Chapter 63: Selling Dried Mushrooms and Eating Noodle Soup
Zhou Ye didn't respond to the waiter. He simply said, "I brought a basket of dried shiitake mushrooms today. Could you please ask Manager Luo if he needs them?"
As he spoke, he took out a handful of copper coins and said, "Please trouble me, little brother."
The clerk declined, "No, no, it's just a small matter of delivering a message for you."
Zhou Ye directly stuffed the copper coin into his hand and said, "I'd like to trouble you to say a few good words, my mushrooms are of excellent quality, no worse than any other ones sold in the grass market."
Although fragrant mushrooms are hard to find, there are more than a dozen villages under Jingxi Town, many of which rely on the mountains for their livelihood, and other villagers will pick these fragrant mushrooms to sell. However, the amount of fragrant mushrooms picked by these people is far less than that of Zhou Ye.
The clerk was forced to pay a handful of copper coins, and immediately smiled. "I don't need to praise you specially. Our manager Luo is always very satisfied with the things you bring. Please wait a moment, I will go find Manager Luo."
Lin Shu watched the whole thing, impressed. Zhou Ye remained silent, surprisingly understanding the social world. That handful of copper coins must have been worth at least twenty or thirty wen. If it were any other farmer, who would be willing to part with that much?
Seeing her staring at him with a puzzled expression, Zhou Ye pursed his lips and explained, "Don't be fooled by this guy's smile. If he were truly kindhearted, he'd have immediately delivered the message upon recognizing me. But he started off with something else, saying it was hard to see Manager Luo, and then complaining that I was late. With people like that, there's no need to waste your words. If you're paying them enough, they'll deliver your message. If not, no matter how much you say or how humble you are, it's all in vain."
Lin Shu immediately laughed. "I understand this better than you. It's easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with little ghosts. I'm just wondering why you seem so clumsy at talking, but you're quite good at this. And you're willing to spend a bunch of copper coins."
Zhou Ye said, "If this kind of person isn't full, he'll just do things perfunctorily. No one else will know whether he's gone for a stroll and informed Manager Luo when he comes back. Only if he's satisfied can the money be considered well spent."
"That makes sense, but did you ask me about bribing the guys?" Lin Shu put her hands on her hips, her lips curled slightly. "That's the money my mother gave me. I told you to take it because I was worried it wouldn't be safe with me. I don't care. You owe me this, and you have to pay me back!"
Zhou Ye was stunned for a moment and asked, "How do you want to make up for it? Do you want to keep some money for yourself?"
Lin Shu glared at him, "If I came to the market, my mother would pay me. Why would I leave any money for myself? Am I that kind of person? I mean, let's find a small restaurant to have a meal. Um, I want some noodle soup!"
You can use the chicken mushroom sauce she brought with you when eating noodles. The aroma of the chicken mushroom sauce will fill the whole house. I believe it will attract other greedy people!
The two men waited for a long time, and finally, the guy who had taken the benefits came back. This time, there was an additional person, a middle-aged man with a medium build, a thick waist and a round face.
The guy from before was following the man closely, saying something with a smile on his face.
Seeing the waiter's fawning manner, Lin Shu guessed that the man in front was the manager Luo. As expected of a manager in a large restaurant, he ate so well that his chin was filled with fat.
"Zhou Dalang, what good stuff have you brought me today?" Manager Luo walked over and asked with a smile. He looked like an easy-going person.
But the word "Zhou Dalang" almost broke Lin Shu's plan.
Zhou Ye, the eldest son of Zhou Dalang, unloaded his backpack and said calmly, "Manager Luo, I'm sorry to bother you. I went to the mountains a few days ago to pick some mushrooms. I dried them and got this basket of dried mushrooms, weighing about five pounds. I thought your wine shop's business was booming and you might need some, so I didn't go to the market, but came straight to you."
Who doesn’t like others to praise their business? It sounds especially nice when it comes from a simple and honest country boy.
Manager Luo's smile deepened. He picked up two dried shiitake mushrooms from the basket, squeezed them, and sniffed them. His eyes narrowed slightly, "They're freshly dried, and they look pretty good."
Then he lifted the basket by the edge with both hands. He raised his eyebrows slightly as he lifted it. "Is this basket of dried mushrooms really only five pounds? Why do I feel like it's heavier than five pounds?"
Zhou Ye's face showed a hint of surprise, and he said truthfully, "I dare not lie to Manager Luo. This basket of dried mushrooms actually weighs seven pounds, but I didn't dry them well enough, so I subtracted two pounds."
