dognovel Chapter 120 Opening a Branch
Chapter 120 Opening a Branch
The shop was packed with people early in the morning and sold out quickly. Ye Yuwu had kept her promise from yesterday and allowed each household to buy only one item.
In a village outside Bianjing, a farm girl hurriedly ran home, followed by a girl younger than her.
"Father, Mother! Quickly, give me the money from home!"
Although the girl's home looked extremely poor, it was very clean, and upon entering, one could see her mother still making knotted knots.
The father, who was weaving a bamboo broom, saw his daughter rushing around and scolded her, "Why are you in such a hurry? It's not nice for a girl to be so impulsive."
The girl ignored her father's scolding, took a breath, and repeated what she had said before she came in.
"What are you going to do with the money your family has saved?" The man frowned upon hearing this.
"Dad, when my little sister and I went to town to sell handkerchiefs, we saw a lot of people buying coal!"
"Just buy coal, why the rush?"
"Oh dear, this coal is only eighty coins! Eighty coins!"
"What? Are you kidding me?" The man stopped what he was doing and looked at his two daughters.
"Father, why would I lie to you? Lots of people are scrambling for coal at the city gate! They say a new type of coal has been found..."
"Big sister, it's called honeycomb briquette," the younger sister added promptly.
"Yes, honeycomb briquettes, they're really useful. Someone bought some yesterday and they're much better than the coal we used before. I heard you have to open the doors and windows when using coal so you won't get poisoned! If we don't go buy some now, there probably won't be any left today!" The girl was extremely anxious.
The man couldn't sit still any longer. He made the woman take out the money, feeling he had to see it for himself. So, he put the money bag in his pocket and went with his daughter toward the city gate.
They lived very close to Bianjing, and reached the city gate in less than half an incense stick's time.
Sure enough, he saw that the seemingly ordinary shop next to him was crowded with people. He grabbed a man carrying a basket, who had obviously just bought coal.
He then inquired with the brother to see if the answer was as his eldest daughter had described. He was overjoyed, but upon seeing so many people in front of him, he became anxious again.
Fearing that the money in his arms would be stolen, he tightly clutched the money bag in his arms and gave his two daughters some instructions.
The three of them squeezed in together.
Unfortunately, the little girl was not big or strong enough, and Yan Niang was pushed out and fell to the ground.
As she was rubbing her tailbone, a pair of flawless white hands suddenly appeared in front of her.
"How are you, little girl? Are you alright?" Yan Niang looked up along her wrist and saw a woman who looked like a fairy descended from heaven. She had never seen such a beautiful woman before and was momentarily stunned.
The fairy was dressed in a light crimson robe, her dark hair loosely tied with a silver and jade moon hairpin. Snowflakes fell on her at that moment, making her skin appear as white as jade. She looked like a stunning beauty, and in this scene, she was as beautiful as a celestial being.
In her daze, she happened to see the fairy furrow her beautiful brows.
It turned out that the "fairy" thought she was too hurt to speak, so she half-squatted down to help her up.
Yan Niang was helped up like that, and then she heard Tian Xian's clear and pleasant voice. She asked her with concern, "How are you? Where are you hurt? Should I take you to see a doctor?"
"No, no need," Yan Niang said absentmindedly, not knowing how to start a conversation with the fairy. She even felt embarrassed that the fairy had touched her, as she was covered in dust.
Later, the fairy asked her some more questions, but she was so confused that she didn't even know what she answered. When she came to her senses, her father and younger sister came out of the shop in high spirits.
Her father was still holding a cloth bag, which looked heavy.
The fairy who had been beside her was nowhere to be found. She thought she was hallucinating. Looking around in disappointment, she saw the fairy sister from before appear in the shop, patiently explaining to the people who came to buy honeycomb briquettes.
"Sister, what are you looking at?" The younger sister noticed her absent-mindedness.
"That one is..."
The younger sister followed her gaze and said, "That's the shopkeeper. I heard there was a fight over coal, so he came to handle it."
"Can women also do business?" she muttered to herself.
"What's wrong, sister?" The younger sister only saw her lips move, but didn't hear what she said.
"N-nothing, let's go back!"
Yan Niang said it was nothing, and Xiao Mei didn't pay much attention either. The three of them had bought coal, so naturally they had to hurry back.
No one noticed this little incident.
Honeycomb briquettes were quickly distributed to every household because the weather was getting colder and the snow and wind had been heavy these past few days.
Except for certain necessary occasions when people need to go out, no one wants to go out at other times, and there are very few people on the streets.
But if you have coal at home, you don't need to worry about freezing to death.
Taverns and restaurants in Bianjing also started using honeycomb briquettes.
Its Wen Ding (a type of ancient Chinese cooking vessel) spread throughout the streets and alleys of Bianjing (Kaifeng).
Almost everyone in Bianjing (Kaifeng) has eaten Wen Ding (a type of hot pot).
Honeycomb briquettes have also started to be sold in various places.
Ye Yuwu specially asked Liang Suxin and others to publish a newspaper issue, which detailed the precautions to take when burning coal and why people had died from coal poisoning in the past.
If Ye Yuwu hadn't heard that some people in remote mountains still believed in superstitious rumors, she wouldn't have known that someone had died from carbon monoxide poisoning at home, and that they were being punished or retributed by the mountain god.
So she would give a small newspaper to everyone who bought coal. And fearing these people wouldn't understand, she would send people around the village to spread the word.
After some village chiefs learned about it, they spontaneously went door-to-door to tell them.
Before long, the beehive spread rapidly throughout the country with unstoppable momentum.
Its low price and other advantages have made it popular among the people.
Because coal prices were low, some local merchants saw the popularity of hot pot in Bianjing (Kaifeng) and started buying hot pot as well.
The taste of Wen Ding needs no introduction, and it is especially suitable for winter. Before long, the way of eating Wen Ding from Bianjing became popular in some places outside of Bianjing.
After the coal yard returned to normal, Ye Yuwu had some free time to come over, and just then she received a letter from Manager Gao.
She carefully read Manager Gao's letter.
At the beginning of the letter, Manager Gao first reported that he was safe and sound, saying that he had settled down, and then talked about what he had seen and heard in Chizhou and the local customs.
Later, Manager Gao said that although Chizhou was the capital, it was still too remote. The teahouses here were all desolate and there was not much entertainment on weekdays, unlike the bustling Bianjing.
Then Manager Gao expressed his desire to collaborate with Ye Yuwu to open a teahouse in Chizhou, similar to opening a branch, with the teahouse still named Chayunhe.
As it happened, Manager Gao had also worked in a teahouse, so he was no stranger to this.