Chapter 126: Malatang

Chen Xiao Cai bought all the stores and empty space around the county yamen, intending to hire a construction team and build a commercial street.

Shen Chi followed behind Chen Xiao Cai and asked worriedly, "You've bought so many stores. Have you got a plan for what you're about to do?"

Chen Xiao Cai bought so many shops in one go, making Shen Chi worried.

Although these stores were not expensive at all, none of them was open for business for a long time. Shen Chi felt that it was very easy for Willow Town's stores to change hands. As long as they lowered the price, other merchants would come to buy them, but it was a different story in this Sha County.

If there was a war on the border, the entire commercial street would probably be destroyed.

Chen Xiao Cai shook his head, "Not yet."

Shen Chi looked at Chen Xiao Cai with a strange expression, "Not yet? Have you asked Lin Ge?"

Chen Xiao Cai nodded and said, "Yes, I've asked him. Lin Ge said I'm doing well. He praised me and said that I have the potential to do something big."

Lu Lin quite approved Chen Xiao Cai's plan, he happened to coincide with Xiao Cai on this point.

According to Lu Lin's plan, he would love to develop a commercial street near the county yamen and boost the economy of the entire county. While the commercial properties were still affordable, Lu Lin found, buying the whole street to be a brilliant idea.

Probably the value of the stores nearby would double or even multiply after a while.

The prospect of properties was always beyond imagination from ancient times to the present.

Lu Lin thought that Chen Xiao Cai was a person with dreams, but Lu Lin wasn't entirely sure if Chen Xiao Cai's ambitious plan would work out. Although there was a lot of profit in property speculation, it was high-risk as well.

Even though Lu Lin was not sure, he still gave Chen Xiao Cai a lot of support, he would always supports all the kids' dream in the family.

Shen Chi blinked and said, "Really? that's great!"

Shen Chi was very convinced of Lu Lin. Chen Xiao Cai told Shen Chi that Lu Lin was the only reason that the Chen family had moved to Forest Town, had a successful business, and now had an official title. Shen Chi admired Lu Lin so much that he would buy every word Lu Lin said. If Lu Lin knew he was held in high esteem by Shen Chi, he would be shy.

"The stores here are very cheap," Chen Xiao Cai said.

Chen Xiao Cai's store in Willow Town was worth hundreds of tales. But the entire commercial street had cost him around that amount.

One of the stores that Chen Xiao Cai bought was open for business this day. The store was mainly selling Curved Iron Ploughs and other farm tools. Lu Lin asked the carpenters to build some tables and stools to display and sell in the store as well.

Curved Iron Ploughs was only sold in that store, it had made a name for itself not long after it was open, many villagers from the neighboring counties swarmed into this store, driving economic development in the entire Sha County.

Chen Xiao Mi glanced at Lu Lin and said, "Cai has bought all the nearby stores, do you know?"

Lu Lin nodded, "I do know! I'm so proud of our Little Cai, he is so ambitious, I have high hopes for him, he is destined for something big. In my hometown, so many millionaires even billionaires build up their family fortune through property speculation. Cai is just so forward-looking."

Chen Xiao Mi who had never heard the legendary stories of the real estate speculators rolled his eyes and said with concern, "He is very daring, but I'm worried about him, what if this leads nowhere for him and he loses all his savings?"

Lu Lin smiled and said, "It's alright. We are always here for him, we will support him to start anew! Our Cai is very bold, he has what it takes to be a tycoon! I've underestimated him in the past. Mark my words, Cai is destined for something big!"

Chen Xiao Mi said helplessly, "Stop showering praise on him. Otherwise, he would be immensely pleased with himself."

Although Chen Xiao Mi said so with a helpless expression, he was so happy that his husband saw something special in his little brother.

Lu Lin rubbed his chin and said, "Business is always risky. If you fail, you just embrace it and start from the beginning again. However, I do think Cai will make a fortune from this move."

......

In the military camp.

A soldier looked under his bed and screamed.

Liu Yun came over and said, "What happened?"

The screaming soldier grimaced, "Nothing."

Liu Yun asked suspiciously, "Why were you screaming then?"

Zhang Lin, the screaming soldier, couldn't help but bow his head with sorrow, "Mr. Liu, someone has drunk all my wine. And he has filled my wine jar with water!"

Zhang Lin scratched his head with frustration. He had taken precautions against the veterans who had a tendency to steal drinks from the new recruits. He hid his wine jar under the bed and covered it with a bed sheet, he would check the jar from time to time as well.

Zhang Lin finally decided to drink the wine this day, he opened the jar full of joy only to find the wine has become water!

He usually just shook the wine jar to check if it was empty, but it never occurred to him someone had replaced wine with water already!

Liu Yun was speechless. Drinking was usually prohibited in the camp. Although this was the rule, everyone would indulge themselves with a few drinks on the day off, the officers always turned a blind eye to that as long as they didn't go too far.

Liu Yun said helplessly, "Don't you know drinking is prohibited in the camp? No more sneaking wine into the camp, understood?"

The new recruit lowered his head in silence, he felt so wronged, his wine was stolen and he just got scolded by Liu Yun.

Liu Yun shook his head and returned to his camp.

Ji Cheng Kang saw Liu Yun come in and asked, "Where have you been?"

Liu Yun smiled bitterly and said, "A soldier's wine is stolen."

