Chapter 193: Chapter 193: "How About Opening a Restaurant on Vermilion Bird Street?
Jiang Yuchuan hadn’t poured his heart out to Ming Lingyi because he actually wanted her to make a decision for him.
It was just that he no longer had any elder female relatives in his life, and there were some things he simply didn’t know who to talk to about.
Ending up at Ming’s Restaurant had been a complete accident.
Jiang Yuchuan didn’t stay long before leaving the restaurant. Just before he left, as if remembering something, he suddenly turned back and said to Ming Lingyi, "Congratulations."
The congratulation came so unexpectedly that Ming Lingyi couldn’t immediately grasp what he meant or what he was congratulating her for.
Jiang Yuchuan said, "Having family in Shangjing City... it makes a difference."
After saying this, Jiang Yuchuan gave a wave. This time, he didn’t look back as he left Ming’s Restaurant.
Ming Lingyi stood there for a while, processing his words, before she began to understand what Jiang Yuchuan had meant.
’He must have guessed my relationship with Ming Chengyu,’ she thought. ’He’s concluded that Chengyu is living in the restaurant not for the reasons rumored outside, but because he’s my family.’
’It’s perfectly normal for family to live together, isn’t it?’
Ming Lingyi couldn’t help but smile. She had to admit, Jiang Yuchuan was a clever and tactful man most of the time.
Even though he knew there were some questions surrounding her identity, he never crossed that line or asked too many questions.
Before the second round of the poetry review at Ming’s Restaurant began, Ming Lingyi met her brother’s good friend, Pu Yan.
Pu Yan was a few years older than Ming Chengyu, but in appearance, he could have passed for one of Chengyu’s elders.
After they were introduced, Pu Yan suddenly performed a deep, formal bow to Ming Lingyi.
The gesture startled Ming Lingyi.
Even Ming Chengyu, who was standing to the side, couldn’t help but frown. "Brother Yan, what are you doing?"
After Ming Chengyu firmly pulled him up, Pu Yan composed himself and said, "Miss Ming, you offered to help me because you saw that my family is poor. Although you didn’t say it outright, I cannot pretend to be ignorant and simply accept your kindness with a clear conscience."
Ming Lingyi covered her mouth in surprise. "Mr. Pu, you jest. Our restaurant is open for business, and our arrangement is purely professional. The restaurant needs talented people like you, and you are accepting the remuneration we offer. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement."
Pu Yan knew Ming Lingyi was just saying that to put him at ease. Otherwise, if it were truly based on talent alone, there were many scholars in the poetry society far more famous than him. Why hadn’t she approached them?
However, since Ming Lingyi was offering him a gracious way out, it would be rude to refuse her good intentions.
A short while later, Zhang Sifan also arrived at the restaurant.
Today was the day of the second round of the poetry competition selection. Recalling the massive crowds from the first round, Ming Lingyi had already asked Zhang Qi from the market to build many new tables and stools. She had also sought out the alley chief to inform the neighbors that she would be borrowing the open space outside Ming’s Restaurant.
The neighbors in the market readily agreed, of course.
When business was good for Ming’s Restaurant, their market benefited as well.
With so many customers coming and going, it was easy for other families to set up small stalls and make some silver selling trinkets and other small goods.
It might only be a few dozen or a hundred coins, but for an ordinary family, that was still a considerable sum of money.
Furthermore, Ming Lingyi got along well with everyone on a daily basis. She almost never turned anyone away, especially if a family needed to borrow some silver for an emergency. For that reason alone, Ming Lingyi was very popular throughout Huaided Fang.
So, when she wanted to borrow the open space outside her restaurant, of course no one would object.
And so, on this day, many tables and chairs were set up outside Ming’s Restaurant. This was to ensure that the patrons and the curious onlookers who came today would all have a place to sit and eat.
However, even though Ming Lingyi had prepared in advance, she was still stunned by the sheer number of people who came to Ming’s Restaurant today.
Feng Shuyu had also come today to support her "business partner" and good friend.
But when her carriage reached the entrance of Huaided Fang, her maid informed her that the area was already gridlocked. All carriages had to stop outside or at the entrance of Huaided Fang, and they would have to walk the rest of the way.
"Your restaurant’s location is becoming a bit of a problem," Feng Shuyu said as she saw Ming Lingyi, handing over a congratulatory gift she had prepared.
Ming Lingyi looked at her, pleasantly surprised. "You didn’t have to bring so many gifts just to come visit!"
Feng Shuyu said, "They’re just some trinkets, dolls I made myself. If you like them, I’ll make you more next time."
She was fond of all kinds of woodcarving and was quite knowledgeable about it.
She had thought about it for a long time before coming. Feng Shuyu figured that Ming Lingyi probably wasn’t lacking for anything, so she might as well give her some little things she had made herself.
Hearing this, Ming Lingyi’s eyes lit up with even more delight, and she nodded eagerly. "I’m sure I’ll love them!"
Even though she hadn’t opened the gift to see what they looked like, she just knew she would like them.
"So when are you moving this restaurant?" Feng Shuyu asked as she took her seat. Her spot was very close to the stage Ming’s Restaurant had set up, a prime viewing location that Ming Lingyi had specially reserved for her.
Ming Lingyi shot her a helpless glance. "You’re in business too. Don’t you know a prime location is hard to come by?"
The better shops in the West Market showed no signs of changing hands, and Ming Lingyi herself wasn’t interested in the lesser ones.
It wouldn’t be easy for her to find a new place to do business on short notice.
Feng Shuyu said, "But I have one."
Ming Lingyi: "???"
"Well, you haven’t come to the bookstore to see me lately. You didn’t ask, so I didn’t say anything," Feng Shuyu said.
Ming Lingyi: "..."
"It’s on Vermilion Bird Street. How about that? Is that location good enough for Boss Ming?"
Ming Lingyi gasped.
’Vermilion Bird Street?’
’That has to be the best location in all of Shangjing City!’
’But...’
’It’s also the most expensive location!’
She wanted to open a proper restaurant, which would have to be much larger than her current eatery. How much silver would that cost?
’Thinking about opening a restaurant in the West Market already felt like a huge step,’ Ming Lingyi mused. ’But now Feng Shuyu comes along and asks if I want to go straight to the top. It makes me wonder if my previous decision was too timid. Compared to her idea, mine isn’t nearly ambitious enough.’
"That must cost a lot of silver, right?" Ming Lingyi calculated the costs in her head. The rent would be a huge expense. If she couldn’t draw enough customers, she might not even be able to cover a single month’s rent.
To make more silver in a place like Vermilion Bird Street, she would inevitably have to raise her prices.
But would the customers who could afford the current prices at Ming’s Restaurant still be willing to pay after they moved to Vermilion Bird Street and the prices went up?
In that instant, one question after another flooded Ming Lingyi’s mind.
