Chapter 64: Gudonggengfu It

is said that even clay figures have their own temperaments.

Laifu Gudonggeng is so shameless that Jiang Yanyi is now on guard against them like a thief.

Storytellers have to save face and will not come directly to Jiang Yanyi's shop to listen. Basically, the waiters of the restaurant go to listen and then go back to tell the stories. The storyteller will organize the stories before telling them.

Mr. Ding of Laifu Restaurant can be the top storyteller. He is very good at talking. Even if the waiters listen to the stories and go back to tell them dryly, he takes the framework of the story and polishes it himself. When he tells it again, it is still wonderful, and he has some unique understandings, which is quite unique.

Jiang Yanyi was very troubled and said to Yang Xiu and Bing Shao: "Pay attention, the people who often come to the door of the store to listen to the storytelling these days are the servants of Lai Fu Restaurant. If they come again, just drive them away."

After this trick was used, the servants of Lai Fu Restaurant no longer squatted at the door of the store to listen to the storytelling in the cold wind. They took the money given by the owner of the restaurant and entered the store openly to eat hot pot while listening.

Jiang Yanyi also asked Yang Xiu to stop the people, and this business was not worth doing.

The waiter was so angry that he jumped three feet high, "I came into the store to eat hotpot, why are you blocking me? Hey, hey, hey, everyone passing by, come and have a say! I took the money and went into the store, but this Jiang Ji stopped me!"

Nowadays, Jiang Yanyi's hotpot shop and Lai Fu's antique soup arena are competing fiercely, and whenever there is a little movement, many people will gather to watch the excitement.

Jiang Yanyi listened to the shouting of the Lai Fu Restaurant servant outside, closed the account book and walked out of the store and said: "Go back and tell your boss that if he comes to eat hotpot in person, I won't bother him. If he doesn't understand something about running the store, he can ask me. We are all doing business on the same street. Even if the transaction fails, we still have friendship. Can I hide it? Manager Xu uses money to let you servants of the restaurant run to my store every day, and you don't learn well. Aren't you wasting Manager Xu's money?" After

a series of harsh words came down, the onlookers thought it was just a joke of Lai Fu Restaurant and laughed.

A spectator said, "Manager Jiang's shop has just fired a new batch of porcelain. The pomegranate pots and pumpkin cups are very interesting. I wonder when Lai Fu Restaurant will be able to fire these porcelains."

The servant felt his face burning, and he didn't dare to spit in front of Jiang Yanyi's shop, so he turned around and left.

Jiang Yanyi thought that this way she could let Lai Fu Restaurant hear the latest story a few days later, but Lai Fu Restaurant repeated the story that the old scholar told today the next day.

She couldn't figure it out, so she asked Yang Xiu to find out. Only then did she know that Manager Xu gave money directly to let some people who had no money to eat hot pot come to her shop to eat, and they just had to listen to the story and go back to tell it.

This makes people hard to guard against.

Mr. Ding has been telling stories for many years and has attracted many listeners. The old scholar has become famous these days, and some gossipers can't help but compare the old scholar with Mr. Ding. Some say that the old scholar's storytelling is more delicate and moving, while others say that Mr. Ding's storytelling is more profound and more realistic after being embellished.

One day, the old scholar was telling a story in the restaurant, and a diner suddenly put his teacup on the table with force, saying contemptuously: "You are so slow-witted, not as eloquent as Mr. Ding! With this little ability, you dare to show off your skills in front of an expert?" The

old scholar had been telling stories for so many years, but this was the first time he was interrupted in the middle of his storytelling. He ignored the man and continued.

But the diner refused to give in and shouted loudly: "Where is the shopkeeper? With this level of storytelling, is there phlegm stuck in his throat or he can't breathe? It's so uncomfortable that I can't even eat! If he continues, I won't pay for this meal!"

The old scholar was forced to interrupt, looking a little embarrassed.

The other diners were already dissatisfied when this man started talking, and now that he interrupted again, they couldn't help but say: "I think it's very good."

"This person is so unreasonable, is he deliberately looking for trouble?"

"It really opens my eyes that there are such rude people in the world!"

