The shopkeeper worked quickly and soon prepared a table full of food.

The food prepared at Wangyuelou Restaurant in Jiangnan naturally suits the tastes of Jiangnan, being refreshing and light, with natural ingredients carrying the unique flavors of the food, making it very delicious.

Tong Cheng'er isn't a glutton, but she ate quite a lot.

Finished eating.

"This cook does have some skill."

The chefs who accompanied us on this trip were all imperial chefs from the palace. It's not that their cooking was bad, but we ate it so often that it didn't taste as fresh as the authentic dishes from Jiangnan.

"If you like, you can bring them along."

Wangyue Tower is his property, so it's not a problem for him to bring a chef with him.

Tong Cheng'er shook her head: "There's no need. I still prefer the food made by chefs in the capital. I only eat Jiangnan occasionally. If I eat it often, I'm afraid I'll get tired of it."

Actually, he also had a chef in his household who was good at making Jiangnan cuisine, but that chef often stayed in the capital, so the dishes he made didn't have that authentic feel.

Seeing that the young consort was only interested in something new, Yinzhen suddenly had an idea.

"What do you think about reporting a Qing Dynasty culinary competition after returning to Beijing?"

Tong Cheng'er was taken aback upon hearing this.

A food competition?

What does this person want to do?

"How did you come up with the idea to do this?"

Reporting a food competition without sponsorship requires offering sufficiently attractive prizes, otherwise it won't attract truly skilled chefs.

If I don't do well, I'll probably be accused of not doing my job properly.

In Tong Cheng'er's view, this matter was rather thankless and arduous for their current situation.

It's not that it's bad, it's just unnecessary.

Yinzhen said in a serious tone, "In order to boost the economy of the capital."

Having often heard Tong Cheng'er talk about modern policies, Yinzhen also learned a lot of modern terms.

Food competitions can indeed boost the economy, but doing it now feels somewhat inappropriate. However, it's fine if he really wants to do it.

"Okay, when do you plan to do it?"

Yinzhen: "No rush, let's discuss this when we get back to the capital."

The Qing Dynasty is no small country; it needs some publicity first, lest the arrival of mediocre people be misled.

Seeing that he was determined, Tong Cheng'er couldn't help but think about it more deeply. If the food competition were to be held, there would definitely be plenty of delicious food.

As she thought about it, Tong Cheng'er smiled.

When Yinzhen saw it, he was happy. If she was happy, then his goal had been achieved.

For Yinzhen, the food competition was somewhat pointless; it would be better not to hold it at all. However, since his young wife had come with him, allowing her to taste all the delicacies in the world was something Yinzhen was extremely happy to do.

However, don't tell her about this.

In the afternoon, Yinzhen took Tong Cheng'er to buy a lot of specialties from Jiangnan. Jiangnan has a rich literary culture, and there are many fine things such as writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. Yinzhen rarely came across anything he liked, so he bought quite a lot.

Tong Cheng'er was more interested in the storybooks. After browsing through several stores, she found that the storybooks from Jiangnan and those from the capital had a lot in common, and the ones that were popular now were ones she had already read.

That's exactly what she had read. Yinzhen opened a storybook shop for her, and whenever a new storybook came out, he would copy it and send it to her immediately.

Tong Cheng'er entered a shop selling imported goods midway through her journey. She saw some strange and unusual things inside. Although she didn't think they were very technologically advanced, they were different in the eyes of a child.

The Qiqiaoyuan can now produce things on its own without her giving any ideas, but perhaps because Tong Cheng'er's focus is different, there are fewer toys for children now.

Seeing that they were well-dressed, the shopkeeper hurried over to greet them. There was almost no one in the shop, which didn't surprise me. Tong Cheng'er knew the reason at a glance: the prices were too high, and most people probably couldn't afford them.

They're in the high-end business.

The shopkeeper said enthusiastically, "Gentlemen, take a look and see if there's anything you like. As long as it's an imported product, as long as you can name it, we have it in our shop."

That's no small matter.

Tong Cheng'er thought for a moment and asked, "Do you have a clock?"

The shopkeeper could tell at a glance that this was a big customer.

A typical shop selling imported goods might only sell a pocket watch, and even then, the quantity was limited. A clock could be worth more than the entire shop. Anyone who could ask for a clock, or even just know about clocks, was already considered quite knowledgeable.

The shopkeeper's smile widened even more: "You gentlemen have come at the perfect time! We just received two clocks yesterday. Why don't you take a look?"

The two were stunned by the shopkeeper's words. Clocks were rare items, even among the wealthy and powerful in the capital.

Because of their rarity, many people don't even know that clocks exist, and even fewer know about pocket watches.

They randomly entered a shop and found two of them, which was really "strange" in a way.

Yinzhen: "Then I'll have to trouble you, shopkeeper."

The shopkeeper said, "No trouble at all, no trouble at all."

Big customers, there's money to be made, what's the trouble?

He would love for something like this to happen every day, every moment!

The shopkeeper immediately had the shop assistants bring out two clocks.

That's right, it was carried by lifting.

The clock is indeed very large.

The clock was brought out.

Yinzhen glanced at it and realized it was indeed quite good; his father had placed one in his study in the Qianqing Palace, which was only slightly larger than this one.

Tong Cheng'er also stared at it. To be honest, this was the first time Tong Cheng'er had ever seen a clock from abroad from the Qing Dynasty. It was very beautiful. Although it had a retro feel to it, it was indeed very beautiful.

Upon seeing this, Yinzhen asked, "Do you like it?"

Tong Cheng'er nodded: "It's really good."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!