The heavy snow that had continued for many consecutive days finally stopped. The hearts that had been hanging in suspense suddenly settled down. From the County Magistrate above to the common people below, everyone was happy.
The diligent common people all went out to sweep snow, clearing out their doorways, and their hearts felt as clear and bright as the weather.
He Zifeng sought out people from the escort agency. When he was selling sauce-flavored pancakes before, He Zifeng had become very familiar with them. Later, when He Zifeng became deputy constable and became their supervisor, they interacted even more frequently.
As soon as He Zifeng arrived, he was taken to the inner room. Hearing that he had come, those who were familiar with him all came to greet him.
He Zifeng said a few simple words and was invited into the room by their head boss.
He Zifeng said: “The beef and mutton you mentioned last time – are you still getting shipments?”
Now without some connections, you couldn’t get hold of this stuff.
The escort agency’s head boss said: “Of course, that’s my buddy.” Then he briefly explained to He Zifeng.
He traveled north and south, with many brothers looking out for him along the way. This year’s conditions were already poor, and grain and fodder prices had both skyrocketed. Many herders were having trouble making a living and had no choice but to slaughter cattle and sheep.
The beef and mutton from the grasslands was fresh and tender, but the quantities were too large. Ordinary people couldn’t handle so much cargo. One shipment started at two thousand jin, roughly the meat from one hundred cattle and sheep combined.
People like them from inland areas still preferred pork – the meat was tender and fine, and could be cooked with just a little stir-frying. Beef and mutton had a strong gamey smell and coarse texture. Chefs without some skill wouldn’t dare touch such strongly flavored ingredients.
It was typical that wealthy families disdained to eat it, while those without money couldn’t afford it.
He Zifeng calculated. At twenty wen per jin, two thousand jin would be forty taels of silver.
He said: “First transport one cart for me.”
The outdoor temperature here was very cold. Left outside, it would freeze hard as bricks that even dogs couldn’t gnaw.
He Zifeng had them escort it. The round-trip cost was twenty taels. He Zifeng also paid this money – who else had this source of goods?
After finishing this, he went to the County Magistrate to request a pass to open the city gates. He smoothly let the escort agency go out. The escort agency said they could transport the goods back in at most fifteen days.
He Zifeng took advantage of this time to have some more pots and cooking equipment made. Anyway, all the craftsmen were now at the craftsman workshop. If you wanted to find people for private work, the craftsman workshop would take ten percent of the silver. But this did give those craftsmen some extra opportunities.
Although the people in the county didn’t go outside, they could still stroll around within the county. Especially when the snow stopped, it was just that half the shops were closed, leaving only a few open.
With New Year approaching, the common people all wanted to buy some things to bring something new to their homes.
When there were more people on the main street, soon several small stalls selling candied hawthorn appeared on the road. Business even became prosperous. Before long, a bunch of candied hawthorn was sold out!
The County Magistrate also dressed in plain clothes and mixed in with the crowd to experience the long-missed liveliness of the main street.
Constable Zhu followed behind, also leisurely enjoying himself.
Soon, people in the crowd recognized the County Magistrate. This made the street even more lively.
“Our just and wise lord!”
“Thanks to being able to enter the tofu workshop, this year’s life hasn’t been as difficult as previous years.”
Many other voices came from around them. This feeling that was both intimate and unfamiliar moved the County Magistrate quite a bit.
There were even many people asking the County Magistrate about that warming house food court – when would it open?
The County Magistrate was quite high-spirited and said: “Soon.”
Everyone was so enthusiastic that the County Magistrate left after staying briefly, wanting to open as soon as possible.
When He Zifeng returned from the escort agency, he heard people saying the County Magistrate was waiting for him.
He Zifeng immediately went to find the County Magistrate.
The County Magistrate asked about the construction timeline. He Zifeng said: “It can open in three days.”
It was just that his second floor couldn’t open at the same time. He was still waiting for pots and meat. The first floor would open first.
After the County Magistrate heard this, he had already ordered people to select the best vegetables grown on heated beds in advance to display there when the time came. He would personally attend that day.
When the County Magistrate went, the surroundings also needed arrangements, including notifying those merchants to prepare better.
The news was also announced in advance. Now people in the county couldn’t go out, so hearing about the opening, they all wanted to go look around.
They had all heard from familiar government officials that several fire walls had been rebuilt there, making the inside so warm you couldn’t even wear cotton jackets – it was like spring.
Some people heard there would be county vegetables that day. They all wondered where fresh vegetables could come from in winter.
Those wealthy households had also heard that the young wastrels who wandered around the city all day were going to show their skills this time.
Other families didn’t know what they were up to, but curiosity had already arisen.
Having been cooped up inside for so long without going out had driven people crazy. This was a perfect opportunity to go out and take a look.
Three days passed in a flash. Looking at the decorations and lanterns outside, there was even a plaque personally inscribed by the County Magistrate hanging there, called “Hundred Families Building.”
Constable Zhu had arranged dragon and lion dance teams in advance, along with lively performances like lions competing for embroidered balls.
The common people who came surrounded the place in three layers inside and outside. Government officials maintained order on the sides.
When they arrived, they were also startled – they hadn’t expected so many people here.
