Chapter 129 Chapter 129 Update.
The next day, Jin's mother and daughter started selling rice and meat soup in the center of the market. Because her son-in-law was the treasurer of this market, the vendors nearby complimented her, saying:
"Such a good position should belong to Mrs. Jin. If she doesn't get it, then any other meat sauce or braised food will be even less worthy of her."
"That's right. I love the deliciousness of this rice and meat soup. There's no other place like it in Chang'an."
Jin was so coaxed that she smiled happily. While bragging to others, she also got some food from others to satisfy Ji Zhi's craving: soy milk drink, fried fish, taro cakes, her hands were full.
"Remember the amount and give it to me later."
After Jin said this, the vendors didn't dare to take her money.
"No need, no need, it's not worth much."
He was afraid that he would be targeted by the city officials at the end of the month and extorted heavily from him.
Ji Zhi held the food awkwardly and said:
"My mother won't give them money."
Jin pinched her and called her stupid. "White isn't good enough? Why are you still giving me money? You're just wasting money."
The fried fish and taro pancakes were so fragrant that Ji Zhi was so greedy that he ate them all and even licked his fingers.
She had a pair of buns on her head and was wearing a brown dress that was neither old nor new. It was the first dress she brought out from home. It was Ji Yuan's and it was too small for her, so Jin had it altered to be bigger for her.
When she was in her aunt's house in Handan, her aunt made her two silver-red embroidered skirts and bought her a silk flower headband for her to wear in Chang'an.
Jin told her to keep it and wear it during festivals. It would be a waste to wear such a nice skirt while selling prepared food.
The skirt was bright and beautiful, and Ji Zhi couldn't bear to put it aside, so she forced herself to wear it. However, she was used to wearing rustic clothes, and she felt uncomfortable wearing a skirt with flowers. She twisted her hands and feet, and finally put on the old clothes again.
After eating, while Jin was not paying attention, she went into the money box, took out two coins, and secretly hid them in her sleeve.
Jin felt that everything about this place was good when she did business. The view was wide, there were many people, and they were all very nice. It was much better than her previous place, which was surrounded by old men buying vegetables. She felt more and more that she had a good son-in-law.
"Isn't it four ounces of meat soup? How can this amount of meat be worth four ounces? There's more soup than meat. Your business is becoming increasingly dishonest."
The common people who came to buy cooked food did not buy Jin's story. They held up the rice and meat soup in their food baskets and started shouting.
"It has always been like this, meat soup, meat soup. Can we only give meat without soup? Too much meat will make it taste greasy. It tastes better when the soup is poured over rice." Jin argued.
"You woman, you gave me too little meat and told me a bunch of lies! I won't waste my words with you anymore. Either give me another spoonful of meat or return my money. I don't want this thing anymore," said the man.
Jin put her hands on her hips and said, "Now that it's in your food basket, you say you don't want it anymore? You want an extra spoonful, and he wants an extra spoonful, too. I've given it all to you guys, so are we still going to do business? Give me more money, and I'll give you an extra spoonful."
She was confident that her meat soup tasted good, and even if there was less meat and more soup, people would still come to buy it, and it was not inferior to the man's request.
The man refused to give it to her, and started arguing with her. In a fit of anger, he even smashed the food basket in front of her stall.
Jin waved to the city officials to come and drive them away, as the place was in such a mess.
Feng, Zhu and the others watched from the side and ran home to tell about it.
"They're arguing! They're arguing! Auntie's business isn't as good as ours, and she still has time to argue with people. She must not be selling as much as we are."
Ji Fengdao felt that this position was his.
"What? Why did her family win? Their rice and meat soup doesn't sell as much as ours!"
After the market closed that day, her family went to the city official to ask, but got this result, Ji Feng argued.
She watched from the side for a whole day, counting silently in her heart. That Jin was busy arguing with others, and probably didn't get even one or two taels of silver from being sold. She was not even as good as the Qian family's aunt and daughter-in-law.
Tian was also furious for a moment and said, "You clearly saw that her son-in-law is the city treasurer and deliberately falsified it! This position clearly belongs to my family!"
The city official ignored them and drove them away. Ji Xu spoke kindly and finally they stayed, saying:
"I also know that it's difficult for you. Since Jin insisted on having that position, she'll get it. But her original position is vacant. My family sells the most among the remaining three families. I hope the official can rent the vacant position to my family. I will definitely pay tribute to them for the braised food in the future."
As he spoke, he secretly slipped a piece of silver into the hand of the older clerk. The old clerk weighed the two taels and nodded, saying:
"For this remaining space, the Qian family's aunt and daughter-in-law are still begging me for mercy. If I didn't see that you can do things, I wouldn't rent it to you."
Ji Xu thanked her and left the market tower. Tian Shi was crying and wailing, telling the onlookers about her grievances:
"This is outrageous! The Jin uncle and son-in-law are bullying us! They've taken over my family's position! Judge for yourself, weren't the braised food that day more popular than the rice and meat soup?"
People gathered in small groups, pointing at the city building and saying:
"Jin? I know her family. They had a fight with someone yesterday over a four-ounce meat soup."
"Her meat soup is delicious, but the people who run the business are dishonest. I don't like to associate with people like that."
