Chapter 136: Promotion 2/4

When these people slaughtered chickens and ducks, they collected the blood and mixed it with salt and water. After cooking, the resulting “blood tofu” resembled the duck blood Li Qingzhi had eaten in hot pot in his previous life.

Since these people’s bodies were deficient, they needed to replenish their nutrition. Li Qingzhi would let them eat some blood tofu, and the leftovers would be sold in the county.

Chicken blood and duck blood were not expensive, and many people were willing to buy them. They would season it a bit and buy some real tofu to make a soup, which tasted great!

As for the internal organs of the chickens and ducks, after being cleaned, they were simply braised together in a pot. Even chicken intestines and duck intestines were sold!

There was a layer of yellow skin inside the gizzard called “chicken gold” and “duck gold,” which could not be wasted either. The medicinal herb shops in the county would buy them.

Generally speaking, chicken gold was priced a bit higher than duck gold.

With over thirty laborers working efficiently in the shop, Li Qingzhi didn’t need to worry about anything. He just played with Chang Cui.

There were several large pots used for braising meat in the shop, all custom-made. When ordering these large pots, Li Qingzhi also ordered several small ones to take with him when he went out.

Now, he took out these small pots and let Chang Cui play with them.

Chang Cui picked some flowers and grass and put them in the small frying pan, then pretended to cook with a small spatula, looking extremely cute.

But when the braised meat was ready, Li Qingzhi got busy.

The laborers working at the new dock and the nearby residents had smelled the fragrance yesterday, and today they all came to buy braised meat.

Since these laborers couldn’t do the math, Li Qingzhi and Chang Zhan had to work harder, and they also chose a few clever laborers to learn from them on the side.

They sold a lot of braised meat, and Jin Xiaoshu even took a boatload to sell in the county.

As a result, the people in the county also smelled the tempting fragrance.

“What’s that?”

“It seems to be braised meat.”

“Why does it smell so good?”

“I want to buy some!”

…

The people in the county clamored to buy braised meat from Jin Xiaoshu.

As people kept buying, some said that this braised meat was made by Li Qingzhi.

Braised meat made by Li Qingzhi? Braised meat that could absorb Li Qingzhi’s talent?

In fact, the people of Chongcheng County knew that eating braised meat couldn’t make you smarter. If becoming smart were that simple, the streets would be filled with geniuses.

But this braised meat smelled good, and the symbolism was positive, so what’s wrong with buying some?

By the time Jin Xiaoshu’s boat arrived at the dock, most of the braised meat on his boat had already been sold.

Upon seeing this, Jin Liushu immediately rushed up to buy some. “Xiaoshu, save some for me!”

Ever since he tasted the braised meat Li Qingzhi made at the banquet held by the Li family, his wife and children had been craving it.

He had been craving it too. On that day, he hadn’t gone to the Li family because he was selling food. Although his family had saved some for him, it was just a little bit, and he hadn’t even had enough!

Jin Liushu bought a large bowl of braised meat and returned to his stall, content.

“Why did you buy so much?” Jin Moli complained. “Isn’t this just helping Jin Xiaoye make money for nothing?”

Jin Liushu had originally intended to share some with Jin Moli, but upon hearing her words, he immediately changed his mind. “I’m happy to!” When Jin Xiaoye sold him the braised meat, he had given him a discounted price and even thrown in two duck feet, which he thought was a great deal.

He worked hard selling food just so he could have money to buy good food. What’s wrong with spending money when you have it?

Jin Moli became even more unhappy. In his previous life, after Jin Xiaoye had money, Jin Liushu had fawned over him, even taking braised meat from Jin Xiaoye’s shop to sell elsewhere in order to make money.

“Jin Liushu, are you trying to suck up to Jin Xiaoye? Do you want to learn from Jin Xiaoye and sell braised meat? Do you have any ambition? You…”

Jin Liushu looked at Jin Moli and suddenly slapped his thigh. “What a great idea!”

He was tired of selling food with Jin Moli all day long!

Jin Moli was lazy all day long, and their earnings were getting less and less!

