Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 133 Let the parents move to the city?

Xiao Wei said, "No rush, we'll call the carpenter down for dinner and talk about it at the table."

Xia Maosheng thought for a moment and said, "So, I'll be setting the opening date and hiring people in the next few days, right? Is there anything else?"

Xiao Wei said, "We'll decide on the menu together with Chef Zhai. You expect me to do it?"

Xia Maosheng nodded: "Menu, menu, I'll take care of it, what else?"

Xiao Wei pointed to the back door and said, "Didn't they convert that place into a steamer? I was just thinking, since that place is idle anyway, why don't we specialize in steamed food? Steamed buns, dumplings, twisted rolls, steamed dumplings, sugar triangles—there's a private room there, right? We can turn it into a kitchen, have a few housewives cook inside, and sell it at the door. What do you think? There's a lot of foot traffic here. If we set it up well, it should work."

Xia Maosheng stared at the back door for a long time, almost reaching into the stove, then shook his hand away and said, "Okay. Now that you mention it, I think it's a good idea. It'll work. Tomorrow I'll ask if there are any free female employees who know how to make dough. Five or six should be enough, right?"

Xiao Wei shook his head and said, "No need for so many. We have Sister Shang. Just ask her how many people she needs. Also, our pastry class is having an internship later, so we don't need any more people."

Xia Maosheng nodded and said, "Okay." He turned around and walked to the front to ask, "Sister Shang, if we were to open a dedicated dough-making shop to sell steamed buns, twisted rolls, dumplings, and triangular pastries, how many people would we need? We'd use machines for kneading the dough and machines for proofing it."

Sister Shang looked up at Xia Maosheng and said, "That room, isn't it? That place is really good for doing this. You'll need three or four people, but you can't bring in too many at once. Just try it out. Besides, you can't do that all day. Just set a quota for the day, and close up shop when you're done. It's best not to do that overnight, understand?"

Xia Maosheng nodded and said, "Xiao Wei said he'd give it a try, so I'll arrange for three people to come over first, okay? Let's give it a try. If it doesn't work, so be it; if it does, then we'll move on."

Sister Shang nodded and said, "That'll do, we're right here in the market. Should we use fermented fat or yeast?"

Xia Maosheng said, "Old Fatty, Old Fatty tastes better." Xia Maosheng recalled what Chen Xiao had said about steamed buns that day and said it with certainty.

Sister Shang flicked her hair back with her little finger and said, "Where can we get some fat to fatten up? There's plenty of that. Sister Zhang, do you have any fat at home?"

Sister Zhang replied from the kitchen, "Yes, I'll bring it to you tomorrow."

Li Bing said, "My family has one."

Xie Na said, "I have one at home too."

Li Wen asked timidly, "What's 'Old Fatty'? Fatty meat?"

Sister Shang turned to Li Gengsheng, who was writing and calculating to the side, and said, "Little Li, buy a few bags of flour tomorrow, make sure they're high-gluten, and also buy a few large aluminum basins, one isn't enough."

Xiao Wei, who was walking over slowly, said, "We don't need to buy aluminum basins. We can buy them directly from Fengtian when we go to get the equipment in a few days. We'll make do with what we have for now."

Sister Shang said, "That works too. By the way, little boss, why don't you just buy an oven? With a dough mixer and a dough riser, you can bake bread too. That kind of thing sells well."

Xiao Wei asked, "What exactly are you good at? Let's see what you can do!"

Sister Shang said, "Steamed rice cakes are fine, biscuits are fine too, but you need a molding machine for that. Do you want to get one?"

Xiao Wei turned to Xia Maosheng and said, "Damn, I think Sister Shang could run a whole food factory by herself. How do we do that?"

Xia Maosheng scratched his head and said with a twitch in his face, "Let's talk about this after we set up the class next year. We're running a restaurant now, and now you've started a food factory. My head is spinning."

Everyone laughed. Yes, doing things is actually that simple. Whether it's opening a food factory or a restaurant, it's not as difficult as you might imagine. It's just a matter of having people who can do the work and buying the equipment. Of course, that was back then. Now, you have to consider the sales channels first.

Xiao Bin came downstairs with his ever-present bag on his back and said, "Tomorrow I'll have someone change your electricity to three-phase. I get the feeling you're going to do something big. Ovens are three-phase, so a 220V meter won't work; you'll need a separate meter."

Xia Maosheng said, "Brother Xiao, we need more people here, boiler operators and people to make steamed buns and dumplings. Do you have any on hand?"

Xiao Bin said, "I heard you. There are plenty of people available. There are quite a few people currently unemployed at home. I'll pick a few capable and obedient people for you to come over tomorrow, don't worry. Actually, you can handle this yourselves. Don't you have any elderly relatives at home? Boiler work isn't tiring. If you have elderly relatives at home, just call them over. They can eat and live here, which is better than staying idle at home. They can live a few more years."

Xia Maosheng shook his head, then his eyes lit up as he looked at Xiaowei and said, "Xiaowei, why don't you call your dad over? It'll save him from being tired at home. You can rent out the land and make some money."

Xiao Wei hadn't really thought about this. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I don't know if it will work. Let me ask. What about my brother? He's still in school."

Xia Maosheng patted his chest and said, "I'll take care of it. I'll handle everything from finding the school to transferring your household registration, okay? No need to think about it anymore, it's settled. Going to school here is definitely better than back home, right?"

Xiao Wei bit his lip, hesitated, and nodded, saying, "I'll ask. I'll ask tomorrow."

Sister Shang looked up and asked, "What's your business, little boss?"

Xiao Wei said, "My parents farm in our hometown. My dad has a bad back and can't do heavy work. I've always wanted them to come out and work."

Sister Shang said, "So there are farmers in Fengtian too? I thought you were all city people."

Xia Maosheng laughed and said, "My great-grandfather was a farmer. He even tended to his own vegetables until I was three or four years old. There's nothing shameful about farming."

Shang Jie's attention shifted: "Oh Mom, your great-grandfather was still alive when you were three or four years old? That's a long life, he must be eighty or ninety, right?"

Xia Maosheng nodded and said, "Yeah, he was almost ninety back then. I was in fourth grade when he passed away at ninety-four, just six months shy of ninety-five."

Sister Shang asked, "How old is your grandfather now?"

Xia Maosheng thought for a moment and said, "He's seventeen years younger than my great-grandfather, and he's eighty-six this year. He's still in good health, and he eats just as much as I do at that house."

Sister Shang said, "Oh my, your family has been living long lives for generations, that's wonderful."

Xiao Bin, standing to the side, said, "Back when people got married early, it wasn't uncommon for four or five generations to live together. But now it's really rare. You're blessed."

Before they knew it, the dumplings were all wrapped. It's true that many hands make light work. The women arranged the dumplings on the steamer rack, and Sister Shang stood up, stretched, and said, "Alright, Chef Zhai, cook the dishes and eat. I'll go cook the dumplings."

Liu Hongliang came out of the kitchen carrying a kettle of boiling water, looked at everyone blankly, and asked, "The hot water is boiled, do we need it?"

Li Bing angrily took the kettle, turned around and said, "Here, get a basin, scald the towels, and warm everyone's hands before eating."

Sister Zhang said, "Get another basin; the workers upstairs need to wash their hands too. Do you have soap? Xiao Hongliang, go buy some."

Liu Hongliang turned and ran out in grief and anger.