Chapter 68 Preparation for the new store
Two days later, Su Ji Commercial Bank took away 2,000 catties of vermicelli and paid the rest as promised. On the same day, after receiving the shop, Zhao Yongzhong and Zhao Siniang went to the town to purchase as usual, but the rest of the people did not rush home as usual, but went to the new shop not far away to do a big cleaning, because tomorrow is the auspicious day for the opening of the new shop.
Originally, Zhao Siniang planned to build the new shop in the form of a front store and a back home, but after careful consideration, she finally decided to separate the shop from the house and design the shop to its current appearance.
The shop runs east-west like the official road in front of it, maintaining a distance of two zhang wide between the two, and paving a blue brick floor. The whole brick road is quite long, slightly exceeding the total length of the main shop, and at the ends of the east and west sides of the road, there are stables for livestock and simple warehouses for storing goods, which are convenient for merchants and guests to stop temporarily.
The shop is made of blue bricks and covered with blue tiles. Under the eaves around the shop are six-foot-wide corridors. The pillars supporting the corridor are two-foot-high balustrades between the columns, and the upper ends of the balustrades are covered with planks a foot wide that can be used as benches for resting.
Entering the main entrance of the shop, you can see that the huge shop is divided into two parts by a wall.
The eastern half accounts for two-thirds of the entire shop. On the east side of the main entrance is a long wooden counter, behind which is a one-man tall treasure shelf. Directly above the treasure rack hangs three rows of wooden water signs, which will be used to display the dishes sold that day. Not far in front of the counter are two long rows of tables running parallel to each other, with a space about four feet wide between them. If you look closely, you can see that each row of tables is made up of four long tables, the difference is that one row is a normal table, and the other row has three round holes with a diameter of one foot on each table, and a small stove is placed under the round holes. These two rows of tables will be used to accommodate different types of dishes.
In addition, there are 16 sets of tables and chairs in the eastern half for guests to eat. Thanks to the open windows of the shop, most of the seats have a clear view of the stables and warehouses. This makes it possible for business guests to dine with peace of mind.
The western half is split in half to form two separate rooms with a connecting door in the middle. On the east wall of the room in the southwest corner are three rectangular windows side by side that can be used to buy food such as dry food, pickles and soy products that can be taken away. Besides. For the convenience of those who do not want to dine at the restaurant, the original window on the south wall of the room has been converted into a take-out window, so that such customers can make purchases directly from the corridor on the west side of the main entrance without entering the store.
The room in the northwest corner is the back kitchen, and like the room in the southwest corner, there are three windows on the east wall, which provide convenience for the preparation of dishes. Slightly different from other windows, these windows are covered with half a piece of blue flower rags, which not only increases the aesthetics of the shop, but more importantly, makes it impossible for customers to see the specific operation in the back kitchen. The most eye-catching thing in the back kitchen is the large stove with four large pots. On the side of the stove is a green brick countertop covered with smooth, thick wooden planks. Part of the L-shaped counter is facing the three windows, and there is plenty of space underneath the counter. Divided into two layers with wooden boards, many commonly used kitchen items can be stored inside. Not far from the stove are a special oven, hanging stove and baking oven, while at the farthest point of the stove are a wooden cupboard and two rows of wooden shelves. These wooden shelves are designed to hold all kinds of ingredients, and there are two water tanks next to them. In order to facilitate the transportation of ingredients and water, the back kitchen is except for the front door. There is also a back door that leads to the backyard.
The backyard of the shop is surrounded by a one-foot high brick wall, and the ground in the yard is not covered with green bricks, but the original mud floor is tamped. There is a door in the wall on the west side, through which things are usually transported to the shop. In the backyard, there are not only three huts, but also a chicken pen and a cowshed. In addition, a stone mill was added, and in order to ensure that it can be used normally on rainy days, a grass shed was built above the stone mill. In addition, in order to reduce the burden of carrying water back and forth. Another well was dug in the backyard.
It is worth mentioning that because this land was originally overgrown with wild grass, Zhao Siniang was worried that grass would grow in the brick cracks, so she poured some salt water into it. Then, in order to reinforce, glutinous rice mortar made of glutinous rice soup and lime mortar was poured into the brick joints. The blue brick house built in this way can guarantee that it will not be bad for decades, even if the daily flow of customers is huge.
Not far from the shop. Its supporting project, the thatched house, has also been completed recently under the repeated urging of Zhao Siniang. Zhao Siniang, who was out of tune, actually asked to build a thatched house according to the standard of building a shop, and upgraded the thatched house to a brick house. Not only that, but a one-person-high brick wall was built directly opposite the thatched house to ensure privacy. Finally, in order to beautify the environment, the four sides of the thatched house are the same as the east and west sides of the shop. A lot of bamboo was also transplanted.
Although the family members clearly expressed their opposition to Zhao Siniang's unreliable behavior, if they decided to build it before, they would let Zhao Siniang pay out of their own pockets. But when it was time to build it, it was unanimously agreed to take the cost from the public account, and was not willing to let Zhao Siniang pay a penny for private money.
It is true that Zhao Siniang is sometimes reliable, sometimes very unreliable, so she sometimes makes the Hui family feel very helpless, but after the helplessness, she must give firm support, this is Zhao Siniang's family.
At this moment, the people who were cleaning in the shop suddenly heard a noise from the backyard. ran over to take a look, and it turned out that Zhao Yongzhong's father and daughter had returned with a cart full of things.
It's just something else, this time Zhao Siniang actually bought more than 20 ducks in one go. It is said that a duck farmer had an emergency at home and had to sell their ducks at a low price at the market. So Zhao Siniang, who originally only planned to buy a few ducks, temporarily changed her mind and wrapped them all.
The big guys also think the price is cheap, but this amount is really ...... That's it, I've bought everything, and now it's too late to say anything. The shop is about to open tomorrow, so let's hurry up and work!
A large family worked from noon until evening, and then sorted out all kinds of things. It's just that there are too many dishes to prepare, and there is still a lot of work to be done in the back kitchen.
After dinner, Zhao Siniang asked her father and mother to stay and help, and sent everyone else back to Jiang's house. And the family of three didn't plan to go back tonight, so they decided to stay in the shop.
As for the accommodation, of the three cabins in the backyard, one is a utility room, one is a storage room, and the other is a lounge.
"Although the sparrow is small, it has all kinds of organs." In the small lounge, there was a kang on the plate, and some guys who moved from Lao Zhao's house were also placed, and in addition, Zhao Siniang, who was wealthy, also specially bought a new bedding to put in it. Therefore, although it is a little smaller, it is far more comfortable than going back to Jiang's house to squeeze a big kang.
The family of three was busy for a while, Zhao Siniang saw that the hour was not early, and thought that the task assigned to her father and mother by Ming'er was not light, so she persuaded them to go in and sleep first, and she was busy until the middle of the moon.