Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 258

Chapter 258: 258

His family was in Yan City, but with many children at home, he had to find work early to support them.

He had never eaten offal before, so he didn’t expect that the stinking offal he washed would taste so good.

"Boss, are you using angelica aniseed?" Uncle Ping deliberately picked a piece of sheep intestine, and asked with some disbelief.

"Yes, I indeed used angelica aniseed, but I also added some other spices to it. It makes the dish taste even better." Nanzhi was straightforward. After all, it was the business of her restaurant and she couldn’t hide it from her own people.

"Boss, isn’t it too expensive to use angelica aniseed in the dish?" Uncle Ping looked conflicted. It wasn’t just expensive; it was downright extravagant!

"That’s not a big issue, the amount of spice used is small. I can sell a dish for twenty wen coins and still make a profit."

Upon hearing these words from Nanzhi, Uncle Ping was completely perturbed.

Others may not know the price of angelica aniseed, but he did!

Angelica aniseed, such an expensive spice, was being used in a dish selling for only twenty wen coins. Could it be that their bosses were the spoiled daughters of some rich merchant, squandering their family’s wealth?

Uncle Ping wanted to say more, but didn’t want to argue with Nanzhi and her sisters in front of so many people. He could only sigh and continue eating.

After being cleaned and cooked, a whole sheep’s offal could still weigh about seven or eight pounds, which would be enough to make about twenty dishes.

Not counting the ten wen coins for the offal, and the two pounds of black flour used for cleaning. Taking into account labor costs, a dish of fried sheep offal wouldn’t cost more than five wen coins. After all, she only spent one hundred and fifty wen coins per pound of cumin.

The remaining dishes are cumin lamb and dry pot dishes, which she intends to feature.

She was only planning to let Chef Lu make his signature dishes. She had calculated the cost of these dishes, and the profit was generally around forty percent. As long as the sales volume was high enough, serving customers only in the main hall in the first floor wouldn’t be a problem.

She decided to give An Wazi and Lin Xiaoquan, two junior staff members, a reward for their hard work, and allow An Wazi to handle all the barbecue dishes.

Once she gave the barbecue sauce recipe to Xu Chou, everything else would fall naturally into place.

Since they would not have to pay monthly rent for the restaurant, it would be much easier for them.

After the meal was over, Shen Miaomiao, An Wazi and Aze went out to run errands. Nanzhi stayed behind at the restaurant to supervise others as they continued to fix the stove.

Seeing the coast was clear, Uncle Ping moved closer and whispered, "Boss, this angelica aniseed is too expensive. No matter how little you use in a dish, if you sell it for only twenty wen coins, it will still result in a loss!"

Nanzhi looked around to confirm that everyone else was busy, and then gestured for Uncle Ping to sit down.

"Uncle Ping, I know you come from Kyoto. Let me ask you something. How much is a pound of angelica aniseed sold for in Kyoto?"

Nanzhi was curious. She understood that this world and the ancient times she knew well were vastly different, from the appearance of potatoes and sweet potatoes to legal provisions.

So she was curious about how much cumin would cost.

"Oh, I haven’t eaten angelica aniseed for many years. But a few years ago, in Kyoto, half a tael of it was sold for five taels of silver. Granted, it wouldn’t really be that outrageous, but the price couldn’t have been low." Uncle Ping shook his head. Back then, although it was a peaceful time without the recent natural and man-made disasters, not everyone was able to enjoy leisurely meals.

Who wouldn’t find using spices that cost dozens of taels of silver per pound to be an excess?

"Five taels of silver for half a tael of spice?" Nanzhi was somewhat surprised. A hundred taels of silver for a pound of cumin?

This means one could buy a small courtyard with just two pounds of cumin!

"Uncle Ping, can you guess how much a pound of my spice cost?" Nanzhi unconsciously lowered her voice and asked.

"Well..." Uncle Ping glanced at Nanzhi’s innocent look, hesitated for a while before asking, "Could it be ten taels of silver per pound?"

"No, no. Guess again." Nanzhi shook her head and continued asking.

"Five taels of silver?"

Uncle Ping asked, frowning.

"One hundred and fifty wen coins!" Nanzhi said quietly. Upon hearing this, Uncle Ping almost dropped his jaw onto the table.

One hundred and fifty wen coins per pound?

Could it be that their Boss went to the Western Regions and picked them herself?

"I’d be a fool if I didn’t do this business, don’t you think?" Nanzhi said laughing.

However, Uncle Ping had already fallen into deep self-doubt.

The extravagance caused by the angelica aniseed years ago had infuriated the authorities, who then banned the spice from being brought into Kyoto. Could it be that in just a few years, the price of this spice had fallen to such a low level?

"Boss, the stove is ready!"

"It’s done!"

With that, Nanzhi got up and left, leaving Uncle Ping in a daze.

The fire was added to the stove, which was now completely dry. Several iron rods were firmly embedded on both sides of the stove. Looking at the familiar stove, Nanzhi felt a sense of familiarity.

Back then, she had worked part-time at a food stall for several months. Before she started school, her master had asked her to visit once in a while. She didn’t expect that she couldn’t return now but she could have her own restaurant.

"Liao Da, go get the skewered meat I’ve marinated." Nanzhi said while rolling up her sleeves.

Liao Da quickly went to get the skewered meat, while Zhang Yun was adding several fence posts to the stove.

The meat was mutton that she had bought in the morning, and the skewers were bamboo skewers specially made at the carpentry shop. When the skewered meat was put on the stove, it almost made Nanzhi dream of going back to the food stall.

She had prepared some barbecue sauce in advance. When she was roasting the skewered meat, she let Lin Xiaoquan watch by the side and learn her movements.

It was not until the sizzling and oily skewered meat was ready that Nanzhi finally took a sigh of relief.

"Wang Sheng, take a skewer for Uncle Ping." Nanzhi said, handing two skewers of lamb to Wang Sheng.

"Xu Chou, taste this."

Apparently, Xu Chou didn’t expect the boss to give him food first and was somewhat at a loss. "Th-thank you, Boss."

The marinated lamb roasted was not excessively soft. The smell of the barbecue sauce was irresistibly tempting, and Xu Chou could not resist taking a bite.

Then, he just stood there, completely stunned.

He had never tasted such a flavor before.

"Don’t just stand there. Each of you take one and give it a try."

It was not until then that other people tentatively reached for the skewers, and all of them showed astonished expressions.

None of them were from wealthy families. Although they ate a little better during holidays, they had never tasted such a unique flavor before.

Even today, the sheep offal dish that the boss made had already refreshed their perception, but compared to the skewered meat, it was slightly inferior.

As Xu Chou had once learned to cook, he had somewhat guessed what Nanzhi and her sisters were planning after they had asked him if he was willing to learn a craft.

Now, it was all too clear. The Boss valued him and was willing to give him such an amazing secret recipe.

"Master, please accept my salute!"

Xu Chou kneeled down decisively and knocked his head on the ground three times.

This was the ceremony for becoming an apprentice. He regarded himself as a real apprentice now.

"Alright, alright, get up. I can’t bear to watch you kneel several times a day."

Nanzhi appeared relaxed. When she was herself apprenticed, not only did she not pay any tuition, she had only given her master a few tens of yuan to buy two packs of cigarettes.

Now, she was just utilizing the skills she learned from her master; how could she accept such a big salute?