This chapter is quite satisfactory... Xiaozhou angrily begs for a subscription...

~~~~~~

In a blink of an eye, three days have passed, and the time has come to the beginning of February.

During these three days, Li Yuanqing stayed at home and never left the official hall. Apart from working hard to irrigate his several "fertile fields" in the back house, he seemed to have nothing to do and was very free.

It’s just that~~ people with a discerning eye have noticed that the number of soldiers entering and exiting the government hall in the past few days seems to be much higher than before...

evening.

A rare flurry of snow fell in the sky, and soon the whole world was covered with a layer of light white, which was really beautiful.

This is also the first snow on Changsheng Island since the Chinese New Year.

Northeast of Changshengdao City, Crab Alley, in front of Lao Qijia Fish House.

Qi Xiaorong, the shopkeeper and proprietress of Lao Qijia Fish House, was leaning in front of the strong brazier at the door, warmly greeting the guests to come in.

Although it snowed today and the weather was a bit extremely cold, the two ends of Crab Alley were full of people coming and going, and it was very lively, without any hint of depression.

Crab Alley, as the name suggests, is like countless alleys in the city. It is named because of its terrain.

This Crab Alley was originally a depression with two small streams flowing out from both sides. From a distance, it looked like a plump big crab.

The people of Changsheng Island casually named this place Xiziwa.

According to common sense, people cannot live in depressions like Xiziwa because the terrain is too low and too humid. Especially in the summer at the seaside, if there is heavy rain or storms, the consequences will be unimaginable.

But I can’t bear it~~, the location of Xiziwa is really great.

The wide official road located just at the dock leads to the northern section of the city and is close to the city, less than half a mile away.

A few years ago, I don't know who it was, but with great foresight, I took the lead in buying a piece of land near the official road in Xieziwa, filled up the soil myself, built several houses, and opened a place similar to

The mutton restaurant of later generations of farmhouses was very prosperous for a while.

Mainly here at the wharf, there are many military camps and a lot of labor. Especially after the wealthy merchants from Zhenjiang moved to the northern section of Xieziwa, there are more and more wealthy gentry, servants, and merchants coming and going.

The people on the island and foreign merchants, especially those with skills, also saw the business opportunities here and bought land, filled the soil, and built shops one after another.

Regarding commercial matters, Li Yuanqing has always been supportive and encouraging. Not only did he relax the requirements for merchants to settle in Xieziwa, but he also ordered the engineers to re-plan and build a more reasonable and sturdier construction for Xieziwa.

Drainage and fire prevention facilities.

This has also enabled Xieziwa to develop rapidly in the past few years.

At this time, there were more than a hundred restaurants, dozens of inns, and various shops, literally countless, making it the busiest neighborhood on Changsheng Island.

It borders the urban area to the west, the mansions of wealthy businessmen from Zhenjiang to the north, and stretches for several miles to the east. If it were not for military needs, it would be close to the school grounds where the 1,000th Corps is stationed.

At this time, although there was some uproar on the island because the imperial court wanted to transfer Li Yuanqing away, most of the people, sons and merchants still had high hopes for the owner of Changsheng Island, the majestic Li Yuanqing.

Strong confidence.

Today~, even though it snowed and the weather was extremely cold, the business exchanges and friend gatherings on the island were not interrupted and were still very lively.

This was still when Li Yuanqing was leading the main force of the army on an expedition.

If the main force of the Changsheng Camp stays on the island, many times, if you want to eat at several famous time-honored restaurants here, you will not be able to queue up, so you must make a reservation in advance.

Lao Qijia Fish House is one of them.

There were no customers from the beginning, so the proprietress Qi Xiaorong had to greet her outside in person. Within half an hour, more than a dozen tables were already seated in the huge hall, and the atmosphere quickly became lively.

Chinese people have a natural tendency to get together when eating.

If any restaurant is popular, it must be the most popular, never more popular.

Qi Xiaorong was obviously deep in his thoughts.

She is about twenty-twenty-three years old, very charming and beautiful, and has an excellent figure.

In particular, she is very good at dressing up. She puts on a little makeup, adding one point to make it more, and one point less to make it less. She wears an ordinary embroidered shopkeeper's work robe, but it makes her look like a Paris Fashion Week supermodel. It's indescribable.

tempting.

Like a butterfly, it shuttles back and forth among the guests, joking affectionately with the guests at each table, and making the atmosphere in the hall more and more lively.

However, perhaps due to today's weather, only twenty-one or two of the thirty-odd tables in the entire hall were occupied, and no one entered the store anymore.

Not to mention the private rooms in the courtyard and upstairs.

This also makes Qi Xiaorong's work much more leisurely than usual.

