Chapter 344: Resuming Her Old Business
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
When the back kitchen staff in the Marquis’s residence saw Qin Xiaoyao, everyone was very nervous.
Fortunately, they soon found that Qin Xiaoyao was easy to get along with, so they cooperated and helped her.
When the spicy soup for the hotpot was at full boil, the air was filled with a choking smell.
Everyone doubted whether the food made by their Lord Marquis was edible.
Qin Xiaoyao’s eyes were sparkling bright and she was very enthusiastic.
As she continued to boil the soup, she asked someone to bring over the meat and vegetables that had been prepared in advance.
When the soup was almost ready, she began to put the meat and vegetables into the pot.
The meat and vegetables sank into the fiery red soup. Before long, the ingredients were stained a delectable red. One could tell with one look that it was extremely delicious.
When they saw this, the servants changed their minds.
Some servants couldn’t resist swallowing a few times, yearning to have a taste.
Qin Xiaoyao picked up a small iron pot and scooped the contents from the big pot into the small pot.
She didn’t scoop out everything, of course. In fact, she left more than half of a pot behind.
“Alright! Two of you come and help me bring this hotpot to my courtyard. Also, prepare a tub of rice.
“As for the leftovers in the pot, all of you can take them yourselves. You can all have a taste.
“You can practice in the kitchen when you’re free. This way, when 1 want to eat it in the future, you will know how to cook it,” Qin Xiaoyao said.
The servants were delighted.
“Alright!” they quickly answered.
Qin Xiaoyao then left the kitchen and returned to the courtyard.
As soon as she arrived, the greedy little girl woke up when she smelled the fragrance.
“It smells so good, Master! What is this?” Princess Xiangyang ran towards Qin Xiaoyao excitedly and looked at the servant carrying the pot behind Qin Xiaoyao.
“This is the hotpot 1 made. You’re in luck today,” Qin Xiaoyao said with a laugh.
She went around Princess Xiangyang and walked into the room.
Princess Xiangyang looked at the pot in the hands of the servant in front of her again and then quickly ran after Qin Xiaoyao.
“Master, you know how to cook? You are so awesome!” she said in a fawning manner.
“Your Master knows a lot. You’ll know after a while,” Qin Xiaoyao replied without any shame.
They entered the room together.
After the servants put down the food, Qin Xiaoyao and Princess Xiangyang started to eat together.
Having considered that the young girl might not be used to spicy food, Qin Xiaoyao did not make the hotpot very spicy.
Even so, the young girl felt the dish was so spicy that tears fell from her eyes.
Although she was eating in a wretched fashion, the young girl could not stop eating. She was still mumbling as she ate, “Boo hoo hoo… It’s delicious!”
Qin Xiaoyao couldn’t bear seeing her eat like this and eventually said, “Slow down. No one is snatching the food from you.”
“This hotpot is so spicy. But it’s so delicious. Master, you’re amazing!” the young girl said as she ate.
“How can it be called ‘hotpot* if it’s not spicy? Take it easy. If you can’t take it, wash it down with water before continuing. If you eat too fast, you might get diarrhea,” Qin Xiaoyao replied with a smile.
“I’m not afraid. My stomach is strong.” The young girl did not take her words seriously at all.
In the afternoon, the young girl realized that she had overrated herself.
Not only did she keep running to the lavatory, but her butt also suffered a great deal and felt burning hot.
When she saw the young girl’s listless appearance, Qin Xiaoyao felt some heartache, but she also thought it was comical.
Then, she comforted the girl, saying, “No worries. You’ll get used to it after you eat it a few more times in the future.”
The young girl nodded obediently after hearing Qin Xiaoyao’s words.
As the girl was not feeling well, not surprisingly, she could not practice martial arts for long.
Qin Xiaoyao then ignored her and summoned the servants in the residence to help her prepare the century eggs.
That was right. She was going to resume her old business and develop her century eggs and century egg porridge business.
The eggs were naturally bought by the residence’s servants from the streets, and she was the one who made the mud paste for the century eggs.
Then, she arranged for all the servants in the residence to help her coat the century eggs with the mud paste.
She had no choice. It would take more than a month for the century eggs to mature. She felt that the earlier she got started, the better.
Princess Xiangyang was very curious when she saw Qin Xiaoyao doing this.
Soon, she came up to Qin Xiaoyao and asked her, “Master, you…What are you doing?”
“Making century eggs,” Qin Xiaoyao didn’t hide anything and told her frankly.
When she saw the young girl’s puzzled look, she smiled and explained, “The century egg tastes very good.”
The young girl’s eyes flickered.
Then, she asked again, “You’re going to… make so many?”
The numerous baskets of chicken eggs and duck eggs were all going to be made into century eggs.
If it was just her and her master, they would have to eat for a long time.
Even if the century egg was really delicious, their combined eating force was not that strong.
When Qin Xiaoyao saw the young girl’s astonished expression, she knew that the girl was mistaken.
“What are you thinking, silly girl? Of course, I won’t eat them all myself.
“When they are ready, I’m going to sell some. Also, 1 will keep some for the porridge shop.”
“Sell?” The young girl was taken aback.
“Mm-hmm.” Qin Xiaoyao nodded.
“There are a total of sixteen servants in this residence. Just the monthly salary alone is not a small expenditure. With your master’s paltry salary, it’s very tough to maintain the daily expenses of the residence.
“So, I think 1 should invest in some property and do some business.”
The young girl was even more astounded.
“Master, are you so short of money? Didn’t Emperor Father reward you with a lot of money previously?” It was a thousand taels, which was not a small sum.
Moreover, in such a large residence, there were only sixteen servants. How was that a lot?
Qin Xiaoyao glanced at the young girl.
“Your master only has that little wealth in her hands. If I don’t think of a way to sustain a constant income as soon as possible, when the money runs out, we’ll have nothing to eat.”
The young girl thought for a while and realized that what her master said seemed to make sense.
However, she had never thought that her master would be troubled by mundane things like money.
After all, she herself had never been short of money.
Of course, it was mainly because she received a lot of money every month, and her Emperor father and Empress mother often gave her rewards.
“But Master, if you have to do it yourself like this, or ask the servants in the residence to help, it’s not a good idea. It’s better to procure some people outside and open a workshop,” the young girl said.
There were only so many people in the residence. If they were to be taken out to make century eggs, then who would do their work?
If it was for a short period of time, it would be fine. However, as time went on, the whole Marquis’s residence would definitely be in chaos.
“You have a point. But I don’t have time to arrange those matters for the time being. 1 can only do these things first.”
Opening a century egg workshop was a good idea. She just didn’t know how much capital it would require.
Renting a place, procuring people, and buying chicken eggs and duck eggs all required capital.
If she spent too much, she would probably not have much left when she wanted to open the porridge shop.
A thousand gold taels sounded like a lot. However, it was only 10,000 taels of silver after conversion.
Property prices and the cost of materials in the capital were not cheap. It was not so easy to do something big.
When she thought of this, Qin Xiaoyao couldn’t help but think of Yun Niang.
Yun Niang had asked her for help, and she had agreed to give her 2000 taels of silver after the matter was done.
Also, Yun Niang was familiar with the layout of the capital and had a lot of connections..