Chapter 146: Auction

In one of Chen Xiao Cai's restaurant.

A well-dressed young master stood in front of the counter and asked leisurely, "How much is it?"

"Ten taels and twenty-three cents, just give me ten taels," the shop assistant said carefully.

"Here you are," the young master casually threw out an ingot, and the assistant quickly took it.

"Thank you so much, distinguished customer, please come back again time," the shopkeeper said respectfully.

The customers in the restaurant stole a glance at the young master and whispered to one another.

Ten taels of silver was a large sum to many people in Sha County. The customers couldn't believe someone had actually spent ten taels on a meal.

The young master and his friends then walked out of the restaurant with chest and head high.

They started discussing as soon as they left the restaurant.

"The dishes in this restaurant are pretty good!"

"The food is pretty good. It's just the busboys are so green and inexperienced, have you seen their faces when we order so much? And the assistant at the counter has even stammered when he found out we blew 10 taels of silver over a meal." said a young master in an arrogant way.

"This is not the capital city. Many people here have less than 10 taels of silver income all year round."

"I feel sorry for those people," a young man in a blue robe played with the folding fan in his hand.

"I don't know what secret ingredients they have put in the spicy crabs. They are tastier than the crabs in the Heaven Aroma in the capital city."

"How are we supposed to know, you've said it yourself, they've put secret ingredients."

"Can you imagine how much money we can make if we know the recipe."

"Don't talk nonsense! The recipe is created by Magistrate Lu, who is His Highness Cheng's friend. Let's watch our tongues and not say anything that might offend Magistrate Lu."

"His Highness Cheng seems to have all the recipes created by Magistrate Lu, but His Highness isn't interested in opening a restaurant. He is already very rich."

After Highness Cheng returned to the capital city from Sha County, he would invite people to his manor for gatherings. All the influential officials took pride in being invited to the exclusive gatherings for the unique delicacies. And he had been promoting Sha County to all of his friends.

The reason why so many people came to Sha County was related to Highness Cheng as well.

......

Chen Xiao Cai walked into one of his restaurants this day, and the shopkeeper greeted him immediately.

"Boss, a young master came over today and ordered all the dishes on the menu. He and his friends tried a few bites from each dish and they paid about ten taels of silver."

The dishes in Chen Xiao Cai's restaurants were originally on the cheap side. However, Chen Xiao Cai accepted Lu Lin's suggestion and launched some high-end dishes after the young masters from the capital city came to Sha County. Ordinary people wouldn't order these dishes, but they were perfect for the rich young masters who were always looking for opportunities to flaunt their wealth. But in fact, these high-end dishes weren't much different from the ordinary dishes.

Chen Xiao Cai nodded and said, "Sounds great. You can send the leftovers to Yun Niang who is in charge of cooking for the construction teams."

There were many people working for the Hot Springs Project. They were not picky eaters, and they welcomed leftovers from the restaurants.

Chen Xiao Cai thought to himself, 'These rich people are so dumb, they order so much food just to flaunt their wealth and gratify their vanity.'

Chen Xiao Cai didn't like it, but it was a good thing for the business.

Those young masters desperately needed some confidence boost that they couldn't find in the capital city, so they deliberately spent so much money to enjoy people's attention.

Chen Xiao Cai flipped through the account book and a smile flashed across his face. The profits of the restaurants had been rising sharply recently thanks to the young masters!

......

After a busy day, Luo Wen left the restaurant with a basket and headed home.

When Lu Lin first arrived, Luo Wen was just a boy who was desperately looking for a job. Slowly he had won Lu Lin's trust, and he had been working for Lu Lin since that.

After Chen Xiao Cai built the commercial street, Luo Wen had been working as an apprentice in different stores.

Because Chen Xiao Cai appreciated Luo Wen very much, he even let Wan Li took Luo Wen as a disciple.

Luo Wen was still learning and practicing at the moment. After a few years, he would have what it takes to become a shopkeeper.

Luo Wen glanced at the things in the basket and walked towards home.

"Brother Luo."

"Brother Luo."

