Chongzhen put down the pen in his hand, rubbed his eyes, and suddenly remembered that Wang Chengen reported that today is Xiaonian, which seems to be the day when Yang Fan's supermarket opens.
"Wang Banban, I remember that Yang Fan's business opened today, right?" Chongzhen asked.
"In response to my wishes, today is the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, and Yang Qianshi's Xinghe Supermarket officially opened at noon today."
Chongzhen was a little worried when he thought about Yang Fan's promise to sell grain at a fair price. At that time, Yang Fan promised to sell grain at a price that was 20% lower than the market price. This was not a small range.
After all, it’s hard to let go of good money, so he wanted to see it for himself.
"Wang Banban, come with me for a walk. Let's go to Yang Fan's supermarket to see the excitement."
Wang Chengen knew that His Majesty was going out for a private visit incognito and wearing the white dragon fish suit. He quickly prepared clothes for His Majesty and selected a dozen male and female bodyguards to accompany the Emperor out of the palace.
Nowadays, many yamen have started to have a rest. Wang Chengen was worried that some officials would recognize Chongzhen when he went to the supermarket, so he specially put a felt hat on Chongzhen with the brim lowered.
Because it's not far away, you can walk around Jingshan from the north gate of the Forbidden City and arrive at Di'anmen not far away. After exiting Di'anmen, Yang Fan's supermarket is opposite Imperial City North Street.
As soon as he came out of Di'anmen, Chongzhen saw a huge crowd of people on the opposite side. Hey, Yang Fan's business is really good. So many people came on the first day of opening.
He quickly led Wang Chengen and others across the road to the opposite side.
Some regiments were training to maintain order, and the market gate was pulling a rope to let some people in. Chongzhen was surprised, why couldn't they just enter and exit casually? Wouldn't this offend the customers?
Chongzhen saluted the family waiting in line next to him.
He asked: "Sir, how come this merchant lets the customers freeze outside and only lets some people in after a while?"
This old man was wearing a scholar's gown, and he looked like he was a retired Beijing official. The old man didn't recognize himself.
"Brother, you just came here. I don't know the situation. This supermarket opened today. It was originally expected to receive 3,000 people, but more than 8,000 people came. The shopkeeper just came out to explain that many people brought
There were family members and even children. We were worried about crowding and stampeding, and we also wanted to prevent thieves and philanderers, so we let a thousand people in for the first time, and when some came out, we let in more. The number of guests inside was just the same.
The number of people that can be accommodated is determined to ensure the quality of service to guests.”
Chongzhen also nodded secretly when he heard this. Yang Fan thought carefully. With so many people gathering, it is inevitable that thieves and the like would sneak in. It is indeed easy to lose children when people are crowded. Let as many people as you can accommodate inside, it is indeed a good idea.
Method.
"Then these guests won't be dissatisfied with freezing outside in such a cold weather?" Chongzhen asked.
"Originally, many people were reluctant and made a noise for a while. Later, the shopkeeper came out and said that each customer would be given a bag of popcorn for free, which calmed down the noise," said the old Beijing official.
"Popcorn, what is this?" Chongzhen asked.
"I heard it's made from an overseas grain, with added cream and sugar. It's especially suitable for making snacks for children. You can only get it after you go in. I've never seen it before." The old man weighed it and held it in his arms.
's little granddaughter.
Chongzhen looked around and saw that many people were carrying children.
"Here, the child that the person coming out over there is holding is this." A team member who was maintaining order nearby pointed at a group of people coming out of the back door after shopping on the west road.
Chongzhen and the person who heard this turned around and looked. They saw a little boy of four or five years old holding a brown paper bag in his hand, which contained some snow-white particles smaller than quail eggs.
A unique sweet smell of butter came from such a distance. People around me made the sound of sucking saliva, and their throats couldn't help but move up and down.
It's so fragrant. In this era, except for people on the grasslands, few people have the opportunity to drink milk, let alone cream.
This refreshing sweet smell makes everyone feel better. Sweetness makes people feel happy. No matter whether life is going well or not, or if life is unhappy, smelling this sweet smell makes you feel much better.
.
The little boy took out a huge piece of popcorn from the paper bag with his little hands and put it into his mouth, chewing it. The thing was still crispy and he wanted to eat it at the first sight.
Chongzhen couldn't help but swallow his saliva.
I thought about bringing some back to the queen and the two concubines.
In the previous period, there were many crises in the palace, so he took his three concubines to Qianqing Palace, lived with him, ate together, and lived together for a period of time.
During this time, he felt the warmth and happiness of his family, and his originally cold temperament became sympathetic to the three little beauties.
After waiting for an hour, it was finally their turn to go in. Chongzhen looked back and found that there was another long queue behind him, and it was very dark.
After entering the gate, Chongzhen looked around and saw that there was a large area filled with beds selling things. He didn't know where the food was.
He was not interested in anything else but food. He grabbed a team coach who was acting as a security guard and asked: "Where can I buy rice?"
"Did you see that place on the far west side? There are a lot of people queuing up there."
I saw that there were a lot of people queuing up there.
Some poorly dressed people around heard this and followed him in that direction.
"My dear, hurry up and follow me there. I heard there is rice that costs five cents per load over there. Go quickly. If you get there late, it will be gone."
Chongzhen grabbed him and asked hurriedly: "What did you say? Rice is one cent and five cents of silver per load. Did I hear you right?"
"Hey, what are you trying to do with me? I heard you right. That's the price. The young man who repairs shoes in my front yard went in and bought it as soon as the market opened."
After saying that, the middle-aged man in shabby clothes quickly shook him off and walked inside.
Chongzhen and Wang Chengen looked at each other, the price was too cheap. They quickly followed.
There are more than twenty large open cabinets lined up inside, and they are filled with food.
There was rice, flour, and a strange golden-yellow grain that was as fine as gravel.
There is also a butcher's stall at the end of the large food cabinet.
Chongzhen looked carefully.
There is a red paper on the big rice cabinet that says one cent and five cents per load.
On the big flour cabinet it says "one penny per load".
The unfamiliar golden grain cabinet said: Corn, five cents of silver per load.
Wang Chengen and Chongzhen looked at each other in surprise. This was not a 20% discount. It was sold at a discount of more than 30%. It was really too cheap.
Chongzhen quickly took over a job and asked: "Your rice and flour are only 30% of the market price, won't you lose money?"
"Sir, don't worry. What we sell is three-year-old grain, so it's cheap. This kind of grain is not delicious and tastes very average, so we set this price. We can't lose money."
"What is this corn? Is it edible? Why is it so cheap?" Chongzhen asked.
The guy laughed, and the question he answered most today was, "Don't worry, sir, it's definitely edible. It's lower in calories than rice and flour, but it's still filling. There's cooked rice porridge over there.
You can have a bowl to try, it’s free.”
Chongzhen quickly took Wang Chengen to the stove and queued up to receive a small bowl of porridge made from small grains and kidney beans.
I took a bite with a spoon. It was a bit rough, but also very sweet. The kidney beans were boiled and soft in the mouth. It was very delicious. Chongzhen finished it in a few mouthfuls.
"It's food, it's delicious, but I don't know if it will resist hunger," Chongzhen said to himself.