Manager Luo burst into laughter. "Zhou Dalang, ah Zhou Dalang, you're a rare honest man. Let's keep it the same as last time. I'll give you a good price of fifty coins per two ounces. I want all this basket of dried mushrooms!"
Lin Shu took a deep breath. This manager was really straightforward! Who wouldn't like such a straightforward person? No wonder Zhou Ye's pork sales were so successful last time.
One liang is fifty wen, one jin is eight hundred wen, even if you calculate it based on five jins, you can get four huangqian!
Manager Na Luo suddenly exclaimed "Huh!" and then he noticed that there was someone following Zhou Ye.
He turned his head and looked back, and found that it was a young lady.
Manager Luo glanced at the pretty face and was stunned.
"Zhou Dalang, who is this young lady?"
Zhou Ye frowned slightly and replied: "It's the little one at home..."
Before she could even finish the word "little sister," Lin Shu spoke up, embarrassedly replying, "To answer the steward, I am Dalang's wife. I heard from the head of the household that he is very grateful for your constant care for us. Thanks to you, my husband and I are now much better off than before."
As soon as the word "daughter-in-law" was uttered, Zhou Ye suddenly stood still like a wooden stake, unable to move. A surge of heat rushed through his whole body, and the base of his neck turned red.
After hearing what Lin Shu said, Manager Luo immediately withdrew his gaze and stopped looking at her, but a hint of regret flashed across his eyes.
As the manager of Jiu Man Lou, he often interacted with the town's wealthy families and wealthy businessmen, and naturally met many dainty ladies and daughters. It was no exaggeration to say that Zhou Dalang's wife had a face as beautiful as a lotus, not inferior to those of the ladies. Even her skin, which was maintained by someone, was delicate and fair, and was not inferior to those ladies, and even better.
What a pity, she has become someone else's wife. A beautiful flower stuck in a pile of cow dung.
He liked Zhou Dalang very much. He was capable and honest, but no matter how capable and honest he was, he was still just a country bumpkin. Could he afford to keep such a delicate flower?
Manager Luo was filled with regret and asked the clerk who had followed him to withdraw four strings of cash from the account. After paying Zhou Ye with the silver and goods, he left.
Normally he would have given Zhou Ye a few words of advice, asking him to bring any mountain products he got next time, but today, because of that little regret, he didn't say much else.
Zhou Ye took the four strings of money and was distracted for a long time.
Lin Shu took the four strings of cash from his hand, weighed them, and smiled from ear to ear. "It's so heavy! Four strings of cash, a full four thousand copper coins! Ah Ye, you're really capable. We got four strings of cash on this trip!"
Zhou Ye came back to his senses, his palms sweating. He quietly wiped them behind his back, hummed, and replied, "Fragrant mushrooms are hard to find in the mountains, and I only sell them once in a while. Four taels of silver doesn't really go a long way."
Lin Shu glared at him, "This thing is so useless, how can you expect those people who can't wait to break a copper coin into two to survive?"
Zhou Ye explained, "Xiao Pu's medicine costs a lot, and I eat more than others, so Aunt He has to cook more for two people at every meal."
Lin Shu paused and asked, "How much does Xiao Pu spend on medicine each time?"
Zhou Ye: "I heard Aunt He mention that even buying ten days' worth of medicine would cost two hundred coins."
Lin Shu was speechless. She knew medical treatment would cost money, but she had never imagined it would be this expensive.
Two hundred coins for ten days, which means six hundred coins for a month. It would be fine if the medicine was only taken for one or two months, but Xiao Pu has been taking it for a long time. I really don’t know how A Niang managed to survive for the past two years.
She couldn't help but look at Zhou Ye. It was thanks to him that she had this money. Otherwise, even if her parents worked themselves to death, they wouldn't be able to come up with this money.
Thinking about Xiao Pu's medicine money, she somehow thought of the original owner, and she sighed in her heart, "Aye, I was not in good health when I was young. My mother, I mean, the Marquis's wife, told me that I was raised with very precious medicinal herbs for a long time. If the Marquis's wife hadn't taken the wrong child back then, I might not have survived in Tianshui Village. So, compared to me, Xiao Pu has done very well."
Zhou Ye frowned suddenly when he heard this, and his heart couldn't help but tighten when he thought of that possibility.
Lin Shu sighed, "Sometimes I think that maybe God had mercy on me and let me be born in the countryside and grow up in a marquis' mansion."
