The busy day passed quickly without rest, and the noble ladies left reluctantly. It was their first time trying these new things, and they felt time flew by too fast. Before they could fully enjoy themselves, the teahouse had to close.
Yaelle did not run the teahouse overnight like modern places. First, staying up all night is bad for health.
Second, the current lighting was poor, relying on lamps. Since summer was here, more lamps would make it too hot.
Also, having many open flames inside was unsafe. Nowadays, few places could pass fire safety inspections. Her modern place, less than 150 square meters, needed at least three fire extinguishers and regular community checks.
She barely used natural gas in the kitchen but still had to install a gas leak alarm.
After sending off the last guest, Yaelle hurried to the accounting room to calculate the day's income. All private rooms were full. Four tables played mahjong, and the others played Dou Di Zhu.
There were morning and afternoon sessions. Mahjong earned 16 taels, and card games earned 28 taels.
With a 20% discount, the total was 35.2 taels. Tea was free in private rooms, so the income was just from the games.
In the main hall, more than ten pots of tea were sold in both sessions. Tea was cheap, but after the discount, it still brought in over 2 taels.
Tea cost very little since normal tea leaves were used. A small pot barely needed one qian of tea leaves. The ladies drank flower tea with some throat-soothing rock sugar and dried fruit, costing just a few qian per pot.
Sunflower seeds cost about one tael per plate. They used about 10 jin of seeds a day, bought from her brother's grocery store.
Farmers sold their goods to the store at fixed prices, and her brother gave her the same price as the store. One jin cost eight or nine qian. The seeds were roasted by a craftsman she hired.
The main hall earned nearly 2 taels pure profit, and private rooms earned 35 taels pure profit. After paying wages, the total income for the day was 37 taels.
All the staff were hired from her family, costing 16 taels a month. The daily income covered their wages.
Two waiters earned one tael per month each, the accountant earned two taels, and the manager earned three taels.
Two storytellers and one singer were trained by Yaelle herself. Storytellers just needed to read clearly with some expression, which was easy.
Singers only needed a good voice and to stay in tune. Yaelle provided the scripts and songs. Each performer earned two taels a month.
They performed in shifts, each working about four hours a day. Nobody could talk or sing nonstop for long, so she was considerate.
Meal arrangements were simple. At meal times, someone went to the restaurant to pick up food.
Her brother arranged special staff meals with two meat dishes, two vegetables, and one soup, enough for about ten people. Modern restaurants offered staff meals with one meat, two vegetables, and one soup, charging 12 yuan per person.
The cost was about seven or eight yuan. Restaurants also needed to make a profit. In the ancient times, prices were lower.
Her meals cost about one hundred qian per meal. Two meals a day cost about two hundred qian, or about two taels a month.
Her brother did not charge her, and she shared profits from the restaurant.
Yaelle smiled with eyes nearly closed. She earned the equivalent of 37,000 yuan in one day, even better than the jewelry shop.
But the excitement was from the novelty. Once the newness faded and discounts stopped, business might drop.
She brewed all the tea herself that day, but it was easy. She taught the waiters and the manager.
Ancient people were better at tea than her. After a few days, they would do it themselves. She only planned to check the accounts monthly.
She did not want to exhaust herself. She made a price list like a modern noodle shop, showing the price for each tea clearly.
That evening, she happily returned home and just sat down to drink tea when Attendant Sean said the young master had arrived.
Yaelle smiled brightly and greeted him: "Brother, how was yesterday?" Actually, the question was unnecessary.
From Michael's smile, she already knew the trial went well.
Today, the income from mahjong and card games reached several dozen taels, not including the customers who came to eat. The guests were eager to try the new games, and when it was meal time, they ordered food from the store. After eating, they played cards in small groups, and the private rooms were all full.
At night, they ate at the store again before leaving, saying they would come back tomorrow and bring friends along. Michael really admired Yaelle for studying so many different game styles. If someone taught a new game every day, people would keep coming back for several days.
Also, they would not get bored so quickly. If he was free, he would watch others play a few rounds beside him. It made him want to join in; it was very attractive.
"Oh, that's a good idea. Don't teach all the games at once. Playing often keeps the interest alive.
Teach a new game every few days to attract customers and prevent others from copying too quickly. It will take almost a month to teach all the games. By then, we will have made money and built a reputation. We won't worry about others copying us."
The first three days the place was full. Mahjong sets increased every day. Now Yaelle and Michael each had eight sets.
But she planned to make mahjong sets to sell. It was better to earn the money herself than let others copy. The wooden sets were just temporary.
Later, she would make sets from marble and cheap jade materials. When she made enough, she would replace all the store's sets with jade ones. That would look classy and attract more customers.
After seven or eight days, business stabilized. Since prices went back to normal and more mahjong sets were available, daily income was still around forty taels. It was quite good.
Michael's side was similar. Selling mahjong sets earned good money too. These were rare items with high prices.
Ordinary sets cost three or four taels, and the better the material, the higher the price. Some sets sold for hundreds of taels. As the weather got hotter, shops on the street began selling ice.
The price was surprisingly high, but it was a good business. In winter, they dug ice cellars to store ice for summer sales. It took a lot of work and resources.
Yaelle did not want to waste money this way, so she thought of making ice with saltpeter. Thanks to all her former physics and chemistry teachers, even though she was not a top student, she still understood the basics.
She knew that saltpeter and water could make ice, but the exact ratio needed testing. That was not a problem. Once she knew the method, she had time to experiment.