Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 260

Chapter 260: Chapter 260

The wife’s family name is Cui, so Nanzhi and others called her Aunt Cui.

Aunt Cui is forty-four this year, slim but strong.

She is not sloppy in her work. After exchanging glances, Nanzhi and Uncle Ping decided to keep her for their work. Her usual duties would involve washing dishes and utensils. If there’s nothing else to do, she could rest on the side.

Eight hundred wen monthly wage, two days off each month. If she worked the whole month without taking a day off, she would get an extra two hundred wen. The restaurant would provide two meals a day, and she would eat with everyone else.

"Aunt Cui, can you do this work?"

Upon hearing this, Aunt Cui nodded, fearing that she would miss such an opportunity: "I can do it, I can do it!"

Nanzhi nodded and asked: "How far is your home from here? If it’s too far and not convenient, we can clean up a room in the backyard for you."

Aunt Cui’s eyes lit up when she heard this, but then quickly dimmed. She shook her head and said: "No, I’d rather stay at home, thank you."

Nanzhi hesitated for a moment but decided not to ask further. After all, every household has their own problems. As an outsider, it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to pry.

"So, when should I start work? Do I need to start cleaning today?"

Aunt Cui asked anxiously.

"No need for today. Our restaurant will open on the 15th. You can rest at home for these two days." Nanzhi suggested.

"I, I can tidy up the dishes and chairs. I don’t need wages for these two days, as long as I can have food," Aunt Cui said somewhat nervously. She seemed worried that Nanzhi would refuse. She tightly clutched the corner of her whitewashed clothes, which made Nanzhi feel some pity for her.

Aunt Cui reminded her of herself two years ago when she fled from famine, or specifically, when she first arrived at Lihua Village.

Sunken cheeks, protruding cheekbones, pale face with a hint of waxen yellow.

It was the look of hunger.

But Aunt Cui was better off than she had been. Judging by her current state, it seemed that she had something to eat every day, which explained why she still had some strength during the work trial.

"Well then, Aunt Cui. For the next few days, you can help clean up the kitchen in the restaurant. We have our own chef here. You just need to help clean the vegetables and wash the dishes. I’ll still pay you twenty wen per day. What do you think?"

"Thank you, thank you, Boss."

Very thankful, Aunt Cui was on the brink of tears.

She found work and was able to earn some silver for her family.

Though not much, at least they wouldn’t go hungry anymore.

Her daughter-in-law would stop hitting her.

Nanzhi gave some silver to Uncle Ping to manage the daily menu pricing, while Xu Chou was in charge of the purchases.

Everyone’s daily meals consisted of five dishes and a soup. Two of the dishes contained meat. While they couldn’t eat as much meat as in the first two days, the food was still much better than what they had at home.

Occasionally, Xu Chou would spend one wen to buy two large bones to make soup. Nanzhi also allowed Xu Chou to use some seasoning mixed with cumin to cook, so he started to buy offal to stir-fry at home. So for them, the meals provided here were already quite good.

Everything went relatively smoothly. The plaque was delivered by the Lin brothers at noon on the 14th. The menus were all set. Although there were some minor hiccups in the beginning with the purchases, they were eventually resolved.

"Fat girl, sister, what do you think of this plaque!" Lin Yicheng tried to call out to her using her childhood nickname ’Fat girl’. Luckily, he managed to stop himself in time.

Now, his sister was the owner of a restaurant. It wouldn’t do to call her by her childhood name in front of others. It would undermine her authority.

Before An Wazi could say that the boss wasn’t fat, Lin Xiaoquan covered his mouth.

"Woo... woo... woo..." An Wazi struggled a bit but gave up after realizing it was no use.

"Big Brother, Second Brother, come in, come in." Nanzhi didn’t scold the two teenagers, but just beckoned for them to come in.

The original decorations of Baiweizhai were rather delicate. Although she was reluctant to do so, Nanzhi braced herself to put those elegant decorations away.

The Main Hall now looked more spacious and open, which surprised the Lin brothers a bit.

"Nanzhi, don’t you think this layout for the Main Hall is a bit too simple?" Lin Yicheng pointed to a chair on the side.

He remembered when he first came to inspect the restaurant, there was a bookshelf placed there with a collection of items that appealed to literati and artists.

Though he didn’t understand why such things were put in a place to eat, looking at how the scholarly residents in Yan City seemed to appreciate them.

But why did she put away those items and replaced them with tables?

"This way, it’s more spacious. With more tables, we can accommodate more customers, right?" Nanzhi giggled.

"You are clever indeed." Lin Ercheng tried to tousle her hair as he used to do when they were little, but stopped himself. After all, they were adults now.

"Of course, your sister is the smartest!" Nanzhi laughed and then dragged them to the backyard.

Upon seeing the roasting oven, the Lin brothers were puzzled.

What is this long oven for?

"This is the oven for roasting skewers." Nanzhi pointed at a few iron rods on top, and Lin Ercheng nodded in understanding.

Previously, when his sister ordered bamboo skewers, they didn’t charge her because they were family. But she ordered two large boxes full, almost ruining their hands from the work.

Seeing that there was no one around, Lin Yicheng reluctantly asked, "But Fat Girl, the skewers you ordered are so long. You can’t possibly expect everyone to eat from these skewers in front of so many people in the Main Hall, right?"

Though they men didn’t care much about such things, there were many literate people in Yan City. Sometimes, women would also come to the restaurant. It wouldn’t be appropriate for a lady to sit there with her mouth wide open eating skewered food, otherwise she would become a laughing stock.

"Although the skewers are long, they are all filled with vegetables. The customers won’t mind. The serving plates will have the dishes already skewered, and if customers feel it’s not elegant to eat from the skewers directly, the waiters can help them unskewer the food."

"Well, then there’s no problem. But have you bought firecrackers and red cloth? We have to set off firecrackers for the opening tomorrow."

"I have bought them. They are in the warehouse."

"If you have prepared everything, that’s fine. Have the invitations been sent out?"

Lin Ercheng reminded.

"Yes, they’ve all been sent out."

"That’s good then."

"Look at this sign. How is it? Father invited Master Du to write the words. He also asked us to send invitations to both Masters, just to inform you."

"Good to know. I was negligent and forgot about the two Masters." Nanzhi blushed a bit. She’d heard that one should always maintain a good relationship with their children’s teachers, and here she had forgotten about them.

"But Master Du’s writing really is beautiful!" Nanzhi admiringly looked at the words on the sign.

Though she didn’t understand calligraphy, even her own handwriting was like chickenscratch. But these words by Master Du were indeed beautiful. Unassertive and powerful. Truly the handiwork of a scholar.

"If the plaque wasn’t well carved, even good handwriting wouldn’t look as good as this."

Lin Yicheng and Lin Ercheng nodded proudly.

Their carpentry skills had indeed improved a lot.