Chapter 43: A Hasty Deal
Shen Zhiyi went to the village chief's house and took away the batch of chili peppers that she was going to sell to the restaurant. After looking at the numbers written on the sacks with charcoal pencil, she realized that all the sacks weighed a hundred jin (approximately 50 kg). She said to Grandma Qin, "Grandma, we'll be going now."
"Be careful on the road," Grandma Qin said hurriedly.
"I know!" Shen Zhiyi turned around to pick up the last sack, but Zheng San had already hoisted it onto his other shoulder.
This is where the advantage of having someone to assist you becomes apparent; Shen Zhiyi followed behind Zheng San empty-handed.
Because the carriage was filled with sacks, the curtain could not be completely closed. Zheng San and the driver sat side by side on the carriage. He said happily, "Your third brother is really lucky to be able to ride in a carriage thanks to my sister."
“There will be plenty of opportunities in the future,” Shen Zhiyi said with a smile. “Our village will also have horse-drawn carriages in the future, which will make it more convenient to go out and run errands.”
"You're so ambitious, girl! I'm just hoping to sell the chilies quickly so I can save enough for the dowry and marry Huanghua as soon as possible," Zheng San said with anticipation.
"That's definitely enough! I'm looking forward to your wedding banquet, Third Brother!" Shen Zhiyi said, thinking that Zheng San and she both started as orphans in this world, and others were about to get married, she really felt a sense of being pressured to get married.
Zheng San hesitated for a moment, then said, "Little sister, do you have someone you like? If so, tell your brother, and I'll definitely find out everything about him!"
The thought of being pressured to get married had just crossed her mind, but now that she heard it clearly, Shen Zhiyi couldn't help but think of Lu Jingbai. She said helplessly, "How could you ask such a thing, Third Brother?"
"Oh, look how happy I am, that's why I'm talking nonsense," Zheng San hurriedly said.
The conversation ended there, and the journey returned to a brief silence.
Shen Zhiyi glanced at the light on the horizon, estimating that they wouldn't arrive in the county town until close to noon, and asked in that direction, "Uncle Liang, what are your plans for the carriage's return to the county town this time?"
"The carriage rental contract is valid until the day Lord Lu returns to the city," said coachman Liang Jing.
"Oh, then I'll have to trouble you to come back to the village with me then," Shen Zhiyi said with a smile.
Zheng San chuckled and replied, "It's perfect that you're staying at my house. The walls are all newly built, and the kang (heated brick bed) is all set up quickly! Uncle Liang, you probably don't know, but that kang was the first one ever built in our village..."
Shen Zhiyi listened to Zheng San's overly familiar conversation, while Uncle Liang was quite interested in it. The two chatted happily, almost to the point of becoming sworn brothers on the spot.
It seems that Uncle Liang's taciturn nature might be due to the fact that she and Zhao Daya are girls.
A quarter past noon, just as the carriage stopped at the back door of Jufu Restaurant, dirty water was splashed on the road ahead. The water, of unknown origin, landed on the horse's legs, startling it into neighing. Liang Jing, with his experience, controlled the horse and made a "whoosh" sound.
The person pouring water, still carrying an empty basin, quickly stepped forward upon seeing this and said, "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't notice you here. But you must have come to the wrong place; the carriage stops in the backyard."
“We didn’t go the wrong way.” Shen Zhiyi stepped out of the carriage and smiled. “We supply chili peppers to the restaurant, and we’ve always taken this route. Waiter, could you please go inside and call Master Dong or Mr. Yuan? Just tell them we’re delivering chili peppers from Xiaba Village, and they’ll know what’s going on.”
"Please wait a moment," the person carrying the empty basin replied politely, then gently closed the back door.
Zheng San then leaned over and asked, "What's wrong? Do you know that person?"
Because she didn't recognize them, Shen Zhiyi took a long time to look around. Although she had never been to the kitchen, she knew most of the people in the restaurant, so she probably ran into a small number of them.
“We’re not familiar with it, so we’ll just wait here for Mr. Yuan and the others to come and collect it,” Shen Zhiyi said slowly.
They waited until 11 PM, nearly an hour, and Shen Zhiyi lost count of how many times Zheng San changed his movements, and even heard a lot of gurgling sounds.
The carriage had long been moved to the wide street. After waiting for so long in the alley behind the Jufu Restaurant, feeling a chill all over her body, Shen Zhiyi came out from the corner and said to Zheng San, "Third Brother, let's go get something to eat first."
"It's okay, I'm not hungry," Zheng San said hastily, but his stomach growled again.
“Let’s go. You’re not hungry, but I am. We won’t see anything by just staring here. We might as well eat and then talk,” Shen Zhiyi said, already heading out of the alley. “The meat buns are delicious, the meat pies are delicious, and the wontons are delicious too…”
The gurgling sound grew louder and louder. Zheng San slapped his thigh and quickly followed, laughing, "Good sister, I was just preoccupied with something and got a little confused."
The two left the alley one after the other. Shen Zhiyi saw Liang Jing, who was dozing off in the carriage, and called out, "Uncle Liang, let's go eat!"
As she spoke, she took a large handful of chili peppers from the sack and put them in a bag of dried lotus leaves. She waited for Liang Jing to drop off the carriage at the guesthouse before setting off to find food.
No matter how big the problem is, you can't neglect your own stomach. Eat your fill before thinking about how to solve it!
The group found a noodle shop. The shop was clean, but the tables were too clean and lacked modern condiment bottles, which Shen Zhiyi found a little unusual.
After the shopkeeper finished telling him the price, Zheng San said first, "Three bowls of vegetarian noodles will do."
A bowl of plain noodles costs four coins, two coins cheaper than wontons. For three people, that's six coins left over. Zheng San felt he was being too frugal and quickly said to Shen Zhiyi, "Sister, this money... you have to save it up..."
