Chapter 137 Inescapable, Unavoidable
In the evening, the passenger ship stopped at Pingzhou Wharf.
The dock had only a few boats moored there, and not many people were getting on or off, so it looked quite empty.
Half of the shops along the riverside street, which can be seen at a glance, are closed, and there are very few pedestrians coming and going.
Sheng An, with his excellent eyesight, saw that the waiter who was soliciting customers at the entrance of the inn was dozing off against a pillar.
Xu Jinnian picked up two bundles in one hand and held Sheng An's hand with the other, walking towards an inn at the end of the street: "This inn called Fangping is run by Brother Fang's family, and it's much cleaner than other inns."
Sheng An asked curiously, "Are all the Fang family's inns called Fangping Inn?"
The name has a good meaning, signifying peace in all directions, which is quite different from inns with names like Yingbinlou or Fuxingguan.
"No, the Fang family named their inn very simply. The surname is followed by the first character of the city's name. The Fang family's inn in Qingzhou is called Fangqing Inn."
Xu Jinnian explained the Fang family's custom of naming their inns, and suddenly remembered a naming joke that Fang Qingzhou had told before, so he couldn't help but share it with Sheng An with a smile:
“There was a small town called Bear Town. The Fang family ancestors ran an inn in Bear Town. They felt that ‘Fang Gou Inn’ sounded like an insult to them, so they searched through the county annals of Bear Town and found that it had always been called that. In the end, they could only name it ‘Fang Xiong Inn’.”
Bear is mighty and powerful; Fang Xiong Inn does indeed sound much better than Fang Gou Inn.
"The Fang family's naming method is really simple and unpretentious. I thought that families like theirs would burn incense and worship their ancestors before naming their children, and consult a fortune teller to choose a good name."
Looking at Fangping Inn not far away, Sheng An could tell that the inn was doing good business, as it was clearly more grand than other inns on the street and had two waiters standing at the entrance soliciting customers.
The couple chatted as they walked and soon arrived at the entrance of Fangping Inn, where they were warmly welcomed by two waiters: "Esteemed guests, our inn provides hot water all day, breakfast is free, and the beds are changed daily, so you can rest assured to check in."
Sheng An nodded secretly. The Fang family was indeed good at business and understood what their guests cared about.
The couple brought plenty of money and booked the best room at Fangping Inn, which cost one tael of silver per night.
There are advantages to being expensive. As soon as Xu Jinnian received the room key and the room certificate, a waiter immediately came forward to take the bundle, and another waiter led the way.
It can be said that Fangping Inn has a very strong service awareness.
The couple followed the waiter to a south-facing room on the second floor. As soon as they opened the door, they smelled a light, elegant incense scent with a hint of natural floral fragrance.
The waiter stood at the door and said respectfully, "Please come in, gentlemen. Hot water will be delivered shortly. There is a cook in the kitchen who can prepare simple meals. There is a restaurant across the street where you can order food, which will be delivered by me."
Sheng An hadn't eaten much at noon, and was quite hungry now, so he took out a tael of silver and handed it to the waiter: "Go to the restaurant and order enough food for two people, with meat, vegetables and soup."
The shop assistant took the silver with both hands: "Yes."
After dismissing the two men, Sheng An closed the door and looked around the room.
The room is spacious, with two bedrooms and a living room. The entrance leads to the living room, which is about 20 square meters in size and is decorated in a simple and elegant style.
Turn left to find the bedroom, which is fully equipped with a bed, cabinets, and dressing table. The bed canopy is embroidered with exquisite patterns, and the bedding looks new and, most importantly, is very clean with no odor.
Turn right to find a small study. There is a table and chairs by the window, as well as a small bookshelf. Brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones are placed on the corner of the table for guests to use.
Next to the small study is a small washroom, which contains a washbasin, a foot bath tub, and a bathtub about half the height of a person.
Of course, there's also a toilet in the far corner.
Sheng An was very satisfied with the environment of the suite, and the room fee of one or two taels of silver per night was well spent.
"An'an, you must be tired today. Go lie down on the bed for a while. I'll call you when the food is served."
Xu Jinnian led Sheng An to the room, unpacked their bundles and put away their clothes, then placed the clothes Sheng An would wear after washing up on the bed.
Sheng An shook his head: "After a whole day on the ship, I need to change my clothes before I can go to bed."
As she spoke, she sat down in front of the dressing table, propping her chin up as she watched the man busily working in an orderly fashion, feeling a surge of admiration in her heart.
She was lucky; such a handsome man with good lifestyle habits and good judgment was her husband.
Sheng An is somewhat lazy at heart and doesn't like to pick up on trivial matters in marriage. It's very rare in reality to painstakingly train a man who never grows up. Someone as outstanding as Xu Jinnian is excellent in every way.
Just as Xu Jinnian finished tidying up their belongings, there was a knock on the door. It was the waiter bringing hot water for washing up.
Sheng An washed up thoroughly, changed into clean clothes, and let her hair down, feeling relaxed from the inside out.
When Xu Jinnian finished washing up and came out, the waiter brought her a hot meal, which included meat, fish, vegetables, and a spinach and shredded pork soup. She only spent half of the one tael of silver.
Sheng An casually picked up a piece of silver and gave it to the waiter: "Tomorrow's breakfast must include a serving of sweet tofu pudding."
She really couldn't get used to the savory tofu pudding; she still felt that the sweet kind was more pleasant.
The waiter was overjoyed to receive the reward money and ran to the kitchen to instruct the cook to prepare a serving of sweet tofu pudding for the distinguished guests on the second floor while it was still hot.
The couple sat at the table eating. As they enjoyed the fragrant braised pork with preserved mustard greens, Sheng An squinted his eyes with great satisfaction: "The chef at the restaurant across the street is quite skilled, and the prices aren't high. Compared to him, I feel like a swindler."
Xu Jinnian could easily coax people with words like, "The fatty meat is a bit greasy, and the lean meat is a bit dry. It's not nearly as delicious as An'an's cooking. One qian of silver is just right for a serving."
Sheng An was very pleased with the gesture and reached for the steamed fish on the side with her chopsticks. She couldn't help but miss the fish soup she had on the boat at noon: "Let's have tofu stewed with fish head tomorrow. I haven't had it in a long time."
Xu Jinnian responded and secretly made a mental note of it.
The two had good appetites and finished all four dishes and one soup.
Sheng An was very tired and obviously couldn't lie down right now, so she let Xu Jinnian put a cloak on her and take his arm to go for a walk in the street.
Now it was completely dark, with only the crescent moon on the horizon providing illumination.
The couple walked along the riverside street to its end, and when they turned back, they saw the dock brightly lit, and could vaguely see several figures standing there.
The ships docked at the pier were very large and obviously more luxurious than the ships they had traveled on during the day.
Sheng An guessed that it was a wealthy family traveling together and casually remarked, "It's good to be rich."
If they didn't have money, they wouldn't have been able to travel today, let alone stay in a luxury room that costs one or two taels of silver a night.
Xu Jinnian's hearing was better than Sheng An's; he could hear the voices coming from the dock.
They were a bit far away, so they couldn't hear what was being said, and they didn't pay much attention. They took Sheng An's hand and walked towards the inn, saying, "It's chilly at night, let's go back to our room and rest."
Sheng An and Xu Jinnian walked side by side toward Fangping Inn, but they did not find the person who boarded the dock. It was none other than Princess Shanmin, whom she was trying to avoid.
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