After the lion performance finished, the County Magistrate had people give reward money. They calculated an auspicious time to start setting off firecrackers.
The entire street became lively.
When the County Magistrate came, the head of the servant agency also followed to show support, naturally including things sent by the merchant association president and others.
Constable Zhu also followed happily behind everyone. Soon the County Magistrate led people inside.
From the beginning of preparations to final completion, everything was handled by He Zifeng alone. No one else had been here before.
Although they knew several shops had been connected, they still weren’t very optimistic, thinking the space inside would be stuffy. Who knew that upon entering, there were neat stalls everywhere.
The cooks from every household had already started work early. Food was already mostly prepared, giving off various tempting fresh aromas.
The largest shop on the first floor was the County Magistrate’s vegetable stall. It displayed various kinds of fresh vegetables. You could tell they had just been picked – they had a tender, watery appearance.
These things were extremely rare in winter. Forget eating them – just looking at them was wonderful.
Besides vegetables, the county’s stall had another hard currency item: cotton jackets, cotton pants, and cotton shoes uniformly ordered by the county. A complete set cost three hundred fifty wen. Quite a few people working for the county had already received them.
But some people still wanted them. Anyway, what was now being made was already sufficient for county use, with extras left over.
Since that was the case, they took them out to sell. This could both convenience the common people and add some income for the county.
This set of cotton jackets wasn’t expensive, but the fresh vegetables were pricey. The cheapest items were thirty wen per jin. Things like tomatoes and fresh peppers were sixty wen per jin.
Growing vegetables in winter wasn’t easy – raising them had cost considerable effort, so they weren’t taking the route of small profits and large sales.
For poor people, vegetables being more expensive than meat seemed a bit strange, but the big merchants walking beside the County Magistrate thought it was cheap when they saw it. They had eaten vegetables even more expensive than this in winter.
Other people’s stalls were also interesting. For example, Young Master Zhang’s crispy fish could be prepared two ways – dry-fried or wet-mixed. The prepared fish was cut with golden scissors into fish jerky-sized pieces and placed in gold-rimmed plates for tasting.
A palm-sized fish here sold for five taels of silver. Those who tasted it all said it was good, forcing themselves not to reach for a second piece from the tasting plate. This was a texture they had never experienced before.
Many people bought two fish at a time. The server collecting money was Young Master Zhang’s personal attendant, who said: “These fish are troublesome to make and need some time. Why don’t you leave your address? When they’re finished, I’ll deliver them to you gentlemen.”
He naturally had a smiling demeanor. Everyone let him have his way.
Nearby there were also milk cakes, steamed bowls, fresh stewed soup, roasted suckling pig, and such. These were all signature dishes that could be served at banquets.
Every stall had its specialty.
The County Magistrate had also heard about these wealthy young masters creating business out of boredom. Now tasting the food, he laughed and said: “They really can make a fuss.”
“Young people have many ideas.”
“Not bad.”
Everyone present was a big merchant with many shops in their hands. Naturally they looked down on a single stall, but now they felt some regret. Why hadn’t they gotten a stall back then to get a piece of the pie?
Most of what was being made here were expensive snacks. Only two or three places were affordable, and even eating one portion cost around twenty wen.
Fire walls were burning inside, making the interior very warm. They had been wearing cotton robes before entering, but took them off after coming in and had their attendants hold them.
Stalls were on both sides, with tables and chairs in the middle where people could sit freely.
There was also someone selling wine here, and the stall next to the wine seller sold various cold appetizers.
Drinking some wine and eating some appetizers here was more comfortable than at home.
They walked around once, thinking of quite a few business ideas in their heads. The most important was ordering some vegetables from the vegetable vendor.
Fifty jin per day would give their dining tables variety every day, saving them from getting tired of eating the same few things. There were more than twenty kinds of fresh vegetables here, so they could mix and match.
Ten kinds of vegetables per day, fifty jin per day. Other people were the same.
The County Magistrate was somewhat happy. Opening a shop indeed brought in money.
These few people were shocked and planned to reopen their family businesses as soon as they left.
There were so many people on this street – not opening would be wasteful. In merchants’ eyes, people meant wealth!
After they left, people were gradually let in.
There were quite a few wealthy people in the county. Hearing that their disappointing sons were going to run shops, they all came to show support. But when they went in and saw, they were delighted. Before they could show support, their sons were already extremely busy.
Their sons weren’t good at other things, but they were decent at eating, drinking, and having fun.
Even poor families were willing to spend money to buy some fresh vegetables like chives and celery to take home and make dumplings.
Some people were also interested in the cotton jackets. Everyone who came out to stroll brought money.
“I’ll buy two sets of cotton jackets.”
But the attendant said: “Each person can only buy one set.”
“What? You won’t make money when given money?”
The attendant said: “We only release twenty sets per day. If you want to buy more, come again tomorrow. Otherwise, if they’re all sold out, people behind won’t have any to buy.”
Twenty sets were sold out instantly. Every stall became popular, making others envious too.
Especially the family who had rented a shop for three taels of silver and transferred it for six taels – seeing how popular this place was, they instantly felt that the three taels of silver they got for free wasn’t so appealing anymore.
