Chapter 59 Selling Cold Noodles
Old Wang's daughter arrived at the market early in the morning. She wanted to chat with the female boss when she came, both to understand her character and to see if her father should invest in the business in advance.
They also took the opportunity to look around, just in case the owner had any flaws, their Wang Family Boxed Meals could easily replace him.
With this thought in mind, Wang Can, also known as Miss Wang, waited patiently opposite the stall that Jiang Zhi had set up earlier.
However, things didn't go as smoothly as she had imagined. When she snapped out of her daze of looking around, the female boss had already arrived at the stall, with two bodyguards squatting on either side of her, engrossed in eating.
That's not the most important thing. The most important thing is that, without her noticing, a long queue had already formed in front of the female boss.
On one hand, Wang Can was too embarrassed to discuss the cooperation in front of so many customers, and on the other hand, he was secretly envious of the customer traffic.
If her father could generate that much customer traffic, she would never have needed to come here to discuss cooperation!
After thinking for a moment, she decided to blend into the crowd as she had done last time, to see what the female boss was doing today.
Why did such a long queue form all of a sudden?
*
After finally squeezing into the not-so-neat queue, Wang Can heard a very familiar voice emerge from a place tightly surrounded by the crowd.
Out of curiosity, she quietly leaned in and listened.
It was a clear-sounding male voice, gentle and clean, with a touch of scholarly refinement.
“My lady, I just heard your child recite, ‘Of all things, only studying is noble. All the high-ranking officials are scholars.’ ① But one sentence is missing: ‘One must study diligently from a young age, for literature can establish one’s position.’ You can silently tell your child to forget it in the future.”
As he spoke, he nodded slightly to the young mother with a child across from him. The young mother, seeing the man who had casually offered some pointers, immediately pulled her child along and bowed respectfully in gratitude.
After this experience, apart from a very small number of young couples without children or still relatively naive teenagers, most discerning couples around them were eager to push their children towards the scholar.
If this scholar happens to point out a mistake, he might just squeeze past others to pass the preliminary examination and enter the academy.
It's important to understand that books were extremely rare in that era, with officials and powerful figures monopolizing knowledge. For ordinary people, pursuing education was incredibly difficult; they could only learn from copies and fragments circulating among the common people, and only after passing exams and entering schools could they receive systematic instruction.
Right now, it's clear that a student from a school is willing to casually teach their child, which is certainly not a good thing!
Once this line of thinking is laid out, those fathers and mothers who go out to buy things while leaving their children at home to do chores or other tasks can't help but feel a little regretful.
So afterwards, children in Sichuan could occasionally enjoy the leisurely time of going out to the market with their parents.
*
Upon hearing that gentle voice, Wang Can was pleasantly surprised.
She strode over and pulled Su, who was surrounded by a group of parents and couldn't get out, out of the crowd. She then spoke to him with a smug look on her face.
Yes, they know each other and are now classmates.
Wang Can jokingly teased Su Chuan, who usually appeared unusually reserved in the classroom.
"Oh! So, Brother Su who was keeping quiet was just trying to give these kids some pointers while he was eating!"
Now, looking at his classmate outside the school, Su Chuan felt less embarrassed by being surrounded by people and answered seriously, word by word.
"Seeing those children always reminds me that we were once like that..."
Wang Cancai was not happy to hear these words. Su Chuan was already a bit old-fashioned in the school, and now he seemed to be getting more and more out of line than to have restrained himself.
"Alright, alright, I didn't bring you here today to reminisce about the hardships of the past! I pulled you out of the crowd, and you have to tell me something!"
After saying this, she took a deep breath before continuing.
"You mean this is Boss Jiang? This isn't your first time here. What do you think of her personality?"
Seeing Su Chuan's hesitant and reluctant expression, she impatiently interrupted the eccentric man's wildly imaginative thoughts and forcibly pulled him back to the right path.
“I’ve been thinking, and after observing her, I’ve noticed that this Ms. Jiang usually sets up her stall alone, occasionally with a few people helping out, but they’re not really of much help. Our family business is getting harder and harder to manage, so why don’t I have my father work for her, doing some kind of assistant work or helping with sales? My dad is no less capable than Ms. Jiang in that regard!”
*
Jiang Zhi had no idea what the two people at the back of the group were whispering about. She had already seen the servant under Master Zhang again.
Unlike yesterday, this servant looked much more haggard, exuding an aura of someone who had been working themselves to death.
As one of the former victims of the 007 work system, Jiang Zhi is all too familiar with the dreaded feeling that comes with going to work.
It seems that Miss Zhang is not satisfied with anything yet.
In a flash, Jiang Zhi's eyes reached this conclusion, and sure enough, when the servant spoke, it immediately confirmed Jiang Zhi's guess.
"Mr. Jiang, are you ready today?"
As he spoke, he looked at Jiang Zhi with exceptional eagerness and also listed the conditions he could offer.
