Chapter 64 Chapter 64 Comparison. (First update)...
The Linzhi family ate happily and contentedly in the kitchen. At the same time, someone outside the shop noticed the fragrance wafting from the Linzhiji shop.
"This is strange," a customer carrying roast duck from Xie Da Mutton Restaurant followed the aroma to the entrance of Linzhiji. He sniffed carefully, then sniffed the oil-paper package in his hand. "Why does the roast duck at Linzhiji taste different from usual?"
"Is it the wrong smell? Maybe it's the smell of two roast ducks mixed together?"
"Maybe..."
"But it's only 68 cents per pound. It's such a good deal." Another diner said happily, lifting the oil-paper bag in his hand.
"I wonder how it tastes?"
"The Xie Da Mutton Restaurant's sign is there, so it's definitely better than a foot shop."
"That's right!"
"I remember Mr. Lin also reserved a roast duck in Linzhi. We have to go in and talk to him and ask him to cancel the order."
"Yes, yes." Several people entered the yamen talking and laughing, and took the opportunity to show off the cheap roast duck they bought.
Thanks to the low price and the reputation of Xie Da Mutton Restaurant, many people were tempted and bought it.
In just half a day, most of the roast duck at Xie Da Mutton Restaurant was sold out, and many people had made reservations to pick it up in the afternoon.
Even though the price cut brought in less than expected, the sheer volume of sales still made Xie Ping incredibly happy. He returned to the kitchen and instructed everyone to speed up the production, while he happily counted the bills.
At noon, he walked out of the shop with his hands behind his back, one to check the sales of his roast duck, and the other to check the business status of Linzhi Ji that day.
Just thinking about it, Xie Ping could imagine a chaotic scene. He walked briskly, thinking that he had to write down Lin Zhiji's embarrassing situation and report it to the soup chef.
Tsk, I really don't know what the Lin family did to offend the soup chef just by coming to Bianjing. Xie Ping felt a flicker of pity, then a surge of gloating. Thanks to their actions, he had the opportunity to climb this big tree.
But as soon as he reached the door, Xie Ping frowned and his heart skipped a beat: he saw people coming and going in Linzhiji, it was quiet and peaceful, and every diner who came out had a satisfied look on their face, looking no different from the past.
How is this possible!?
Xie Ping frowned and called the servant to ask around. He soon got the news: Linzhiji had indeed changed to selling roast goose, but today it was sold at the previous price of roast duck.
"Selling it at the price of roast duck?"
"Yes, but don't worry, my lord." Seeing Xie Ping's bad face, the servant hurriedly continued, "But that gentleman said that tomorrow's roast goose will cost 120 coins per pound, which is twice as expensive as ours!"
Xie Ping's expression just relaxed a little. It seemed that Linzhiji had no other choice. With their capital, if they sold roast goose at the price of roast duck, they would probably not make any profit but even lose money.
But putting aside the difference in taste between roast goose and roast duck, the price is really...
Xie Ping shook his head and sneered, "What a ridiculous price! A mere shoe shop is asking for 120 coins per pound."
Xie Ping felt that Linzhiji was courting its own destruction, so he returned to the shop with his hands behind his back. Unexpectedly, after tasting the roast goose in Linzhiji, everyone mentioned Xie Da Mutton Restaurant across the street.
"Huh? You said we can't order duck? There are so many shops!" A diner licked his lips and asked casually while looking at the roast goose sample with unsatisfied look.
Another diner used a toothpick to pick up a piece of roast goose and put it in his mouth. As the rich flavor spread between his lips and teeth, his eyes widened in surprise: "Hmm... roast goose is not bad!"
Several people had ordered roast duck yesterday, and after receiving the news, they wanted to cancel the order or bargain. Unexpectedly, the shop did not have roast duck and had replaced it with roast goose.
They were reluctant at first and were about to cancel the order when Lin Sen sent them roast goose samples, and their attitude suddenly changed 180 degrees.
"The ducks we used to use were of carefully selected breeds, weights, and even sizes. Only a few shops could provide them reliably. But then one shop said it was out of stock, and now all of them are."
