Chapter 173: Here Comes Highness Cheng Again
Oyster became No.1 popular beauty product in the capital city, which immediately aroused the curiosity of many people.
Many people did not believe that the oyster could help women maintain beauty and keep young, but this did not prevent many people from trying.
There were many ladies in the capital city who had got nothing but time and money in hand, all they talked about all day long was beauty secrets.
Ji Yun An repackaged and sold the dried oyster meat in small portions sent by Lu Lin.
For a time, oyster became the ultimate symbol of status in the capital city.
The benefit of 'boosting vigor' was soon discovered by people, and the prices kept rising.
The dried oyster meat was sold in exquisite boxes, each box was about 5 taels of silver, the demand for these goods exceeded the supply.
The oysters fished by the fleet were transported to the capital city continuously.
......
Several women were busy drying the oyster in the open space by the dormitory buildings.
"These oysters are very precious. Be careful," Qin Lang reminded the women.
"Captain Qin, who are buying these oysters?" A fisherman asked.
Qin Lang glanced at the fisherman with a meaningful smile, "That's none of our business, Third Master Chen and his husband have found great market in the capital city. All we need to do is fish more and send them to the capital city."
Qin Lang thought to himself, 'I heard Third Master Chen mentioned in the letter that oysters are now the most popular present in the capital city. Those wealthy people are willing to pay good money for them, and they will pay more for fancy packaging!'
The fisherman nodded and said, "We are getting a good pay from the fleet, I'm afraid Magistrate Lu will lose money."
Oysters were not hard to fish in this county, the fishermen all worked hard fishing oysters recently under Lu Lin's instruction. They could make more than one tale of silver per month.
The fishermen had never earned so much money before, they were thrilled on one hand, and they were worried Lu Lin would lose money from paying them so generously.
Qin Lang smiled, "Lose money? You don't have to worry about this. They know what they are doing, they are paying us generously because they appreciate your hard work."
Qin Lang thought to himself, 'These innocent fishermen, how could the young masters lose money? They are all genius merchants!'
However, the fishermen interpreted it as 'The masters are appreciating our hard work, so they are paying us generously even though it means they might lose money.'
......
On the coast, several fishermen were repairing the fishing nets and doing routine checks on the boats.
"Old Zhang, you're getting married too!" A fisherman asked.
The fisherman called Old Zhang scratched his head shyly. A while ago, he found a strange-looking turtle and sold it to Chen Xiao Cai for three taels of silver. After getting the silver, he bought a private dormitory.
"It's all thanks to the great benefits we have got from joining the fleet," Old Zhang said.
"Yeah! Magistrate Lu is a good official. It is said that when Magistrate Lu left Sha County, there were so many villagers gathering around saying goodbye to him. And now I know the reason," a fisherman said.
When the fishermen first joined the fleet, many of them were worried that they would be taken advantage of, and now they had completely changed their minds, they had become loyal supporters of the fleet.
During this period of time, more and more fishermen had got married. People used to think fishermen unmarriable because they were poor and rootless. And now they were all more than willing to betroth with fishermen who had a reliable organization.
Although many fishermen originally had the idea of being alone forever, they still wished for a wife and a child.
......
The Seafood Center in Fish Cabin County gradually became famous.
Quite a few merchants from neighboring counties would purchase in bulk from Chen Xiao Cai's stores.
Lu Lin was very satisfied, he was eager to expand the business.
More and more merchants were purchasing from the Seafood Cente, they usually would stay for a few days in the county when they were here to replenish the stock, as a result, the restaurants had captured their hearts as well.
When the merchants went back home, they couldn't help but promote the restaurants in Fish Cabin County.
When Lu Lin returned to County Yamen, he found that everything was surprisingly quiet. "Dash, where's Daddy Mi?"
Dash held his chin and said, "A grandpa was here. Daddy Mi just followed him out."
"Grandpa?" Lu Lin was confused.
Dash nodded and said, "Yeah! He is an old man with big airs. He seems to have lived in the Sha County yamen with us for a while."
Lu Lin looked at Dash with disbelief, 'Could it be Highness Cheng? How come I didn't hear anything at all!'
"Do you know where your Daddy Mi went?" asked Lu Lin.
Dash scratched his head, "I think they have gone to the seafood center and one of our restaurants. I wanted to go too, but daddy asked me to stay here and wait for you, father."
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Okay."
He tugged on Lu Lin's sleeve and said, "Father, let's go find out which restaurant they had gone to. I can't believe daddy just asked me to stay at home."
Lu Lin patted Dash, "Our chef at home is great, I don't get it why you like to go to the restaurants so much. All right, I will take you to the restaurants."
......
Highness Cheng went to the restaurant featuring seafood recommended by Chen Xiao Mi and Chen Xiao Mi ordered every single signature dish on the menu for him.