"Master Zhang came over these past two days. He said that as long as you are willing to do it, the Zhang family's servants will definitely provide enough for you, and they will keep their mouths shut and will not reveal your recipes. Or rather, the Zhang family's price will definitely satisfy you for any recipes that our young lady likes."
"Besides," he pointed to the dark sky dotted with stars, "the Zhang family has a pretty good relationship with the higher-ups! If you handle this deal well, Mr. Jiang, the Zhang family will put in a good word for you when you cooperate with the higher-ups in the future, and the Pei family won't object. It'll be good to have that network..."
He gave a hint, indicating that it wasn't difficult.
"Master Zhang has only one request: to have a grand display!"
*
Jiang Zhi fell into thought.
These conditions are undeniably good.
The first condition directly solves Jiang Zhi's biggest problem: she's short-handed. Currently, the only labor force she can barely utilize, plus Pei Guyou and two minors, only amounts to seven. Not to mention that two of these six are minors, and there are three spoiled young masters and ladies who can't cook, even if Jiang Zhi were shameless, she wouldn't dare ask these five people to do the work. Therefore, Yan Mo is practically the only one who can truly help Jiang Zhi in her work.
A banquet is far beyond what two people can manage. The family banquet that Jiang Zhi prepared was just a small affair, with only about ten dishes on one table, which the two of them could manage.
Miss Zhang, this banquet sounds like it will have at least 78 tables, even if Jiang Zhi were chopped into eight pieces, she wouldn't be able to handle it all.
Zhang Guanren, being the first person in charge, directly solved Jiang Zhi's biggest problem. He essentially appointed Jiang Zhi as the person in charge of the entire banquet, allowing him to mobilize everyone and assume full responsibility for the event. If the banquet is well-received, you can even sell the recipes for each dish to the Zhang family for a good price.
If that's the case, it's still Zhang Da Guanren's way of showing his superiority, implying that he can solve your predicament with a single hand. So the next condition is just empty promises to Jiang Zhi.
If Jiang Zhi only wanted to do some small business in Sichuan and earn some money every day, then this temptation was nothing to her.
But as long as she shows even the slightest inclination to expand her influence, cultivating official connections is always the best option. The Zhang family generously declared, "If this banquet satisfies you, I'll personally advertise for you whenever an official comes to your house!"
After this rambling analysis, Jiang Zhi did feel like laughing at times. However, looking at the servant who was so enthusiastically looking at her after conveying the superior's message, she dared not laugh out loud, fearing that this slightly tactless fellow might say something inappropriate in front of that Master Zhang.
Although she was tired of this tactic of making empty promises and adding subtle threats, the offer was so good that it seemed there were no traps at the moment. Why not just accept it? It would be a waste of the straightforwardness that was inherent in Jiang Zhi's personality.
She didn't keep the servant any longer and readily nodded to him, indicating that she agreed.
Then she hurriedly told the servant who was about to go back to report but was stopped and looked bewildered to wait there. Jiang Zhi ran to the dining car and rummaged through it, finding several sheets of Xuan paper that she had written on earlier. They were filled with recipes that Jiang Zhi had not yet cooked outside.
She laughed and slapped the sheet of rice paper covered with recipes into the servant's hand, then patted him on the shoulder.
"Take a look at this when you get back. If you think it's good, put a checkmark next to it. If it's not good enough, I'll come up with a few more on the spot! I guarantee he'll have plenty of face."
*
After the servant left, looking somewhat bewildered and dazed but carefully carrying away the few sheets of Xuan paper that Jiang Zhi had folded up during her journey, Jiang Zhi couldn't help but beam with joy.
That's right, in those short two or three sentences, she actually subtly made a dig at the old man.
Didn't you think I was carrying that sedan chair the day before because of my recipes? I have countless recipes in my head that you don't know about, and I'll make sure you're honored if you treat me to them!
She translated it herself, then couldn't help but cover her mouth with one hand on the city wall and the other to prevent herself from laughing so hard her stomach hurt. She even thought to herself with self-righteousness,
Although I can't openly express my displeasure with your condescending attitude, I can subtly challenge you. Even if you notice, you can't possibly refuse to invite me because of that, can you?
*
Jiang Zhi's guess was indeed correct. After the servant respectfully handed the few pieces of weathered Xuan paper to the Zhang family head, and repeated every word Jiang Zhi had said that evening, the servant was overheard.
The Zhang family head didn't say anything, only letting out a cryptic chuckle.
Then he picked up the brush, glanced at it twice, and began to sketch and draw on the entire sheet of Xuan paper before having the servant return it.
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Author's Note: ① This is from Wang Zhu's "Poems for Prodigies" from the Song Dynasty.
This chapter mainly serves as a transition from the previous chapters and doesn't describe the food in much detail.
I'll post a chapter at 9 AM on November 16th, and then I'll update as usual tomorrow and Wednesday.
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