Transmigrating to the Qi Family - Chapter 76

“Open the door! Open the door!”

These people arrive and wait before dawn. When the Jiang family’s small shop finally opens, they rush in like a swarm. Tang Lin spreads his arms to block the door and smiles, “Everyone, please don’t rush. I know why you’re here today.”

“Knowing isn’t enough; open the door!” someone shouts. They have waited so long at the Jiang residence without seeing anyone. Now that they know people are here, they want to see for themselves.

“Dear guest, look at me; I’m just a shop assistant. Whether to open or not, I can’t make that decision,” Tang Lin says with a smile. “Our Boss has a message, and I must deliver it before letting you in.”

“Hurry up and tell us!” someone urges impatiently.

“It’s like this,” Tang Lin says, “Our Boss knows you all want to ask if he is the one engaged to the Duke’s heir, so he specially instructs me to tell you…” Tang Lin glances over the crowd, deliberately building suspense, “He is.”

The crowd outside looks excited. They have been skeptical before, but now that they have confirmation from the source, there can be no doubt.

“If anyone just wants to know this and is done, you may leave now,” Zhou Lin calls out. However, the crowd outside becomes even more excited, and no one wants to leave.

“Everyone’s staying, is it?” Zhou Lin confirms. “Our Boss says he guesses everyone wants to see him, but since there are so many people, to ensure everyone has a chance to see him, our Boss says that today, anyone who spends more than thirty wen in the shop can get a pass to the backyard to see him.”

The crowd’s enthusiasm wanes a little. Why should they pay just to see him? Some have seen Jiang Miao before, just not up close.

Others who don’t mind spending money say on the spot, “Bring me your most expensive dish.” He says this with a display of extravagant wealth.

“Sir, our most expensive item is the soup-filled dumplings, twenty wen a basket. That’s not enough,” Zhou Lin says with a slightly troubled expression. However, before the guest can show any embarrassment, Zhou Lin quickly adds, “Right now, we have a breakfast set available. For only thirty wen, you can enjoy several highly recommended breakfast items by our Boss. It’s guaranteed to fill you up and taste great.”

“Well… then I’ll have an order.”

Tang Lin steps aside to let the first customer in and calls out, “One premium set meal!” He is genuinely impressed with his Boss for figuring out how to make money in such a situation. He must learn from the Boss!

Daniu, who is waiting inside, quickly runs to the back kitchen to ask for a set meal. Li Ping quickly prepares a bowl of shepherd’s purse dumplings, four small soup dumplings, and a serving each of tea eggs and fried dough sticks. These items are placed on a tray and brought out by Daniu, who sets them down in front of the customer.

“Aren’t there any tokens?” The customer has never been to this shop before; he comes specifically for Jiang Miao. 

Although Daniu isn’t very articulate, he manages to say, “Please don’t rush, sir. After you finish eating, we’ll give you a token. Our Boss is in the backyard; we won’t deceive you.”

The customer thinks about it and agrees; after all, the person won’t be going anywhere, and the smell of the food is quite tempting. He takes a bite of a dumpling and his eyes light up. He begins to eat with gusto.

More customers continue to pour in, mostly ordering the set meal. For wealthy people, spending thirty wen on breakfast is nothing. For others, thirty wen might be a bit expensive, but the added value is worth it. Normally, even three hundred or three thousand taels wouldn’t get them near those noble families.

Jiang Miao sits at a stone table in the backyard, idly playing with a copper coin. Although he can’t hear the commotion clearly, he knows a lot of people have come in.

Finally, someone who has finished eating comes over, looking around with the token in his hand. Jiang Miao immediately perks up and greets him, “Are you looking for me?”

The customer looks Jiang Miao up and down with interest, then seems a bit disappointed. “So you’re the one engaged to the heir?” He has heard that the man is even more outstanding in appearance than the heir himself. Otherwise, how could the heir, who has seen countless people, have been attracted to him? The man before him, though good-looking, doesn’t match what he has imagined.

“Yes, that’s me. Does it not meet your expectations?” Jiang Miao asks with a smile, clearly understanding the customer’s reaction.

Perhaps influenced by Jiang Miao’s attitude, the customer also smiles. “Not exactly. I just suddenly realize that rumors are indeed not to be trusted.”

“Exactly. The cost of believing in rumors is this set meal,” Jiang Miao says, pointing to the token in the customer’s hand and indicating that he should drop it in the wooden box in front of him.

The customer does as instructed but thinks to himself that if this set meal is the cost of hearing a few rumors, it doesn’t seem too bad.

After this customer leaves, more customers who have finished their meals come to the backyard holding wooden tokens. Jiang Miao greets them with a smile, allowing them to scrutinize him with curiosity, investigation, or disdain. At that moment, he suddenly understands a bit why Pei Che prefers quiet, unobserved places. Being stared at continuously doesn’t seem like something to be happy about.

