Chapter 216 Business is not good

When the king came to the Jinxiu Building, he evoked countless lovesick memories, thinking of meeting under the moon here; thinking of holding a banquet and getting married under the moon; and remembering the infinite scenery of the golden signboard of Jinxiu Building given by the emperor Renzong. Now, there is a cold and dilapidated appearance. In the large restaurant on the upper and lower three floors, only the hall on the first floor is still sitting. Several tables with scattered seats,

Cui Fu, the old shopkeeper, is nearly 60 years old this year and is still greeting guests back and forth. Now the operation of Jinxiu Building is in a slump. Since the death of Renzong and after several months of national mourning, the opening of buying and selling shops is not as good as before. Cui Fu has no choice but to quit a lot of kitchen workers and staff, and the cost is compressed left and right to support the store. These two God, Cui Fu vaguely heard that Wang was back and had always wanted to go to the house, but there was no one to take care of him in the store. Although he looked at the sporadic tables of guests, Cui Fu did not dare to neglect,

Cui Fu had just finished calculating the money for a table of meals. He looked up and seemed to see someone entering the store. He saw that Xiao Er was busy paying the bill, so he walked out of the cabinet and greeted him in person and said, "Please come in." To greet the king,

Wang Bian knew Cui Fu for four or five years, but there were many things in this year: first, Renzong died, and then Bao Zheng died. Originally, the people of the capital were always sad. Jinxiu Tower was spent by the king's side again, and the business in the capital was frustrated. In addition, Wang's house was not peaceful. This old shopkeeper Cui Fu has been more than a year. I was particularly anxious. I hadn't seen him for more than a year, and his temples were white, and his eyes were dazzled. When he approached the king and spoke, he didn't recognize the king.

"Shopkeeper Cui, you have always been well." Seeing Cui Fu's appearance, Wang Bian inevitably sighed in his heart. In those years, he advised Cui Fu to continue to run Renhe Building. Although he paid for the renovation of the store and divided the account with Cui Fu, the old shopkeeper tried his best to be conscientious and did it as his own business.

Cui Fu heard the man's voice familiar. He squinted his eyes and looked carefully. He recognized that it was next to the king. Immediately, the wrinkles on his face were piled up in one place, and he smiled and said, "Sir, you're here. I was going to the house to visit him today. Hurry up, Xiao Er, make some hot tea for the prince." He greeted in a hurry,

Wang side found a table to sit down, and also asked Cui Fu to sit down. An old man and a young man have not seen each other for more than a year. They always wanted to talk. Wang side said, "Old shopkeeper, thank you for your hard work. I think the business in this store is so deserted. Why didn't you tell the house that the labor cost of this huge store is not small. How about such a few guests? It can't be maintained."

Cui Fu smiled and said, "What are you talking about? The business in the house is not only this place. If I say that the house should supplement this side, and now there are many difficulties in the house, so I won't talk about it."

Wang took Cui Fu's hand and said, "Old shopkeeper, what are you talking about? At the beginning, I advised you to stay and run this store. You are so careful, and now the business is not good.

Cui Fu patted Wang's hand. In his heart, Wang's side is his own employer and also a child. Over the years, Cui Fu has also watched Wang's growth. He said with shame on his face, "Sir, thanks to your help at the beginning, I was able to stay and watch this business. In recent years, the business has been difficult. Housekeeper Lu knows the truth. , I haven't asked the store for money to be divided for a few months. If I took care of the store by myself in the early years, I'm afraid I can't even pay the rent and official tax. There is no rent in our store now. A few guests are enough to pay the official tax, so that you don't have to worry about firewood. It's good if you come back. The days will be long in the future.

Wang heard Cui Fu say that he knew that Xiao Lu had done enough to take care of Jinxiu Building, but now these meager income is not enough for labor money. He looked at the store and asked, "Mr. Cui, why don't you see your nephew Cui Xi?"

"Well, to tell you, when the business of our store began to decline, I sent Cui Xi back to my hometown first. At the beginning, you gave the money in this store. I gave the child some and asked him to go back to his hometown to marry his daughter-in-law to farm. It was also worthy of the child. If he had the intention, he would learn a lot of things here and open a small inn by himself. It's better than spending time here. I'm also afraid that he will learn well and be lazy.

Cui Fu pointed to the second child in the store and said to Wang, "The second child left now are all lost children. These are still the princes who listened to your master Zhang Yi's words and helped arrange some homeless children. At that time, the children taken in by your master can now do something and let them do it here. Apprentices are better than going out to suffer.

The king nodded. Master Zhang Yi, the head of the group, adopted a lot of orphans. In recent years, some children have slowly grown up. He was also entrusted by his master. He didn't want these children to join the beggar gang, so he could settle some work. Wang side thought and looked at the dishes ordered on the scattered tables.

When Cui Fu saw Wang staring at the food on the table, he suddenly remembered that it was time to eat now. He quickly said, "Oh, you haven't eaten yet, have you?"

Wang's stomach was indeed empty all morning. He nodded and said, "Just let them serve the food casually. I haven't eaten the food of Jinxiulou for a long time. Please take a few drinks with me."

