CH 61

A Prosperous Opening

On September 22nd, the weather was clear and pleasant, and Tongshan City was bustling as usual.

As the hour of si approached, a lion dance troupe, accompanied by the sound of drums and gongs, paraded from the central crossroads of the city, led by the ball-pulling person, all the way to the North Street.

People on the street heard the drums and saw the lion dance, so they stopped and made way for the lion, enjoying the lively scene.

The majestic lions ran, jumped, and pounced from time to time, capturing the attention of many passersby. Especially the children, who loved excitement, followed behind the lions, running along with them.

Many onlookers joined the lion dance troupe, curious to see where they were headed.

The lion dance continued for half a street, and the lion dance troupe stopped in front of a particular shop and began performing. Upon seeing this, the onlookers realized that the shop was about to open, as there were red flowers and red cloth hanging on its signboard.

Just then, a person walked out of the shop, and when the crowd took a closer look, they realized it was the owner of Yu’s Delicious Delights. So, he was the one opening this shop?

As he gestured to invite someone, a group of people emerged in front of him. Leading the group was none other than Old Master Cai from the Cai family in the southern part of the city, accompanied by another elderly man, who had a servant by his side.

“Hey, isn’t that Old Master Cai and Old Master Zhao from the Zhao family?” someone recognized them. The elderly man behind them was indeed Old Master Zhao from the Zhao family.

“Wow, Boss Yu is really lucky. He managed to invite Old Master Cai and Old Master Zhao to attend his grand opening ceremony. They are among the most prominent families in our city,” another person commented.

“Well, you might not know, but I heard that Boss Yu cured the strange illness of the second young master of the Cai family. And recently, at Old Master Zhao’s birthday banquet, Boss Yu made a special longevity peach that Old Master Zhao really liked!”

“Oh, I see! I wasn’t aware of that. I’m out of touch.”

“Hey, look at those two young men following behind. Aren’t they the two scholars who passed the imperial examination a few days ago?”

“It does seem like it! The scholars are here too!”

“And who is the young boy beside the young master of the Cai family? He looks unfamiliar.”

“Well, judging by his appearance and age, could he be the second young master of the Cai family?”

“But doesn’t the second young master of the Cai family never leave the house? This young man doesn’t seem so delicate. He’s just a bit thin.”

“Well, then it seems the rumors about Boss Yu curing him must be true. The second young master of the Cai family has recovered and can leave the house now.”

“…”

Yu Qingze didn’t expect Old Master Cai and Old Master Zhao to arrive so early, and they even brought Cai Chenxi, Cai Yunwei, and Jiang Tianrui with them. He thought that when Old Master Cai mentioned coming to see the shop, it would be after the opening to have some snacks or something.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

What surprised him even more was that shortly after Old Master Cai arrived, Old Master Zhao also came with the company of Steward Zhao.

According to Old Master Zhao himself, he simply loved Yu Qingze’s pastries and had heard that his shop was opening today, so he wanted to come and enjoy some.

Yu Qingze was overjoyed. These were all influential and prominent figures in the city, and their presence at his small shop was a great honor. He was even a little overwhelmed by the attention.

Boss Liu had also arrived early and, upon seeing the people who came, he said to Yu Qingze, “Brother Yu, your shop is going to be a hit!”

Yu Qingze smiled and replied, “Thanks for the kind words, Brother Liu.”

Yu Qingze led everyone out of the shop.

Outside the door, a crowd had already gathered, creating a lively atmosphere. People were watching the lion dance. Because there were so many people, the road was blocked, and those who wanted to pass had to stop and join in watching.

When the members of the lion dance troupe saw them coming out, the two lion mascots approached, wagging their heads and tails, and began performing for them. When another member of the troupe came over with cinnabar and a brush, they gestured for Yu Qingze to dot the eyes of the lions. The two lions then settled down and remained in place.