As time goes on, the set meal items sell out. After that, it doesn’t matter what is added; some items are simply added to the set, making the food inside the set meal almost unique for each person.

However, this does not reduce everyone’s curiosity. Even after everything in the Jiang family’s shop sells out, the crowd does not disperse. Zhou Lin tries to persuade them, explaining that the shop is out of stock and asking them to leave, but they refuse to go.

With no other options, Zhou Lin goes to find Jiang Miao and tells him about the situation.

Jiang Miao ponders for a moment. With no way to clear the crowd quickly and no new items to offer, what should he do?

Allowing them to come in directly? The thought crosses his mind, but Jiang Miao quickly reconsiders; he can’t let them see him for free.

He thinks about it for a while, then goes back into the room and takes out some ink ground by Pei Mu. He also takes some paper and writes the words “Voucher” on each sheet, each valid for thirty wen. After writing, he stamps each voucher with the shop’s official seal.

“If you’re free, cut these vouchers out. When customers come in, have them pay first, then give them a voucher, and let them in only after they have the voucher,” Jiang Miao instructs the people around him while stamping.

Tang Lin looks at Jiang Miao with admiration. “Boss, you’re really clever!”

Jiang Miao doesn’t look up. “Less flattery and more work.”

Tang Lin chuckles and goes to get some scissors to help cut out the vouchers.

When the crowd outside hears about the vouchers, they are somewhat confused. After Zhou Lin explains, they nod thoughtfully. Some happily pay for the vouchers, while others are skeptical and decide to return the next day.

Jiang Miao is subjected to another round of intense scrutiny before the Jiang family’s shop finally closes for the day. It is not long before noon. Jiang Miao asks Daniu to bring Xiao Shitou back and gives some money to Li Ping to buy lunch from a nearby vendor.

After lunch, Jiang Miao carries a drawer full of copper coins into the room. Xiao Shitou looks on in astonishment; he has never seen so much money gathered together before, as Jiang Miao usually settles the accounts before his arrival.

Jiang Miao dumps all the copper coins from the drawer onto the table with a clatter. Countless coins, some new and some old, pile up like a small mountain, with a few silver coins mixed in.

Xiao Shitou, who has never seen so much money before, is still astonished. During this time, Pei Mu, who has counted many coins with Jiang Miao, climbs onto a stool and begins stacking the coins ten by ten. Seeing this, Xiao Shitou quickly climbs onto a stool himself and starts counting the coins.

Jiang Miao watches them for a moment, a smile unconsciously spreading across his face. He reaches out and picks out all the silver coins. After removing them, he weighs them and finds that the silver alone amounts to four taels.

This is remarkable. The total revenue on the first day of the Jiang family’s shop is only about three taels. Jiang Miao can’t help but marvel; it seems that the allure of gossip is far more attractive than the appeal of good food.

Pei Mu and Xiao Shitou don’t understand Jiang Miao’s musings and continue to meticulously organize the coins. With both of them working together, the task is much quicker. Soon, the coins that were scattered on the table are neatly stacked in groups of ten, filling the table in an orderly manner.

Jiang Miao counts and finds that there are actually over six taels of silver! Adding the four taels of silver, it amounts to more than ten taels in total. Just from this morning, they have almost saved up a month’s rent!

Jiang Miao shakes off the discomfort of being watched all day and begins to look forward to tomorrow. When he first arrives today, he is annoyed to learn that the crowd has come to gawk at him. But after some mental adjustment, he realizes he can’t just close up shop and withdraw from the world. Since he is going to be watched anyway, he might as well charge them for it!

…

Pei Che returns to his room and finds a letter on his desk, delivered by someone he has stationed around Pei Mu and Jiang Miao. After Jiang Miao discovers the surveillance, Pei Che worries that Jiang Miao might mind having people secretly following him. However, Jiang Miao expresses no concern, so Pei Che does not recall his people but instructs them to avoid sending messages unless something major happens. So, is there something going on?

Pei Che doesn’t notice that he has become nervous. He quickly walks to the table, opens the letter, and his expression grows increasingly strange. By the end, he can’t help but burst into laughter.

As expected of Jiang Miao, his way of solving problems is always strange but effective. This trick not only baffles him but probably confuses even those who have traveled from far away just to catch a glimpse of the heir’s wife. His calm demeanor makes those people lose their curiosity.

It’s likely that soon rumors will spread about the future heir’s wife being obsessed with money. In high society, discussing such trivial matters in front of large crowds is often avoided. If someone were to bring it up, they would be considered vulgar.

Now Jiang Miao allows those ordinary people to watch him for a mere thirty wen. Once the news spreads, it will inevitably become the laughingstock of the wealthy families in the upper city, right?

Pei Che puts down the letter and gazes into the distance, his eyes deep in thought. He wonders if the person in the palace will feel even more satisfied upon hearing this news.