Chapter 96 The Deal is Done, Li Yang's Business - The Capital Teahouse...
"Uncle Chen, why don't you try the consignment tea?" Xiao Bai asked, puzzled.
“I dare not drink this kind of unknown origin.” With that, Manager Chen put the tea canister back on the counter, stroked his beard and smiled, “Young master, the world is not what it used to be. There are plenty of people who want to make money off your misfortune. Wait a few more days, and that woman will definitely come looking for you. At that time, we will be in charge of the rent.”
Bai Liheng nodded blankly; it would be a good thing if the rent could be increased.
"Old Chen, Old Chen." A deep, resonant male voice called out from outside the restaurant.
Manager Chen glanced over and exclaimed, "Oh dear, young master, quickly hide in the back! Old Liu is here to collect the money!" He then hurriedly pulled Bai Liheng to crouch down and hide behind the curtain.
"Old Chen?" The man, broad-shouldered and burly, looked quite wealthy. He went straight to the counter after entering the restaurant, searching inside and out. "Where did Old Chen go?" he said, not forgetting to lift the lid of a wine jar under the counter.
Seeing no one around, he glanced at the hot water on the table, picked up a teacup, took a sip of the tea bag from the side, smiled, poured in the tea, and began to drink it by himself.
He had heard that Baijia Restaurant had received a new tea with a unique aroma.
"Old Chen, come out already. Is it fun to keep hiding from me for these few taels of silver every day?" The man said, pretending to be looking for a house, but he was all smiles, blowing tea foam to smell the aroma, quite interested.
"What kind of tea is this?" He seemed unconvinced, bringing his nose close to the gaiwan. "It really smells good. You old Chen, you kept such a good thing from me. That's really not fair."
"Old Chen!" he muttered to himself, raising his voice and drawing glares from several other tables.
"Hey, hey, hey," unable to bear his oblivious shouting any longer, Manager Chen emerged from inside with a long face. "Hehe, Old Liu, here you are again."
Old Liu chuckled, ignoring the barbed words in his voice, "Old Chen, you're really not being fair. It's one thing to avoid me every day and not pay me back, but you won't even send me some of this good tea."
Old Liu and the old man from the Bai family were bosom friends. After Old Bai passed away, he always helped the Bai family's only son whenever he could. Who knew that this brat would be tricked into going to a gambling den.
He discussed it with his wife, and they decided to come and collect the debt from time to time every now and then, which would help Xiaobai save some money so that if things got really bad, he would have some money to save him.
"What tea? What is this? You can have a serving of whatever you want in my shop." Old Chen pushed him aside, smiling as he took the money from the customer. "You've taken so much over the years, and you still have the nerve to come and collect a debt for a few pounds of meat. It's not like you don't want to pay it back. It's just that your nephew is having some trouble, and instead of helping him out, you, as his uncle, keep coming to urge him every few days."
Hearing this, Old Liu laughed even harder, "Where's my little nephew? How come you've hidden him again?"
"No money! Going to him won't do you any good." Old Chen was full of confidence, even more aggressive than the debtor.
"If you don't have the money, you can pay me back in a couple of days. Hurry up and call my little nephew out. He can pack two catties of this tea for me to take home. My wife will definitely like it, and she won't be nagging me to come and collect the debt anymore."
After hearing his words, Bai Liheng emerged from behind the curtain, his ears turning red, and said, "Hehe, Uncle Liu."
"What kind of tea..." Manager Chen was still curious. In the past, Old Liu would just take the tea directly from the shop and leave. Why did he have to pack two catties for him himself today?
"Look, this is it. It doesn't even have a name. Which jar is it? I've never even drunk it before," Old Liu grumbled in dissatisfaction.
Manager Chen looked down and said, "This packet of tea..."
"Yes, the one with a poem written on it." Old Liu pursed his lips and then turned to whisper to Bai Liheng. This nephew was handsome and upright, but he didn't seem very smart. He wondered who he took after.
