The fifteenth of August is a day for family reunion.
A long queue had formed early in the morning at the entrance of Jinyulou.
Many people in the queue were those who had watched the excitement yesterday. They craned their necks to look at the front of the queue, hoping that the queue would move forward faster and faster.
However, some people did not come to Le Bao Street yesterday.
Seeing the unusually lively scene at the entrance of Jinyulou today piqued my curiosity.
Xu Erlang had received a favor from Yao Niang yesterday, and although he had not been instructed to do so, he still appeared at the entrance of Jin Yu Lou.
He pretended to be in line, and when someone asked him something, he answered the curious people in a loud voice.
"Oh? Yes! I'm here to queue up too!"
Oh my! You don't know yet! Jin Yu Lou launched a new mooncake yesterday, and it tasted amazing!
He smacked his lips, as if savoring the memory, which only fueled the curiosity of those who were already eager to reach out and extract the words from his mouth.
Xu Erlang asked mysteriously, "Have you ever eaten salty mooncakes?"
Everyone shook their heads: "How can we eat salty mooncakes?"
Xu Erlang looked smug: "Hey! You guys haven't tasted it yet."
He wanted to describe it, but felt his words were inadequate, fearing that instead of adding anything good, he might tarnish Gu Niangzi's Golden Jade Pavilion. He opened his mouth, hesitating.
But then a commotion broke out up ahead.
Xu Erlang immediately felt a sense of relief.
The voice at the front of the line was very unhappy and full of anger; even Xu Erlang and his group at the back could hear it.
"Not selling? Why not? I have money! Why wouldn't I sell the mooncakes?"
There was a commotion in the group, and the young man was saying something, but Xu Erlang and the others couldn't hear him clearly.
The scene became somewhat chaotic for a moment.
In his haste, Xu Erlang rushed forward. Only when he got closer did he hear the whole story.
The customer originally wanted to buy thirty mooncakes to take home, but Jin Yu Lou was only willing to sell him fifteen. They said it was a rule set by the owner, so that more people could buy these unique mooncakes. Each person couldn't buy more than twenty; the maximum sale was twenty.
The young waiter was clearly flustered by the chaotic scene and realized that his voice wasn't loud enough to control the situation, so he became anxious and his face turned red.
Xu Erlang then made full use of his loud voice, using his deep breath to loudly repeat the waiter's words.
Someone recognized him: "Isn't this the guy who was the first to get a mooncake yesterday?"
The queue had been a bit agitated when the first customer in line told them that Jin Yu Lou didn't sell mooncakes. But Xu Erlang explained the situation clearly, and everyone felt a little relieved—thank goodness, as long as they weren't being refused service!
People from ordinary families, in particular, would not buy much in the first place, but would only buy a group purchase for a month or two to try something new, and would not care at all about Jin Yu Lou's new rules that limit purchases everywhere.
Those with fuller wallets were unhappy: "We're just opening a shop to do business, why do you owners have so many ridiculous rules! You should just sell things and collect money, why are you being so picky? We don't have many items to begin with, and you won't even let people buy more!"
Women are just so troublesome!
What started as a normal complaint turned into something rather rude.
Xu Erlang was at the height of his affection for Jin Yulou and Gu Yaoniang, so he was displeased upon hearing this.
Seeing that the person speaking was in the middle of the line, some distance from the Jin Yu Lou takeout stall, he grinned and said coolly, "If the owner allows more people to buy, I'm afraid Jin Yu Lou's mooncakes will be sold out before you even get there!"
The man clearly hadn't thought of that, and shut his mouth in annoyance upon hearing this.
Seeing that the argument had subsided and the procession was moving in an orderly fashion again, Xu Erlang walked towards the back of the line.
Once the news spread that Jin Yu Lou had a 15-month purchase limit, everyone in the queue with enough money was aiming to buy all 15 units.
The number of mooncakes at Jin Yu Lou's stall decreased rapidly. Xu Erlang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He came back today just to watch the fun; he didn't really intend to buy anything.
Seeing how fast the monthly group buy was selling, even if I continued to wait in line, it should be sold out by the time it was my turn, and I wouldn't need to find any other excuse not to buy it. Only then did I feel relieved.
Not only did the guests not understand Jin Yu Lou's measure of limiting monthly purchases, but even those around Gu Yaoniang expressed their incomprehension.
The mooncakes sold out, and the staff at Jin Yu Lou closed the door amidst sighs and lamentations. Manager Su, meanwhile, was busy calculating with his abacus, his thick, long eyebrows bouncing up and down on his face, a rather amusing sight.
Gu Yaoniang sat to the side, looking around at the restaurant's decor and considering whether to add anything new.
The aquatic porcelain utensils made by Lu Zhaoan were exquisite. In addition to the new kitchen utensils and dishes, she also ordered some small hand-held items to display and admire in the private room.
The lobby still retains Gu Xingzhi's original design and hasn't been changed much.
"Master! All the mooncakes sold out today, bringing in two hundred taels! Yesterday's account showed nine hundred and eighty-seven taels! Master! The income from Jin Yu Lou in the last two days will be enough to cover a month's wages and costs!"
Manager Su's voice rose unusually high, unable to hide his excitement.
He had assumed that his new owner's practice of giving away freebies and offering discounts would inevitably impact Jin Yu Lou's profits. He was even prepared to watch the show fail, waiting for this naive new owner to suffer a loss and return Jin Yu Lou to his old owner.
Unexpectedly, the first day was when the discounts were the greatest, and the daily turnover was nearly a thousand taels!
In the past, it was rare for a single day's turnover to exceed eight hundred taels.
Upon hearing Manager Su's reply, Yao Niang felt a little relieved. Yesterday had been busy, with too many customers. Jin Yu Lou's lunch and dinner services were almost combined, and she had been overseeing the kitchen's preparation of today's mooncakes, so she hadn't had time to check the first day's revenue.
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