Shen Xuan had no idea that his shop had become so famous in the capital's upper-class society.
In any case, he sold two hundred chickens to everyone, and even if a prince bought chicken, it wouldn't cost a single extra cash coin.
That afternoon, a carriage stopped at the shop entrance, and a servant got out, joining the end of the queue.
A moment later, another carriage also stopped by the roadside. A servant quickly got out and joined the queue behind the previous person.
"Little brother, please tell your master that today's fried chicken will be sold out at the person in front of you," Sheng Cai came out from behind the counter and politely told the last servant.
The servant heard this, looked at the person in front, and said, "Then let the one in front give me the last fried chicken. My master is the Second Young Master of the Xue family's Marquis Residence. Do you dare to offend him?"
The Xue family's Marquis Residence, with Master Xue holding a second-rank official position and his eldest son already made a Shizi (heir apparent), indeed held considerable status in the capital.
If it were an ordinary family, they would probably yield immediately upon hearing the name. However, the servant standing in front was not from any other family, but rather Young Master Ye Chen's personal servant from the Ye family.
Upon hearing this, that servant let out a chuckle and said, "Everything has a first come, first served rule, and even more so, respect for elders and status. Your Xue family's Second Young Master must still respectfully call our Young Master Ye 'cousin brother.' What are you, then?"
The Ye family and Xue family belonged to different factions and were generally not on good terms. Ye Chen and Xue Fenglin had a blood relation and Ye Chen always supported Xue Fenglin, so his relationship with Xue Fengli was naturally very bad.
Coincidentally, Ye Chen was only one day older than Xue Fengli, but he happened to hold the title of "cousin brother," and every time he saw Xue Fengli, he deliberately put on the airs of an elder.
His servant naturally followed suit, and with one sentence, he thoroughly put Xue Fengli in his place.
Xue Fengli's servant was so angry that his face turned red. He quickly returned to the carriage and reported the matter to Xue Fengli.
A moment later, Xue Fengli pulled back the curtain with a "snap," got out of the carriage with an unpleasant expression, and said, "However many fried chickens are left in this shop, I'll buy them all."
It was just past Shen Shi (3-5 PM), but the fried chickens in the shop were almost sold out. There were only about ten fried chickens left, which had just been sold up to the Ye family's servant.
Xue Fengli had his personal servant take out silver and distribute it to those in the queue, giving each person one tael of silver.
Those who were originally going to buy fried chicken, except for a few servants who were specifically sent by their families, took the one tael of silver and happily left.
This was a tael of silver gained for free! No matter how good the fried chicken was, it wasn't something they absolutely had to eat today.
After everyone had left, Xue Fengli pointed at the Ye family's servant again and, with an arrogant tone, said to Sheng Cai, "Don't sell your last chicken to him. I'll give you ten taels of silver."
A full ten taels of silver, which was equivalent to half of the shop's daily earnings!
Sheng Cai swallowed upon hearing this, wishing he could take the silver immediately.
However, this shop wasn't his. Shen Ger had already instructed them that all transactions at Xiyuan Xianwei must follow the queuing order, no matter who came.
Sheng Cai thought to himself, 'It's not that I don't want to earn this money from you', and then said with a bitter face to Xue Fengli,
"Young Master, it's not that I'm unwilling to earn this money, but the shop has a rule that we must sell according to the queuing order."
"Twenty taels," Xue Fengli said, immediately adding another ten taels of silver.
A scholar at the Imperial Academy only earned thirty taels of silver a month in tuition fees. Twenty taels of silver was probably several days' income for this shop, right? He didn't believe there was a businessman who didn't love money!
"I'll offer thirty taels," before Sheng Cai could answer, Ye Chen suddenly got out of his carriage and said.
He walked up to Xue Fengli with a smile, fanning himself, "It's just one fried chicken, why bother, cousin? I already said that respect for elders and status is important. Why are you still so impolite, cousin? Anyone who doesn't know might think Lady Xue didn't teach you well."
What Xue Fengli hated most were the words "respect for elders and status." He always felt that it was because of these words that Xue Fenglin constantly suppressed him.
The more Ye Chen emphasized these words in a sarcastic manner in front of him, the angrier he got.
"Forty taels!" Xue Fengli said.
"Then I'll offer fifty taels!" Ye Chen said with a smile.
Xue Fengli: "Sixty taels!"
Ye Chen paused, then raised an eyebrow and said, "Ah? Then I'll offer one hundred taels."
Upon hearing this, Xue Fengli's head got hot. Provoked by Ye Chen's teasing expression, he blurted out two hundred taels.
He originally thought Ye Chen would continue to bid, but unexpectedly, Ye Chen snorted and said, "Two hundred taels for one fried chicken? Not worth it, not worth it. I'll let my cousin have it. I'll buy it next time."
As he spoke, he made a polite gesture to invite Xue Fengli forward.
Xue Fengli glared fiercely at Ye Chen. Even though he had won the bidding, he somehow felt that something wasn't right.
But the words had already been spoken, and many passersby were watching.
As the dignified Second Young Master of the Xue family, he couldn't go back on his word. He could only bite the bullet and take out over two hundred taels of silver, telling his servant to wrap all the remaining fried chickens and take them home.
