Chapter 172 171. Love blossomed and then closed
After eating at "A Sichuan Restaurant", Lei Li and Zhou Yi went to other restaurants.
Xiling Prefecture City is rich and has many wealthy and idle people. The business here is also the most developed except for Zhongchuan Prefecture City.
There are five Sichuan restaurants alone, located in the busiest commercial main street and the four largest north-south ports. These ports face Zhongchuan, Baihui and Nanjiang. Among them, the two near Baihui have the most fish dishes.
"There are six bakeries and dessert shops, three home-style food shops, three morning tea shops, and more herbal tea shops. Any small shop can be opened, so there are ten of them. They follow the strategy of small profits but quick turnover."
Lei Li knew his own business inside out and even marked it on a map of Xiling Prefecture City for Zhou Yi to see. "There are two health-preserving soup restaurants here that offer delivery, as many people order in advance."
"The prefect's wife celebrated her sixtieth birthday last year and specifically asked our family to host it. We recruited many chefs and waiters from home-style restaurants, Sichuan restaurants, and soup restaurants to host the event, and it was a beautiful celebration."
"It was a huge hit in Xiling at the time, and even spread to Zhongchuan and Baihui. Its reputation was very good, so the Meng family planned to open several more in seven prefectures, including Baihui and Nanjiang, this year."
"So many at once?"
Zhou Yi was a little surprised.
He remembered that at present only the prefectures and counties of Xiling and Zhongchuan had opened "a" store, because the original rice business of the Meng family was mainly in these two prefectures, and they did not have many manpower and connections in places like Baihuinanjiang.
So he was a little worried. "While making money is important, it's better to be steady and cautious. Can the Meng family handle so many businesses at the same time?"
"Also, every prefecture has different customs and tastes. We need to research first and adapt to local conditions. We also need to find good chefs and waiters and train them in advance."
"We also need to build good relationships with local officials, which is no easy task. Furthermore, a powerful dragon cannot suppress a local snake. We outsiders have taken away their share of the pie, and we are easily suppressed by the local merchants."
"The Meng family also knows this."
Seeing his worry, Lei Li smiled and said, "Meng Luo told me last year that the Meng family had this intention. If they bring it up now, it means the Meng family has already figured it out."
"Anyway, they bear the risk. If it succeeds, we'll earn more income from a few more prefecture cities. If it fails, it doesn't matter. The money we earn in Zhongchuan and Xiling is enough to feed and drink without worries."
"Too."
Zhou Yi nodded and stopped thinking about it. The Meng family had been in the business world for so many years, so they must know more about business than him.
"Mengluo is our friend. Please write to him and remind his family not to rush things. What happens next is their business."
"I know."
Lei Li nodded slightly, and smelled a sweet smell like honey in front of his nose, knowing that he had arrived at his family's bakery. He looked up and saw that it was indeed his bakery.
"A Bakery" is different from other pastry shops. It adopts the style of a modern bakery. Although it does not have glass cabinets, it uses wooden cabinets. Both sides of the cabinets are open and covered with light-colored gauze.
When the wind blows, the tulle flutters gently, and the fragrance fills the entire store and is carried to the street by the wind. The golden and sweet bread is faintly visible under the tulle.
There are also beautifully trimmed potted plants with light-colored flowers on the bread cabinet. The clerks have smiles on their faces. Whether they are richly dressed ladies or gentlemen or simple and reserved ordinary people, they are all warmly welcomed and helped to choose bread and sandwiches.
When Lei Li entered the store, there were quite a lot of customers, almost all of them were girls and boys. When they saw him, a tall and handsome "man", they were a little surprised or restrained.
The shop owner happened to be in the store. He had received the news that another big boss would come and had also seen Lei Li's portrait, so when he saw Lei Li, he greeted him warmly.
"Oh! Boss Lei, you're here! I heard from Shopkeeper Meng that you would come, but I didn't know when. Luckily I didn't leave the store today, otherwise I would have missed it, haha!"
"Whatever bread you want, I'll pick it up and wrap it for you!"
"No, I'll pick it out myself first. You can go ahead and do yours. Don't worry about me."
Lei Li waved his hand.
After taking a few glances around, I saw that the hygiene in the store was pretty good, and everything inside and outside the counters was clean. In hot weather, these high-sugar foods are prone to attracting bugs, but there were no traces of bugs on the bread here.
When the customers in the store heard his conversation with the shopkeeper, they thought he was some big businessman. He looked good but unfamiliar, so they couldn't help but look at him a few more times.
A brave girl asked him with a smile, "Sir, judging from your accent, you are from another place. Have you just arrived in Xiling? Are you here to buy bread for your wife back home?"
“Not counting out-of-town.”
Lei Li smiled and said, "My family is from a county below Xiling Mountain. I came to the capital to visit with my family. The bread... is because my husband loves sweets, so I came with him to buy it."
"Husband?"
"Are you a brother?"
"Where is your husband..."
The girls fell silent for a moment and all looked at the tall man who was selecting bread. The brave girl who spoke first said in surprise,
"He... is your husband?"
"yes."
Lei Li smiled and waved to Zhou Yi. As soon as Zhou Yi walked to his side, he took his arm and said in a showy and cheerful manner,
"Don't we look like a couple?"
