Chapter 114.2 - Opening of Qingfeng House
In the middle of the day, these two people changed their clothes but not Zhao Mingzhu . . . He had already accepted a servant girl and knew what it meant, so his heart suddenly felt sour . . .
Jiang Zhen was very familiar with Qingfeng House, so after greeting Zheng Yi, he took Zhao Jinge to show him around.
“Master Jiang, you were always upset when we asked you about something before, but why are you talking so cheerfully now?” Liu Qianqian, dressed in a modified man’s suit, came out of his house, asking sourly.
Liu Qianqian once wanted to hook up with Jiang Zhen before, but later, she gave up on her plan. Still, she could not help saying a few sour words when she saw Jiang Zhen and Zhao Jinge together.
“Yes, you are too different from others, Master Jiang,” Zhao Lingxi also added.
Liu Qianqian and he wore the same clothes. These clothes were not only some type of man’s clothing but also a uniform. They would wear it when they work in Qingfeng House in the future.
“Do I have to treat you like my wife?” Jiang Zhen frowned.
Liu Qianqian and Zhao Lingxi immediately became silent.
However, when Jiang Zhen was taking Zhao Mingzhu to find a room to change her diaper, Zhao Lingxi found Zhao Jinge. “Hello, Zhao Jinge.”
“What’s the matter?” Zhao Jinge looked at Zhao Lingxi warily, a little worried that this man came to recommend himself as a concubine to Jiang Zhen.
“Don’t worry. I won’t rob Jiang Zhen from you,” Zhao Lingxi said. “I just want to remind you to be careful with that Shen Anxin.”
“Yes, Jiang Zhen asked us, so we are not a threat to you. But he is different,” Liu Qianqian also said.
Zhao Jinge did not understand why they suddenly reminded themselves of this but nodded. “Thank you.”
“Don’t take it seriously. You might not know but when we were in the capital . . .” Liu Qianqian quickly told him what had happened with Shen Anxin and then also added. “We did it for you, but we offended him. If he targets us in the future, you should help us.”
“Yes, when Shen Anxin comes to trouble us in the future, you must not leave us alone,” Zhao Lingxi also said. They came out to remind Zhao Jinge about it this time. In addition to worrying about Zhao Jinge’s accident, they were also afraid that Shen Anxin would come to find trouble with them in the future . . .
“You can rest assured. I will help you.” Zhao Jinge nodded. Although Shen Anxin seemed to be disinterested in Jiang Zhen recently, he was still on guard.
Shen Anxin who saw this scene from afar could not help frowning. He wanted to go to talk to Zhao Jinge and ask why Jiang Zhen was angry before, but he didn’t expect to see Zhao Jinge talk to those two.
He was a bit far away, so he could not hear what they said, but looking at their demeanor, they seemed very close . . .
What happened at that time might have been instigated by Zhao Jinge, and what happened earlier might also have something to do with him. But there was no way for him to expose Zhao Jinge at all.
That day, Qingfeng House was empty, but the next day it changed.
Zheng Yi sent letters to all the rich people in Hecheng, inviting them to come to Qingfeng House to play.
The Zheng family was the most prominent family in Hecheng County, so everyone wanted to curry favor with them. Under such circumstances, everyone was happy to go there.
Li Mingzhe, who used to do business with Jiang Zhen and lived in Lijia Village, was one of the people invited to join the silk business.
He was once upset with Li Zugen, and as a result, Jiang Zhen finally frightened him so that Li Zugen did not dare to bother him anymore. Since then, he had been very fond of Jiang Zhen, and let him help transport all his goods this year.
This time, the Zheng family sent a message, but knowing that Jiang Zhen also had a share in this business, he naturally came early.
There was a river not far from Qingfeng House. When Li Mingzhe came ashore from the river, Li Mingzhe went to Qingfeng House, and just as he entered he saw four young men of average height, wearing the same type of clothes and standing at the door. After seeing him, they all bowed in unison. “Welcome, distinguished guest.”
This . . . Although Li Mingzhe’s business was not small, he had always lived in the countryside, and his life was not very luxurious. This bow made him a little uncomfortable, but he had to say that it made him a little elated as well.
After entering the door, another boy dressed just like the people at the door came forward and led Li Mingzhe to the hall . . .
Everything that Li Mingzhe experienced next could be described in one word—enjoyment.
He could talk with people about business here, could discuss music, chess, calligraphy, and painting with others, and there were also many other interesting things . . .
At first, Zheng Yi and Jiang Zhen wanted to build a gambling shop, but later, instead of doing so, they made it more elegant and provided boxes for visitors so that they could communicate with each other.
There was also a large study, full of various books that people could read. There was also a special teahouse that provided not only all kinds of good tea, but also many refreshments that ordinary people had never seen before.
Here, you could play pitcher and so on. Daqi already had some games, but they also provided some new ways to play, such as the playing cards.
Here, there was also a large bathroom with separate pools, which could make people feel comfortable. In fact, Qingfeng House had many shortcomings. Many of the boys who served here were directly borrowed from the Zheng family, but what was Hecheng Country?
