Chapter 1589 - 1578: Honest Simpleton

Chapter 1589: Chapter 1578: Honest Simpleton

That day, on Mingyang Street in Anquan County, a new food shop opened. Because earlier the owner had hired a bunch of kids to advertise all over the county, pretty much everyone in town knew his place was opening today.

The shop had a very odd name, something like "Scooping the World," and word was it specialized in hotpot, though no one really knew what was special about it.

On opening day it was extremely lively. The owner had even hired dragon and lion dance troupes, drawing rounds of applause from the crowd.

After a while, Ye Qiu came out together with Jia Zhihe to cut the ribbon, briefly explaining the day’s promotional deals. Some curious folks couldn’t hold back and went in. Seeing the distinctive interior décor, experiencing the attentive service from the waiters, and smelling the mouth‑watering aromas, not a single customer who came in felt dissatisfied.

The shop filled up quickly, but Ye Qiu and Jia Zhihe didn’t turn anyone away. Instead, they guided the newcomers into a waiting room off to the side. There were seats, tea, and snacks in there, and up front a storyteller was passionately spinning some amusing tale he’d picked up who‑knows‑where.

"Boss, is this really all free?" The guests were all astonished. They hadn’t even entered the main hall yet and were already taking advantage of the owner—was there really such a good deal in this world?

"It really is free. Please everyone drink some tea, listen to the storytelling for a bit. Once there are open seats inside, the waiters will invite you in according to the order you arrived."

"Alright, then I’ll wait."

"This shop is really something new. Boss, you really only do hotpot here?"

"Of course. The weather’s getting colder; eating hotpot warms you up inside. But our hotpot is a bit different from what you get elsewhere—you’ll see once you go in."

With the delicious smells wafting in and Ye Qiu saying that, everyone’s curiosity was piqued. But in this side room there was tea to drink, a fire to sit by, and storytelling to listen to, so waiting around was actually quite pleasant.

Seeing so many people willing to wait without getting annoyed, Jia Zhihe was amazed. "Ye Qiu, you’re the one with the brains. These folks really aren’t leaving. This way, our business will keep coming in nonstop."

"There isn’t a soul in this world who doesn’t like getting something for nothing. It looks like we’re losing money, but these snacks and tea hardly cost anything. Later we can have the storyteller do continuous tales—series. Some people, just to hear what happens next, might come every single day."

"I really couldn’t tell you had such a knack for business!" Jia Zhihe said with genuine admiration. He thought of how he’d been doing business for so many years and hadn’t even seen through his own brother‑in‑law. Turns out this honest fellow just needed a push; without pressure you never find out how much potential someone has.

Meanwhile, Ye Chun and Wang Hong, passing by with their marinated dishes, stared wide‑eyed at Ye Qiu and Jia Zhihe welcoming guests at the door. Neither of them even remembered to blink.

"How can he be opening such a big restaurant?" Ye Chun muttered.

Exactly—how could Ye Qiu possibly have the means to open such a big restaurant? Hadn’t he already been forced into a dead end by him and their parents? How could he still end up living better than they did?

"Where did he get the money to open this?" Wang Hong ground out between her teeth.

She had originally thought that once they had a marinated‑food business, they’d be making money hand over fist. Only after actually getting into the trade did she realize it wasn’t nearly that easy. Although it did earn more than farming, it was nowhere near as good as she’d imagined—and it was tiring.

Every day she had to go to the pig slaughterer’s place to collect offal, then wash it over and over again. That stuff was a real pain to clean. On top of that she had to prepare all kinds of vegetables; the key thing was that vegetables were extremely hard to keep, and they absolutely couldn’t be used again the next day.

Then came the cooking. She followed Ye Qiu’s steps to the letter, yet what she made just didn’t taste as good as his. After that she had to go door to door selling. Some customers were really stingy and nitpicky, buying only a bit of meat but demanding extra vegetables for free, which seriously annoyed Wang Hong. And she had to endure them comparing, saying that her attitude wasn’t as good as Niu Xue Mei’s, and that the flavor wasn’t as good as it used to be either.

To top it off, she wasn’t the only one selling marinated dishes; there was also Fourth. Right now Wang Hong hated her mother‑in‑law bitterly—why had she allowed Fourth to stick his foot in, and even helped him in the making? Wasn’t that slicing away her own family’s profits for nothing? Especially when Fourth didn’t run his business properly, often having his loafer buddies come make trouble, and she just couldn’t get any solid evidence on him.

If Ye Qiu were to comment, he’d simply say it served them right; it was exactly what he’d expected. The Ye Chun and Ye Dong families were not selfless types. Both had their own little schemes. Now that they shared a chance to get rich, if someone else earned more, wouldn’t that mean they themselves earned less?

Conflict between the two was inevitable. The only question was, which side would Old Lady Wang favor this time? But one thing was sure: whichever side she favored, the other would still be unhappy.

Business isn’t that easy to do. Marinated dishes aren’t some necessity. If your flavor isn’t as good as before and your service isn’t as good as before, why should people bother buying from you?

So although Ye Chun, Wang Hong, and Ye Dong were making money, it wasn’t as much as Ye Qiu had made before. The two families kept blaming each other and never once reflected on their own part in it.

Now, seeing Ye Qiu open a restaurant again, Ye Chun and Wang Hong were jealous all over again. But this time they could only watch with their eyes wide. They had no grounds anymore to force Ye Qiu to hand over any share of the profits.

What if they were jealous, what if they hated him? Ye Qiu had already cut ties with his own parents—let alone with them.

"He hid himself really deep." Ye Chun said through clenched teeth. "I realize I’ve never truly understood him at all."

"Maybe he used to stash away part of his wages from odd jobs. Otherwise, how would he have money to open a restaurant now?" Wang Hong said that, but everyone knew perfectly well whether Ye Qiu had saved any money back then. With someone as calculating as Old Lady Wang, how could she not know the wages outside, how long Ye Qiu had worked out of town?

All these excuses boiled down to one thing: jealousy. Jealous that someone they’d always looked down on was now living so well.

"Enough. We still have this much food left—get moving and sell it, or people will be complaining about the taste again tomorrow if it doesn’t sell." Noticing that Ye Qiu seemed to glance in their direction, Ye Chun turned his head away a bit awkwardly and hurriedly urged Wang Hong.

Wang Hong cursed under her breath, "It’s just these picky mouths. Isn’t it all marinated food? In this kind of weather, it’s only sat overnight—how could it have changed in taste?"

"This won’t do. Business is getting worse and worse. Let’s buy some proper meat to marinate today. Several people asked about it."

"Don’t end up wasting it again. Last time you said not to buy, and we ended up eating it ourselves."

"Then what else can we do? Kill two chickens and marinate them?"

"The chickens at home are for laying eggs, how can we just kill them? My mother said the chickens in their village have been dying mysteriously lately, so they’re really cheap. Let’s buy a few more back."

"What if there’s something wrong with them?"

"What could be wrong? Isn’t everyone eating them? Besides, we’re marinating them before selling—once they’re seasoned, you can’t taste anything."

"Alright then. Be careful. It’s best if no one finds out."

"I know what I’m doing."