– Double Xiang House

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Chunsheng said, “Don’t you think Boss Qin and Boss Lei are stupid? If they can’t find a suitable place to open a wine house in town, why don’t they go to the county town? How many customers can such a small town have? Why do they spend so much effort in building a wine house in the town? This little one can’t understand.”

Nie Heng leaned relaxedly on the carriage and pondered, “This is indeed strange. Their hometown is in a village in Running Water Town. Maybe they just don’t want to be too far away from home.”

Did Qin Mian consider things in such a simple way? For the time being, it was unknown.

One and a half months later, the wine house was completed and only left the detailing aspect of the design to be completed.

Qin Mian released the news that he was going to sell the recipe and indicated that he would only sell 20 copies. Upon hearing the news, the owners of the wine houses from nearby towns and even the county town with strong finance came over. The earliest twenty owners respectively spent 500 silver taels to buy the recipe containing sixteen kinds of ingredients.

Qin Mian made 10,500 silver taels just by selling recipes.

Afterward, the busy farming season came as scheduled. Qin Mian’s land was small, and there were three servants in the family. It took only three days to harvest, thresh, dry, and put the wheat into the warehouse.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Qin Mian bought 10 mu of the highest quality farmland in the village. They were all connected. Culturing paddy seedlings and transplanting paddy seedlings were left to Xile, Uncle Fu, and Aunt Fu to handle. He and Lei Tie were still inseparable from the work at the wine house.

On the 20th of the 5th lunar month, the wine house was completed. Qin Mian named it Double Xiang House, which was written by Lei Tie himself and made into a plaque. The word “Xiang[饗]” meant both “a feast to entertain guests” and “enjoyment[Xiang享]”. This name could be described as ingenious.

Speaking of which, Running Water Town was named such because there was a river passing through the town. The new wine house was situated at the edge of Running Water Town and precisely stood across the river. One building on the river surface was a wine house named Binzhi. The other building on the east of the river was an inn named Rugui1. Semicircular walls were built outside the two buildings with the river bank as the baseline and the river as the central axis, creating bilateral symmetry. The two baselines were connected by an arch bridge in the middle over the river. The arch bridge was built very high to prevent someone from invading Double Xiang House from here.

The two buildings had three floors. The second and third floors were connected by a suspension bridge. Qin Mian deliberately left only one entrance of Double Xiang House, which was the courtyard gate of the Binzhi Building. In other words, if one wanted to go to the Rugui Building, one could only enter from the Binzhi Building.

The first floor, which was the lobby of the Binzhi Building, was divided into two parts. On the left was an ordinary dining place that included two-person seats, four-person seats, and eight-person seats, as well as rectangular dining tables with square benches for individual customers. On the right was a strange-looking dining platform, which was the distinguishing feature of Double Xiang House – a revolving buffet. It was inspired by the revolving belt sushi (restaurant). On the second floor, there were twelve private rooms with different calligraphy and paintings that had different poems on them. The third floor was the honored guest lounge with only four rooms in total, that not only one could view the scenery but there were also interesting recreational facilities. On top of the third floor, there was a rooftop with a big parasol erected. This place was only used to entertain a group of guests at a time. It was a unique and unmatched place.

Behind the Binzhi Building, there were four elegant places. The four pavilions could also be used for banquets. They were separated from each other by rockeries, brambles, flowering shrubs, and grape trellis. People could breathe fresh air and enjoy the beautiful scenery at the same time. It also gave people a pleasant feeling of enjoying private space.

The first floor of the Rugui Building was the ordinary guest rooms that were divided into single rooms and double rooms, with complete furniture. The second floor housed four luxurious suites that could accommodate multiple family members and friends. Each suite had its unique furnishings with calligraphy and paintings. There were four honored guest rooms on the third floor, three of which were open to the public. The other room was privately owned by Qin Mian and Lei Tie which could be reached by the private stairs on the second floor to avoid meeting the guests on the third floor. There was a large bathtub on the rooftop. In the spring and autumn season, it was a special enjoyment to soak in a hot bath and bask in the sun while drinking wine.

