Near noon, Zhang Jingyun was drinking tea in the private room on the second floor, watching Mei Niang finish taking care of Xiankelai's affairs. He said goodbye to her and left the city to return to Yunshan Villa.
Mei Niang said, "I have asked Cui Xi to take the recipe to the kitchen and teach them to make a hot pot dish. Let's have lunch and try their cooking skills, then we will go our separate ways. I will also go to my mother's house again to meet my mother, brother and sister-in-law before returning to the Hou Mansion."
Zhang Jingyun thought for a moment and said, "Next time, Lingxuzi and I will come together to taste your new menu. Just now, I saw you managing the restaurant's affairs in an organized and orderly manner, and you also understand the rules and taboos of the industry. You don't look like a newcomer to the industry. This is really rare. I don't have to worry about anything."
Mei Niang smiled modestly and said, "I don't really know anything. It's all thanks to Brother Cen. Don't you see that he wants to empty his mind about all the matters related to Xiankelai and hand them over to me? Since I have taken it over, I must do it with my heart! I don't just listen to his words. Although I haven't read all of them and can only glance through some of the big box of notebooks he wrote, they are all imprinted in my mind. Brother Cen told me that after more than ten years of hard work, Xiankelai is now at its most smooth and prosperous time. He was really unwilling to hand it over to outsiders. Mr. Zhang recommended me to come here, and he was willing to let go. I signed the name of Feng on the contract document, but I don't want to disappoint him. In the future, when I appear in Xiankelai, I will show this face to others, whether I dress up as a man or restore my female body. I will only use the name of Cen Mei, and the owner of Xiankelai will still be surnamed Cen!"
Zhang Jingyun said, "You really have some fate with Xiankelai. I met Brother Cen because I accidentally saved his youngest son's life. We have known each other for many years, but we are not close friends. However, he is willing to trust me... He also believes that you are a descendant of the Cen family, so he sold the restaurant to you at a discount. When I came here this morning, I asked someone who knows about it. If this Xiankelai was given to someone else, it would cost at least 700,000 or 800,000 taels of silver!"
Mei Niang said seriously: "Brother Cen gave me the celestial guest because of your face! Needless to say, this restaurant is owned by you and I. I will manage it, and at the end of the year, we will share the profits equally!"
Zhang Jingyun shook her head: "If I had this intention, I would have agreed to your request yesterday. I only have the credit for introducing you, nothing else matters. If you get Xiankeliai, you will have to spend time and effort to manage it and take care of it frequently. As the wife of a marquis, you live in seclusion in the marquis' house, how can you go out frequently?"
"Well, everything depends on human effort. There will always be a way!" Mei Niang said, "I am fortunate to have met Mr. Zhang and Lingxuzi, and I am grateful for Mr. Zhang's great help. If he doesn't want to be my partner, I will have no way to repay him!"
"You are very smart. You grabbed the opportunity yourself. I just gave you a hand. Don't take it to heart!"
Zhang Jingyun walked to the window facing the street, lifted the bamboo curtain to look out at the street, then put it down again, saying, "I have to go! Be careful in everything. Don't panic if Junying finds out. Married women always have dowries. It's not unusual for you to have Xiankelia. If you and your wife can live in harmony in the future, it will only benefit him, and I won't do anything to harm him. If he really divorces his wife and marries someone else and treats you badly, you and your son will have Xiankeliai so you won't be left without support."
Mei Niang frowned and looked at him anxiously: "I was too impatient and didn't think it through. I actually asked Mr. Zhang to sign the contract as an introducer. You are a friend of the Lord Hou. If he knows about this, will it be disadvantageous to you?"
Zhang Jingyun smiled slightly: "Don't worry, it's okay. We have been close friends for many years, but I don't want to cause any rift with him because of this matter."
Mei Niang sighed: "I'm sorry, I made things difficult for you!"
Zhang Jingyun looked at her and said, "Don't think too much, just do what you want to do. I'll go back now. Lingxuzi will leave the villa in the afternoon and come back in a few days."
He leaned forward slightly and bowed, then pushed open the door and walked out of the private room. Mei Niang followed him out and stood at the stairs, watching him walk down the stairs. His handsome figure soon disappeared from her sight.
Zhang Jingyun knew that Mei Niang was following him, but he did not look back and walked out of the gate of Xiankelai. Then a carriage came out from the corner of the street and stopped steadily in front of him. He looked back at the tall gate tower of Xiankelai, sighed slightly, lifted up his robe, got in the carriage and left.
When he first met Mei Niang, besides her unparalleled beauty, her intelligence, kindness and flexibility left a deep impression on him. At that time, he also felt that Xu Junying was a little cold to his wife and his tone was a little tough. She was gentle and graceful, but refused to give in. Facts proved that her insistence was right. The dozen or so beloved Xijiang Snow Orchids of the Third Grandma would prevent her from getting pregnant and giving birth to children for the rest of her life. As a wife who had no children, her husband's family would divorce her and she could not complain at all unless she had an imperial decree!
