Chapter 22 Chapter 22 Looking at Shen Xuan making this tea cleanly...
Looking at the clean and exquisite tea making of Shen Xuan, it seems that the ingredients used are real.
The students who were still waiting and watching now rushed forward, wanting to taste the honey custard tea.
A long line suddenly formed in front of Chen Xuan's stall, and he was almost overwhelmed. He could only ask Liu Ge'er and the others to go somewhere else first, and then he would go to Dai Yue Tower to treat them to dinner after he was done.
"A cup of Tieguanyin honey custard tea."
"Two cups of Biluochun honey custard tea."
"Another cup of jasmine honey custard tea."
…
A lot of people came to buy tea at once, so Shen Xuan simply made a lot of cups at once. Then collect money from everyone, and let them take one cup after another.
After a while, during the short one-hour lunch break, more than seventy of the two hundred teacups prepared by Shen Xuan were sold.
At this time, the bell for the afternoon class at Lezhou Academy rang, and the students returned to the academy one after another. Only then did Shen Xuan's stall become idle.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long sigh. I've been busy for so long that I haven't had time to eat. I'm starving.
Shen Xuan quickly put all the things into the stall cart and parked the car in Widow Ge's yard.
Although we opened late this morning, we made 700 coins right away, which is a good start.
This time, it was all thanks to Brother Liu who brought people to support him, and he hurried to Daiyue Tower. We promised to treat Liu Ge'er and the others to a meal, so we can't neglect them.
Daiyue Tower is one of the high-end restaurants on Jinli Street. Unlike Guiyun Tower which is full of literati and poets, it does not hold elegant gatherings. There were also many women and men among the guests.
Brother Liu and his friends took a seat in the private room by the window on the second floor, and had been waiting for Shen Xuan for quite some time.
When Shen Xuan arrived, he quickly asked the waiter to serve a table of food and wine. A steamed sea bass, a dish of braised lamb, a dish of jade meatball soup, a plate of home-cooked tofu and stir-fried vegetables.
This table of food cost two hundred coins and was already a very decent meal.
Shen Xuan wanted to spend money to order another pot of good tea, but was stopped by Liu Ge'er and others.
Wen Ge'er was straightforward. He didn't care whether they were in someone else's shop or not. He said bluntly, "Don't waste your money. The good tea here costs 100 coins a pot, but it's not as good as the tea you make."
Shen Xuan felt a little embarrassed by his praise, so he could only invite him to have tea again in the future.
Brother Liu and his companions were not polite and just said to him, "Of course we will go, but you just opened today and business is so good. I'm afraid you will be too busy in the future. If we come next time, I don't know if there will be anything for us to drink. Please remember to save a cup of tea for us."
Shen Xuan thought that what they said was really exaggerated, and quickly said that their cup would definitely not be missing.
After the group had lunch, Shen Xuan hurried back to Widow Ge's house and pushed the stall cart out.
I didn’t expect that as soon as I opened the stall, someone came to my door.
The servant who bought three cups of tea just now came back. He anxiously handed over 120 coins to Shen Xuan and said, "My dear brother, you are back. You kept me waiting for a long time! Give me four more cups of the three flavors of tea just now."
"Hey, I'll do it right away." Shen Xuan was also stunned when he heard it. This is a big customer! I bought twelve cups of tea at once!
So after he received the copper coins, he immediately washed his hands and started making tea. After a while, all twelve cups of tea were ready.
The servant boy then said to him, "I can't carry so much tea by myself. Please help me carry it over."
"Okay, no problem." Shen Xuan quickly asked Widow Ge to come out and help him look after the tea stall, and then he and the book boy each carried six cups of tea and walked into the academy.
This was his first time entering Lezhou Academy. Usually, there were only young students and teachers, all men, in this kind of academy. Boys and girls were not allowed to enter.
However, Shen Xuan was wearing a headband, so he looked no different from any other man. The guard at the door could not tell that he was a boy, and seeing that he was following the servant boy, he let him in.
Lezhou Academy has four courtyards. There is a porch at the entrance. After turning inside and passing through a garden, you will reach the place where students study.
This is the break between two classes. The teacher was not there, so many students gathered together to chat and brag.
Among them was a young man of about seventeen or eighteen years old who was different from the other students who were wearing scholar's clothes. She was dressed in silk and satin, with a gold lock around her neck and two imperial green jade pendants of Pisces fish around her waist. Even the hair crown on her head was made of the finest white jade.
This noble young man is none other than Xiao Jue, the only son of the Xiao family, a wealthy merchant family in Lezhou City that specializes in jade business.
Because Master Xiao had only this one son after spending most of his life, he had always doted on him. He spent hundreds of taels of pocket money on him on a daily basis and was used to being the host in this academy.
At this time, he was talking about Shen Xuan's honey custard tea with the students gathered around him: "I just tasted the tea. Not only is the name auspicious, but the taste is better than the tea in Dai Ming's restaurant. So I asked someone to buy a few cups and invite you to try it."
"Sir, here is the honey custard tea you ordered." The servant hurried forward and placed the tea on the table in front of him. Shen Xuan followed his action and put down the tea in his hand.
"Come and try it. This is what I called honey custard tea." Xiao Jue said. The students around him then looked at the green bamboo cups on the table.