Yu Qingze handed the brush to Old Master Cai and Old Master Zhao, inviting them to dot the eyes of the lions.

“We’ll do it?” Old Master Cai asked with a smile.

Yu Qingze nodded and said, “Please bless them with your good fortune.”

“Alright, Old Zhao, shall we?” Old Master Cai asked Old Master Zhao with a smile.

Old Master Zhao burst into laughter and said, “Sure!”

The two elderly gentlemen each took a brush, dipped it in cinnabar, and dotted the eyes of the lions. Then they accepted silver coins from Yu Qingze and fed them to the lions.

After the eyes were dotted, the two lions became even more lively and vigorous. They leaped, jumped, stood upright, and performed a series of difficult moves. They alternated between fierce tiger-like pounces and playful scratching, rolling, and wagging, charming the crowd and earning applause.

Chang Hao specially took a day off and came to witness the grand opening with his master. He was now pulling Cai Yunwei and Jiabao, squeezing to the front to watch the lion dance.

The three young boys, one of whom rarely had the chance to see a lion dance in the countryside, one who stayed at home most of the time and hardly ever went out, and another who had seen it before but never had the opportunity to watch it carefully due to the struggles of life.

Now that their situations had improved, this rare opportunity captivated their attention. They chatted and exclaimed from time to time, wearing innocent smiles on their faces.

Patriarch Cai, looking at the smile on his precious grandson’s face, felt deeply moved. After waiting for more than ten years, he finally saw his grandson living a normal life.

He glanced at Yu Qingze standing beside him, realizing that it was all thanks to him that his grandson could recover like this.

After an impressive performance by the two lions, they successfully plucked the green, and then the lions stopped and stood on both sides.

Next was the unveiling of the plaque.

Yu Qingze invited the two elderly gentlemen to join him in removing the red cloth from the plaque.

As the three of them pulled the cloth, it slipped down, revealing the plaque with five prominent characters (T/N: five in Chinese, three in English) that read ‘Yu’s Delicious Delights’.

At the same time, a small tree nearby was lit up with firecrackers, creating a deafening noise that echoed through the sky.

Yu Qingze looked at the plaque with excitement. This was his first shop.

After the firecrackers finished, the crowd erupted into enthusiastic applause.

Brother Chang and the others who were watching the spectacle outside returned to the shop, ready to welcome customers.

Yu Qingze stepped forward and respectfully addressed the onlookers, “Esteemed elders and fellow villagers, today marks the grand opening of our shop, specializing in various types of delicacies. We have been grateful for the support of our fellow villagers. In the first three days of our opening, we offer an 20% discount. We welcome everyone to come and taste our delicacies!”

With that, Yu Qingze turned and invited the two elderly gentlemen and the crowd into the shop.

The onlookers, upon hearing about the 20% discount and knowing that Yu Qingze’s snacks were delicious, followed suit and entered the shop to have a taste. Those who hadn’t tried the snacks before were also intrigued. After all, they had heard that Boss Yu’s various food items were tasty, and now there was a discount. Curiosity led them to enter with the mindset of giving it a try.

Even though it had only been a short while since they had their breakfast, going in to have a look wouldn’t cost them anything, right?

Inside the shop, Yu Qingze led Old Master Cai and the others to a small private room.

Old Master Cai waved his hand and said, “Let’s just sit in the main hall. Old Zhao, shall we sit at a large table together?”

Old Master Zhao readily agreed, saying, “Sure.”

Yu Qingze didn’t insist and, after they were seated, had Xiaoshu bring them a pot of tea, while Brother Le served them some snacks.

Yu Qingze apologized, saying, “Gentlemen, today is the first day of our opening, so I need to be responsible for handling the cash register. I won’t be able to accompany you. Feel free to order whatever you like today, and it’s on me.”

Old Master Zhao said, “That won’t do. It’s not auspicious for you to give us a free meal on the first day of business. We’re here to support you, so how can we let you waive the charges? Don’t mind us, go ahead and attend to the customers. Looks like there are quite a few coming in.”

