CHAPTER 133: CHAPTER 133: GOING TOGETHER

During this month, Shen Qinglan’s Guest House has already been renovated, and the iron shop has sent over everything she needed.

Fearing that the Shen Family might become suspicious, when Shao Yi notified that the shopkeeper from the iron shop would deliver the items, Shen Qinglan directly instructed them to deliver everything to the Guest House.

During this time, because they needed to learn to cook new dishes, Ji Nian and his wife stayed at the Guest House.

Two days later, Ji Nian came to tell her that they had almost finished hiring the staff for the Guest House, and they would come on the day of the opening.

Shen Qinglan hurried to find Shen Shan and Shen Qingzhu and told them about finding them jobs.

Shen Qingzhu was not interested in culinary arts, simply saying he wanted to work as a staff member, and then went off to play with Dong Jin and the others.

Since Shen Shan wanted to be a chef, Shen Qinglan had him go to the Guest House early to learn new dishes from Ji Nian and his wife.

The menu that Shen Qinglan provided consisted of popular modern dishes, such as: Fish-Fragrant Eggplant, Kung Pao Chicken, Pickled Fish, Grilled Fish, as well as Braised Duck and Roast Goose.

The preparation steps were all detailed by Shen Qinglan.

Shen Shan had attended school, and although he couldn’t write good essays, he had no problem reading.

Ji Nian and Fang Qiu were both literate, so Shen Qinglan didn’t need to explain much to them.

These days, with the new dishes that Fang Qiu prepared, Shen Qinglan had tried them all, and her skills were indeed exceptional.

No wonder others would be envious.

This noon, just as Shen Qinglan had handed Shen Shan over to Ji Nian and his wife and returned to Shengxiang Restaurant, Old Tang came looking for her.

Shengxiang Restaurant still had many guests, who were raising their glasses, drinking together, talking and laughing, unaffected by the refugees outside the town.

Truly, morals are declining, and people are untrustworthy.

Shen Qinglan went to the backyard with Old Tang, and only then did she hear him say with a smile, "In two days, I will be going to Yongning Manor with County Magistrate Pei. Would the young lady like to come along?"

"Come along?" Shen Qinglan raised an eyebrow, "What would I do there?"

"Oh, it’s like this." Old Tang laughed, "A few days ago, I sent someone to report the current situation in Jinxi Town to the Young Master, and he said to have you accompany me to Yongning Manor, to give him a chance to fulfill his duties as a host."

So it was Duan Yunfei who wanted her to go!

Shen Qinglan, lowering her eyes, missed seeing the momentary apology in Old Tang’s eyes.

The one who really wanted Shen Qinglan to go this time was not Duan Yunfei, but Madam Luo Jing of Yongning Manor.

After learning that her son had someone he was interested in, and confirming the truth from Xuan Ming and Xuan Ying, Luo Jing was overjoyed.

When she further learned that the person was working under Old Tang, and coincidentally the refugee issue in Jinxi Town arose, she asked Old Tang to make sure to bring the person along when he went.

The madam’s orders could not be disobeyed!

He didn’t want to scare Shen Qinglan, so he made up a lie to first trick her into going.

Having been away for so long, surely the Young Master missed Shen Qinglan too. If he saw she was there, he probably wouldn’t blame him, right?

With this thought, Old Tang’s anxious heart was greatly relieved.

Shen Qinglan contemplated, as there wasn’t much for her to do lately.

The restaurant wouldn’t be opening for a while, and everyone in the Shen Family was doing quite well. Ever since Shen Qinglan provided the patterns, not only Shen Qingju and Shen Qinghe but even Dong Yao, Jiang Shi, and Lu Shi all joined the embroidery business.

In the past few days, they’ve taken samples to the largest embroidery shop in town to show the shopkeeper there. The shopkeeper wasn’t in a hurry to purchase, saying instead he would try selling them on their behalf to see how they would do, taking only a small commission.

As it turns out, new items are indeed popular. In less than two days, all twenty handkerchiefs on consignment were snapped up, and many people came asking if there were more.