There was a small side door in the backyard of the Rugui Building, which was only for the use of internal staff to transport garbage, purchase ingredients and firewood, and so on.

There were also gardens, fruit trees, stables, and staff quarters that did not need to be described in detail.

On the 27th of the 5th lunar month, the wine house was fully equipped with staff. In such a large wine house, it was impossible for Qin Mian to personally be the cook. He had to hand over the recipes to the chef in batches. Four chefs were recruited by Lei Tie from the faraway Qingtian Prefecture and all of them signed the irrevocable title deed. Four female workers in their forties were responsible for the processing of ingredients and the cleaning of the kitchen. Eight waiters, two gardeners, eight cleaners, four purchasers, two stable keepers, and eight self-training usable staff signed the irrevocable title deed before they could be employed with ease. The wine house was a little big, so Qin Mian also provided the manager with an assistant for him to order around.

By the way, because Zheng Liu, Wang Shun, Chen Si, and Shi Tou in Eating Savory Restaurant were more experienced, Qin Mian transferred them to the wine house to be the waiters and sent four new staff to the restaurant. Eating Savory Restaurant was rented for only one year and would close down when it was due.Qin Mian had never done business in his previous life. Large wine houses were not as easy to manage as small restaurants. If there were any unsatisfactory areas, he could only adjust it later.

Before the wine house opened, Qin Mian first held a staff meeting. He implemented a strict reward and punishment system and a reporting system.

The four chefs were a group and a team leader was selected. The four female workers were a group and a team leader was also selected. The eight waiters were a group that was responsible for entertaining guests…..the eight home guards were a group. The manager was directly in charge of the purchasers.

The monthly salary of the team leader was 25% higher than that of the team members, meant as an encouragement. However, the position of the team leader was not fixed. If the work was not well done, the position would be removed, and another capable person would occupy it.

All staff could supervise each other. If a staff was found to have failed work, the other staff could report it to the report box anonymously. If it was verified, rewards would be given according to the level of merit. Those who made mistakes would be given oral criticism for the first time, fined for the second time, and dismissed for the third time. If they made a big mistake, they would be dismissed directly, and those with serious circumstances would be sent to prison.

As soon as such strict and meticulous regulations were issued, all the staff inwardly quivered. They felt awe for this seemingly insignificant little boss and secretly determined that they must not be careless in the future.

Qin Mian tempered justice with mercy, “Besides, all staff has a holiday on every 1st, 11th, and 21st of the month. Because the wine house can’t suspend operation, we’ll carry out holiday rotation system…”

“What? There are holidays every month?” Everyone was overjoyed. They had never heard of this!

“Be quiet. Listen to me first.” Qin Mian raised his hand as a signal, “For the four chefs, only one person can take a day off at a time, and the same goes for the four female workers… As for the eight waiters, two people can take a day off each time…The manager also has a day off. The big boss and I will temporarily take the place of the manager.”

“Many thanks, big boss and little boss.” Sun Maosheng, the manager of the wine house, said gratefully, “It’s my honor to follow the two masters.”

“When the wine house is really busy, if you are willing to give up your holiday and stay in the wine house to help, you can get twice the pay for overtime. For example, the monthly payment of the manager is 200 Wen. On average, it is about 7 Wen a day. In that case, you can get 14 Wen for an extra day’s work. If you give up your three holidays, you can get 42 Wen more every month.”

Everyone’s face grew happier and happier. Never underestimate this 42 Wen. It was enough to buy salt for a few months.

“A-Tie, do you want to add something?” Qin Mian looked at Lei Tie on his left.

Lei Tie finished the tea in the cup. His pair of sharp eyes ran slowly across everyone’s face. He said plainly, “Loyalty is the most important when working for us. If someone divulges the secret of the wine house…”

With a crack, the cup in his hand turned into a heap of fragments.

Everyone was shocked. They stood still and did not dare to move. They did not even dare to breathe.

