Chapter 103 Quota
"I've asked around. The youngest son of the Huang family is a peddler. He delivers goods everywhere. Braised food is not selling well in our county, so we can sell it to the next county." Old Mrs. Gu said excitedly.
Zhang Yunniang was helpless and said, "Mom, who will go to the next county to sell? What if we can't sell it? A pot of stewed food is not light, should we use a cart to send it over, or rent a cow?"
Old Mrs. Gu frowned immediately. She and Old Man Gu were old and of course could not do such a thing. Gu Mingda had to study for the autumn examination, and Zhang Yuniang and Liu Xiaoru were busy with things in the shop, so naturally they could not do this.
"Mom, we used to sell five pots a day, and now we only sell three. We just make a little less money, but we can still make a living. Why are you so anxious?" Zhang Yunniang whispered to her mother-in-law.
Old Mrs. Gu shook her head and said, "Business is getting worse and worse. There must be a reason, especially since you are in the braised food business. You built five stoves in the first month of the year, but now two are empty. This is a bad sign. If this continues for a long time, I'm afraid it will end up like my tofu shop."
The Gu family's tofu shop had previously gone bankrupt due to a malicious run by the Liu family. Old Mrs. Gu had experienced the process of business going badly once, so naturally she couldn't help but feel worried.
As he was speaking, Gu Mingda walked in from outside.
He went to the yamen in the morning, and the first thing he did when he came back was to talk about Zhang Guangzong's recent situation.
"He is not a tight-lipped person. After a few beatings, he confessed everything. After signing and sealing his name, even though several years have passed, the fact that he cheated in the imperial examination was established." Gu Mingda said.
Old Mrs. Gu had always disliked Zhang Guangzong and wanted to scold him, but because her daughter-in-law was beside her, she held back and asked, "Second brother, if he commits a crime, will it bring trouble to you?"
Gu Mingda shook his head and said, "He is him, and I am me. We will not be involved. It's a pity that a few people got the news in advance and ran away."
Old Lady Gu said, "Just run away, as long as it doesn't involve our family."
Zhang Yunniang, however, understood her husband and could tell something was wrong with his words. She asked, "Which important person ran away?"
Gu Mingda said, "There's a guy called Ren Liu. It's said that in the past, County Magistrate Gou's advisor entrusted many of his tasks to Ren Liu. In the past, all matters in the government office had to go through Ren Liu's hands."
Gu Mingda's words were vague, and he did not mention at all that Ren Liu's business was extensive and that human trafficking was one of his businesses.
But Mrs. Gu suddenly said, "Ren Yanwang! I've heard of this man. My sister-in-law's nephew's leg was broken by him!"
The relationship was quite distant, but Gu Mingda had vaguely heard of it. The person involved was a gambler who lost everything he had, and in the end he couldn't pay the money, so the casino broke his leg.
"If he runs away, the casino will probably be closed, which is a good thing," said Zhang Yunniang.
Gu Mingda shook his head and said, "It won't close. It will probably be taken over by someone else."
After listening to the excitement, Mrs. Gu remembered that her son had just returned from outside and asked, "Have you eaten? If not, I'll make you a bowl of noodles."
Gu Mingda waved his hand to indicate that it was not necessary, and explained: "I had lunch at Chunfeng Tower with the people from the government office at noon."
Zhang Yunniang smiled and said, "Then you should try our stewed food. Manager Cheng buys two pots from us every day."
Gu Mingda's expression turned serious, and he said, "The business of Chunfenglou is still very good. They no longer sell braised food separately. Instead, they give each table of guests a plate of braised food platter, but this dish of braised food is not entirely our braised food."
"What do you mean?" Old Mrs. Gu didn't understand.
Gu Mingda said: "This dish of braised food is poured with sesame oil, mixed with fermented bean curd sauce, and topped with sesame seeds and crushed peanuts. The taste is completely different. I asked the waiter, and he said that this braised food is made with their own secret recipe."
Mrs. Gu was instantly furious and said, "Why is Chunfenglou like this? These are clearly my things, but they insist on saying they belong to theirs!"
It’s not a big deal to say it’s theirs. After all, they are afraid that customers will skip Chunfenglou and go directly to Gu’s shop to buy it.
"They said it was homemade, but it wasn't completely fake because it was mixed with the braised meat made in their own kitchen. The two pieces of braised meat I ate had different tastes," explained Gu Mingda.
Zhang Yunniang asked, "Is the taste very different?"
Gu Mingda shook his head and said, "I am sure one of them is ours, and the other one is about 50% similar to our braised food."
It is clear at a glance what Chunfeng Tower wants to do.
Now they are still 50% to 60% similar. When they are 70% to 80% similar, I am afraid Chunfenglou will no longer buy the braised food from the shop, and the shop's business will only get worse.
As for why the current similarity is 50% to 60%, the reason is simple. Any experienced chef who has eaten a lot can guess the seasoning by 70% to 80%. Previously, Chunfenglou bought the stew together, which made it easier to guess.
Zhang Yuniang was thinking about more at this time.
"Boss Cheng has been very attentive to Xiaoru recently. Boss Cheng lost his wife two years ago and has never remarried. Seeing that he was very attentive and was a big customer of the shop, I wanted to bring the two of them together." Zhang Yunniang said.
Gu Mingda frowned when he heard this and said, "This man is a thoughtful person. You should be more careful."
Cheng He's pursuit of Liu Xiaoru now seems to have ulterior motives. They can't even tell whether the decrease in the number of individual customers in the shop during this period is due to something Cheng He did.
Zhang Yunniang said, "I'll talk to Xiaoru later."
The braised food recipe is indeed important, but in Zhang Yunniang's opinion, Liu Xiaoru is the most important. She had already vaguely sensed the slightly ambiguous atmosphere between Liu Xiaoru and Cheng He, and was very afraid that Liu Xiaoru would be hurt.
Gu Mingda looked at Old Lady Gu again and said, "The government is in great need of people right now, and we need to recruit many strong men. Mr. Chen said today that he would allow me to recommend someone to go there. He would not be a slave, and the salary he would get would be about eight taels of silver a year, which is less than that of an ordinary constable."
The so-called "zhuangban" sounds difficult to pronounce, but it is actually a kind of runner in the yamen, but they are emergency temporary workers. Normally, the yamen has enough staff and does not need to work on duty.
Although being a conscientious official may seem glamorous on the surface, they are actually of low status and their next three generations are not allowed to take the imperial examinations.
The Zhuangban class is a temporary workforce and does not have to worry about low status.
During the entire New Year period, the yamen was busy with the imperial examination cheating case. Many people in Guang'an County Yamen were imprisoned because of this matter, and there was a huge shortage of runners. The strong team recruited this time was to work like runners, and the treatment they were given was relatively good.
County Magistrate Wu already felt that the old foxes in the county government were annoying, so of course he took this opportunity to place many of his own people there.
Gu Mingda, whom Magistrate Wu considered to be one of his own, also got an internal recommendation spot.
Eight taels of silver a year may not mean much to city dwellers, but to country folk who work hard in the fields, this money is much easier to earn than farming.
Old Lady Gu asked, "There is only one spot. If I give it to your eldest brother or third brother, I'm afraid they both have some ideas in their minds."
Gu Mingda said, "There are many things going on at home. My eldest brother or third brother may not be willing to join the government. You know who is the most suitable person to be given this position."
Of course, Old Mrs. Gu knows who needs this job the most right now.
But if this person is really appointed, there will definitely be a rift between the first and third wives.
Gu Mingda sighed and said, "I do have an idea, it depends on whether you are willing to accept it."
First update
(End of this chapter)
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