The whole family travels through time and space, and the three of them struggle together

Chapter 128 Booking

Chen Xiuying dealt with her master, bought a bunch of incense from her senior brother, and then went home.

Zhou Dajiang saw her holding a large handful of incense and wondered, "Are you still using this to tell time? Do you want me to make you a little tool?"

"No! This is much simpler." Chen Xiuying thought for a moment and added, "It's not for me."

Zhou Dajiang, oh, I understand, she wants to do it with her two sisters-in-law again.

Yes, Chen Xiuying wanted her two sisters-in-law to help her again. If they each baked by themselves, they would be tied up with it every day! Just like last year, she could pay them a labor fee and then add a markup to the price. That way, if she could reach a certain volume, she could also make some money.

Her two sisters-in-law also shared the same idea. Zhang and Li also came to Dajiang's house after dinner in the evening.

Ever since the two of them came over, Chen Xiuying's mouth corners have been raised. How could she not be happy? The sisters-in-law thought the same thing.

Zhang couldn't help laughing and said, "The cake tastes good. If you want to work alone, we can work for you."

They also tasted the cake. When Xiuying prepared the cake for her master, she specially cut two small pieces and asked Qing'er to deliver them to her.

Li followed suit and said, "Although my mother's workshop also needs people, we are still willing to work with you."

The three sisters-in-law are used to working together. From making cold noodles and building a house last year to farming together this year, the three have never been separated.

My second brother’s wife/sister-in-law is going to make a cake now, so they must also join in!

Now that I had my helpers, the next step was to learn how to bake the cake. With the meat grinder, beating the eggs was much easier. All I had to do was remember the steps for adding the ingredients, when to add sugar, when to mix, and when to bake. I also had to control the oven temperature and baking time, and that was it.

After trying it a few times, I memorized the conditions and was able to control the fire easily. As for the baking time, Chen Xiuying simply lit a stick of incense from the beginning, and continued to light it after it burned. After baking, she extinguished the last stick of incense and compared it with the whole stick. She drew a line on the unused stick with a pen, and then broke the whole stick according to the length. "Remember, after burning three whole sticks and adding the remaining length, the cake is baked."

Since we were going to bake cakes, this one oven wouldn't be enough. She calculated her spare time and figured she could manage two ovens by herself. So, she'd use the existing ovens and build two rows of four, eight ovens in total. She'd let Qing'er learn too, and after she learned, she could help.

Zhou Dajiang helped her light the stove, Zhou Dahe made the baking tray and mold, and Zhou Dahai helped make the steamer.

With so many skilled craftspeople at home, we were able to prepare quickly, and soon everything was ready. However, we then encountered a problem: who would deliver the cake to them? We couldn't bake the cake and then deliver it ourselves; that would waste time on the road.

At the critical moment, Zhou's mother stepped forward and said, "I go shopping frequently anyway, so I'll deliver the cakes to you. But it's not free. It's a partnership between the two of us. You and I will pay for the oven, molds, and materials in half."

Chen's mother also said: "It's easy for young wives to be criticized for doing business, so it's better for us two old ladies to take over. You are responsible for the business, and we will be responsible for delivering the goods and taking the orders.

As for the dolls, Wang Shi is already able to handle it on her own, and Zhou Dahe is there to deliver the goods to the capital, so I just need to go over there occasionally to reconcile the accounts."

When Chen Xiuying saw that both mothers were on the job, she thought, "What's wrong with this cake shop?"

The team is set up, and the next step is to find customers.

So, that day, Chen Xiuying baked two pans of sixteen-inch cakes. Early the next morning, she took her two mothers and Qing'er, rented a car from the village head Zhang, and went to the town.

Xiaohua was still recovering after giving birth. Besides, Chen Xiuying was counting on her to produce milk, so she was reluctant to use her own cow.

Arriving in town, they headed straight for Lai Fu Restaurant. It was because they had been working together for a long time that they naturally thought of their old customers first.

The new manager of Lai Fu Restaurant is named Li. He has a chubby figure and is very pleasing to the eye. Chen Xiuying told her husband's name and said that he was here to deliver some new food.

Shopkeeper Li was promoted by Shopkeeper Chen, so he naturally knew why Shopkeeper Chen was promoted. When he heard that there was new food in Qingshangou, he was immediately overjoyed and invited the three of them to the private room.

Chen Xiuying and Qing'er each took a food box today. The cake was afraid of being crushed, and today was just a tasting, so Chen Xiuying cut the cake into small pieces, put them in the food box and brought it over.

Shopkeeper Li tasted the cake and nodded repeatedly, "Not bad! This cake is soft, sweet and delicious. I wonder what it is called? How much is it?" This cake is expected to be popular with many gourmets. If the price is right, he will order more.

Chen Xiuying makes honey cake. Her family produces honey and eggs, both of which are free of charge. So, between chiffon cake and honey cake, Chen Xiuying decisively chose the latter.

"Because it's made with honey and eggs, I named it 'Honey Old-Fashioned Cake.' As for the price, the one you have is one yuan and eight cents. A sixteen-inch honey old-fashioned cake of this size can be cut into sixteen pieces. If you order the whole thing, you can cut it into smaller pieces and get twenty pieces."

Chen Xiuying roughly calculated the cost. The material cost of a 16-inch honey bun is about 24 wen, which includes eggs and honey from her own home. Adding the labor cost, and assuming it costs 10 wen to bake a pan, the total cost is 34 wen.

She asked for 128 wen, minus the 34 wen she needed to make, making it 38 wen. She and the two women split the rest, giving her 45 wen per piece and the two women 45 wen each. If she ordered 20 pots a day, she would make 900 wen a day. That's a lot of money a month, much more than making cold noodles.

After listening to the quotation, Shopkeeper Li did some rough calculations. If he cut each piece at 20 yuan, adjusted the price to 12 cents a piece, and sold 20 boxes a day, then the profit would be acceptable. After all, he was just reselling.

He immediately ordered twenty sixteen-inch ones, but he only planned to keep ten of them. After all, it was a new food, and he had to sell it first before deciding whether to increase the quantity. The other ten were ordered on behalf of the city government. There was no doubt that the city government would definitely order this pastry.

After the order was placed, Shopkeeper Li asked them to wait a moment. It turned out that he had a brother who was the owner of Chengji Teahouse in town. The cake would be good if the teahouse ordered it, so he sent the waiter to Chengji Teahouse to call his brother over.

Shopkeeper Xiao Li arrived very quickly. The two of them were indeed brothers, with the same chubby body shape and similar chubby faces. If they went out, people would believe they were twins if they said they were twins.

After tasting the cake, Shopkeeper Li, like his brother, gave a thumbs-up to the cake. However, because the teahouse had other cooperating pastry shops, he did not order so many, only five large pieces, intending to sell them first as a trial.

Now, there are twenty-five pots in total.

Chen Xiuying wiped the sweat off her forehead. Twenty-five pots were barely acceptable, but if there were more, she wouldn't be able to make any more.

It’s not that it can’t be done artificially, but Xiaohua’s milk supply is limited, and it feeds “Xiaoxiaohua” with milk.