The changes at the Bread Workshop and the orphanage became connected the very next day.
After Mo Fei and Lina had finished making an entire cartload of bread, he heard a noise coming from the entrance.
Aiwen opened the gate and saw a man pushing a flatbed cart inside.
The moment he saw Mo Fei, he came forward enthusiastically and clasped his hand.
"You must be Director Mo. I've heard so much about you. I'm a servant from Earl Winter's household, and the young lady sent me to sell bread at the Bread Workshop... Of course, both my wages and the manager's will be paid by the earl's household. Our aim is really to help everyone make a success of this bakery..."
"So, going forward, we can discuss everything concerning the bakery together..." His expression was sincere, without a trace of the arrogance that came with belonging to an earl's household.
"And this flatbed cart is here to help transport the bread. Relying on manpower alone would be far too slow. We also plan to bring over the oven dismantled from the bakery for you to use... Please consider these our opening gifts! Hopefully, we can all help Miss Winter accomplish something..."
What he said was quite logical. He sounded nothing like an ordinary servant; someone of his caliber would have been a rare talent even in a merchants' association.
Yet such a talented person was now being so humble, which also showed just how powerful the Winter family was.
"Yes, I'm very willing to work with your ideas too. Today's bread is ready, so why don't we load it up first and talk as we transport it?"
"Of course!"
Once they had agreed, Mo Fei led the children in bringing all the bread outside.
They laid a clean cloth over the flatbed cart before setting out plenty of baskets, loading the bread into those for transport, and covering everything with more pieces of cloth.
Although it looked rather shabby, this method actually kept the bread very clean during transport.
This approach raised the man's opinion of Mo Fei somewhat.
As people from the earl's household, even the servants were of an unusual caliber.
And in coming here, he and the manager had a task of their own: to determine Mo Fei's true character through observation over time.
Fortunately, their first impression was not bad-in fact, it was quite good.
Mo Fei had the simplicity of someone from the lower classes, yet he also possessed a particularly distinctive air, which gave him considerable charm.
If not for Mo Fei's age, he would have thought the young lady had fallen for the fellow.
During the journey, Mo Fei also discussed some strategies for the future with the man.
The man's name was Stefan, and he had spent some time learning from the earl's butler. His advice was much the same as Mo Fei's original idea: since they were targeting the lower classes, they should follow that approach through to the end.
The vast majority of the bread they made would be cheap, good-value black bread.
And to make purchases easier, they would keep a large bread knife in the shop to cut it up, slicing off however much a customer could afford.
Buying it that way, however, would not offer as good a deal as purchasing a whole loaf at once.
Still, now that they had a storefront, he also suggested making some slightly higher-end breads and pastries to expand their range upmarket.
Mo Fei readily accepted this suggestion as well.
Of course, for a shop in the East End, however high-end they went, he would never make white bread. That would be far too extravagant.
However, he also took the initiative to offer steamed buns for sale here, though naturally not in large quantities.
Even so, this earned Mo Fei a few complaints from Vil-V.
"You clearly agreed that steamed buns were meant for my place. What's the meaning of selling them yourself?"
Fortunately, her complaints were more of a joke, and neither of them took them seriously. After all, no matter how one looked at it, Mo Fei still supplied the vast majority of his steamed buns to Vil-V's tavern.
Speaking of which, the reception this food had received at the Veterans' Tavern had to be mentioned.
The food there had originally been quite ordinary. Its specialty was the alcohol Vil-V brewed herself, which was not particularly strong but had a distinctive flavor and was especially refreshing in summer.
Later, after introducing steamed buns, she had paid a substantial sum to hire a skilled cook to provide dishes to go with them.
The standard of the dishes had risen considerably afterward.
As a result, some men who were not veterans also began coming here to eat and drink...
This ongoing positive feedback had raised the tavern's sales by more than one level, and Vil-V's success in business had also earned her the appreciation of that big shot in the military.
Her own child could now attend a military academy as well.
Everything seemed to stem from those seemingly simple steamed buns.
Returning to the Bread Workshop, they had chosen a different name to distinguish it.
Love Bread was the shop name they chose. To avoid trouble from gangs, they also added wording in a corner of the sign stating that it was sponsored by the Winter family, along with a small family crest.
The two managers would not actually have dared to take such a bold step themselves, but it was Mo Fei who had brought it up.
And after they reported it, the Winter family's butler had approved it outright, so that small change remained.
The orphanage's neighbors also learned the news from many of the children.
They all came to show their support. Some who had once slandered Mo Fei also came to buy bread out of guilt, and for a time, business here seemed to recover in an instant, becoming even better than before.
This filled both Stefan and the manager, Kalai, with even more confidence.
There was one other point: as mentioned before, besides those two, the children would also take part in selling bread here. This mainly meant Aiwen.
He was the oldest and the most sensible. As the orphanage's next mainstay, there were times when he needed to shoulder responsibility and grow up quickly.
Moreover, Mo Fei had another idea: he might entrust the orphanage to Aiwen in the future.
So letting him start getting involved in things was an excellent choice.
And he did not disappoint Mo Fei's trust. He did very well, learning plenty of useful things at Stefan's side, especially how to distinguish good from evil and right from wrong, and how to communicate with people.
As for the other child to be chosen, the children would take turns.
Apart from those too young to go out easily, Mo Fei planned to use this method to let them gradually get to know London and face the world as it was.
Then, when they reached a suitable age, being noticed and adopted by someone or becoming an apprentice and learning a trade would both be good options.
After all, from Mo Fei's limited knowledge of history, the many years ahead would be anything but simple.
The orphanage could only shelter them from wind and rain, but if they wanted to accomplish something, then when the storms arrived, they would bring both danger and opportunity.