Shopkeeper Zhou said carelessly, "Go ask that old woman if she wants a cup of tea."
1
Beggars often came to the tavern entrance asking for tea and leftover food. He had seen it many times, so he wasn't surprised.
The waiter went over to ask. Cheng Loanloan glanced at the menu. The price of noodles wasn't much different from the stalls outside; it was ten copper coins a bowl.
Two months ago, a bowl of noodles would have sold for about six copper coins. But the harvest was poor, food prices rose, and everything related to food also increased in price, while wages did not.
Two months ago, working as a porter at the dock could earn thirty to fifty copper coins a day. But now, with the drought, the land couldn't be cultivated, and all the men in the village went to work as porters, so wages were lowered. They earned twenty copper coins a day, which was just enough for two bowls of noodles. Naturally, these porters couldn't bear to eat an expensive bowl of noodles.
Cheng Loanloan ordered five bowls of noodle soup. The waiter was a little surprised, not expecting a woman dressed like her to spend fifty copper coins on noodles.
The waiter informed the kitchen to cook the noodles. Just then, another group of customers entered the main hall, dressed in silk and brocade. The shopkeeper personally stepped forward to greet them and led them to a room on the second floor. After leaving the room, the shopkeeper stood behind the kitchen door and instructed, "Eight-Treasure Duck, Assorted Chicken, Five Treasures, Braised Lion's Head... bring up a pot of wine."
Each time the shopkeeper announced a dish, Cheng Loanloan swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
She calculated that this table of food would cost at least three taels of silver.
She was still very poor and didn't dare to order such expensive dishes. She had to work hard to earn a lot of money in the future, so that one day she could eat whatever she wanted.
The four boys sitting around them kept swallowing their saliva.
They bowed their heads and frantically ate their bowls of plain noodles. Actually, eating noodles was already delicious, and drinking the noodle broth was already very good. They had noodles to eat and yet they were not content, daring to fantasize about eating something like a lion's head...
But what exactly was a lion's head? Was it a lion's head chopped off and made into food?
The four boys racked their brains but couldn't imagine what kind of dish it was.
The mother and five children quickly finished their lunch. Cheng Loanloan took out fifty copper coins and went to the counter to pay.
The shopkeeper was flicking the abacus. Seeing her approach, his fingers paused. He counted the money and said with a smile, "Walk slowly, no need to see you off."
Cheng Loanloan didn't leave. She smiled and said, "Shopkeeper Zhou, have you ever heard of 'ice jelly'?"
Shopkeeper Zhou's fingers paused. Of course, he had heard of ice jelly. It had started selling three days ago at the mouth of the He Kou town river, and some customers had even invited him to a bowl of ice jelly when they entered. But he was very busy and couldn't spare the time to see what this ice jelly actually was.
Cheng Loanloan scraped the bottom of her bucket and took out a bowl of crushed ice jelly. Because it was broken, it no longer had any shape, but the taste remained unchanged.
She handed over the bowl of ice jelly: "Shopkeeper Zhou, please try it. If you think it's good, we can discuss cooperating to sell ice jelly. If not, then I'll have to go find Shopkeeper Yang of Cui Xian Lou across the street."
Upon hearing these words, Shopkeeper Zhou's eyes immediately widened.
The Drunken Immortal Restaurant stood before him like a colossal mountain. His life's goal was to surpass the Drunken Immortal Restaurant and become the number one restaurant in Hekou Town.
However, his Auspicious Restaurant was an ancestral business, while the Drunken Immortal Restaurant was a chain, having come all the way from Huzhou to do business here. He felt that he would never be able to achieve his goal in his lifetime.
It was fine if he couldn't achieve it, but how could he let the Drunken Immortal Restaurant leave him so far behind?
Shopkeeper Zhou took a sip of the ice jelly, becoming even more resolute in his decision. He opened his mouth and said, "The ice jelly recipe, would eight taels of silver be acceptable?"
Cheng Luoluo: "..."
Why were all these shopkeepers so fixated on buying the recipe?
Seeing her look troubled, Shopkeeper Zhou raised the price: "How about ten taels of silver? If ten taels isn't enough, then twelve taels. This is the highest price I can offer."
"Shopkeeper Zhou, why don't we think about it from a different angle?"