Cui Fu's eyes turned red when she heard it: "Okay, I'll go now." With that, he went to Zhang Luo in person, and came back in a short time, with a plate in his hand, a pot of wine and a few cold dishes on the plate.

"Come on, Mr. Cui, I'll fill it up for you." As the king said, he poured warm wine into Cui Fu's glass. "Cui, Mr. Cui, I just looked at it. The money collected for the food on these tables of guests is really not enough. I heard from Xiao Lu that you supplement yourself every month, which makes me embarrassed."

"Hey, my old man, I made a lot of money with the prince a few years ago. Now my nephew is also stable. I just need to leave a coffin book. There is no picture. I know everything about Jinxiang Mansion. Moreover, alas, my wife also happened. Not to mention anything else, if I can survive until you come back, I will have a finger. I look at it." Cui Fu said that his eyes turned red, and he hurriedly wiped it with his robe sleeves,

After listening, Wang's heart became hot. Just as he was about to speak, Xiao Er brought out a hot fried dish and put it on their table. Some of the guests who were eating raised their heads and said, "What's the smell? It's so fragrant."

"Shopkeeper, you are biased. Why don't you give us this fried dish?" The speaker was a regular customer of Jinxiu Building. When he came, he took a sip of wine and ate some soup noodles. He asked Cui Fu with ahaha,

Cui Fu squinted and replied loudly with a smile, "Now there is a shortage of coal, and we dare not make a fire. Isn't our son back? In the future, the old people will have a good fortune."

The guest smiled and said, "That's good. It's a good thing that Mr. Wang is back. Come and I'll have a drink." With that, they raised their glasses to the table next to the king. The other guests heard that the king had returned. Although there were few tables in the store, they immediately became lively and shouted, "To the king."

Wang was moved and raised his glass and said, "Thank you for your care. My Wang is back. Don't worry, our Jinxiu Tower will be the first one in the capital." He raised his glass and replied, saying, "Since it's a big fire, I'll give you a stir-fry at every table here today. It's up to my account."

After a while, the delicious food in the beautiful building was fragrant, and there was a smile on the guest's face. Cui Fu felt the long-lost joy on his face, "It's good for you to come back." He couldn't help nagging,

Wang saw Cui Fu with a few glasses of wine, and his face turned red. While drinking, he asked Cui Fu, "Mr. Cui, you are always experienced. Our business in Jinxiu Building is now weak. What's the reason for your analysis? How is the restaurant business in the capital now? What are the dishes on the market that attract customers?"

Cui Fu listened to Wang's question, put down the cup in his hand and said, "To tell you the truth, our Jinxiu Building was originally famous. There are many foreigners in the capital. In the first few years, we didn't have you say what to add. For franchise stores, those stores have not been able to supply coal in the past year, and a lot of dishes made by high heat has stopped. This There are some signs in the store in other places in our Jinxiu Building, which also affects our main store. What's more, we don't have so much coal here, so we don't dare to make a fire. This is one of them.

"Second, now there are not many large and small stores in the capital that are basically better than our business. The lack of coal is not one of us, and we don't do other stores that we don't do. Besides, there have been no new dishes for a long time, which can't attract customers. In addition, you can see our store. There are always birthday banquets. When you are here, you often come to dignitaries. Now Emperor Renzong After his death, the court changed officials like a lantern. The Beijing officials couldn't stay. Maybe they would be transferred one day. Who dared to hold a banquet like this?

Wang listened to Cui Fu's words and thought to himself. It seemed that this restaurant was not in a slump. It was not his own family. If so, it would be easy to do. Everyone's starting point was almost the same. Just waiting for the opportunity. Cui Fu was still saying, "Not to mention that the people can't buy coal now, there are several restaurants with good business, which can buy some coal at a high price, but Their vegetable prices are also expensive. Looking at the boom, they may not be able to make more money. Sir, I don't think it's easy to buy this coal. It's difficult for us to do business. I guess it will survive until the beginning of spring next year. Cui Fu said and sighed again,

Wang took a sip of wine and gradually warmed up, but he still felt a little cold in the store. The guests who ate were almost gone. Xiao Er was busy cleaning up the leftovers. Wang knew that not only few guests came, but also sat down for a short time. He thought in his heart that the matter of coal might not be too easy to solve, and now he The best way I can think of is to solve the temporary use of coal by the people in the capital. Where can I take more care of the use of the hotel? He touched the plate, and the hot dishes that had just been stir-fried were cold.

Yes, Wang's eyes turned: "Mr. Cui, is the mutton on the market expensive now?"

"Mutton, those fishy things, are mostly eaten by Khitans. There are few people who eat mutton in the Central Plains, and there are not many mutton in our dishes. The mutton on the market is not expensive. Why do you think of this?" Cui Fu returned puzzledly,

"Good, I remember that when I went to Xixia, I once cooked a dish for the Emperor of Xixia. Mr. Cui, now there is less coal, and there is more carbon."

Cui Fu thought for a few times: "Carbon is easy to find, but carbon can't be used for heating and cooking. What's the use of it?"

"This is easy to do. If you come to my house tomorrow, I have a good way to revitalize our beautiful building."

"Okay, I knew there must be a way for you to come back." Cui Fu said happily,