Chapter 162 Chapter 162 Update.
There were also some hinges made of copper or iron. The nuns would occasionally flip through them, like picking up treasures. They could take them home and sell them for some money, or use them when making boxes and cages at home.
"Auntie Tian, you really don't want such a good thing?"
Aunt Liu held a copper hinge and put it into a linen bag she was rummaging through. Sparks burned a hole in the bag, and several pieces of rotten wood came out of it. She had picked them up and took them back to use as firewood.
With Master Yangcheng around, they knew where to start dismantling. The beam, purlin and roof structure was half burned. If they dismantled it in the wrong order, it would fall down and injure people.
First the roof, then the walls. Demolition was faster than construction. It took three days, and the originally dark frame of the house became a flat ground.
The golden afterglow fell on it. They looked at the land, with sweat and satisfaction on their faces. I don't know who laughed first in the crowd.
"Look at our golden girl, she's become a calico cat."
This is about Ji Xu. She raised her wooden hand and accidentally wiped her face, leaving two dirty streaks on her face.
Tian smiled and beckoned her to come and wipe it. "You still have time to laugh? Why don't you wipe it yourself? I only wipe it for my daughter, not for you."
Everyone looked at each other and realized that the faces of the people doing this job were covered with charcoal dust and looked like cats, so no one laughed at each other.
After the demolition here, Master Yangcheng drew the design of the house according to what Ji Xu said and showed it to her. After the design was finalized, construction of the building began.
Master Yangcheng had connections and found some bricklayers to replace the nuns who couldn't do these things. The nuns from Sangshu Lane went back home and occasionally weaved straw raincoats at Tian's house in the second half of the day.
Fortunately, there were more than 500 taels of money available at home, which was enough to buy bricks, tiles, beams, rafters, doors and windows for building the building.
But Ji Xu was not idle either. He was still cooking for several ladies to save more money. When the restaurant was built in the future, the decoration inside, the procurement and hiring of staff, the various tables, plates, cups and pottery bowls, and even small items like chopsticks would all cost money.
Therefore, Tian also went back to take care of the stall in Huai City, and the construction of the building was handed over to Master Yangcheng. She would go there to take a look when she had time, and then come back to tell everyone what the building looked like.
On this day, in front of a half-finished restaurant, some bricklayers were building a wall on a high place, and Master Yangcheng was giving instructions everywhere.
There was a sound of horse hooves, and a middle-aged man in old official uniform riding a skinny horse passed by.
"Isn't this Master Yangcheng? If you're not repairing the imperial palace, what are you busy doing in the busy city?"
He was a subordinate of Master Yangcheng who used to be an official in the Shaofu. He deliberately made some sarcastic remarks to him.
"Whose shop is this? And who can afford to hire the descendant of Marquis Wuqi to run it?"
Master Yangcheng's face turned red, and he pointed at him angrily.
"You bastard! You rat!"
The man laughed even harder. Tian happened to be there and heard it, so she came out and said:
"This is my daughter's shop. Master Yangcheng will help build it up in the future. Maybe you, sir, will become a regular here!"
"Dream on! I will never set foot in such a low-class store." The old man said angrily.
"Don't be so full of yourself. The other cooked food on Guanye's horse's neck is the braised food sold by my family. I bought it from the stall in the southwest corner of Jiaomen City, right? It's my daughter's craftsmanship."
Tian recognized it as the jute paper used at home to wrap braised food. Her daughter taught her how to wrap the golden beans, so she would not make a mistake.
The old man turned around and left in shame, then stormed into a shop. There was a lantern hanging above the door, and a wooden plaque with the words "Manxianglou" written in gold. Seeing a constant stream of people coming and going, he sat down at the table and asked the waiter to bring him a pot of wine.
"Isn't this Mr. Bao? Fine wine."
This is Manager Hu of Manxianglou. She is a middle-aged married woman. Her previous husband’s family was an official family that settled in Changling Town.
It is said that she was divorced by her husband's family because she had no children and refused to serve her aunt and uncle. She was reduced to selling soapberries at Weiqiaotou for a living. The former wife of an official was selling soapberries on the street. Her husband's family wanted to humiliate her. However, one day she became rich and opened a Manxianglou. The house was filled with the fragrance of good wine and delicious food. People who passed by would point at it and say: It is the best restaurant in the world.
The officials and wealthy people who came to eat there all said that the shopkeeper Hu was considerate and could treat both high-ranking and low-ranking officials with a smile. The low-ranking official named Bao was short of money, but he also wanted to save face, so he allowed the wine to be served.
Shopkeeper Hu looked at the jute paper wrapped thing on the table and said, "What kind of pickled food is this? I'll replace it with some good side dishes for you."
"Don't."
The official was reluctant to part with it, thinking it was only twenty coins, so he said, "It was a gift from someone else, so I should try a little."
Shopkeeper Hu then ordered his boy to serve the food on a plate, which contained slices of braised pig ears and pig liver.
After the old man ate it, he felt that the taste was very strong and went very well with alcohol. It even relieved a lot of his anger.
Shopkeeper Hu also picked up a piece and ate it. Standing in front of the window, he looked at the restaurant being built in the distance and couldn't help but feel serious.
At sunset, a trafficker led a group of bound slaves to Mulberry Alley. When people saw them, they asked:
"Why bring so many people here? Who wants to buy people?"
"Who else could be the rich man living in this alley?"
