Chapter 45
On the most prosperous Yongle Street in the city, the shopkeeper of the Yingke Building is guarding the door of the best wing on the second floor.
After a while, Xiao Er went upstairs with two pots of her daughter Hong, and the shopkeeper hurriedly took the things from his hand and motioned him to leave directly with his eyes.
Then, he took a deep breath, put a smile on his face, pushed open the door of the wing and walked in: “Several masters, my daughter is red.”
The sound of the door opening interrupted the conversation of the people in the room. They looked out and saw that the shopkeeper of the reception building had come in person, so they greeted him with a smile.
Peng Hu, who was sitting in the middle, was obviously the owner of the banquet. The shopkeeper put the wine bottle on the table in front of him, and Peng Hu asked with a smile, “President Hao, why are you here in person?”
Shopkeeper Hao smiled and said, “If I had known that it was Lord Peng, I should have come to serve you long ago. Sir, can you enjoy your drink today?”
Next to Peng Hu, a fat businessman with a big belly drank a cup of Ner hong, and burped contentedly: “Tsk tsk, who doesn’t know that Yingke Building’s wine and food are the best in Cannes? If you can’t even drink it at Mr. Hao’s side. If you are happy, where do you go to be satisfied?”
His compliment made the shopkeeper Hao narrow his eyes with a smile: “The satisfaction of all the lords is the biggest blessing of the shop.”
Several people greeted each other a few words of courtesy, and the fat businessman who likes good food and wine suddenly stared at a restaurant opposite that had not yet been built, and said, “I don’t know what it would be like if that restaurant opened.”
What he said was exactly one of the most talked about conversations among the people in Kham after tea and dinner since the beginning of spring.
Building a building on Yongle Street was not a miracle at first. Surprisingly, the restaurant that was still under construction finished pouring the fourth floor in half a month, and there was no sign of stopping, and now the fifth floor has been built.
“The tallest building in Cannes before was the star-viewing building in the north of the city, right?” The fat businessman touched his stomach, “I remember that the star-viewing building has only three floors, and this restaurant… has already been built to the fifth floor!
He sighed and asked, “How many floors does it have to be repaired to? Is this rare in the entire prosperous dynasty?”
The host of the banquet, Peng Hu, touched his chin and replied, “There is no more, that is, the fifth floor.”
“Brother Peng’s news is well-informed!” Someone next to him asked: “I heard the people in the city say, some say the fifth floor, some say the eighth floor, how do you know it’s the fifth floor?”
Peng Hu smiled and said directly: “The stone materials needed for the construction of the restaurant were taken from me. They stopped purchasing recently, so I guessed that it should be completed.”
“So it is!” The man’s eyes widened: “Since that’s the case, you must know who is behind this restaurant?”
When everyone in the room heard the words, they all looked at Penghu.
They are all businessmen who are rolling in Cannes, and they are very concerned about such news.
Peng Hu took a slow sip of wine and said, “This… I can’t say it either.”
The meaning of his words was to first affirm that he knew the news, and then to vaguely remind everyone that the people behind the restaurant should not be easily discussed.
All the people present here are elites, and when they hear this sentence, they probably understand what he means.
Shopkeeper Hao rolled his eyes and knew something in his heart.
He lowered his voice and said, “It seems that the people behind the restaurant have a lot of background!”
“Exactly.” Peng Hu glanced at him and persuaded him nicely: “Manager Hao, don’t say I didn’t warn you in advance, you can’t use those methods to deal with it.”
Shopkeeper Hao laughed with him, poured a glass of wine for Peng Hu himself, and said indifferently: “Little old man understands. Come, drink, drink!”
Who can start a business in a place like Yongle Street, which one has no backing?
Although shopkeeper Hao listened to Peng Hu’s words, he still felt that he didn’t need to take it to heart.
After discussing the owner behind the restaurant, the fat businessman’s mind returned to the restaurant itself.
He thoughtfully said, “Five floors? That’s high enough!”
Just as he was sighing, he suddenly remembered something, and smiled a little slyly: “It is said that you sleep on the top floor of the Star-Observation Building all night, and when you fall asleep at night, you can hear the whispers of the immortals in the sky.
“I really don’t know if you can see those fairies directly if you stay in a five-story restaurant for one night? Hehe.”
Shopkeeper Hao quietly poured a basin of cold water on the side: “You haven’t spent the night in the Star Watch Tower, have you seen the immortals in the sky at night?”
The fat businessman smacked his lips, recalled his previous experience, and replied angrily, “Tsk, that’s really not true.”
When the people in the room heard the words, they all laughed.
Shopkeeper Hao took advantage of the good atmosphere and said, “Oh, those three and five floors are all gimmicks made out of thin air, where can there really be immortals?
“If you want me to say, the building is so high, who knows whether it will be stable or not?
“Anyway, little old man, I am determined not to step on it.”
At this time, someone next to him pondered what he meant, and made fun of him: “That place is going to open a restaurant in the future. Is it possible that the shopkeeper Hao is afraid? Then he came to ‘remind’ us?”