Instructing several capable waiters to serve the dishes one by one, Qi Xiaorong came to the small yard behind the shopkeeper's counter and said to an old man who was chopping firewood and lighting charcoal: "Godfather, there are not many people today. Especially especially

They are all traveling and doing business, but there is not a single soldier. It’s a bit strange. Could it be that, as those people guessed, Li Yuanqing is back?”

This old man has an unattractive appearance, with gray hair and a hideous scar on his face. His whole old face is so thin that he is almost skin and bones. If you look carefully, he looks like a ghost, which may scare children.

He is Qi Xiaorong's nominal father, Qi San.

Although Qi San is ugly, he has a good skill, which is making fish.

Whether it is sea fish or river fish, he has a very exquisite cooking method passed down from his ancestors. It is precisely because of this skill and the capable Qi Xiaorong that the father and daughter have been able to cook it in a few years.

Lao Qijia Fish House has achieved its current scale.

In fact, when it comes to cooking fish, the heat, techniques, etc. are all very different.

The most important thing is the core ingredient of fish soup.

At this time, unless extremely important guests came to the store and Qi San was asked to cook it himself, Qi San would naturally be too lazy to do other ordinary small banquets himself and would just leave it to a few of his apprentices.

Qi San frowned when he heard this, and his turbid old eyes became more and more turbid, but for a moment, he slowly shook his head, "Rong'er, this matter is indeed a bit strange. However, don't just listen to the wind. Li Yuanqing is this person.

, it’s really a bit unpredictable. From today on, let’s try to be more restrained. Well, let’s take a rest for ten or eight days. We won’t send out the information we have here for the time being.”

"But... godfather, if we don't deliver the goods, it will be hard for us to explain to the master if he is held accountable. Especially at such a critical time..."

Qi Xiaorong's extremely beautiful eyebrows couldn't help but frown tightly.

Qi San smiled faintly: "Rong'er, you don't have to worry about this. How talented is the master? He will understand our difficulties. For the master, our passing on information is actually just a small thing. We can take root.

Here, that’s big. Do you understand?”

Qi Xiaorong also understood Qi San's meaning at this time, and couldn't help but secretly thought: "No wonder this old thing is so trusted by the master. When it comes to guessing the master's thoughts, she, Qi Xiaorong, is indeed no match."

"Daddy, Rong'er understands. You should also do less work. The work of chopping firewood is the worst for your hands in this kind of weather."

Qi San chuckled: "Rong'er, as we get older, we can no longer be idle. But don't worry. We can work here for another three or two years at most, and my old man will definitely help you fulfill your wish."

Qi Xiaorong was slightly moved for a moment.

Although the old man Qi San is stern and terrifying, he is indeed a trustworthy person in terms of his conduct. Perhaps, he can really help him avenge his father and brother...

"Daddy, your kindness to Ronger will be remembered in Ronger's heart."

Qi San chuckled: "Rong'er, although you are not my biological child, you are better than my biological child. Relax, your godfather is here and nothing will happen."

At this time, the waiter shouted from outside, "Hey, sir, what would you like to order?"

Qi Xiaorong smiled quickly and said: "Godfather, the guests are here. My daughter went out to greet the guests first."

Qi San smiled kindly: "Go ahead. Be careful."

"Um."

Qi Xiaorong quickly came to the front hall, only to find an extremely tall man with a full beard and a luxurious fur coat. Accompanied by two tall entourages, he looked at the other diners in the hall with a smile.

Dishes, a waiter is serving him attentively.

Although Qi Xiaorong is not very old, she has been working in this industry for several years, and her eyes are almost as fiery as golden eyes.

The man in front of me is definitely a really rich man.

Just his pure black fur coat without a single hair was probably worth several thousand taels of silver.

This is a big benefactor.

Qi Xiaorong did not dare to neglect, and greeted her with a busy smile, "Master, what do you want to eat? The best thing we cook in our store is fish. However, other dishes are also more expensive than those in other stores.

It’s so brilliant!”

This tall man is naturally Li Yuanqing in disguise.

"hehe."

Li Yuanqing smiled faintly: "The boss lady is very talkative. However, I am alone today and can't eat too much, so I will just pick the three most famous and best-prepared dishes in your store and serve them. In addition, give me two

Brothers, please prepare some delicious meals."

As he said that, Li Yuanqing smiled, sat on a small table next to the window, took out a gold cake the size of a pebble, and placed it on the table.

Qi Xiaorong's eyes couldn't help but light up. She really guessed it right. He was indeed a big benefactor.

Busy Jiao smiled and said: "Second servant, let me tell you to the cook, a portion of steamed fish head, a plate of stir-fried kidneys, and six boiled pheasants. In addition, two braised silver carps, three pounds of meat, and five pounds of mutton in sauce.

!”

"Come on! Please wait a moment, I'll be here soon!"

The waiter quickly ran to the kitchen to pass the dishes.
To be continued...