Chapter 358 - Eight-year-old County Official (1/2)
On the fourth day of the store’s opening, the braised food store’s dishes were restored to their original prices. After these few days of free taste-testing and half-price promotions, The Yu’s Braised Food Shop had successfully established its reputation in the city.
The fragrance of roasted chicken had seeped into the bones, and the smoked chicken had charred skin with a crunchy texture and tender meat. The roasted duck was delicious yet not greasy, while the white-skinned salted duck was tender and delectable. The appetizing smoked sausages also held its own unique flavor. There were also all types of braised meat that burst with flavor…and among them, the braised pig’s head meat that was the most popular dish of all.
The Yu’s Braised Food Shop offered a variety of flavorsome dishes. If Zhenxiu Restaurant was the food heaven for the wealthy, then The Yu’s Braised Food Shop would be the affordable equivalent. The middle-class families in the prefectural city would head over to the braised food store once in a few days to take away a braised meat dish to satisfy their own cravings. When they had guests around, or if it was during festivities, even the poorer folk would grit their teeth and buy a braised dish home for appearance’s sake. The more prestigious families of the prefectural city would also send their manservants to queue up for the store’s limited dishes.
‘The Yu’s’ roasted duck, roasted chicken and salted duck were cheaper, and definitely did not lose to Zhenxiu Restaurant in terms of taste and flavor. The store’s smoked poultry, rabbit and the likes were unique in flavor, and could not be found in even Zhenxiu Restaurant. Unfortunately, these dishes were sold in limited quantities—only ten of each daily. Moreover, it was based on a first come, first served basis; no reservation allowed.
Those self-proclaimed wealthy foodies naturally would not miss these delicacies, so they sent their servants to queue since the middle of the night. They were determined to get their hands on a dish to sate their cravings. There was no shortage of wealthy people in even the small Tanggu Town, not to mention such a big place as the prefectural city.
As the prefectural city was not lacking in wealthy people but there was a limited number of dishes, the demand was naturally higher than the supply. This situation caused people to line up in front of the store earlier and earlier, until eventually there were those that brought their blankets and camped in front of ‘The Yu’s’ closed doors just as soon as the sky turned dark. These people became a sight to see in front of the shop’s doors, and they never stopped coming even on rainy and snowy days.
Once they had a chance to taste The Yu’s Braised Food Store’s braised dishes, those wealthy children, who thought that eating pork was undignified, would also secretly send a lesser-known servant to queue up in front of ‘The Yu’s’ doors to buy some of the limited quantity dishes along with some braised dishes like braised meat, pig’s trotters and pig’s head. Then they would enjoy them in secret.
The sales of the Yu Family’s braised meat were so good that simply a pig a day would not suffice the demand. Between the period of time before and after the Mid-Autumn Festival, they slaughtered two pigs a day, but their braised meat would still be sold out even before the evening arrived. The Yu Family’s pig farm housed more than a hundred pigs, but they would probably run out of pigs around New Year’s. As such, Liu Hu and his son traveled to disaster-stricken villages and towns to buy and secure live pigs. They offered a reasonable price and gave hope of a long-term partnership, so many people were willing to sell their pigs to them.
The weather slowly turned colder. Time passed unknowingly for the busy Yu Family until it was suddenly the day of the announcement of the results for the college examination. After finishing his examination, Little Shitou had rushed back in time to help his family out during the braised food store’s grand opening, but once the business had stabilized, Xiaocao had rushed him back to the academy to continue his studies. Becoming a county official was not Little Shitou’s ultimate goal—it was to display his talent at the metropolitan and palace examinations!
Once the results of the college examination was announced, there would be specialized people acting as the informant who would travel to each village and town to spread the news. After tha, the local county yamen would then carry the good news to the associated families. For this college examination, there were a total of 13 county officials in Tanggu Town. Among them, two were from Dongshan Village—Qian Wen and Yu Fan! As for Xiaocao’s younger uncle, he still did not become county official as Madam Zhang had wished because he had been eliminated from the college examination at its second stage.
Only Yu Xiaocao’s oldest aunt’s family was left to care for the braised food store during the time before and after the announcement of the results, as Yu Hai and Xiaocao had returned to Dongshan Village to await the news. The prefectural magistrate had already sent a person to hint to them about Little Shitou’s results beforehand, but on the day of the announcement, the whole family still eagerly waited for the results.
The person who came to share the news was the head bailiff of the county yamen. Usually, a task like this would be handled by a normal bailiff, but among the examinees, there was a person from the Yu Family. Who were the Yu Family? They were one of the few in Tanggu Town that could speak directly to Royal Prince Yang, the master of the town. So even if they were of lowly birth, the county magistrate would still have to be courteous with them.
Aside from the fact that he was extremely capable, the reason Head Bailiff Yue could still maintain his position even after County Magistrate Wu had left was mainly because he was a meticulous person. He eagerly volunteered to relay the news to Dongshan Village. When he arrived at the village, a crowd of children immediately surrounded him, asking about the results.
Once they knew that Yu Family’s eight-year-old son Little Shitou was a county official, the crowd of children ran towards the Yu Family’s residence in order to be the first person to relay the good news.
The Yu Family had grown in popularity in these past few years. They started a piggery this year, and no one knew what they fed their pigs, but their piglets grew exceedingly fast and were already ready for slaughter after just merely half a year. There were also rumors going on about how the Yu Family’s braised food store was booming with business in the prefectural city. How they would slaughter five or six pigs every other day to be transported over. Just by this, it was not hard to imagine how successful the sales were. Liu Shuanzhu and his family also earned a lot from the Yu Family’s business as they no longer had to worry about not being able to sell their chickens. They were also offered a price that was no less than that of Zhenxiu Restaurant’s offer.
The Yu Family members were not cheapskates, so naturally, they would not be stingy with the people who relayed the good news.