[Pride and Prejudice] Mary's Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 21 is ready to open

Mary and her sisters lived in Uncle Gardiner's house. Uncle Gardiner introduced the craftsmen and workers he knew well. Mary explained her request to the decoration workers face to face, and wrote it down on paper to hand over to the decoration workers in order not to forget. As a craftsman, she has to go to the store to inspect the progress every day, and when she encounters dissatisfaction, she can communicate with the craftsmen in time for them to modify. Jane and Elizabeth always accompany her to share a lot of work for her.

This time, Mary decided to design a logo for the food store. Unfortunately, none of the three sisters has a talent for painting. Mary originally planned to use the abbreviation F·B of Fanny Bennet to draw a rose underneath. Jane and Elizabeth complained: "It's so ugly!" But those two people were also the elder brother and the second elder brother, and they couldn't provide any feasible solutions at all. In the end, the three sisters could only stare blankly.

In the end, Elizabeth came up with a solution. The three of them came to Fleet Street, which was full of publishing houses and newspaper offices. Naturally, there were many illustrators who accompanied them. Elizabeth suggested that professionals should be hired to solve this problem.

In the end, the three of them spent a pound and asked an illustrator from The Times to design a beautiful trademark pattern for them: rose vines twisted into a rectangle, with Fanny Foods written in the middle blank, black and white illustration style Simple and elegant.If painted with colors, red flowers, dark green vines, and black fonts are also very elegant and eye-catching as a signboard.

Mary decided to change Meriton's grocery store sign to something like this when she went back.Mr. Lake also liked it very much after seeing it, and suggested that Mary mark this trademark on all the utensils in the food store, such as tableware, tables and chairs, napkins, curtains, and staff uniforms.

Mary thought, in this case, the styles of the three stores should be unified, including the interior decoration, furniture, utensils, and clothing. In the future, all stores will use a unified style of decoration and decoration, and use uniform specifications of utensils and furniture.This job was handed over to Jane and Elizabeth. Their aesthetics were several grades higher than Mary's. Mary felt that she should make use of her strengths and avoid her weaknesses. It would be better to give everyone a chance to let everyone show their strengths. She would not add to that mess!

The preparatory work was carried out step by step, everyone was running at high speed, even Elizabeth and Jane were busy with their pace.This time, Mr. Bennet has completely become a hands-off shopkeeper, even refusing to come to London, and letting his three daughters do whatever they want.

Sometimes Mary really admires this dear father. Even after two years of "hard work", the Bennet family has only charged three to five dollars more than in previous years. £1500 is definitely not a small sum for this family, but After this gentleman took out the money in heartache, he just ignored it and ignored it. He didn't care what the three daughters did, wouldn't he be afraid that the three daughters would spoil the store?

Two weeks later, Mr. Lake said that the company had been registered, and it was called Fanny Foods. Mary was really surprised by Mr. Lake's efficiency. You must know that the registration process of the company is cumbersome, and it is related to all aspects. Dealing with the tax collectors is annoying enough.Even in Mary's previous life, Mr. Lake was fast and efficient, which gave Mary more confidence in the future of the company.

Mr. Lake said with a smile: "Some of my father's connections are still there, and I have some friends. I still have some left over from the two hundred pounds you gave me."

"Even if you rely on money to unblock, this kind of efficiency is very rare."

"I have also recruited a few chefs and shop assistants, do you want to meet?"

Mary thought for a while and said, "I'm going to take them to Meriton for training. Let's talk about it when we get to Meriton."

"Let me go too. Last time I just glanced at it briefly. This time I want to have a deeper understanding, which will benefit my future work."

Mary smiled: "Of course, you are their boss, and you have to know more than them to deter and lead them."

Jane, who has always been quiet, expressed doubts about this training after she knew about it: "Do I have to go back to Meriton for training? Can't I do it in London? It's a lot of money for so many people to go to Meriton."

Indeed, there were eighteen of these people, including six chefs, ten shop assistants, and two shop managers. The training period for these people ranged from one to two weeks, and the cost of accommodation in Meriton was also a sum of money.The degree of participation of Jane and Elizabeth in this venture is much deeper than the last time when they opened a store in Meryton. The cost of a big store is several times that of Meridon. Seeing the pound in her hand flowing out like water, Jane is still a little frightened, thinking that she can save as much as she can.

Elizabeth persuaded her: "If we train in London, we have to recruit Meridon's staff, and all the conditions are not met. I am afraid that the employees will not be able to master the skills they should master, and Meridon's The food store is our foundation, and it will definitely pay off for them to go there and experience it, and it is well worth the money.”

