Chapter 54 New Dishes
"Hey! What do you mean! You didn't even bother to ask around in town. My shop is so spacious, what's wrong with selling it for four hundred taels? You're really stingy, you can't even come up with four hundred taels, what are you even looking at the shop for? You're just wasting my time!"
A woman's sharp curses came from behind him, making Qian Wu feel uneasy: "I didn't expect this. This woman came to me saying she wanted to sell her shop. I didn't expect her to do this. If you are satisfied with her shop, I can go and mediate."
"No need, I run a restaurant, the environment there isn't suitable, let's look at another place first," Song Yushu didn't take the woman's cursing to heart, anyway, they wouldn't have any more contact in the future.
It took an hour to get to the tea shop in the north.
"This tea shop isn't as spacious as that general store, but it has two floors, and there are several rooms and a courtyard in the back," Qian Wu explained carefully this time.
When Song Yushu reached the back of the courtyard, he finally met the owner of the teahouse.
"Cough cough! Qian Wu, could you take her for a walk? My old bones are too weak to get up," the old man at the tea shop said, though he was familiar with Qian Wu.
“His son used to be on good terms with me, but we’ve had less contact since he got married. I came here this time to help him out,” Qian Wu explained to Song Yushu.
Song Yushu didn't mind that they were acquaintances. This tea shop was indeed to her liking. The scenery was beautiful. Behind it was a wasteland overgrown with weeds and trees, and in front was the main road into the town. This tea shop was right at the entrance of the town, so it should have been doing good business.
However, most rural families bring their own water when they come to town and don't stay overnight. There are also few outsiders who stay overnight and buy tea every day, so there aren't many customers. It's okay if they can make a living, but don't expect to make anything else.
Song Yushu hesitated for a moment: "Could we buy that piece of wasteland behind? If we could, I might buy this tea shop."
“That should be unclaimed. I haven’t seen anyone plant it in recent years. You should be able to buy it. Here, I’ll go to the government office for you and ask.” Wanting to help his former good brother, Qian Wu offered to run the errand for Song Yushu when he saw that she was interested.
“Alright, if there’s a result, bring the book over tomorrow and I’ll buy this tea shop,” Song Yushu was naturally happy that someone was willing to make the trip for her.
Qian Wu was quick; by noon the next day, he took the wedge to Song Yushu. Seeing that he was efficient, Song Yushu signed the wedge and went to the yamen to complete the formalities, buying the wasteland as well. Four hundred taels were spent just like that.
With the book in hand, Song Yushu felt a little more at ease. She would be moving here in two months. After the old family moved out, she would begin renovating the tea shop. The interior was fine; she could move the existing tables and chairs from the eatery over, so she didn't need to buy new ones.
She was cleaning up that wasteland outside. Fortunately, there were no graves there, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to persuade anyone to move the graves.
That wasteland was overgrown with weeds. Apart from a few tall trees that could be kept, the low shrubs had to be removed, but a few wild maple trees could be left.
Song Yushu planned to develop a rural tourism business, which would be ideal because the location would be perfect, allowing people to enjoy themselves right outside the town, which would be perfect for the ladies and young women in the town who rarely left their homes.
After drawing up the blueprints, Song Yushu had to start preparing the ingredients for tomorrow's new dishes. Now that his purse was empty, he couldn't realize any of his ideas, so he could only work hard to make money.
"Delicious Restaurant's New Dishes! Regular Customers Enjoy a 20% Discount!"
"Chicken Pot! Authentic free-range chicken! A new dish at this delicious restaurant! First ten customers get their meals free!"
"Good Taste Restaurant's newest dish: Spicy Grilled Fish! The first ten customers get their meal for free!"
The streets were full of kids promoting Haowei Restaurant, and customers who originally planned to go to Taixing Restaurant turned around and went out instead.
This infuriated Manager Zhu, who slammed the abacus on the table and beckoned to the shop assistants.
"What's wrong with those children? Send someone out and chase them away immediately. Can you afford to compensate us for disturbing our guests?"
"I'll take care of it right away!"
The children who were happily calling out at the orphanage were quickly sent back. They looked aggrieved, thinking that things had not been done well. However, when Song Yushu found out, he told them to go to the backyard for dinner.
Song Yushu was afraid they would choke on fish bones, so he didn't prepare grilled fish for them, but instead prepared a pot of chicken stew.
Seeing that the children were enjoying their meal, he turned around and went out to serve the guests.
"Boss Wei's skills are no less than those of the famous chefs at Taixing Restaurant! This chicken pot tastes even better than the new dishes at Taixing Restaurant!" A diner from Taixing Restaurant couldn't help but praise it again and again.
"This grilled fish is such a big portion! It's enough for the whole family, and the ingredients are plentiful! I'll pack some to take home for my family to try later!"
Hearing the diners' positive feedback, Song Yushu breathed a sigh of relief. It was worth it for her to lead people to the village in the middle of the night to buy so many chickens and fish. Fortunately, someone nearby raised fish, otherwise, how could she have prepared the ingredients so quickly?
I've been busy all night and haven't been able to sleep at all, but seeing how things are now, it's all worth it.
On the other side, Manager Zhu looked at the restaurant, where there were less than half the usual number of customers, and their faces were dark.
"Go to Good Taste Restaurant and see what new dishes they've made."
The waiters at Taixing Restaurant observed the food stalls for a while, and seeing that there were no empty seats inside, they waited outside. Smelling the delicious aromas inside, they didn't feel that it had been long at all. They felt that Taixing Restaurant's loss this time was not unjustified.
When it was his turn, he ordered a chicken hot pot and a grilled fish without hesitation. Since the cost of the meal would be reimbursed, he figured he might as well eat it.
"I remember that man, he's a waiter at Taixing Restaurant. He's the one who led the men to chase us away today!" The child who was helping to clear the dishes after finishing his meal in the backyard recognized the waiter and went over to complain to Song Yushu.
"It's alright, you don't need to bother with this. Go back first."
Song Yushu knew that Taixing Restaurant would definitely send someone to investigate, but he didn't intend to stop them. This was something that couldn't be prevented. However, everyone's skills were different, and over time, these diners would know whose dishes tasted better.
Manager Zhu waited at Taixing Restaurant for a long time but the waiter did not return. Just as he was about to send another person over, the waiter finally returned, his belly bulging.
"how's it going?"
"Delicious! And the portion is huge! I can't possibly finish it all by myself!"
"Idiot! You're actually praising us! All our customers have been taken away! I didn't invite you over for dinner! Couldn't you have packed some to bring back?" Manager Zhu picked up the abacus and gave the shop assistant a hard slap.
The waiter finally came to his senses: "I forgot..."
"Have our restaurant's chefs disguise themselves as guests and go over there tomorrow. Get out of here!"
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