Border Cook

Chapter 41 Joining
The tune sounds cheerful yet straightforward, with a strong sense of rhythm and a sense of hitting the heart directly.

But this song was very strange and I had never heard it before.

Madam Xia was from Chuzhou, so this is probably a folk song from Chuzhou.

Jiang Zhuguo, Lu and others did not think too much about it. Instead, because the tune was catchy, they unconsciously hummed along with Xia Mingyue.

"We ordinary people, I am really, really happy today!"

"Happy, hey, happy..."

"Ms. Xia!"

The shout interrupted the humming of several people.

Xia Mingyue looked up and saw Jiang Erniu chasing after her from behind.

Jiang Erniu ran a little too fast, and was out of breath when he got to Xia Mingyue. "Xia, Madam Xia, I'm Jiang Erniu, the one who sells hanging oven biscuits on the street. Madam Xia, do you recognize me?"

"Of course I know Brother Jiang." Xia Mingyue nodded.

When she first arrived here, she went to Jiang Erniu's pancake stall to buy pancakes twice.

As for the taste, it's just barely acceptable, but the dough is always a little bit wrong, with not enough pepper and salt. Also, the hanging oven sesame cakes need to be spread with some syrup to enhance the flavor, but Jiang Erniu's doesn't have syrup. I don't know if it's because he wants to save money or if he didn't learn it authentically.

All in all, this pancake tastes a bit unappetizing.

So Xia Mingyue never went to Jiang Erniu to buy hanging oven sesame cakes again, and she had a deep impression of him.

"Brother Jiang, is there something you want to talk to me about?" Xia Mingyue asked.

"There are some things I want to discuss with Madam Xia..." Jiang Erniu hesitated, rubbing his hands nervously, looking very embarrassed.

Obviously there is something difficult to talk about.

Xia Mingyue pushed open the gate at the front of her house and said, "Brother Jiang, come into the yard and talk slowly."

"Okay." Jiang Erniu followed Xia Mingyue.

Jiang Zhuguo and Lu avoided it slightly when they saw this, and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes, pick and wash the leeks, etc.

Xia Mingyue poured a bowl of tea for Jiang Erniu, "Brother Jiang, just tell me what you want to say."

"Okay." Jiang Erniu nodded repeatedly, his hands still rubbing back and forth nervously. After hesitating for a long time, he spoke with difficulty, "It's very presumptuous to say this, but I also want to ask, if Madam Xia feels that it is inappropriate, just refuse directly..."

After another pause, Jiang Erniu mustered up the courage to ask, "Mrs. Xia, can you tell others about your skill in making sesame cakes?"

Rumor?

Xia Mingyue was a little surprised and stunned for a moment.

How is the spread of the word?

Seeing this, Jiang Erniu hurriedly explained, "I know I'm a little abrupt, but I've thought about it carefully. Food like sesame cakes will at most attract people nearby to buy them. It won't be like a restaurant where the apprentice starves to death. If Madam Xia is willing to accept me as her apprentice and teach me how to make cakes, I will definitely not open this cake stand nearby. I will definitely open it far away and will definitely not compete with Madam Xia for business."

"I, I'll open a pancake stall on North Street or South Street. Anyway, I'll open it far away and definitely won't steal Madam Xia's business."

Jiang Erniu emphasized once again that he would not steal the business, and then said, "If Madam Xia is willing to teach me, I will definitely not give less money as a gift. It depends on whether Madam Xia is willing..."

After saying these words, Jiang Erniu secretly looked at Xia Mingyue's expression.

Seeing that he remained silent and didn't seem to intend to reply, Jiang Erniu's heart sank and he felt a lot of regret.

What is he thinking about?

How could anyone easily hand over their special skills to others?
He was just daydreaming... Jiang Erniu became more and more embarrassed, and his face turned red.

But Xia Mingyue lowered her head in thought.

No matter how delicious the pancakes and wontons are, they are still fast food.

As Jiang Erniu said just now, even if fast food tastes excellent, its distribution range is limited and there are certain limitations on its scale of expansion.

One way to overcome this limitation is to open branches. As the number of stores increases, sales and profits will naturally increase.

Branches are divided into directly-operated stores and franchise stores.

Xia Mingyue doesn't have the financial resources to run a direct-sale store, and as for a franchise store...

Since Jiang Erniu has come to our door, we might as well let him be the first person to try it.

But there is also a problem with franchise stores: how to ensure product quality control management, especially for freshly made food. Even if it is made using the same method and recipe, the taste may still vary due to personal preference.

To solve this problem...

Xia Mingyue raised her eyelids and asked, "Brother Jiang, do you want to learn a craft from me?"

The voice was neither cold nor hot, and it was impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry. Jiang Erniu felt nervous and nodded first, "Yes, I hope Madam Xia can accept me as her apprentice."

"It's impossible to accept an apprentice." Xia Mingyue replied.

really……

It was he who was presumptuous.

Jiang Erniu felt a little depressed, but he also felt that it was expected.

After all, this is Madam Xia's own skill. Whether to accept an apprentice is up to Madam Xia and cannot be forced.

Jiang Erniu stood up, ready to apologize and leave.

Xia Mingyue said, "But you can join."

"Join?" Jiang Erniu was stunned. "What does Madam Xia mean by joining?"

"You give me a franchise fee, and I allow you to sell my cakes and wontons, and even other food, and I guide you to open a shop. This is called franchising."

Xia Mingyue said, "But for now, I can teach you how to make pancakes and wontons, but I will only teach you how to make pancakes and fry them, and for wontons, I will only teach you how to roll out the dough, wrap it, and cook it. I won't teach you how to make the fillings for meat and vegetable pancakes or wonton fillings."

After Xia Mingyue finished speaking, Jiang Erniu became more confused.

This seems somewhat similar to becoming a disciple, but it is also different.

Moreover, the filling plays a crucial role in whether the pancakes and wontons taste good. If you don’t teach you how to prepare the filling, how can you make delicious pancakes and wontons?
Xia Mingyue saw Jiang Erniu's confusion, smiled, and said slowly, "Although I don't teach, I sell it to the outside world. Brother Jiang can buy pancake fillings and wonton fillings from me. I will set a very fair price. Brother Jiang can rest assured about this."

"As for Brother Jiang, you only need to inform me of the amount of stuffing you will need for the next day one day in advance. I will prepare it all the next morning, and Brother Jiang can just come and take it away."

"In addition, Brother Jiang needs my approval for where to set up his stall. The size and quantity of the cakes and wontons must be made according to my specifications, and the prices must be consistent with the prices sold at my stall. Even the shop sign must hang my Xia Ji shop sign, and the branch must be noted at the end."

Only by distributing fillings in a unified manner and ensuring that the taste of franchise stores and directly-operated stores is the same as possible can we ensure that the Xia Ji brand will not fail.

This is the best solution Xia Mingyue can think of at the moment.

Jiang Erniu was also very happy after hearing what Xia Mingyue said.

In other words, after he joined as Madam Xia had said, the food sold at the stall would taste the same as the food sold by Xia Mingyue.

(End of this chapter)