However, this wait lasted for more than two months.
In the end, Meng Zhao did not concern himself with the wages at Boss Qin's shop. Xiao Youzhi was right; meddling too much could easily cause trouble.
However, she will reorganize the franchise agreement and add a clause on the wages of the employees. This will set a bottom line for future franchisees, and when Boss Qin renews her franchise agreement, she will naturally be aware of this clause.
For the past few months, Meng Zhao has been staying in Hongnong County. Off-season vegetables have no competitors in winter, so it's easy to find a market for them, and she basically sets the prices.
But once spring arrives and regular vegetables gradually come to market, her off-season vegetables will slowly lose their market, and there will be no point in her keeping them.
Inside the carriage, Huang Cui lifted the curtain and asked the driver, "How much longer until we reach the capital?"
The driver replied, "If the weather is good, we should arrive in two more days."
Meng Zhao, who was in the car, naturally heard it as well. Originally, she wanted to go directly to Huazhou, but she received a letter from Wei Jinglan saying that the bandit suppression had come to an end, so she thought she would go to Quyang on the way.
The journey to Quyang required passing through the capital, and Meng Zhao was still preoccupied with her hairpin. She couldn't rest easy until she got it back, so she decided to take a detour to the capital.
Ever since Meng Zhao arrived in ancient times, he had always longed for the capital city. It was under the emperor's nose, with a concentrated population, the best food and supplies, a huge demand for all kinds of goods, and excellent information flow, making it a more attractive business opportunity. At the same time, the laws in such a political center were relatively strict.
However, the drawbacks are also quite obvious. The competition will be fierce. Established stores have already divided up the market, and newcomers will be fighting for market share. In addition, the costs of rent, labor, and raw materials are very high. Without some initial capital, it is impossible to start a business.
Then there's the capital city. Who knows if you might accidentally offend some big shot? If you do well, you can soar to the top, but if you take one wrong step, you might fall to the bottom. The margin for error is too low. It's far less stable than her small county town.
They traveled by carriage to the capital, passing through villages and towns that were all bustling and prosperous, and even the roads were much smoother and wider than those in other places.
Looking at the scene, Shen Yun said, "Sister Meng Zhao, let's open a shop in the capital in the future. Everyone here looks very rich."
Indeed, carriages are a rarity in ordinary county towns, only the wealthy can afford them, and you rarely see them on the streets. But they haven't even arrived in the capital yet, and they can already see carriages coming and going one after another, which must be because they are rich people.
Meng Zhao smiled and nodded, "Of course we want to, but I heard from my godmother that shops in the capital are very expensive. If we want to expand our business to the capital, we'll have to wait a bit longer."
Upon arriving at the city gate, the group disembarked from the carriage and prepared to queue for inspection. As they were from out of town, entering the city required not only checking their household registration but also inspecting everything they carried in the carriage. Faced with the stern-faced guards, no one dared to complain. Meng Zhao and the others cooperated by opening their belongings for inspection, even peering under the carriage. After about fifteen minutes, they were finally allowed in.
As they entered the city gate, the sight before them took their breath away. The wide streets were teeming with people, and shops lined both sides of the street with fluttering banners. Pedestrians hurried by. So this was the capital city! It was even more prosperous than what Meng Zhao had seen on TV.
After entering the city, they thought they should find a place to stay, so they randomly picked an inn. But before they could even speak, the waiter shouted, "We're full. Please go somewhere else."
They didn't mind and turned to other inns, but all three or four they tried were fully booked.
Meng Zhao, unwilling to give up, asked, "Can't we even stay for one night? Upstairs or downstairs, we're fine with either."
The waiter shook his head. "No, no, there aren't any available. The imperial examination ended yesterday, and with all the candidates and their families in the capital, there are no vacant rooms left."
Meng Zhao was shocked: "The imperial examination is over?"
Seeing that they were all women, the waiter kindly said, "It ended yesterday. If you're staying for a long time, you can go to the broker to see if there are any courtyards available for rent. If you're only staying for a short time, you can look outside the city for suitable places. I'm afraid there's no room left in the city."
Meng Zhao regretted it a little. She had chosen the right time to come. Last year, the imperial examination started on March 15th. Each examination lasted three days and was held three times in total, with a one-day break in between. So by the time it ended, it was already early April.
She had originally planned to take advantage of Shen Qing's time with the imperial examinations to go to the Shen family and retrieve her belongings, but who knew that this year's examinations would start so early and end on March 20th.
"Shopkeeper, what should we do now? Why don't we go and see Madam Gu?" Huang Cui suggested, unaware that Meng Zhao wanted to avoid Shen Qinghe.
Meng Zhao shook her head and said to the waiter, "If there are no vacancies, that's fine. There's a seat here, so please bring us some of our signature dishes." In order to get into the city today, they had only eaten whatever they could find on the road for the past two days, and they were already very hungry.
The coachman watched the carriage from outside, while Meng Zhao had the waiter prepare some food and send it over separately. The four of them then sat in the empty seats.
The chefs in the capital were indeed highly skilled; they cooked several home-style dishes with excellent color, aroma, and taste. The crispy fried meatballs, in particular, were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a hint of pepper—they were absolutely delicious.
Just as they were enjoying their meal, they overheard some guests at the next table chatting after finishing their drinks. "Let me tell you," one of them said, "I've heard that this year's top scholar will definitely be Lin Ziqian from the Su'an Marquis's mansion."
"Of course, Young Master Lin has always been exceptionally talented. Those who are still at the gambling den are mostly betting on him."
Before the two could exchange more than a few words, someone at the next table retorted, "Bullshit, that Lin guy is just a pretty face with no substance. He's no match for being the top scholar."
Meng Zhao looked at the person who was speaking. He was dressed in fine clothes and dared to judge the son of an earl's mansion. He must be of high status. This capital city is really full of high-ranking officials and nobles.
However, the conversation among these people made Meng Zhao realize one thing: now that the imperial examination has just ended and there is still some time before the results are announced, the question of who will be the top scholar is bound to be a hot topic, and the gambling dens can't possibly miss out on this excitement.
This made Meng Zhao somewhat tempted. After finishing his meal, he asked around and found out that the people who placed the most bets in the gambling den were all high-ranking officials and nobles, such as the nephew of the former prime minister, the son of an earl, and the younger brother of the vice minister of the Ministry of Rites. The main reason was that ordinary people did not have many channels to receive information, and these were the names they usually knew.
As for those candidates who came from all over the country, they were not particularly famous or well-known, so no one knew their names and naturally no one would place bets on them.
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