Jiang Yanyi was making a hot pot in the back kitchen. When he heard Yang Xiu say that someone was looking for trouble in the store, he took off his apron and went out.

The troublemaker was a middle-aged man, dressed in a rich manner, sitting with his legs crossed, looking like the king of the world.

Jiang Yanyi kept a polite smile on his face and said, "Sir, I wonder if our restaurant is not considerate enough in its hospitality?"

The diner raised his drooping eyelids lazily, peeled an orange and threw it into his mouth. The big black mole at the corner of his mouth moved with his chewing movements. After chewing, he spat out the seeds casually and pointed to the old scholar sitting at the table with his chin: "Everything in the restaurant is good, but listening to this old guy telling stories is like a fly buzzing in my ears. It's annoying. I'm not cut out for this job. At your age, don't learn to tell stories."

Jiang Yanyi still had a smile on his face, but his eyes had turned cold.

Oh, this guy is probably a professional black-hat.

She glanced at the old scholar who didn't know how to leave the stage after being squeezed by him, and she wanted to give him two big slaps.

She gave the old scholar a soothing look, turned around and asked the other diners in the restaurant, "Do you think so too?"

The other diners said no, but those who can eat here are all respectable people, and they don't have the face to argue with this person who is looking for trouble.

Jiang Yanyi smiled and said to the diner with the black mole who was looking for trouble, "Look, everyone else in the restaurant likes the storytelling told by this old gentleman."

The diner with the black mole picked his teeth and said arrogantly, "Why should I like it just because others like it? I just think his storytelling skills are not good enough. Today, you either kick this storyteller out or I won't give him any money!"

The old scholar had heard all kinds of insults in his life, but this was the first time he was questioned about his storytelling skills. He felt uncomfortable and doubted his eloquence, but he didn't want to cause trouble for Jiang Yanyi, so he stood up, bowed and said, "Boss, I'll clear my table first."

It was a shame for a storyteller to clear the table, and only if he was kicked out and the boss didn't want to hire him again would he clear the table.

When the other diners heard this, they immediately chimed in:

"The storyteller was doing fine, why did he suddenly clear the table?"

"We were enjoying the story, why would we care about the troublemaker? He doesn't own this restaurant!"

"That's right, you don't get paid for listening to the storyteller, why are you talking so viciously? Be more polite!"

...

The diners were talking one after another, but the diner with the black mole was thick-skinned. He didn't feel ashamed at all, but acted like a rogue.

Jiang Yanyi comforted the old scholar: "You can continue with the storyteller today."

She turned to the diner with the black mole and said: "I have asked the waiter to invite the government officials to come over. Please sit for a while. Whether you are paid or not, we will go to the government office to discuss the matter."

The customer with the black mole spit out the toothpick in his mouth with a "Puh" sound: "Why, I have a meal at your Jiangji Gudonggeng and I can't say anything bad, otherwise I will report it to the police? You are too overbearing in your business!"

Facing his weird words, Jiang Yanyi didn't show any anger on his face, he just said: "Sir, you are wronging me, didn't you say that the hotpot in my shop is not delicious? I sell it. It's the pot, not the storytelling."

The diner with the black mole didn't expect Jiang Yanyi to be such a good talker, and he immediately said with a sneer: "Your pot is not as good as Lai Fu's antique soup."

Jiang Yanyi said in a good temper: "You go to Lai Fu Restaurant to order a dish and say it's not as good as the one made in Beijing Restaurant. Do you think Lai Fu Restaurant will not charge you?"

This mocking remark made the diners in the restaurant burst out laughing.

The diner with the black mole wanted to say something more unpleasant, but Jiang Yanyi's eyes had completely turned cold. At the door, Yang Xiu and Bing Shao were standing with their arms folded. The tendons on their arms were very obvious through their winter clothes. The look in their eyes was particularly unfriendly, so he didn't dare to continue to find fault.

After paying the bill and walking out of the store, he spat fiercely: "This is a shop opened by a bitch, and the pots they cook all smell foul!"

Yang Xiu and Bing Shao, who were standing at the door, looked at each other. Bing Shao understood and followed the diner with the black mole out.