The traffickers looked delighted. Seeing that some of their slaves were attracted by the smell of someone's food, they whipped them and ordered them to move.
The people around them pointed and said:
"Oh, it's Aunt Tian's house."
"When your family business grows, you naturally need to hire people."
Everyone knew that her family was now more prosperous than others and could be considered wealthy, so they watched them go to the Tian family.
Just as the trafficker was about to knock on the door, he saw the gate of the courtyard next door open first. Jin poked her head in and asked:
"What's the price of a slave these days?"
"Madam also wants to buy someone, and the current slave is still 7,000 coins."
She pulled Tiandou out and said:
"I'm not buying, I'm selling this girl."
The trafficker's face suddenly turned pale. "That's not the price for selling a human being. For a girl like this, I can only give you a thousand coins at most."
"One thousand coins? I bought it on New Year's Day for seven thousand coins, seven thousand!
This girl is lazy and gluttonous, and she's dishonest. It's all because of the bad people you gave her. Take her back and return the money to me. At least six thousand coins!"
Jin said that she bought Tiandou originally to serve her comfortably, but this girl not only stole eggs to eat, but also had to guard against her stealing any good things she bought at home, like a thief, which made her feel uncomfortable.
She had regretted it a long time ago and wanted to sell it, but recently the neighbor had bought a shop and hired Yangcheng to build it, and everyone said that her family was rich.
She held her breath, not wanting to sell it and seem like her family couldn't afford to support it.
But today she caught this damn girl in the act. The meal was ready but the family hadn't eaten it yet, but she ate it first. She was so angry that she hit her paws with the thorny branches under the stove and grabbed her to sell her.
"Would you like my original price? Humph, she's served your family for several months, and you still want to sell her for 6,000 coins? We have to feed her and teach her the ways when we buy her back. Ask around nearby, my family offers the highest price. There's a war going on in Youzhou, and each person is only exchanged for a stone of grain. There are still many who don't want it."
"You old bitch, you think you can get rid of me with just this little money? You're dreaming!"
Jin started to shout, attracting the neighbors to watch the fun, but she didn't expect that it would make her business easier today.
"Come and see, come and see, this scoundrel sold me a coward who steals, eats, drinks, and takes things, and does nothing all day. Don't be fooled by her! Whoever buys her is buying a disaster home!"
The trafficker grabbed Tiandou's tattered clothes.
"Bah! You're treating the maid harshly, and now you blame me for being a bad person. She wore this dress in our shop, and it's been this long since she came to your house. If you really can't afford to support her, give me 1,500 coins and I'll take her away!"
He and Jin were arguing with each other, and the quarrel was so intense that they even started to fight.
The slaves, whose hands and feet were bound, pointed and said:
"beat!"
"beat!"
Look at that man whose teeth were scratched on his face, and everyone is cheering.
Tian Dou pointed at Jin and cheered as she was beaten.
Some of the neighbors came to persuade them, while others came to watch the fun.
"Stop it! Stop hitting me, mother!"
Ji Yuan came to persuade them after hearing the noise, pulled Jin over, and also helped beat the man's bloodhound twice, but he still couldn't separate the two women who were fighting like cocks.
It happened that Tian was waiting at home for someone to be sent by his trafficker, but there was no sign of him. She heard shouting outside and asked Jindou to go out and take a look.
As soon as the courtyard gate opened, the human trafficker finally restrained himself, not wanting to let the rich man's family laugh at him. Ji Yuan also grabbed Jin.
"Why did they start fighting out of nowhere? Are we still going to do business today?"
The trafficker smiled at Jindou and said:
"Do it. If you want to do it, follow me in."
She was busy fixing her hair, and with her scratched face, she pulled the string of slaves and went into the yard. Even from outside, she could hear her warm words to Tian:
"Mrs. Tian! Are you okay?"
Jin, who was listening outside, spat and groaned that her body was in pain.
"Daughter, that bitch beat your mother badly."
Ji Yuan asked her where it hurt, and she said it hurt all over. In fact, she was too embarrassed to stand there and be laughed at. When Ji Yuan helped her in, she said to Tian Dou:
"Come in if you're still alive, you troublemaker!"
Before entering the house, Tiandou secretly stuffed half a piece of mutton pancake wrapped in hemp paper into Jindou's mouth.
"Good Jindou, please ask your wife to buy me back. I'm cheaper than those people."
It was spring, and the chilblains on her hands had shrunk into wrinkles. Her hands, which had been hit by thorns, were red, her nails were filled with dirt, and her sleeves were starched.
The oil from the Hu pancake seeped through the hemp paper and had been hidden in her clothes for who knows how long. It felt cold, but also had the heat of her body.
Jindou often heard her neighbors scold her for stealing things, and was worried that the Hu Bing was not obtained legitimately. She was also worried that she would not have any to eat, so she did not want hers. When she went in, she said:
"I have no say in this matter."
In the courtyard, Tian was selecting people.
My daughter told me that in the future, the restaurant would need people to handle the cashiers, kitchen staff, and waiters.
She has already chosen someone for the accountant; she can hire someone from outside to be the waiter when the time comes; she needs reliable people to work in the kitchen, so she will train them in advance while the store is still under construction.
Therefore, Tian asked the human traffickers to bring some innocent maids to her house. They should not be involved in lawsuits or cause trouble in their previous homes. It would be best if they had worked in the kitchen of the mansion before.
But no one would sell such an innocent and good person who did good things for no reason, so Tian had to make the decision herself.
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