214, drunk
214, drunk
When talking about this year's food prices, several people were silent.
Rising food prices mean that ordinary people's lives will become increasingly difficult. This is especially true for ordinary people living in cities. Most people do not own land and rely on buying food to survive. Once food prices rise, many people will probably have no money to buy food.
For those who run shops and do business, once the price of grain rises, the price of meat will also rise, and they may not be able to continue their business.
Once the food prices in the store start to increase, those old customers will stop coming to eat.
Although Lu Mingfei did not go to the grain store to buy food, he also knew that there was a flood in the north this year and the harvest would definitely be very small, so rising food prices were an inevitable trend.
"How much is the price of grain now?"
"A dou of fine rice used to cost only 100 coins, but now it costs 110 coins. Our store needs more food every month, so the difference in money is even greater."
Liu Sanniang said, "Our braised food shop doesn't make much money from a bowl of rice. Now that grain and meat prices have gone up, we don't make as much money in a month as before."
"If we continue like this, I don't know how long our shop can last."
In fact, with the rising prices of grain and meat, their best solution is to raise the prices of the items sold in the store, but Liu Sanniang has not yet considered doing so. "Unless it is absolutely necessary, it is not easy for us to raise prices in our store."
Hearing this, Lu Mingfei did not ask his mother why she did not raise the price, because he knew that their braised food shop could only operate until now thanks to the patronage of these old customers.
The customers who come to their braised food shop are all people with average incomes. These people don't make much money each month. If the prices of their food are raised, many of their regular customers will probably stop coming.
Another very important point is that those who do business must not forget their roots.
Because, over the years, if it weren't for the support of these old customers, it would have been difficult for their family of four to settle down in Kyoto, where every inch of land is valuable, let alone buy a house or rent a shop to open a store. So, even if business is difficult, as long as they can break even, even if they don't make any money, they will keep the store open and carry on with this business.
"The hot pot restaurant is doing better for now. But the monthly profit from our pancake shop is much less than before," said Lu Qingfeng.
The profit of their hotpot restaurant is slightly higher, but the braised food shops and pancake shops didn’t make much money to begin with. Now the food prices have gone up, but they still sell at the same price as before, so won’t they make less money?
The pancake shop was better off, a legacy from the Lu family, so they didn't have to pay rent every month. Even if they made less, they could still manage. But the braised food shop and the new hot pot restaurant behind them were rented spaces, so they had to pay rent every month. If they didn't make much, they probably wouldn't even be able to afford the rent.
After listening to the adults in the family, Lu Mingfei discussed the business and arrangements of several stores with his parents and his adoptive father, and decided to open the new workshop first. Even if this side did not make money, there was still a profitable side, and their business could still continue.
After staying at the braised food store for a while and chatting with the adults at home, Lu Mingfei had to go out for something else.
Because there were many people in front, he took Zhang Qi and went out through the back door.
First, they went to the private school. In addition to reporting the good news to the teacher, they also came to congratulate their teacher for passing the imperial examination.
Their teacher also took part in the provincial examination this time, and passed the examination and became a Jinshi together with several of their students, which was also a good story.
However, he did not stay in the private school for too long. After congratulating his teacher, he took Zhang Qi back to the Imperial College to report the good news to the teachers there.
After running around outside, Lu Mingfei brought Zhang Qi back to their braised food shop in the evening. After having dinner with their family, they returned to the courtyard on Chunxi Road.
***
Arriving at Prince Ding's mansion that evening, Lu Mingfei saw a table filled with fine wine and delicious food. He turned to look at the people around him and asked with a smile, "Is this a celebration for me?"
"Yeah." Meeting Lu Mingfei's gaze, Zhao Lang nodded and made a gesture of invitation.
Lu Mingfei walked to the stone table, picked a seat and sat down.
Zhao Lang sat next to Lu Mingfei.
After the servant came over and poured them some wine, he waved his hand and asked them to leave.
"Congratulations." Zhao Lang picked up the wine and congratulated Lu Mingfei.
"Thank you." Lu Mingfei usually doesn't drink, but he couldn't refuse this glass of wine today, so he picked up the glass and clinked it with Zhao Lang.
I tilted my head back and poured the wine into my mouth. The wine had a rich aroma, a soft texture, was not spicy, and had a fresh scent of bamboo.
"This wine is quite delicious." Lu Mingfei smacked his lips. This wine seemed to have a sweet taste?
"Another drink?" While Zhao Lang was asking the question, he had already picked up the wine jug and poured wine into the glass in front of Lu Mingfei.
"You should eat something first, don't just drink." Lu Mingfei reminded Zhao Lang. He knew that this person had dinner so late.