The diner with the black mole walked around and when he turned into an alley, a bamboo basket suddenly fell from the wall and covered his head. Then countless punches and kicks hit him, hitting his flesh but avoiding all vital parts.

The diner with the black mole was beaten and cried for his parents, "Hero, spare my life! Hero, spare my life!"

No one paid attention to him, and the punches still rained down on the diner with the black mole.

When passers-by passed by the alley, they found a man with a bamboo basket on his head lying against the wall. They thought a murder had occurred and reported it to the police. When the police came, they found that the man was not dead, but all his teeth were knocked out, his face was swollen like a pig's head, and he passed out from the pain.

Shopkeeper Xu has been very prosperous recently. Since Mr. Ding in his shop also talked about "Dream of the Red Chamber", the business of both the antique soup shop and the wine house has been much better than before. Even Shopkeeper Xu himself, when he has nothing to do, rests his chin on his hand at the counter and listens to the storytelling.

He was like this this afternoon, but the servant of the mansion came to the store in a hurry, looking panicked and said, "Master, the second master was beaten up."

Shopkeeper Xu was quite successful in business, but his brother was a good-for-nothing who only knew how to go to the kiln of the casino all day.

When Shopkeeper Xu heard what the servant said, his first reaction was that he was sued by the casino for gambling, or that he had a conflict with someone because of visiting prostitutes. He said impatiently, "He is so old, and every time he gets into trouble, I have to clean up his mess."

The servant hesitated and said, "The second master's teeth were all knocked out. I heard from the second master himself that it was probably done by the people of Jiang's antique soup."

When Shopkeeper Xu heard that it was related to Jiang's, his face changed.

Although the old scholar finished the second half of the storytelling that afternoon, he was obviously not in a good state.

When it was time for dinner, the old scholar didn't even eat two bites of rice, and he looked very worried.

Jiang Yanyi knew that he must have been affected by the words of the diner with the black mole.

She said, "That person did it on purpose, don't take it to heart."

The old scholar nodded, but he still picked up and put down his chopsticks, and his spirits were not as good as before.

The next day, it was almost noon and the old scholar hadn't come to the store yet. Jiang Yanyi asked Bing Shao to go to the old scholar's home in the south of the city to check, and only then did she know that the old scholar was sick.

It turned out that the old scholar wanted to practice storytelling last night. His house was surrounded by neighbors, and everyone in the whole courtyard could hear him when he opened his voice. The old scholar was afraid of disturbing the neighbors' rest, so he went to the wild to practice his voice. He caught a cold late at night, and this morning he was so sick that he couldn't get out of bed, and his voice was so hoarse that he couldn't speak.

People who came to the store with great interest to listen to the old scholar's storytelling that day were a little disappointed when they learned that the old scholar would not come today.

Some people even entered the store and just got up and left: "Since we can't hear the latest round, we might as well come to Lai Fu Gu Gu Soup to listen to yesterday's one again. Mr. Ding's story was not bad either!"

Qiu Kui was so angry that she broke one of her chopsticks: "Hua Hua, how could they do this?"

Jiang Yanyi touched her head: "Don't be angry, let's think of a way."

Although today's business was not as prosperous as when the old scholar was telling stories, it was not too quiet. The food in Jiang Yanyi's store tasted great and no one could imitate it, so he still had a group of loyal customers. When

an old customer came in, Jiang Yanyi asked without saying a word, "Is it still the same as before?"

The customer smiled implicitly, nodded, and walked to his usual seat. Thinking of the rumors he heard outside, he couldn't help but ask, "Manager Jiang, I heard that you asked someone to beat up a customer in the store?"

Jiang Yanyi was confused, "Where did you get that?"

The customer said, "It is said that a customer came to your store yesterday and ordered a hot pot, but he didn't like it, so he paid the bill and went back. He was beaten up and all his teeth fell out."

Jiang Yanyi immediately thought of the diner with the black mole yesterday. She said, "It's a pity that there were other diners in my store yesterday. It was obviously that diner who was aggressive and insulted the storyteller in my store several times. In the end, he wanted to leave without paying the bill. So many eyes watched him walk out of my store, how could he be beaten up and put the blame on me."

