Chapter 97 Benefits = Pepper Chicken

At the end of every year, shops change owners everywhere. After some inquiries, Jiang Yanyi finally chose a teahouse that originally belonged to the Hu family.

As a former local tyrant, the Hu family colluded with the Turks and the silver seized was very considerable. The best location in Xizhou, the shops and houses are almost all theirs.

Some of the deeds have been resold by the government, and some large deeds are still piled up.

After becoming the head of the Chamber of Commerce, Manager Xu has been trying to encroach on the Hu family's industry. Chu Changping also had a grudge with Manager Xu when he bought the Hu family's house. The main house of the Hu family is attached to a flower shop. Manager Xu wanted to take over the flower shop business, but the house was bought by Chu Changping. He could only swallow his anger.

As the saying goes, businessmen should not fight against officials. Enemies are bound to meet on a narrow road. Now, Manager Xu also has his eyes on the teahouse that Jiang Yanyi has set his eyes on.

Jiang Yanyi had been sending people to follow her before. Manager Xu was not unprepared for her. Knowing that she was the daughter of the Chu family, he was wary of Chu Changping being an official, and was also afraid of the power of the Liaonan Palace behind her. Manager Xu planned to use courtesy first and force later, and took the lead in handing Jiang Yanyi an invitation to invite her to join the Chamber of Commerce.

Many trade news will only be communicated within the Chamber of Commerce, in order to avoid having the cake divided. Whenever there is a natural disaster or man-made disaster, merchants will donate money. After collecting the money, the Chamber of Commerce will negotiate with the government.

If there is any new decree issued by the government, the Chamber of Commerce will be informed in advance. The more people in the Chamber of Commerce have a say, the more dividends they will make, because they will take all the lucrative jobs, and other people in the Chamber of Commerce can also take advantage of this opportunity to make a fortune.

Merchants who are not members of the Chamber of Commerce have no way of knowing this news, so they can only guess blindly.

"As long as Manager Chu does not compete with Xu for the teahouse, Xu guarantees that Manager Chu will also get 10% of the Chamber of Commerce's dividends after joining the Chamber of Commerce." Manager Xu is a businessman, shrewd and calculating from head to toe.

Jiang Yanyi now claims to be surnamed Chu, and she did not change the name of her shop "Jiang Ji" at first. One reason was that she had finally made a name for herself, and suddenly changing the name might cause customers to leave. The other reason was that "Jiang" was her surname in her previous life, and she wanted to use this surname to promote the old hot pot here, which was also the only connection with her previous life.

But when Chu Shubao asked her why the plaque in the antique soup shop was called "Jiang Ji", Jiang Yanyi could only use the previous reason to prevaricate. If she did not change the name of her shop, the Chu family would always be suspicious. Jiang Yanyi thought about it all night, and finally decided to re-name the shop when she changed the restaurant.

Hearing what Shopkeeper Xu said, she smiled and said, "I'm afraid Shopkeeper Xu will be disappointed."

Shopkeeper Xu's elegant face lost its smile, leaving only the indifference of a businessman who is only interested in profit: "Why do you have to fight against a rock with an egg, Shopkeeper Chu? You just run a small antique soup shop, can you really compete with the entire Chamber of Commerce in Xizhou City?"

Jiang Yanyi said, "Of course we can't."

Shopkeeper Xu's expression eased a little, but she heard her say, "But since Shopkeeper Xu learned from me to open an antique soup shop at the beginning, and now he is learning from me to run a noodle shop, it proves that my method is still profitable, isn't it?"

Being ruthlessly exposed by her, Shopkeeper Xu looked unhappy. He said "bye" and got up to leave.

After the people left, Aunt Guo said, "Boss, you're humiliating him like this, aren't you afraid that he will bear a grudge and seek revenge?"

Jiang Yanyi took a sip of tea and said, "As long as I don't give up the teahouse, it's inevitable that he will bear a grudge. But if you bow your head once, you will do it again. The business world is like a battlefield. If you are too easy to talk to at the beginning, you will be treated as a soft persimmon later."

Shopkeeper Xu was willing to make this trip in person because he knew that Xu might not be able to take over the teahouse, so he wanted to let go of his side.

Aunt Guo has followed Jiang Yanyi for such a long time. Before, she only thought that Jiang Yanyi had many business ideas. This is the first time she saw her show her edge. She said, "The boss still has a longer-term vision."

Jiang Yanyi said, "People with different ideologies cannot work together. What's going on in the noodle shop?"

"Before, Bing Shao had to take care of the purchase of flour and the sale of cakes. He had no time to go to the kitchen to keep an eye on the employees. Occasionally, one or two people would be cunning and falsely report the number of cakes, and it was difficult to find out. Now that Luo the blacksmith has gone to keep an eye on the kitchen, the employees below are much more honest." Aunt Guo said.

Jiang Yanyi rubbed his brows and said, "The accounts at the noodle shop are too messy. We still have to hire another accountant."

Moreover, the noodles made at the noodle shop are limited by technical conditions, and the size of each piece is not uniform. When cutting with a spatula, a lot of dough will be wasted.

