My sister became the empress, but I'm still growing vegetables and raising chickens

Chapter 155 Literacy Class

When Si Muyan came back in the afternoon, Boss Zhao talked to her about the Si family restaurant.

"Originally, my family was in the merchandise trading business and had no intention of serving food. But your Si's food store has such a great reputation. During the Lunar New Year, I went back to discuss it with my parents and brother, and they decided this might be a good business."

Si Muyan shook her head hesitantly. "Although Yuanjiang isn't far from Lingnan City, it still takes about six days to get there. It's true that the dipping sauce made with my method can be stored for half a month without spoiling. But, how big a business do you plan to do, Boss Zhao? If you want to earn back the round-trip fare, the amount of dipping sauce you need to ship at once will not be enough to cover the cost of thousands of servings."

This is also a difficult problem. The Zhao family is just an ordinary merchant. Even if they want to do other business, they can only start small. It is impossible to open a large stall at once. The Zhao family cannot afford it and cannot afford the loss.

It is too difficult to transport the base and dipping sauces, and the work of patrolling the store is too difficult. Si Muyan has no intention of doing business outside Lingnan City. Inconvenient management will ruin his reputation.

Boss Zhao said, "This is what I think. If the young lady is willing to make the trip, that would be great. I can choose a location in advance and set up a Sijia workshop in Yuanjiang, specializing in making base sauces and dipping sauces. As for opening the shop, the young lady only needs to visit once every few months to check things out for us."

Si Muyan looked at Boss Zhao: "Boss Zhao, didn't you ask about our Si family's situation before coming here?"

"Ah?" Boss Zhao was stunned. He knew very little about the Si family. He had heard that the Si family's porridge shop, food shop, and dim sum shop were all popular shops in Fenghuang County. He also knew that the Si family was kind-hearted and had taken in his mother-in-law.

What attracted him most was that when he came during the Chinese New Year, he heard that the Si family was going to build a workshop.

After all, a small food shop became so popular in just a few months, and Miss Si was smart. She did not invest too much in opening stores one by one, but directly built a workshop in a supply mode.

That's why he went back and discussed it with his parents and brothers. He decided to come here this time because, firstly, he wanted to send his wife and children to stay for a while and accompany his mother-in-law, and secondly, he wanted to see the situation of the workshop.

It was even better than he had imagined. It was said that more than 20,000 servings of base sauce were produced every day. This was only temporary. It was estimated that after a while, the entire Lingnan City would need the base sauce and dipping sauce from the workshop.

Si Muyan said bluntly, "The Si family was once considered a wealthy family. Eight years ago, something happened and they were exiled here. Although there was no other punishment, they were only demoted to commoners. However, starting with my father, the Si family has been banned from officialdom for three generations, and they cannot leave Fenghuang County. I can't even go to Lingnan City, let alone Yuanjiang."

"This..." Boss Zhao never expected that there would be such a situation in the Si family.

So, all his plans were ruined?

"Si family, is there anyone else...who can be like the eldest lady?"

Can you be independent and go to Yuanjiang in place of Si Muyan, build a workshop exactly like this one, and open a food shop like Si's food shop?

Even if Si Muyan handed over all the matters of the workshop and the food store to others, she was the backbone of the food store.

Fortunately, Boss Zhao wasn't one to dwell on matters. It didn't matter if the deal fell through; the Zhao family simply stopped doing the restaurant business. He asked the Si and Zhu brothers to look after their wives and children, while he, along with his servants, headed for Dahe County, near Fenghuang County. There was a canal there, frequented by merchants, and he went there to see if there were any good deals.

When the younger sister learned that Boss Zhao wanted to cooperate, she was very excited, but she also knew her own status, so she could only sigh deeply and pull Zhu Erge and Lai Qian aside to give them a lecture.

"Big Sister values ​​you the most. If you all work hard and each of you can learn half of my Big Sister's skills, wouldn't this problem be solved? You can go to Yuanjiang and open a restaurant like this again!"

Zhu Laoer also thought so, and couldn't help feeling that his brain was not quick enough and not as capable as the older girl.

Lai Qian was young and chuckled, "Sister Wan'er, if I learned all of Sister Yan's skills, you would be worried, right?"

The younger sister went to hit him: "You little rascal, if you learn the skills of our family and still have other intentions, I will break your legs!"

The money he earned ran away like a loach, and he went to see Si Xingzhi teaching the children to read and write. He was very happy to see that his sister He Lai Di had learned to recognize most of the words and write them neatly in the past few months.

"Laidi, I bought this in Lingnan City. Here it is for you."

When Lai Di took a look, she found that it was actually a small tiger-head hairpin, which was a perfect match for her zodiac sign, tiger.

"Brother, this is expensive."

Lai Qian said, "A silver-wrapped hairpin isn't that expensive. When I make a lot of money, I'll buy you a solid silver hairpin... No, I'll buy you a gold or jade one!"

Lai Di quickly waved her hands: "Brother, spend less money. Mom and Dad have said that you will be fifteen this year and should get married in two years. Saving money to get married is the right thing to do."

Lai Qian said, "Sister Yan said that men outside are getting married at the age of 20, so I am not in a hurry. Besides, even if I get married, I will still buy jewelry for you, Lai Di."

Lai Di was so happy that her eyes narrowed, and she was reluctant to wear the hairpin, so she carefully wrapped it in cloth and put it away.

Two days later, Si Muyan and Si Xingzhi went to the headman's house to discuss another matter.

"Now my father can only teach the children to read and study when the weather is good. It's inconvenient when the weather is bad. The large room behind my workshop is empty and can be used as a school for the children. I want to turn it into a school."

"A school?" the village head hesitated. "But a school needs the approval of the county magistrate, and we need to hire a professional teacher to teach."

Si Muyan didn't quite understand all this. After thinking for a moment, she said, "If we don't open a government school, we can call it a literacy class. Every household that is willing to send their children here to learn to read and write can do so. There are two classes, a full-day class and a half-day class. The full-day class is for initial learning. If they persist in learning, they can be transferred to other schools if they do well. The half-day class is for learning to read and write. The level of learning is up to the families' own wishes."

The head of the village had children of his own, and he had long ago let his children learn to read and write with Si Xingzhi. In the past four or five months, the children could recite some short poems.

But in his opinion, it was because the family had everything they needed and the children did not need to work, so letting the children learn to read was just a way to pass the time and prevent them from learning bad habits and doing petty thefts.

Except for Song Chunbo, no one in the village could seriously teach the children to read.

"Books, pens, ink, and paper cost a lot of money over the year... In our village, apart from the son of a scholar, who would be willing to spend that kind of money?"

Si Muyan said, "This literacy class isn't for the imperial examinations, but to teach everyone to recognize words and understand the world of books. The village head also knows that when children who can read grow up and find work, they can earn more than others. As for the expenses of studying..."