Ji Cheng Kang shook his head and said, "The soldiers have been frequenting Lu Lin's winery recently, let's not be too harsh on them as long as they don't go too far."

Liu Yun nodded, he had become a regular customer of Lu Lin's winery as well,.

"General Ji, shall we pick Young Master Ji home? He has been in the county yamen for so long, I'm worried about his study."

Ji Cheng Kang shook his head and said, "That brat is probably having too much enjoyment and forgets to go back home."

Liu Yun showed a snicker, he agreed with Ji Cheng Kang.

Ji Cheng Kang glanced at Liu Yun and said, "Shall we find a scholar and ask him to teach Yun An in the county yamen? Magistrate Lu has been looking for a scholar for the kids in his family as well, this works out just perfect."

......

In the county yamen.

Ji Yun An walked to the yard, he looked around and asked Tian Rou. "Uncle Tian, have you seen Magistrate Lu?"

Tian Zheng smiled and said, "Maybe he is in the kitchen."

Ji Yun An rolled his eyes speechlessly. 'Why would a capable man spend his day in the kitchen?'

Lu Lin looked at Chen Xiao Mai and asked, "You've tasted them all, now tell me which one you like the best?"

Chen Xiao Mai tilted his head and said, "They are all great, I like them all."

Lu Lin permitted a dry smile, 'What a surprise! Mai like them all, I should've asked someone else!'

Ji Yun An walked into the kitchen and greeted Lu Lin.

Lu Lin nodded, "Yeah, An!"

"What are you doing, Magistrate Lu? Am I interrupting?"

Lu Lin said casually, "I plan to open a restaurant and I am trying new recipes."

Ji Yun An said delightedly, "Opening a restaurant? That's so exciting!"

Lu Lin seemed to know about many dishes, and he was such a great chef. Lu Lin was not a stingy person, he had shared a lot of recipes with the cooking team in the military camp. The soldiers were so grateful to Lu Lin even though the food was not as exquisite since they were prepared in a large canteen cauldron.

The soldiers in this camp had long wanted to taste the food in the county yamen, so they would volunteer to help out in the county yamen whenever Lu Lin started a new project.

Ji Yun An glanced at Lu Lin and thought to himself, 'But Magistrate Lu, you shouldn't spend so much time in the kitchen, it's women who belong in the kitchen.'

Lu Lin glanced at Ji Yun An and said: "Are you hungry? Do you want to try this and give me some opinions?"

Ji Yun An nodded and said, "Happy to!"

"Lin Ge, what is this? It's so great!" Ji Yun An exclaimed.

Lu Lin smiled and said, "This is spicy hot pot. You just prepare some soup base and add all kind of ingredients you like, nice and easy." (T/: Spicy hot pot, or malatang in pinyin, named after its key ingredient, mala sauce, which is flavored with a combination of Sichuan pepper and dried chilli pepper, is a popular street food.)

Ji Yun An nodded and said, "It's so yummy!"

Lu Lin nodded with a smile, "I'm glad you like it.".

Lu Lin originally wanted to make hotpot, then he changed his mind on thinking about how expensive hotpot was. Malatang was a much simpler and affordable version of hotpot, but just as yummy.

Ji Yun An and Chen Xiao Mai tried a few dishes with relish.

Lu Lin looked at Ji Yun An and showed a snicker, he was surprised that a young master like Ji Yun An would enjoy this street food.

Ji Yun An noticed Lu Lin's snicker and blushed, he seemed to have guessed why Lu Lin was snickering.

......

Lu Lin soon opened a malatang restaurant. The resources in Sha County weren't great, but customers still came to the restaurant in an endless stream. Among them were a lot of soldiers.

The soldiers of the patrol camp had long heard that Lu Lin was going to open a malatang restaurant, they had been looking forward to it.

On the first day of the opening, many soldiers went to the restaurant anxiously.

All seats inside the restaurant were occupied, Chen Xiao Cai had to set up a few more tables and chairs outside as well.

There were a lot of customers on the first day of the store opening, Chen Xiao Mai volunteered to help out, he had been running around and doing customer service.

"Little Manager, this spicy soup base tastes really good!"

Chen Xiao Cai smiled and said, "Thank you so much, I'm glad you like it."

The ingredients were displayed on shelves, and customers pick their desired ingredients into a bowl. The customers then paid by the ingredients. Behind the counter the selected ingredients were cooked in a spicy broth for a few minutes before being served. Meatballs were the most expensive ingredient on the shelf, and the rest were mainly cheap vegetables. The soldiers here mostly got some noodles, some vegetables and two or three meatballs for five cents.

The fragrance of the spicy broth had attracted so many villages, especially kids.

Some of them couldn't stand the temptation, their parents would take them here and have a treat.

The beauty of malatang was you could do it fancy or simple according to your budget, some villagers would only have some noodles.

The malatang business seemed to have become yet another hit.

They could earn about one tale of silver per day.

Lu Lin taught Shen Chi how to make the spicy soup base. Shen Chi was such a quick learner, he did such an amazing job in making the soup base.

Shen Chi and Chen Xiao Cai had a lot of savings over the years, but what Lu Lin appreciated the most about Shen Chi was he was still very down-to-earth about everything. Lu Lin was happy for Chen Xiao Cai that he had found such a great parcener.