Qin Mian smiled at them with an approachable smile, and said gently and honestly, “As long as you don’t make a mistake, nothing will happen, right? Alright, I’ve said everything I have to say. You can get familiar with the wine house’s environment in these two days. It’ll be very busy when it opens on the 30th of the 5th month.”

“Yes!”

“Manager Sun, I’ll leave it to you.” Qin Mian looked at Sun Maosheng.

Sun Maosheng cupped his hands and said, “Don’t worry, little boss.”

Qin Mian and Lei Tie rode home on horseback. Xile was cleaning the stable. When he saw the two masters coming back, he trotted to meet them and pulled the horse. There was a weird smile on his face.

“Little Young Master, there is a fight at the old house today.”Despite Xile suppressing his excitement, Qin Mian could still hear it in his voice. Although Xile talked a lot, he had a very tight mouth. He never talked about the farm residence outside. So after discovering that Xile’s inquisitive hobby, he kept one eye closed. He was interested in what Xile said and immediately asked, “What’s happened?”

Xile spoke clearly, “The second-gongzi told Old Madam Du that he wanted to send Lei Dabao to the school for enlightenment. Old Madam Du thought it was a bit early and refused. The second-gongzi was unwilling and took his wife to make a lot of noise2 in front of the old madam and the old master. The third-gongzi then took the opportunity to mention the separation and the fourth-gongzi followed along. Old Madam Du was very upset. While Madam Wei instigated disharmony, the second-gongzi and his wife followed to create a disturbance. Old Madam Du was driven beyond the limits of forbearance and slapped the second-gongzi’s wife.”

Qin Mian asked, “What happened afterward?”

“They had made trouble for nearly an hour and were suppressed by the old master. Lei Dabao’s enlightenment fell through and the separation didn’t happen.” Xile said neatly. He had long noticed that his masters and the few people in the old house were not getting along, so he paid special attention to the movement there.

“En.” Qin Mian was very satisfied with the news he got and gave Xile some money.

“Many thanks, Little Young Master.” Xile accepted the money happily.

Qin Mian and Lei Tie walked on the wooden bridge.

“A-Tie, if they split up, is it good or bad for us?” Qin Mian asked.

Lei Tie said spot on, “Split or not, Du Shi and Wei Shi will not split.”

Qin Mian said happily, “Exactly. So, let them make trouble.”

“Awoo awoo–” White Spot ran out of the woods. Its body stood upright and its two forepaws clung onto the front of Qin Mian’s chest as it rubbed him with its head.

Qin Mian patted its head. It put its forepaws down obediently and ran around Qin Mian and Lei Tie.

Two men and a wolf went around the orchard. The fruits were grown very good; big and juicy. Some of the peaches had already turned red and would mature in a few days. The cherries were already mature. The red cherries hung in the branches were like agate. Qin Mian and Lei Tie tasted it fresh. It was very sweet.

Upon hearing the movement, Uncle Fang took a wary glance at White Spot. White Spot had grown up. When it landed on all fours, its height was higher than that of an adult man’s knee, which made it quite a difference from that of dog kind. The villagers now knew that White Spot was not a dog but a wolf and they usually stayed away from it. Uncle Fang was no exception.

He looked at the cherry trees in front of him and reminded them, “Lei Tie and Lei Tie’s wife, the cherries here should be picked, or it will go bad.”

Qin Mian looked at the trees full of agate. A sense of achievement rose in his chest, “It’s time to pick. We’re going to use these cherries for cherry jam and cherry wine. But, we’re going to be very busy these days. I’ll think about how to arrange it first.”

“Cherry jam and cherry wine?” Uncle Fang strangely asked, “What is a cherry jam? Cherries can even be made into wine?”

Qin Mian only smiled and did not answer, “Uncle Fang has been working very hard recently. I’ll give you some to taste when it’s ready.”

Note:

FootnotesThe names bīn zhì rú guī mean guests feel at home (in a hotel, guest house, etc)argue