108 – Another Culmination

Qin Mian and Lei Tie went to the town ahead of time to avoid Lei Daqiang’s birthday.

An oven was needed to make egg pudding, egg tarts, and tea cupcakes. Instead, Qin Mian used a metal box to bake over the fire as an oven. However, it was easy to heat unevenly, so some pastries were burnt and uncooked. Inspired by the stovetop burner of the gas stove, he had a blacksmith to forge a large conical lid with nine iron tubes in the middle that were arranged in a circle next to each other. When using the oven, the lid was attached to the fire. The large conical lid was able to centralize the flame and distributed it through the nine iron tubes so that the heat was much more uniform. After a few attempts, Qin Mian was able to skillfully use this simple version of an oven. He could smoothly make the pastries, and the taste was quite good.

On the day of Lei Daqiang’s birthday, guests from all walks of life gathered in the old house, including the Lei Family, Du Family, and Wei Family. However, Lei Tie and Qin Mian did not appear. Lei Daqiang remained calm all the time.

Strangely, Du Shi was not at all discontented. She warmly welcomed the guests while her eyes were secretly searching in the crowd, appearing absent-minded.

In Leisurely Farmhouse¹, Uncle Fu deliberately delayed for a while. When he estimated that all the guests of the Lei Family had arrived, he took Lei-Qin Zhong and Lei-Qin Yuan to the old house.

At the first sight of Uncle Fu, who dressed like the steward of the rich and influential family in the town, and the two boys, who dressed in the same servant clothing, standing straight behind Uncle Fu, the guests in the courtyard whispered with different expressions.

“The eldest son of the Lei Family is really prosperous. Look at his well-trained servants and his big and small bundle of gifts.”

“Paying respect to the old man!” With a smile on his face, Uncle Fu went forward and bowed, “May the old man’s happiness be as immense as the East Sea, and live as long as the Zhongnan Mountains!”

Lei-Qin Zhong and Lei-Qin Yuan said in unison, “May the old man’s happiness be as immense as the East Sea, and live as long as the Zhongnan Mountains!

As if Uncle Fu didn’t see the displeasure on Lei Daqiang’s face, he presented the congratulatory gifts one by one, “Look, these are six kinds of pastries, six chi² of cloth, six jin of fresh peaches, and six jars of good wine. The eldest young master and the little young master can’t leave the wine house, so they send us to celebrate the old man’s birthday. [We] hope the elder doesn’t take offense.”

All the relatives came, but only his own son and eldest daughter-in-law were absent. Lei Daqiang was still harboring anger, but when he saw the congratulatory gifts were a few standard higher than the others, he could only swallow his dissatisfaction. He squeezed out a laugh, “Hehe, it’s fine. Business matters are important.”

Uncle Fu said a few more nice words before he took Lei-Qin Zhong and Lei-Qin Yuan to leave on the pretext that there was still work to do in the farmhouse.

The next day of Lei Daqiang’s birthday was the day when Double Xiang House opened an application for membership cards. At dawn, some rich people rushed their servants to grab the membership cards. Regardless of whether they would come to Double Xiang House to dine later, this membership card was unique in Zhaoyang County, and even in the whole prefecture – I have it, but you don’t, so I have more identity and insight than you.

The first to grab was of course Mu Chen’s manservant, Changjian. He applied for a Diamond Membership Card that was in a noble purple color. The middle of the card was inlaid with a square piece of pure gold, the top was engraved with ‘Double Xiang House’ with the incomprehensible serial number ‘001’ at the most top, and a line of ‘Running Water Town, Zhaoyang County, Qingtian Prefecture’ words at the bottom of the card with a slightly smaller font. Along with the card, a set of passwords was given in case of careless loss of the Diamond Membership Card. As long as one remembered the password, one could still use this membership card.

Chunsheng and Changjian were the same; they waited outside before dawn. After depositing ten thousand taels of silver, they both got the same Diamond Membership Cards.

The Gold Membership Card was gold plated. The Silver Membership Card was light green and designed the same as the Diamond Membership Card, but with a piece of pure silver. Gold and Silver Members also had passwords. The ordinary membership card was made of solid white paper with the logo and address of Double Xiang House, as well as a seal printed on it. In terms of design, it was very exquisite. It was also numbered but started from 00001.

Since there were too many people, Manager Sun placed a set of tables and chairs at the lobby entrance of the Binzhi Building. Two staff were placed specifically here, responsible for handling ordinary membership cards, silver membership cards, and gold membership cards. The diamond membership card enjoyed the most respected service – handled by Manager Sun himself at the counter.

Manager Sun and the staff were busy but not disorderly. Qin Mian and Lei Tie stood not far away, watching for a while before they walked away.

Just now, both of them took note that five people had applied for diamond membership cards, which was to say, Double Xiang House had made an income of 50000 taels today. Afterward, if they wanted to expand the business, they didn’t have to worry about the capital turnover problem.

It was not only them who saw the situation, but also the staff in Double Xiang House. They suppressed their excitement and kept busy in an orderly manner. The better the business of Double Xiang House, the better their salary would be.

Qin Mian was in a good mood and decided to hold a lottery in the middle of the horse hour (12:00).

At noon, Nie Heng, Mu Chen, Nie Xuan, Zhao Yunxiang, and Chu Han appeared together in Double Xiang House.