Instant noodle factories in later generations have special mechanical noodle presses that can squeeze the kneaded raw dough into thin sheets and then cut it into thin strips with a roller cutter. This can not only solve the problem of uniform noodle size, but also achieve a curvature that injects soul.

Jiang Yanyi did draw a sketch and wanted the blacksmith to make a noodle press and roller cutter that can be manually operated, but the sketch was different from the actual object. In addition, the blacksmith had never seen an instant noodle factory in later generations, so he didn't understand what she was drawing.

After Jiang Yanyi explained, the blacksmith probably understood what she wanted. He said it was too difficult to make, and only said that he could try it when he was free to see if he could make it.

If this thing could be made, it would save the effort of rolling the noodles, and the efficiency of making instant noodles would be greatly improved.

When the bidding for the teahouse started, not only Jiang Yanyi and Manager Xu took a fancy to this prime location, but other merchants were also eager to try, and many of them used their connections to give generous gifts.

Jiang Yanyi took the opportunity to fish in troubled waters and let Chu Shubao act as a middleman. She sold two pots of peppers she planted, which had few fruits, at a sky-high price of 800 taels per pot, which made her very happy.

Peppers were introduced from outside the Great Wall and were regarded as rare flowers and plants. It was even rarer to see fruits in the middle of winter. Many wealthy families who loved famous flowers liked to collect them.

To her surprise, the two pots of chili peppers went around and were finally given to Feng Shuo as a gift, but Feng Shuo threw them back into the ground.

Jiang Yanyi made 1,600 taels of silver without any effort, and in the end, the teahouse was sold to her.

She felt a little guilty, so she went to the kitchen to make a dish of spicy chicken and went to find Feng Shuo. After talking about this and that for a long time, she finally talked about the teahouse: "Well...someone gave you a valuable gift, and you gave me the teahouse. Is that not good?"

Feng Shuo was dealing with official documents and said without raising his head: "I don't have time to take care of these trivial matters. The two pots of chili peppers were also presented by the people below. You don't have to feel sorry for these merchants. Most of their money is collected from the grassroots people. There are not many opportunities for them to pay voluntarily, and the money will be spent on the people in the future."

When he said this, Jiang Yanyi understood. The gifts were presented layer by layer, and when the two pots of chili peppers came into Feng Shuo's hands, the officials at all levels in the middle must have been given a lot of benefits.

After Feng Shuo took over Xizhou, he did not suppress this bad habit in time, but wanted to let the merchants pay out of their own pockets first.

However, the money paid out did not go to the officials, but was centrally managed by the government.

This was a warning from the government to the merchants.

After he finished speaking, he raised his head and said with a smile: "Why, are you afraid that the king will use his power for your own benefit?"

Before he said these words, Jiang Yanyi still had such an illusion.

She nodded.

Unexpectedly, Feng Shuo's next sentence was: "Then let's regard it as the king's favoritism for you."

He leaned back in his chair, half-raising his narrow eyes: "What benefits are you going to give the king?"

Jiang Yanyi: "..."

Is it still possible?

She thought about it, took out the spicy chicken from the food box, and put it in front of him: "Well, benefits."

Feng Shuo: "..."

The chicken on the plate was shredded, drizzled with dogwood and spicy oil, and the color was bright orange, and the chicken was garnished with green chopped green onions.

The sauce was full of sesame fragrance, which greatly increased people's appetite.

For the time being... it can be considered a benefit.

He had been reading official documents for a long time and was feeling a little hungry. He picked up a piece of chicken with the gold-inlaid ebony chopsticks and put it into his mouth. The sesame aroma first spread on his taste buds. The chicken was very tender and boneless. The fragrance of the meat itself was more obvious under the sesame oil.

Jiang Yanyi smiled and said, "It tastes good, right? The chicken is cooked in bone soup and then cold, and the original freshness is not lost at all."

It was indeed delicious, but it was not what he wanted to eat the most.

Feng Shuo put down his chopsticks, poured a cup of tea, and said, "Your uncle will be back soon."

Jiang Yanyi was stunned for a moment before he realized that he was talking about the marriage proposal that had been discussed before.

Feng Shuo raised his hand and pinched her earlobe, rubbing it gently with a little force, his voice slightly hoarse: "It will be fine soon by next year."

Jiang Yanyi's earlobe was a little itchy when he pinched it, she dodged for a moment, but Feng Shuo grabbed her hands and pressed them in front of the desk.

Jiang Yanyi was a little flustered, lowered her voice and scolded: "Don't make trouble."

"I said before, I owe it to you first. Jiang Yanyi, you have to pay it back now."

He seemed to be joking with her, but the breath he exhaled was not as steady as his tone.

The rough fingertips slid down from her earlobe, across her snow-white and slender neck, causing her to shudder.

His eyes fell on the porcelain-like skin on the side of her neck, his eyes darkened completely, he pushed aside her thick black hair that was scattered on the back of her neck, and kissed her hard.

That night, Jiang Yanyi lit three candles before going to bed. She spread her long hair in front of the bronze mirror and found that the area near the back of her neck was full of red spots and a shallow tooth mark.

