Chapter Ten Borrow You

  Song Kai listened to Xue Wei Hai's words, and instead of getting angry, he just laughed, "Xue Lao, you've got the wrong idea. I'm actually very greedy for wealth, and a person who loves money is naturally suited to be a merchant."

  Xue Weihai just smiled and didn't say another word.

  The fellow over there walked over, quickly reciting the menu in his mouth. The reason he can recite it is mainly because there aren't many optional dishes, only more than twenty kinds.

  Song Kai ordered a meat dish, a vegetable dish and a soup. Xue Lao was a regular customer, so he could eat first and pay later. However, Song Kai still asked about the prices of the dishes. The meat dish was vinegar chicken, which cost 300 wen, the vegetable dish was bean sprout soup, which cost 50 wen, and the soup also cost 50 wen. In total, a meal would cost 400 wen, not including wine. This price would be considered high-end consumption even in the 21st century, equivalent to the standard of a four-star hotel.

  "Xue Lao, this dish, how can we distinguish the hierarchy?" Song Kai asked, naturally wanting to do a good job as a host, of course, he had to ask about these things.

  Xue Lao drank a cup of water with great satisfaction and said, "That's naturally up to the chef's standards. First, look at the ingredients; second, look at the color and shape; third, taste the flavor. Only when all three are perfect can it be considered a good dish."

  Two people ate and talked, Song Kai suddenly realized that he had been too careless before. Although it was over a thousand years ago in the Tang Dynasty, the food at this time had already reached a very high level. With Song Kai's current standards, he could only open some low-end restaurants. Song Kai's advantage was that he knew many dishes that had not yet appeared, but his cooking skills, especially his carving skills, were almost zero. At this time, famous people and scholars paid great attention to the shape and appearance of the dishes.

  After finishing a meal, Song Kai was also considered to have some numbers. The so-called vinegar chicken is like the roasted chicken of later generations, but the taste is far inferior. The bean sprout soup is not good to drink either. However, the prices of these dishes are not cheap. If you eat deer meat or bear paws, the price will be even more outrageous.

  After dinner, Song Kai got up and bid farewell, he still had a lot of things to do.

  Xue Lao laughed and said, "Song Lang, no packing today?"

  Song Kai looked at the old man with great dissatisfaction, "After three days, we will meet again. Let's see who will be looking up to whom then. When my hotel opens, Old Xue, you must come and support me, yes, just drop by often."

  Having said that, Song Kai quickly left.

  Xue Weihai took a sip of tea and chuckled: "Indeed, more interesting than other bookworms... This tea is indeed bitter with little sweetness, ah..."

  Song Kai returned to the inn and asked: "Fu Bo, can you write?"

  Ah Fu was carrying water with a worried expression, when he heard this, he immediately shook his head, "Young Master, don't humiliate old slave, old slave can't even write his own name."

  Song Kai looked at Nie Lingdang again, who was wearing a woman's dress and playing a game of throwing pots.

  "You won't mind if it's not pretty, I can do it, but don't blame me if you can't recognize the characters I write. You know I'm a noble lady from that side, mainly learning horseback riding and sword fighting..."

  "Alright, alright, just admit you can't write and that's it," Song Kai said disdainfully. After thinking for a moment, he went out the door and walked away.

  Hurried along, arrived at Hui Chun Tang again, and went straight in.

  "Mr. Song, come in and see the doctor... Ah! It's Mr. Song, please go inside," said the shop assistant with great courtesy.

  Song Kai rubbed his nose in confusion, thinking to himself why the shop assistants were being so polite to him. Unbeknownst to him, he had been seen dining with Sun Tang and Xue Lao the day before, and since he was able to share a table with Sun Tang, he must be someone of importance.

  Arrived at the inner chamber, just ran into Sun Xi Mei carrying a prescription on her way out.

  Sun Ximei saw Song Kai and frowned, asking: "What are you doing here again? The prescription fee has already been paid."

  "I've come to borrow something," Song Kai said with a smile, ignoring Sun Ximei's bad attitude.

  "What's the loan for?"

  "Oh, yes, lend you," Song Kai said seriously.

  Sun Ximei was taken aback, then her face turned red as she said, "Get out, you good-for-nothing!"

  "I... I just wanted to borrow your hand to write a few words, and also buy some medicine and ingredients," Song Kai said with a stuffy expression. The women of the Tang Dynasty really couldn't take a joke.

  Upon hearing Sun Ximei's curses, several doctors in the room looked over; these people were all Sun Ximei's uncles and older brothers, and some were even her elder brothers. Seeing Sun Ximei cursing, they all stood up and stared at Song Kai.

  Song Kai shrunk his neck.

  The door curtain of the innermost hut was lifted, and Sun Tang, who was over 1.9 meters tall, walked out.

  "What's going on! Doesn't anyone know they need to be quiet here?" Sun Tang frowned.

  "Grandpa! It's him..." Sun Ximei pointed at Song Kai.

  Sun Tang looked at Song Kai, his expression suddenly delighted, and he quickly walked over, saying: "So it's Young Master Song, how timely. I have some matters to discuss with you, come in, come in."

  "Grandpa! He was just being naughty... uh, being a rascal!" Sun Ximei wouldn't let up.

  Sun Tang directly ignored Sun Xi Mei's words and pulled Song Kai into the inner room, "Xi Mei, go make tea, hurry up."

  "Grandpa!" Sun Ximei was really annoyed, after all, who is your grandson?

  Sun Tang glared at Sun Xi Mei, "Go quickly!"

