Chapter 38: Letter (Part 1)

  Not only did Dr. Yan Zhang not understand, but Pan Weide and the others didn't either. What does the sacred place of Taizhen Academy have to do with bread? Even if Song Jiu could make a million new and strange fruits, it seems that the two are unrelated.

  No matter how much he was pressed, Song Jiu's mouth remained tightly shut, and not a single clue could be extracted from him. Fu Zhao Shou said with a sigh, "No wonder Pan Lian'er said you're too wicked, Little Nine, you're indeed too wicked."

  Only Yu Ping's eyes sparkled.

  Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, still unable to understand.

  She suddenly understood that she had heard of the academy many times, and how many scholars and writers had been entertained there? How could they not talk about the academy? In fact, whether it was a great scholar or a house, books, the most important thing was to have money. As long as there was enough money, the academy could be established. But this money would be more than she could imagine.

  The authentic store makes a lot of money. The same dish that is worth only ten cents at Song Jiuda's wine shop can be sold for thirty or forty cents at the wine house, but it can be sold for one hundred, two hundred, or three hundred cents at the authentic store.

  It's profitable, but it's not easy to get customers' recognition. First, the location must be good, and the decoration must be luxurious and high-end. The dishes must be delicious and signature. This requires a lot of capital, and having capital is not enough. You need to have strong background support to avoid being taken advantage of by officials or thugs. You also need to attract many beautiful courtesans to perform, rather than ordinary prostitutes, in order to raise the reputation of the brothel. Other soft powers are also required, such as the owner's sense of smell, the ability to observe and judge people's faces, etiquette, and agile movements. For example, serving tea requires 18 different techniques, including appreciating incense, tasting tea, and performing various actions with elegance and precision. Not only must the movements be skilled, but also elegant. If you can't even pour a cup of tea without spilling it, how can customers recognize your brothel as a high-end one?

  These are not just money, but also the accumulation of efforts. How many stories and hardships have taken place behind the scenes for a wine house to be promoted from a small inn to a formal restaurant?

  Even if Song Jiuzhong can set up a decent shop, he cannot create a larger academy.

  After coercing him for a while, they couldn't get Song Jiu to say anything, so they made a fuss and had Song Jiu make noodles.

  "Everyone, don't be in a hurry. Since we're giving the students a holiday today, I have some time, so let me show off my culinary skills again."

  Apart from the two doctors, Zhu San and four painters, none of these young masters knew that Song Jiu could cook. Song Jiu patted Pan Weide: "Don't worry, after eating today, you will never forget it for the rest of your life."

  "Blow."

  "What's wrong, Dr. Zhang, Dr. Yan? Doesn't my cooking taste good?"

  "This is a woman's ability, what kind of skill is this." Dr. Zhang hummed.

  "What is meant by 'the ability of women'? Are all the cooks in restaurants and taverns women?"

  "You are a scholar, studying food is going astray." said Dr. Yan.

  "I say, you two doctors, aren't you being a bit too much? Every day, you freeload on food and drink, and yet you still have the nerve to speak ill of others."

  "One thing is one thing, how can you think that just because we've had a few meals together, we'll speak with an impure heart!"

  "Alright, you can say whatever you want, Zhu San, take Cui Er to buy vegetables."

  Zhu San wouldn't speak sarcastically and said, "Good."

  It's better to buy it yourself, otherwise you'll have to bring snake meat again. Although the taste was good last time, after eating it, every time I see a snake, I think of myself eating it and want to vomit. So as soon as I see a snake, I immediately avoid it for 300 steps!

  Pan Weide pulled Song Jiu to one side: "Jiulang, what you said to Fu Sanlang, was it true?"

  "What did you mean?"

  "Come up with a good idea for my father."

  "It's possible, but it may not work out." Song Jiu looked at his expression and suddenly understood: "Pan Dalang, you're also worried that your father will make the same mistake as Li Chuyun?"

  "How can I not worry!"

  Song Jiule said: "This idea of mine might be what you and your family are worried about."

  "You know what!"

  "Big brother, I'm not boasting, my father died early, everything relies on my own efforts. Although my background and starting point are not as good as yours, you can't underestimate my wisdom. Why don't you let me guess? Li Chuyu's conquest of the two countries, putting aside his cruel methods, is a great merit to our country. But recovering Jingnan and Hunan is reclaiming our dynasty's territory, and the people are your majesty's subjects. After those incidents, how can your majesty not punish Li Chuyu? However, General Pan's southern expedition has its problems. If he puts down his arms, there will be a smooth journey with flowers and wine all the way, but it won't work without spending money, and it's impossible to take Bianzhou. But if he uses force to conquer, there will inevitably be casualties. Your father has the merit of following the dragon, Li Chuyu also has the merit of following the dragon, and previously, he was always praised by your majesty for his clever strategies, and his favor is even above your father's. What if there are people who don't obey or rebel against your father's suppression? Your majesty can heavily punish Li Chuyu, but you can also heavily punish your father."

  "You!"

  "Am I wrong, husband? Please put in a good word for me with your mother."

  "Think again, kid."

  "Hey, don't look down on me. Although my current status is a bit low, it doesn't mean I have no future prospects. You see, I have some talent, can cook, and am devoted to your sister, thinking only of her happiness for life. Am I not a good candidate?!" Song Jiu boasted before starting to run away, with Pan Weide chasing after him with his fist raised. After the commotion died down, Pan Weide said: "Stop spouting nonsense, I brought the family letter you wanted."