It didn't hurt, but when she thought of Feng Shuo's wild and restrained eyes at that time, her heart beat twice for no reason.

This guy... I don't know how to deal with him in the future.

When Jiang Yanyi started to renovate the teahouse, Chu Changping also brought Chu Chengmao and Chu Chengbai back to Xizhou. Also coming to Xizhou was Xing'an Hou, who had just formed an alliance with Feng Shuo.

After the Chu family's servant came to report the news, Jiang Yanyi took Chu Yan back.

The Chu family kept the old lady Chu a secret very well. Chu Chengmao and Chu Chengbai were also told after returning home not to mention the capture in front of the old lady.

When Jiang Yanyi and Chu Yangui entered the house, Mrs. Chu was crying with joy when she saw her eldest grandson and her new great-grandson. Seeing them, she said to her grandsons and granddaughters-in-law, "Your aunt is gone. Now you, cousin Yanyi and cousin Yangui, have taken over Changping's family. You are all brothers and sisters."

The tall and slender young man with a military air was Chu Changping's son Chu Chengmao. The thin and haggard young man was Mr. Chu's son Chu Chengbai. The young woman standing next to him was his first wife, Xue.

Jiang Yanyi greeted them one by one. This time Mrs. Chu mentioned it, and she remembered to change her words, "Brother, sister-in-law."

Chu Yangui also called for help. His leg was not fully healed yet, so Jiang Yanyi asked a carpenter to make a wheelchair for him. Now he doesn't need Chu Zhong to carry him everywhere.

Chu Chengmao glanced at the siblings and nodded with a faint look in his eyes.

In the original body's memory, this cousin didn't like them very much because the original siblings did a lot of stupid things. Now that Chu Chengmao has this reaction, Jiang Yanyi is not surprised.

Chu Chengbai looked haggard and didn't even look over here. Instead, his first wife Xue returned the gift to Jiang Yanyi.

Chu Yangui looked at this scene, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and his long eyelashes drooped to cover all the emotions in his eyes.

Old Madam Chu hugged her great-grandson and asked Chu Chengbai: "Brother Bai, have you named the child?"

"The full name has not yet been chosen. It's waiting for my father and grandfather to decide. The nickname...call Ping An..." Chu Chengbai said, with a hint of sob in his voice.

His biological mother Liu saw this and scolded him, "Brother Bo, why are you crying in front of your grandmother?"

Old Lady Chu asked, "What happened?"

Liu said, "Yue Niang in his room gave birth on the road and didn't make it."

Chu Chengbai's concubine had a difficult birth on the road and was later arrested by the court. She didn't take good care of herself and died on the road.

Old Lady Chu sighed and said, "It's also a child with a miserable life."

She asked again, "Did you find a wet nurse for the child?"

Chu Chengbai's first wife Xue replied, "I found one on the road."

Old Lady Chu nodded and said, "This child has lost his mother since birth. From now on, you should raise him as your own child."

Xue agreed.

Old Lady Chu saw that Chu Chengbai was in a very bad mental state and felt sorry for her grandson, so she handed the child to Xue and asked Liu to take them back to the yard to rest.

Chu Chengmao was brought up by Chu Changping. He is good at martial arts. When he was escaping, he was cut on his face to protect Chu Chengbai. The cut has not scabbed yet, which makes his handsome face look wilder.

When Mrs. Chu asked about the cut on his face, he smiled nonchalantly: "The south is in chaos, and the road is not peaceful."

"You, child, should be careful in everything." Mrs. Chu said earnestly: "You are disfigured. In the future, girls will be afraid of you. You see, Brother Bai has a child, but you are still alone. Wait until the New Year. Grandmother will find you a wife."

Chu Chengmao said: "It's a minor wound. The scar will not be visible after a while. Grandmother, there is no rush for my grandson's marriage. The world is in chaos now. I have no intention of getting married. I want to build a career with my father."

"You..." Mrs. Chu said helplessly.

He talked to Madam Chu for a while, and then she let him go down to bathe and change clothes.

Then the young people in the room also went down.

Jiang Yanyi helped Chu Yangui push the wheelchair out. Chu Shubao now wanted to stick to Jiang Yanyi all day long. She just left her own brother and her favorite second cousin aside and followed Jiang Yanyi.

Chu Huibao was Chu Shubao's little follower. Seeing this, she also followed and said to Jiang Yanyi: "Second sister, are you eating pickled fish tonight?"

Chu Chengmao, who was waiting to reminisce with his sisters, finally realized that something was wrong. He looked around.

Fortunately, Chu Jiabao was still in the room, holding a newly embroidered purse in her hand. Although the purse was lake green and looked a bit feminine, Chu Chengmao was relieved that he finally had a sister who remembered him and prepared a gift.

He deliberately lagged behind half a step to wait for Chu Jiabao. As expected, Chu Jiabao stopped when she chased to the door.

Chu Chengmao turned around to look at her.

Chu Jiabao held the purse in his hand and said expressionlessly: "Second brother, make way, you are blocking my way."

Chu Chengmao made way half a step, and Chu Jiabao ran away holding the purse.

Yes, he went in the direction where Jiang Yanyi and his sister left.