Mei Niang has the courage to defend the dignity and status of the first wife. Even her brother's wife is like this. If it is her turn, can she tolerate it
Having developed a good impression of her, he could not help but care about her, help her do what she wanted to do, even listen to her and not tell her secret to his good friend Xu Junying. Was this right
He had no evil thoughts and saw the boundary between Mei Niang and himself very clearly. Mei Niang was the wife of his best friend. She had a husband and a child. She was definitely not the one he was attracted to. He was willing to get close to her and help her for his special reasons. Mei Niang was continuing a dream of his. He had imagined countless times: If his mother had taken him away from the Jingguo Mansion, would she have had a different ending? At least she would not have died of depression at such a young age!
In the private room on the second floor of Xiankelai, Mei Niang was flipping through her notebook. Cui Xi and Cui Si came in with a few books in their hands. When they came up to her, Cui Xi replied to Mei Niang:
"Master..."
Cui Si chuckled. Mei Niang glanced at them and said, "That's how we should address each other. If you wear men's clothes, you are the master. There is no need to call you uncle. Uncle is recovering from his illness at home! I think it will be more convenient for you to wear women's clothes in the future. Let's call you Miss - Cen Meimei, Miss Cen!"
Cui Xi and Cui Si were stunned: It was obviously Qin Meiniang, so she should be called Miss Qin. How could there be a Miss Cen Meimei Cen out of nowhere
Mei Niang explained, "The previous owner of Xiankelai was surnamed Cen. He had run the restaurant for many years and didn't want to change his surname. Now that I have replaced him, I will manage the restaurant as a member of his clan. I just taught you two to get familiar with the restaurant environment and get to know all the staff. If I am not able to do so in the future, you two will follow my instructions and take care of the restaurant. Is lunch ready? Mr. Zhang, no need. The three of us will eat quickly because we still have to go to Qin's house."
Cui Xi said, "The dishes are ready. I was just about to ask you whether you want to place them in the outer room or bring them to the private room?"
Mei Niang thought for a moment and said, "Let's put them on the first floor. Cui Si can collect these books and lock them in the box. We will go downstairs and ask Shopkeeper Lu to come see me!"
Lu Xiangfeng, the shopkeeper of Xiankelai, is a steady man of about 26 or 27 years old, with a handsome appearance and a tall stature. He fled to Beijing at the age of 15 to escape famine. In the beginning, he did odd jobs like wiping tables and sweeping the floor in Xiankelai. Seeing that he was honest and kind, Cen Guiquan asked him to learn arithmetic and literacy from the purchasing managers. He was smart and learned quickly. Cen Guiquan began to instruct the old shopkeeper to cultivate him five years ago. The old shopkeeper was old and retired and returned to his hometown a year ago. Lu Xiangfeng passed the probation period and has been the shopkeeper with real power for more than half a year.
Mei Niang asked Manager Lu to sit down and have dinner with her. Manager Lu declined again and again before sitting down next to Cui Xi and Cui Si. He did not dare to really eat, but just moved his chopsticks slightly and then sat there obediently listening to Mei Niang talk.
Mei Niang said, "Shopkeeper Lu, you are welcome. This is the hot pot that we will soon launch in Xiankelai. There are many kinds of soup bases and seasonings, and a variety of dishes. Today's one is fish and mutton soup hot pot. How do you like it?"
Cui Xi stood up and served Shopkeeper Lu half a bowl of soup. Shopkeeper Lu took it with both hands, thanked him, took a sip from the spoon, and nodded repeatedly:
"It really tastes delicious. In fact, such a fresh soup is made with careful cooking. However, in cold weather, the good soup gets cold after being served on the table. Guests can only drink the first bowl of hot soup. If they want to drink it again, they have to put it back into the pot, which loses a lot of its freshness. My way of eating hot pot is very good. The dishes are all raw and cold. You can cook and eat whatever you want. It is fresh and delicious, and you can have hot soup at any time... I think this hot pot will be very popular once it is launched!"
Mei Niang smiled and said, "The cooks in the kitchen don't know how to cook everything yet. I'll ask Cui Xi to come back tomorrow and teach them all the methods and techniques."
Lu Xiangfeng raised his hand and bowed to Cui Xi: "Thank you, Miss Cui Xi!"
Cuixi looked at Meiniang, and Meiniang also looked at her, picked up the spoon to drink the soup, and Cuixi said, "Manager Lu, you should teach them to call me sister from now on, because the girl is upstairs!"
Lu Xiangfeng was not surprised. How could he not see that his new boss looked like a woman? Just now in the kitchen, several cooks and maids were discussing quietly:
"Did you see that? The new guy is so handsome and elegant, he looks like a girl!"