Mary gave Elizabeth a thumbs-up. She was indeed the most astute among the sisters, and she understood everything without her pointing.Jane is not good at arguing with others, and was persuaded by Elizabeth.However, here Jane and Elizabeth are responsible for the decoration of two shops. The two of them will go together, going to one in the morning and one in the afternoon. This is not an easy job, so the two of them simply stayed in London this time and did not go back.

Mary and Mr. Lake came back with a few carriages. Recently, they traveled back and forth between London and Meriton. The busy life gave her an illusion, as if she was still living in that era, riding a horse every day. Her electric car runs back and forth between her residence and the company. She never travels, and rarely goes shopping in the mall. Her only goal is to save money and save money.It's the same now, fortunately, she doesn't have nothing like in her previous life, but she still has to work hard to save some pension money, let's see what her life is like?She can't complain about her bad luck, after all, she is a middle-class lady now, if she is not satisfied, she will be struck by lightning!

When she arrived in Meriton, Mary noticed a very special person getting out of the carriage, and she asked Mr. Lake who was in the same car: "Is that lady also our employee?"

Mr. Lake looked in the direction Mary pointed, she was a young lady, tall and pale, with light red hair and ice blue eyes, fair skin, elegant and handsome, but with tight lips Pressed tightly, with a serious face, she seems to be a stubborn girl.

"Oh, that's Miss White, she's here to apply for a cook, and she's pretty good at it!" said Mr. Lake.

"Cook?" Mary was surprised. "She really doesn't look like a cook who deals with pots and pans." She looks like a well-bred lady.

"In fact," Mr. Lake coughed dryly, "she is the sister of a friend of mine. I was entrusted by his brother to find a job for her, but she is really good at cooking. Miss White's mother is a An excellent cook, she inherited her mother's talents."

"Okay. I hope this lady won't be wronged." The cook is not a decent job, and the cook's daughter is obviously well-educated, and her bearing is more like that of Kitty and Lydia. A decent lady, I don't know why she came out to do such a low-status job. According to Mary's knowledge, if such a woman wants to find a job as a tutor, she can pass the test only by relying on her elegant appearance.However, this is someone else's business, and Mary is not too concerned about it, so she forgets it as soon as she turns her head.

This episode passed quickly. Mr. Lake had already been to Meridon once. After he arranged the people in the Old Louis Hotel very quickly, he took them to the food store. These people were walking on the streets of Meridon. , aroused everyone's curiosity, and some acquaintances pulled Mary to ask what these people were here for. When they found out that they were employees of a company invested by Mr. Bennet in London, it caused an uproar, and many people came to Fanny's food store to find out, which made the sales of the food store hit a new high within a few days. Fortunately, with the addition of these newbies, they will not be overwhelmed.

As a know-it-all in the town, Aunt Philip must go to Longbourne to learn more about her sister, but Mrs. Bennet knows very little. She only knows that her husband has invested in two more food stores, and now they have a special manager to manage all of them. .But despite all this, Mrs. Bennet still thinks that she is the man of the town now, and people are talking about them these days, which relieves her recent boredom because of Jane and Mary's disobedience.

She even condescended to speak to Mary, and she made a request to Mary: since the touring troupe is coming to Meryton again, she would like to let Mary make an allowance so that Kitty and Lydia can be on tour during this period. For a while, I was able to go out and watch a play.Mary thought about it, and put forward a condition: If the two children can complete the homework on time and pass Miss White's assessment, there will be no problem. After all, she is also from that age, and she knows that the education of the children must consider the combination of work and rest. Excessive High-pressure policies will only backfire and arouse children's rebellious hearts.

When Kitty and Lydia heard the news that they could "release the air" for them, they happily jumped three feet high. Lydia happily put her arms around Mary's neck and said, "You are so kind." The bear child completely forgot how she cursed Mary behind her back during this time.

However, when the traveling theater company came, it coincided with the opening of the food shop in London.Mr. Bennet will not go, but Mary must go and see how things are going, and Jane and Elizabeth, who are still in London.Kitty and Lydia have recently let go of their minds and become bolder, and dared to bargain with Mary: "Let's go to London too, and we can help or something?"

"How can you help?" Mary sneered.

"We can serve dishes, collect money, settle accounts, or help in the kitchen," said Lydia hastily, and Kitty nodded like a chicken pecking rice.

"I'm afraid you'll break the plates when you're serving them, and you're sure to miscalculate the money, and you'll just make a mess in the kitchen!" Mary firmly refused, "And this is all done by the guys in the store. There is no use for it." She pointed at her two younger sisters with her finger: "We have promised to let you go to the touring theater to watch a play, so stay in Meryton obediently, and you can't push your feet!"

The two younger sisters were so angry that they would not have mentioned the matter of going to the theater if they knew it earlier, but now they have no place to go to London, they are so angry!

The author has something to say:

Mr. Darcy will appear in Chapter 26, let's count down: 5 chapters until Darcy appears!