"If you only drink alcohol without eating, not only will you get drunk easily, but it will also easily burn your stomach."
"Okay, I'll do as you say." Zhao Lang glanced at Lu Mingfei, picked up the chopsticks in front of him, picked up a piece of chicken and put it into Lu Mingfei's bowl, then picked up the meat and ate it himself.
"Today I talked to my mother and the others about the rising food prices this year." Lu Mingfei wasn't hungry, so he sat aside and watched Zhao Lang eat. He talked about what he had mentioned to his family today. "These consecutive years of floods have made ordinary people suffer."
"There are some grain stored in the several farms I own. If you are short of food, just tell me and I will have someone send it to you," said Zhao Lang.
Lu Mingfei knew that Zhao Lang owned several farms and a lot of land. Moreover, Zhao Lang never sold the crops produced from those farms.
However, he remembered that Zhao Lang would send some food back to Beijun every year for the soldiers in the army.
As for how many are left here, he is not sure.
But since Zhao Lang asked him this, there must be enough food left here, so he didn't bother to be polite with this person and just responded with "Okay."
Over the years, one of them was in the open while the other was in the dark. Many things that Zhao Lang was not convenient to do in person were done by him.
They did not have any plans for the refugees they took in this time.
"Yes, our workshop has a batch of down jackets and meat products ready for sale. Do you want any?" Warm clothes and meat products that can be stored for a long time are in short supply outside. Lu Mingfei thought that instead of selling them to those merchants outside, it would be better to sell them to Zhao Lang.
"Yes." Zhao Lang ate without even raising his head.
"Then find someone to go to the pancake shop to find my godfather tomorrow." Lu Mingfei never took care of these business matters himself.
This wasn't the first time the two of them had done business behind the scenes, and Zhao Lang's manager was also an old acquaintance of his adoptive father's. Lu Mingfei didn't want his relationship with Zhao Lang to be exposed at home, so any matters he and Zhao Lang discussed privately were handled publicly by a dedicated person.
It looked like the caravan was going to buy things from his adoptive father, but he was not there.
Over the years, the two of them had always been very cautious in their interactions. In addition to not wanting his family to know about his good relationship with Prince Ding, Lu Mingfei also didn't want the master in the imperial city to know about his relationship with Zhao Lang.
Picking up the wine glass in front of him, Lu Mingfei took a sip of wine, reached out and took the wine pot in front of Zhao Lang, and filled their glasses.
"Yeah." Zhao Lang nodded, his eyes falling on Lu Mingfei's face as he suddenly approached and then left.
The two of them talked and drank, and Lu Mingfei himself had no idea how many glasses of wine he had drunk in the end.
At the end of his drinking, he was so drunk that he could barely stand up and was swaying. He pointed at others and said, "You...you, why do you have so many...Zhao Langs?"
"Don't shake it, it makes me dizzy..."
"You've been drinking. You're the one who's staggering, not me." Zhao Lang supported the drunk man and couldn't help but find it a little funny. It was the first time he saw Lu Mingfei drunk.
But it's true. Normally, Lu Mingfei rarely drinks. At most, he would just take a sip and then return the bottle to him.
I didn't expect that I would get drunk when I came to his place today.
"I, I'm not drunk." Anyone who is drunk will never admit that he is drunk.
The drunkard fell on top of someone else.
Zhao Lang put his arm around the boy's waist with one hand, and the two of them were so close that if he just lowered his head, his lips could touch the boy's forehead.
The boy reeked of alcohol, along with a scent he was familiar with.
It had been a long time since the two of them had been so close to each other. Zhao Lang was almost obsessed with kissing the boy's forehead. But in the end, he didn't do it, and just rubbed the boy's eyebrows with his chin.
It took a great deal of self-control for him not to lure the drunken little boy into his bed.
"Let me take you home." For the time being, Zhao Lang didn't want to reveal his inappropriate thoughts about the young man, for fear of scaring him away.
"No, I won't go back. I can still...drink!" The drunk slapped someone on the body to express his opinion.
"I really don't know what you will look like when you sober up and remember what you look like now." Zhao Lang looked at the drunkard swaying in his arms, and the corners of his mouth curled up.
This is the first time I realized that some people can be so cute when they are drunk.
"Prepare the car."
"Yes, I will arrange it right away."
Upon hearing this, the housekeeper outside hurriedly called for someone to prepare the car.
After the carriage outside was ready, Zhao Lang picked up the drunk man and strode out.
The housekeeper, holding a bowl in his hand, asked, "Sir, the hangover soup is ready. How about letting Master Lu drink it?"
"Give it to me." Zhao Lang carried the drunkard to the carriage before reaching out to take the sobering soup handed to him by the butler.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
