Chapter 2208 (Part 1)
The young man thought about it, then turned around and said, "Okay, I'll take you to the inn."
Manbao and the others immediately grabbed their horses and followed him. Bai Shan stopped a guard and whispered, "Go tell General Nie to stay at the intersection for a while. We'll go find accommodation first."
The guard agreed.
The young man led them into the street. The houses here were somewhat different from those in the Central Plains, and the people looked slightly different, not to mention their clothes and jewelry.
When people on both sides of the street saw that Zhou Man and his friends were accompanied by a young man, they looked at the young man with envy and regret, and did not gather around him to recommend their own homes like they did at the street corner.
The further you go in, the taller the houses are, the bigger the doors are, and there are more shops on both sides.
Manbao discovered that many shops here were selling wolf skins, fruits and brightly colored cloths.
Seeing her curiosity, the young man said enthusiastically: "This is our cloth, it is very beautiful. I have it at home. If you want to buy it, I can sell it to you at a lower price."
Manbao smiled and said, "Let's take a look first. You have quite a few shops here. Do you sell to your own people or to passing merchants?"
"People buy it here, and so do passing merchants. Our fabrics are very good and breathable."
Manbao decided to look back.
The young man turned them into an alley, through which there was a larger road, right by the lake.
The lakeside is full of lush flowers and plants, butterflies are flying, and the afternoon heat dissipates with the breeze.
Manbao raised his eyebrows slightly and asked him, "How many large inns do you have here?"
After the young man knew they wouldn't be staying at his house, he didn't hide it anymore and said honestly, "Two houses, one here, one over there. They're not far apart, so the location is the best."
Manbao: "Is accommodation expensive?"
The young man laughed: "Miss, do you still care about money?"
Manbao nodded and said, "I'm afraid I won't be able to go home, and then I'll have to stay and work to earn money."
This sentence touched his funny bone, and the young man burst into laughter. Then he said to Manbao, "No."
After that, he said, "There are fewer guests now, so the room rate is not high. You can ask the boss for a lower price. If it's not cheap, go stay somewhere else. He will definitely agree to a lower price."
The young man said something in Hu language at this point, "Ale, that greedy guy, won't let anyone who enters his shop go."
Manbao couldn't hear the accented Hu language clearly, but Zhou Liru understood it and whispered it into his aunt's ear.
Manbao raised his eyebrows and knew what was going on.
After walking for a while, the young man finally stopped at the door of an inn with a tall lantern hanging on it. Before entering, he shouted loudly, greeting the people inside in Hu dialect, "Ale, I brought you a guest."
Manbao and the others knew that he was trying to make money on both ends and didn't mind such behavior.
A middle-aged man with a mustache came out quickly, looked at Bai Shan and Zhou Man with a smile on his face, and warmly invited them to come in and sit down. "Dear guests, would you like to stay in the courtyard or the room?"
Bai Shan asked as soon as he heard it, "You still have a yard?"
"Yes, yes," Ale said, pointing to the back with a smile, "The row of courtyards at the back and the row on the left are all mine. I see that the guests are distinguished, so maybe they want to stay in the courtyard."
Bai Shan then looked at Man Bao and asked, "Do you want to stay in the yard?"
A house with its own door and yard is naturally much more comfortable.
Manbao asked, "How much is a yard?"
Ale then looked at Zhou Man and replied seriously, "Guests, do you want to stay short or long? If you want to stay long, you can stay for a month for only two taels of silver or a piece of low-grade silk."
This price is comparable to that in Beijing.
Manbao asked, "What if the stay is short?"
"That's one hundred and twenty coins a day, but our restaurant doesn't include water and firewood. Young ladies and gentlemen will have to ask the servants to buy them for them."
Manbao: "What about the upper room?"
"The upper room is 60 wen a day. Aside from the food, the adults can have tea and baths for free." Ale smiled and said, "To be honest, young lady, this price is only right now because there are fewer people in town. When there were more people, our upper room was 80 wen a day. You can't rent the courtyard for a long-term stay, and it costs three taels of silver a month."
It sounded much cheaper than the inn they had just stayed at when they first arrived in the desert, but...
Manbao and his friends looked outside. There were all kinds of shops outside, and of course there were also inns, not to mention that there were so many families in the town who wanted to rent houses.
The former is a unique business, but it is not the case here.
Manbao asked, "How many rooms are there in a courtyard?"
Ale introduced them in detail: "The courtyards are all similar. There is a large room, a main room, two small rooms, and then there is a stable and a kitchen."
Manbao blinked, "That's it?"
Ale spread his hands: "No more."
Oh, then the rent is more expensive than in Beijing.
Several people asked to see the house.
Ale then led them to see it with a smile. After looking them around, he said with a smile: "Two courtyards are enough for the young masters and young ladies. They can stay in our inn."
I'm talking about guards like Daji.
However, how could they possibly stay alone when they were away from home, and let the guards stay elsewhere? Who knew if they would be robbed at night?
The yard is behind the inn. There is a long alley, and their yard is all the way down.
The yard is not big, half the size of the yard where Manbao lives at home. There are two rooms in the middle. One is the main room with a small room extending from it, and the other is the master bedroom. There are two rows of houses below, two rooms in each row. The ones on the left are guest rooms, which are not big, and the ones on the right are the kitchen and bathroom. It is very cold here when it is cold, so the bathrooms are specially built.
There is open space on both sides of the yard for carriages and stables.
It's small, but has everything.
But it's too small.
After looking around the room, Manbao asked the shopkeeper, "Is there no bigger one?"
Ale was stunned for a moment and then said, "Yes, there is, but it's quite expensive."
Bai Shan said, "Show us."
The large courtyard is in a better location, on the same row as the inn, facing the lake. The courtyards in this row are relatively large, with three main rooms, the middle one is the main hall, and two rows of rooms below, with three rooms on each side, so there are four rooms that can be lived in. The best thing is that there is a second floor here.
In addition to the attic, there are four rooms on the second floor above the main house, all of which can be used for living.
Ale sized up their expressions and said with a smile, "This row of courtyards is very valuable. It costs five taels of silver a month to rent, and four hundred coins a night for a short stay..."
Bai Shan waved to Daji behind him and said, "Go ahead and bargain with him."
Daji: ...
The guards were also a little upset. It would be fine if they just killed people, but why did they have to do the job of managing things?
But even if you haven't eaten pork, you have seen pigs run. Bai Shan and the others made way for the guards who surrounded the shopkeeper and bargained with him.
Shopkeeper: ...
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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