But Shen Zhiyi's mind wasn't on that at all; she called out, "Shopkeeper!"
"What's wrong, young lady?" The young woman next to the shopkeeper turned around. Their hair was wrapped tightly in cloth to prevent any strands from falling into the soup, so all that could be seen was their large foreheads.
This is why Shen Zhiyi specifically chose this hygienic noodle shop after learning that she was eating noodles.
"Chop this up and add it to our noodle soup. At least add some spiciness so we don't feel chilly on this gloomy day," Shen Zhiyi said, opening the lotus leaf package to reveal bright red chilies inside. "It's best to chop it up finely so it will absorb the flavor better. Thank you for your help, shopkeeper."
Shen Zhiyi's voice wasn't low, and the people at the nearby tables couldn't help but look over when they heard the noise. She subtly showed off the chili peppers inside.
"I think I've seen this in a restaurant before!"
Now that you mention it, I've seen it too!
"Chili peppers, chili peppers... Isn't this the new hawthorn fruit that's available at the restaurant?"
"With this added, the price will increase by another half a tael of silver!"
People at each table were talking across the table. Seeing this, Shen Zhi looked at them with slight surprise and said, "Why is it so expensive? Our village sells it to restaurants for only..."
Realizing she had almost said something wrong, she quickly fell silent and pretended to be uneasy as she placed the lotus leaf package in the young woman's hand.
"Hey girl, how much are these chilies?" someone called out.
Shen Zhiyi didn't reply. She walked silently to her table and gave Zheng San a wink. If he couldn't keep up with the conversation, she would have to find another place and a different role to play.
Fortunately, Zheng □□ responded, saying, "These chilies only cost fifty-six coins a pound when sold to restaurants..."
"What? Fifty-six coins!" someone exclaimed in astonishment.
"The restaurant only has a few pieces in their dishes, not even as many as the girl has in her hand, and they still charge an extra 500 coins. It seems that the thing doesn't weigh much," someone immediately said, offering a rational analysis.
"Brother, you really have a discerning eye!" Zheng San stood up and gave a thumbs-up. "Our village is Xiaba Village, and the chili peppers are grown in our village! When they first came out, the county magistrate took a special interest in them, and then those wealthy gentlemen also really liked them, and then the restaurants came knocking on our door..."
Shen Zhiyi, who was listening from the side, was slightly shocked. She hadn't expected that they would connect her promotion of chili peppers with this, and then add some embellishment and packaging. She was simply a sales genius!
"So, is this 56-cash chili pepper expensive? Not at all! It sells for 80 cash to the county magistrate, and 70 cash to wealthy gentlemen!" Zheng San said with a smile. "The price difference is related to the appearance of the chili peppers, but the quality is absolutely no problem! Look at these 56-cash chili peppers we brought out; they may not look very good, but they taste just as good!"
"It sounds better than it's advertised, but we've never eaten there, how would we know if it's good or not?" another diner retorted with dissatisfaction.
“That’s easy!” Zheng San then looked at Shen Zhiyi and, seeing her nod slightly, continued, “I’ll be generous this time and let everyone in the shop try this chili! Put it in this noodle soup, and you’ll know what a delicious flavor it is!”
"Let me make this clear first: if you're greedy and add too much chili and get too spicy, don't come looking for me!" Zheng San said casually.
"Thank you for your help, shopkeeper," Zheng San said politely to the shopkeeper.
"I never expected that going out for noodles today would lead to such expensive chili peppers. I have to give it a try!"
"Hey, I haven't left yet, count me in!"
"I still have some noodle soup left. Add some to my bowl later so I can taste it."
"This is the first time I've had chili mixed with noodle soup. I have to stay and try it."
"I have to try it and see if there's any difference between it and the hawthorn berries at the restaurant."
The voices mingled together, and passersby who were originally walking past the noodle shop heard that there was something interesting to see. Those with spare money came in and ordered a bowl of noodles, while those without money waited at the door to listen.
This small noodle shop became lively, and its business boomed.
Perhaps influenced by the atmosphere, the shopkeeper chopped the chili peppers even more quickly. Zheng San stood by and put all the chopped chili peppers into a bowl, then placed a little on each noodle soup bowl on each table.
Some people complained that it wasn't enough, others said it was too spicy, and still others ordered an extra bowl of noodles. The reaction of the chili peppers in the noodle shop was quite unexpected for Shen Zhiyi, and the resulting taste sensation was not to be underestimated.
There was still some left in the bowl. Zheng San handed some to the onlookers at the door, then turned the bowl upside down in his hand and said, "There's nothing left. We won't serve any more to the people who come in to eat noodles later."
"Hey, I've already stepped inside, but there's no room left. Why aren't you taking me?" someone said hurriedly.
"You saw it yourself, it's all gone in this bowl," Zheng San said logically.
At this moment, a female shopkeeper who had clearly seen through Shen Zhiyi's scheme approached and sat down next to her familiarly. She slowly said, "Miss, this shop belongs to my husband. My name is Hui Niang. I wonder if I could buy some chili peppers from you? Otherwise..."
"I don't care, I'm already in!" The sound of arguing could still be heard from the other end.
Shen Zhiyi smiled and said to Huiniang, "Of course! Honest and fair, this grade of chili peppers is fifty-six coins a pound. It's just unfortunate today. Our village signed a contract with Jufu Restaurant, and we were supposed to deliver the goods today, but something happened and they haven't come yet. That's why we came here to eat some noodles to fill our stomachs. We'll have to go to the restaurant later to ask what's going on. If they don't want to fulfill the contract, then naturally we'll sell to you first, Huiniang."
Shen Zhiyi originally intended to give it a try, but she didn't expect it to be so successful.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