Yang Xiu and Bing Shao, who were busy, felt guilty when they heard her words.

Other diners who came to the store today were also present yesterday, and they all echoed Jiang Yanyi's words.

Other people who didn't know the truth also knew that this was a deliberate smear campaign. They felt that Jiang Yanyi, a woman, had to endure all these rumors while running such a big shop, so they couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic towards her.

Although Jiang Yanyi said this to outsiders, she knew the truth in her heart. When she saw that no customers came to the shop anymore, she glanced at Yang Xiu and Bing Shao and went to the backyard.

The two of them followed him voluntarily and arrived at the backyard. Without waiting for Jiang Yanyi to ask, Bing Shao said, "Shopkeeper, I took it upon myself to beat that turtle grandson. He has a dirty mouth." Yang

Xiu hurriedly said, "I asked Bing Shao to go. I didn't expect to cause trouble for the shopkeeper. I will ask the third master for punishment later."

Jiang Yanyi said, "Now is not the time to talk about this. Have you found out the identity of that person?"

Bing Shao nodded, "That person is the younger brother of the owner of Lai Fu Restaurant. He is a scoundrel on weekdays."

When Jiang Yanyi heard that it was Lai Fu Restaurant again, he was furious and said, "Since Lai Fu Restaurant has the nerve to complain to the evil people first, let's throw this basin of dirty water back at him!"

"Hire some people and go to Lai Fu Antique Soup to make trouble. Make sure all the evil deeds done by Lai Fu Restaurant are known to everyone!"

Yang Xiu went directly to the inn and called all the other confidants of Chu Changping over. The group disguised themselves and sneaked into Lai Fu Antique Soup.

The people at Lai Fu Gudongtang were already familiar with Yang Xiu, so he did not go into the store, but stood at the door with other people who could not afford to eat hotpot and listened to the storytelling.

When Mr. Ding was telling the story, Chu Changping's confidant deliberately said loudly: "What are you talking about? It's not as detailed as the one at Jiang's Gudongtang."

Mr. Ding on the stage had a slightly stiff face. Since he took the top position in Xizhou storytelling, no one has ever said that his storytelling is not good.

He wanted to ignore it and continue telling stories, but soon another voice was heard: "If the storyteller at Jiang's wasn't sick today and didn't come to tell stories, who would come here?"

"Maybe he got sick because of someone's anger. Someone was making trouble there yesterday, saying that the storyteller in that store wasn't as good as Mr. Ding. You were not there at the time. What that person said was so unpleasant. He ate the pot and still didn't want to pay! He's no different from a scoundrel!"

"I know what this brother said. The one who made trouble at Jiang's yesterday was so shameless. It is said that he is the younger brother of the owner of this restaurant. It was obviously the old gentleman who told the story first, but he kept saying that the old gentleman was not qualified to tell stories. Mr. Ding's story was good, but wasn't he just repeating what the old gentleman said?"

"Oh, this is interesting. Didn't they say that it was Jiang's who was unreasonable and beat up the diner? It turns out that the diner was the younger brother of the shopkeeper Xu!"

"It looks like he was the one who caused trouble in the past! They immediately imitate what other people put on display and sell in their stores. Now they even copy other people's storytelling, and they don't feel ashamed!"

Mr. Ding on the stage was even more embarrassed and argued, "What Ding said was all conceived by Ding himself."

He was talking about the rhetoric. The stories told by storytellers are more or less the same, and their success lies in the rhetoric and emotional mobilization.

Yang Xiu, who was standing at the door, immediately shouted: "Since it was conceived by Mr. Ding himself, then Mr. Ding, please tell us what the next story of "Dream of Red Mansions" is. Don't wait until Jiang Ji has finished speaking before you start talking."

"This...this..." Mr. Ding couldn't make any sense.

The diners who liked to listen to his storytelling couldn't help but say: "Aren't there the same stories in this world? What law stipulates that storytellers can't tell the same story?"

Yang Xiu glanced at the man and said: "Tell me, where else have you heard of "Dream of the Red Chamber"? Why are some people thick-skinned than city walls? They used other people's stories and then turned around and scolded them for not telling the story well. They are really like eating with a bowl in hand and cursing their mother when they put the bowl down!"

