Chapter 52 Baiweifang Opening - Lin Qing'an Hears...
When Lin Qing'an came downstairs after hearing the commotion, Chen Gengnian and Lin Jing had already placed all the pastries in the display case. The pastries were of various shapes and colors, making them both appetizing and visually appealing.
Lin Qingan sincerely praised, "Sister Yiyi is really amazing!"
After eating the steamed buns brought by Chen Yuetao, the group checked everything inside and out to make sure it was ready to open for business before sitting down to rest.
Chen Gengnian went to get a few glasses of juice. Chen Yuetao wasn't too shocked, but Lin Jing was so shocked that she started to stutter.
"Ah...ah...Qing, where did you get this sweet drink? It's so delicious!" Lin Jing took two more big gulps and exclaimed, "I have to take some back for Sister Yiyi to try. She'll definitely love it."
Lin Qing'an and the others just kept laughing at her, no one caring what was in their smiles.
Lin Qing'an thought to himself: Of course it tastes good. It's full of additives, how could it not taste good?
The opening time was set for 9:00 AM. As the time approached, Uncle Hu from Jinyun Restaurant arrived, followed by two waiters. The two men carried a wooden sign with the words "Baiweifang" written on it in bold characters.
The name was inquired about by Uncle Hu a day earlier, for which Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian were very grateful.
After the sign was hung up, there wasn't much of a ceremony. At the appointed time, the red cloth was symbolically pulled off, and that marked the grand opening of Baiweifang.
Uncle Hu didn't stand on ceremony at all and immediately instructed the two people behind him: "You two will follow the instructions of these two bosses the whole time. Be quick-witted and diligent in your work."
The two nodded repeatedly. Lin Qingan and Chen Gengnian were both a little embarrassed, but Uncle Hu said, "The boss has been busy these past few days, otherwise he would have said he would come over to help you out."
Upon hearing Uncle Hu's words, Lin Qing'an and Chen Gengnian felt even more embarrassed and quickly waved their hands, saying that he was already enough.
We had just finished exchanging pleasantries when Aunt Wang and Wang Tingting arrived.
The village head was going to work, so he would be arriving later.
As luck would have it, the opening day happened to be the market day, which is held every two weeks, and people were already out on the street early in the morning.
Lin Qing'an planned to attract customers by offering free samples, so each of them carried a bowl, some filled with pastries and others with melon seeds. Hu Bo was left to watch the shop while Lin Qing'an led the group onto the street.
"Brother, try these sunflower seeds. Our shop is newly opened and we have lots of special offers..."
"Auntie, please try this pastry..."
"Please try this..."
For a time, half the street was filled with the figures of Lin Qing'an and his group, and the sounds of their sales pitches.
At first, no one paid any attention, but gradually, people started to come into the store to buy after tasting the flavor.
Everyone who enters the store receives a complimentary drink.
Even at his age, Uncle Hu was shouting outside: "New shop opening! Come in and get a free cup of sweet water! Don't miss out! Whether you buy anything or not, just come in and take a look, consider it a cup of sweet water to quench your thirst!"
Ah Meng watched from behind with immense admiration. For someone of such age and status to achieve such a feat, Lin Qing'an was simply incredibly lucky.
With that in mind, Ah Meng finally took off his proud long robe and flew to the doorway to perform "acrobatics."
As Lin Qing'an and his group were promoting their products, they noticed that people were flocking to their shop. Thinking that their efforts had been effective, they worked even harder to promote their products.
When Lin Qing'an finished his food, he went back to the shop to refill it, but he couldn't squeeze in at the shop entrance.
His shop was surrounded by a huge crowd, who were laughing and clapping, seemingly having seen something.
"good!"
"One more!"
Amid cheers, Lin Qing'an finally squeezed in. As soon as he entered, he saw A Meng struggling to catch the pastries that Uncle Hu had thrown into the air. When Lin Qing'an saw that A Meng had caught every single piece of the pastry that Uncle Hu had scattered, he was stunned and stood there in shock.
Ah Meng has such a quick reaction?
After throwing another handful of food into the air, which A-Meng caught, Uncle Hu stopped his actions. He called out to everyone, "We'll perform once every half hour. You can go into the shop during this time. We have general merchandise and pastries. Pick some out and take them home for your wives and children to try. If you like them, come back next time."
