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 opened.
"Wang Banban, please remember that Yang Fan's business opened today." 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 felt a little worried when he thought of Yang Fan's promise to sell grain at a fair price. At that time, Yang Fan promised that it would be 20% lower than the market price. This range is not small.
After all, it’s hard to let go of good money, and he wanted to see it in person.
"Wang Banban, come with me for a walk. Let's go to Yang Fan's supermarket to see the excitement."
Wang Cheng'en knew that when His Majesty said he was going out for a walk, he wanted to pay a private visit incognito and do the white dragon fish costume thing. He quickly prepared clothes for His Majesty and selected a dozen male and female bodyguards to accompany the Emperor out of the palace.
Now that 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 he opened.
He quickly led Wang Chengen and others across the road to the opposite side.
Some regiments were training to maintain order. The market gate was holding a rope, and some people were let in at a time. Chongzhen was very surprised. Why didn't he come in and out at will? Wouldn't he offend the guests by doing so?
Chongzhen saluted the family waiting in line next to him.
He asked: "This old man, 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 doesn't know 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 then let some more in after some came out. 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 nodded secretly when he heard this. Yang Fan thought carefully. With so many people gathering, it would be inevitable for thieves and the like to sneak in. It is indeed easy to lose children when crowded. It is indeed a good idea to put as many people inside as you can accommodate.
"Then wouldn't these guests be dissatisfied if they were 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 guest 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 a kind of 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 said, weighing it in his arms. 's little granddaughter.
Chongzhen looked around and saw that many people were holding children.
"Here, that's what the kid who came out over there is holding in his hand." A team member maintaining order nearby pointed at a group of people coming out of the back door after shopping on the road to the west.
Chongzhen and those who heard this turned to look. I 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. There were sounds of people sucking saliva around, 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 and sweet smell makes everyone feel better. Sweetness makes people feel happy. No matter whether life is going well or not, or not as expected, 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 swallowed his saliva.
I thought about bringing some back to the queen and the two concubines.
In the previous period, the palace was full of crises, 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 enter. 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. There was a large area filled with beds selling goods. He didn't know where the food was.
He is 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 at the far west side? There are a lot of people queuing up there." When we got there, there were a lot of people queuing up.
Some poorly dressed people around him heard this and followed him there.
"My dear mother, hurry up and follow me. I heard there is rice for five cents a 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 costs one cent and five silver per load. Did I hear you right?"
"Oh, what are you doing dragging me along? 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, this man's clothes were very shabby. The middle-aged man quickly shook him off and walked inside.
Chongzhen and Wang Chengen looked at each other, the price was too cheap. The two of them quickly followed.
There are more than twenty large open cabinets lined up along the side, 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 cupboard of flour was written 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?"
"Master, 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 smiled. The question he answered the most today was, "Don't worry, sir, it's definitely edible. It's lower in calories than rice and flour, but it's still edible. There's cooked rice porridge over there. You can eat it." 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 cooked and soft in the mouth. delicious. Chongzhen finished the meal in a few bites.
"It's food, it's delicious, but I don't know if it will resist hunger," Chongzhen said to himself.