"Don't tell me, I listened to a storytelling in front of Jiang's door, and then went back to sit in any noodle restaurant. I'm afraid I can also be a storyteller."

Faced with these sarcasm, Mr. Ding couldn't bear the shame. He held up a folding fan to cover his face and hurried away.

Shopkeeper Xu, who came over after hearing the noise, saw him leaving quickly with his fan covering his face, so he quickly chased after him: "Mr. Ding, where are you going?"

Mr. Ding bowed to Shopkeeper Xu and said: "Shopkeeper, please find someone else."

After saying that, he ran away.

Shopkeeper Xu was so angry that he shook his sleeves.

Some diners in Lai Fu Antique Soup Shop saw that Mr. Ding had left, and the story they were halfway through was over. They couldn't help but get angry at the few people who had just spoken in unison: "What does Jiang Ji have to do with us? You angered Mr. Ding away, where can we go to listen to storytelling?"

Yang Xiu said: "They angered the storyteller of Jiang Ji and made him sick. They won't tell the next story, so why are you listening! If you want to blame someone, blame the people who made the storyteller of Jiang Ji sick."

The person who spoke was speechless.

Wasn't it the younger brother of the shopkeeper Xu who made Mr. Jiang's storyteller sick?

Although it is known that businessmen will use some tricks, the incident of Laifu Restaurant today was indeed disgusting, so that the reputation of Laifu Restaurant also declined a lot.

When Feng Shuo heard about this, he looked at Jiang Yanyi who was practicing calligraphy at the desk, with some inexplicable emotions in his eyes: "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

Jiang Yanyi's attention was all on the movement of the brush. When he heard Feng Shuo mention this again, it was obvious that he didn't take it to heart. He just said: "Doing business will always encounter various troubles. I don't learn to deal with them myself, and I have to rely on your power every time. The smoother the road is, the harder I will fall when I encounter difficulties in the future."

Feng Shuo turned a page of the book in his hand: "It's good for you to think so. When I'm alive, I won't let anyone hurt you. But if one day I die, I hope you have the ability to protect yourself and live well."

Hearing the word "death", Jiang Yanyi's hand trembled, and the half-practiced page of calligraphy was smudged by ink.

Maybe because her current life is too far away from the original plot, she has forgotten that Feng Shuo will eventually die. When she suddenly heard him say that, she suddenly felt panic for no reason.

She put down the brush and said unhappily: "Can't you say something auspicious?"

Feng Shuo raised his eyebrows and said: "You have a bad temper now?"

Jiang Yanyi glared at him angrily and pushed away the copybook: "My hands hurt, I won't practice anymore."

Feng Shuo put down the scroll in his hand and said with a smile: "Who said that his handwriting is ugly and wanted to borrow the copybook from me to practice calligraphy? You have only written a few pages?"

Jiang Yanyi retorted: "I didn't say my handwriting is ugly, I just said it's ugly! How can ugly be the same as ugly?"

Feng Shuo was silent for a second: "Is there a difference?"

Jiang Yanyi: "..."

This love is really out of the question.

She stood up and was about to leave, but Feng Shuo stretched out his long arms and easily trapped her between his chest and the desk. It was not a hug. He seemed to just want to teach her calligraphy. He picked up the brush and handed it to her, with a helpless smile in his voice: "You..."

Maybe the doting in his last tone was too tempting, and the subtle annoyance in Jiang Yanyi's heart suddenly disappeared.

She held the pen, and he held her hand, leading her to write on the paper with ink, his voice was low and mellow: "Holding the pen requires the five words 'push, press, hook, grid, and resist'. You can't hold the pen steadily, so the words you write are naturally not good-looking."

A strand of his long hair hung down, brushing Jiang Yanyi's ear from time to time, bringing a slight cool itch.

Jiang Yanyi hummed, and scratched her ear uncomfortably with her other hand.

Feng Shuo looked at her originally white ears, which had turned red, and his eyes deepened. He suddenly leaned over and bit them lightly.

It didn't hurt, but at that moment, she felt as if she was electrocuted. Jiang Yanyi turned back to look at him in confusion.