Lin Sen was helpless and bowed to everyone, saying, "If we want to stabilize the supply again, we need to observe for another two days."
"Is there such a thing? I haven't heard that ducks are so bad recently..." The diner subconsciously continued, but suddenly felt something was wrong. He smacked his lips, and his eyes seemed to penetrate the wall, looking diagonally across the street at Xie Da Mutton Restaurant.
The others exchanged glances, all thinking the same thing. Someone couldn't help but whisper, "How shameless!"
Lin Sen pretended not to hear and asked with a smile, "Would you like to have more roast goose? I'm selling it at the original price today."
"What's the price then?"
"Roast goose is quite expensive, one pound costs 120 wen."
"This price is too high!" The diner's eyes widened, and he almost jumped up. The idlers, servants, and restaurant waiters in the neighborhood only earned about a hundred coins a day, which was not enough to buy a pound of goose meat.
If it's this price...
The diner hesitated for a moment, and then he could only buy the cheaper one.
Lin Sen looked at everyone's reactions and thought to himself, as expected.
In fact, they had such concerns when they finalized the price. After Xie Da Lamb Restaurant shamelessly reduced the price of roast duck, they were even more certain that price was a big problem.
Even though most of the customers nearby are officials, it is difficult to change their desire for bargains all of a sudden. Besides, the brand of Xie Da Lamb Restaurant is still solid and more popular than their new store.
Lin Sen narrowed his eyes and smiled, "But don't worry, sir. The price of roast goose is a little higher, but we also offer roast chicken."
"Roast chicken?"
"Yes." Lin Sen said with a smile, "The price of roast chicken is the same as roast duck, still 80 wen per pound."
The diners all paused. Linzhiji's roast duck was delicious, and its roast goose was delicious. I wonder what the roast chicken was like?
The diner who had just wanted to run away suddenly lost interest and started to feel itchy: "Ahem, then I'll order one?"
"I, I'll order one too..."
"I want a pound of roast goose and two roast chickens."
Lin Sen smiled and collected the money and recorded it neatly: "Okay."
After many diners left, only Chen Yan, Tao Yingce and Lu San were left in the shop.
"Can we help you with the supply?" Chen Yan asked bluntly. "My family owns restaurants and hotels, and we have channels specifically for supplying chicken, duck, fish and meat."
Tao Yingce nodded: "I have some at home too."
Lin Sen waved his hand: "Why bother Shen Lang and Tao Lang? We have a solution."
Chen Yan wanted to persuade them again, but seeing that Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang both looked very confident, he swallowed his words and changed his words, saying, "If there is any trouble, please feel free to ask Uncle Lin and Aunt Song. Don't hesitate."
"We know." Lin Sen suppressed his smile and answered solemnly.
As soon as the words fell, Lin Zhi lifted the curtain and leaned out: "Speaking of help, I really do have something I want to ask you for help."
Everyone was stunned, and only then did they suddenly realize what was going on after hearing Lin Zhi's words. Soon, several of them left the house, carrying oil-paper bags. Before leaving, they gestured to Lin Zhi, "Don't worry, we'll take care of it."
After sending everyone away, Lin Sen's face showed a bitter look: "This roast goose is priced at 120 Wen. It's really a bit difficult to sell. I think we should lower the price a little."
"One hundred and eighteen wen? One hundred and eight wen?" Lin Zhi asked rhetorically, then shook her head. "I'm afraid even if we raise it to ninety-eight wen, some people will still find it too expensive."
When Lin Sen heard this, he felt depressed and couldn't help but spit: "Xie Da Mutton Restaurant's owner is really sick."
Song Jiaoniang was also filled with righteous indignation. She huddled together with Lin Sen and cursed Xie Ping over and over, including his ancestors for eighteen generations.
Seeing this, Lin Zhi just found it funny: "Let him be happy for a few more days. Let's see how the situation develops first. We still have the trick of removing the fuel from the fire."
"……Too."
"Thankfully, Mother Zhang is a good person," Song Jiaoniang sighed, feeling rather depressed. Her daughter had previously said that others, seeing her family making money, would definitely try to take advantage of them, but she hadn't expected them to act so quickly.
