The young master of the city lord's family did not come up to cause trouble for her, and Hao Cheng temporarily put the matter aside. After resting for a while, he went to the street to look for a house. The laws for renting a house in Mingzhou City were far more complete than those in a small place like Xinghua Village.
Moreover, she only had a few hundred taels of silver, which was not enough to buy a suitable house in such a prosperous city. Living in an inn for a long time was not cost-effective. She looked for several places and almost broke her legs before she finally found her temporary residence.
It was a house with a large courtyard. Because it was close to the market, the location was good, and the house was not bad, the price was relatively high. It cost her a hundred taels of silver to rent it for just one year.
Since you are going to do business, you have to invest money at the beginning. Moreover, the lease contract has been transferred to the government office and the formalities have been completed, so you don't have to worry about the landlord raising the rent at the last minute, and you don't have to worry about being evicted.
Hao Cheng gritted her teeth and paid the full amount in one go. After a few days of moving, she decided to cancel her room at the inn. The innkeeper was a little reluctant at first and refused to return Hao Cheng's money.
Hao Cheng said, "The shopkeeper saw it before. Although I am a foreigner, I am not afraid of offending people. What's more, I have already offended the young master of the city lord's family. If you don't return the money, I will stay here and spread the word that this is a black-hearted inn that swallows up the guests' money and makes the inn unstable. It will not benefit either of us."
To deal with people like the shopkeeper, the most effective way is to curse. But Hao Cheng is a scholar, so of course he can't get mad at him. There is not a single dirty word in this remark, but it is half reasonable and half coercive.
She stayed in the inn for so long that the innkeeper complained for a while, but he finally returned her money. Although he only returned ten taels of silver, it was enough to buy rice and cook for her own family, which was enough for her to live on for three months.
The scene of her and the shopkeeper's verbal fight was seen by the woman in the corner. As soon as Hao Cheng left, the latter followed.
She did a great job of following him, and because she was dressed elegantly and looked righteous, Hao Cheng occasionally turned his head and saw her, but he didn't take it too seriously.
After all, this lady is wearing all kinds of luxurious things. I guess the jade pendant around her waist is worth all her belongings. There are many rich people near the place she rented, so maybe they just came here for the trip.
Even so, she was still careful and did not walk all the way back to her residence. Instead, she turned a corner, took a smaller path, and walked to another place.
As expected, the woman followed him all the way, but in front of a very luxurious mansion, Hao Cheng raised his head and glanced at the plaque on the mansion. There were two huge words on it: Li Mansion.
The woman stopped and knocked on the vermilion door. A moment later, two maids opened the door and greeted her respectfully.
It seemed that she was indeed overthinking. After Hao Cheng waited for the woman to be welcomed in, he turned out of the alley and returned along the same route. He went to the market to purchase a batch of kitchen utensils and food. He negotiated with the store owners and asked them to deliver these things to where she lived. He then went to the blacksmith shop to urge the progress of the stove and pot she wanted.
The status of a chef in Jin State was not high, but the businessmen were highly respected. As a scholar, if she went to a restaurant to cook soup, she would be looked down upon. But to make a living, she opened her own shop, which was a model of self-reliance.
Although they were both cooking for others, their reputations were very different. Hao Cheng couldn't afford to open a big shop in this place with the remaining money she had, and she had investigated it.
There are a lot of noodles in Mingzhou City, and there are all kinds of snacks, especially steamed buns, and soup dumplings are even more amazing. Many famous steamed bun shops already have loyal customers. Although steamed buns are not as popular as steamed buns, she is not going to compete with those people for business.
Fortunately, there are not many people making pancakes here, and there are few varieties. When Hao Cheng was studying, there were a circle of food stalls outside the university town, Tujia sauce pancakes, Wu Dalang pancakes, egg pancakes and various pancakes.
All kinds of cakes have a fixed customer base, so as long as she makes something that is not available here, she is guaranteed to attract customers.
Hao Cheng was planning her own money-making plan. The woman who had followed her all the way walked out of the gate of Li's mansion just a few minutes after she left.
This time she was more alert and careful, and followed Hao Cheng to the house that Hao Cheng rented without him noticing.
After waiting for Hao Cheng to open the door and go in, she turned a corner and entered the city lord's mansion across an alley from here. As soon as she entered, someone came up to her and asked, "What's going on? What do people think of what happened?"
The woman said, "I followed her all the way. She was quite alert and looked decent, but she was too thin and a little short."
She gestured and added, "It's only as tall as my shoulder, and it looks so fragile. I don't think it can withstand a whip from my brother."
The middle-aged man who asked her the question frowned his delicate eyebrows. The young woman next to him who looked like the girl said, "That's better than those women you showed me in the barracks. I think the scholar is good. The scholar will give in to me and won't fight with him."
The man also agreed: "I think your second sister is right. The women in the military camp are strong, but they like gentle and considerate men. Our Xiaoyuer will definitely not get along with them."
"But didn't my brother say that those women couldn't even beat him, and he didn't want that kind of useless wife."
Qiao Mu, Qiao Yu's second sister, rolled her eyes and said, "The soldiers in your barracks were defeated by our brother in three moves. Although he loves his brother, one person with high martial arts ability is enough in the family. If you really want to find a woman like Xiao Yu'er to be his wife, his family will overturn the house every other day."
"Then we have to show it to Xiao Yu'er. What if he is not happy?"
The man who looked 50% like Qiao Yu said, "Didn't Xiao Yuer say he met someone interesting when he came back a few days ago? It's rare that he finds a woman interesting, and one who is about his age. How can we miss such a good opportunity? Xiao Yuer is not young anymore, if he doesn't worry about this kind of thing, we naturally have to worry about it for him."
As the elder, he was the one who made the final decision: "Qiao Shu has already attracted people's attention. Qiao Mu, you are smart. Move to the vicinity of that woman from today. We have a house there anyway. You must observe carefully. If it is suitable, create an opportunity for Xiao Yuer to be with her! Keep this a secret from your brother first. Do you hear me?"
Qiao Mu patted his father's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Dad. I promise to complete the task beautifully!"
Hao Cheng, who was kneading dough at home, suddenly sneezed several times in succession. She probably caught a cold. She went to put on more clothes first. She still had to make snacks for today, and tomorrow she had to visit the neighbors to build good relationships.