some mung bean cakes or something to send off with them?"

Song Miao sighed, "We can only do that; I'll order a proper soup as well."

These days there is the custom of serving tea to welcome guests and soup to see them off, but that soup is usually a tea drink brewed with licorice, sand ginger, cloves, and such, not an ordinary vegetable or meat soup.

Doctor Lin refused to stay for a meal and said not to give consultation fees or gifts, and she didn't know if she could force them on him tomorrow; Song Miao therefore decided that besides the usual farewell tea drink, she would also make a proper soup, so that after the consultation they could drink a bowl of soup—neither delaying anything nor failing to show her respect.

At such a time, the soup must be both delicious and require much effort, to be presentable.

The Wuzhou Pickled Ham sent by Shen Xingniang yesterday must definitely be used; what else should be added to make a good soup?