After the Xue family's carriage drove away, Ye Chen looked up at the signboard above the shop and smiled,
"The calligraphy on this signboard, one can tell at a glance that it was written by The Shizi. Only his good-for-nothing brother would be so ignorant of his own older brother."
"I never expected this highly renowned Xiyuan Xianwei to be opened by Fenglin. I wonder how Xue Fengli will feel later when he finds out he spent two hundred taels of silver buying something from his sworn enemy's shop."
After speaking, he returned to his carriage and then had his servant buy all the remaining spicy skewers in the shop.
Once the servant brought the packaged spicy skewers to the carriage, Ye Chen took a bite and was surprised to find that the taste of the skewers was truly unique.
After finishing all the spicy skewers in one go, Ye Chen had his coachman drive to the Imperial Academy. It was already evening by then, and classes at the Imperial Academy had also finished.
Ye Chen specifically invited Xue Fenglin to a private room in Guiyun Building under the pretext of having dinner. As soon as he saw him, he asked, "Fenglin, quick! When did you quietly open a new shop again?"
"When did I open a shop? Why don't I know?" Xue Fenglin frowned, somewhat speechless.
"You're still denying it? If others can't recognize it, will I not recognize it?" Ye Chen said, "The four large characters on the signboard of Xiyuan Xianwei on Zhijin Street, aren't they your handwriting?"
When Xue Fenglin heard Ye Chen say this, he realized that Ye Chen had mistaken Shen Xuan's shop for his own.
"I just provided the calligraphy for a signboard, that's all," he said casually.
"If it's not your shop, how could you have written the characters?" Ye Chen didn't believe him at all.
Xue Fenglin couldn't be bothered to respond to Ye Chen. The shop was opened by Shen Xuan. On the first day, he had already tasted the delicious food that Shen Xuan personally sent.
Shen Xuan had quite a talent for food, and the snacks he invented truly tasted superb.
Xue Fenglin had already guessed that the shop's business should be good. Recently, he had heard some rumors at the Imperial Academy, so he figured it must already be very famous.
Seeing that Xue Fenglin simply wouldn't respond to his words, only admitting the handwriting was his but not acknowledging the shop as his property, Ye Chen felt puzzled.
After finishing dinner with Xue Fenglin, the next day, he sent someone to investigate with a nearby agent.
Only then did he learn that the shop was opened by a ger named Shen, wasn't that Xue Fenglin's cheap country fiancé?
Ye Chen was greatly shocked! Hadn't Xue Fenglin already removed that ger from the Xue family?
He and the Ye family originally thought that Xue Fenglin had removed Shen Xuan from the Xue family to avoid suspicion and facilitate the annulment of the engagement later.
But now, he was secretly interacting closely with that ger and even helped him open a shop!
Ye Chen immediately reported this to his mother, Lady Ye. Upon hearing it, Lady Ye couldn't sit still and even developed several canker sores in her mouth. She immediately sent for Suyun and Suyue from the Shen family.
After questioning them, she found that both of them were completely ignorant. On the surface, they were doing respectable purchasing errands, but in reality, they had been sent far away by Shen Xuan.
"Useless things! I asked you to keep an eye on someone. And you didn't even know about something as big as Shen Ger opening a shop!" Lady Ye scolded Suyun and Suyue fiercely. She then docked their monthly salary for a month before sending them back.
She also told them that they must keep a close eye on Shen Xuan from now on and report his every move.
After they left, Lady Ye sighed and said to Ye Chen, "Fenglin promised me last time that he knew what he was doing, and I thought he had made a decision. But unexpectedly, he's been led astray."
"How could a ger like Shen Xuan, alone in the capital, have such great ability to quietly open a shop by himself? It must be your cousin who helped him manage it, right?"
"Now that The Shizi has opened a shop for that ger, he probably won't send him away anytime soon. I wonder what his true intentions are?" Ye Chen said, frowning.
"What else could be his intention? Eight out of ten, he intends to honor your aunt's last wish and marry that ger," Lady Ye said. "That ger saved his life, after all. Fenglin is a sincere child. He's probably thinking of marrying him to repay the favor."
"What if he insists on marrying that ger? What can we do?" Ye Chen said upon hearing this. "It's his own marriage, after all. If he's willing to sacrifice his future to repay a favor, can our Ye family really stop him?"
Lady Ye listened, remained silent for a long time, then shook her head, "Even if he wants to marry him, we also have to see if that ger is willing to marry him. The Xue family isn't such an easy place to stay."
"Furthermore, he only wants that ger to have a good future. If we give him a good future, I suppose he'll have nothing more to say, will he?"
"Ziyuan, get me paper and a brush. I want to write an invitation for that Shen Ger," Lady Ye suddenly said.
Then Ziyuan, the maid serving by her side, brought over the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, grinding the ink and placing it before Lady Ye.
Lady Ye picked up the brush and wrote a line of delicate, ornate script on the invitation. After finishing, she had Ziyuan take the invitation away, instructing her to deliver it personally to Shen Xuan.
"Mother? Are you inviting Shen Ger to the Ye family?" Ye Chen asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Precisely. In a few days it will be the Double Ninth Festival. I'm preparing to host a banquet at the mansion, inviting all the eligible female relatives and young gentlemen from various families. I'll invite that Shen Ger too, so he can get to know everyone."
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