As soon as Nie Heng and Mu Chen showed their Diamond Membership Cards, the welcoming waiter immediately called out their exclusive personal waiters. The exclusive waiters looked pretty, courteous, and well dressed. Their style of clothes was the same as that of other waiters but in solid white color with a bowtie on the collar.

Four exclusive waiters went to stand behind Nie Heng and Mu Chen. Occasionally, the envious eyes of the customers floated over them.

Nie Heng and Mu Chen looked at each other. They had to admit that this really satisfied their sense of vanity to a certain extent because having exclusive waiters signified their identity.

The group of people still chose to sit in the lobby. Nie Heng asked his exclusive waiter, “Are your bosses here today?”

“Answering³ my patron; both of the bosses are here.”

“Oh? I wonder if the two bosses can take the time to meet us?” Mu Chen asked.

After the waiter saluted respectfully, he said, “My patron is a Diamond Member. Your waiter will try the best to meet all your requirements without violating the interests of the bosses. Please wait for a moment.”

Mu Chen nodded with satisfaction, “Great.”

The group sat for a while before Mu Chen saw his exclusive waiter leading two extraordinary young men over. He carefully looked at the two men. The youngster on the left was dressed in a new style of a white long shirt with an elegant demeanor, no more than 15 or 16 years old. However, from his steady eyes and leisurely pace, one could see that he was not as simple as his outward appearance. Meanwhile, the man on the right was dressed in light green long shirts with wooden expression and unshakable eyes, making his reserved grandeur too profound to be understood.

“I was wondering who? Turns out, it’s Nie-gongzi.” Qin Mian approached with a smile and cupped his hands in greetings, “Hope Nie-gongzi is well?”

Nie Heng said, “Thanks to your blessing. This is my younger brother Nie Xuan. These three are my good friends; Mu Chen, Zhao Yunxiang, and Chu Han.”

“Many thanks for your patronage, Nie-gongzi, Mu-gongzi, Zhao-gongzi, and Chu-gongzi.” Qin Mian said with a smile, “Nie-gongzi brought his family and friends to patronize my business, it will be inexcusable if I don’t convey [the gratefulness]. Are all of you interested in participating in the lottery?”

“What’s in it?” Nie Heng and Qin Mian were considered to be familiar with each other, so they spoke casually.

Qin Mian said, “Today, we have prepared 200 lottery cards, and each card has a prize. The first prize, one place, get an overnight stay in the luxury suite of Rugui Building; the second prize, three places, get a 50% discount on today’s consumption; the third prize, ten places, get one free dish from any dishes on the menu. The rest is a consolation prize of one free dish of minced beef sauce.”

Mu Chen raised his eyebrow as he said, “If we all only win the consolation prize, Boss Qin’s ‘convey’ certainly appears to be somewhat petty.”

Qin Mian chuckled and said, “These words of Mu-gongzi are wrong. Luck is also a kind of capital.”

Mu Chen was silent for a moment, unable to deny, and looked at him with profound meaning. It’s no wonder that Nie Heng always says that this Boss Qin is not a simple person.

Lei Tie intensely glanced at him, “Wife, the matter in the tea room is still waiting for you.”

Qin Mian nodded and said to Nie Heng and the others, “Please take your time to enjoy. The staff in charge of the lottery will be here in a minute. Excuse my absence.”

“Please.”

Mu Chen looked at them walking away shoulder-to-shoulder, and turned to Nie Heng, “The relationship between the two bosses is pretty good.”

Nie Heng thoughtlessly said, “I heard that all of their servants are surnamed Lei-Qin. Do you think their relationship is good?”

Chu Han patted Mu Chen’s shoulder and joked, “Are you asking that?”

Mu Chen shook off his hand, “Don’t make a joke. I was just casually expressing my opinion.”

They did not continue to talk about Qin Mian and Lei Tie. After all, the four exclusive waiters were the staff of Double Xiang House. In the afternoon, when the storytelling time arrived, 60% of the customers dining in Double Xiang House chose to enter the tea room.

The walls of the tea room were glued with wooden planks and arranged with some potted plants. The storyteller’s speech table was placed on the high platform with a stack of manuscript paper, a pot of tea, and a gavel. Storyteller Lin Qiang calmly sat behind the table.

Below, the audience’s tables were very distinctive, all of which were thick cut-half woods, and wooden block benches wrapped with green cushions. The whole tea room was in a fresh and cool tone, brimming with natural scent. The menu list was hung on the wall, indicating the names and prices of tea, pastries, and so on provided by the tea room, so that customers could read it easily. Upon seeing all kinds of prices, some people were speechless, while some did not react.

Nie Heng and his group sat in the same row and very tacitly ordered the unique pastries and drinks of Double Xiang House.

The waiters on the side went to get them immediately.

Soon, the tea room was full.

Qin Mian and Lei Tie stood at the back, needing to see Lin Qiang’s live performance with their own eyes before they could rest assured.

When it was time, Lin Qiang struck the gavel on the table, “My surname is Lin. I’m the storyteller in the afternoon story-telling session. Welcome to Double Xiang House. Today, I’d like to tell you a heart-rending heroic tale, called the Legend of the Condor Heroes. It is said that in the distant Qiantang River, the vast river majestically winds through and around Ox Village, on its journey to the sea, day in and day out…”

Qin Mian slightly nodded. Lin Qiang had some shortcomings in rendering the atmosphere, but he had a good memory and good at using gestures. Over time, he could become an excellent storyteller.

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Footnotes