CHAPTER 157: CHAPTER 157: TREATING GUESTS (1)

The Great Princess sneered, "Look at you, all pleased with yourself."

Second Young Master and Li Xing’an both laughed and said, "Not bad, not bad, Second Sister is impressive."

Li Yuzhu also laughed and said, "Second Sister, if business continues to be good, you could rent a long-term stall like the shopkeeper next door."

The Second Princess glanced toward the bun shop and frowned. "There are several people busy there. I’m afraid I can’t manage a shop all on my own."

"Get Second Brother and Third Brother to help you," Li Yuzhu suggested.

The brothers frowned even more deeply, asking them to sell pastries? Work as waiters?

They were about to protest when Li Yuzhu, smiling, asked them, "Isn’t my idea great? Second Brother, Third Brother?"

Second Young Master Li and Li Xing’an, "..." They both reluctantly said, "It’s okay, it’s okay."

"That’s settled then. Let’s go home and talk to Father and Mother about this," Li Yuzhu said with a smile.

"It’s almost noon, let’s head back. I’m starving, I definitely want to have a big lunch," the Second Princess rubbed her stomach, then looked at the bun shop next door and smiled, "How about I treat you all to some buns?"

"We’ve made a bit of money today, why don’t we go for a meal, something a bit nicer," Mu Yuanxiu suggested at this time.

The Second Princess was startled and quickly clutched her cloth bag, "I, I, I... I only made about three hundred coins, hardly enough for a restaurant."

You’re kidding, this three hundred coins wouldn’t even cover one nice dish.

Not to mention there’s such a crowd following along, she simply couldn’t afford it.

Mu Yuanxiu gave a gentle smile, "I’ll treat."

The Second Princess breathed a sigh of relief, she smiled broadly and said, "Neighbor, you’re such a good person."

The little rascal who can’t walk away from a meal!

The Second Young Master gave her a cold glare.

Li Xing’an secretly pinched the Second Princess.

The Second Princess covered her arm and shouted, "Third Brother, why did you pinch me?"

Li Xing’an, "..."

"Let’s go, the restaurant is just ahead," Mu Yuanxiu said.

"Mu Yuanxiu, your money doesn’t come easy, how can we let you treat us?" Li Yuzhu said, "How about we split the bill?"

"What does ’split the bill’ mean?" Li Xing’an asked curiously, not understanding.

"It means everyone contributes a bit of money, and we order a table’s worth of dishes to share," Li Yuzhu explained.

This idea was good.

Both Li Xing’an and the Second Young Master expressed their support.

The Xue Family’s funds were limited, hesitating about whether to agree.

The Great Princess, having spent her money on earrings, immediately shouted, "I have no money, how can I contribute to the bill?" She looked at the Second Princess, "Second Sister, could you cover for me? I’ll pay you back when I have money."

Mu Yuanxiu glanced at Li Yuzhu and said, "No need to trouble yourselves, I’ll treat."

"We have money, Mu Yuanxiu, it’s better if everyone pitches in for the meal," Li Yuzhu said, not wanting to be indebted.

They were a big family bullying a lone orphan; it was just too unfair.

Mu Yuanxiu said, "I actually have something I’d like to ask for your brother and sister’s help with."

Li Xing’an let out a sigh of relief, patted Mu Yuanxiu’s shoulder, and laughed heartily, "We’re neighbors, after all, speak up if you need anything, what’s with the formality? By the way, where’s the restaurant? Is it far?"

Mu Yuanxiu pointed ahead, "Not far, follow me."

Having a task to discuss, it wasn’t eating for free, so nobody minded.

Li Yuzhu said, "Then let’s go together."

The Second Young Master and Li Xing’an loaded the empty pastry jar onto the cart, and everyone followed Mu Yuanxiu to look for the restaurant.

After walking about a hundred steps, they stopped at the entrance of an alley.

A small restaurant was bustling with activity.

Today was market day, and the restaurant was full of people.

Li Yuzhu and company, being quite a group, approached the restaurant, and immediately a waiter came to welcome them, "What would you like to eat, honored guests?"

"Just pick some good dishes, bring out seven or eight," Mu Yuanxiu said.

"Sure, there’s a vacant seat here, you can sit here." The waiter led everyone to an empty table in the corner.

The table was round, the largest in the restaurant.

It fit all seven of them perfectly.

Li Xing’an called to the waiter, "Keep an eye on the cart outside, please."

"Got it, got it." The waiter brought a pot of tea over and went to pass the order to the kitchen.

While waiting for the dishes, Li Xing’an asked Mu Yuanxiu, "Mu Yuanxiu, you said you have something to ask. What is it?"

Second Young Master Li said, "The two of us are quite capable; no matter how difficult the task, we can handle it."

The two of them patted Mu Yuanxiu’s shoulders from either side.