Highness Cheng praised profusely on seeing every dish.
"Color, aroma and taste, the dishes have got everything!"
Chen Xiao Mi served a pot of dried seafood, including shrimp, crabs, clams, lotus roots, vegetables, mushrooms, onions... Chen Xiao Mi was worried that Highness Cheng wouldn't appreciate the bold cooking method, to his surprise, Highness Cheng really enjoyed it.
"It's really delicious."
The seafood restaurants in Fish Cabin County had become more and more famous recently, and its reputation had spread to the capital city even. Highness Cheng had long wanted to come and take a look, but the plan had been postponed due to various reasons.
Highness Cheng had asked his chefs to cook seafoods for him back at home, but he didn't enjoy it as much.
During this period of time, there were too many annoyances in the capital city. Highness Cheng finally decided to come to Fish Cabin County to relax.
The seafood restaurant recommended by Xiao Mi did not disappoint Highness Cheng. He thought to himself, "This restaurant really lives up to its name! In contrast, the so-called seafood chefs I found in the capital city were just so-so.'
"I heard that you guys have opened a buffet restaurant, as long as you pay 10 cents for the ticket, you can eat whatever you want, is that true?" Highness Cheng asked.
Chen Xiao Mi explained helplessly, "We do have a buffet restaurant, but the ingredients we used at that restaurant are very common."
Highness Cheng nodded and said, "Of course, you need to control the cost, it's all-you-can-eat for 10 cents. Just be honest with me, are you guys losing money on that business?"
In Highness Cheng's opinion, no way would that business stay afloat. 10 cents for each ticket was beyond imagination.
Chen Xiao Mi didn't want to come across as smug, as a matter of fact, the buffet restaurant was doing great. During this period of time, Chen Xiao Cai was even considering opening a second buffet restaurant with a wider selection of dishes and a higher ticket price.
"To reply to Your Highness, we have organized a fleet, fishermen would hand in a certain percentage of seafood on a daily basis, so we are doing fine, the buffet restaurant can help reducing waste," Chen Xiao Mi said.
The fleet was established by Lu Lin, and Chen Xiao Mi was deliberately being ambiguous about it, Lu Lin was an official, he was not supposed to do that.
Highness Cheng nodded and said, "I see, I heard that after Lu Lin came here, he spent a lot of money building dormitories for the fishermen who don't have a house!"
Chen Xiao Mi smiled and said, "Yes, we are doing our best to offer a stable lifestyle to the fisherman."
The fishermen were all eager for a stable lifestyle, and a house was an essential part of it. Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin were happy to see more and more fishermen got married and settled down in the dormitory buildings.
......
Highness Cheng didn't stay in the County yamen this time. He booked the whole inn for 3 months.
The inn that Highness Cheng chose was opened by Chen Xiao Cai. Because it was a high-end inn, the vacancy rate had been quite low. Chen Xiao Cai was thrilled when he found out that Highness Cheng had booked the entire inn for three months.
The shopkeeper worked in the inn had no idea the elder man was Highness Cheng, Chen Xiao Cai just told him to treat the elder man with utmost respect.
Highness Cheng enjoyed his time in Sha County as fish getting to the water.
Chen Xiao Mi just showed Highness Cheng around in the first two days, and then he decided to let Highness Cheng do as he wished.
"Master, are you sure you are going to the buffet restaurant? " Highness Cheng's butler asked him with disbelief.
Highness Cheng nodded. He was just so curious about this all-you-can-eat restaurant for as little as 10 cents. However, Chen Xiao Mi said that they used cheap and common ingredients to control cost, he didn't insist on going there the first day.
Highness Cheng had been in the county for more than ten days now. He had tried all the high-end restaurants and how he couldn't wait to explore the buffet restaurant.
"Master, didn't Master Chen say that the ingredients are very common? Why do you still want to go?"
Highness Cheng was such a picky eater when they were back in the capital city. The butler didn't understand why His Highness was willing to lower himself to such degree.
Highness Cheng cast a glimpse at the butler unhappily and said, "If you don't want to go with me, just wait outside. I'll go in and take a look by myself."
"But, Your High... I mean, Master..."
Highness Cheng waved his hand impatiently, "Alright, just wait outside. I'll go in and take a look."
Highness Cheng walked in at a brisk pace, he handed 10 cents that he just got from the butler to a waiter and asked for a ticket.
Highness Cheng was dazzled by the selection he had for just as little as 10 cents. There were appetizers, seafood, soup and even desserts.
The restaurant looked very clean and well-maintained, the more Highness Cheng looked at it, the more upset he got. He felt unhappy that he had to pay so much money for the chef team he had at home while people in Sha County could enjoy such delicacies with just 10 cents.