Jiang Yuzhu was teased by Xie Zhao, her eyes dodging, her cheeks flushed crimson, she pushed him away and said, "What are you doing? Liang An and the others are here!"
"They were studying the tea at Fuguilou and didn't look over."
Xie Zhao held Jiang Yuzhu's soft body in his arms, a smile flashed in his eyes, and he deliberately spoke softly.
After a long pause, Jiang Yuzhu tilted her head slightly and observed carefully. She saw Liang An, Hong Li and others gathered together, staring at the tea seriously, as if counting the tea leaves.
Several servants looked tense, with their heads hung unnaturally.
As soon as the little girl Ningxiang looked over, Hongjin was quick to press Ningxiang's head down.
Jiang Yuzhu still didn't understand something, so she pushed Xie Zhao and said angrily, "When you go out, you should at least be more careful!"
Xie Zhao pondered for a moment, and finally accepted his wife's suggestion: "Madam, what you said makes sense. Why not wait until night when there's no one else in the room..."
“The food is served!”
The young man shouted at the door, interrupting the conversation between the couple.
Afterwards, the young man took the lead, followed by several beautiful women in uniform.
The woman in the lead had a slightly dark complexion, and her tight-fitting dress with a waistline outlined her slightly voluptuous figure, giving her a unique charm.
After serving the dishes, the woman flirted with Liang An.
Liang An was intoxicated by the smell of powder on her body, and his face turned red. After the dishes were served, he trotted to open the window to ventilate.
"Is this Fuguilou really a simple restaurant? Why does it feel weird?"
The food was delicious, but too greasy. Liang An stared at it for a long time and became suspicious.
Hong Jin couldn't help but laugh and said, "Liang An, you don't know, do you?"
In general restaurants and diners, the waiters are mostly young and smart boys. If the shop has beautiful women serving them, the business is usually not clean.
"The drinks at Fuguilou are more expensive than the food. Most of these women who show up are just drinking companions."
Regarding brothels, the government had clear regulations that they must be located in red-light districts and were not allowed to open their doors to guests during the day.
Fuguilou introduced women to accompany drinking, taking advantage of the loopholes in the laws of the Great Qi Dynasty and skirting the law.
"With the protection of County Magistrate Cao, Fuguilou is truly wealthy."
Jiang Yuzhu tasted each dish and found the flavors to be strong but acceptable.
It’s not amazing, but not as bad as I thought. It’s just average.
During the meal, the waiter knocked on the door several times to interrupt, trying to sell drinks or snacks. After Jiang Yuzhu refused, the waiter's face became noticeably gloomy.
After the meal was over and the bill was settled, the accountant said lazily with his eyes drooping, "Dear guest, the total consumption is one hundred and thirty taels of silver."
In a restaurant in Ruyang, just a few signature dishes can cost a family of three decades’ worth of money?
"You guys at Fuguilou could have just robbed me of my money, but you still served me a few dishes. How generous of you!"
Hongli's monthly salary was two taels of silver, which was the highest standard for people in the capital.
Her wife was generous and often gave Hongli jewelry and red envelopes as rewards. Even so, a meal at Fuguilou would cost Hongli two or three years' savings.
The dishes chosen are ordinary chicken, duck, fish and meat, without any delicacies from land and sea, and no precious ingredients!
"A dish of Eight Treasure Braised Duck costs two taels of silver, the most expensive dish. How come it ended up costing over a hundred taels? Did the shopkeeper make a mistake in the calculations?"
He asked for one hundred and thirty taels. He’s really bold in asking for a price.
Liang An couldn't bear to watch it anymore and questioned.
At this, the accountant slammed his abacus, sending beads flying everywhere. He squinted his eyes at the group and said with a wry smile, "Why, you want to default on your debt?"
The accountant gestured, and the waiter took out a recipe book and opened it: "Dear guest, the accountant did not make a mistake, it's you who misremembered it. How could our Fuguilou signboard be worth only two taels of silver?"
"Ordinary ducks are the cheapest at around ten or twenty coins each, but our ducks are different. They've been raised drinking mountain spring water and fed fish and shrimp. The sauced duck requires dozens of precious seasonings and is cooked through 81 steps..."
The young man boasted a lot, but when he opened the menu, he found that a dish of braised duck cost thirty-five taels.
Liang An took a quick look. He was prepared. He pulled out a piece of rice paper from his sleeve pocket and said, "Hey, buddy, what do you think this is?"
What Liang An was holding in his hand was the recipe that Fuguilou had given him for the first time.
With a charcoal pencil in hand, Liang An made a copy.
There is a huge difference in price between the original recipe and subsequent recipes.
According to the original recipe, this meal cost less than five taels.
The other party came prepared, and the accountant was quite surprised. He crossed his arms and nodded, then laughed angrily: "Okay, okay, so you are here to cause trouble!"
Since you know the secrets of Fuguilou, why do you still come here and have a meal? Isn't it just a provocation?
You even use rubbing recipes, do you think this is a smart approach?
The shopkeeper was a smiling tiger. Seeing Liang An's actions, he was not angry. However, his words were full of threats: "In business, we believe in harmony and wealth. When you go out, all you want is safety. If you are short of money, everything can be negotiated. But if you really want to cause trouble, Fuguilou is not a place for you to run wild!"
"One hundred and ten taels, give me one hundred taels as an integer, just as a friend, otherwise..."
It was just time for dinner and Fuguilou was packed with guests. The owner was too lazy to talk nonsense and called out a dozen thugs he had hired in the shop.
Everyone was used to it, holding thick wooden sticks in their hands and looking fierce.
Seeing this, the waiter said coldly, "You don't look like people who are short of money. Once you enter the door of Fuguilou, you can't leave without a hundred taels. This is the rule."
Just coming in to eat, even if it's just a dish of cabbage, it will cost one hundred taels of silver.
"Our restaurant is packed, don't you understand?"
Unless necessary, try not to go to the last step and cause trouble for each other.
"Not only do I get beaten up, but I also have to spend money to see a doctor. Why bother?"
The young man tried to persuade her, but Hongli was so angry that her eyebrows raised and she glared at him with almond-shaped eyes, cursing, "This is the first time I've seen such a shameless person. He keeps talking about a hundred taels of silver. Do you know how much a hundred taels of silver is? It's enough to dig a hole and erect a monument for your boss's ancestors!"
"OK!"
The shopkeeper's face trembled and he gestured to the strong men.
Just as the crowd was about to gather around, noisy shouts were heard from the door.
On the streets, people were running towards the government office, telling each other the news.
"Zhixian Cao's brother-in-law has killed someone, go and see!"
"We need to ask for an explanation for the kind-hearted girl!"
The people gathered spontaneously, and from a few scattered people, they soon gathered into hundreds of people.
After the clerk inquired, he whispered in the shopkeeper's ear, "Shopkeeper, something terrible is happening!"
Miss Xu, who sold tofu in the back street, is dead. Her father, Old Man Xu, takes her body to the government office to ask for an explanation.
When County Magistrate Cao heard that it was related to his brother-in-law, he did not ask the reason and sent people to beat up Old Man Xu on the grounds of causing trouble and kicked him out of the yamen.
When the people heard the news, they were extremely angry and spontaneously gathered together and went to the government office to appeal for justice for the Xu family.
"There aren't enough yamen runners, so the magistrate sent someone to borrow people from Fuguilou to maintain order!"
When the people were making trouble, County Magistrate Cao never looked for the cause in himself, but instead maintained his usual approach and first found someone to suppress it.
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