The instigator could still say to her in a teacher's tone of teaching a student: "Concentrate."

If his voice had not been hoarse, she would have believed his lies.

Because the old scholar was in poor health, he didn't come to Jiang Yanyi's store for three to five days because of the cold. Those who wanted to listen to the storytelling were worried. At first, they didn't think there was anything wrong, but in the end, they complained more and more about Lai Fu Gu Gu Soup.

When Feng Shuo went to the store later, he wrote an article "Antique Soup Poem" to praise Jiang Yanyi's store. During the days when the old scholar was away, Jiang Yanyi's business was not affected at all. Many literati and scholars came to visit. After three rounds of drinking, they asked Jiang Yanyi for paper and pen, chanted poems and wrote poems, and then looked at Feng Shuo's original works.

It was also at this time that Jiang Yanyi knew that Feng Shuo's calligraphy was very popular in the entire Xuan Dynasty. There were even wealthy merchants who spent a lot of money to buy the poem written by Feng Shuo. Jiang Yanyi felt painful for a long time, but she still couldn't bear to sell it.

She directly framed the poem and hung it in the store as a living sign. Jiang Yanyi also framed the poems written by other talented people who came here to praise his hot pot restaurant, and it became an ancient Internet celebrity food restaurant.

With Feng Shuo's poem, Jiang Yanyi's restaurant also had enough gimmicks to directly compete with Lai Fu Gudong Soup's signature chef sign, and no longer had to be suppressed by Lai Fu Wine House.

Compared with the prosperity of Jiang Ji Gudong Soup, the business of Lai Fu Wine House and Gudong Soup was not as good as before, and Manager Xu wanted to kill his brother who was more likely to fail than to succeed.

He flipped through the account book, slammed it shut, and shouted, "This restaurant can't go on like this. The day before yesterday, Mr. Lu said that the quality of the banquets here is not as good as before. How's Chef Yao doing?"

The restaurant manager replied, "He refused to accept the gifts. I went to his house twice, but he refused to see me."

Manager Xu said in annoyance, "These stinky cooks are used to thinking of themselves as important people. Since he doesn't want to come back, there's no need to look for him again. I don't believe that I can't find a better chef with the money."

The restaurant manager agreed, remembering that Mr. Ding had lost face before. Unwilling to cooperate with their restaurant anymore, he asked again, "Boss, if we invite another storyteller in our restaurant, who should we invite?"

Shopkeeper Xu glared at him, "Isn't that embarrassing enough? Do you think that the antique soup poem in the restaurant is really exaggerating? This is the one in the palace trying to scare the tiger!"

Although there were rumors before that the shopkeeper Jiang and the King of Liaoning might have had some connection, but one was a woman from the market and the other was a nobleman, Shopkeeper Xu just thought it was fabricated by others. After all, if the shopkeeper Jiang really wanted to climb up the high branch of the King of Liaoning, why would she do such a job that would expose herself to the public?

But now the poem of the King of Liaoning made him think deeply.

Laifu Restaurant is relatively well-behaved, but other restaurants don’t have such a keen eye and are still learning. Laifu Restaurant hired people to relay Jiang Yanyi’s storytelling.

But the storytellers they invited were basically not up to standard. The stories they relayed were boring, and some details were either omitted or told incorrectly. The diners who went to the restaurant didn’t support it at all, so Jiang Yanyi didn’t have to worry about it.

Her restaurant is full of gimmicks, the food is novel and unique, and the taste is good. Because the restaurant is small, the people who make reservations for hot pot are often booked within three days. Jiang Yanyi calculated her own financial resources and thought about opening a branch.

Unfortunately, before she could implement this plan, it was disrupted by news from the capital.

Fan Wei rebelled, and Concubine Xi, who was the favorite of the new emperor, died at the hands of Concubine Fan. The new emperor angrily killed Concubine Fan, and the rebels led by Fan Wei were defeated and are now fleeing to Yingdu.

Jiang Yanyi has read the original book, so he knows that the heroine Jiang Yanxi is not dead, but the maid who took care of her is dead. I'm afraid Jiang Yanxi is on her way to Xizhou at this moment, after all, the second male lead Lu Linyuan is here.