Chapter 134 Buying a House in Town
Liu Ye turned her face away awkwardly. How could she have forgotten this? Ever since she opened the noodle shop, there was no one in Xiangshan Town who didn't know her. This manager was also shameless; he knew her but didn't say so earlier. With so many customers coming to the noodle shop every day, how could she possibly know who was who?
At this moment, the steward clapped his hands and said, "Five hundred taels, deal! Miss Liu is honest, and so am I... When you pay the money, we'll transfer the ownership."
Upon hearing this, Liu Ye immediately stopped feeling embarrassed. She had saved two hundred taels of silver with just one sentence—enough to buy a cheap little house: "Hehe, the manager is truly a straightforward person. I happen to have the silver on me; we can transfer the property right now..."
The manager clapped his hands happily: "Great! I love dealing with straightforward people like you. Let's go transfer the property now."
After Liu Ye completed the property transfer with the manager, paid the money, and received the key, she put the deed into her bosom and threw it into her spatial storage. She then walked around three streets back to the main street and found many ordinary people on the street. They all looked happy and cheerful. Strange, why were they so happy?
Back at the noodle shop, Bai Zilin saw her and hurriedly said, "Liu Ye, you're finally back! Did you see the army?"
Liu Ye shook her head, looking completely bewildered: "No, I went to look at houses. The house I bought is four streets away from here. What's wrong?"
Bai Zilin said with a smile, "Now Hongshan Town will not lack food. Just now, the army that was suppressing the bandits brought over several hundred carts of grain, all of which were seized from the bandits' den. They said they would wholesale it to the grain stores at a low price. Anyone who still sells grain at a high price will be arrested and beheaded. I also plan to sell noodles for ten coins a bowl, restoring the previous price. What do you think?"
Liu Ye nodded: "Okay, Hongshan Town has enough food. I reckon even a bowl of noodles at ten coins a day won't sell well."
Sun Erdan nudged Qian Dahu, who then said with a troubled expression, "Boss, if the shop isn't doing well, shouldn't we reduce the number of staff? I'm willing to accept lower wages..."
Liu Ye looked at the worried-looking group and said with a smile, "You're overthinking it. No matter how well the shop does, I'll hire a few of you. A couple of days ago, Brother Bai and I planned that once the grain price comes down, our shop will not only sell noodles, but also steamed buns and dumplings, and we'll gradually add stir-fried dishes. You'll all be busy."
Sun Erdan and the others breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this. It had nothing to do with wages. They were happy to work in the store because there was no pressure, they weren't scolded, and they were paid well. They were comfortable working there.
Sure enough, when lunchtime arrived, there wasn't a single customer left. Erdan looked at the basins of dough that had been prepared in advance and was very worried: "Boss, what are we going to do? I prepared seven bags of flour, and there isn't a single customer. Oh dear, we can't eat all of this..."
Liu Ye's eyes darted around, and she looked at Bai Zilin, asking, "Where is the bandit suppression army now?"
Bai Zilin thought for a moment and said, "They all seem to be at the county government office. What do you want to do?"
Liu Ye smiled and said, "The bandit-suppression army has eliminated violence and brought peace to the people, and they've also brought us cheap food. Shouldn't we treat them to a bowl of noodles to thank them?"
Bai Zilin was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then realized what Liu Ye meant. He admired her for being such a clever little devil: "No problem, Erdan, cook all the noodles, I'll go to the yamen."
Sun Erdan quickly said, "I think the army has several thousand men, we don't have enough noodles."
Liu Ye waved her hand and said, "If we don't have enough, we'll make some dough on the spot and make homemade hand-pulled noodles. Brother Bai, go and call some people. I'll help Erdan and the others with the work."
After Bai Zilin left, Liu Ye also made an excuse to go outside. She found a secluded corner and took out half a wild boar meat from her spatial storage, which weighed about 350 to 360 jin. If several thousand people came, it would definitely not be enough to feed them.
The incident of Village Chief Wu framing Brother Bai served as a reminder to her that they also needed to find a powerful backer, otherwise, if anything happened, they would have no one to turn to for help.
You can't just hand over a favor when you need it; that won't last. But she treated the soldier to a bowl of noodles, so she might not necessarily befriend him. Let's give it a try first.
She easily carried half a pig back to the shop, which shocked Sun Erdan and the others. Da Hu quickly took the meat from her hand: "Oh my boss, where did you get so much meat? Grain is cheap, but meat is not."
Walnut brought over a basin of water: "Master, wash your hands."
While washing her hands, Liu Ye casually said, "I bought it from a hunter I know. Erdan, cut up all the meat and make braised noodles. Dahu, go buy a few jars of soy sauce, salt, and other seasonings. Go get the money from the drawer. Erdan, if you need any other seasonings, just tell Dahu."
Sun Erdan thought for a moment and said, "Meat sauce tastes better with some chili. Da Hu, buy me some dried chili peppers, buy a lot."
"Alright." Da Hu put the meat on the counter, then went to the counter to count out a bag of copper coins and went to buy things.
After Liu Ye washed her hands, she and He Tao started chopping meat. Sun Erdan, Tie Dan, and Gou Dan, the three brothers, started kneading dough and making noodles. By the time Bai Zilin returned with several thousand soldiers, Liu Ye and the others had already cooked more than a dozen pots of noodles. The tables and chairs in the shop were filled with noodle bowls, and there were bowls and chopsticks on the table, as well as a large bowl of meat sauce, which smelled delicious.
The soldiers who had just entered were so tempted they were rubbing their noses. Meat! They had thought it would just be noodles. General Wang hadn't expected there to be meat either. He said apologetically, "I'm so sorry to have troubled you. You know..." Before he could finish speaking, he swallowed hard. Minced meat noodles were his favorite. He hadn't been home for three years, and he hadn't had minced meat noodles in three years. He really wanted a bite...
Bai Zilin warmly invited everyone to sit down: "General Wang, please sit down. Soldiers, please sit down as well. The shop is a bit small, I'm sorry to make you all uncomfortable. Liu Ye, come over here quickly."
Liu Ye put down her spoon, smiled, and came to Bai Zilin. She looked shyly at the young general, who looked a bit like Guan Yu. He was a dark-faced, burly man with a strong and broad back.
Bai Zilin introduced Liu Ye to her: "Liu Ye, this is General Wang, and this is my fiancée, Liu Ye."
Liu Ye said generously, "General Wang, thank you for leading your troops to risk your lives to retrieve the grain for us. On behalf of the people of Xiangshan Town, I thank you. Please sit down, everyone. Don't be shy, help yourselves with the noodles. Brother Bai, you should join General Wang for dinner too."
General Wang forced a smile: "No need to thank us, it's what we should do, so we won't stand on ceremony..."
Liu Ye nodded and returned to the stove to continue working.
Bai Zilin invited General Wang to a table to the side and personally served him a large bowl of noodles and two spoonfuls of meat sauce: "General Wang, please have a taste."
General Wang took the chopsticks Bai Zilin handed him, took a big bite of noodles, and almost fell over from the deliciousness. "It's so good!" he exclaimed. "You all should eat too, the noodles are delicious."
As soon as General Wang spoke, the soldiers inside and outside the room dared to pick up their chopsticks. Instantly, only the sound of slurping could be heard, and no one spoke.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com