Chapter 13 Plan
"Third brother, why are you the one cooking?" they both asked in unison, their tone revealing their surprise.
Ji Zheng put the things in his hand on the dining table and said calmly: "He An is not feeling well."
The two nodded, "Is that so?"
Ji Zheng hummed, then took out the cooked eggs and divided them among them, "Mom said one for each person."
Eggs are still very precious in the countryside. Most families give them to men and pregnant women or save them to sell for money. One egg can be sold for one penny.
The few of them finished their meal in no time. Since the host provided meals this time, they did not have to bring any food from home like they did yesterday.
He didn't eat Ji Zheng's eggs, he wanted to save them for Ji He'an.
Before leaving, Ji Zheng returned to the room and found that Ji Hean had woken up.
"Why did you get up so early?" Ji Zheng asked.
Ji Hean didn't say anything. He had to pick mushrooms and make breakfast, so of course he had to get up early.
"Eat the egg in the room later." Ji Zheng stuffed the egg into Ji Hean's hand.
Ji Feng and the other man were still waiting for him outside, so after giving them the eggs, Ji Zheng left in a hurry without caring about Ji and An's reactions.
Ji Hean just stood there holding the warm egg in his hand until Ji Zheng's back disappeared into the night.
Looking at the egg in his hand, Ji Hean curled the corners of his mouth.
...
In a blink of an eye, it was the day to settle wages.
They only worked half a day that day and their wages were settled in the afternoon.
Six hundred and fifty yuan per person.
The three of them discussed it and decided that each of them would hand over 500 copper coins to Ji's mother for household expenses, and the rest would be used for their own private use.
While it was still early, Ji Zheng wanted to walk around the town to see if there were any other ways to make money.
Ji Feng and Ji Cheng planned to go home early to rest.
Ji Zheng gave the 500 coins he was going to hand over to Ji Feng and asked him to help pass it on to Ji's mother.
After leaving the pier, Ji Zheng came to the busiest street.
The streets are very busy at this time, and the streets are filled with small stalls selling everything from food to entertainment and daily necessities.
Ji Zheng went to the stall selling steamed buns and bought two big meat buns to eat. He had been craving for these buns for a long time.
The freshly-made buns were still hot, and Ji Zheng swallowed his saliva.
"Sir, would you like to buy some buns? Our buns have thin skin and lots of fillings. Give me one." The bun vendor had a smile on his face as he enthusiastically promoted his own buns.
"How much is one?" Ji Zheng asked.
"Are you vegetarian or meat? The vegetarian ones are two for one penny, and the meat ones are two pennies, three pennies, or one for two."
Ji Zheng said without hesitation: "Two meat ones."
"Okay!" the vendor shouted, then quickly packed two meat buns and handed them to Ji Zheng.
Ji Zheng also took out three cents from his chest and gave it to the vendor.
After receiving the money, the vendor smiled even more, "It's delicious, I'll come again next time!"
As soon as Ji Zheng got the bun, he couldn't wait to take a big bite. His mouth was instantly filled with the aroma of meat. It was just as the vendor said, with thin skin and rich fillings.
Ji Zheng finished the two buns in just a few bites, and even felt a little unsatisfied.
But he didn't have much money left and he needed to buy some other things, so he only spent one penny to buy two vegetarian buns to fill his stomach.
After filling his stomach, Ji Zheng strolled around slowly.
This town is quite prosperous and bigger than expected, with three streets alone.
There are restaurants, taverns, teahouses, schools... everything. It seems that this town is quite wealthy.
Just when Ji Zheng was considering what to do, he saw a familiar figure enter the teahouse opposite.
That was the original owner's younger brother Ji Yuan who was studying in the town.
Ji Zheng thought about it and followed.
As soon as he entered the teahouse, the waiter came up to him, led him to a seat, and asked with a smile on his face, "What would you like to drink, sir?"
Ji Zheng then realized that this teahouse was not just a simple teahouse. There was a one-foot-high platform on the left, and it looked like there was a performance there.
"Just give me a pot of plain tea." Ji Zheng said to the waiter.
"Okay, please wait a moment." The waiter didn't change his expression just because he ordered little.
After the waiter left, Ji Zheng stood up and looked for Ji Yuan, but there were too many people around and he couldn't find him.
Ji Zheng had no choice but to give up. At this time, someone came to share the table with him.
I saw that man asked for some melon seeds and a pot of tea.
Soon Ji Zheng's tea came up and cost ten cents.
Ji Zheng felt a little sad and regretted why he had come here just now. He might as well use the ten cents to buy a few big meat buns instead of buying this awful tea.
But the money had already been spent, so Ji Zheng had to finish it before leaving, otherwise it would be a big loss.
Thanks to his idea of not wanting to suffer losses, he was able to find a way to make money later.
Many people came in one after another outside, and even a few people came to share his table with them.
