Chapter 25

It was already noon, but the crowd in front of Zui Xian Ju did not decrease; instead, it continued to grow. The business was so booming that it could be described as a grand spectacle. Since the Song Dynasty established its capital in Bianjing, no tavern had ever achieved such a feat.

Faced with such a grand spectacle, Li Qi was also in a difficult position. From this morning until now, he had not even had a sip of water. His hands were so tired that they were trembling, almost losing sensation. However, since he was in his prime and had been diligent in exercise, he could still barely hold on. Poor old Wu Furong, who was now so tired from collecting money that he had never felt a copper coin to be so heavy.

Perhaps this was the烦恼 of happiness!

After Li Qi handed the last bowl of stinky tofu to the customer, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and gave Wu Xiao Liu a nod. He was now too exhausted to even shout.

Wu Xiao Liu, upon receiving Li Qi's hint, immediately jumped onto a stool and shouted loudly to the crowd, "Everyone, I'm sorry, but all the stinky tofu in our shop is sold out today. Those who didn't get any or want more can come early tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvenience!"

This statement immediately caused a commotion.

Now, everyone was upset. They had waited in line for the whole morning and hadn't even seen a single piece of tofu residue. This was truly too damn unfair. They gathered around, demanding that the shop continue selling, or they wouldn't let them close. Wu Xiao Liu, who had never seen such a scene, was so frightened that he quickly jumped off the stool and hid behind Li Qi.

Li Qi gave Wu Xiao Liu a fierce glance, but the latter refused to come out. Helpless, he had to use his last bit of strength to shout, "Everyone, please calm down and listen to me—"

Before Li Qi could finish his sentence, he was drowned out by the crowd's noise.

"We've all been waiting in line for more than two hours. How can you just stop selling? This is outrageous."

"That's right. We're willing to pay, so why won't you sell to us?"

"No way. If you don't sell us stinky tofu, you won't be able to leave."

"Right, right, we want to eat stinky tofu."

...

Seeing the crowd getting more and more agitated, some people were even starting to grab weapons. The scene was more exaggerated than a KFC commercial. If it wasn't stopped, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Damn! Is this for real? Where are the police, oh no, the constables? Where are those constables?

Just as Li Qi was about to call for help, he suddenly noticed two men in uniform standing in the crowd, and they were shouting even louder than anyone else.

Damn! Li Qi was so angry that he almost couldn't catch his breath. His back was already drenched in sweat. This situation was both within and beyond his expectations.

Actually, Li Qi could have told them earlier that there were only about five hundred pieces of stinky tofu, but he didn't. His goal was to attract more people. With so many people queuing up to enter Zui Xian Ju, it was the best advertisement. The bad reputation Zui Xian Ju had left behind could be completely erased. However, Li Qi had not anticipated that the quality of these people would be so low, and the constables were even more annoying than the urban management officers.

"Li—Brother Li, what do we do now?" Wu Xiao Liu, hiding behind, trembled and asked.

You ask me, who do I ask? Li Qi rolled his eyes and glanced at Wu Furong, whose lips were trembling. He sighed inwardly, realizing that relying on these two uncles and nephews was hopeless. He steeled his heart, picked up the large oil pot in front of him, and placed it to the side. He then scooped up a ladle of boiling oil and poured it onto the red-hot charcoal.

With a "whoosh," a flame several feet high shot out from the stove, scaring everyone back. They stared at Li Qi with wide-open mouths.

"Everyone, please calm down and listen to me," Li Qi took advantage of the moment and shouted loudly, "We didn't intentionally stop selling stinky tofu. We just ran out of what we had. We can't make more in time. We are in business to make money, so why would we refuse to make money? Don't you think that makes sense?" He paused, seeing that everyone was silent, and quickly added, "You may not know, but making stinky tofu is a very complex process and very expensive. This is our first time selling it, and we didn't dare to make too much. If we couldn't sell it, our boss would be in a lot of trouble."

Everyone laughed, but they found Li Qi's explanation reasonable, and their anger subsided by half.

Seeing everyone laugh, Li Qi also breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "We limited each person to one serving to ensure that more people could taste the stinky tofu. However, the quantity is limited, so we hope everyone can understand. But rest assured, since everyone is so enthusiastic, we will stay up all night and skip meals to make as much stinky tofu as possible. We will open the shop at the first hour of tomorrow morning. If you want to try it, please come early. At Zui Xian Ju, we treat everyone equally, first come, first served, absolutely fair."

With such a reasonable explanation, the crowd naturally had nothing more to say. They grumbled a bit, confirmed the opening time for the next day, and then left with regretful faces.

Those who had just left the shop were beaming with pride, not for any other reason but because they had eaten a few pieces of stinky tofu.

"Phew—!"

As soon as the crowd dispersed, Li Qi, Wu Xiao Liu, and Wu Furong all collapsed on the ground. The situation had almost scared them to death.

"Brother Li, you really have a way with words. You managed to get rid of them with just a few words," Wu Xiao Liu panted, still flattering Li Qi.

You coward, don't think that a few flattery words will make me forgive you. Damn, you even used me as a shield. You'll pay for this later. But Li Qi was too exhausted to deal with him. He glared at him and said, "What are you still sitting here for? Hurry up and clean up. If more customers come, you'll have to deal with them yourself."

Wu Xiao Liu immediately stood up and hurriedly replied, "Yes, yes, I'll do it right away."

"Master Li, please rest here for a moment. I'll go put the money away first," Wu Furong also stood up, patted his buttocks, and then walked into the shop with a basket full of copper coins, looking very pleased.

Li Qi let out a long breath. He was so tired that he didn't even want to move his lips. He lowered his head and sat on the ground, motionless.

However, before he could catch his breath, he suddenly heard someone call out, "Waiter, give me a few pieces of stinky tofu."

Although the voice was clear and pleasant, Li Qi felt nauseous at the sound. Without lifting his head, he replied irritably, "Sold out."

"Sold out?" the person asked, "How is that possible? It's not even noon yet. By the way, where is your boss?"

Hey, you're not done yet? Li Qi looked up and saw a girl of about fifteen or sixteen standing in front of him. She was quite pretty, with a small cherry mouth and a rosy face, looking like she had just run over. But he had no mood to appreciate her. He said, "Our boss is very busy and can't attend to you. If you want to eat stinky tofu, come early tomorrow. Thank you, and please leave slowly."