Chapter 17: Beggar Chicken in the Bamboo Forest
Zhao Yulin smiled and said, "It will definitely be sold out. If it's not sold out, will we be unable to eat it?"
"Kill." Ma Ling'er shouted and led her master to work.
In the city, Ma Jin led the men from the labor team and paraded through the four gates holding wine flags.
This is a typical advertising model for the opening of a new store in later generations. There are only ten big words on the wine flag with red characters on a white background: South City Beggar's Chicken, it costs five taels of silver.
Zhao Yulin asked Ma Jin to go to the downtown area, hang around in front of restaurants, and at the entrance of academies, where someone would always see him.
However, after working for a long time, no one came to eat. Ma Linger's face was dark and scary, and her mouth was pouted, looking dissatisfied with everything.
Zhao Yulin said there was no rush, there was still evening and business would definitely be good at night.
He called the chefs together to eat first, saying that since there were no customers, it was a good time for him to eat first. After eating well, he would have more energy to work in the afternoon.
After lunch, Zhao Yulin went to the thatched pavilion by the river to rest. Ma Ling'er brought him tea and said gloomily that she didn't know how to make matcha, so he shouldn't despise her.
Zhao Yulin took the tea bowl and said, "No, this is good."
He told Ma Linger that our store is high-end. Think about a chicken that costs five taels of silver. How many people can afford it? We want to earn the money of the rich to spend on our brothers and sisters.
Ma Linger said unwillingly that she felt very upset because no one came.
Zhao Yulin told her not to lose heart, just do our best and someone will definitely come.
As they were talking, they heard a noise coming from the small dock below. Ma Ling'er stood up and went out to look, saying with surprise that a large official ship had arrived.
Zhao Yulin walked out immediately, and the two stood side by side on the steps. They saw an official ship on the river that was about five meters long. Zhao Yulin felt that the person coming must be of high rank. He took Ma Linger and went down to greet them. He did not ask for anything, but only took them to visit the stone carvings and introduced them carefully.
After the group of people finished visiting the stone carvings, a thin old man with white hair and beard in the middle thanked him for his guidance and explanation and asked him how he got here.
He said it was a coincidence, our sister's restaurant opened today and he came to support it.
The old man looked at the pretty Ma Ling'er beside Zhao Yulin and said, "This is a rare opportunity. He was also hungry, so let's go up and have a meal to bring some popularity to the young man and girl."
Zhao Yulin said with a smile that this is great, thank you very much, but the dishes and drinks are unique in the world, I am afraid that you may think they are too expensive.
The group of people burst into laughter. One of them, a handsome middle-aged man wearing a feather fan and a long scarf, waved his folding fan and said, "It's so expensive, how expensive is it?"
Could it be that there are dishes and drinks more expensive than those in Lin'an Prefecture that would please Mr. Xishu?
Zhao Yulin smiled and said that seeing is believing, everyone who comes is a guest, even if they just come to have a drink of water, it will make our humble home more glorious.
He called Ma Ling'er, "Lead the way, sister."
Zhao Yulin followed behind and walked towards the restaurant.
A group of more than ten people went up and were stunned when they saw the very simple thatched pavilion.
Ma Linger enthusiastically served tea to everyone. The handsome middle-aged man arrogantly asked what good food and wine could be found in such a shabby place?
The people behind also started to make a fuss.
The old man named Xishu looked at Zhao Yulin with a smile and said that he believed the young man would not come just to make him happy.
Zhao Yulin smiled and asked Ma Linger to get a jar of Wu Gu Feng and two white jade cups.
This white jade cup is a small white porcelain high-foot cup designed by Zhao Yulin specifically for new wine. A cup can hold about five cents of wine.
He broke the seal, and the wine molecules immediately swarmed out from the open jar, filling the air with the aroma of wine. The male and female guests, including the old man, were immediately nailed to the spot, their eyes rolling towards the jar.
He picked up the jar and poured the wine, then handed it to the old man with both hands and introduced it, "This is the unique Yibin Five Grains in the world. Old sir, please try it. Is it worth ten taels per jar?"
The old man was so excited as to be speechless when looking at the crystal clear liquor. He then held the glass up to take a closer smell, and the aroma of the liquor soaked his heart and spleen and penetrated into his bones.
Zhao Yulin said that after drinking it in one gulp, he felt like a god.
The old man drank it without hesitation, and actually maintained the drinking posture without moving, as if his acupoints were pressed. Everyone exclaimed "Huh" and looked at him nervously.
After a long while, the old man shouted "Wow!" "Good wine, there really is good wine."
Then, Ma Linger served the beggar's chicken. She opened the sealing clay and lotus leaves on the spot. The mouth-watering aroma of the chicken immediately made them all stand up.
Ma Linger skillfully cleaned the side dishes from the beggar's chicken and pushed the food plate to the center of the table. The guests started eating immediately without waiting to be called.
Zhao Yulin quickly asked for wine glasses...
After the meal, the group ate four chickens and drank three jars of wine . Ma Linger smiled and accepted thirty-five taels of silver.
Mr. Xishu said with interest that the shopkeeper still gave a discount and wanted to do something for Ma Linger.
Zhao Yulin pushed Ma Linger over and asked her to ask the old man to write a few words: "On the Min River, Yibin has a unique beauty." He would then ask the master to carve it on the bank of the river.
After listening to Ma Ling'er's retelling, Mr. Xishu readily agreed.
However, after the four treasures of the study were ready, the old man wrote on the rice paper "Two Wonders of Yibin on the Min River"
Zhao Yulin looked at Mr. Xishu in confusion. The old man pointed at the beggar's chicken bones and then pointed at a pile of empty wine jars and looked at him. Zhao Yulin immediately understood and took Ma Linger to thank the old man for his calligraphy.
