Chapter 261 - Chapter 261: Hotpot Restaurant Supplies
Chapter 261: Hotpot Restaurant Supplies
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Su Binglan left the shop renovation entirely to her uncle and gave him enough silver to do it.
Su Zhengde looked at the money and said, “We don’t need that much.”
“I’ve done the calculations, Uncle Zhengde. That isn’t much silver, especially since the money you receive from others is more than this. I consider this amount too little. You can’t charge me less than you would others, Uncle
Zhengde.”
Since Su Binglan said so, Su Zhengde had no choice but to accept the money.
Su Binglan told her family about the follow-up to the hotpot restaurant during dinner. The family typically discussed these things together, after all.
After some thought, Su Binglan said, “We’ll need a lot of charcoal, pork, mutton, and vegetables when we open this restaurant. We’ll be busier than ever when that time comes, so it would be best if one of us were responsible for buying what we need.”
Su Fengmao said, “The charcoal shouldn’t be a problem since your third uncle is making more. He said he was planning to make and sell more charcoal when he was busy harvesting. After all, winter is nearby. Nonetheless, Fengzhi is selling his charcoal at low prices.
“Fengzhi said he’s selling the charcoal cheaper since you taught him how to make it, and he has benefitted from his barbecued lamb skewers. The villagers can afford more charcoal to keep themselves warm during the winter. We can buy charcoal from Fengzhi, so that’s not a problem.”
Su Binglan’s expression changed. She did not expect her third uncle to be such a passionate person. She also felt it was better to have charcoal at a lower price so the villagers could afford it.
The price of charcoal in the market was too high. In the past, everyone was reluctant to burn charcoal during the winter. Instead, they would burn more firewood.
However, the air would remain cold while their beds were warm. Also, firewood would not last as long as charcoal, which could keep the villagers warmer for longer.
Su Binglan nodded. “Okay, you can talk to Uncle Fengzhi about it, Father.”
Su Wenwu saw everyone discussing and hurriedly added, “Binglan, I can do something too.”
Su Binglan said, “Don’t worry, Third Brother. I still need your help with many things. ”
She noticed everyone’s enthusiasm and felt like they were not opening a shop but doing something much more enjoyable. Everyone was eager to participate, and this enthusiasm made Su Binglan laugh. She was willing to do many things with such a family.
Su Wenwu said anxiously, “Quick, tell me what I can do, Binglan. I will make arrangements immediately!”
He only realized what changes had happened in the family and the village when he returned from the capital. Initially, he found it hard to believe. He felt like he was dreaming during his first few days after finally returning home. He thought everything he saw was just an illusion.
Su Wenwu only realized everything was real after bringing home their rice harvest. Indeed, his family’s conditions had improved, and it was beyond his imagination. No wonder his mother was much calmer when she received the two silver taels from him.
Even Su Wenwu was calmer when he saw two taels of silver now. After all, his sister paid Lin Zheng, Li Shi, and Zhou Shan to work at her shop, which did not even include bonuses.
Sometimes, Su Binglan would pay more than one silver tael in bonus, primarily if they worked well.
Su Wenwu was envious of the trio as he saw how excited they were when he went to help in the shop once. The trio looked at Su Binglan with gratitude, and Su Wenwu would too if he were that excited.
Nonetheless, Su Wenwu knew he had to work with his sister because he could learn a lot and eat delicious food.
Su Wenxiu also wanted to work with his sister, but he was still determined to study medicine. After moving to the big house, he would grow herbs in the backyard. Then he could better understand the medicinal properties of each herb.
Moreover, he could sell the herbs he grew and earn money to contribute to the family. If his sister helped others, he wanted to help her. After learning medical skills, he could also treat patients and save people.
Su Wenxiu felt his life would be more meaningful if he could help others, especially after what he had experienced in the capital. He had many feelings about it and knew what he needed to do.
Su Binglan continued, “Since we’ve had hotpot before this, everyone should know what we need for the shop. We’ll have plenty of customers after opening the restaurant so we will need a lot of ingredients.
“Still, it’ll be a waste of time if we have to shop for ingredients daily. If we can negotiate with the local merchants and ask them to deliver the goods daily, we can save time and effort and do other things.”
Everyone thought Su Binglan’s ideas were perfect.
After some thought, Shen Qiuhua said, “You make a lot of sense, Binglan. Although we’re not as big as, let’s say, Drunken Cloud, I think it’s more convenient if we can ask others to deliver the goods to our restaurant.
“If others prepare and deliver the goods daily to us, it’ll be much more convenient. However, we need many things, so hopefully, several people will be willing to deliver what we need.
“We have plenty of vegetables now, but they won’t last us through the winter.
At most, we have radishes and cabbages.”
Su Binglan did not have to worry about vegetables since she had been growing them in her pocket dimension. The vegetable overgrew in her dimension, so she would have enough to last a long time.
Even so, she would not have enough if she planned to open a chain store in the future, so she had to think of other ways to grow vegetables in a greenhouse. Nonetheless, opening a store was enough for the time being.
Su Binglan said, “I have ways to grow enough vegetables. My main concern is pork, mutton, and chicken.”
Su Wenzhe thought about what he had eaten when he tried the hotpot. He remembered eating tofu, saying, “You don’t have to worry about tofu either, Binglan. Yinyin and I can prepare as much as you need.”
He did not care whether or not he could handle it because he felt his sister’s matter was more important. He knew he had to prioritize her needs.
Su Binglan looked at Su Wenzhe and said, “You can’t handle that much work, Big Brother.”
Liu Yinyin said smilingly, “It’s okay, Binglan. We can handle it. What’s most important is for you to open your hotpot restaurant.”
The whole family supported Su Binglan no matter what she did. Liu Yinyin was most grateful to Su Binglan when she thought about the changes in her family.
Liu Yinyin wanted to ensure her sister-in-law had enough tofu for her hotpot restaurant, even if it meant serving less haggis soup and sesame buns in her shop.
Su Binglan knew Su Wenzhe and Liu Yinyin genuinely wanted to help and that it would be impolite to refuse. Moreover, she needed to have tofu to increase the variety of ingredients in the hotpot. After all, tofu was also a delicious food source.
After pondering for a while, Su Binglan said, “Big Brother, Sister-in-law, you can open a tofu factory for yourselves since it’s called Su’s Tofu. You’ll have more time if you hire more people..”