Fortunately, Zhang's mother was an honest person. When she saw someone offering her money to peek or steal the spices used to pickle duck in Linzhi, she quickly told the family of three.
"When the time comes, I might even have to ask Mother Zhang for help." Lin Zhi narrowed her eyes. "If Xie Da's roast duck sells well, let him have a taste of having his business taken away from him. Let's see if he can still act like a big restaurant."
Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang thought about it and laughed out loud. They even began to look forward to the scene where Xie Da Lamb Restaurant's business would get better and then plummet. They didn't know what kind of expression Manager Xie would have at that time.
"Oh, that's it." Song Jiaoniang held up her face, feeling a little regretful: "I shouldn't have asked Chen Lang and the others to help spread the word. I should have let this matter ferment for a few days."
"That's right."
"..." Lin Zhi rolled her eyes at the two of them and went into the kitchen without looking back: "What do you want to eat for lunch?"
"Crab Jiaozi? Pair it with rice noodle soup."
"Eating crab dumplings again? I'm a bit tired of it. A vegetarian dumpling will do." Lin Sen shook his head.
"You're saying... you deserve a beating?"
"? I'd be surprised if I didn't get tired of it—Ouch!" Lin Sen ran away, holding his head in his hands, aggrieved: "I just want to eat something with vegetarian filling!"
Linzhi wordlessly lowered the curtain, treating her parents' quarreling as background noise as she prepared lunch.
At the same time, Chen Yan and the others also returned to the Dali Temple. Lu San said goodbye to the two officials and walked all the way to the lounge for the minor officials.
As soon as he entered, someone greeted him: "Is Lu here?"
"Mr. Lin." Lu San greeted him hurriedly, then found a place to sit down, and casually flipped out a file, as if he was going to read it while eating.
Mr. Lin couldn't help but secretly admire Lu San's diligence, but as a minor clerk, diligence alone would be of little use. He still had to establish a good relationship with the official.
Then he suddenly thought of the gossip of others. It was said that this Lu San often worked with Mr. Tao and Mr. Shen. Although the former was an eighth-rank Sizhi, he had solved several major cases in succession and was clearly a rising star in the Dali Temple.
Although the latter is a minor official, he is the cousin of Mr. Tao and is from a yamen family. His future prospects are uncertain.
Lin Guanren felt jealous, but also wanted to get close to him: "Did Officer Lu buy it at Linzhiji today? Why didn't he return it? As soon as someone told me about this, I rushed over. We officials don't make money easily, so we have to save money!"
"Look! Xie Da Mutton Restaurant is also selling roast duck starting today. Not only is the price even cheaper, only 68 wen per pound, but it also tastes really good. Would you like to try it?"
When Lu San came in, he noticed that the oil paper bags and food boxes on the tables of several people all had traces of Xie Da Mutton Restaurant. He wanted to wait until he tasted the roast goose before making any decision, but he didn't expect that Mr. Lin would be more proactive.
He gladly accepted it, smiled, stood up, and walked over to the group with the food box in hand. "Speaking of which, Linzhiji just changed their food. They say they'll be making roast goose and roast chicken from now on."
"What a coincidence?"
"I heard that there was a problem with Linzhiji's duck import channel, and the duck shop was unwilling to sell to them." As soon as Lu Sanyi said this, several people around him frowned immediately. They understood the connection between the two.
"But I haven't seen any roast chicken today, only roast goose." Lu San sat in the empty seat, put the food box on the table, and then opened the lid.
The location he chose was very clever, placing the roast goose right next to the roast duck.
The roast goose was shiny and glossy, with a reddish-red color and golden hues, and the roast duck had a wrinkled skin and was slightly uneven in color. They looked similar when not put together, but when compared, Mr. Lin always felt that the roast duck was dull and even its fragrance was suppressed.
Mr. Lin's Adam's apple rolled as he swallowed softly. He glanced at his own portion, then at Lu San's, and a thought occurred to him: I had returned the Linzhiji roast duck, hadn't I made a mistake?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
