Chapter 36

The next day!

Wu Xiaoliu was still standing at the entrance of Zui Xian Ju, holding a spoon and frying stinky tofu.

Today, his work was relatively easy; he only needed to fry two hundred pieces of stinky tofu, similar to yesterday. However, these two hundred pieces were all finished products.

Yesterday, Uncle Zhang delivered two batches of tofu. The first batch was delivered according to the earlier agreement, meaning these were all finished products with no difference in taste from the previous two days. The second batch, naturally, consisted of tofu that had not yet been fully dried. Although there was only a day's difference, the taste would be significantly different, which is the sensitivity of food to time.

Since the two batches of tofu were delivered an hour apart, the marinating time also differed by an hour. Therefore, Li Qi was still in bed resting, and it wasn't until just before noon that he got up.

After washing up, Li Qi went directly to Wu Xiaoliu's room, where a stove and a pot of oil were already set up.

It was clear that Li Qi intended to start working in Wu Xiaoliu's room; he didn't dare to do it openly in the kitchen, as if the customers saw that they had so much stinky tofu in reserve, those who had been queuing for two days might storm in and destroy the place.

In addition, Li Xiaozhu was standing there foolishly. Seeing Li Qi enter, he hurriedly greeted him, saying, "Brother Li, everything is ready!"

Li Qi nodded in satisfaction and said, "Thank you for your hard work!"

"Hehe!"

Li Xiaozhu was flattered, rubbing his hands and laughing awkwardly.

Seeing Li Xiaozhu's foolish look, Li Qi smiled and shook his head, asking, "Can you cook?"

Li Xiaozhu shook his head vigorously.

"Alright, since the three of them outside are almost done, you can stay here and help me. I'll teach you how to fry stinky tofu as well," Li Qi said with a smile.

"Okay!"

Li Xiaozhu nodded eagerly. Children from humble backgrounds were very eager to learn, no matter what it was. As long as they could learn a skill, it would be enough.

Due to the urgency of time, Li Qi didn't chat with him much.

After a brief preparation, he started frying the stinky tofu. Although most of it was semi-finished, the taste wouldn't be much different after Li Qi's hands-on work.

Just thinking about having to fry 400 pieces of stinky tofu made Li Qi's head spin.

To be honest, he really hated the smell of stinky tofu.

As Li Qi fried piece after piece of tofu, time quietly slipped away.

"Brother Li, Brother Li!"

Not long after noon, Wu Xiaoliu's voice came from outside.

"Come in!"

When Wu Xiaoliu entered, Li Qi asked, "What's up? Have all the stinky tofu outside been sold?"

Wu Xiaoliu nodded excitedly and said, "Yes, my uncle and Dazhu are tidying up. I came to see if there's anything I can help with here."

"Ha! It seems you haven't had enough of frying. Alright, bring the stove from outside in, and we'll work together. That way, we'll have more time," Li Qi said with a smile.

"Sure thing!"

"By the way, did the customers who didn't get any cause any trouble?" Li Qi asked curiously.

Wu Xiaoliu laughed and said, "They've gotten used to it. They just grumbled a bit and then left. But this morning, when my uncle posted the notice about closing for a day tomorrow, they did cause a bit of a commotion, but nothing serious."

Closing for a day tomorrow was a reluctant decision by Li Qi, as he had already sold the stinky tofu for the next day in advance.

"That's good!"

Li Qi felt relieved and nodded.

With Wu Xiaoliu's help, Li Qi's burden was much lighter. Soon, Wu Furong and Chen Dazhu also arrived, as they were dealing with high-ranking officials who wouldn't tolerate any mistakes.

Working together, they finished frying 400 pieces of stinky tofu before the hour of You (3-5 PM).

To keep the stinky tofu warm, Li Qi specifically asked Wu Furong to prepare two large steamers, which were placed on the stoves at Zui Xian Ju, kept warm with a low flame. After each batch was fried, he called the two brothers to put them in the steamers.

After the tofu was fried, Wu Furong found some cart drivers and loaded the two wooden carts with the steamers and coal stoves.

As for the delivery, Li Qi had already assigned it. Wu Furong and Xiaozhu would deliver to Cai's residence, Wang's residence, and the residences of other high-ranking officials.

This cart was loaded with finished stinky tofu, which had a better taste!

The remaining deliveries would be handled by Wu Xiaoliu and Dazhu.

As for himself, Li Qi didn't want to deal with these officials yet, so he stayed to guard the shop.

He also asked Wu Furong to return all the silver the officials had sent.

Although he was short of silver, accepting it would bring even greater benefits and risks.

When Wu Furong was about to leave, Li Qi whispered in his ear, "Uncle Wu, when you deliver the stinky tofu to Cai's residence, remember to tell their steward that Master Cai is too old and should not eat too much. He should eat at most one piece and drink some cooling soup or tea afterward. Also, Wang's residence ordered the most, but I doubt it's all for himself. You must tell them that stinky tofu is very fiery and should not be eaten in large quantities. Remember, remember."

"Okay, I got it!" Wu Furong nodded.

Li Qi sighed and said, "Go quickly, then!"

After Wu Furong and his nephew disappeared into the night, Li Qi sighed deeply and turned back to the shop.

He said those words out of necessity. He wished these corrupt officials would die soon, but given the current situation, his power was incomparably weaker than Cai Jing's. Therefore, Li Qi did not want anyone on the list to fall ill from eating the stinky tofu.

Otherwise, it could bring disaster at any moment!

After returning to the house, Li Qi was in low spirits, thinking that even if he made Zui Xian Ju a nationwide success, it would all be for nothing when the Jin troops invaded the capital in a few years.

Thinking of this, his hatred for Emperor Huizong and the six villains deepened.

Sigh! It seemed he could only take one step at a time. Perhaps the real history and the history books differ.

In the blink of an eye, two hours passed, and Wu Furong returned first, as his deliveries were more concentrated. Although he had more to deliver, his route was much shorter than Wu Xiaoliu's.

"Uncle Wu, how did it go?" Li Qi opened the door and asked urgently when he saw Wu Furong.

Wu Furong chuckled and suddenly pulled out two gold ingots from his sleeve.

"This—!"

Li Qi gasped.

"Master Li, don't worry. Let me have a cup of tea first, and I'll tell you everything."

Wu Furong sat down, and Chen Xiaozhu, who returned with him, immediately poured him a cup of tea.

While drinking the tea, Wu Furong recounted the entire event to Li Qi.

It turned out that these two gold ingots were rewards from Cai's and Wang's residences. What Li Qi didn't expect was that Cai Jing and Wang Fu rewarded Wu Furong entirely because of the words he told Wu Furong before he left.

Especially Cai Jing, who, upon hearing that a merchant was so concerned about his health and even warned him about the drawbacks of stinky tofu, felt very moved. After all, Cai Jing was nearly eighty and naturally hoped to live a long life.

For this reason, he specially summoned Wu Furong and rewarded him with a gold ingot.

As for Wang Fu, Wu Furong didn't see him, but since he received the reward, he was clearly very satisfied.

Not only that, but the silver Li Qi asked Wu Furong to return was also brought back. Those high-ranking officials wouldn't care about such a small amount of silver.

"It seems that good deeds are indeed rewarded in this world."

After hearing this, Li Qi shook his head and smiled bitterly.