“…”
Zhou Yi didn't say anything, but his ears felt hot. He felt a little embarrassed to be pulled over and introduced like this.
"Um……"
Several girls looked at Lei Li and then at Zhou Yi. One was handsome and tall, while the other was tall and strong. Their expressions and actions were intimate and natural. It was both unexpected and reasonable to say that they were a couple.
"Actually, they look quite similar. They're a good match."
"The height also matches."
"This is the first time we've seen such a tall guy. We thought he was some handsome young man from some family, but it turned out to be a misunderstanding..."
"I am rare."
Lei Li said with a smile, and told Zhou Yi that he wanted those loaves of bread. Zhou Yi responded and went to queue up to get some. Since there were many people in the store, of course there had to be a queue.
Seeing this, the girls enthusiastically introduced to Lei Li the most delicious breads in the store. When they noticed a small hydrangea hanging on his waist, they smiled mischievously and asked him if it was given by his husband.
“He bought it.”
Lei Li's gaze fell on Zhou Yi, and his voice was filled with mischief as he chuckled. He knew Zhou Yi was listening to their conversation. "Yesterday, someone threw two hydrangeas at me on the street. He got jealous and bought me one, but he was too embarrassed to tell me, so I just hung it on my waist."
"Is he still embarrassed?"
"I didn't expect the contrast to be so huge!"
"I don't feel fierce at all..."
The brave girl suddenly remembered something and asked Lei Li, "Could it be that hydrangea someone threw you on South Street yesterday afternoon? The purple and pink one with flowers and butterflies embroidered on it?"
"yes."
Lei Li thought it was a coincidence, "Did you see it then?"
"I'm just upstairs..."
The girl smiled somewhat awkwardly, thinking that she had not only seen it, but she had also asked him to throw it away. She hadn't expected that he was married and had a son...
That Qiaoqiao...
Lei Li didn't know what she was thinking. He bought some bread, paid the bill, and left with Zhou Yi. They still had to go to the next store for a "secret visit."
The girl was confused and asked the shop owner about the origins of the two men.
I was surprised to learn that they were one of the owners of the bakery, and also the owner of a chain of famous Sichuan restaurants, and that they had been married for several years and had a child. Then I thought of my good friend Qiaoqiao's first love...
have to.
Now I don’t have to worry about how to tell the prefect, he has a family, a wife and children!
She should buy Qiaoqiao some more bread, her favorite, to comfort her, and also buy two more sweet soups. Qiaoqiao said the osmanthus meatball jelly she had bought last time was delicious...
—
Lei Li and Zhou Yi visited all the industries in the city and tried food from several of them. They found the service to be excellent and the quality was good, with no signs of inferior or expired products.
The two of them also packed some to take home. The city is more prosperous and developed than Qingmi County, and there are more fruits and other things. There are more sweet soups with fruits in the sweet soup shops. Zhou Yi also found pineapples and mangoes.
Pineapples are very sweet after being soaked in salt water, and are full of flavor after adding chili salt. Green mangoes can also be made into sour and wild dishes, while ripe mangoes are sweet as honey and very delicious. Because of their high production, the price is also cheap.
Lei Li and his group all love to eat mangoes.
But as we all know, everyone has varying degrees of allergy to mangoes.
What's very bad is that Liu Xiaocao is severely allergic to mangoes. His lips become numb, itchy, red and swollen when he eats mangoes. But he happens to like eating mangoes, so after eating two big ones in one go, his lips became severely swollen and itchy.
Fortunately, although the allergic reaction was severe, it subsided quickly, and Liu Xiaocao recovered as before the next day.
Zhou Yi said that if the lips did not touch the mango, they would not become allergic and swollen. But Liu Xiaocao thought that she still had to go out to play, and it would be embarrassing to face people if she touched the mango and got swollen again. So she reluctantly stopped eating the mango and planned to bring more mangoes back when she returned.
The day on the invitation arrived soon.
Only Lei Li and Zhou Yi went. They had already put on appropriate embroidered robes and took a carriage to the house mentioned in the invitation.
The businessman surnamed Li was a wealthy local landlord, and his family owned several thousand acres of land.
They grow a lot of vegetables, fruits, rice and grains. They supply vegetables and fruits to Sichuan restaurants, home-style restaurants and dessert shops. They are one of Lei Li's largest business partners, and most of the people who do business with his family are restaurant owners.
"Shopkeeper Meng explained many key points before we came here, and we can generally recognize people now. Shopkeeper Meng will also attend the dinner with us."
Lei Li looked out the window and said, "It looks quite lively. Some people even brought their children here. If our Jiang wasn't too young, I would have brought him here to play."
Lei Li and Zhou Yi got off the carriage, and Shopkeeper Meng also got off. They chatted with each other as they entered the Li family mansion. When they met other businessmen on the way, they exchanged pleasantries and praised each other's business.
Lei Li's face was almost frozen with laughter before he sat down. He also saw the businessman named Li, a plump and cheerful middle-aged man. The old lady who was celebrating his birthday was over 70 years old.
It is rare for people to live to be seventy.
Seventy years old is relatively common in modern times, but it was rare in ancient times. To be unlucky, dying of old age at this age is considered a happy funeral.
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