Just when Ji Zheng was about to finish his tea and leave, a waiter at the table on the left knocked on a gong several times.
Ji Zheng's interest was instantly aroused.
"Everyone, be quiet! Mr. Gao will be on stage soon." The waiter shouted at the top of his voice.
As soon as Mr. Gao's name came out, the chaotic noises just now stopped.
After the waiter finished speaking, two waiters came up to the left side of the counter with a low table, and then placed a chair behind the table.
What was this performance about? Ji Zheng became even more curious.
After waiting for another two minutes, an old man with a goatee and wearing a green gown came on stage.
As soon as the old man came on stage, someone in the audience immediately shouted, "Mr. Gao, what are you going to say today?"
The old man glanced at the man who was speaking, stroked his goatee with his right hand, and said with a smile: "Today I want to talk about "The Legend of Dragon and Phoenix."
As soon as the old man finished speaking, everyone said in unison, "Okay!"
Then there was another round of applause.
Seeing this, Ji Zheng also understood that this performance was storytelling.
Ji Zheng had only watched storytelling on TV before and had never really experienced it, so he was very interested in what the old man had to say.
The old man on the stage picked up the black shock wood on the table and slammed it hard. The rustling sounds in the hall suddenly stopped. Then he opened his mouth and said:
"Listeners, please open your eyes and ears and listen to me tell you about a time of turbulent times and heroes. It is said that a long time ago, there was a wealthy family, but there was only one boy in the family..."
While listening, Ji Zheng observed the people in the hall and found that everyone was listening attentively.
The old man took a sip of tea every ten minutes or so. When he finished the tea in his cup, the storytelling session ended.
He drank the last sip of tea and said in a high voice: "To know what happens next, please listen to the next chapter."
This is a classic closing statement.
In fact, the story told by the old storyteller was a very clichéd story about a true and false young master, with some parts about a rich girl falling in love with me. Basically, Ji Zheng knew the development and ending of the process after listening to the beginning.
But others didn't think so. When they heard the end, everyone had an expression of wanting more.
"Old Gao, please continue talking for a while. Did his parents recognize him?"
"Yes, yes, you put it here, aren't you just trying to keep us in suspense?"
"Old Gao, you do this on purpose. You always get stuck at the most exciting part."
People started to complain.
But old man Gao on the stage remained indifferent. He just bowed to everyone and left.
At this time, the waiter came up and knocked on the gong twice, "Dear guests, please be quiet! Be quiet!"
After his shout, everyone quieted down.
"Dear audience members, if you want to know what happens next, please go to the second floor."
As soon as these words were spoken, the people below began to riot again.
Afterwards, some people left directly, while others went up to the second floor.
Ji Zheng was a little confused when he saw this.
"Brother, what does this mean?" Ji Zheng asked his elder brother who was sitting at the same table with him.
The elder brother was also enthusiastic and immediately replied: "This is the old rule of Xiangxianglou."
Xiangxianglou is the name of this teahouse.
"Isn't the story that Old Gao told today unfinished? He will continue to tell another part after we go up to the second floor, but it costs another fee to go up to the second floor, and the minimum fee is twenty cents."
This is the 21st century equivalent of advanced on-demand.
Ji Zheng understood and was speechless. It turned out that merchants have always been deceitful since ancient times.
The name of profiteer is well deserved.
"There are quite a lot of people going up to the second floor." Ji Zheng sighed as he watched the people going up to the second floor one after another.
"After all, it is a story told by old man Gao, and the books he tells are always popular." The man replied.
Ji Zheng looked at those people with a gloomy look in his eyes. He seemed to have found a business opportunity to make money.
"Then do you want to go to the second floor?" Ji Zheng asked again.
The man hesitated for a moment, then said, "Go! If you don't go, I won't be able to sleep tonight!"
After saying that, he strode towards the second floor.
Ji Zheng did not go, firstly because he had a rough idea of what would happen next, and secondly because he had no money.
He turned and walked towards the door, and heard the voices of two waiters talking.
"Look at all these people going up to the second floor. It looks like Old Gao made a lot of money today."
"Yeah, I guess it's a few hundred coins. I'm really jealous."
"If you are jealous, you can also go and tell stories."
"Forget it. I don't have such a great ability. I can't even recognize all the characters. What kind of book is this?"
When Ji Zheng heard that he could earn several hundred coins a day, he was moved. Could storytelling make so much money?
Thinking of the stories in his heart, Ji Zheng was a little excited. He was finally going to get rid of the days of selling hard labor.
But there is no rush for this. Although he has a story in his mind, storytelling alone is not enough; it also requires skills.
So he planned to listen to books these few days and learn more.
With a plan in mind, Ji Zheng felt a lot more relaxed.
Looking at the sky, it was getting late, so Ji Zheng planned to buy something and then go back.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
