Chapter 842: A Failure

Su Xuanming's experiences during these days are really hard to recall.

Gousheng has more than 20 street thieves and beggars under his command, and their monthly mortgage payment is about four strings of coins.

But since the last time Poison Lady collected the money, he has never taken the initiative to give money.

Gousheng refused to give him money, and Su Xuanming was too embarrassed to ask for it, but his boss Du Niangzi had the nerve to ask him for it.

Su Xuanming thought about it and decided that it was only four strings of cash, not too much, so he paid it first.

Until now, when Su Xuanming thought of the strange look in Poison Lady's eyes that day, he wished he could dig a hole in the ground and crawl into it.

Gousheng found out about this from somewhere and not only did he not return the money, he also ran to Su Xuanming and cried poor.

Su Xuanming thought that Yunzhou was also a chaotic land in the beginning, and the people were poor and ignorant. In the end, A Niang led them to become rich, and the people were no longer as barbaric as before.

Perhaps, this is what the book says: "When the granaries are full, one will know etiquette."

So, Su Xuanming gave Gousheng a string of coins and asked him to distribute it to the beggars in the red-light district and find a good job instead of doing his previous business.

In the end, what did he get?

A Jinyiwei badge was stolen by a thief in the fireworks area.

Under normal circumstances, Gousheng should appear in front of Su Xuanming with the thief and the badge within half a day.

But what happened just now?

Gousheng actually played a double act with the thief, trying to cover up the matter and get away with it.

What’s the matter? Is Su Xuanming’s face so worthless?

Su Xuanming felt very aggrieved. He felt that his infatuation had been wasted and he shouldn't have been nice to this group of people.

After hearing his crying, Song Zhizhou was speechless.

Huang Jincheng looked at Su Xuanming, then at Song Zhizhou, his eyes seemed to say, "Brother Song, before you came here, you didn't tell me that Su Dalang was such a person!"

Suddenly, Huang Jincheng felt pain in his cheek.

If the main account fails, I wonder if Duke Yun is willing to start a new small account?

Huang Jincheng opened his mouth and finally found his voice: "Su Dalang, as a future noble, why do you have to be so obsessed with such a grassroots matter?"

Su Xuanming: "My mother asked me to come."

He didn't know what was going on, because he had handled all kinds of problems well before.

Why is it being done so badly now?

Song Zhizhou sighed. He couldn't let his elder brother persist in his wrongdoings. "Brother, because before you just made a request, the specific matters were left to the people below to handle."

"They say the world is like a chessboard, but people are people after all, not chess pieces. If you ask him to go east, he might go west, or even stay where he is."

Just like this time, Su Xuanming hoped to solve Gousheng and his men's material difficulties in exchange for their obedience and loyalty.

This trick might work if used on good people.

But who is Gousheng? And who are those beggars?

Gousheng's heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys are all black, and the lies he tells can even deceive himself.

For such a person, talking about benevolence, righteousness, and gratitude is like playing the lute to a cow.

If you give him one coin, he will think he can cheat dozens of coins out of you.

He is always greedy, ungrateful, and ungrateful. This is his rule of survival.

Song Zhizhou advised him sincerely: "Besides, what's the point of having such a person loyal?"

Getting half the result with twice the effort is not worth it.

Su Xuanming was stunned: "But he is the leader of the fireworks alley."

Song Zhizhou's eyes flashed with helplessness: "You are the boss. He can only manage the red-light district if you let him do so. If he doesn't listen to you, just change him. I don't believe that all the 20 or so people under him listen to him."

Because of Gousheng's high-pressure management style of beating and scolding at every turn, there are many people who want to kick him out and replace him as the leader.

Huang Jincheng closed his eyes, covered his ears, and pretended to be blind and deaf.

Their conversation involved the art of controlling people, which was not suitable for a businessman like me to listen to.

Su Xuanming fell into deep thought.

Before becoming an Imperial Guard, he didn't need to worry about whether his men were loyal to him, because all of his men were elite soldiers sent by A Niang.

Both his execution ability and loyalty are impeccable.

There are only a few things he needs to do over the years.

Stay in Kyoto, investigate the situation in Kyoto, and adapt to circumstances.

There is a special person in charge of investigating the situation in Kyoto.

As for improvisation, it doesn't seem to have much effect.

Su Xuanming felt very lost. Among A Niang's three children, was he the most useless?

"Okay, big brother, don't think too much, I'll take you to eat something delicious."

Since Huang Jincheng was paying for it anyway, Song Zhizhou chose to go to the Eight Immortals Tower without hesitation.

"Waiter, a tray of mountain cave plum blossom buns, a plate of Dongpo pork, a can of stewed mutton, and a plate of winter rabbit. For dessert, I'll have a plate of iced cold yuanzi."

The waiter said enthusiastically, "Sir, you are a good eater. I will be right here."

All the private rooms in the Eight Immortals Restaurant were booked, so Song Zhizhou and the other two sat at a table against the wall in the hall.

The guests at the table next to them had just sat down and were holding the menu, not knowing what to order.

When they saw Song Zhizhou ordering a lot of dishes, and the waiter even praised him for his ability to order, they said to the waiter, "Serve us one portion according to their order."

Song Zhizhou looked over in the direction of the voice. The men did not look or dress like people from Kyoto, so they must be from other places. He smiled and nodded to greet them.

The other party nodded in return.

Huang Jincheng had rarely been to Kyoto and was not very familiar with restaurants, so Prefect Song introduced some to him.

"The best ones for mountain cave plum blossom buns are made by Che's in the east of the street and Zhang's Hotel, followed by Wanglou. Baxianlou spent a lot of money to hire the pastry chef from Zhang's Hotel, you can try some later."

The mountain cave plum blossom buns are Wanglou’s main product, with thin skin, large fillings, and rich soup, and are soft, tender, and fragrant.

After his pastry chef was poached, his business declined a bit, which made the owner of Wang's Restaurant so angry that he cursed the richest man in Jiangnan behind his back.

Call him a wicked man who only knows how to waste money.

Song Zhizhou: "Dongpo meat is the color of agate, soft but not mushy, fat but not greasy, fragrant and delicious, with endless aftertaste. The chef who made this dish once went to Yunzhou for further study, and it is very authentic."

As for the winter rabbit dish, the rabbit meat is cut into shreds and cooked, then added with shredded radish, shredded green onion and other seasonings, and then served on fried bird's nest-shaped strips.

It is the most popular dish in winter for the people of Da Zhou. Of course, for the rich, they can eat it whenever they want.

Before the dishes were served, the out-of-town guests at the next table were drooling over what Song Zhizhou said.

"As expected of Kyoto, the food is exquisite."

"I heard that the Eight Immortals Restaurant here and the Nine Immortals Restaurant in Xixia have the same owner, but why do I feel that the dishes at the Eight Immortals Restaurant are more refined and richer?"

"Never mind, let's eat first and then talk about other things."