This is a small but prosperous city.
The streets were bustling with people. When they reached the market, vendors in groups of three or four carried their loads and hawked their wares along the street. The rouge and powder sellers walked in front and behind the flower sellers, and the fan pendants and silk scarves sellers stood next to the daily groceries sellers. There were also many vendors selling scented drinks, seasonal fruits, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and candy figurines and toys. It was colorful and bustling.
The only oddity was that at first glance, the majority of the people in the city were men, with only two or three elderly women wandering around wearing veils.
The white shirt and the black shirt flashed across each other, and Liu Fuguang glanced at the light box on the street. On it were four black characters "Shiqianjiaodian". He smiled and said, "What a clever idea."
Yan Huan chuckled and said, "There are ways to deal with poverty."
Small shops have low operating costs, and unlike those grand restaurants, they can keep bright lights on outside all night, making the sign bright and attractive to customers from all directions. So they designed a light box. They pasted white paper on a square box frame, put a big candle inside, and then dipped it in ink to roughly write the name of the shop. When it gets dark, the light box becomes bright and particularly eye-catching.
Liu Fuguang hesitated for a moment, then opened the green curtain and entered the inner room.
The production of wine koji is usually tightly controlled by the government. Merchants with financial resources and a good backing can usually purchase the qualifications to brew and sell wine openly. Such stores are called official stores. Retail investors who are unable to purchase the qualifications can only wholesale wine to the official stores and earn a meager profit by reselling them.
To explore the local situation, it is most appropriate to come to a small shop like this one.
The market was full of life, and no one had the dejected look of the people of Wuping. Seeing the guests coming, the waiter came over respectfully and said, "What would you like to order, my dear guests?"
Liu Fuguang smiled and said, "Bring two pots of wine, please..."
He was still looking around and hesitating, but Yan Huan had already said, "Eighteen immortals, two pots of eighteen immortals."
He was unmoved as he flicked out a piece of gold cake that had been kneaded so hard that the emblem could not be seen, and said fluently: "One bowl of milk-blood mutton, three geese cooked with five-flavor apricot cheese, five quails cooked with eight-grain sauce, six steamed shads with wine, one bowl of lotus seed soup, and two boxes of creamy snow clouds to serve last. There is also a pot of boiling clouds on the side, which can be kept warm."
Liu Fuguang was unable to stop him and was heard to complain. Not only did the waiter's eyes stare blankly, the small foot shop was also silent.
After a moment of silence, Liu Fuguang's face felt a little hot, and he coughed lightly. The shopkeeper hurriedly rolled out from behind, kicked the waiter on the butt, and said excitedly: "Stupid thing, why don't you go to Gaoyang Tower and order the food that the young master wants one by one!"
The waiter picked up the gold cake, which was the size of a fingertip, and was about to rush out, but the shopkeeper grabbed his collar and pulled him back. After snatching the small and heavy gold cake from the waiter, the shopkeeper tore off the money bag on his waist and stuffed it into the waiter's pocket.
"go!"
Putting the gold back into his arms, the shopkeeper, with an attentive smile on his face, lingered around like a bee looking for honey, unwilling to leave.
"You are so generous and magnanimous! Where are you two from?"
"We are here for sightseeing," Liu Fuguang said with a smile, "and seeing how bustling and prosperous your precious place is, we decided to take a break for a few days and wander around."
As he spoke, he glanced at Yan Huan and frowned slightly.