Chapter 252 - 239: Slow Business (Added Chapter)
Zhuang Qingsui is a girl from this world, who needs to abide by the survival rules of this era. She doesn’t want Zhuang Qingsui to pay for her actions with the rest of her life.
Therefore, at this moment, Zhuang Jingye’s willingness to help her deal with Zhuang Ruman is more than appropriate, whether in terms of reputation or her limited energy.
“What’s there to be polite about? As the saying goes, ‘you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.’ This is part of reciprocation.” Zhuang Jingye chuckled and scratched his ear, “Tell me about the beans. Do we still have them? Seems like we are running out. We need at least three to four hundred pounds more.” “Yes.” Zhuang Qingning answered with a smile, “But I can’t get them until tomorrow at the earliest… I’ll go to the town today to see if I can get them here tonight. I don’t know if there are enough beans left, but I’ll do my best.” Some five said there could be as many beans as needed, but Zhuang Qingning can’t simply get them out, neither can she say that it’s easy, lest people notice something wrong.
“All right then.” Zhuang Jingye nodded repeatedly, “It’s good to have beans. It doesn’t matter if we have to wait another day. I’ll just let the others know.” “Once the beans are transported back, I will promptly take them to the village chief Uncle’s home.”
All right, then I’ll just continue waiting.” Zhuang Jingye got up, “I’ll go tell everyone right away, so they won’t be anxious.”
With that, Zhuang Jingye stood up and walked out, “Don’t bother sending me off. You’re busy.”
“Alright, Uncle village chief, take care.” Zhuang Qingning escorted Zhuang Jingye out the door.
At the entrance, they chatted casually for a while before Zhuang Jingye took his leave hurriedly.
Zhuang Qingning then returned to the courtyard with her head lowered.
Zhuang Ruman, who had gone to the field early in the morning to check the land for autumn planting, flicked his chin after seeing all this.
Coming to Zhuang Qingning’s house in such a hurry must mean that she can’t sell her beans, hence the distressed look. Probably thinking about discussing some contingency plans.
It serves them right!
Who told them all to be so inhuman and just know how to oppose him?
They’ll have their time to cry in the future.
Zhuang Ruman placed the hoe he was carrying on his shoulder, and walked home with his head held high.
At noon, when the sun was high in the sky and people were having lunch, the restaurants in town were bustling, even the bun shops, wonton stands, and noodle stalls on the street were full of people, which made the surroundings very lively.
Feng Yongkang was at Fushun Tower, as usual, cheerfully interacting with the dining customers, introducing them to wine and food, and budding relationships.
As he was serving the wine, Feng Yongkang’s brow furrowed.
There weren’t enough customers in Fushun Tower today. It can even be described as quiet.
In the hall, only three or four tables were occupied, and each table was not filled with a large variety of dishes. There were only two private rooms upstairs with guests.
This business…
Feng Yongkang went to the front desk, casually flipped through the account book from the past few days, and his face instantly turned gloomy: “Why is there so little silver collected these days?”
“Shop manager.” The accountant immediately made a bitter face, “There’s no choice, the number of customers dining here in recent days is indeed not much. Today is the market day, yet there are only this many people.”
“What’s going on?” Feng Yongkang angrily slammed the account book on the table, “Where did all these customers go?”
“Manager, don’t be angry.” The accountant hurriedly picked up the account book and whispered, “I heard that Ruyi Pavilion’s business has been booming these past couple of days. Maybe all the customers have gone there.”
“Ruyi Pavilion? Can the dishes at that place even be considered edible?” Feng Yongkang has always dismissed Ruyi Pavilion. After hearing that Ruyi Pavilion’s business was better than Fushun Tower’s, he became even more frustrated.
“Shop manager, you don’t know. Ruyi Pavilion has been offering a 10% discount these past few days. Anybody who dines there can enjoy a 10% discount. If a person dines there more than twice, they are given a jug of wine. If they dine there more than three times, in addition to the wine, they are also presented with a dish of local specialty. For those who dine there four times, a soup will be presented… so on and so forth. If a person dines there more than six times, they can basically get one meal free. With such attractive discounts, naturally many people are visiting.”
“Moreover, our signature dishes here at Fushun Tower formerly were mainly made with items from Zhuang’s Tofu Shop. Now that we are no longer dealing with Zhuang’s Tofu Shop, the dishes that the chef prepares don’t taste as good, and there is nothing particularly appealing about them. In my opinion, we should still use the ingredients of Zhuang’s Tofu Shop. Perhaps we can compete with Ruyi Pavilion in the future…”
“What are you talking about!”
Before the accountant could finish his sentence, Feng Yongkang interrupted him, “Zhuang’s Tofu Shop has always been arrogant. Now that Zhuang Qingning has refused to supply us, do you want me to beg?”
“Fushun Tower has a good reputation in town. Just because of a few pieces of tofu and tofu skin, our business can’t go bad. Without Zhuang Qingning, can’t I run this restaurant anymore?”
Even if it were to fail, if you think he would bow to Zhuang Qingning, that’s out of question, never!
Feng Yongkang stormed off to the backyard, annoyed.
The accountant picked up the account book that Feng Yongkang had casually thrown on the counter, shook his head and sighed.
“What were you thinking, bringing up that topic with the manager? See, you made him angry.” Ma Tong came over and lowered his voice, “The manager doesn’t like to hear such things. Can’t you see why Chef Zhang and Lian Rong left Fushun Tower?”
“He is upset, sure, but this is the current situation, whether he likes to hear it or not.” Geng Shun, the accountant who’s few years older than Ma Tong, frowned, “I am not being nasty, but if the manager continues to run Fushun Tower like this, it won’t be long before our business is done for.”
“Hush…” Ma Tong hurriedly put his hand over his mouth, indicating that Geng Shun should lower his voice.
“Huush? You might be afraid of the manager, but I am not. If I’ve said something, I’m not afraid of him overhearing it!” Geng Shun even shouted.
Alright, these guys are all picking fights with the manager now.
Ma Tong, seeing that he couldn’t stop him, stopped saying anything and simply took the teapot to fill up for each table.
At this moment, Feng Yongkang had reached the backyard. Taking two steps from the entrance to the backyard, he could see the entrance to Ruyi Pavilion. Looking at the bustling crowd over there, and then back at the desolate door of Fushun Tower, Feng Yongkang felt even more frustrated. After a cold snort, he went to find Qi Changfu in the kitchen..