Chapter Fifty-Seven: First Time Entering a Tavern

  Wine shop

  Su Xiaofan stood in front of the slightly worn-out wine flag, the name was not bad, but judging from it, this should still be the wine flag of those people before, I don't know if they plan to change it or not.

  "Xiao Fan is here." Meng Jie walked out of the wine shop with a smile.

  "What's wrong with you, kid? Can't even see me?" Yu Xiaoxi looked over, displeased. Is this what they mean by 'forgetting friends when seeing colors'?"

  "How can you not see me? This is Xiaofan's first time here, didn't you come with Su Bing last time?" Meng Jie raised his hand to touch his head: "Come in, it took several days to clean up this place."

  Su Xiaofan was puzzled: "Wasn't someone always opening it before? Why is it so dirty?"

  "Tsk, tsk, Xiao Fan, you haven't been here before, it's really dirty. I don't know how those people can eat and drink here." Yu Xiaoxi also knew that most of the people who came to this wine house were workers, but even for workers, the place shouldn't be as filthy as this.

  The relatively spacious wine shop had more than a dozen tables, which were obviously cleaned, with a slightly whitish surface.

  "Xiao Fan, come take a look at this. Meng Ping, get some food for the young master." Su Bing walked out from behind with a gloomy face and said to Meng Ping after seeing Xiao Youmeng standing beside Su Xiaofan.

  "Good." Meng Ping turned around and went inside to bring out a plate of stir-fried peanuts.

  Xiao Yimeng frowned and glanced at Su Bing, who was covered in dirt, before walking over to sit down near Meng Ping. Judging from the situation, he knew that the kitchen must be a mess right now, so it's better for him not to go in and join the chaos.

  "What are you doing?" Yu Xiaoxi hastily took a handkerchief over to wipe his face.

  "Let's part ways for now, I'll go wash up after I'm done with my business. If I use your handkerchief to wipe my sweat, you'll have to spend a long time washing it again."

  Su Xiaofan leaned over and took a few glances at the handkerchief in Yu Xiaoxi's hand, asking with an ambiguous expression: "Could it be that the handkerchief is actually a token of betrothal?"

  Yu Xiaoxi's face suddenly turned bright red, and she stuttered in response: "It's not some kind of token of affection, it was the first thing he bought for me, so..."

  "Hehe......" Su Xiaofan smiled and walked past her, following Su Bing into the house.

  Yu Xiao Xi's face turned red and she was stunned for a moment before following him inside.

  "Is this what you did?" Su Xiao Fan walked around the thing that looked like a fireplace, feeling that it was quite different from the oven in Mingyue Building, but if used to roast chicken or something, it would still be usable.

  "This is something I couldn't do, but they already had one before, it's just a bit old. After busy for a day, I almost fixed the cracked and loose places, when we open, it can be used." Su Bing originally thought that if he opened a wine shop, he would have to spend money to make an oven, but unexpectedly there was one here already. The roast duck of Mingyuelou is very popular, maybe people who come to drink in the wine shop will also order some roast duck as a side dish.

  "Hmm, looks okay." Su Xiaofan thought the thing in front of her was probably an oven too. After circling around it a few times, she asked again: "When are you planning to open?"

  Su Bing turned his head and looked at Meng Jie.

  Meng Jie's eyes rolled around a few times, and then he said: "It'll be ready in two or three days. The family that brews the wine is an acquaintance of ours, we discussed it beforehand. They'll transport the wine over first, and after we sell it for silver, we'll pay them."

  Su Xiaofan nodded slightly: "Mm, that's best. Do you know how those chickens and ducks that weigh over a kilogram are sold on the market?"

  "This one, shouldn't be that small, three or four catties are considered small, generally they are seven or eight catties, ten or so catties." Meng Jie used to follow him out to various places to pick up goods when he was at Mingyue Building.

  "Has the menu been decided?" Su Xiaofan slightly furrowed her brow, then walked out and sat down beside Xiao Yimeng. She had originally wanted to go check on the prices of roasted chicken and braised chicken at other shops of similar size, but it seemed she would have to set the prices herself now.

  "These are what Su Handle has listed, take a look and see if there's anything to add, you can supplement it," Meng Jie scratched his head, then quickly picked up the pen and ink and placed them in front of Su Xiaofan.

  Su Xiaofan furrowed her brow and looked carefully for a moment. Su Bing had already arranged everything very detailed, as expected from someone who had worked at Mingyue Building for many years. She didn't need to add much herself, but when she picked up the brush, she hesitated and spoke out in distress: "But I don't know how to write, who among you can help me write?"

  Meng Ping was about to step forward when Xiao Youzi suddenly snatched the brush from Su Xiaofan's hand with a quick movement: "What do you want to add, young master will help you write."

  "Can Little Treasure write?" Su Xiao Fan was astonished. If her speech and behavior were mature enough, then if she could also do those legendary things like playing the piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting, wouldn't that make her a complete genius?

  After all, he can play a tune with a bamboo leaf...

  Maybe I'll play the piano or something...

  "Nonsense, if I don't know how can I help you write?" Xiao Yimeng gave her a white eye and took a piece of white paper from her hand.

  Su Xiaofan smiled, although he always gave himself an overly mature feeling, but in reality, he was indeed a child. Who knows, with proper cultivation, he might become a talented person in the future: "Remove these few, keep the rest, and for that roasted duck, add a few more on top of the price they listed..."

  After some effort, Su Xiaofan finally handed the rewritten menu back to Meng Ping's hands.

  "Why do we have to remove those? In Mingyue Building, those dishes are also very popular." Meng Jie leaned over to Meng Ping's side and took a few glances. Although it was Su Bing who listed them out, they were also discussed by the three of them together.

  "Mingyuelou is considered a large tavern in this silent city, but our newly opened small wine shop has different customers, and we can't use it as a standard to set the menu." Su Xiaofan looked out of the window at the street outside, and found that it was indeed as she had guessed. The people walking around in this area were all workers, wearing coarse cloth shirts. Occasionally, some people who looked relatively well-dressed would pass by, but most of them were fat-headed and big-eared, probably the bosses or managers of this district.

  It seems that after business picks up, some better dishes can be added to cater to different levels of customers.

  "Ah, indeed." Meng Jie nodded in agreement after hearing it, and then pointed to several places at the end of the page and asked: "This price is so expensive, this one is so cheap, is it written incorrectly? Let's not talk about the expensive one for now, the cheaper one probably won't even cover the cost."

  "That one, the expensive one is for reserve, I'll make a few different flavors of roasted duck and chicken, priced according to taste, if someone buys the expensive one, the profit will be more; that young chicken is raised by my family, those little chickens, if someone wants to order, tell them in advance it's about one catty, priced at fifteen big copper plates each, just a trial price for now, if it sells well, I might raise the price later." Su Xiaofan glanced at the stairs leading up to the floor, seemingly removable.