However, most of these people were there to watch the fun. After all, they had only been selling braised food for a day, so they would not go to question the city treasurer to speak up for Tian.
Ji Xu came out and pulled Tian Shi aside, saying, "Mother, look what this is?"
Ji Xu held a foot-long wooden tablet in his hand. Ji Zhu stood on tiptoe and read the two words on the right side:
"Rent a book?"
Tian was illiterate, but she could roughly understand the red official seal on it. She came to her senses and said:
"Is it the southwest corner location that I rented?"
Ji Xu said, "Yes, it's the one we had our eyes on at the beginning, but it was taken over by the Jin family who came later. Now she has a good place in the city center, so it's just right for us to take it."
"That place is remote and not as good as this one..." Tian was humiliated by Jin and she couldn't swallow this.
"Don't be angry, mother. If I were to ask you, the monthly rent for the southwest corner location is five taels cheaper than the center location. This is all the money saved.
Secondly, we got a lot of attention yesterday thanks to Cheng Gong, and a lot of people know about our braised food, even though the location is a bit remote. If we can be patient and make a name for ourselves, we won’t be bothered by the location anymore.”
Tian was tempted by what she said. "That's right. We are the only one in Chang'an that sells braised food. How can we not sell better than Mrs. Jin?"
"That's right. After going around in circles, our family finally got the position we wanted from the beginning. It's a good thing." Ji Xu said with a good attitude.
When the family went to the location, they saw many vendors selling vegetables, chicken and duck eggs, as well as live fish and shrimp.
"Our cooked food can also be considered a cold dish, so it's good here." Ji Xu said.
After renting the place, Ji Xu and his daughter went to the east end of the temporary bridge and bought some offal. Because they would be asking for it for a long time in the future, the dealer generously gave them a discount on the price.
Because it rained continuously for the past few days, we took out all the things in the boxes and cages and exposed them to the sun early in the morning since it was sunny today.
When I returned home, I put away all the mats, pillows, winter clothes and bedding that were drying in the yard. There was a smell of sunshine when I put them away.
The yard was empty, and ceramic basins filled with water were placed under the shade. The sisters still rolled up their sleeves and helped to wash the debris and drain the water, chattering away until noon.
Ji Feng cleaved the duck's head neatly and threw it into the basin, not forgetting to have fun:
"I'm going to tell you a joke."
"Okay! Tell me about it." This job was trivial, and Ji Xu felt like yawning after sitting for a long time amid the chirping of cicadas.
"There was a man from Lu who held up a long bamboo pole and wanted to enter the city. He tried to try it vertically or horizontally, but it didn't work because the pole was too long. He was so angry. An old man said, 'I may not be a saint, but I have experienced more than you have eaten salt. Let me tell you, saw this pole in half, and you will be able to enter.' The man did as he was told, and he called it a brilliant idea."
Everyone burst into laughter. Jin from next door leaned over the wall and listened for a while, muttering:
"You still have the heart to laugh! Go to that corner tomorrow and see who still wants to buy her braised food."
At noon the next day, Tian took her family to Jiaomen Market to set up a stall.
Jin was not willing to be outdone and continued to sell her wares in that prime location. However, she had an argument with someone yesterday and it was very embarrassing. Everyone knew that she was shortchanging people, so they refused to come for the time being.
Of course, there are also those who are unaware and still come to buy, but they just look at it indifferently.
On the other hand, the stall selling braised food in the corner was small, only wide enough to accommodate two people at most, but there were quite a few customers gathered in front of the stall.
"Are you the child from Mr. Cheng's family? What's your name? We agreed that Mr. Cheng won't be charged. You can pick whatever you want."
Ji Xu recognized the little boy who had accompanied Cheng Gong that day. Seeing that the boy had come to buy braised food for Cheng Gong, he treated him warmly. Remembering Cheng Gong's preferences that day, he put plenty of pig ears in the food.
Before leaving, he put a duck paw in the child's hand and said, "Take it and eat it on the way."
The little boy picked up the food basket and left happily.
Tian Shi did not stay there, but wandered around the Jiaomen Market, shouting:
"Braised food! This is the only braised food in Beijing, with a unique secret recipe! Mr. Cheng ate the braised food and praised it - on the first day of opening, anyone who buys it will get a free portion of pig liver!"
When passing by Jin's stall, his voice was particularly loud, which made Jin grit her teeth and rush to sell her goods.
"Braised food? Is it the braised food that Cheng Gong couldn't distinguish the 28 flavors of that day?"
"Where is it?"
"It's in the southwest corner."
At that moment, many people rushed there, because they were delivering pork liver today, and some people went there just for the pork liver to join in the fun. There was a long line at the braised food stall, and the line even extended to the front of Jin's rice rice stall.
And the one who came to ask Jin without knowing the truth:
"Where's the braised food sold here the other day? Why are you here now?"
Jin was so angry that she waved her hand and chased the man away.
"Go away! Since you love eating braised food, why bother being an eyesore here?"
Because of her strong anger, Ji Zhi didn't dare to steal money, for fear of being caught and beaten. He tried harder than usual to sell his goods, but no one came.
The quieter the place is, the less people will come to visit. The longer the line is, the more people come to visit.
Jin regretted it immediately. The city center was not much better than that corner. In fact, the rent was five taels more expensive.
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