"It's okay, just go ahead and gamble!" The voice came from the stairs above the counter. Hua Zhi looked up and was not surprised to see quite a few people watching the fun. The person who spoke was Liu Ruyi, whom she had met once at the dock.
She leaned towards Liu Ruyi, who smiled and bowed in return, "Miss, the name of this shop is wrong."
Hua Zhi responded good-temperedly, "I wonder what name would be appropriate?"
"How about the best fresh food in the world?"
"It's a bit too arrogant."
"No, no, no, I just don't have a better word to describe it." Liu Ruyi walked down two stairs and leaned on the handrail. Even doing this did not reduce his noble family's demeanor at all. "Miss, this shop must be open for a long time. My ancestor loved to drink soup. In the future, it will be another way to honor her."
Being kind to others is being kind to yourself. Hua Zhi's mind was filled with this sentence at this moment. She bowed and kept this kindness in mind.
Others could see that Liu Ruyi was obviously supporting her, and there were more and more voices of laughter and urging. The scholar was unable to go up or down for a while. Hua Zhi wanted to deal with him but did not hand him a ladder. She just waited quietly for his reply.
"This is too much, this is too much. This is not a place for business, this is clearly a place for bullying." As he said this, he was about to push the person away and walk out. The person he pushed was Yu Xiasheng. What's more, Yu Xiasheng was not a nerd who only knew how to study but not the world. He knew that he couldn't let him go like this, and his feet seemed to be rooted to the ground and he didn't move.
After this pause, Hua Zhi gave the order, "Master Xu, please ask this guest to go to the clinic. Please remember that we will prepare mushrooms and taro for vegetarians and will be ready for you to eat at any time."
Xu Biao immediately went forward with the guards who had been waiting there, and took the pale-faced scholar, seemingly politely but actually by force, to a clinic a few shops away. Hua Zhi had gone there before it opened, both to say hello and to inquire about the situation.
There was no more excitement, and some people returned to their seats one after another. Someone also asked, "Miss, how do you know that person doesn't dare to eat taro and mushrooms?"
"May I ask you, if you have these symptoms, would you rush to find trouble or go see a doctor first?"
"Of course I'll go see the doctor right away."
"What about him?"
The scholar who asked the question understood, "Yes, he looked like he knew he would be fine."
"Haiwei is the first shop in Beijing that sells fresh seafood. Apart from this notice, I have never advertised the possibility of allergies when eating seafood. In other words, very few people should know what seafood allergies are. But you all saw the performance of the customer just now. He was not panicked, and his performance was not good enough."
Liu Ruyi leaned over the stair railing and asked, "Miss, is there really anyone who can't eat this seafood?"
"Yes, I asked Doctor Chu before. Doctor Chu said that there are a few people who are born different from others. There are some things that they cannot touch, such as taro, mushrooms, fish, etc. This guest is probably one of them."
"Then how can the elder girl be so sure that he is?"
"Fraudulently cheated him."
Everyone: "..."
Hua Zhi held up a handkerchief to cover the corner of her mouth to hide her smile. "He was too confident, which means he knew his situation well. I made a guess, but I didn't expect to get it right."
Liu Ruyi gave a thumbs up, shook his head and went upstairs, but he couldn't hide the smile in his eyes.
Everyone dispersed one after another, and the Emperor and An Yi, who remained behind, were particularly eye-catching. They stood at the entrance of the second-floor stairs and looked out along the gap, just in time to see everything that happened downstairs.
Hua Zhi was not unaware of the inquiring gazes, but there were countless people watching her, openly or covertly, and this one was not one of them, so she didn't take it to heart and looked at Yu Xiasheng who had not left yet, "Sir, you are so righteous. I appreciate your kindness."
Yu Xiasheng shook his hands repeatedly, "Miss, this really makes me embarrassed."
Hua Zhi smiled and changed the subject: "Sir, do you think the food is still edible?"
"It tastes very authentic." Yu Xiasheng did not dare to offend the girl. Although he looked up, his eyes were cast downwards. "It is also a coincidence that I am from Chuyang, Jingzhou. It is close to the sea there. I have been used to eating these seafood since I was a child. I was worried... but I didn't expect that I would feel like I was back home. The girl knows food. The difference between seafood and other food is that seafood is fresh. The original taste is the most authentic. I ate very well."
Hua Zhi smiled. She loved to hear such words. "Sir, just come over when you have time. I can't guarantee anything else, but the taste won't change."
"Of course. I'm afraid I'll have to come here every day to look for food while I stay in the capital." Yu Xiasheng bowed and returned to his seat. Hua Zhi discovered that he didn't come alone. There were six people at that table.
"Send a few dishes to Mr. Yu's table that they didn't order. Don't put it on the bill."
Baoxia responded crisply and went to the kitchen with her skirt fluttering.
There was no one at the counter for the time being. Hua Zhi was about to go in when she was stopped. Nian Qiu went in first and winked at Liu Xiang, "Miss, I can do this here. You can go in and take a rest."
Hua Zhi did not insist. For her, there was no such thing as showing off in public. Didn't you see that she was showing off in public herself
The emperor watched the man leave until he disappeared, smiling meaningfully.
"Master, you..."
"Go back." The emperor came downstairs leisurely, stood at the counter, motioned to An Yi to hand over the sign, "Check out."
Nian Qiu was originally recording accounts in his account book. When he heard the voice, he subconsciously put it aside, closed it, stood up to greet him, but he didn't notice that the account book hit the wooden sign on the counter and opened again.
She took the sign and turned to the corresponding bill to calculate the account. The emperor was tall and noticed her movements. His eyes fell on the account book. He moved to the side without leaving a trace. Now he could see it more clearly. This account book was indeed different from the ones he had seen before.
"Just so you know, minus the decimals, the total is twenty-four taels."
“It’s not expensive.”
When the emperor smiled, he looked kind, so Nian Qiu smiled and said, "It was originally forty-eight taels, and half price is this."
An Yi handed over the silver, and the emperor asked again, "Even forty-eight taels is not expensive. It must be difficult to get these things from the south."
"Yes, in order to make the seafood as fresh as possible, the ship carried a lot of seawater. Only seawater can sustain things in the sea."
If the seawater carries too much cargo, there will naturally be less cargo. The emperor nodded in understanding, "That's a thoughtful thing indeed."
"It's worth it to hear such words from a customer." Nian Qiu handed over the change.
"You are rewarded." The emperor waved his hand and turned to walk out. When he was out of the door, the smile on his face remained, but his tone was light, "Go."
"Yes." An Yi helped the emperor get on the carriage, watched the carriage slowly leave, turned around and looked at the word "seafood", a slightly complicated expression appeared on his cold face.
PS: The next chapter is about a big plot, but I haven’t gotten into the mood to write it. I’m still hesitating whether to overhaul it or rewrite it. So, don’t wait. Don’t worry, this chapter will be supplemented and it won’t affect the two updates tomorrow.