Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 571 Leftovers

So he found Hua Lei and asked her if she could sell him the mixed vegetables from Baiweilou at a lower price so that he could feed them to the prisoners and captives to add some fat to their income.

Hua Lei was stunned. The so-called "picked basket vegetables" in the restaurant were actually the leftover food of the restaurant guests, which were collected and placed in a bucket called a泔水桶.

The name "Zheluocai" is just a nice name, it is actually just a hodgepodge of leftovers from all the customers in the restaurant.

Of course, when Hua Lei was in the capital, she also knew about this. Moreover, this hodgepodge of leftovers was strangely divided into three grades: high, medium and low, and sold to people in need.

At the Eight Immortals Restaurant where I had been, many distinguished guests were busy drinking and chatting during meals, and did not touch the dishes served, or ordered too many dishes and could not finish them.

The taste and ingredients are the best. Sometimes there will be a lot of泔水桶 (swill buckets) containing abalone and seafood. These are first-class and more expensive.

There is also the泔水桶 used by wealthy families for weddings and funerals, which contains a lot of meat and fish such as chicken, duck, and fish. This can be considered a medium-sized泔水桶 and is less expensive.

Most people cannot afford to eat this kind of swill. They need to spend some money and give it to the doorman or the cook to buy something to eat.

The lowest class is the more ordinary restaurant, where the food is only vegetarian dishes and rice, which is enough to fill your stomach. The price of this mixed vegetable is relatively cheap. In Shangjing City, it seems to be only five or six coins per pound.

Hualei had never eaten Zheluocai before, and she had never opened a restaurant before coming to Mobei, so she had never sold Zheluocai. After opening her own Baiweilou, she really didn't pay attention to the leftovers of this customer.

So Hua Lei went to the restaurant behind to find out and found that there were not many leftovers in her own restaurant.

When there was more, Pei Xiaoyun, the restaurant's manager and Qinghua's husband, also sold it to those in need according to the custom of Shangjing City. The price was a little cheaper than that of Shangjing City, three or four coins per pound.

Hearing that the quantity was not large, Doctor Sun was a little disappointed, and he also thought the price of four coins per pound was a little expensive. After all, it was an extra expense.

Hua Lei looked at Doctor Sun's embarrassment and her mind moved slightly. She remembered the free vegetable soup she had given away in Shangjing City, so she said.

"Master Sun, the quantity of the mixed vegetables in my restaurant is not very large. If you want it, I will give it to you for free."

"Master Hua, this........." Although Doctor Sun was happy in his heart, he felt embarrassed on the one hand, and on the other hand, the quantity of the mixed vegetables was not much, and it was still a problem who to give it to.

"This vegetable is not expensive, if Doctor Sun wants it, just take it. However, I also want to make it clear to Doctor Sun that I will not be responsible if anything goes wrong after eating this vegetable.

Besides, it would be best if we come to an agreement and clarify these issues, which would be good for both of us. Otherwise, I might end up doing something bad with good intentions, right?" Hualei said, paused, and then continued.

"Of course, I will ask the staff to clean it up as much as possible. Put it in a fixed place. If Lord Sun needs it, you can send someone to pick it up every day."

"Okay, Lord Hua is kind, so let's make an agreement now. If there are any problems, I will not trouble Lord Hua." Doctor Sun nodded immediately.

Just take some first if you have it. At worst you can go back and ask someone to add some water to boil it so that everyone can have a drink of the soup.

Hua Lei reminded him again, "Master Sun, I think you can also ask other restaurants if they have this kind of mixed vegetables, so that you can have more."

Doctor Sun nodded in agreement. Then, he and Hua Lei signed the relevant agreement in triplicate, and sent the other copy to the county government for preparation.

This was also proposed by Hua Lei, and Doctor Sun had no objection.

After the two signed the agreement, Hualei hesitated for a moment and said, "Master Sun, I know you are also a very empathetic person.

I have always hoped that the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue could give these prisoners an extra black-faced steamed bun every day, but Lord Li and Lord Zhang also have their own difficulties.

I have an idea that you may want to consider. I will have my shop supply you with a certain amount of black steamed buns every day. In addition, I will use the seeds of dogtail grass to make some porridge.

Then when the prisoners are on leave, you can ask them to chop a bundle of firewood for me. What do you think? I will sell you the black steamed buns at two cents for three, and I will take back the firewood at three cents per bundle, and we can offset each other.

This way you don't need to pay any extra money and you can get a black bun." Hua Lei also knew Doctor Sun's difficulties and understood the prisoners' daily routines.

During the land reclamation, the prisoners also had rest time, but each team would take turns to rest. On weekdays, they didn't have time, so it was relatively simple to chop a bundle of firewood on the rest day.

Doctor Sun's eyes lit up. He also knew about the exchange of loaches between Hua Lei and the land reclamation workers. He thought about it and asked hesitantly, "Master Hua, will you suffer a loss in this way?"

"I can't afford to lose, but I can't take advantage either. It's good enough if the income and expenditure can be kept balanced." Hua Lei spoke the truth and smiled, "After all, you have a lot of prisoners under your command. If I have to pay for it myself, I won't be able to hold on for long."

Doctor Sun smiled, nodded, and said he would go back and discuss with other colleagues and give Hualei a reply. Hualei nodded in agreement. Doctor Sun thanked him and left.

Hua Lei returned to the restaurant and asked Pei Xiaoyun to try to keep the vegetables in a clean manner in the future, especially the leftovers with fish bones. Pei Xiaoyun nodded in agreement.

The next day, Doctor Sun came over in person and discussed with Hualei the matter of exchanging firewood for steamed buns. So Hualei started to prepare for this matter again.

The shop at the north gate was too small, so Hualei went to Zou Zhixian to apply for a few dugouts. After digging the dugouts, she built a kitchen on top.

Then they used bamboo strips to enclose the several dugouts. Now the area was larger. The business of exchanging black-faced steamed buns for firewood started again.

Because of the vegetable picking, Hualei also paid some attention to her restaurant during this period. However, she accidentally discovered something that made her angry.

Because she was busy recently, she hadn't looked at the restaurant's account book for a long time. But at noon that day, she was sitting in the account office behind the restaurant, wanting to see how much of her own mixed vegetables there were.

It was discovered that Mrs. Qian, the wife of Qian, had brought a few maids into the restaurant's kitchen. About a quarter of an hour later, each of them returned with two three-layer food boxes in their hands.

Qian sometimes ate in restaurants, and Hualei knew it.