"How can you be a master? She is obviously a girl!"
"Look carefully, there are guys with pretty faces and bodies as slender as girls!"
"Bet fifty bucks! Do you dare to follow?"
Lu Xiangfeng walked in and started to scold him: "You don't want to work anymore, right? You dare to talk about your boss so carelessly, go away, go do what you need to do!"
Now that Cui Xi had made it clear, he was at a loss for words for a moment.
Mei Niang put down the soup bowl and said slowly: "The boss is a woman, Manager Lu feels embarrassed, right? If you have any ideas, just say it!"
Lu Xiangfeng stood up quickly and leaned forward to answer, "How dare we have any ideas? Before leaving, Master Cen told us personally: Although Xiankelai has changed its owner, the new owner is kind-hearted and will not send away the old and young here. You just need to treat the new owner as you treat me, and everything will be the same as before! We have been in Xiankelai for so many years, and we have already regarded this place as our home, and we don't want to go anywhere else! Master or girl, we are all masters, who are kind enough to take us in, and we should do our best to serve the master!"
Mei Niang nodded: "Manager Lu is a talent trained by Brother Cen, I trust him. Didn't Brother Cen tell you? The surname of Xiankelai changes when the owner changes, and the girl's surname is also Cen, called Cen Meimei. Because she is a girl, it is inconvenient for her to show up in public. In the future, all affairs of Xiankelai will be managed by Manager Lu. You can just use your talents and do it boldly. I will only listen to your reply from behind. If there is anything I need to tell you, I will send Cuixi or Cuisi to pass on the message and check the situation in the store for me. Occasionally, I will come to the store in person, and there must be a special carriage space for me in the backyard. Brother Cen likes to go through the front door, so I can go through the front door when I am wearing men's clothes. If I change into women's clothes, I have to come in through the backyard. Also, change a rest room for me. Brother Cen's room is too forward, and there are more customers coming and going!"
Lu Xiangfeng said, "I understand. I will do my best and not let you down. I will tell you about your parking space in a moment. As for the way you come in from the backyard, there is a special passage. It was originally... It was used exclusively by the women of the Cen family. It leads directly to a large independent room on the back of the third floor. Do you think you can rest there?"
"There's such a nice place? I didn't realize it. Who do you think lives there?"
Lu Xiangfeng lowered his head and said, "She is Master Cen's new concubine. We call her Second Grandma!"
"Where are the people?"
"We took them back to Liuzhou. The girl went to see them off this morning and must have seen the small boat behind the big ship. The grandmother did not allow her to go back home on the same boat."
Mei Niang was very depressed: the ancestor of the Cen family, a dedicated and capable man, was so fickle. He had a grandmother who gave birth to children for him, but he still had a mistress!
He said to Lu Xiangfeng, "Repaint that passage and that room with lime powder, and replace all the windows and doors with new ones, and that's it!"
Lu Xiangfeng lowered his head, as if he had done something wrong, his ears were red: "I will ask someone to do it right away!"
Mei Niang said, "Manager Lu, you passed the examination to become the manager. Brother Cen recommended you to me. Since I have retained you, it means that I trust and rely on you. If you are loyal to me, I will not let you work in vain. Have you ever married and started a family?"
Lu Xiangfeng replied: "I am an orphan, I have no roof over my head, and I dare not even think about getting married."
"You are older than me, so you don't have to call me younger. If you are a good man, then show me your ability. After the New Year, it is a new year. If you can manage the cyclamen twice as well as last year within one year, I will give you a share of dividends. If you manage it twice as well, then I will give you two shares. You are good at accounting, so you know whether the amount is considerable or not!"
Lu Xiangfeng's eyes sparkled, and he bowed to Mei Niang: "Thank you for your high regard, young lady. I will do my best to live up to your high expectations!"
Mei Niang nodded and said, "Let's work hard together! I'll entrust the Cyclamen to you. You should take good care of it as if it were your own home. God will not let down those who work hard, and there will be rewards! Is there anything else? If not, I'll go back!"
Lu Xiangfeng hesitated for a moment and said, "Mr. Cen originally ordered that we would be closed for one day today, and the notice was posted early in the morning. However, several old customers still came to hand in their invitations and asked us to hold a banquet to entertain them. I thought that the young lady had to inspect everything in the store today and might not be able to open for business, so I did not reply. There are a total of ten tables of banquets, all for dinner. The young lady is going back home now, and I think..."
"Shopkeeper Lu, you don't have to call me little." Mei Niang said, "I'll leave now. If I can make it in time, it will be convenient for others and beneficial to myself, so why not? Everything is up to Shopkeeper Lu!"
Lu Xiangfeng smiled and said, "I see. I'll ask them to prepare a car and send the girl back home!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.) (To be continued)