Chapter 262: The Shura Field of Jinxi Tower (1)
"Not selling? Try it yourself!"
Shen Leyan closed his eyes tightly, feeling a pain in his heart as if his liver was being pinched.
I run a shop and do business, so I have to receive customers when they come.
People order whatever dishes are available, pay for what they eat, and then kick people out...
Don't even think about it. The seven or eight guys we have can probably deal with one or two drunk guys, but if the other side has dozens of soldiers coming together, there's no way they can defeat them.
I'm afraid Tianxianglou is just waiting for me to kick out the customers so that these soldiers can smash my shop.
Huang Changsheng and Shen Leyan's faces were wrinkled like bitter gourds. If this continues, how can they continue to run their business?
In Tianxiang Tower, Song Liyun, Zhou Xiang, Sun Wencheng and others were talking.
"Hey! Manager Song, you don't know, my brother is so proud. He even came over to show me yesterday. He ate ten pancakes and was so full that he couldn't walk."
Sun Wencheng touched his belly, crossed his legs, and walked like a crab.
Song Liyun rubbed her cheeks, which were sore from laughing, and asked worriedly, "How are we going to get home on foot like this?"
Zhou Xiang scoffed, "You useless thing, you only know how to eat flatbread and nothing else. This opportunity is rare!"
Sun Wencheng raised his eyebrows and whispered, "I heard that the chef at Zuichunlou was so tired that he couldn't even lift his hands. Today, he couldn't even knead the dough. Even the meat was cut by the waiter. Tsk tsk tsk! The shredded meat was as thick as a finger.
Speaking of which, Jinxilou is still able to hold on. They hired another chef today and even bought an extra pig."
Zhou Xiang wanted to laugh when he thought about his brothers in the garrison hearing that after running forty miles in training, the reward was to have a meal at the famous restaurant in Qili County.
They were so excited that they howled and ran like wild horses, and could not be stopped even if shouted.
A group of men ran to Qili County with empty stomachs. Not only did the cabbage and potatoes prepared by the restaurant taste sweet, even the boiled water served was sweet, so they had to prepare several more buckets.
This idea was thought up by Song Liyun.
She said that Jinxilou is having a half-price promotion now, and it would be a waste if we don’t take advantage of this good deal.
Good things should not be wasted on outsiders, and opportunities should be given to the brothers in the garrison.
Anyway, the soldiers in the garrison have to do drills every day.
Especially the 400 people transferred from the Lei Camp of the Zhenbei Army, who ran 30 miles every day without fail.
Then let someone go to Qili County, eat there and then go back.
Although the distance was a bit far, twice the usual training volume, everyone was tireless and ran as fast as they could because of the delicious food.
The price of dishes set by the chef is usually fifty cents per serving, but now it only costs twenty-five cents during the half-price promotion.
The garrison will subsidize half of the cost, and you will have to pay the rest yourself.
In order to show its support for the brothers, Tianxianglou subsidized the soldiers' expenses, which was only a few taels of silver a day.
It would be a waste not to eat something free. These soldiers who usually live in barracks and eat from a big pot have no scruples at all.
They don't care about fine food, they just want to eat their fill, stuffing huge bowls of food into their stomachs. They line up every day from morning to night, causing trouble for several restaurants.
You can't chase them away, and you have to take good care of them.
It’s a pity that we are bound by military orders and can only eat but not drink, otherwise the winery would be emptied.
September 15th is here in a blink of an eye. It is a day off for the county government.
One day in advance, two rows of long tables were set up in the center of Yaqian Street.
On the day of the trade fair, a long table was covered with silk cloth and various foods were placed on it.
Merchants can stand behind a long table and introduce their products to passers-by.
This time, there were more than 30 merchants willing to participate. Although the number was a bit small, it was the first time in history that Yaqian Street was filled with their goods.
The two ends of Yaqian Street were blocked by red silk and guarded by yamen runners. The onlookers could only look at the long row of colorful tents inside, scratching their heads and cheeks in anxiety.
County Magistrate Lord Jiang had just cut the red silk and was pushed back into the county government office by the surging crowd before he could even finish his words.
At this time, more than 20 long tables were connected together, occupying the entire area in front of the county government gate.
The crowds of people who came to watch the excitement were shoulder to shoulder, more than those at the temple fair, and in an instant the usually spacious Yaqian Street was packed.
Everyone's attention was on the long table in the middle of the tent.
On the long tables, there are all kinds of cakes served in the most beautiful porcelain and beautifully arranged on plates.
Although the varieties on display were the same as those in ordinary shops, the venue was changed. There was no dim shop and no greasy wooden cabinets. These candies and pastries suddenly became bright under the support of the white silk tent.
Mung bean cakes, red bean cakes, and date cakes, in different colors, are stacked like pagodas, making people salivate at the sight.
The steamed buns and steamed buns just out of the steamer look more docile than usual.
The sundry shop's carefully selected walnuts, peanuts, and chestnuts are packed in palm-sized rattan baskets.
Various dry sauces and pickles are served in snow-white porcelain bowls and plates.
Next came the people selling grains, oil, rice, noodles, dried vegetables, chicken, duck, fish and meat, tobacco leaves, and candied fruits.
They all try their best to make ordinary products look fancy.
Behind the long table, a waiter, also dressed in new clothes and with a sharp tongue, was shouting to the crowd to attract customers.
This novel sales method makes people feel very novel, and the price is one or two cents cheaper than usual. Some people come to watch the fun, while others buy immediately.
It is impossible to stack goods on the small long table, but fortunately all the shops are in the city. I just need to write down what I want to buy here and the shop assistants will deliver it to my door.
The most attractive ones are the barbecue stalls that occupy the largest area.
Guan Laoliu deftly flipped the skewers in his hands and fanned them with a palm-leaf fan from time to time. The special aroma stimulated everyone's olfactory nerves.
The skewers on the grill include both meat and vegetables, exactly the same as the dishes at Tianxianglou.
There was a dense crowd of people in front of his stall, and Guan Laoliu was flipping the skewers evenly like a gibbon.
He was used to working at the breakfast stall, and his hands and eyes became nimble.
He quickly became proficient in grilling skewers and was even able to perform some tricks, which made everyone laugh.
The helpers he brought with him collected money by the skewers, and every "clang clang clang" sound could be exchanged for copper coins falling like rain.
There were five other people who learned to grill skewers at Tianxianglou with him.
At this time, every house was surrounded by people, everyone was waiting eagerly, drooling.
"Delicious, delicious. Hey! Fan Shao, why do your skewers taste the same as those at Tianxianglou? Are they better than those at Jinxilou?"
In the crowd, there were familiar people eating the skewers they had snatched and shouting.
Fan Shao chuckled: "I learned this from Tianxianglou. This is the taste of Tianxianglou."
On the other side, Guan Laoliu had been talking non-stop.
"This is what Tianxianglou tastes like. Come, try one and see how it compares to what you had at Jinxilou..."
Delicious, right? That’s right… Your brother is also a foodie, and he can tell the difference just by taking one bite.
You can’t deceive people when it comes to food. What’s real cannot be fake, and what’s fake cannot be real.
Those people also said that Tianxianglou learned from others, bah!
When you ate grilled lamb chops at Tianxianglou before, did you ever taste grilled skewers that tasted like mine? Or lamb chops that tasted like mine? ... Definitely not!
They say a good teacher produces a good student, but have you ever seen a grandson come first and then a grandfather..."
Ha ha ha ha!
Guan Laoliu was eloquent and his words were funny, and he made everyone laugh out loud with his speech.
Those who didn’t know just listened for fun, while those who knew nodded secretly.
(End of this chapter)
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