Chapter Forty-Eight: It All Started with Him

  Li Zongyun opened a Nanjing goods store in the capital city, relying on his relationship with the eunuch guarding Nanjing. Although he was successful in bribing officials and his business was going smoothly, every day was still filled with anxiety, because after all, he was just a commoner, and the connections in Nanjing were beyond his reach; with even the slightest disturbance, his family's livelihood could be ruined by others.

  So although he married a dozen or so concubines, his daily life was extravagant and luxurious, more enjoyable than some officials, but in his heart, he was always worried and fearful, every day with a frown on his face. This morning, the servants of the Li family had already cleaned the courtyard early.

  As usual, Li Zongyun would definitely take a walk to the shops on West Street at the first cockcrow every morning. Li Zongyun, who was almost fifty years old, had become quite stout due to years of living a life of luxury and leisure, and slowly made his way to the entrance.

  Standing on the stairs, I suddenly heard someone beside me shouting a greeting:

  "Li Yuanwai, you're up really early today, I pay my respects to you."

  This sudden shout startled Li Zongyun, usually at this time he got up and went out, the neighbors around him were all asleep, hurriedly looking in the direction of the sound, seeing five people on the left side of the door, a neatly dressed middle-aged scholar, a sturdy Jin Yiwei, and one person he did recognize, Wang Zhanggui from Hui Feng Lou on Tian Shui Jing Street, with two apprentices behind him carrying a large ceramic jar wrapped in thick quilts.

  That shout was made by Wang the shopkeeper, but Li Zongyun suddenly remembered that his steward had mentioned to him in a casual conversation more than ten days ago that Old Tang, the owner of Hui Feng Tower, wanted to sell the store. He hadn't paid attention to it at the time, could today's situation have something to do with that?

  Wang the shopkeeper didn't need to care, but the young and sturdy Brocade Guard in the team made him tremble with fear. No matter how rich or powerful he was, the Brocade Guard was someone he dared not provoke, fearing he couldn't avoid them even if he wanted to. Who would have thought that today he found a way to get rid of them?

  These people were Zhao Xiuciai, Zhang Liang and Wang Zhan'gu, as well as two apprentices from Hui Feng Lou. Not only was Li Zongyun stunned, but they also felt somewhat at a loss. After all, this was the first place, the starting point of everything arranged by Jiang Feng. It was natural to feel a little nervous on their first outing.

  The two of them stood frozen at the door, Zhang Liang was even more at a loss, his hands didn't know where to be placed, and he couldn't help but put them on the hilt of his sword. This made Li Zongyun, who was already feeling guilty standing on the steps, feel shocked and frightened, and she hurriedly smiled and bowed her head to ask:

  "Boss Wang, long time no see! You're up so early, what can I learn from you?"

  His words ended the awkward silence between the two sides, and Zhao Xiuzai on the other side reacted and hurriedly turned around to greet him. Two apprentices carefully opened the lid of the porcelain jar, scooped out a bowl of soup with a small green porcelain bowl, picked up a piece of food from the food box next to it with chopsticks and placed it on a small plate, and then put the small bowl and small plate on a red lacquered wooden tray.

  Zhao Xiūcái beamed with joy as he presented the plate in front of Li Zōngyún and said:

  "Our family's wine house will be open for business after the 15th, and we have specially prepared many delicious dishes. Today, following the instructions of our master from the east, I would like to offer you all a taste first."

  After hearing this explanation, Li Zongyun finally let out a sigh of relief in his heart, and then he slightly looked down on it. His own family had cooks, and there was nothing they couldn't eat on ordinary days. In his eyes, restaurants like Huifeng Tower were places that only peddlers and beggars would go to, and he looked down on them.

  But the other party smiled and approached him, while another brocade guard looked at him with a fierce expression. He sighed inwardly, picked up the spoon on the food plate, scooped it up gently and put it in his mouth, swallowing slowly. Zhang Liang was not fierce there, but tense, he was very nervous about others eating his master Jiang Feng's dishes, wondering what they would feel.

  The first spoonful of soup entered his mouth, and the old man was taken aback at first. Then he picked up the small bowl with his hand and slowly drank it down one mouthful at a time. He placed the bowl on the wooden tray, his mouth tightly closed, his throat moving, his expression unchanged, and it was impossible to tell what he thought of this thing.

  The food in the small dish didn't move, and Zhao Xiuzai's heart was also nervous, but his expression still had a smile on it, and he said:

  "Li Yuanwai, this is a notice, please come on the day of opening."

  Li Zongyun still didn't make a sound, his face expressionless as he picked up the notice and bowed to Zhao Xiucan and the others, then turned around and walked towards West Street on his own. His attendant, who was following behind him, was also confused and quickly caught up with him, taking the opportunity to snatch the food from the plate.

  Zhao Xiucan turned his head to look at Wang Zhanggui, then looked at Zhang Liang who was still standing there in a daze. He also didn't know what Li Zongyun meant. Zhang Liang's temper was more impatient, and he immediately wanted to chase after her to ask for an explanation. Just as he was about to do so, Zhao Xiucan stopped him. The smile on Zhao Xiucan's face had already disappeared, and he said:

  "Don't linger here, the master's orders are to visit all the wealthy households and shops in Nancheng within five days, let's go to the next one."

  That Wang boss over there is a figure who has been welcoming and sending people for many years, and he is a meticulous person when it comes to human relationships. However, with a thoughtful expression, he hesitated before answering Zhao Xiūcái:

  "It seems like Li Yuan's intention just now wasn't to refuse..."

  Li Zongyun walked briskly on the street, not saying a word, his facial expression seemed to be thinking about something. The long-following behind him didn't even have time to eat the food in his hand, half-walking and half-running to keep up. They arrived at the west end of the street just as the sun was rising, and the shops on the street began to remove their shutters, preparing for business.

  Li Zongyun suddenly stopped in his tracks, and the long-following servant almost bumped into him. The servant was surprised and wondered if his master had some kind of illness today. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Li Zongyun let out a long sigh from the front, saying with emotion:

  "How can there be such delicious soup?"

  Everyone collects and recommends for me, I will definitely code out the text that makes everyone satisfied, please rest assured, everyone's collection and recommendation is needed by me, strongly needed.

  Supplement: The number of words in each chapter is indeed a bit less, and it's because of two reasons: one is the coding problem, and the other is to make the plot more ups and downs.

  That's all, thank you everyone, thank you everyone.