Chapter 197 Suppression
Jiang Yuzhu was teased by Xie Zhao, her eyes dodged, her cheeks flushed, she pushed him away and said, "What are you doing? Liang An and the others are here!"
"They were studying the tea in Fuguilou and didn't look over here."
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 turned 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 and lowered their heads 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 be more careful!"
Xie Zhao thought for a while, and finally accepted his wife's suggestion: "Madam, what you said makes sense. Why not wait until night when there is no one in the room..."
“The food is served!”
The waiter shouted at the door, interrupting the couple's conversation.
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 waisted dress outlined her slightly voluptuous figure, which gave her a unique charm.
After the woman served the food, she gave Liang An a wink.
Liang An was intoxicated by the smell of her powder and his face turned red. After all the dishes were served, he trotted to open the window for ventilation.
"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 clever young men. 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 here to accompany the guests."
Regarding brothels, the government had clear regulations that they must be opened in red-light districts and were not allowed to open their doors to guests during the day.
Fuguilou introduced women to serve drinking companions, taking advantage of the loopholes in the Da Qi law and skirting the law.
"With the protection of 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 expected either. It’s just average.
During the meal, the waiter knocked on the door several times to try to sell them drinks or snacks. After Jiang Yuzhu refused, the waiter's face became visibly gloomy.
After the meal was over, the accountant drooped his eyes and said lazily, "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. You're really generous!"
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 chicken, duck, fish and meat, which are as ordinary as they can be, without any delicacies from land and sea, and no precious ingredients!
"A dish of duck in eight-treasure sauce costs two taels of silver, and it is the most expensive dish. How come it ended up costing more than a hundred taels? Did the shopkeeper make a mistake in the calculation?"
He asked for one hundred and thirty taels. He really dared to ask for a price.
Liang An couldn't bear to watch it anymore and questioned.
At this, the accountant slammed the abacus, and the beads flew everywhere. He squinted his eyes and looked at the group of people, and said with a crooked smile: "Why, you want to default on your debt?"
The accountant made a gesture, and the waiter took out a recipe book and opened it: "Dear guest, the accountant did not make a mistake, you remembered it wrongly, how could the sign of our Fuguilou be worth only two taels of silver?"
"The cheapest ordinary ducks are around 10 to 20 coins each, but our ducks are different. They drink mountain spring water and are fed with fish and shrimp. The sauced duck requires dozens of precious seasonings and is cooked through 9981 steps..."
The waiter boasted a lot, but when I opened the menu, I found that a dish of pickled duck cost thirty-five taels.
Liang An took a quick look. He was prepared. He took out a piece of rice paper from his sleeve pocket and said, "Hey, buddy, what do you think this is?"
The recipe Liang An was holding in his hand was the first one given by Fuguilou.
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, laughing 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 rubbings of recipes, do you think this is a smart approach?
The shopkeeper was a smiling tiger. Seeing Liang An's behavior, he was not angry. However, his words were full of threats: "In our business, we believe in making money through harmony. When you go out, all you want is safety. If you don't have money, we can discuss everything. 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 from 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 would 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.
"I get beaten up, and not only do I have to pay for the money, but I also have to spend money to see a doctor. Why bother?"
The waiter tried to persuade her, which made Hongli so angry that her eyebrows stood up and she glared at him with her almond-shaped eyes, cursing, "This is the first time I've seen someone so shameless. 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 made a gesture 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.
"County Magistrate 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 bad has happened!"
Miss Xu, who used to sell tofu on the back street, is dead. Her father, Old Man Xu, takes her body to the government office to ask for an explanation.
When 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 drove 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 are not enough yamen runners, so the magistrate sent someone to borrow people from Fuguilou to maintain order!"
When the people were making trouble, Magistrate Cao never looked for the cause in himself, but maintained his usual approach and found someone to suppress it first.
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