  Song Ji took over the letter Pan Mei wrote to his family, opened it and read it, but didn't say anything. He just said everything was fine and told them not to worry. It seemed that Pan Mei's wife, Tian Shi, missed her husband and wanted to go to Hunan, but Pan Mei stopped her in the letter, saying that the weather there was extremely hot, with many poisonous insects and diseases, and many people raising venomous snakes to harm others. The government had exiled 326 families who raised snakes to remote areas as a warning, yet many people continued to raise them. In short, Hunan had become a place of poor mountains and evil waters, where shrewish women and villainous people lived. So he didn't let Tian Shi come. Song Ji was puzzled - apart from Xiangxi, Hunan wasn't that bad, other places had been developed long ago. Pan Mei's activity range was in the area from Tanzhou to Binzhou, which was not as good as the Dongting Lake area, but still not bad. How could it be so terrible?

  After reading the three family letters, no useful information was obtained. Pan Weide had long been prepared for this and took out a dozen or so copies of the Imperial Gazette from his sleeve, which he had secretly taken from his uncle Pan Su's house. Song Jiu carefully browsed through them and this time obtained a lot of information. Hunan was worse than he had imagined. The imperial court had sent several good officials to pacify the province one after another, but the people were still uneasy. Some deep mountain aborigines who had originally been in harmony with the Hunan government now changed their allegiance to new masters and rose up in revolt, not knowing the height of heaven or the thickness of earth. The imperial court was worried about this and even summoned Qin Zaiyong, the leader of the aborigines in Chenzhou, to the capital and appointed him as the governor of Chenzhou, using the aborigines to control the aborigines. It also ordered Ding Deyu, Pan Mei, Yin Chongke and other generals to use both leniency and severity to quickly bring Hunan under control.

  "It's not as simple as you think, kid," said Pan Weide. Song Jiugong openly expressed his intention to pursue his sister and changed from calling him Jiu Lang to Xiao Zi. At the same time, he didn't believe it, even though he brought the imperial court report.

  "Big Brother, I'm not even sure if it'll work, why would I beg for help from Fu Sanlang? But whether or not to listen is still up to your father and General Ding."

  "What's your good idea?"

  "You will know when the time comes."

  "You're being mysterious again."

  "This time it's not just selling a gimmick, I'm telling you, you're spreading rumors everywhere, what if your father doesn't listen and something happens again, others will only say that your father is to blame. If I don't say anything, and your father listens and it works, then it's your father's credit. But if you say it, even if your father has merit, others will only say that he's not as good as a young person like you. Do you understand the difference in between?"

  Three reasons left Sadeq Panah speechless.

  But in fact.

  Song Jiu's way of thinking may be controversial, and the credit is not entirely his due. This nuance must be grasped, otherwise it will only bring harm to him, not benefits. By the way... Pan Lian'er!

  Zhu San and Cui Er, whose face was dark with anger, returned with many dishes.

  Cui'er entered and exclaimed: "Song Jiu, why did you make me eat snake meat?"

  Song Jiuyi glanced at Zhu San, this big mouth, finally spoke up.

  "What snake meat?"

  "That dish of braised pork with peaches on that day."

  "Is it snake meat or chicken meat?"

  If you don't savor it carefully or haven't eaten snake meat before, it's easy to mistake it for chicken.

  "Is that chicken?"

  "Cui'er, think carefully about it, didn't Brother Zhu repeatedly recommend that dish to you that day?"

  Zhu San looked at Cui Er's angry eyes and felt a sense of foreboding, so he quickly changed his words: "Cui Er, that was chicken meat, I was just scaring you earlier."

  "After all, is it chicken meat or snake meat."

  "Don't listen to Zhu San's words, it's snake meat, not chicken meat."

  "One of you is lying."

  "It's him," said Zhu San and Song Jiu, pointing at each other. Song Jiu said: "Cui Er, you can call Brother Zhu over to have a good talk about this matter."

  Cui'er dragged Zhu San to one side and asked him questions. Unbeknownst to her, Zhu San used some trickery to make Cui'er believe that the meat was chicken, not snake. As a result, the ancestral jade pendant on his waist ended up in Cui'er's hands. Zhu San gave Song Jiu an innocent look.

  "What is chicken meat and snake meat?"

  "On Dragon Boat Festival day, Yuniang came as a guest, I cooked a dish of snake meat in peach sauce."

  "Nonsense! Can snakes eat too?" Dr. Yan said angrily.

  Song Jiuyi said grievously: "I'm telling the truth, why doesn't anyone believe me?"

  He felt more wronged than Zhu San, why did I say it was a lie, and they all believed it! Started cooking, meals for over 30 people, very busy. Don't expect these young masters to help, nor the two PhDs, but the painter is worthless, four apprentices, Yu Ping, Cui Er, and Zhu San helped with the chores, there were enough hands. However, relying on Song Jiu to do so many dishes was not easy either.

  Yu Ping said: "With so many people coming, why must you burn incense at home?"

  "It's not about saving this money, Yu Niangzi. Think about it, how much does it cost to build a decent shop? How much does it cost to build an academy? And they are just a small part of it?"

  "A small part?"

  "Hmm, there's still more behind, don't mention others, just a principal amount, even if you kill me, it won't be enough. So we need to resort to external forces."

  "I understand, you want to take advantage of them?"

  "It's not entirely, it's mutually beneficial, not just them, but many more people. It takes one step at a time, bread is one step, I make this dish one step. When this step-by-step chess piece falls to a certain point, there will be many people crying and shouting, sending gold and silver into my hands, then anything can be done."

  "I don't know," Yeping smiled with pursed lips: "Is that dish snake meat or chicken meat?"

  "Snake meat."

  "You're here again, Zhu San scares Cui Er, you come to scare our family."

  "Why don't you believe it either?" Song Jiu was about to fall over, and Zhu San directly fell down beside him.