"I am old, and I don't have the competitive spirit anymore. I didn't expect that you, at such a young age, could hold back! Yingying even cursed Old Man Jiang in the streets of Beijing. I thought you were going to ridicule him for retiring and occupying an entire courtyard in Luhe Posthouse. What a grand show."
"When Yingying scolded him, he was still the Prime Minister, a senior official in the court. Others might have said she was audacious, but there might have been people secretly applauding her, praising her for being upright and fearless of power. But if I was dissatisfied and made trouble at the post station today, others would have accused me of taking advantage of the teacher's power to bully this old official who had just retired and returned home."
Zhang Shou, who left as soon as he said he would, had already helped Ge Yong get off the car in front of an inn with a flag of a century-old wine shop. The shopkeeper who came out to greet them was full of fear and excitement. He had obviously learned about their identities from Xiao Huasheng who had arrived earlier. His hands were stretched in the air, as if he wanted to help Ge Yong, but he didn't dare.
As a result, Ge Yong took it for granted and directly put his right hand on the shopkeeper's hand. Then he said in a loud voice: "Is this the century-old shop where Yingying said the copper pot fish is delicious?"
Zhang Shou glanced at Ah Liu who was watching his nose and heart, and thought that the claim in front of the postmaster that it was an old shop introduced by Zhu Ying was just a way to poke Jiang Ge Lao's heart. In fact, Zhu Ying's only trip out of the capital was to chase him to Cangzhou in a hurry. How could she have time to stop in Tongzhou to taste the food? This place was introduced by Ah Liu.
It was really hard for this guy to leave Beijing to see Zhang Chen off, but ended up going to Cangzhou. After eating just two bites of food, he discovered the problematic old salted fish. On the way back, he found a century-old restaurant in Tongzhou that claimed the food was delicious!
He wanted to leave the opportunity to explain to the shopkeeper, but when he saw the man carefully holding Ge Yong's arm, as if it was a fragile glass man, he didn't dare to speak. He could only cough and said, "It should be this century-old shop that is known for its clean inns, clean bedding, and delicious food. I just hope I won't let the teacher down."
Seeing that Ge Yong seemed to be very happy, the shopkeeper said boldly, "Our shop has indeed been opened since the reign of Emperor Taizu, and has been passed down for six generations. The copper pot fish depends on fate, because it is only delicious when the fish is delivered alive and killed and cooked. Today, a live fish happened to be delivered, and you, old master, are lucky to have it. As for copper pot chicken, copper pot mutton and the like, they have always been available."
He glanced at Ge Yong fearfully, then looked at Zhang Shou, and then said hesitantly: "As for the rooms, they will be clean and tidy, and I guarantee you will be satisfied. But... there are 17 or 18 rooms in the inn, but six of them are already occupied. If you want to ask the guests to stay somewhere else..."
Before he could finish his words, Ge Yong laughed cheerfully and said, "Why do you want to chase the guests away? They are staying in the hotel, and so am I. How can you chase them away just because I am staying in the hotel?" He had already entered the store while he was talking, and looked up and down at the two-story store for a while, then nodded happily and said, "It's a good place, just keep the remaining empty rooms for us."