They had already sold all the surplus rice from the Yao family, and now they needed to spend money to buy rice, naturally reducing their earnings.

Now, with Jin Moli’s suggestion… he could learn from Jin Xiaoye and sell braised meat from Li Qingzhi’s shop!

He didn’t have a boat, but he could set up a fixed stall in the county or walk around the streets and alleys selling it.

“Jin Moli, I won’t be selling food tomorrow!” Jin Liushu declared. “You can get someone else to help you, whoever you want. We’ve almost sold all the food today, so you just wait here by the mulberry tree. I’ll go over to the new dock and take a look.”

He wanted to go find Li Qingzhi and see if he could negotiate a lower price for the braised meat.

On the other hand, Li Qingzhi, after being busy for a while, started thinking about who could help him.

After some thought, it seemed like Jin Xiaoshu was the most suitable candidate.

After Jin Xiaoye learned to read, Jin Xiaoshu started learning too. Now he knew quite a few characters, and he was quick-witted and able to do calculations quickly.

Li Qingzhi thought he could let him and Chang Zhan watch over the shop together.

They could also open shops in Chongcheng County, nearby counties, and even the prefectural capital.

Li Qingzhi planned to write a proposal to open a small-scale braised meat chain store in ancient times.

In addition… while their braised meat tasted great, they could also develop other flavors, such as braised chicken and braised duck, with slight variations.

If they could find chili peppers, they could even make some slightly spicy braised meat—people in this era couldn’t handle too much spice.

Just as he was thinking about this, Jin Xiaoshu returned after selling a boatload of braised meat.

At the stern of Jin Xiaoshu’s boat, Li Laogen had already finished the braised meat Li Qingzhi had prepared for him and was patting his belly contentedly.

“Brother-in-law, the braised meat sold really well!” Jin Xiaoshu exclaimed excitedly.

Li Qingzhi said, “Everyone hasn’t tried this braised meat before, so they definitely want to buy and taste it. But after some time, when everyone has tried it, the business won’t be as good.”

Braised meat business could be ongoing, but after the initial frenzy, the business shouldn’t be as booming.

“Well, it’s not bad either. Brother-in-law, I want to take some more braised meat to sell.”

“I don’t have any at the moment. You’ll have to wait… Xiaoshu, would you like to help me watch the shop?” Li Qingzhi asked.

“Of course, Brother-in-law, just tell me if you want my help.” Jin Xiaoshu replied.

As they were talking, Jin Liushu came running over, sweating profusely, saying he wanted to take some braised meat to sell in the county.

Li Qingzhi agreed.

Li Qingzhi had long planned to let Jin Dajiang and his wife open a shop specializing in braised meat in the county.

However, the county was quite large, and Jin Liushu wanting to sell braised meat there didn’t bother him.

For his braised meat, if someone bought in large quantities, they would get wholesale prices.

While Li Qingzhi was selling braised meat in Chongcheng County, Chang Duan was in the capital, where he saw the restaurant given to him by Lu Qingxi.

The restaurant was a bit old, and business wasn’t good. The chefs and waiters inside looked listless.

But the location of this restaurant was excellent!

Not only that, the restaurant was also very large!

None of the restaurants owned by the Chang family in the past were half the size of this one, and this restaurant was located in a bustling area of the capital!

Shopkeeper Mu, took Chang Duan to see the restaurant and said to him, “Before, an official got into trouble, and the Emperor sent Master Qiantose to confiscate his property. This restaurant was confiscated by Master Qiantose, and the Emperor rewarded it to him. Now, he’s put it under your management.”

“I’ll definitely manage this restaurant well!” Chang Duan said somewhat excitedly.

Many of the dishes on their family’s menu were very complicated to make, so naturally, they were expensive.

After all, Linhu County was a small place, and the people there wouldn’t eat such expensive dishes… Many of the dishes in their menu had never seen the light of day in Linhu County.

But in the capital, it was different.

No matter how complicated or expensive the dish was, their restaurant could sell it.

Shopkeeper Mu said, “While running the restaurant, you can also think about helping Master Qiantose collect some information…”