Shopkeeper Hao ignored his ridicule, but said generously: “Where did you start with this?
“Does this restaurant owner care about the height of the building?”
He shook the jug in his hand: “This good wine and good food is the real living sign!”
Yingke Building has always had the reputation of “the best fresh food in Cannes”, and this is a very confident statement from the shopkeeper Hao.
“Isn’t the location of the restaurant the original ‘Baiwei Lou’?” Shopkeeper Hao continued: “You all probably don’t know why the Baiwei Lou can’t be opened, right?”
“Hahaha, how can I not know this?” Peng Hu smiled and sold the shopkeeper Hao a face: “Dare to open a restaurant near the Yingke Building, I am afraid that the guests will be caught here before they enter. The aroma of wine and coriander on the side made a direct turn.”
When everyone in the room heard this, they all agreed.
The fat businessman was particularly aware of it, and nodded repeatedly: “Yes! Speaking of Cannes City, and even the No. 1 restaurant in Liaozhou, with my knowledge, no one can go past the shopkeeper Hao!”
He is a famous old foodie in Cannes. With his affirmation, Manager Hao even straightened his back.
But he didn’t dare to get too carried away, so he said again: “Hey, it’s all the honored guests, so I can keep this small shop open.”
After he finished speaking, he got up directly: “Today’s herring is fresh, I will go to the kitchen, kill two of them for drinks, and ask the elders to take care of the little old man’s business.”
Everyone received the salute, and naturally they all said hello in unison.
For a time, the house was drinking and making music, as if the host and the guests were enjoying themselves.
When the banquet was over, Peng Hu walked outside and was blown away by the cool wind in the spring, and finally woke up a little.
The servant who followed him helped him onto the carriage and asked softly, “Master, are you going back to the manor?”
Peng Hu drank the hangover soup prepared in the carriage, shook his head, and said, “Let’s go to Wenze Street. Didn’t I ask you to order a Liao Yan for me last time? I have to go there in person. have a look.”
The servant nodded and ordered the driver outside to set off.
Back in the carriage, he said again: “Don’t worry, sir, the little one knows that you are going to take it to the capital next month, and told the store owner to find the best one.”
Peng Hu glanced at him: “The boundary of the capital, ink, ink, ink, and ink, which one is not more famous than the place in Liaozhou? If we want to give something away, we can only compete for ‘odd’.”
After he finished speaking, he sighed faintly: “This line is too important, this ‘stepping brick’, you can’t be too careful, understand?”
The servant has been following him all the time, accompany him to travel all over the world, naturally knowing that he is teaching intentionally, so he nodded and said respectfully: “Little understands.”
Only then did Peng Hu nodded in satisfaction, leaning on the carriage and closing his eyes to rest.
After a while, the carriage turned into Wenze Street, but it started to bump up.
Peng Hu frowned and asked, “What’s going on?”
Wenze Street is different from Yongle Street. Most of the things sold on this street are the four treasures of the study, and only literati will patronize them on weekdays.
The literati know the etiquette, so it is much quieter than other places.
Peng Hu, who originally thought he could take a nap on the road, was shaken by the carriage and couldn’t sleep. Naturally, he was a little unhappy.
The servant stepped out of the carriage to inquire about the situation, and when he came back, he told the truth: “Master, I heard that there is a bookstore on the street that opened today, which attracted everyone to come and watch.
“There’s a long queue in front now, and the carriage may not be able to go any further. You need to get out of the car and walk.”
He asked, “Are we going to leave today and come back in two days?”
Peng Hu was a little surprised, and joked: “How can a new bookstore cause such a sensation? Why, isn’t it selling scriptures and history, but the manuscripts of saints?”
The servant shook his head in embarrassment: “This place is still a little far from the bookstore, and the little detective can’t hear the news.”
“Yeah.” Peng Hu nodded, and didn’t mean to blame him.
He thought for a while, maybe it was the businessman’s intuition that made him beat the tiredness of his body, he got up, and said, “Please let the driver pull over and stop, let’s walk over and have a look.”
The servant said “yes” after hearing the words, and turned to the coachman to pass the order.
After a while, Peng Hu felt the moving carriage stop, he got out of the carriage and jumped directly to the ground.
The master and servant walked forward for a while, and sure enough, they saw a bookstore with a long queue.
Naturally, Peng Hu would not queue up as honestly as those people. He took the servants and went straight to the front of the queue.
There were several people in front of the bookstore maintaining order. A man who looked like a man saw him and greeted him directly: “This guest officer, are you here to buy books?”
After asking, he didn’t wait for Peng Hu to answer, and greeted warmly: “Please come here.”
Peng Hu raised his eyebrows.
He was sensitively aware of the loophole in the guy’s words, and instead of following him directly, he asked, “There are so many people here, aren’t they all here to buy books?”
The guy shook his head and explained, “No no no, they are all here to read books, not to buy books.