  Song Kai was somewhat embarrassed and quickly said: "No need to make tea, no need to make tea, I'm here to ask Xi Mei for help, Mr. Sun you have something to say."

  Sun Tang warmly pulled Song Kai into the inner room, and the surrounding younger generation of the Sun family stared in amazement. What's going on? In their hearts, Sun Tang had always been a dignified elder, so why did he lower his status today and take the initiative to talk to a young boy?

  As soon as they entered the inner room, Sun Tang went straight to the point, "Song Lang, can you repeat what you said yesterday about Fang Yi? I've been thinking carefully for several days, but I still feel that some parts don't make sense."

  Song Kai nodded, he still had a lot of respect for Sun Tang. Although this old man looked very majestic, he was still a medical enthusiast at heart. So although he was calm and majestic in his daily life, when it came to medical problems, he became as enthusiastic as a young man. In this regard, Sun Tang was quite different from Xue Weihai. Xue Weihai seemed gentle, but his city was much deeper than Sun Tang's.

  Song Kai once again carefully explained Fang Yi's theory in detail, this time expanding on it and discussing some later theories of traditional Chinese medicine.

  Sun Tang fell silent and furrowed his brow, thinking carefully.

  On the sickbed, a voice sounded: "Is this... Song Langjun?"

  Song Kai looked over at the bed and saw that it was the middle-aged man who had been stabbed. The middle-aged man's wound had already been bandaged, and his complexion had improved a lot. Although he was weak, there was no longer any danger to his life, and after a period of rest and recuperation, he would be able to recover.

  Song Kai nodded slightly.

  "Thanks for saving my life," the middle-aged man said with one hand cupped in a gesture of gratitude towards Song Kai.

  Song Kai just smiled and said, "It was Old Sun who saved you, not me. I'm just a vendor."

  "Hmm! You're speaking reasonably for once," Sun Ximei walked in, putting the teapot on the table, and hummed.

  Song Kai smiled and said, "Sun Niangzi, I'm really sincere in asking for your help this time. You know my handwriting is terrible, so please write a few characters for me. Oh, I can treat you to dinner as a return favor."

  "Don't go!" Sun Ximei said with a smile, "You say you're a scholar, but you can't even write characters. You really are the worst."

  "Cough! Xi Mei, you go and write a few words for Song Lang," Sun Tang raised his head, waving his hand, "Hurry up, I still have some places to think about."

  Sun Ximei glared at her grandfather with a huff, but ultimately didn't retort back to him. She furrowed her brow and stared at Song Kai, "Fine, let's go!"

  The middle-aged man on the bed smiled and said: "Song Langjun, wait until Zhou Mou's body is a bit better, and then come to visit and thank you."

  Song Kai bowed his hands and then walked out with Sun Ximei together.

  "I'll buy some more ingredients," Song Kai said, going to the outer room and asking his assistant to pack a bag of ingredients, which included fragrant herbs like thick angelica, white angelica, fennel, and asarum. These were the best materials for making braised pork or mutton soup.

  "What did you buy these for?" Sun Ximei asked in puzzlement.

  "Then you'll know later, right, yesterday that bamboo tube used for distilling liquor, bring it along too," said Song Kai.

  Sun Ximei hummed: "I'll give it to you, after all, that method was your idea, however... hmm, but my grandfather said that the wine you made tastes very good."

  "Lawson, don't spread it outside, that's mine," Song Kai said.

  "Who cares!" Sun Ximei was depressed and had someone bring a bamboo pole, and she walked with Song Kai to the guest house.

  Upon entering the guest house, Song Kai arranged his paper and pen "Come, Xi Mei, help me write."

  "What shall I write?" Sun Ximei ground the ink and asked.

  "Job posting," Song Kai said: "You write, hmm, our store is hiring a high-paying chef, with a trial period of half a month. Those who pass the trial period will receive three taels of silver per month..."

  Sun Ximei frowned, "What a mess is this? Are you trying to hire a chef or something? Three or four silver coins per month, that's acceptable, but will putting it up like this be of any use?"

  "Just write it," Song Kai said with a wave of his hand.

  Sun Ximei wrote a row of big characters, signed with the name "Hongchen Guest House", and below it was the detailed address. Song Kaisheng feared that there were not many people who could read, so he also drew some simple pictures, just a few strokes, drawing a chef-like figure.

  Sun Ximei exclaimed, "Huh, your painting is quite... quite unique." This year's popular water ink landscape paintings, simple brush paintings are rarely seen.

  A Fu and Nie Ling Tong also walked over, saw Song Kai's sketch, Nie Ling Tong burst out laughing, "Indeed, it really looks like a chef."

  Song Kai thought for a moment and said, "Yes, we have the recruitment notice, let's make some small ads."

  "An advertisement?" Sun Ximei looked at Song Kai.

  "It's just a publicity stunt, huh, write ten advertisements, post them in the neighborhood, and say that on the first day of opening, there will be a big discount, 85% off for every table..." Song Kai thought about the advertisement.

  Sun Ximei sighed and it seemed that the translation work had to be done by herself again. This guy, why did he have so many unfamiliar terms in his brain?

  After finishing the ten small advertisements, Song Kai said to Ah Fu: "Ah Fu, you go find a few cheap landscape paintings tomorrow. As for the poems, I'll ask Xi Mei to write them. Just casually write a few and hang them on the wall, it's also a way to follow the trend of elegance."

  Thank you TTERING87 for the reward, thank you for your support.

  Regarding the update issue, this book should be signed tomorrow and will be updated at a fixed time every day after signing, 8 am and 8 pm. Additional updates will be added when rewards are abundant. Thank you all for your support over the years, thank you.