Chapter 29: Trouble Comes Again

  Good intentions really have good rewards. However, it was just that I couldn't bear to watch the elderly do heavy work, so I lent a hand to help out, and unexpectedly solved many of my own difficulties.

  Thinking that the old man who often chats with him is his boss's father, Wang Tong was still a bit excited and thought about how to get closer on the way back. After thinking for half a day, he came to the conclusion that if he deliberately tried to do so, it would definitely have the opposite effect, so it's better to just act as usual.

  The business of Meituan is indeed different from other stores. The closer to the New Year, the better the business, and now it's cooking since dawn.

  On the twenty-first day of the twelfth lunar month, Wang Tong made a deal with all the apprentices in the shop. If they worked hard until the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, each person would get an additional 100 coins and 5 more catties of meat.

  Because the Imperial City is at its busiest time, eunuchs, palace maids and even guards are busy with their feet not touching the ground, preparing various supplies and rituals. Often people can't rest all night, but the meals prepared by the Shangshan Supervisory Office of the Imperial Kitchen are still served at the usual hour, and the quality has even decreased due to the busyness.

  I'm so tired I'm about to die, my stomach is growling with emptiness, and there's no delicious hot food to be found. How can anyone bear this? At this time of day, all the shops outside are closed, let alone open for business at such an early hour.

  The Delicious Pavilion was considerate, and after the first few eunuchs made a proposal, the Delicious Pavilion immediately advanced its business hours to early Qing Dynasty.

  As soon as the gate of the Imperial City opens in the morning, eunuchs and guards with growling stomachs come to Meishan Hall. The vast Forbidden City is also limited to people from this southern area who have the conditions to enjoy it. According to those who came to eat, others on duty elsewhere have already received the news and are willing to walk a little further to come over and eat.

  The cold wind is biting, my stomach is growling with hunger, I'm exhausted and worn out. Being able to come to the restaurant to drink a bowl of hot soup and eat some decent food is truly comforting.

  Wang Tong was also straightforward and directly used mutton bones to make the soup. For those who drank the soup in the palace, he added a little more pepper, which warmed their hearts even more.

  It's worth noting that these peppercorns were all brought back by merchants from overseas, and the prices are frighteningly high. But with this pepper added for seasoning, the flavor of the mutton bone soup directly upgraded a level, becoming even more fragrant and rich.

  The store is not expanding, but the people who have been recruited are being put to good use. Currently, they can barely cope with two shifts a day. Moreover, as Chinese New Year approaches, it's necessary to travel further distances to purchase various materials, and sometimes even leave the city to buy them, which requires more manpower.

  Wang Tong still didn't know he was the chief flag, before dawn he was in the store watching over the apprentices as they prepared, constantly thinking about whether to go help with the sweeping at Tian Baihu's gate.

  In the end, I endured and gave up. After all, I had just discovered Tian Bo's identity yesterday, and it was only one day ago that I went there for more than ten days. If I were to rush over again today with such eagerness, it would be too obvious and might even provoke resentment.

  In the morning, there were many guests in the store. Many eunuchs and guards who had been busy all night laughed and chatted, after finishing this meal they would go back to sleep, it wouldn't be until around the seventh day of the first month that they could take a break, then they would be busy with the Lantern Festival again.

  Zhang Shiqiang has gone back to rest, Ma Widow won't be here until this afternoon, the one looking after the shop is Wang Tong. He had just seen off a group of customers when he heard someone outside shouting loudly:

  "Rabbit kid, you're not on duty in the palace, yet you come out and cause trouble instead of rolling back home to our place!!"

  "Uncle, it's this delicious restaurant."

  Upon hearing the shrill voice outside, Wang Tong was startled. After hearing another sentence, he felt something was amiss. The voice belonged to Liu Xinyong, the chief flag bearer.

  Those eunuchs in green and blue robes who were still eating in the restaurant looked at each other, some put down their bowls and left, while others slammed their bowls and plates on the table and scolded as they settled the bill and left.

  That sharp voice sounds like a eunuch, could it be that Liu Xinyong has found a powerful backer? It's not uncommon for people outside the palace to seek protection by making a eunuch with power and status their godfather.

  However, Liu Xinyong had a grudge against him and this time he came with a powerful backer, fearing trouble. But as he watched the low-ranking officials leave one by one, Wang Tong couldn't think of any way to respond.

  Tian Baohu's old father was the only one he knew, but facing the eunuchs in the palace, Tian Baohu, a hundred households of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was really nothing. Just as he was thinking about this, the curtain was lifted and a eunuch wearing a crimson robe with a round collar swaggered in, followed by General Liu Xinyong.

  Behind the eunuch were three junior eunuchs, quite a sight to behold. However, when Wang Tong saw the red-robed eunuch's appearance, he was taken aback. Looking at his pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks, he resembled Liu Xinyong's father.

  The eunuch entered the restaurant and saw the little eunuch who had not had time to leave, directly pointing at him and scolding.

  "What's going on inside is so busy, you bunch of good-for-nothing rabbits are messing around here, get out of my house, scram!!"

  The situation outside the store was not visible, but these little eunuchs inside the store seemed to be very afraid of this eunuch. The internal officials wore colored clothes according to their ranks, with high-ranking officials wearing crimson and low-ranking miscellaneous officials wearing blue or green, which is equivalent to the officials and civilians outside, and there's no comparison at all.

  The eunuchs in the store immediately cleaned up, and the guards were few in number. However, under the gaze of that eunuch, they also reluctantly settled their bills and left.

  The guys at the restaurant were as silent as cicadas in winter, everyone in the capital knew that this official couldn't be offended. It seemed that this red-robed official was a high-ranking figure and had every intention of making an example out of someone. Who knows if the boss could handle it? Some of the more timid ones had already run out the back door, they'd rather not get paid than stir up trouble.

  The people in the shop left cleanly. The eunuch, Dama Jin Dao, sat on a chair at the door, and Liu Xinyong and three small eunuchs stood behind him.

  Seeing his opponent's fierce appearance, Wang Tong furrowed his brow and smiled as he stepped forward with a bowing fist to ask:

  "Excuse me, sir, what can I get for you here in our humble shop?"

  Let's just assume he came for dinner. He asked this, and the first to speak was Liu Xinyong, who shouted loudly, pointing at Wang Tong and scolding him:

  "You scoundrel! Have you no sense of propriety? How dare you be so presumptuous in front of Master Hu, kneel down and apologize at once!!"

  Wang Tong bowed his fist and bent down slightly, but did not kneel. Since the other party had already started a fight, this matter could not be resolved by just apologizing. It was better to put on a tough front.

  Seeing Wang Tong like this, the eunuch slapped his hand heavily on the table and pointed at Wang Tong, shouting angrily:

  "You little brat, you've committed a grave offense against the king, and yet you still dare to be so arrogant. Do you want to be hacked to pieces and have your bones crushed to ashes?!"

  A loud "bang" sound, the people in the house looked over and found a porter holding a wooden basin, with his tool falling directly to the ground.