It was a small county town.
The people who come that day were all locals from Hecheng County, and what they are seeing right then was undoubtedly something they have never seen before.
“I heard that the playing cards came from the palace, and the empress dowager love to play them.”
“This snack is really soft. I’ve never had anything like this before.”
“Maybe this snack is also eaten by the empress in the palace . . . Young Master Zheng went to the palace from what I heard . . .”
The people who soaked in the pool were very comfortable, and they could even have their hair washed . . . “It is not yet fully built, which is really too bad.”
If you are not reading on ontimestory.eu you are reading a stolen translation.
. . .
People talked about it one after another, and many of the things that Jiang Zhen thought of for Qingfeng House were branded as products that came from the Imperial Palace.
At this time, Jiang Zhen and Zheng Yi were eating fried chicken. This fried chicken was one of the new dishes served on the second floor, so Zheng Yi also asked the people to serve a plate to each of them.
Yes, it was fried chicken.
This fried chicken was made by Zheng Yi after Jiang Zhen explained how it should be made. It was one of the expensive signature dishes of Qingfeng House, called junk food in modern times, but currently, it became a luxury dish.
Who made oil so expensive at this time?
Jiang Zhen thought that the fried chicken at this time was not as delicious as that of modern times, but Zhao Jinge liked it very much.
This fried chicken is not fried whole but as small cuts, so Zhao Jinge soon finished the whole plate while the food put in front of other people didn’t move much.
He was suddenly a little embarrassed, but Jiang Zhen silently replaced the empty plate in front of him with his plate of fried chicken.
Zheng Yi suddenly felt full and could no longer eat the fried chicken in front of him, so he simply went to the door to take a look at the situation in the hall below.
Here was the place to play cards. Liu Qianqian, Zhao Lingxi, and some other women were wearing uniform men’s clothes and simply tied their hair as they stood at the spacious table and gambled with the guests.
They were all dressed up, and the wide table surrounded them so that people outside could not get close to them . . . All the guests who came here, when they see this scene, knew that they could not touch them at will. But precisely because of this, it made them want to touch Liu Qianqian and the others more and more, so they sat at the round table unwilling to go. Of course, there were also other reasons why they did not want to leave, this was this cards were really fun to play.
They were sitting leisurely outside the table with a young man serving tea and refreshments. When they placed bets, they did not use real money but delicate ceramic chips of the size of a nail.
“It doesn’t even look like gambling.” Zheng Yi sighed.
Among the gamblers over there, there was an uncle who had been always persuading him to close the gambling shop. His uncle has always hated gambling, but now he was playing.
Hecheng County was not the capital, and there were no city walls here, so naturally, there was also no curfew. On this night, the people of Qingfeng House closed very late, and if it hadn’t been officially opened, some people would probably want to live there.
Then the next day, the Qingfeng House became a place everyone was talking about in the upper circles of Hecheng.
Those men enjoyed going to Qingfeng House very much. But what about women? It was better for their men to go to such a place than to find a woman outside.
On that day, Qingfeng House did not make money, and in fact, lost a lot of money because, except for chips that everyone needed to buy for their own use, they did not have to spend money on anything else.
But a few days later, when Qingfeng House officially opened, everything there would cost money.
Then Jiang Zhen and Zheng Yi had the feeling of fighting with money every day.
Despite the fact that there were no prominent families here in Hecheng County, these families that had been doing business for generations were, in fact, very strong families, that is to say, the humble Li Mingzhe, whose family had been engaged in the silk business for several generations had tens of thousands of silver at hand.
If he came to Qingfeng House and didn’t gamble, he could still have a good time with only ten silver. He could definitely afford such expenses easily, not to mention that he was by no means the richest person in Hecheng County.
Not to mention, people from Hecheng County were not the only ones who came to Qingfeng House to play.
In modern times, there were interesting clubs or bars people could visit, but in these ancient times, there was nothing to play with.
Almost every day, Qingfeng House would earn a hundred silver in income. Excluding all kinds of expenses, it could make a net profit of six hundred silver!
Although this was just the beginning and everything was very fresh, earning so much after careful calculation was still amazing enough . . . Such a place in a month could earn tens of thousands of silver!
In comparison, Jiang Zhen’s escort agency only made a few hundreds of silver since it was opened a few months ago. Even in this time period, the most profitable things were really still a variety of luxury and fun things.
“If this Qingfeng House was built in the Fucheng . . . There are a lot of rich businessmen there!” Zheng Yi originally did not take Qingfeng House seriously, but soon his heart was on fire.
The Zheng family was rich, but there were many people in Fucheng who were richer than the Zheng family, and some of them had no place to spend it.
“If you want to go to Fucheng, you can build the Qingfeng House a little bigger and also add some facilities.”
Jiang Zhen also calculated that he had to save a dowry for his Pearl, so he naturally had to find a way to make more money.
No! He was reluctant to marry his Mingzhu, so it was better to save for betrothal gifts, and when she liked someone he could snatch him to the house!