After seeing the guests off, Ma Linger immediately jumped up with joy, hugging Zhao Yulin, and said excitedly that the beggar's chicken was really good. Those people looked like great officials with great experience, and they all agreed that it was a good dish and simply paid for it.
Zhao Yulin pinched the tip of her nose and said, "You little brat! Everything your brother Yulin makes is good."
Just after they rested for a while, Chen Xiaomin and Zhao Sihan came. The maid sat in the thatched pavilion, took out a bag of silver and shouted for two chickens. They wanted to eat beggar's chicken.
Zhao Yulin glared at his sister and said that Chen Xiaomin was wasting money. Did she really make money? One chicken was enough. He told Ma Linger that not a penny less was needed. Chen Xiaomin ran over with a smile and called Ma Linger sister. She took out a bottle of Jiuxiang Yulu and put it into Ma Linger's pocket.
Zhao Sihan was so excited that she told her brother all about the perfume auction without stopping.
Zhao Yulin patted her younger sister on the shoulder and told her not to be too happy. It would be better not to sell it tomorrow. She should say that it was out of stock and they had to wait for it to be made.
The two little girls agreed with "yeah, yeah".
Business picked up in the evening. The wealthy people in the city saw Ma Jin and his team's parade advertisement and became curious. They wanted to know what kind of chicken cost five taels of silver, so they went to take a look. People came to the bamboo forest in groups of three or five to try the new chicken, and it was sold out in a short while.
This forced Lu Youpeng to arrange for someone to greet the guest at the road crossing and ask him to come again tomorrow.
Ma Linger said that she might need to prepare fifty chickens tomorrow.
Zhao Yulin laughed and said that with so many chickens killed every day, he was afraid that there wouldn’t be enough chickens in Yibin City for his sister to kill.
He said just twenty would be enough, it wouldn’t be tiring and he could eat them all if he couldn’t sell them all.
The next day, Zhulin Beggar Chicken’s business was so good that it closed early in the afternoon.
Ma Ling'er said eagerly that the number should be increased to at least seventy chickens.
Zhao Yulin disagreed and told Ma Linger that the business was good now, because those people came to eat fresh chickens. Starting tomorrow, he should insist on selling 24 chickens every day and post this news at the entrance of the official road so that those who come to eat chickens will know it early, and the business will last for a long time.
Ma Linger didn't understand why Zhao Yulin did this, but she believed what Zhao Yulin said and obediently followed the arrangements.
Zhao Yulin returned to the White Pagoda, and Li Chuan said that Master Jueming had been there and sent two people.
He saw two women coming down from the white tower, one in her forties and the other fifteen or sixteen. Knowing that it was his master's order, he followed Li Chuan and called them Aunt Li and Sister Wu.
Aunt Li made some polite remarks, and everyone became a family. Zhao Yulin told Aunt Li that if he needed anything, he could ask Li Chuan to go to the city to get it. Aunt Li politely said that she couldn't help her brother, and her daughter Wu Yuqi had practiced boxing, so she asked Yuqi to follow and protect Brother Yulin.
Zhao Yulin hesitated for a moment before accepting the offer. He was afraid that the mother and daughter would think they were useless and that it would be a psychological burden for them to eat and live for free.
After a few days, Jiuxiang Yulu, Wugufeng and Beggar's Chicken had spread throughout the city and became hot topics among the people. Women all wanted to own a bottle of Yulu, men wanted someone to treat them to Wugufeng, and everyone wanted to try Beggar's Chicken.
On this day, Ma Ling'er was busy in the kitchen when Duan Xiaolin, a waiter, came to her in a panic and told her that several diners in Linjiang Pavilion were cursing Brother Yulin.
Ma Linger was very alert. When she heard that someone dared to scold the man of her heart, she was angry at first, but soon calmed down. She asked Duan Xiaolin to serve tea and water calmly, write down what they said, and tell Brother Yulin later.
When the restaurant closed, Ma Linger immediately brought Duan Xiaolin to the White Pagoda and told Zhao Yulin what he had heard.
Only then did Zhao Yulin realize that it was Zhang Yanei, Wang Deyi and Xu Yanei, the son of the Xuzhou prefect, who went to have dinner.
Is Zhang Yanei having an affair with Xu Yanei, the son of the prefect of Xuzhou?
Could it be that their fathers, the prefect and Zhang Bapi, were in cahoots with each other?
That's hard to say.
Zhao Yulin praised Ma Ling'er for her alertness and said that the restaurant was a good place to gather information. He asked her to pay attention and ask the chefs to collect what they saw and heard while doing their business well, which might be useful to our labor club.
When Lei Man brought his men over for training, Zhao Yulin told him the information Ma Linger had collected and asked him to arrange a news team to find out whether Zhang Bapi and Prefect Xu had any contact and what they were doing.
Zhao Yulin was a little worried. Zhang Bapi was unscrupulous in his extortion and bribery, so he must have a powerful backer. If Prefect Xu was secretly in cahoots with him, he had to be careful.
At night, Chen Zhongshun came to the White Pagoda under the escort of Qu Zhengxiang, and Zhao Yulin immediately came down to sit with him. Now Chen Xiaomin was spreading the word about their relationship everywhere, and Chen Zhongshun had become his father-in-law, so he must give the girl some face.
Chen Zhongshun told him that the wine had been packaged and enough white jade cups had been made. Qu Zhengyang had already gone to Chengdu, and as the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, he planned to set off to Chengdu to sell wine.
Zhao Yulin nodded and said nothing.
He felt that the dock had become a hot spot for everyone's attention. Now that he was going to Chengdu to sell wine, he was worried that something unexpected would happen.
