After hearing this, no one in the Cheng family objected, but they were all a little disappointed, as if they had missed out on hundreds of millions.
Fifteen taels a month, that's over a hundred taels a year! We can buy lots and lots of grain then, and we won't have to worry about the city being locked down anymore!
Seeing this situation, Cheng Ruyi knew exactly what everyone was thinking. "Have you all forgotten that we still have rabbits? I plan to sell them this afternoon. There's a shortage of meat in the city right now, so these rabbits will definitely fetch a high price, and that will be a considerable income."
"And there's furniture too. The shop already has a fixed monthly income, plus all the children's furniture we made before, just one piece can earn us several taels of silver!" Cheng Yan felt a little wronged that everyone was ignoring his furniture shop, so he hurriedly reminded his family.
After hearing this, everyone realized they had forgotten about the furniture shop. They looked at each other and then burst into laughter.
In the afternoon, Cheng Ruyi and Xu Cui each carried a large basket and went out. Their destination was Baizhenlou, a grand restaurant located in a prime location in the center of Huaishan County.
Everyone living in the city knows that Baizhenlou is a chain restaurant with branches in all the major counties of Chongzhou Prefecture. It is said that the flagship store in the prefectural city is incredibly beautiful, magnificent, and ornately decorated...
The family behind them is the Qionglin Gu family, one of the four great families of Da Yue.
Qionglin City is the prefectural city of Chongzhou. It is said that a thousand years ago, a magnificent palace suddenly appeared in the sky above this land. Afterwards, a Qilin flew out from it and landed on the lake. For the next several hundred years, the surrounding area enjoyed favorable weather and abundant harvests year after year. Later, in order to commemorate this auspicious omen, the people named it Qionglin City.
The Gu family started their fortune here hundreds of years ago, and has survived several dynasties. They still stand strong today, and have become a behemoth in the Great Yue Kingdom.
Twenty years ago, Gu Furong, the eldest daughter of the Gu family, entered the palace and soon became a Noble Consort. As a result, most of the Gu family's direct descendants who were close to the Noble Consort moved to the capital of Dayue to settle down. They did this ostensibly to take care of the Noble Consort's homesickness, but in reality, they were trying to establish their own sphere of influence in the capital. So now, almost all those remaining in the city are from the collateral branches of the Gu family.
But even as a collateral branch, the Gu family had enough power to roam freely in the prefectural city.
After all, besides having a concubine, the family has also produced several scholars who have entered the imperial court and become officials. More importantly, the Gu family's businesses are spread throughout Dayue, with a very wide range of interests. Among the four great families, they are the wealthiest.
The Gu family's ancestors made their fortune in the food and beverage industry, so their largest business today is also related to this, with Baizhenlou being their signature restaurant.
Of course, Ruyi only learned about these things later.
She stood hesitantly at the back door of Baizhenlou, because a long queue had formed there, all of them there to sell goods, including various kinds of chicken, duck, goose, fish, pork, beef and mutton.
No wonder there was no meat for sale in the East and West Markets; it turns out it was all sent to the big restaurants!
"Ruyi, there are so many people here, do you think they would even look at our own pet rabbits?" Xu Cui was also seeing such a scene for the first time and couldn't help but feel a little timid.
Although Cheng Ruyi was a little worried, she wasn't worried about not being able to sell the food. If one shop didn't buy it, she could just go to another. There was more than one restaurant in the county. What she was worried about was that she might have to be mindful of other people's attitudes later on.
Two well-dressed shop assistants stood on either side of the back door, one responsible for asking questions and the other for registering customers. However, both of them were arrogant and had a bad attitude. Almost all the vendors kept their heads down and dared not offend them. A few who were not used to being treated badly left angrily after saying only a few words.
"It's alright, it doesn't matter if you don't like it, there are other restaurants in the county town!" Ruyi patted Xu Cui's shoulder to comfort her.
"What if other restaurants don't approve of it? What then?"
Cheng Ruyi smiled, turned to Xu Cui, and said, "If you really can't sell them, you can keep them in your own shop, or you can keep them for yourself. Isn't rabbit meat delicious? We don't need to be subservient to anyone, Aunt Cui, relax~~"
After listening to Cheng Ruyi, Xu Cui thought about it carefully and felt that what Cheng Ruyi said made a lot of sense, so she waited patiently on the side.
The line looked long, but it moved quite quickly, and it wasn't long before it was their turn.
"Where are you from? What are you selling?" The shop assistant in charge of asking questions glanced at Ruyi and her companion with a hint of disdain, and immediately gave a signal to the person next to him.
Cheng Ruyi naturally noticed these subtle actions, but she didn't pay any attention to them. "My surname is Cheng, and I live in the county town. My family raises some rabbits, and we're selling them. Do you buy rabbits?"
This is the second batch of mature rabbits, a total of ten, which have now reached a weight of ten kilograms. This time, they only kept one to give to Yang Liuer in a few days, and sold the other nine together while meat prices in the county were high.
Ruyi had four baskets on her back, and Xu Cui had five. After carrying them for so long, both of them were a little tired.
Upon hearing Cheng Ruyi's calm tone, the waiter immediately became displeased. "Where did this random rabbit come from? Do you think our Baizhenlou accepts just any kind of trash?"
Xu Cui was furious after hearing this. She had helped raise the rabbits in her family, and they were not only clean and beautiful, but also delicious. They were the best rabbits she had ever eaten. How could this person slander them without even looking at them? She couldn't swallow this insult!
"What did you say! Say it again if you dare! You..."
Although Cheng Ruyi wasn't afraid of the two waiters, she was afraid of the powerful figures and villains behind the restaurant. So she immediately covered Xu Cui's mouth and pulled her away to prevent Xu Cui from being too impulsive and offending people.
The shopkeeper hadn't seen a vendor dare to talk back to him like that in a long time, and he was about to rush over when someone next to him pulled him back and whispered a few words in his ear before turning his head away from them with a look of displeasure.
The other clerk in charge of registration, though also arrogant, at least didn't resort to foul language. "Bring the basket over here, we need to see your rabbits first."
After comforting Xu Cui, Ruyi took off the basket she was carrying and carefully opened it halfway. Four plump white rabbits were obediently inside, munching on vegetables. "There are nine rabbits in total, each weighing ten pounds. We've eaten them ourselves; the meat is tender and delicious whether fried, stir-fried, stewed, or roasted!"
"Alright, alright, do you need to teach me?" Although the waiter's tone was extremely impatient, his eyes were still fixed on the rabbit, his greedy expression was too obvious.
He struggled to look away from the rabbit, and said calmly, "As is customary, we do not accept goods of unknown origin. If you want to sell, you need to leave the rabbit here as collateral and come back to collect the money after we notify you."
"So how much are you planning to pay?" Ruyi asked.
"That's not your concern. Now you can put the rabbit down and leave. Go back and wait for our instructions!"
Listen to the sound of that abacus; it's audible even in modern times! Does she think she's a fool? Trying to get something for nothing?
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