Mu Yuanxiu said, "The shopkeeper of this tavern, who also supplies to the city’s major restaurants, wants to buy fish and shrimp from me and requires me to supply him with five hundred pounds of fish and shrimp each month. How could I possibly manage that? But if I don’t provide it, he said he won’t buy my wild game anymore. All the game I hunted before was sold whole to him."

The two brothers exchanged a glance; this was indeed a money-making opportunity.

Li Yuzhu said, "This shopkeeper is quite capable, being able to expand his business to the city. Second Brother, Third Brother, we can consider developing in this direction in the future."

Mu Yuanxiu said, "Doing business with the city’s restaurants requires a large amount of capital. Some of those restaurants settle accounts monthly, some quarterly. That means for goods delivered this month, payment might only come at the end of the next month or even the next quarter."

"Such business requires upfront payments, which we can’t afford now. Supplying goods this month and not getting paid until the end of next month means earning no coins for almost two months or longer. How would we survive those months?" Li Xing’an shook his head. "We can’t do this business."

Second Young Master Li said, "Let’s wait until we have money before proceeding."

The Great Princess frowned, "The wealthy just keep getting wealthier, while those without money can’t earn a cent."

Li Yuzhu saw everyone looking downcast and encouraged, "Third Brother, Second Brother, Big Sister, let’s take it slow. We’ll do business with the city when we have money. You can’t get fat with just one bite, right?"

The two brothers agreed, "That’s true."

The Second Princess wasn’t worried about this business deal; her eyes were fixed on the dishes at the other table.

The Xue Family was even less concerned, busy observing the attire of passing women.

Mu Yuanxiu looked at the siblings and asked, "So, do you want to do this business? If you do, we can collect fish and shrimp together to supply to the tavern’s shopkeeper. He pays in cash."

Li Xing’an laughed and patted Mu Yuanxiu’s shoulder. "If we don’t want to, your wild game wouldn’t sell. We’re neighbors; we should help each other."

"Right, right, what the Third Brother says is true. Neighbors should help each other," Second Young Master Li also said.

Mu Yuanxiu nodded, "Alright, it’s settled then. After the meal, I’ll go find the shopkeeper to discuss this."

As they finished discussing, the dishes arrived.

Braised carp, saltwater river prawns, stewed pork trotters, smoked pork with winter bamboo shoots, stir-fried beef tendons, thinly sliced stewed beef, stewed lamb ribs, and a bowl of fish fillet soup.

In front of each person was a bowl of white rice piled high.

All the dishes looked delicious, and the Second Princess couldn’t take her eyes off them.

At home, she mostly ate wild vegetable porridge, rarely having dry rice, let alone meat.

The Great Princess pinched her under the table and whispered angrily, "Act civil!"

"But I’m hungry," the Second Princess looked at her, aggrieved.

"Eat, then," Mu Yuanxiu urged everyone, "You need to fill up to have the energy to walk back."

"Ah, right, right, we still have ten miles to walk back," Li Xing’an agreed.

Li Yuzhu picked up her bowl, hesitating with her chopsticks, not knowing which dish to start with.

Although the style of the dishes wasn’t as exquisite as in her modern life, since she crossed over, she hadn’t been full often, and days of eating meat were few and far between.

She decided not to be picky and just eat anything.

Li Yuzhu fancied the salty prawns and was about to reach for them with her chopsticks when Mu Yuanxiu moved the entire plate in front of her.

Li Yuzhu was stunned.

Seeing her surprise, Mu Yuanxiu said, "Jingjing mentioned you like shrimp."

Li Yuzhu blinked. Did she ever tell Jingjing that?

Since when did that little kid become so close with Mu Yuanxiu?

Blabbing about her affairs?

Luckily, it was not anything too much, so Li Yuzhu decided to let it pass.

"Thanks, but I’d feel bad about eating it all myself. Let’s all share," Li Yuzhu didn’t want to be stared down by the Great Princess and the Xue Family.

Since the plate of prawns arrived at her place, their eyes seemed to pop out.

The Great Princess and the Xue Family were indeed envious, for they too loved shrimp.

But Li Xing’an said, "Third Sister, you eat it yourself. I don’t like it." Then he patted Second Young Master Li’s shoulder, "I remember you hate shrimp the most, right? Second Brother? Oh, and Second Sister’s face gets itchy when she eats shrimp."

He looked at the Second Princess.

The Second Princess didn’t care whether there were prawns; she was wrestling with a piece of lamb rib.

The lamb rib was too big; she couldn’t grasp it with chopsticks; it dropped when she tried. Holding it with her hands, they got greasy.

In the end, she gave up, rolled up her sleeves, and grabbed it with her hand.

She ate with gusto, not caring about prawns, "Yes, yes, I don’t eat shrimp."

So, the plate of prawns returned to Li Yuzhu’s place successfully.