Old Chen looked down and saw a line of delicate handwriting on the paper package: "A robust and graceful figure enters the snow-white vessel, pearls reflect emerald shadows in the jade pot, a spiritual sprout unfolds amidst the misty clouds, auspicious energy lingers like the autumn sun and moon."
"Isn't this the tea that young lady left behind? Is it really that good?" Old Liu is a picky eater, and he says it's delicious... Manager Chen looked at him suspiciously, picked up the teacup and held it to his nose. With a wave of his hand, a fragrant aroma wafted out.
"What are you doing? Make yourself a cup. This is my tea." Old Liu hurriedly snatched it away. "Quick, quick, I have to rush to collect debts from the next debtor after I've bought the tea."
Bai Liheng glanced at the paper package, scratched his head, and said, "Uncle Liu, we're out of tea."
"No more today!" Old Chen quickly interrupted, "I'll pack some up and deliver them to you personally in a couple of days."
"That's settled then." Old Liu said reluctantly as he left, finishing off his entire cup of tea.
Bai Liheng asked in confusion, "Uncle Chen, we only have this much tea. Where are we going to get two catties of tea leaves for Uncle Liu?"
Manager Chen stroked his beard and squinted. "Liheng, your Uncle Liu is practically a tea connoisseur. He says it's good. You should try it." As he spoke, he handed the freshly brewed tea to the person opposite him. "So, which inn did that lady say they were staying at?"
"Huh? Youlai Inn?"
"Is it called Dapeng Inn?"
"It seems to be the Yuelai Inn..."
"Uncle, have you agreed to rent the shop to that woman?"
Manager Chen stroked his beard, saying, "Let her wait a few more days, then we can negotiate a good price, or we can sell her tea on her behalf."
As he spoke, he beckoned to the waiter and instructed him to promote the tea to customers over the next few days to see how it sold.
Seeing that Manager Chen was quite shrewd, and that his greatest virtue was his obedience, Bai Liheng simply went to the backyard to look at the zither score, as he had just acquired the score for the guqin but hadn't had a chance to read it through yet.
-
As the twelfth lunar month approaches, the winter days are sunny and warm.
Several people gathered in a room. Ziyan was studying a play script by the window, while Liyang was counting silver notes on the table.
Before setting off, Li Yang converted all the betrothal gifts that the Chen family had given her into silver notes and gave them to Fang Yuan. She also specifically instructed them to go to the bank to repay the loan after they arrived in the capital.
"Boss, it's so inconvenient to carry so many old banknotes around. Why don't you deposit them in a bank?" Youfeng propped her head up as she watched her count the banknotes.
Li Yang laughed and said, "We deposited the money with the bank before, and Chen Junbo found out in less than two days. If we deposit it back into the bank now and then withdraw it, it will let him know where we are."
Youfeng nodded vigorously and asked, "It's been several days already, why hasn't the Bai family restaurant come yet? Will they really come looking for us? Should we look for other places?"
“No need,” Ziyan said, this time looking up from the script. “Youfeng, we’ve been running around these past few days, is there a shop that’s willing to give us as collateral?”
Youfeng shook her head, "Those shops will kick us out as soon as they see that we are women."
"So, now we have no choice but to bet on the Bai family restaurant. First, they desperately need money to get out of their predicament." She smiled as she spoke. "Second, their owner is young, so he's easier to talk to. We'll know if it works once they sell the tea."
"But what if they don't sell the tea?" Youfeng still had questions.
"Young Madam, I'm going downstairs to buy some snacks." Xiao Lu couldn't listen to these business matters and made an excuse to slip out so she could write a letter to Bi Fang.
Li Yang nodded, then explained to You Feng, "Even without the tea, they would still come looking for us. Now that Master Bai has passed away, those old friends are probably waiting to kick us while we're down. Otherwise, why would the young master of the Bai family have someone set a trap? I'm afraid all the acquaintances in the capital are just waiting for the day they can't keep going so they can take over the shop at a low price."
A glint flashed in Youfeng's eyes. "So, you deliberately only said we rented the shop, never mentioning the word 'buy.' But the innkeeper is clearly keeping us waiting. If they keep dragging this out, it's not good for us to wait here in the inn every day."
