Chapter Fifty-two Borrowing Stir-frying to Stir-fry

  On the fifth day, Jiang Feng arrived early at Hui Feng Building and entered the small kitchen inside. Baopuzi was carefully pouring the filtered old soup into a ceramic jar, while two young men on the side were sorting out the cold dishes made earlier onto small plates.

  These people were all focused on their work, Jiang Feng came in and just greeted them with a nod before continuing to work. Zhang Liang next to him was holding a plate and eating with gusto, savoring the food. When he saw Master coming in, he hastily swallowed his food, almost choking.

  Zhang Liang stood up and wiped the oil from his mouth with a smile:

  "Master, why did you come so early today?"

  As he spoke, he suddenly thought of the dishes in front of him, and hastily picked them up, saying:

  "Master, try this, it's called 'crystal pork knuckle', it's really delicious."

  Jiang Feng looked at the plate and saw that there were only a few pieces of pork knuckle left, then he looked at Zhang Liang's mouth which was covered in oil stains, and couldn't help but laugh and scold:

  "This was made by Chef Bao with great effort for our shop's signboard, and you ate it all."

  Bao Wen on the other side finished his work and said with a smile:

  "What's the point of eating, every day it's just giving a plate to Little Zhang, you're really something, these few dishes, I, Old Bao, can't even think of them in this lifetime..."

  The young man who was serving dishes on the side also excitedly said:

  "Our boss, these past few days we've been delivering food outside and it's been really impressive. Every household we deliver to treats us with good tea and smiling faces, we haven't received such treatment before."

  The kitchen door curtain was lifted, and Zhao Xiuzai, who looked pale and haggard, walked in. Seeing Jiang Feng, he was taken aback, hastily made a bow, and his voice was already somewhat hoarse, clearly exhausted from the past few days. He opened his mouth to speak to Jiang Feng:

  "Master, you've arrived so early. These past few days, tasting dishes has almost become a famous connoisseur's evaluation. Master, your idea is truly brilliant."

  Jiang Feng's face turned red, and he couldn't help but make a mysterious smile like a leader, nodding his head. Zhao Xiuzai wiped her eyes, but suddenly remembered something and asked in a hurry:

  "Master, don't you need to go to Liu Xueshi's house for night watch today?"

  As soon as he mentioned Liu Xueshi, Jiang Feng suddenly remembered something. The gratitude of Liu Shun's trial dish was now linked together in an instant, and a link was understood. He couldn't help but laugh out loud there, and opened his mouth to say:

  "Everyone has worked hard too, let's just try the dishes here and go take a break."

  Zhao Xiuciai on the other side immediately responded:

  "Master, there are still over a dozen households on the list that haven't sent anything yet..."

  The words were cut off by Jiang Feng before they could be finished. Jiang Feng chuckled to himself for a few moments, then said with a fierce tone:

  "Now we still go to their doorsteps, thinking it's a beautiful thing. Now they're begging us to come to them, to give them face. Old Zhao, find a few clever guys and have them spread the word on the streets to those loafers who are just watching the excitement, saying that there are still ten posters left, and people can buy them with money."

  Zhao Xiūcái was taken aback at first, then suddenly enlightened, and clapped his hands heavily together, praising:

  "You're really good at turning stones into gold, so how much should this post sell for?"

  Praised by Jiang Feng, he was somewhat complacent, forcing himself not to laugh out loud, stretching out a finger and saying decisively:

  "The minimum price is one hundred and two, the higher the price, the better, don't say it's expensive, the more expensive, the more people will buy."

  On the fifth day, the idlers waiting in front of the Huifeng Building for the trial menu team, as well as the family servants who came to gather information, waited until sunrise but no one came out to deliver the dishes. Instead, they received a small message from their "familiar" friends that Huifeng Building was going to sell the remaining tickets for money.

  There were ten in total, the highest bidder wins, starting at 100 taels. Upon hearing this news, the idle men and house servants all stood there stunned for a moment before reacting, with the house servant rushing back to his own home.

  On the fifth day, although it was not as lively in front of the Huifeng Building as in previous days, the gains made everyone take a leap. Ten posts at one hundred taels each, this one hundred taels during the Jiajing period is no small sum, one tael of silver is one thousand wen, in good times, ten wen can be two kilograms of rice, and in the capital, it can support an average family for six or seven years.

  But these posts were actually sold for nearly 2,500 taels of silver, which shocked everyone. Many wealthy families who had been eagerly waiting to hear the news from their servants were hesitant at first, but later regretted their hesitation. The first post was already being contested by three people and was eventually sold for 150 taels of silver. Those who didn't buy it thought that the next nine posts would be cheaper, but they ended up selling for even higher prices.

  However, the person who bought the post also gained great benefits. Bai Xianyong, a timber merchant in Baoding Prefecture, had a small business in Baoding, but he couldn't make a breakthrough in Nanjing City. On this fifth day, he happened to come to the timber trading house in Beijing to check his accounts.

  When the shopkeeper told him about this, Bai Xian immediately took out 900 taels of silver from the counter. These 900 taels of silver were all the available cash in his Beijing branch that could be mobilized. At that time, the face of the shopkeeper turned green with fright and almost knelt down to Bai Xian.

  Bai Xian used his wealth to make a decisive move, bringing silver directly to Hui Feng Tower and scaring off several people who were offering 500 taels. He bought the post for 700 taels, and those who knew about it secretly cursed him in their hearts as a prodigal son who didn't know the hardships of his ancestors' struggles to build the family business.

  On the sixth day, under the watchful eyes of a large crowd of onlookers, Zhao Xiūcái and his entourage delivered the trial dishes and the letter to Bái Xiānyòng's Beijing branch. Bái Xiānyòng tasted the soup and sampled the dishes with a smile all over his face.

  Originally, the people of Beijing thought that Bai Xianyong was a rural businessman, but overnight, he made a name for himself in Beijing. On the same afternoon, the number of businessmen coming to place orders tripled compared to usual days. Everyone knew that the White family from Baoding, who did wood business, was also one of the notable merchants in the southern city of Beijing. Otherwise, why would Huifeng Tower send them an invitation? This must be a sign of their wealth and financial resources.

  Bai Xian's timber business had become the largest in Northern Zhili after three years, thanks to this post.

  Everyone's collection and recommendation to me, I will definitely code out the text that makes everyone satisfied, please rest assured.