Chapter 139 Management

Chapter 139 Management

When everyone arrived at the Jixiang Restaurant, Qianhuan asked all the children to report their names and ages first.

After they reported the information, Qianhuan realized that the oldest beggar in this group of little beggars was actually 14 years old.

It's just that because they have never had enough to eat, they are shorter and thinner than ordinary children, so they look much younger than their actual age, so Qianhuan always thought they were not very old.

Among these twelve children, only three are girls. I heard from Pumpkin that there were many girls begging with them in the past, but later those female beggars gradually disappeared. The missing female beggars were all those with slightly better looks and their gender could be identified at a glance.

The remaining girls are plain-looking and develop slowly, so it is usually difficult to tell their gender.

These girls also realized that there were people who specifically abducted female beggars. In order to protect themselves, they deliberately concealed their gender and behaved as much as possible like boys. This is how they escaped.

Among the 12 children, three are 14 years old, including Pumpkin, who is also 14 years old, and the other two girls are also 14 years old.

Then there were six boys aged twelve or thirteen, and three children left, including a boy and a girl, both ten years old, and the youngest boy was nine years old.

Qianhuan noticed that their names were all a bit random, with names like Dandan, Caogen, and even cats and dogs. Qianhuan decided to change their names first.

"Pumpkin, your name is quite normal, so there's no need to change it. Just keep calling you Pumpkin from now on."

"It's the master."

Qianhuan already had a rough idea of ​​what tasks she would assign to these children in the future.

She pointed at the two girls who were already 14 years old and said, "From now on, your name will be Qiu Ming and your name will be Qiu Shui."

"Qiu Ming, Qiu Shui, thank you for giving us names." The two girls kowtowed to express their gratitude.

In fact, Qianhuan was still a little uncomfortable with the ancients kneeling and kowtowing at every turn. Although she felt a little uncomfortable, she didn't say anything.

After all, in ancient times there was an order of hierarchy. Only in this way could the rulers better manage the people of the lower classes. She had to adapt to life here.

If she didn't have any prestige in front of the servants and couldn't intimidate them, I'm afraid these servants would no longer take her as their master seriously.

In this case, they will not be as dedicated in doing things in the future, so let's just follow the rules here.

Qianhuan pointed at the youngest boy and said, "You will be called Potato from now on. I think you are quite smart. I have a younger brother who is studying with a teacher. If I ask you to be my brother's follower and take care of his food and daily life, would you be willing?"

Although Potato is the youngest, he is very smart and he knows very well that this job is a great fortune for him.

By serving a young scholar, he can learn more. If his master passes the imperial examination in the future, his status as a servant will also rise along with his master.

He immediately knelt down in front of Qianhuan and kowtowed to express his gratitude: "Thank you for the name, Master. Thank you for trusting Tu Dou. Tu Dou is very willing to take care of the young master."

Qianhuan saw that this potato was indeed very considerate, and she felt more at ease knowing that he was following Wenjie.

If Wenjie is lucky enough to pass the imperial examination in the future, he will be able to use a servant who has been with him since childhood, which will make it easier for him to use him.

Afterwards, Qianhuan also gave names to the other children. Everyone was very happy with their new names because the new names were much better than their original names.

"From now on, don't call me master anymore. Just call me boss."

"Yes, Boss, we got it."

Qianhuan said to Master Cai, "Brother Yunlong, from now on our teahouse will be called Half-day Qinghuan Garden. I will find someone to make a signboard for the teahouse in the next two days. The two floors in front of this garden are for business, and there is a small courtyard in the back with a row of houses. That is where you live. Now I can't find anyone to manage these children and the brothers you brought here, so I thought about it and asked you to be the manager of Half-day Qinghuan Garden for the time being."

When Master Cai heard that he was going to be the manager, he suddenly felt unconfident. "Qianhua, I really want to help you, but I have never been a manager before, let alone managing such a large teahouse. I don't know what I should do. Otherwise, you should hire someone with experience to be the manager. I'm really afraid that you will mess it up."

"Brother Yunlong, you had more than 20 brothers under you before, and you managed them well, didn't you? And you collected stall fees and managed so many vendors, which shows your management ability, so don't worry too much. I believe you can help me manage the teahouse, and if you don't understand anything, you can ask me directly."

"Okay, since you think so highly of me, I agree to be the steward. So what should I do now?"

"Now go to the backyard and arrange accommodation for each of them."