A few kids in the village greeted him respectfully.

Luo Wen would pack leftovers for the kids, so he enjoyed a good name among the kids.

There were significant improvements in people's living standards in Sha County, but leftovers from restaurants were still valued by the children in the village.

......

"Wen, you are back," Luo Wen's mother smiled.

Luo Wen put the basket on the table and said, "Mom, there are delicious food today."

Luo Wen's mother helplessly said, "You've brought back from again, will Boss Chen be happy about this?"

"It's fine. Boss Chen asked us to take home these, recently there are so many young masters from the capital city order excessively, so we have a lot of leftovers."

Local customers would usually order the right amount for themselves, so they usually didn't have much leftovers.

The young masters, on the other hand, would just try a few bites from each dish and leave the rest untouched. Luo Wen was very lucky this day, he got a large plate of untouched pastries.

"Are these pastries leftovers? " Luo Wen's mother gasped.

Luo Wen nodded and said, "Yes! The pastries are sold for 100 cents per plate, so yummy. Mother, please try it."

Luo Wen felt so lucky that he got the pastries this day, usually it was the shopkeeper who picked first, but he had been doing a good job recently and the shopkeeper rewarded him with the pastries.

"I'm afraid I don't deserve such good things!"

Luo Wen comforted his mother patiently, "Mom, please try some. It's not like I stole them or anything, the shopkeeper gave them to me as a reward."

Luo Wen then let out a sigh, he found it unfair that the young masters could just waste so many dishes without hesitation while his mother felt she didn't deserve some leftovers.

"Son, Boss Chen likes you. You have to work hard and not let him down!" Luo Wen said.

Luo Wen nodded and said, "I know, Mother."

......

In a small restaurant in Sha County.

"Young Master Ma, they said that the Third Master of Chen family and Ji Yun An are engaged.

The man nodded and said, "Yeah, I've heard of it too."

The man called Young Master Ma was from Forest Town. He came to Sha County to do business with merchants from the Liao Dynasty.

When Lu Lin left Forest Town, the Ma family was little known, but in the past few years, they had shot to fame.

Lu Lin was a legend in Forest Town and Ma Hu had heard of Lu Lin and his story. He knew how Lu Lin spent thousands of taels on his official post, how Lu Lin got a Commendation Letter from the Emperor due to the Curved Iron Plough, how Lu Lin associated with His Highness Cheng......

In the past,

"Young Master Ma, should we go to the county yamen and introduce ourselves to Magistrate Lu?" A guard asked.

Ma Hu was thinking about the same thing. They were town fellows, and he was doing business in Sha County, he figured it was a good idea to visit Lu Lin.

He looked at the commercial street and said, "I heard that the shops on this entire street all belong to Chen Xiao Cai."

"Yes, master, Chen Xiao Cai also has many restaurants!"

"There are so many people on this street. All of these stores should be worth thousands of taels."

"I heard that Chen Xiao Cai is developing a Hot Springs Resort in the mountains."

"Wow, rich people do know how to have a good time!"

......

There was sound of firecrackers coming from the street and Ma Hu craned his neck to get a better view, it was from a hot pot restaurant.

"Waiter, what's going on in that hot pot restaurant? Why are there so many people?"

The waiter smiled and said, "The hot pot restaurant is doing a promotion today, all the dishes are half price. And they are having an auction."

"Auction? What is up for auction?" Ma Hu asked curiously.

The waiter frowned and said, "It seems to be a sheep."

"A sheep? What's so special about this sheep?"

Ma Hu knew that there were certain breeds of horses were worth hundreds of taels of silver, but he had never heard there were some special breed of sheep.

The waiter smiled and said, "Of course it's not ordinary sheep. It's something called Roast Whole Lamb. That Boss Chen and Magistrate Lu have just come up with the recipe for the Roast Whole Lamb, and whoever offers the best price will get the lamb."

"Young master, let's go take a look too!" A guard couldn't resist the temptation.

Ma Hu nodded and said, "Why not?"

He thought to himself, 'I won't buy that lamb, but I just want to see the fun.'