The man in the short shirt is named Zhou, Sizhu, and the woman is his daughter-in-law, Juanniang, who lives in a village in Qili County.
The couple had a son and two daughters. They originally opened a couple's snack bar in Pingyang Fucheng, selling local pasta. The business was good. In addition to feeding and clothing the family, they could also ask someone to send a few taels of silver back to their hometown to support their parents during the New Year and holidays.
But since last winter, refugees have gathered outside the city, prices have risen, and no matter how strict the government's inspections are, there are still refugees sneaking into the city.
It's okay in the downtown area, but in those poor streets and alleys, there are more and more people stealing money and extorting money.
The small shop opened by Zhou Zhuzhu is located in a remote place. At first, he was kind enough to give some food to the beggars. However, as time went by, the beggars and gangsters used various tricks to extort money.
He visited his door every few days, which not only disrupted his business, but also almost abducted his two-year-old daughter.
His colleagues even added insult to injury and hired scoundrels to extort a large sum of money on the pretext of unclean food, forcing the couple to sell their property and return to their hometown to farm.
It's just that Zhou Zhuzhu has an upright temper, so he feels uncomfortable holding this tone in his heart.
Song Liyun also asked that Juan Niang had been in the habit of eating peppercorns since she was a child, and her family was also good at making spicy dishes.
However, a fire broke out while smoking barbecue at home. Both her parents died in the fire, and her eldest brother was also burned. She sold herself into slavery in exchange for money to treat her brother's illness.
When I was working as a slave for a wealthy family, I met Zhou Zhouzhu. After getting married, I got rid of my slave status and opened a small shop with Zhou Zhouzhu. The business was good and attracted covetousness, which ended up like this.
Song Liyun thought that Tianxianglou now only sells barbecue, which is a bit monotonous. It would be better if it is paired with other foods, including some porridge, soup and snacks, and spicy dishes in the future.
It's a pity that no serious cook in Qili County dares to come to Tianxiang Tower.
Although Sun Wencheng and others know how to barbecue, they are all self-taught after all.
The barbecue in the wild is barely edible. If you want to achieve high-end excellence, you still need the guidance of professionals.
When Zhou Zhuzhu and his wife heard that Song Liyun was going to hire them as chefs and asked if they were willing to stay, they almost agreed without hesitation.
Tianxiang House used to have more than a dozen assistants, cooks, and handymen. In addition, they had to take in the gangsters who ran errands, so they set up a few small rooms in the backyard. They are still empty now.
Thursday Zhu and Juan Niang moved in with their children on the same day.
Now the couple works in the kitchen, while the ten-year-old son Xiaozhu and the eight-year-old Dahua do easy work in the building doing odd jobs and running errands. The two-year-old Xiaohua can usually stay in the backyard where it is safe.
With the addition of this couple, Tianxianglou's back kitchen has a backbone, and with Lin Tao as the shopkeeper, the subsequent business will smoothly get on track.
Besides, Mr. Jiang from the county government office received the six gangsters sent over by Zhou Xiang and took advantage of the opportunity to dig into them.
Thanks to his background in Dali Temple, his investigative methods were top-notch. A few gangsters came to court and told the truth. The one who instigated them was Huang Changsheng from Zui Chun Tower.
However, when the government officials called Huang Changsheng to testify, these gangsters could not produce evidence and had no choice but to let him go.
When Zhou Xiang said this, he was still a little angry: "I don't know what Jiang Feng means. I just asked him one question and let him go if he didn't admit it.
It's really funny that they want us to do so in large numbers. It's obvious that these people are making things difficult for us at every turn, and they want us to show mercy to evil-minded criminals."
It turned out that although Huang Changsheng did not admit to instigating people to blackmail Tianxiang Tower, he did admit that he had gone to the county government to inquire about the purchase, and also spent a lot of money to manage several scribes below.
However, this cannot be used as evidence that he blackmailed people.
After Zhou Xiang complained, he added: "Master Jiang also said that Tianxianglou was caused by the common hostility of several restaurants in Qili County. If Huang Changsheng is punished now, it will definitely attract the dissatisfaction of the kitchen restaurant. We should keep a low profile first." !”
Is this a case of ignoring the law? Or is it to ensure order in Qili County?
Song Liyun thought for a moment and then said: "It can only be said that the way civil servants deal with things is different from that of military generals. Mr. Jiang has his own reasons for what he wants to do. We just have to be careful."
Jealousy is like a weed in spring. If you pull out one weed, another will follow. Now that we know that Huang Changsheng and Shen Leyan are the leaders, we just need to be on guard.
Tianxiang Tower is open for business, and only by being friendly can you make money.
In the past, I was not afraid of wearing shoes when I was barefoot, but now I have to restrain myself, and I can no longer fight and get into trouble.
Moreover, it has been spread privately that Tianxiang Tower is a health center property. Does Jiang Feng want to avoid suspicion?
These are just speculations by Song Liyun and others.
I don’t know what tricks Jiang Feng and Luo Baihu used to make Qili County suddenly peaceful.
A few days have passed, except for the first time the gangsters who wanted to extort money caused trouble, now no one even comes to the door.
The kitchen area is also dead.
However, Song Liyun had no intention of letting these people go. Whatever he did, there had to be consequences.
It’s still a long time, and how you handle yourself when you first open the business will be how you return it!
Jiang Feng's focus these days is indeed on maintaining stability. After all, he is not only here for this small county town, but also has other matters.
It is said that one month ago, Qing'an Mansion was captured by Di Lu on horseback. The refugees dispersed and people poured into Pingyang Mansion. The pressure here increased sharply.
Under the scorching sun, the lives of refugees are even more difficult than in the cold winter. Often, the rotten stench has spread before people die, and the plague comes with it.
Qili County is closer to Dilu Grassland than Suijin Town.
Moreover, due to backward communication, more than half a year has passed, and the news about the Dilu tribe's attack on the Jinguan wall during the Chinese New Year has only now spread among the people throughout Yunzhou.
Out of fear of the Dilu people, those who fled did not come here, and the county became a pure land.
Seeing that the country had fallen, Xuanwei's army could no longer rely on them, and the Zhenbei Army in Hecheng had already sent out troops, trying hard to drive Di Lu towards the grassland on horseback.
But in the Wu Dynasty, when the water and grass were abundant and the grain warehouses were full, the Dilu cavalry did not even need to carry horse materials, and could gallop around the fields and villages at will.
This is also the reason why the Zhenbei Army tried every means to build a guard castle to keep the Dilu people out of the pass.
Once they entered the Wu Dynasty, the situation was not good for the Zhenbei Army.
Di Lu's horseback riding was as fast as the wind, its direction was uncertain, and no one could stop it wherever it passed. Moreover, it could take a large number of Wu Dynasty villagers as hostages, making it difficult for the Zhenbei Army to pursue them and making the attack difficult.
This kind of job of throwing a rat into a trap is not easy to do. If you are not careful, not only will you not be able to save others, but you will also be caught in it.
Food can be harvested after it is robbed, but excessive casualties will severely damage the foundation.
The Zhenbei Army could not forcefully attack the Dilu cavalry occupying the village. They could only slowly shrink the defense line and block the road ahead, forcing the Dilu people to retreat to the grassland after looting before taking action.
In the imperial capital of the Wu Dynasty, the weather was hot in June. Under the scorching sun, even the singing cicadas hid in the shade of the trees and sang softly.
But in the court hall, all the courtiers were wearing strict court uniforms, but they were sweating like rain and silent.