Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 260 Can you make some cheap and filling meals?

Qi Xi thought of the cook's arrogant look at that time, and said angrily, "Unexpectedly, the cook's leader said that the money allocated by the higher authorities was too little, so they could only make it like this."

"The young master said that if the people don't have enough to eat, they won't have the energy to work. If the road is not well repaired, the construction period will be extended, the workers will suffer, and the labor costs will also increase."

"He wanted to ask the master to allocate more money, but the master said that the money for food is fixed and it is not easy to increase it casually. If it is increased this time, it will become a fixed amount in the future and cannot be reduced."

Because Shen Xiucai was only a scholar, there were no adult males in the Shen family after his death, and Shen Yu had never heard Li mention anything about the people serving as corvée soldiers.

But the fact that the money allocated from above would be exploited at every level is mentioned repeatedly in history books, so I asked: "Did your master tell me how much money a person gets for food per day and how many meals he gets?"

Qi Xi had lost his smiling face by this time, and said with embarrassment: "This is the reason why it is difficult. A person only has 40 silver coins a day, two meals in the morning and afternoon, and this is the silver money allocated by the higher authorities to the cooks."

Shen Yu understood as soon as he heard it. Although Qi Xi did not say it explicitly, the 40 cents of silver did not all turn into food and go to the mouths of the people who were conscripted to work.

The cook would deduct some of the money when he was buying and preparing the food, and by the time it was ready for food, each person would be lucky to have 20 or 30 cents a day.

After hearing this, Li also fell silent.

Twenty or thirty cents had to be divided into two meals. Not to mention road construction, which required heavy labor all day long, even an adult who did nothing all day could only barely get enough to eat.

Shen Yu was a little embarrassed. Although she knew how to cook, it was still difficult to cook without rice. She could only ask Qi Xi: "What do you eat every day on the construction site now?"

Qixi was furious when he thought of the cook, and said bitterly: "Black flour and multi-grain cakes, pickles, and cabbage soup, not a drop of oil can be seen."

"I ate half a piece of mixed grain cake that day. It not only had a musty smell, but also contained sand and millet husks. I'm afraid the horses in the mansion eat better than this."

"I think there's not even 15 cents worth of ingredients for a meal, and they use the worst grains to make pancakes."

Shen Yu could only say: "If this is the case, then changing the food won't solve the problem. I think the solution should be to change the cook."

Qi Xi was somewhat helpless: "I don't know which official in Ji'an Prefecture that cook is a relative of, and he is very arrogant."

"I heard from my master that he has been in charge of the meals for various projects in the county for many years. If he were replaced, no one else would dare to take this position."

Shen Yu couldn't help but complain in his heart: "Since he has a background, you don't dare to touch him. What's the point of looking for a small snack shop like me? Am I more powerful than you?"

She felt it was difficult to say this and was hesitating.

Li was quick to react this time and blurted out, "Brother Qixi, even Master Lu can't replace him, so how dare we take on this hot potato? We can't make cheaper meals either."

Qi Xi waved her hands and said, "Madam, please don't misunderstand me. How could my young master do something that would harm the young lady and the madam?"

"We first asked Chef Jiang from the county government's kitchen, and he said he couldn't make it. He said if the young master had such a recipe, he could follow it."

"So the young master wants you to think of a way to make two meals with thirty or forty coins that can feed even the strong men who work hard."

"If you can make it, you don't have to come out to make it, just teach me and tell me that it's a recipe that the young master found in a book. In the county government's kitchen, ask the cook in charge of the government officials' meals to make it and send it to the construction site to eat."

"We can find an excuse to send the cook away, and the county government will take charge of preparing meals, and we won't have a canteen on the construction site anymore."

"He went straight to this item. When he saw that he had not been replaced by someone else, he had nothing to say."

"The road that is being repaired now is not too badly damaged. It will be repaired in seven or eight days."

"It's just that there are other miscellaneous repairs in the county town. Every year in late autumn when the farming season is slack, there are more such conscriptions. When the weather gets cold, the menial workers have to work hard and don't have enough to eat, which makes them suffer even more."

"So the young master wants to try this route first to see if it works."

After hearing this, Shen Yu and Li looked at each other and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It was just to help me come up with two cheap and filling meal recipes, which was not a difficult task, so I nodded and said, "If that's the case, then let me give it a try."

Li also said: "As long as we don't have to cook for the restaurant, it can also be a good deed to feed the people who work there."

"Yuzhi, you don't have to worry about the store. Why don't you try to do something in the kitchen now?"

Shen Yu agreed and asked Qi Xi, "Do you have anything else to do today? Do you want to wait here for me to try cooking? The vegetables, rice and flour are all ready."

Qi Xi said, "I have to go back to the government office first to report to the master that the reward silver has been delivered, and to the young master that the young lady has promised to cook for me, and then I will come back to see how the young lady is doing."

Shen Yu thought for a moment and said, "Okay, go quickly and come back soon. I'll also think about what to do."

Qixi agreed, bowed and quickly walked out of the store.

Li sighed, "This Mr. Lu has a really good heart."

"I know about the menial tasks that the government has conscripted. Young men in our village have also been conscripted to build roads and rivers."

"Those who came back said the food on the construction site was terrible and they were hungry every day. Those men had lost a lot of weight when they came back and it took them a long time to recover."

Shen Yu felt sad, but he could only harden his heart and persuade Li: "We are just ordinary people, and we can only help a little behind the scenes."

Li nodded, thought for a moment, and then told Shen Yu, "Don't tell anyone about this. Just keep it between you and me."

"Sister Jiang and the others are not talkative people, so I don't think they will ask you. If they really want to ask, just say that Mr. Lu wanted to make two home-cooked dishes and push it to him."

Shen Yu was a little surprised and praised: "Mom, you have learned to be cautious now."

Li said seriously, "This is no small matter. From what Qixi said, the cook has a backer. We can't afford to offend him even if he has just a small relationship with someone."

Shen Yu nodded and said, "I feel relieved if Mom thinks this way."

Li smiled a little embarrassedly, and after a bit of hesitation, she finally said, "Mother used to speak carelessly, and never thought about it so much."

"During the rainy days, there are few customers in the shop. I often make clothes with Sister Jiang and Zheng Sanniang at night. Your Aunt Jiang gave me a lot of advice. When I think about it carefully, she really gave me advice for my own good."