So the first thing he did upon returning to the capital was to take his mother, Suyue, and Yanjin to inspect the Youran Restaurant, take over the restaurant's accounts, and reform the accounting methods.
When the Shen brothers saw their young master return, they were overjoyed and readily and efficiently had the accountant hand over the restaurant's accounts for the past year, without hiding anything at all.
They were truly upright and honest in their dealings. For the past six months, although the owner had been away, every penny of money in and out was recorded truthfully without any falsification, so they were not afraid of being audited.
Sister-in-law Shen warmly invited them to sit down and went to the kitchen to prepare a large table of food.
The table was filled with dishes they had never tried before, and all of them tasted amazing.
Apart from Xiao Youran, everyone else ate until they were stuffed and still wanted more.
Especially Doctor Gu, who kept saying he didn't want to go back to the palace, he just wanted to live in this restaurant and enjoy delicious food three times a day.
The Yang mother and her two daughters sat at another table next to Zhao's mother and Lao Feng, and they also ate with great amazement.
Xiuer recalled that the son of Magistrate Sun in Wufeng County had mentioned his cooking skills, and hesitated to speak.
After eating for a while, Xiao Youran asked about the business of the restaurant owned by Sister-in-law Shen. Sister-in-law Shen looked bitter and said, "I heard that last year's harvest was not good. The government didn't collect much grain, and after the New Year, the price of rice and flour in the capital started to rise sharply. Along with it, the price of our dishes also went up a bit. But everyone is having a hard time during this famine year. It's good enough to be able to eat a full meal at home. Where would we find the extra money to eat out? So, business has been quite bad for the past two months. Moreover, we serve ordinary people's home-style meals. During this famine year, it's already difficult for ordinary people to go out to work. They just endure it and don't go out to eat much."
Xiao Youran thought for a moment and came up with an idea, "How about this, I'll take care of the rice and flour problem, and we'll keep the price the same!"
Shen Zhangyu, who was standing nearby, was stunned when he heard this. "Young Master, do you mean that from now on, we don't need to buy rice and flour from the market anymore?"
Xiao Youran said generously, "Yes! I'll provide the rice and noodles! In addition, we can have a promotion every month: if anyone spends ten coins or more, they can have all-you-can-eat white rice! How about that?"
She tried it last time at the instant noodle workshop in Sanyang Village, and it really worked – you could exchange 1 point of luck for 1 ton of flour.
So this time, she could easily exchange for a lot of rice, store it in her space, and take out as much as she needed when she needed it.
Shen Zhangyu and his sister-in-law exchanged a glance, both stunned.
Is this... the young master about to start spending lavishly again?
Can you have all the white rice you want?
Does the young master know the price of white rice?
In those days, only Kyoto was not so short of rice. Although the price of rice had risen a bit, it was still at twenty wen per dou, which was slightly lower than in other places.
Ordinary families could no longer afford white rice; they could only buy brown rice or millet that was so spicy it hurt their throats. A bushel could be bought for five or six coins.
You think someone can spend ten coins to order two dishes and have unlimited white rice?
Don't you know how much people who are starving can eat these days?
An all-you-can-eat buffet can consume two pecks of rice!
Shen Zhangfu, the eldest brother of the Shen family, also came over and advised, "Young master, I'm afraid this... will result in a significant loss!"
The group all looked at Madam Su, hoping that since she was the young master's mother, she could offer some advice.
To everyone's surprise, Madam Su looked at Xiao Youran with approval, "What a wonderful idea Xiao Youran has! Today when we entered the capital, we saw many refugees near the city gate. I'm afraid that some people in the capital are starting to go hungry, right? What Xiao Youran is doing is a great act of kindness."
Shen Zhangyu and his elder brother and sister-in-law: ...
Xiao Dong family, just how wealthy are you? How dare you give away ten coins a day to feed people with white rice in a year when there's a possibility of famine?
However, thinking back to last year, the two young owners, the older one of whom was only seven years old, dared to negotiate with them to start a restaurant business with two thousand taels of silver. It is clear that the mother of this young owner is also very wealthy.
Little Youran clapped her hands and giggled, "Mother is right! This counts as doing a good deed every month! We just need the people who come to eat to say thank you!"
Since this gratitude comes so easily, shouldn't we consider distributing porridge at the city gate?
Sure enough, a few days later, You Ran Restaurant launched a set meal for 10 coins per person, with two dishes to choose from and unlimited white rice.
At first, the people didn't believe it. In this day and age, there could still be a restaurant where you could eat all the rice you wanted for free.
A burly man tried spending ten coins to get two dishes of food, and then sat down at the main table to eat heartily.
Sure enough, he ate bowl after bowl of white rice, a total of eight bowls before he stopped.
The eldest sister-in-law of the Shen family, who was in charge of serving customers, felt extremely sorry for her.
The burly man walked out the door with a satisfied laugh, "It's true! It's true! Ten coins for all you can eat, all you can eat!"
Suddenly remembering something, Sister-in-law Shen hurriedly chased after him, saying, "Brother, please wait."
Some bystanders laughed at him, saying, "What did I tell you? What kind of shopkeeper is that stupid?"
The burly man was also annoyed. He let out a burp and said, "What? You promised ten coins for all-you-can-eat white rice! I'm full now. You think you can cheat me? No way! I absolutely won't pay another coin!"
Sister-in-law Shen quickly waved her hand, "It's not that I want you to pay, it's just... I wanted you to tell us to thank our young master!"
"Huh?" The big man picked at his ear, thinking he had misheard.
"You just need to say thank you to Young Master You Ran!"
"It's that simple?"
"It's that simple!"
"Alright!" The burly man was afraid the shopkeeper would change his mind. "Everyone can be a witness! I'll say it now—thank you, young master You Ran!"
"Really? It's that simple? Saying thank you can really get you ten coins for a full bowl of white rice?"
Sister-in-law Shen smiled and gestured for them to proceed, "Alright, please go ahead—"
Still fearing a trap, the burly man raised his left foot but hesitated to step out the door. "Shall I leave?"
"Please go ahead—" said Sister-in-law Shen with a smile.
"Am I really leaving?"
"Please come in quickly!" Sister-in-law Shen suppressed her anger and still smiled.
These days, if you take advantage of something and don't want to leave, do you think you can keep eating for free?
"No other trouble? I'm really leaving?!" The big man felt his legs were getting sore from lifting them.
Sister-in-law Shen was at her wit's end and wanted to kick him in the butt, but being a woman, she didn't dare to do it and could only suppress her temper, saying, "Please, please, please!"
Just then, a foot kicked out from behind the big man. "Hurry up! If you don't leave, you'll delay our business!"
It was Shen Zhangfu. He was just calculating the accounts when he saw this guy dawdling and refusing to leave, so he kicked him.
The burly man nearly stumbled and fell, but once he regained his balance, he laughed heartily, "It's true! Ten coins for all you can eat, no kidding! I'm going home right now to tell my brothers and kids to come over and have a good meal!"
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