"Is this the honey custard tea you mentioned?" There was a student with a long face who was the descendant of the famous Yi family in Lezhou. Although he went to school with Xiao Jue on weekdays, he still had some contempt for businessmen like them.
At this time, he saw the bamboo cup and said, "Look at this cup, it's just made of bamboo joints, and the shape is quite rough. It doesn't look very good. Normally, I don't dare to eat the food sold at street stalls, for fear that those rough people are shabby and don't pay attention to the quality of the food, and the food is not clean, and I will get sick from eating it."
These words were quite disrespectful to Xiao Jue, and his expression changed immediately.
At this time, Shen Xuan happened to be nearby. When he heard this person talking about his tea, he quickly said, "This young man is biased. There are clean and elegant stalls, and there are dirty and filthy ones in high-end shops. You can't generalize."
"Whether the food is clean or not can only be judged by the people who cook it. For example, you gentlemen have never seen the kitchens of those big restaurants, so how can you know whether they are clean or not?"
"If we hire a cook who doesn't like cleanliness and doesn't wash his hands after using the toilet, and then cooks for you gentlemen, you won't be able to tell. It's better to have a small street stall where the cleanliness is clearly displayed in front of you, and you gentlemen can judge for yourself."
Shen Xuan suddenly spoke, and the students' eyes fell on him. The servant boy beside him also hurriedly said for his young master: "This is the owner of the honey custard tea stall. I have been watching his stall for a long time. He always washes his hands before making tea. The tea is also quite clean. You can drink it with confidence."
Shen Xuan thought that this book boy was quite clever and cooperated well with him in the fight. Then he added: "As for the bamboo cups I use for my tea, it's because these cups are cheap and can be given to guests along with the tea, rather than being recycled. It's cleaner and more hygienic if each person uses it once."
"That's true. This cup has never been used by anyone else before. It is cleaner and more elegant than the repeatedly used porcelain cup." After hearing this, a student nodded in agreement and took a cup of tea from the table.
Shen Xuan was already handsome, and now he was wearing new clothes, his hair was neatly combed, and the nails on both hands were clean. At first glance, he looked like a clean and sophisticated person.
So the other students stopped paying attention to what Master Yi said and picked up the tea on the table and started drinking.
As soon as the tea entered their mouths, their eyes lit up and they praised with great surprise: "This tea tastes special, it is very refreshing to drink, and it leaves a lingering fragrance on the teeth and cheeks."
"This tea is sweet and sour, with a unique flavor, and it quenches thirst. Just one cup makes you feel a cool breeze under your armpits."
"They both taste sweet and sour. I think this honey custard tea is much better than the sour plum soup on Koi Street. My cup should be jasmine tea. The jasmine fragrance is rich and refreshing. It is really amazing."
…
These students are all educated people, and they are very eloquent when it comes to praising others, and they can say more than Liu Ge'er and the others.
Shen Xuan felt a little embarrassed when he heard them praise their honey custard tea to the heavens.
However, Xiao Jue, who had treated everyone to a meal, was quite proud. Looking at the dark face of the man named Yi next to him, he felt even more proud that he had avenged the other party's rude remarks.
He called the servant to his side and whispered a few words to him.
After a while, the book boy escorted Shen Xuan out of the academy. When he reached the door, he took out a purse and handed it to him, saying, "You performed well today and made the young master proud. This is a reward from Young Master Xiao."
This purse should contain the "tip" given by Mr. Xiao. Shen Xuan weighed it and found it was quite heavy.
However, he helped Young Master Xiao out of trouble, so the reward was not earned for free, so he happily accepted it.
After returning to the stall, Shen Xuan quietly opened the purse and poured out two silver ingots, each of which should be about five taels.
As soon as he made a move, he was rewarded with ten taels of silver, and Shen Xuan took the silver in surprise. I didn't expect that selling tea could bring me such extra income.
However, these incomes are not long-term, and the main source of income still depends on the tea itself.
Shen Xuan continued to guard the stall. After Shenshi, the academy was over. After those students came out, they sold again.
This time, Shen Xuan sold more than 60 cups of tea in just half an hour, and there were still 50 empty cups left. Most of the students in the academy had left, so no one bought anymore.
Seeing that it was getting late, Shen Xuan closed his stall early. After finding Widow Ge and placing an order for tomorrow's water supply, he went to purchase 150 diabolo cups.
He left the bamboo cup at Widow Ge's house and then drove away in a mule cart.
Today is only the first day of opening, but we have sold 150 cups of tea. Not counting the ten taels of silver given by Young Master Xiao as a reward, we have made 1,500 coins, which is actually very good.
You have to know that the tea business is a long-term business. After deducting today's costs, Chen Xuan earned more than one tael of silver a day. If he works twenty days a month, he can at least make a net profit of more than twenty taels of silver.
Although it is not as much as the money I made from writing petitions before, but over time, I can at least earn more than two hundred taels of silver a year.
In the south of Lezhou City, a small house with three courtyards only costs about three hundred taels.
An income of two hundred taels of silver a year was already considered upper-class among the common people in Lezhou City, not to mention compared with the villagers in Yunshui Village.
This is the advantage of doing high-end business. Although the cost is higher, people are more relaxed and earn more.
If it were in the south of the city, customers could only afford the drink at one cent per bowl, so selling 200 bowls a day would only make 200 cents.
Even if he opened the stall every day, he could only make six strings of cash a month at most, which was much more tiring than selling tea on Koi Street.
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