A gust of wind swept past the window, causing the windowpanes to slap gently.
Li Yang glanced at the window, patted You Feng's head, and laughed, "He's more anxious than us. It'll be over soon."
-
Baijia Restaurant.
Shopkeeper Chen leisurely basked in the sun at the counter, rummaging through the few broken tea leaves in the paper package, squinting and grinning foolishly.
I tried promoting that tea a few days ago, and it's selling quite well.
He has been ignoring the woman for several days now, and she will probably get impatient soon. He will then tell them that the tea will remain in the shop for consignment, and as for renting the shop, they can only do so if they can give him an extra hundred taels.
I wonder how things went with the matchmaker, Liu. Are there any good girls from good families waiting to be married? Although his young master is a bit naive, once he clears his debts, he can be considered a rare good husband in the surrounding area.
The beautiful dream was ruthlessly interrupted just as it began.
The gambling den thugs seemed to have caught a whiff of something and came over, saying, "Hmph, Manager Chen, haven't seen you for a few days, you're doing well."
Old Chen slid off the stool and hurriedly crawled out from behind the counter. "Brothers, this... isn't it supposed to be a few days away? Why are you here early?"
"Wait a few more days? By the time you sell the shop, where am I supposed to find you?" The leader grabbed his collar and lifted him up. "I heard your shop has been doing very well these past few days, but you haven't paid back a single penny of the money you owe us. Mr. Chen, I think you're planning to run away."
"No, no, no."
The bandit ignored him and threw two punches, instantly turning the shopkeeper's eye black.
The group searched around the counter, emptying all the money on it. Then, seeing the sour line of poetry on the paper package, they spat and threw the crumpled paper on the ground.
“Hey Chen,” the gang leader slapped him twice on the face, “once you’ve made money, hurry up and come to the gambling den to pay off your debts. You hear me? If you do it again, I’ll make your grandfather come to your door in person and teach you a lesson.”
Manager Chen sat on the ground, helplessly watching the men fire their guns and leave with a flourish, tears streaming down his face.
What terrible things has he done to deserve this suffering at his age?
Wiping away a tear, he ignored the pain in his back and straightened up, stumbling out the door.
-
Friends Inn.
"Master, Master!" Youfeng rushed in excitedly. The people inside looked at her blankly. "Master, the Bai family has arrived."
Her face was filled with undisguised joy. Although the host was certain that the Bai family would come looking for them, she was only at ease when they actually found her at the inn.
Upon hearing this, Li Yang also managed a smile; these past few days had been tough.
As the group descended the stairs, Manager Chen was rubbing an egg on his eyes. Upon seeing them, he immediately put down the egg and stood up, saying, "Miss."
Li Yang laughed and said, "Manager Chen, have you sent people to collect debts again?"
Manager Chen gave an awkward, apologetic smile.
Although she left the tea at the Bai family restaurant, she could still read foolish greed in Manager Chen's eyes.
To make Manager Chen face reality, she spent a little money to send people to spread the word on the streets that Bai Family Restaurant had acquired a new tea with a unique aroma, and also asked someone to spread the word near the gambling den.
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. During the days when she sold wontons at Fang's Tea House, the bricklayers and laborers talked loudly and taught her a lot.
“Since Manager Chen has come to us, he must have agreed to the method we proposed the other day.” Li Yang didn’t rub salt into his wounds, but simply put the cooperation plan back on the table.
Shopkeeper Chen smiled, which aggravated the injury on his face. He quickly raised his hand to rub his face. "Alright, I wonder when it would be convenient for you to sign the document, Miss?"
After saying that, he gulped down a mouthful of cold tea.
He had searched for this inn along the way, and only after much difficulty did he find this Youpeng Inn, where he learned that several young ladies had indeed stayed there a few days ago.
Now that he'd been beaten up, a sudden realization dawned on him: money or not, paying off Xiaobai's gambling debts was the most important thing.
"However, Manager Chen, my daughter has another request." Li Yang smiled and looked steadily at the other party, saying that it was a request, but he was very calm and collected.
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