Chapter 130 Village Chief Wu Borrows Noodles
The north wind howled, cutting like a knife on the face. As soon as Village Chief Wu drove the oxcart into town, Bai Zilin jumped off the cart: "Thank you, Village Chief Wu. I'll be going now."
Bai Zilin left as soon as he finished speaking, so he didn't see it. After he left, Village Chief Wu looked at his back and showed a sinister expression. Village Chief Wu cracked his whip and drove the oxcart into the alley next to it. When he reappeared, it was noon. He drove the oxcart to the front of the noodle shop, tied it to the hitching post, and walked past the customers who were queuing up. He then took Wu Xincao into the noodle shop.
"Haha, it's so lively here, Zilin, your noodle shop is doing good business. Give us two bowls of noodles too."
Bai Zilin looked up from behind the counter and said coldly, "Oh, it's Village Chief Wu. I'm so sorry, but all the customers who come to eat at the noodle shop have to queue up. You can go and queue up first."
The elderly woman in line shouted, "That's right! Hurry up and join the line! How dare you cut in line like that! Have you no shame?"
Village Chief Wu looked embarrassed after being scolded: "Hehehe, I'm really sorry, I'll go outside and queue up. This is my daughter Xincao, you can let her stay inside and keep warm."
After Village Chief Wu finished speaking, he suppressed his anger and went outside to queue up. Wu Xincao, with her left hand counting on her right fingers, shyly tried to go inside the counter: "It's so cold outside, can I come inside and warm up...!"
Bai Zilin didn't look up, and casually pointed to the corner of the shop: "Miss Wu, go squat in that corner over there, there's nowhere else to go."
Wu Xincao looked at the corner in shock. There was a table in the corner, and the table was surrounded by people. How was she supposed to squat down? There was nowhere for her to squat. Besides, even if there was a place, she couldn't squat down. It would ruin her ladylike image!
"No need, Brother Bai, I'll just rest here for a while. Brother Bai, you must have plenty of grain in your noodle shop, right?"
Bai Zilin didn't even glance at her, busy collecting money. He opened the drawer where he kept the money, and it was so full of copper coins that it was almost overflowing. Wu Xincao's eyes widened in disbelief. So much money! She had never seen so many copper coins in her life. Brother Bai was amazing! He was good at hunting and making money.
Bai Zilin closed the drawer, and Wu Xincao looked away shyly: "Brother Bai, we can't buy any grain at the grain store now. We're out of food. I didn't even eat breakfast this morning..."
Bai Zilin nodded perfunctorily, thinking to himself, "What does your family running out of food have to do with me? Whose children will die if they do?"
"oh."
Village Chief Wu, who was queuing outside, had snot dripping from his nose before it was his turn. Da Hu found an empty table for the father and daughter: "Please wait a moment, the noodles will be ready soon."
Village Chief Wu covered his face with his hands and nodded. It was so cold outside that his face was frozen. "Don't worry, I'll just chat with your boss for a bit. Zilin, I need to discuss something with you. I went to town today to buy grain, but when I got there I realized I forgot to bring any money. Look at the mess I've made. I'll borrow 20 jin of flour from you first, and I'll pay you back after the New Year. I'll also pay you back for the two bowls of noodles I ate today."
Upon hearing this, Da Hu turned a corner with the two bowls of noodles and served them to the guests at another table. It seemed that this father and son were here to take advantage of him. What kind of people were they!
Bai Zilin sneered inwardly after hearing this. The village chief was trying to borrow flour from his noodle shop, thinking he could return it after the New Year when flour would be cheaper. The abacus beads were practically hitting his face. "I'm sorry, Village Chief Wu, the shop is out of flour. I have to go out and buy some more, and whether I can find any is another matter."
Rejected like that, Village Chief Wu was very unhappy. He nodded with an awkward smile and said, "Hehe, it's okay, it's okay. I'll go back to the village and ask who has grain..."
After sitting for a while, Village Chief Wu realized that the shop's waiter was serving bowls of noodles to other customers, but not to him: "Waiter, you haven't served us yet, hurry up, my son and I are starving."
Da Hu carried the last bowl of noodles to another table: "Sir, there are no more noodles left for you. If you would like to eat some, please come back tomorrow."
Village Chief Wu slammed his fist on the table in displeasure: "What kind of bastard talk is this? I've been queuing outside for ages, and when it's finally my turn, you say the noodles are gone? What, are you bullying me because you're a big shop? You don't respect me, a peasant. Do I have to put up with your attitude just to eat some noodles?"
Village Chief Wu glanced sideways at Bai Zilin, who was counting money with his head down, seemingly oblivious to the conflict between him and his partner.
Da Hu said with a fake smile, "Sir, you misunderstand. I serve them according to the order of payment. Those other customers paid before you, so of course I served them first."
Village Chief Wu slammed his fist on the table, his neck stiff with anger: "What do you mean by that? I already told your boss that I forgot to bring any money with me, and that I'd pay for the noodles on credit and I'd pay him back later. You were right there and didn't you hear me? Are you trying to play dumb with me?"
Da Hu nodded with a fake smile: "I heard that. We have a rule at our noodle shop: no credit. Even if it's my own mother, she has to pay for her noodles. This is a rule set by our boss. He didn't tell me this, so of course I have to follow the rule."
After Da Hu finished speaking, he took a rag to wipe the table. Village Chief Wu looked at Bai Zilin angrily and said, "Zilin, the waiter in your shop is not very good. He doesn't know how to handle things. He always offends customers. It's not good for the shop's reputation. You have to do something about it."
Wu Xincao looked at Bai Zilin with a pitiful expression: "Brother Bai, I'm hungry, my stomach is growling..."
Bai Zilin walked out from behind the counter and waved to Walnut, who was sweeping the floor: "Go and do the accounting."
"Here it is." Walnut put down what she was doing and went to the counter to settle the bill.
Bai Zilin looked at Village Chief Wu and said, "I'm sorry, Village Chief Wu, I can't stay with you any longer. I have to go out to buy grain. Please sit down. Da Hu, bring two bowls of hot water for Village Chief Wu and his son."
"No need, it's getting late, we should head back to the village!" Village Chief Wu stood up and left with a dark face. Wu Xincao reluctantly got up from the stool and followed her father out of the noodle shop, turning back every few steps. Bai Zilin didn't see them off. Da Hu, with a fake smile, escorted the father and son to the door: "Take care, sirs, and welcome back another day."
Village Chief Wu glared at him irritably, cracked his whip, and slowly drove the oxcart away.
Da Hu returned to the noodle shop with a chuckle: "Those two are gone. How funny. He actually came to the noodle shop to borrow noodles. Why didn't he borrow a pot from Er Dan or a knife from the executioner? Hehehe, I bet his brain got kicked by a donkey."
Bai Zilin patted Da Hu on the shoulder with a smile: "Well done." Da Hu scratched the back of his head smugly and went to tidy up the tables and chairs.
After dinner, once the noodle shop was finished, Bai Zilin carried a bag of copper coins home. He put the bag on the willow-leaf kang (a heated brick bed) and said, "This is the money from yesterday and today, a total of one hundred taels."
Liu Ye carried the bag to the end of the kang (a heated brick bed): "Once we've saved enough, we can exchange it for silver. The food is warming up in the pot. I made some big steamed dumplings. Hurry up and eat."
Bai Zilin went to the kitchen to bring the dumplings over, put them on the kang table, took off his shoes, and ate them on the kang. Liu Ye added two more pieces of firewood to the stove, then sat on the kang and casually asked, "Is everything alright at the shop?"
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