In those days of famine and hardship, without teeth, a person could starve to death, especially the elderly. They would cover their mouths and say, "Young man, what kind of barbecue is this? You're quite picky about who you serve."
The old woman wailed and cried, demanding that Ma Dage pay her compensation. Ma Dage's indenture was with the Lu family; all the profits from the barbecue had to go to Qin Xiaozhou. He only received his monthly stipend, so how could he decide on compensation? "Auntie, my barbecue isn't firm enough..."
"How could you knock out my grandson's teeth if you didn't use force?" The old woman was shrewd; she had already figured out that this tall, burly peddler was clumsy with words, so she became even more arrogant. "Pay up! My grandson has lost two teeth. How will he eat in the future? You heartless peddler, aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning!"
Big Ma froze, completely at a loss. "How much compensation do you want?"
The old woman was secretly delighted and held up two fingers, "This number."
Big Brother Ma, "Two coins?"
Thank goodness, he can pay back the two coins, but my son will have one less egg to eat tomorrow.
The old woman glared at him and said, "Two taels of silver."
"What!" Ma Dage was shocked. He had only received seven taels of silver from Zhang Yazi. Five taels had been spent on medicine for his wife and son, and the remaining two taels were used to rent a house in the suburbs. They had trouble with food and clothing. If it weren't for Manager Qin giving him half a string of cash to settle down, his son and wife would probably have starved to death. This man was going to spend two taels just for two teeth. Wasn't this going to kill him?
"I...I have no money."
The old woman jumped up, "Fine, you heartless bastard, I'm going to sue you!"
"Hey, hey, that's enough." The man who bought the meat skewers earlier spoke up, "I say, ma'am, you're bullying me too much. Your grandson looks seven or eight years old, which is the age when he's losing his baby teeth. These little kids' teeth are loose, and they'll grow back in a while after they fall out. How can you try to extort two taels of silver from her? Have you no shame?"
There were other children around, and it was obvious that the child was losing his baby teeth. They all accused the old woman of trying to extort money from them.
Qin Xiaozhou had come to check out the barbecue stall's opening day, only to witness this farce. She first calmed Ma Dage down, then brought water for the child to rinse his mouth. The bleeding had stopped. The child only had five or six teeth left in his mouth; his upper and lower front teeth had fallen out, and one had only grown in half.
“Old nanny, if you want to sue, then sue. It’s not fair to try to extort money from someone just because your child is losing their baby teeth.”
The old woman could tell from Qin Xiaozhou's imposing manner that he was not someone to be trifled with, but she was still unwilling to give up. "He lost two teeth, and you just ignored him? You have no conscience at all."
An old woman, seeing the child's pitiful state and noticing Qin Xiaozhou's bright clothes, silver hairpin, and wealthy demeanor, said, "Young lady, since you have money, take pity on this grandmother and granddaughter. Two taels of silver is nothing to you."
Two taels of silver is indeed not a big deal, and Qin Xiaozhou knows the principle of paying to avoid trouble, but she just doesn't want to give it or compensate. Does that mean whoever makes a fuss is right?
Two taels of silver is enough for her to pay the shop's workers for a month, so why should she give it to someone else?
Qin Xiaozhou addressed the crowd, “Uncles and aunties, if you run a shop and your child happens to eat your food and loses a tooth while they are losing their baby teeth, would you compensate them? If you would, then wouldn’t it be that every time a child loses a tooth, they can take their child to eat there and get money for it? A child has at least twenty teeth, and each tooth is worth one tael of silver. If you calculate it that way, you can make a living just by extorting money from people.”
Qin Xiaozhou took the hand of the old woman who had just spoken. "Auntie, it's not that I don't pity these two, but if I set this precedent today, those greedy and unscrupulous people will use this method to extort money from others. As long as they don't lose money, they will be labeled as black-hearted merchants. How will the people in our county who run small businesses continue to operate? If they are extorted twice, they will have worked for nothing for a month."
Most people who can settle in the county town are engaged in some kind of business, big or small, to make a living. If someone were to extort money from people by taking advantage of a child's teeth replacement, it would be impossible to guard against such a thing in the future, and how could they possibly do business properly?
"No! We can't pay this money back."
"Yes, we can't compensate. It's perfectly normal for children to lose their teeth. Even if they don't eat, their teeth will still fall out. How can you blame the food?"
"That's right, don't push your luck."
After the old woman was driven away, Ma Dage continued grilling. Qin Xiaozhou thanked the person who had been speaking up for Ma Dage, saying, "What's your name, sir? Thank you for your help."
"Hey, my surname is Liu, and I'm the second oldest in my family. You can just call me Liu Lao Er (Second Brother Liu)." Liu Lao Er looked at the barbecue stall that was quickly surrounded. "Is this your stall? The food is pretty good. I've traveled all over the country for ten years, and I have eaten whole roasted lamb and lamb skewers in the Northwest. The taste is quite different from yours."
Roasted whole lamb?! Qin Xiaozhou's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but swallow. "Lamb has a gamey smell. The flavor will naturally be different depending on the marinade recipe. Brother Liu seems to know a lot about food."
Liu Lao Er laughed loudly, "I have a thing for food. A few days ago I heard that Fenggu County had some unknown desserts and braised meat, so I came all the way from Jian'an to try them."
I traveled a long way just because I have a stutter, amazing!
Qin Xiaozhou led the man to Chen Haiping's restaurant. Upon hearing of Liu Lao Er's trip, Chen Haiping specially ordered the recipes he had bought from Qin Xiaozhou. Finally, he sent someone to a braised meat shop to cut pig ears and braised intestines. "Young Master Liu, you've come to the right place in Fenggu County. Please try it."
Braised pork and cold dishes are both great for summer. Liu Lao Er ate two bowls of rice and drank some ice-cold fruit tea. He leaned back in his chair and comfortably rubbed his stomach. "Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! This tastes just right. It's really not easy for a small place like Fenggu County to make so much food."
The group chatted amiably, and Liu Lao Er offered to buy the recipes. "To be honest, I am a镖师 (bodyguard/escort) from Jian'an City. My wife is from Wanzhou. Two years ago, Wanzhou suffered a severe drought, so we fled south to Jian'an. Now she is pregnant and has severe morning sickness. She can't eat or sleep well, so I thought I would go to Wanzhou to find a cook. Perhaps my wife will feel better if she eats food from her hometown. I happened to hear about the delicious food in Fenggu County when I passed through Xuanzhou, so I made a detour here."
Qin Xiaozhou never expected that her cakes, desserts, and braised meats would become famous as far as Xuanzhou, which is located east of Fenggu County, about three or four hundred miles away.
Wanzhou is more than 200 miles north of Fenggu County. The drought there was even more severe than in Fenggu County a couple of years ago. No wonder some people fled south to escape the famine. The recipe has already been sold to Chen Haiping, and Qin Xiaozhou has no say in the matter.
After pondering for a while, Chen Haiping realized that Jian'an was located south of Fenggu County, about four or five hundred miles away. Even if these recipes appeared in Jian'an, it wouldn't affect his restaurant at all. So he readily agreed, "Brother Liu, you're just a镖师 (bodyguard/escort), how can you make these dishes just by looking at the recipes? Why don't you go to the kitchen and learn for a couple of days? Even if you don't master them, you'll at least get about 70-80% of the steps. Then you can take the recipes to the chef and get some guidance from him, and the taste will be about 80% similar."
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