“Young lady, are you looking for a restaurant? Why don’t you wait a moment and I’ll have a waiter go to Yueyanglou to ask? Their owner is from the same hometown as me, and Yueyanglou is one of the top restaurants in the city. Their dishes and wines are quite good, and I know that their chefs and waiters are still here.”
"Their restaurant is even raising seafood themselves. Even if they don't buy any ingredients these days, they should still be able to prepare a good feast," the manager said.
"Shopkeeper, then I'll trouble your servant to take us there. It's boring sitting here waiting. Surely there's a daring establishment in this huge Red Willow City that will open for business," Dong Yuefan said.
The innkeeper immediately summoned a waiter, gave him a brief explanation, and the waiter led the inn's God of Wealth, Hong Xiaoduo, and her entourage to the Moonlit Pavilion in a grand procession.
Along the way, people peeked out from behind their doors to greet the waiter, who responded loudly, saying he was taking the inn's guests to find a restaurant.
The owner of a restaurant, upon hearing this, wanted to call out that he had ingredients and could open his doors to welcome customers. However, after looking at the group of customers' attire, he ultimately lacked the courage to speak up and solicit business.
That Moon Central Building is located at the other end of the main street. We arrived at it quickly, and it looked very grand.
However, not a single door panel of the restaurant had been removed, so it seemed they weren't planning to open for business.
"Boss Tong, Boss Tong? Are you inside? Our boss wants to bring our inn's guests to your restaurant for drinks. Will you accept the business or not? Please let me know. If not, I'll take them to Zuixianlou." The waiter stepped forward and knocked on the door, calling out to the inside.
The waiter's tone carried a hint of boasting, and even a tiny bit of threat: "If you don't take the business that's been delivered to your door, you can take it to someone else!"
"Xiao Wei, wait a moment." There was a quick response from inside the door panel, and then one door panel after another was removed.
A chubby man, about fifty years old, with a prosperous and comical appearance, came out. After scanning everyone outside, he whispered to Xiao Weizi, the innkeeper's waiter, "Why are there soldiers here? Is your boss helping me or trying to harm me?"
"Boss Tong, what are you saying? If you think our boss wants to harm you, then you can just not do business with us. So what if they're military personnel? They're not like those scoundrels from our Yunwu Kingdom."
"Anyway, they stayed at our inn, paid for their room in advance, not a penny less, and even gave me two taels of silver as a tip," Xiao Weizi told proudly.
Anyway, their employers are very kind; no matter how much or how little the guests tip them, the employers won't take it away.
The owner said that the tip from the customer was an acknowledgment of their service, and it was what they deserved as employees.
"Boss, if you're worried we won't pay after we eat, how about we give you the money first? We can settle the bill later, with any overpayment refunded and any underpayment collected?" Tianxuan said.
He wasn't angry with the restaurant owner. From the brief conversation between the owner and the innkeeper, he could tell why the man was afraid of the military camp: he had been harmed and suffered losses because of their own soldiers!
"No need, no need, distinguished guests, please come in. Ah Shan, please go to the Peony Hall. Ah Wu, go to the backyard and call the master chefs to tell them that we have guests." Boss Tong looked at the group of guests and saw that none of them had a treacherous look on their faces.
"Everyone, I'll head back to the inn now." Little Wei breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Boss Tong had taken on the business, and said with a smile to Hong Xiaoduo and the others.
"Kid, you've worked hard. Here, have some wine." Dong Yuefan was quite satisfied. As he spoke, he took out a small silver ingot and tossed it to Xiao Wei in front of Boss Tong.
The silver ingot was worth five taels. Xiao Weizi took it into his arms, thanked Dong Yuefan happily, stuffed the ingot into his pocket, and went back to the inn.
When the city fell into the hands of Fengliang Kingdom, not only did they not kill or plunder the people in the city, but a young waiter at an inn actually made a small fortune.
Today I received a reward of seven taels of silver. Seven taels is enough for Father to buy an acre of fertile land outside the city. I'll see how things go tomorrow; hopefully, it will allow my sister and sister-in-law to get out of the cellar.
Meanwhile, inside Yueyang Tower, Hong Xiaoduo and the others entered the Peony Hall and learned from the waiter that the Peony Hall was the largest private room in the restaurant.
Seeing Hong Xiaoduo and her group of fourteen, the waiter cautiously asked whether they wanted to share a table or sit at two separate tables.
Hong Xiaoduo immediately suggested that they sit at two separate tables, just so that it would be easier for one person to pick up food.
Feiyan sat at a table with the six children, while Hong Xiaoduo, Quan Jinghuai, Dong Yuefan, and Murong Jing and his servant sat at another table.
Manager Tong personally delivered the menu. When Hong Xiaoduo took a look, she was amazed. The innkeeper was absolutely right. Even without going out to buy ingredients, they had a full range of their own.
The chickens, ducks, and fish are all alive; whatever you order is slaughtered on the spot.
The pork was said to have been purchased three days ago and stored in the ice cellar.
There were also sheep, which could be slaughtered. Besides that, there were even live shrimp and crabs!
Chicken, duck, fish, and mutton were no longer considered delicacies by Hong Xiaoduo.
However, being able to eat live shrimp and crab here is a rare treat.
"Let's steam two crabs per person. And five catties of shrimp, half steamed and half braised. For the main course, let's have five shrimp crystal buns per person."
As for the other dishes, ask them.
"Oh, and also, after we order, please prepare another set meal based on the menu for our table, as we'll be taking it to go." Hong Xiaoduo didn't make the decision entirely on her own, but rather highlighted the key points.
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