Inside the shop, everyone from the shopkeeper to the waiter was arrogant and haughty. Judging from their luxurious attire, they rarely showed a smile.
The door curtain was quite large. On the left side were more than a dozen large vats, which she could see were mostly filled with refined grains. On the right side were mostly filled with coarse grains. Many people dressed in coarse cloth were holding their own flour sacks, waiting for the grain shop owners to help them fill the vats with grain.
The waiter looked impatient, while the people looked at them with extreme flattery, hoping to get more.
"Father, let's buy rice!" Qingyan's clear voice rang out in the shop, and the people turned to look at the person who had just entered.
Father!
These two words made many people lower their heads, afraid of seeing an important person and upsetting them.
The status of Manchu bannermen in the Qing Dynasty was always higher than that of Han Chinese.
"Little darling, what else do you want to buy?" Fei Yanggu led Qingyan to the left side. The shopkeeper looked at their clothes and knew that they must be big customers, so he quickly came forward to greet them.
"Sir, our products are all of the highest quality. Look at these fine grains, they're all from this year." The shopkeeper was also troubled; the fine grains weren't selling, but he had sold quite a lot of coarse grains.
Before the disaster, the county town was home to many high-ranking officials and nobles. When the disaster struck, most of them left the county town, rendering the grain he had purchased in advance largely useless.
Qingyan pointed with her little finger, "I want both rice and wheat flour."
"How much is it if one weighs 100 jin?" Fei Yanggu pretended not to see the sign.
"Father, isn't one person one jin?" Qingyan tilted her head and looked at the sign standing on the right side of the door. Did she not understand?
The shopkeeper was startled; the sign was for coarse grains, but it looked more appealing than that for refined grains.
"Sir, that's for customers buying coarse grains," the shopkeeper quickly bowed.
"Alright, Akdun, you've given the grain to the silver, now take it back to the inn!" Two hundred catties of grain is quite a lot.
Xiao Guai wanted to go shopping, but buying those things was extremely inconvenient.
“.” Aktun quickly agreed.
After the group left, whispers arose behind them. Qingyan, a Manchu princess, scoffed at Han Chinese customs such as women's dress codes.
Despite the fact that the palace maids caused a lot of trouble.
"Father, there aren't many girls on the street!" Qingyan looked around and saw that there were hardly any girls at the shops or stalls.
Fei Yanggu laughed. This area is close to Jiangnan, and very few Han Chinese women show their faces in public. Many people think that the Manchu princesses are going too far.
The local people frowned as they looked at Qingyan's timid appearance.
"Let's go to a restaurant for a meal first. They have seafood that you like!" Yin looked at the small restaurants nearby, thinking that Qingyan always liked to eat seafood.
In the capital, she was controlled by the nannies and rarely ate seafood. Now, she should relax a bit.
ah?!
Qingyan was stunned. Yin had been controlling her use of cooling products, so why had he given in advance?
"I'll use it today. Go back and drink ginger, jujube, and brown sugar water," Yin said.
The moment those words were spoken, Qingyan plummeted from heaven to hell.
"Okay!" Qingyan didn't care about any of that. As long as she could eat, she was happy.
Stepping into the restaurant, she understood the significance of its proximity to the disaster area. Looking at the restaurant's desolation, she realized it must have been a nice place before the disaster; now, it was quite deserted.
"Gentlemen, what would you like to order?" The manager himself came to cause trouble. Ever since the disaster warning was issued, wealthy families had left one after another, making the restaurant's business worse and worse.
"Bring out some seafood dishes, and one serving of each of your special dishes," Yin said directly, looking at the guards sitting nearby.
The shopkeeper quickly looked at Fei Yanggu, the eldest of the owners. Fei Yanggu nodded slightly, and only then did the shopkeeper dare to go over and make preparations.
This situation made Yin feel very uncomfortable.
“Fourth brother, you’re young, so that person had to ask me!” Fei Yanggu explained to the two of them.
Before arriving in the county town, Fei Yanggu had a deep talk with Yin and told him that in public, he should be called Fourth Uncle, and Yin could only call him Fourth Brother in a way that was beneath him.
Qingyan looked around with her little head, noticing that the decor here generally had the style of the Shandong region.
"Are there any pancakes on this street?" Qingyan asked Fei Yanggu.
The two of them must have frequently passed through Zhili, and we still need to rely on them to find these things.
puff!
Yin spat out the tea in his mouth. Pancakes were generally used by ordinary people to fill their stomachs, and many families knew how to make them. Who would specifically buy them from outside?
"Shopkeeper, can you make pancakes here?" Yin's heart softened when he saw Qingyan's pleading eyes.
Fei Yanggu sighed, "Yin Zong is so doting and controlling, it won't do."
"Yes, young master, we don't sell pancakes here. But if you like, we can make them for 50 copper coins for 100 pancakes." The shopkeeper noticed their Beijing accents and began to wonder about their identities.
Previously, he had heard that His Majesty had dispatched several of his princes to provide disaster relief, but looking at the situation before him, he had to be suspicious.
"Okay!" Qingyan agreed. "I'll take 300!"
Pancakes are the easiest to store, and multigrain pancakes are even better.
Seeing that neither the old man nor the young man objected, the shopkeeper quickly went to the kitchen and told the head chef that these few tables of customers would be enough to keep the small shop afloat for half a year.
"Little darling, isn't this too much?" Yin looked at Qingyan, "Pancakes aren't very tasty!"
"Hehe, I like to eat it, and it keeps for a longer time!" Qingyan objected.
In modern times, Qingyan enjoys eating pancakes and can make quite a few different kinds.
When the seafood was served, Qingyan's eyes lit up instantly. It was really great! These seafood items were mostly fresh from various places, and they looked like very high-quality stuff.
"Sisi, this is so delicious!" Qingyan smiled as she ate the stir-fried razor clams.
The seafood presented as tribute to the capital city is not as delicious as this.
"Fine, whatever you like!" Yin didn't care.
After the meal, the two guards returned the pancakes, and Qingyan asked them to unwrap the cloth that had been covering the pancakes.
"Sisi, we also need to order garlic and a small amount of scallions." While shopping, Qingyan noticed that almost every vegetable stall had scallions and garlic.
"Alright!" Yin treated Qingyan's words as an imperial edict and carried them out. Fei Yanggu remained silent, and Xiao Guai's preparations were basically based on folk remedies.
The real challenges he and Yin will face will begin after they leave tomorrow.
In the evening, Qingyan returned to the inn and leaned against the window on the second floor, watching the street scene. The vendors were packing up and preparing to go home. The leisurely pace made her feel that she was not close to the disaster area.
The sight of the disaster victims in front of the city gates dampened her spirits. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
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