As soon as Uncle Hu finished speaking, A Meng flew to the can containing the drink, pecked at it, and shouted out in front of everyone.
"Buy something and get a free sweet drink!"
"Buy something and get a free sweet drink!"
It kept shouting, and more and more people gathered to watch, all of whom found its behavior incredibly fascinating.
Meanwhile, more and more people entered the store, and seeing that Uncle Hu was almost overwhelmed, Lin Qingan came to his senses and went to help.
When Chen Gengnian and the others returned, they saw that the shop was already extremely busy, and A Meng's voice was hoarse from shouting.
Lin Qingan couldn't bear it any longer, so he went over and hugged A Meng, apologizing to everyone, "I'm sorry, it needs to rest for a while. Today's performance is over. Please come again tomorrow. Thank you for your understanding."
I thought everyone would disperse because of this, but to my surprise, they were all understanding and unanimously said, "That's right, that's right."
After they finished talking, they rushed into the store to buy things. Many people ate sunflower seeds and each took away almost a pound. The juice in the jars at the door was also finished early.
Liu Yiyi's pastries were completely devoured.
No one expected that business would be so booming on the first day of opening.
In just half a day, most of the dried goods in the shop were sold out.
Seeing this, Uncle Hu hurriedly sent people to restock the goods from house to house. Lin Qing'an and the others were so busy that they even had to take turns eating.
In the afternoon, the village head finished his business, and Lin Yanfeng and Abao returned from school. With their help, Chen Yuetao, Lin Qingan, and Uncle Hu were finally able to stop and rest.
As darkness fell, the shop, which had been busy all day, finally had only a few customers left. After they finished shopping, Chen Gengnian planned to treat everyone to a good meal as a way of thanking Aunt Wang and the others for their help.
But Uncle Hu said that Jinyun Hotel had already prepared the meal.
Since that was the case, the group stopped being coy and followed Uncle Hu to the Jinyun Hotel.
Faced with a sumptuous feast, Lin Qing'an was so moved that he didn't know what to say. He stood up and raised his glass to toast everyone.
"Everything is contained in this glass of wine. Thank you all for your hard work!"
After saying that, he picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. Then he held Ah Meng's wine glass to its lips with both hands. Ah Meng looked up and met his gaze. Lin Qing'an just gave a big smile.
Everyone present raised their glasses in a toast. Adults drank baijiu (Chinese liquor), and children drank juice. Everyone finished their drinks, swallowing the day's fatigue and keeping the joy in their eyes.
The food was delicious, and the laughter was hearty and warm. This was a joyful scene that Lin Qing'an had never experienced in his previous life. He was filled with emotion, so he drank a few more cups.
He didn't know when he got drunk, but in his hazy state, he felt someone carrying him on their back. The broad shoulders and familiar scent were those of his husband.
Lin Qingan nuzzled Chen Gengnian's neck and murmured, "Husband, you've worked hard."
Chen Gengnian didn't stop walking and replied, "Husband, you've worked hard too."
Lin Qing'an was so tired that his eyelids kept drooping, so he fell asleep as soon as he finished speaking. His even breaths sprayed on his neck, covering the cool night breeze, and his blood and heart felt warm and soothed.
Chen Yuetao and Lin Jing followed behind, unable to see Chen Gengnian's wide grin that stretched almost to his ears. All they knew was that everything before them was peaceful and serene.
Lin Jing's eyes and heart were filled with envy.
“Ah Jing, find someone suitable. Marriage isn’t the only goal, but sometimes companionship can save you from dire straits.”
Lin Jing gave a soft "hmm" and didn't say anything more to Chen Yuetao.
There are some things she can say, but there's no need for her to say them. Her feelings are against societal norms. But Chen Yuetao is right; some people do appear to save something.
For example, her.
The event lasted for three days, and A Meng performed for three days. Lin Qing'an introduced two new products for sale during those three days: potato chips and spicy rice crackers.
As for Lin Jing, she went back the next night to retrieve the pastries that Liu Yiyi had made, and returned the next morning.
The shop was packed every day, and they no longer needed to go out on the street to promote their products. After three days, the shop's reputation spread throughout the town, and more than half of the people knew about Baiweifang.
