Soon after, Magistrate Duan, dressed in plain clothes, arrived in front of Jiang Ling. She glanced at him and noticed that he seemed rather listless, with dark circles under his eyes.
Jiang Ling thought that Magistrate Duan was too busy with official duties and hadn't rested well, but little did she know that Magistrate Duan was now "wasting away for her".
When Magistrate Duan saw Jiang Ling, he smiled and quickly walked over to her, gesturing for her to sit down before asking, "Young lady, what brings you here?"
"Little sister? Uh... okay... alright." Jiang Ling suddenly remembered what Magistrate Duan had told her earlier, and could only bite the bullet and take out the land deed from her pocket, placing it in front of Magistrate Duan, saying, "Brother Duan... Brother Duan, this is the land deed drafted by our village chief, saying that it needs your signature, please take a look..."
"Hmm? You want to buy this? I remember I gave you some before, didn't I? Is it not enough?" Magistrate Duan asked curiously, picking up Jiang Ling's land deed.
"No, I'm planning to rebuild a house. The previous house was kindly lent to us temporarily by the village chief. You know we have four children, especially Yaojie, who is almost of marriageable age. We can't keep sharing a room with his younger brother!" Jiang Ling explained.
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Duan nodded, then glanced absentmindedly at Qi and said, "Isn't this place too remote? What if something really happens?"
"Brother Duan is joking. Now that the issue of the refugees has been resolved, Lujia Village is already quite safe. I've never liked noise, and that place is a good place for quiet!"
Hearing Jiang Ling's words, Magistrate Duan could not say anything more. He picked up the brush on the table, signed his name on it, and then ordered the yamen runners to bring the official seal and stamp it on.
After the official seal had dried, Magistrate Duan carefully folded the land deed and pushed it in front of Jiang Ling, instructing her, "Alright, keep this safe. If you lose it, there won't be any way to recover it!"
"Huh? The village chief said it would take three to five days to process the land deed. How come it's so fast?" Jiang Ling had her doubts but didn't voice them. She simply nodded to express her gratitude.
Magistrate Duan seemed to have seen through Jiang Ling's thoughts. He smiled and explained, "I'm usually busy with official duties, so it would naturally take some time. But I just happened to have some free time right now, so I approved it while I was at it!"
"Hey girl, it's almost noon, why don't you stay for lunch? I'll have the cook make you something delicious!"
Jiang Ling could not possibly misunderstand what Magistrate Duan was saying. She quickly got up to thank him and then, before Magistrate Duan could react, she had already slipped out of the inner hall and to the front door.
Jiang Ling lowered her head and walked quickly for a few steps. After confirming that Magistrate Duan had not caught up, she patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief. She had never had any delusions. Her only thought now was to raise her four children to adulthood, and then do some small business and settle down here.
"Oh, Aunt Jiang, what a coincidence to run into you here!" Jiang Ling had just breathed a sigh of relief and before she could react, someone gently patted her shoulder.
Jiang Ling thought it was Magistrate Duan chasing after her, so she quickly turned around to bow, but the person who came was actually the manager of the Imperial Kitchen Restaurant.
"Shopkeeper! You scared me to death!" Jiang Ling said, frowning and patting her chest unhappily.
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I... I didn't expect to run into you here!" The manager of Yu Chu Lou scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly.
Jiang Ling snapped out of her daze and, seeing the hesitant look on the owner of the Imperial Chef Restaurant, roughly guessed what was going on. She smiled and asked, "Did you come for the mint water?"
The owner of the Imperial Chef Restaurant was somewhat surprised. His mouth gaped open, and he remained stunned for several seconds before nodding somewhat embarrassedly and saying, "Sister-in-law Jiang, you really are a prophet! To be honest, as the temperature gradually drops, fewer people are buying this mint water!"
"My demand might not be that high anymore!"
The manager of the Imperial Chef Restaurant spoke very carefully, glancing at Jiang Ling almost after every word. Jiang Ling nodded and said, "Yes, that's what I was thinking too. The weather has cooled down considerably these past few days. So, in your opinion, how long will you need? And how much will you provide each time?"
The manager of Yuchulou was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected Jiang Ling to agree so readily. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I'll just take another week, and make it half the current amount!"
Jiang Ling nodded, exchanged a few pleasantries with the manager of Yuchulou, and then turned and walked towards Huacuilou.
Actually, Jiang Ling came to Pingxi County today not only for the land deed, but also for something more important: to investigate the market and research the food business in autumn and winter.
As soon as Jiang Ling entered Hua Cui Lou, the waiter greeted her warmly. After Jiang Ling explained her purpose, the waiter quickly led her to a private room upstairs, promptly served her a pot of tea and four kinds of snacks, and told her to wait patiently for a while before running off to inform the manager.
A moment later, the manager of Huacuilou pushed open the door and was very surprised to see Jiang Ling.
"Sister-in-law Jiang, what brings you here?"
"Shopkeeper, the weather's gotten cooler lately, so the mint water isn't selling very well, is it?" Jiang Ling asked bluntly.
"Well... Sister Jiang, you're a straightforward person, so I won't hide it from you. I was planning to send someone to Lujia Village to tell you about this tomorrow, but I didn't expect you to come here today!" the shopkeeper said.
"Yes, the manager of Yuchulou Restaurant just mentioned this to me, so I figured it's probably the same for you. Since I'm in Pingxi County today, I might as well ask about it!" Jiang Ling explained.
"Tsk...who is it again!" The manager of Huacuilou rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath after hearing the words "Royal Chef's Restaurant".
Soon, the manager of Huacuilou regained his previous smiling demeanor and tentatively asked, "Then, Sister Jiang, what did they say over there?"
"Like you, peppermint water is also selling a bit slowly!" Jiang Ling said.
"Oh? Is that so..." The manager of Huacui Tower stroked his chin and began to ponder.
After a while, the manager of Huacuilou said, "Sister Jiang, how about this? I'll take another week's worth, but I'll halve the quantity for now!"
Jiang Ling nodded after hearing this, as it was within her expectations. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, just as Jiang Ling was about to leave, the manager of Hua Cui Lou hurriedly asked, "Sister-in-law Jiang, I... I must say something! Are you planning to switch to other businesses after you stop selling mint water?"
Jiang Ling smiled mysteriously and did not answer the question from the manager of Hua Cui Lou.
Stepping out of the restaurant, it was just noon. Jiang Ling wandered through the streets, carefully observing the business of each food stall and thinking about her next business venture. After walking around for a while, Jiang Ling suddenly stopped in front of a wonton stall. Looking at the boiling water in the big pot at the wonton stall, three words suddenly popped into her mind—mala tang (spicy hot pot)!
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