To be precise, it was God who took pity on the original Lin Shu, so he let her grow up in the Marquis' Mansion and live a life of luxury for more than ten years.
Unfortunately, not everyone can withstand the huge psychological gap. When God wants to put everything back on track, the original owner who can't bear the gap becomes a vicious female supporting role and kills herself.
"When I think of what the Marquis' wife said about my weak constitution when I was young, I feel thankful that I was taken away by mistake. Because I grew up in the Marquis' mansion, I have a healthy body today. Ah Ye, does this little thankfulness make me look disgusting? I should be ashamed of having taken everything from Lin Yao."
"Ah Shu, this isn't your fault," Zhou Ye said awkwardly, "You're very strong. If someone else had encountered this, they would blame them and be unhappy for the rest of their lives. You're already doing well."
"Yes, I also think I'm doing great now." Lin Shu said with a smile, returning the four strings of cash to him. "This money is very heavy, so you should keep it and give it to my mother when you get home. I guarantee she'll be grinning from ear to ear."
"Ah Shu." Zhou Ye called her and asked hesitantly, "Why did you say that just now?"
"What do you mean?" Lin Shu asked deliberately.
Zhou Ye remained silent, only his tanned ears seemed to show some redness.
Lin Shu glared at him. Couldn't he ask one more question?
"I'm pretty, but what if Steward Luo sees me and wants to take me as his concubine? The moment I meet his eyes, I know he's a lecher. I call myself your wife just to save you the trouble."
Zhou Ye recalled the look that Manager Luo had given Lin Shu just now. It was indeed direct, but when he thought about how he was old enough to be Lin Shu's father, yet he still dared to have such an idea, he suddenly felt uncomfortable all over.
"I won't ask him to sell mountain products in the future." Zhou Ye lowered his eyes, his voice a little heavy.
"Fool, why would you want to go against money? He's a good payer, so we'll go to him when we need to sell our mountain products! Manager Luo can't be called a womanizer, at most he's a bit attracted to beauty. Now that he knows I'm your wife, he won't have any plans. You should learn from this, too. Never tell the truth to outsiders. A few lies are harmless. After all, these 'nobles' won't go out of their way to investigate us little people."
Zhou Ye hummed.
"Let's go, I'm hungry. Let's go to that Li Ji Noodle Soup restaurant we just passed by!"
When Zhou Ye heard the word "hungry", his hand subconsciously reached into his arms, trying to take out the pancakes made by He Guixiang, but when he heard Lin Shu's next words, he silently withdrew his hand.
Lin Shu noticed his movements and said with a smile, "Eat the noodles too. We'll dip them in the noodle soup later!"
This pancake tastes delicious only when it is freshly baked. It becomes dry and hard after being left for a long time. It is okay as dry food to satisfy hunger, but with so many delicious snacks stalls outside wafting their fragrance, this pancake is really hard to swallow.
Zhou Ye acquiesced to Lin Shu's suggestion. Even if he came to the market alone, he would treat himself to a meal after selling his goods, because a few flatbreads were not enough for him to eat. However, he would choose food that was easier to fill him up and would not be picky about the taste.
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Compared to Jiu Man Lou, the noodle shop Lin Shu mentioned was much smaller, a small eatery specializing in noodle soup. But because it was a long-established shop in the market, the addition of many small food stalls didn't affect its business. On the contrary, because the market was crowded that day, the business was even more prosperous than usual.
When Lin Shu and Zhou Ye went there, many people were having breakfast. The shop assistant greeted them with a smile, "My two guests, there are many customers today, so there are no empty tables."
Lin Shu replied, "That's fine, just share the table with other diners."
"Oh! As long as you two don't mind!" After hearing this, the waiter immediately led the two inside.
The shop wasn't big, but it had six square tables with benches, two people per table, and eight people per table. Besides, soup noodles were eaten quickly; as soon as one customer finished and left, a new customer would fill their place.
At this moment, there were only two large tables with one side empty, so the waiter specially found a table with a female guest.
"Sir, look what we have for you. Plain noodles in clear soup are without any toppings and are eight cents a bowl. Adding greens and bean sprouts is ten cents, a poached egg is fifteen cents, a spoonful of stir-fried pork liver is eighteen cents, fatty shredded pork is eighteen cents, pork bone soup with a pork chop is twenty cents, chicken soup with a chicken thigh is twenty-two cents..."
Hearing the waiter talking about the increasingly high prices of soup noodles, Lin Shu was shocked. No wonder this soup noodle shop was doing so good business, there were so many kinds of toppings alone!
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