She looked at Pumpkin and said, "Pumpkin, you are usually the backbone of these children. You have always helped Brother Yunlong take care of these children. Now you should help Brother Yunlong arrange them."

"Yes, Boss, Pumpkin knows."

So Master Cai and Nangua took the children and brothers to the backyard. When they had arranged everything, they returned to the front yard. Qianhuan saw that it was almost noon.

She took out 20 taels of silver and handed it to Master Cai, saying, "Brother Yunlong, take this money and go to the clothing store to buy a set of old clothes for each child, so that they can take a bath and change into clean clothes. Then go to the cloth shop to buy some coarse cloth and cotton, and find some embroiderers to sew a set of clean clothes for each child."

"Remember to buy more food like brown rice, and some other things you need for life. If you don't have enough silver, tell me. If you have extra, just keep it for yourself and use it to buy things when you need it. In short, from now on, I will leave all these trivial matters, big and small, to you."

"Qianhuan, thank you for your trust. I will definitely take good care of the tea garden for you." Master Cai took the silver and promised solemnly.

"Brother Yunlong, when you go shopping on the street, please help me find out where the pawnshop is. After I pick up my brother from my husband's place, I plan to go to the pawnshop in the afternoon to buy some more people."

"Okay, I'll ask for you when I go down to the street to buy things."

When Qianhuan arrived at Mr. Fan's house today, it was still a little early and Wenjie had not yet finished school. Mr. Fan would often forget time while giving lectures, so it was normal for him to be delayed by a quarter of an hour or two.

Uncle Chang said to Qianhuan, "Shanbo, you haven't made stir-fried chestnuts with sugar for a few days. Our old lady has been craving for it these past two days. Although the master doesn't eat much on weekdays, he suddenly felt like eating it today. Can you help me stir-fry two pounds of it today?"

"Okay, then Uncle Chang, please take the chestnuts out of the cellar. Anyway, the things I need to fry the chestnuts are always kept in the Fan Mansion, so I can make them anytime."

"Okay, I'll go get some raw chestnuts from the cellar."

Qianhuan was just about to go to the kitchen when Uncle Chang suddenly remembered something and called Qianhuan, "By the way, Uncle Shan, the jar of pickled radish skins you sent last time has been eaten up. The master said that the pickled radish skins you made are sour, spicy, crisp and refreshing, and are a great dish to go with wine. The old lady also found it very appetizing. The master wants you to make him another jar."

"Okay, Uncle Chang, just tell me what Mr. Fan wants to eat. I can't guarantee anything else, but no matter where the food is from, as long as the old lady and Mr. Fan want to eat it, I can prepare some fresh food for them to try. Find the empty jar and give it to me later, and have someone buy some white radishes. I'll make the sugar-fried chestnuts and then make pickled radish skins for Mr. Fan in the back kitchen."

"That's great. I'll have someone prepare something now."

Uncle Chang was about to leave when Qianhuan called him again.

"Uncle Chang, do you need me to cook lunch today? In the past, I was sometimes lazy and didn't want to cook, but Mr. Fan kept asking me to cook. But these few days, he suddenly stopped me from cooking. Could it be that the dishes I cooked are not to the old lady and the gentleman's taste?"

"Master Shanbo, no, the old lady and the master both like the dishes you cook. Maybe they want to change their taste these days." Uncle Chang made up an excuse to put Qianhuan off.

"Okay, Uncle Chang, whenever the old lady and the gentleman want to eat the dishes I cook, just tell me." After saying that, Qianhuan went to the kitchen to busy herself.

Qianhuan and Uncle Chang were talking in the lobby, next to which were the study and bedroom. Chiying was also serving the Young Master today. Both the master and servant had excellent hearing and could hear the conversation in the lobby clearly.

Chi Ying complained dissatisfiedly, "Master, this old servant in the house of the Master of the Imperial Sacrifices is too ignorant. Can't he see that you, the prince, are simply not used to eating southern food? Since Mr. Fan's apprentice can cook dishes from all over the world, why don't you ask him to cook some northern dishes for you to try?"

Upon hearing this, the prince agreed with what Chi Ying said, but Mr. Fan was once his teacher and he always respected Mr. Fan. It was not appropriate for him to interfere with the old servant in Mr. Fan's house just for a bite of food.

Chi Ying saw that although his master didn't say anything, he didn't show any anger at his remarks, so he understood a little bit.