Since the surrounding shops all sell household goods, there is no business conflict. On the contrary, it brings them a lot of business, and even the shops next door come to buy things.
This also helped me build a good relationship with the neighboring shop.
On the fifth day, things finally calmed down. Ah Meng stopped performing. Business wasn't as booming as it had been in the previous days, but it was still operating normally, and he still made a good profit each day.
Lin Qing'an forcibly stopped A Meng's performance. This place is a mixed bag, and he didn't want A Meng to take any more risks. The performances these past few days have only been ordinary, and no one has noticed anything yet. It's just right to stop now.
In just a few days, he earned 560 taels. After deducting a small portion of the purchase cost, he had 490 taels left. Lin Qing'an gave 100 taels to Lin Jing, half of which was a share and the other half was a reward for hard work. Everyone had worked hard these past few days, and he hadn't expected to earn so much, so it didn't matter if he gave away more.
He then forced ten taels of silver on Aunt Wang's family, and two taels each on the two maids at Jinyun Restaurant. He refused the ten taels offered to Uncle Hu, no matter how the two tried to persuade him. There was nothing he could do, so Chen Gengnian and Lin Qing'an had to owe him this favor.
Chen Yuetao had been there for many days and was really worried about her family, since Baifu and the poultry were still waiting at home. So when she was about to leave, she asked Lin Qing'an to leave the money for the purchase and give her the rest to take back with her.
But Chen Yuetao didn't take it. She returned the money to Lin Qing'an and said with a smile, "What would I, a person with one foot in the grave, need so much money for? Now, it's enough for me to have enough to eat and wear. You can keep it for yourselves. There are many other places to spend money."
Chen Yuetao's voice was gentle and loving, making it hard to argue. Before Lin Qing'an could try to persuade her again, Chen Yuetao added, "Besides, it's safest to keep it with you. We're all family. If I need anything in the future, I can just ask you for help."
In the end, Chen Yuetao didn't ask for anything and went back to Linjia Village with Lin Jing in an oxcart.
Lin Qing'an looked at the silver in his hand. Lin Yanfeng's words were the same. He didn't expect everyone to believe him so much. This was pure money, something that everyone would be willing to risk their lives for, yet they didn't have the slightest greed.
Chen Gengnian patted him on the shoulder, "Don't think too much. We are all family. Money is just an external thing. As long as family is here, nothing else matters."
"Sigh!" Lin Qing'an sighed deeply and murmured, "I really am still just an ordinary person."
The shop remained calm in the days that followed, neither too busy nor too idle, and the daily income was still quite considerable.
Although he was overwhelmed by the large sums of money he received a few days ago, Lin Qing'an is now quite satisfied with his current situation after calming down.
I'm not tired, and I can still make money, not a lot, but just enough.
He thought his innate business acumen would ensure his life continued smoothly, but reality proved otherwise.
That day, before Lin Qing'an and his team even opened the shop, several people gathered outside, and the shop door was smashed so loudly it shook the heavens.
Lin Qing'an and Chen Gengnian, who were still asleep, were startled awake, as were Lin Yanfeng and Abao next door.
As I hurriedly got dressed and got out of bed, A-Meng's voice rang out from outside the door.
“Three people came in from outside, and there was a child lying on the ground. We don’t know if he’s dead or alive, but from what they said, it seemed like he was like this because he ate our rice crust yesterday. I’m afraid they don’t have good intentions.”
Upon hearing this, Chen Gengnian hurriedly stopped Lin Qing'an, "Qing, don't go down yet, let me go out and see what's going on."
Lin Qing'an didn't say much, but looked at Lin Yanfeng and Abao who came out of the room and said, "You two go find the doctor, and Ameng go find the village head."
Chen Gengnian wanted to say something more, but Lin Qingan's allocation was indeed quite reasonable, so he didn't object much. He said he would go downstairs to take a look first and then went downstairs.
No sooner had Chen Gengnian left than Lin Yanfeng and his group split up and went out through the back door in two separate groups.
Lin Qing'an had gotten up in such a hurry that he hadn't had time to put on his coat. Remembering that he was a boy, he went back to his room to get a coat before going downstairs.
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Author's Note: Brothers and sisters passing by, free melon seeds and free sweet water! Grab a seat, our Ah Meng is about to put on a show for you! [heart][eating melon seeds]
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