Yu Qingze smiled and said, “Alright then. I’ll trouble Young Master Cai and Steward Zhao to see what the gentlemen would like to eat. It would be great if you could bring the food over. You can also experience our self-service dining concept.”

Cai Chenxi laughed and said, “Sure, sure. Brother Yu, go ahead and take care of your business. We’ll handle things here.”

“That’s right, you go ahead. Go greet the customers. We can take care of ourselves,” Old Master Cai said.

Yu Qingze left apologetically.

“Brother, let’s go get some food!” When Yu Qingze left, Cai Yunwei grabbed Cai Chenxi’s sleeve, his eyes shining brightly. He rarely went out, so he was curious about everything and wanted to give it a try.

Cai Chenxi patted his head and said, “Alright, Grandpa, Grandpa Zhao, Uncle, Uncle Liu, what would you like to eat? We’ll go get it.”

Old Master Zhao waved his hand and said, “Just pick whatever you like. After all, everything tastes good here.”

“Alright, let’s go then. I didn’t even have breakfast, so I came on an empty stomach. Tianrui, Tengrui, let’s go,” Cai Chenxi said, taking the two with him. When he saw Steward Zhao about to get up, Cai Chenxi said, “Uncle Zhong, you sit here and chat with Grandpa. We’ll go get the food.”

Upon hearing this, Steward Zhao quickly responded, “Alright, Young Master, Second Young Master, Master Jiang, please take care.”

The three of them eagerly went to experience the self-service dining.

Since there was an 20% discount for the first three days, Yu Qingze had to handle the cash register himself. Jiabao was good at addition and subtraction, but he was still a bit lacking when it came to calculating the discount. Yu Qingze planned to teach him modern multiplication and division algorithms so that he could learn how to keep accounts in the future.

At the entrance, Brother Chang and Chang Hao were guiding the customers. Both of them had quick tongues and kept talking non-stop, guiding the customers to collect their food one by one.

As Yu Qingze took care of the cash register, Jiabao went to help Xiaoshu and the others with bussing the tables.

The people who had come in out of curiosity earlier, upon entering the shop and smelling the aroma of the food, and seeing the delicious-looking snacks, the fragrant congee, the refreshing seaweed salad, the savory meat bun, the tempting sticky rice balls, and the thin-skinned dumplings that revealed the filling inside… They unconsciously picked up trays and joined the queue for ordering.

It was only after they paid and sat down that they realized they had taken so much food all at once. They felt a bit regretful in their hearts…

But as soon as they took the first bite, that regret was immediately thrown out the window.

Delicious! Why didn’t the snacks they had eaten before have this taste?

Look, the steamed pork ribs are so tender and succulent. You don’t even need to bite, the meat easily separates from the bone. The sticky rice inside is soaked in oil and salt, making it even more flavorful and fragrant!

Dim Sum Dumpling

And this dumpling, the skin is so thin that with one bite, you feel like you’re only tasting the filling!

…

In less than fifteen minutes, all the seats in the shop were filled, even the three private rooms were occupied. Later, when some customers couldn’t find a place to sit and had to rush, they simply asked Yu Qingze to pack the food for takeaway.

After finishing their meal, the customers were still craving for more, but when they touched their bellies, they were already swollen.

Ah, these snacks from Boss Yu are just too tempting!

Not only did the Cai family come for the opening of Yu’s Delicious Delights, but even the Zhao family also came. And the shop was fully packed from the very beginning, which made the neighboring shop owner, Boss Wang, green with envy.

Originally, the thriving business of Liu’s, their arch-rival, was already a cause for concern. And now, Yu’s Delicious Delights just opened and their business is booming too!

How can anyone survive this!

Especially since these two rivals have joined forces!

The other side has a bigger backer than him, making it difficult to deal with!

It’s infuriating!