Chapter 173 - Sold Ou (1/2)
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“Miss Yu, if it weren’t for Zhenxiu Restaurant’s Little Brother Qian, we wouldn’t have known about the opening of your store! When our old master heard about it, he insisted on coming to congratulate you in person! Official Fang, Miss Yu, congratulations ah!” Steward Yao cupped his hands together and grinned from ear to ear. People who didn’t know might think that he was the one who was opening a store!
“Second Sister, Second Sister!!” A crisp and familiar voice passed through the crowd and entered Xiaocao’s ears. A moment later, a small figure, who was dressed in a sea-blue colored student’s robe and had a scholar ribbon tied in his hair, pushed through the crowd and plunged into Yu Xiaocao’s embrace like a cannonball.
“Shitou? I thought it wasn’t a break today. What are you doing here? Did you skip class?” Yu Xiaocao hugged the little guy’s shoulders and asked in surprise.
Little Shitou pouted his mouth and got out of her embrace. With a wronged expression, he said, “Second Sister is falsely accusing me! Our headmaster heard about the opening of our shop, so he brought me and Senior Brother Yunxi over to congratulate the happy occasion. Then again, I’m also considered a partial owner of the shop, so why can’t I come?”
Yu Xiaocao looked in the direction that her younger brother came from. Sure enough, she saw Headmaster Yuan’s dashing and scholarly figure. Behind him was Yuan Yunxi, an elegant and handsome young man. The corner of Xiaocao’s eyes twitched—This old man was a classic example of two-faced person. He looked normal in front of people, but he was actually a complete foodie.
“Teacher Yuan, you’re here? Please come in!” Although Yu Xiaocao grumbled in her heart, she still warmly welcomed Headmaster Yuan.
Yuan Sinian stroked his beautiful beard and leisurely strolled inside. He said with a slight smile, “Xiaocao, I heard that the free fruit trays given out at Zhenxiu Restaurant uses your family’s watermelons? It’s sweet and juicy, and tastes very good. It’s a pity that Little Brat Zhou is too stingy. Each table only gets one plate…”
Yu Xiaocao almost couldn’t suppress the smile on her face. There was free watermelon to eat, but he was still dissatisfied that there wasn’t enough to eat! Surely, this was something that only Headmaster Yuan would do!
“Teacher Yuan, I guarantee that there will be more than enough watermelons for you to eat today!” Yu Xiaocao told her godfather to accompany Headmaster Yuan to the inner courtyard for a little rest. She was unprepared for the arrival of these important guests. Fortunately, she had bought some good tea for her godfather yesterday. Otherwise, it would be so embarrassing if she couldn’t even provide some drinks for the guests!
‘Oh right! When people come to congratulate the start of a business, it’s necessary to treat them to a meal!’ Yu Xiaocao greeted the guests with a smile as she moved closer to Zhou Zixu, who was helping to entertain the guests, and whispered, “Are there any private rooms available at your restaurant? I didn’t know that there would be so many guests today, so I didn’t prepare anything…”
Zhou Zixu also moved closer to her ear and whispered, “Rest assured! What’s our relationship? Your business is my business! I have already reserved it for you, and there would be enough room no matter how many guests come!”
Fortunately, the Yu Family didn’t know many people in the town. Apart from a table for the people from the yamen, who came to give Official Fang face, there was only Headmaster Yuan and several households who bought vegetables from their family. Most of those households just sent a steward over, and Patriarch Yao was the only one who personally came. Two private rooms were enough!
Headmaster Yuan and Patriarch Yao were arranged to sit at the same table as County Magistrate Wu, and Fang Zizhen would be responsible for entertaining them. As for those stewards, Li Li and Wu Yun personally entertained them.
For the opening of a small watermelon shop, they actually invited the parental official, Country Magistrate Wu, Headmaster Yuan of the renowned Rongxuan Academy, and several well-known figures in Tanggu Town. It instantly attracted a lot of people’s attention.
When the noble and prestigious Headmaster Yuan personally uncovered the red silk on the plaque, the gilded lettering on top—Tanggu Watermelon Shop—caused the corner of his lips to twitch. It was such a straightforward and easy to understand name.
There were a lot of people in the shop, and the rear courtyard was relatively simple. So Fang Zizhen took the guests, who came to congratulate them, to Zhenxiu Restaurant, which was located diagonally across from the store. The crowd of onlookers entered the shop out of curiosity. Yu Xiaocao, Li Li, and Wu Yun were so busy in the shop that they wished that they had three heads, six arms, and ten mouths!
Not many of the townspeople of the little town of Tanggu had seen watermelon before. At this time, there were a lot of people looking and asking questions, but there weren’t many people actually buying the watermelons!
Yu Xiaocao had already foreseen this situation. She took out several trays full of small pieces of watermelon and put them at the entrance of the shop. She shouted loudly, “Special event for the opening of Tanggu Watermelon Shop. All the customers who enter the shop can try a piece of watermelon free of charge! Everyone, please stand in line to avoid crowding. If you think it tastes good, you’re welcome to make a purchase. The bigger ones cost five taels, while the smaller ones are only three taels!”
Such a good thing like free food tasting had never happened in Tanggu Town before. Everyone in the shop just looked at one another and no one dared to be the first person to try.