At dawn, the rooster steps forward, its tail feathers spread out, and it flaps its wings to fly up to the treetops. Facing the pale dawn in the eastern sky, it sings loudly, shouting away the stars and waking up the rising sun of the day.
Qihua Gate faces east, facing the rising sun and welcoming the first ray of sunshine in the capital.
When the first rays of morning light appeared, two teams of armored soldiers marched into the city gate carved with ears of grain and opened the city gate.
With the hustle and bustle of traffic and people jostling each other, Qihuamen, which had been silent all night, became full of life again.
The Inner City River also began to become busy. Cargo ships loaded with grain, vegetables, fruits, meat and other goods were rowed to the dock, unloaded by porters, and then loaded onto trucks and sent to various morning markets in the capital, and then served on the dining tables of thousands of households in the capital.
The dock was bustling with people, and the calls of porters and boatmen could be heard one after another. The entire dock became the busiest place in Qihuamen.
There were more people on the street in front of the pier.
There are aunties and grandmas who get up early to go out to buy groceries, maids and servants who buy food, small families who take their whole family out for breakfast, old men who take bird cages for a walk, and men who come home after being drunk all night...
The shops also opened their doors early to welcome the arrival of the sponsors.
Princess Ning'an's Delicious House is like this. It opens the store early in the morning and displays fragrant pastries.
Princess Ning'an was determined to run the pastry shop successfully, make a lot of money, and impress her brother the emperor.
I don't want to rent it out, especially to that exhibitionist named Zhu. No way!
I want to use this store to prove myself, Princess Ning An thought as she sat in the store and clenched her fists.
"We're selling cakes. Delicious cakes." Two palace maids, dressed in ordinary maid clothes, were outside soliciting customers.
However, the old customers who were familiar with this street just glanced at the store and left without looking back.
They knew that the prices in this shop were too high, the pastries were much more expensive than the meat, and they couldn't afford it.
However, the palace maids are beautiful and have sweet voices, and the cakes are fragrant, so they are still attractive.
Several curious passers-by were attracted, but when they asked the price, they all shook their heads and walked away.
Early in the morning, only one bag of cakes was sold, and it was the cheapest osmanthus cake in the shop.
"Selling cakes, delicious cakes, fragrant, sweet, crispy and soft." Affected by the poor performance, the two palace maids' shouting voices became weak.
It’s not their fault. They’ve been hawking since early morning and their throats are dry, but it’s no use at all. How can they have the strength to fight
"Are you going to rebel? I saw you guys didn't eat less this morning. Why are your voices so low? Do you have any grievances against me?" Princess Ning'an, who had been frustrated at the start of her mission, had no place to vent her anger. When she heard the weak voices of the two little palace maids, she seemed to have found a breakthrough and vented her anger all at once.
The two little palace maids were frightened like quails. They lowered their heads and kept apologizing for their mistakes. The voices behind them became much louder.
But obviously it didn't work.
Few people coming and going stop in front of the store. Instead, many people become interested in a store that is being renovated opposite the pastry shop. They stop to watch, and some even tend to gather around to watch.
“What’s going on? What’s so good about renovating a shabby shop that has been closed for more than half a month…” Princess Ning An sat in the pastry shop, glanced at the shop opposite that was being renovated, and curled her lips in dissatisfaction.
Princess Ning'an knew this shop. It used to be a pharmacy, but business was very bad and it closed down half a month ago.
I heard that this store has bad feng shui.
I'm serious, this store seems to be unlucky. Including this time, this store has changed owners three times in the past two years. Every time the owner changes, the business changes, from a cloth store to a grocery store to a drug store. However, no matter who the owner is or what the business becomes, this store always loses money and closes down.
So, how ignorant are these people? They ignore the pastries made by the imperial chef and are actually interested in a shop that is destined to close down soon? !
It's really unreasonable.
Humph, these are pastries made by the imperial chef. If it weren’t for this princess, you wouldn’t be blessed with this even if you burned incense for eight lifetimes.
Princess Ning'an became indignant.
Compared to the deserted pastry shop, the shop opposite is obviously much more lively. It’s not that the business is booming, but that there are more people.
Normally, people like to watch the fun, but they don’t watch everything. What’s so good about the decoration of a store
But the decoration of this store is an exception. Its decoration style is very different from that of the stores on this street.
From the outside, its windows are twice as big as those of other shops, and its shape is also different from other shops, very simple but very coordinated, and very comfortable to look at. Looking inside, its interior is also painted in a clean and bright beige color, supplemented by bright red, which is a sharp contrast and very eye-catching.
Two carpenters in the store were busy laying wooden floors.
There were three other carpenters doing carpentry work outside the store. They had already made a set of finished tables and chairs. The tables and chairs were very different from the commonly used tables and chairs. They were simple, but had a novel shape. They looked very comfortable, making people want to sit on them.
From the inside to the outside, the modern and simple decoration style gives a strong impact to the onlookers.
This shop is one of the shops that Baozi, the little maid, mentioned was acquired by Li Shu. After Baozi, the little maid, went back and repeated what Li Shu said, Li Shu waved her hand, and this shop became the rice field for Zhu Ping'an to experiment with the tertiary industry - Zhu Ji Fast Food.
The modern and simple decoration style of Zhuji Fast Food is naturally the work of Zhu Pingan.
Early this morning, Zhu Pingan brought Liu Mu, Liu Dadao, Liu Dachui and six others to the store and arranged for the carpenters and masons who had been arranged yesterday to start the decoration. In order to highlight the characteristics of Zhu's fast food restaurant, Zhu Pingan adopted the common style of modern fast food restaurants - modern simple style.
This style is common in modern times, but it is unique in Daming. Although the decoration has just begun, this decoration style has already attracted the attention of many people.
"Hey, Princess, isn't that the guy across the street the one who came to rent the room yesterday?"
When Zhu Ping'an walked out of the shop to check the outdoor decoration, he was discovered by a palace maid who was soliciting business from the pastry shop opposite. She opened her mouth in surprise and pointed at Zhu Ping'an to report to Princess Ning'an.
"Huh? It's really that exhibitionist?!"
Upon hearing this, Princess Ning'an looked in the direction pointed by the palace maid and immediately recognized Zhu Ping'an.
It's true that enemies meet in a narrow road!
As soon as she saw Zhu Ping'an, Princess Ning'an couldn't help but think of the poem "I'm Stupid" that Zhu Ping'an gave her. She was about to become angry, her pretty face suddenly turned ashen, and her eyes were as red as a rabbit.
How dare you show up?!
I really wanted to spit in Zhu Ping'an's face, then point at his nose and scold him, and then let the guards who were protecting him secretly give Zhu Ping'an a severe lesson.
However, thinking of the instructions given by Concubine Du and her brother yesterday, Princess Ning'an had no choice but to endure it.