“The reading room is already full of people, so there is no way to put all the people outside. But the passage for buying books is here, and there are still many empty seats inside. If you need, you can come with me to see.”
Peng Hu nodded thoughtfully.
He also discovered at this time that most of the people gathered here were some literati dressed in shabby clothes. He was the only one who was wearing precious silk and satin embroidered with dark patterns, and he also had two sapphire fingers on his hands.
No wonder the guy recognized him at a glance to be different from those people.
When he wanted to understand this, he had no scruples, and followed the man into the bookstore.
On the way, he asked with great interest: “You are a bookstore here? Why do you let those people read it at will?”
He remembered the place name “Reading Room”, and probably guessed the function of “Reading Room”.
You know, ordinary bookstore shopkeepers are the most taboo of these poor literati who can’t afford books and shamelessly read books in bookstores.
The existence of these people not only does not allow the bookstore to gain the slightest benefit, but sometimes even prevents the bookstore from doing other people’s business.
Hearing the words, the guy nodded and confirmed his guess: “Yes, after entering the door just now, if you turn left, you can reach the reading room. If you don’t want to buy books and just want to read books, you can go directly to the reading room. , find the books you need.”
“Don’t you need money?” Peng Hu confirmed.
“Yes.” The man replied, “As long as you don’t deliberately destroy books, you don’t need to spend any money.”
Peng Hu was a little surprised, thought for a while, and then vaguely reminded: “Your master… Aren’t you afraid that those literati memorize the contents of the book, and then go back and secretly copy it?”
The guy was stunned: “Ah? Why secretly copy it down?”
While speaking, he had brought Penghu to an open room.
There were several tables and chairs in the room, but they were all empty at this time.
Peng Hu understood at a glance – this bookstore has just opened, and no customers have come to the door yet. Those literati outside are all here to read books for free.
The guy instructed Peng Hu to sit down on a table by the door, and then continued: “You can copy books at will in the reading room. Uh… Of course, if they don’t have enough things, they want to use the pen, ink and paper in the bookstore. Inkstone, you need to pay for it.”
As soon as the man explained this, Peng Hu was completely stunned.
“The copied book… is to be handed over to your bookstore in exchange for reading time, right?”
Based on his years of business experience, he made another guess.
When the guy heard this, he was also stunned: “No, oh, our bookstore doesn’t accept copying books.”
This time Peng Hu was completely speechless, and the servant behind him was surprised and confirmed it again: “No money at all? You can read and copy books casually? Is that what you mean? Then your bookstore… how does it make money? what?”
“Selling books and paper.” The man replied honestly.
Seeing the unstoppable astonishment on the faces of the two, the man added another sentence: “Oh, by the way, the books in our workshop are more expensive.”
“Okay, okay.” Peng Hu rubbed his forehead.
He felt that he must be intoxicated and confused, to feel that there was something strange about the bookstore that attracted people to queue as soon as it opened, and even dragged his tired body to check it out in person.
Now, he really regretted it.
He didn’t expect that in a place like Wenze Street, Cannes, he could also meet a fool who has no business acumen—
Obviously it is a business of selling books, but people read the books in the copy workshop for free. In this way, it is absolutely impossible to take out a little money from the pockets of those literati who are shy and willing to copy books by themselves.
And for those who are willing to buy books, the books in this workshop are expensive.
Do they think that those who want to buy books are just a big deal, or do they think that their books are irreplaceable precious things, so they can let them sit on the ground and raise prices?
On the other side, the dude finds himself seeming to have screwed up the business.
He asked cautiously: “Uh, this gentleman, do you want to see the books and papers in our workshop? Our…”
Peng Hu sneered and interrupted the man’s words.
He originally wanted to go directly, but when he thought of the long queue outside, he felt a little embarrassed.
Just imagine, he was invited in as a VIP by the guy at first because of his luxurious clothes, but he went out empty-handed less than a minute after he came in. What should the people outside talk about?
Ordinary people may not care, but Peng Hu, as a tycoon in Cannes City, would never allow himself to make such a joke.
So he waved his hand and said directly: “Well, I don’t need the book anymore, just wrap some paper for me, I have other things to do and I’ll be leaving soon.”
The guy’s eyes lit up, and he said quickly, “Okay, okay. We have three kinds of upper, middle and lower…”
“Don’t talk about it.” Peng Hujiu didn’t wake up, just when he had a headache, he didn’t want to listen to the guy at all.
He thought of his eldest son, who was studying scriptures at home, and said directly, “Bring the best.”
The guy saluted, turned around and left. After a while, he retrieved an exquisite small wooden box.
“Guest officer, this is the spring paper with the best quality in our workshop recently. Please keep it.”
When the servant behind him took over the wooden box, Peng Hu asked casually, “Well, how much?”
“Chenghui…” The man smiled, “Twenty taels of gold.”
Peng Hu stopped when he took out the banknotes in his arms.
The author has something to say: Thanks to the little angel who threw the mine: Zhen Zhen 2;
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution: LOL 10 bottles; Febblue 2 bottles; Shen 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!