Chapter 515: Value Bestowed by the State
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
When everyone asked about the price, apart from the braised duck being more expensive, the other dishes were actually at the same price as the canteen.
After knowing that the braised duck could be put together and that it was not expensive to rent a stall, Meng Gui opened for business.
A group ordered a roast duck, five plates of dishes, and five bowls of rice. The men ate until their mouths were covered with oil and praised, “Brother, your food is even better than the ones in my hotel!”
After receiving the praise, Meng Gui was even happier than if he had earned money. He even gave them a few bowls of seaweed egg soup.
This made these men very happy. “Brother, the food is so delicious. We’ll help you spread the word later!”
Meng Gui also said likably, “Brothers, it’s already my blessing that I have people visit my small stall and sit here.”
The food Meng Gui sold was affordable and delicious, especially the braised duck. The taste was even more praiseworthy.
When those workers who originally only wanted to eat cheap food heard others praise how delicious this braised duck was, they thought about how they had not rewarded themselves even after being busy for a month. The price of braised duck was actually very cheap compared to the dishes in the restaurant, so they started to order.
“Give me half a duck!”
“We want a full duck at our table!”
“We have ordered just now. Why isn’t it ready yet? Boss, can you hurry up!”
Meng Gui was the only staff. If the stir-fried vegetables were all served, he still had to stir-fry them. If he ran out of soup, he still had to replenish the soup and chop ducks. He still had to clear the table and was so busy that he almost had to fly.
When his colleagues in the same workshop saw that he was the one who opened this stall, they wanted to give it a try. They did not expect it to taste so good and even joked, “Meng Gui, your business is so good. Are you not coming to work tomorrow?”
Meng Gui did not expect business to be so good. He was so busy that he was overwrought and there were not enough bowls and chopsticks left. However, who knew if everyone was just looking for something new? His business might not be good the following day.
Meng Gui shook his head. “I am only setting up this stall during my break.”
When the guests at the next table heard this, they hurriedly advised, “Everyone likes your food so much, yet you are opening your stall only when you’re resting. You’ve suffered a huge loss. Why don’t you ask a few people for help?”
It was just a small stall to begin with. If he hired someone, he would earn lesser money.
Meng Gui hesitated. In the next second, he saw that all the dozens of braised ducks prepared in the pot had been sold out.
The guests were still shouting, “What’s going on? Where are the ducks?”
Meng Gui’s eyes suddenly lit up. The secret recipe for the braised duck was in his hands. If he was in charge of braising duck, he could hire person if the price set was high enough.
With the braised duck sold out, everyone was a little disappointed, but the other dishes were still delicious and cheap. There was an endless stream of customers. Soon, all the ingredients that Meng Gui had expected to sell that night were sold out.
The nighttime was the most leisurely time of the day for everyone. There were many employee apartments nearby. Logically speaking, he should be able to earn a lot.
Meng Gui stole a glance at the filled money box, his heart pounding. He quickly packed his things and returned to the courtyard of the villa he had rented.
Uncle w.a.n.g was very surprised to see him back so early. “Have you sold out your food?”
Meng Gui nodded in embarra.s.sment. “It’s the first day and everyone wants to try something new, so there are more people, and it’s sold out. There probably won’t be many people left tomorrow.”
Uncle w.a.n.g had seen how much he had prepared. He smiled and said, “Then are you still going tomorrow?”
Meng Gui had planned to go, but he would not be able to find a suitable person to help him for the time being. Besides, it was already a little too late to prepare the items for the stall the next day.
The braised duck had to be marinated at least a day in advance.
Meng Gui shook his head. “I still have to work. I won’t be going tomorrow. It’s indeed a little difficult to handle the stall alone. 1 want to find a helper first.”
Uncle w.a.n.g really wanted to agree to it. “I’ll help you find someone later.”
Meng Gui thanked him and returned to the apartment to count his heavy money box.
He opened the lock and counted them one by one. He was immediately stunned.
He had actually earned more than half a month’s worth of money in a day.
If there was so much every day, he could buy a villa in a month.
He did not have to live under someone else’s roof and be on his guards when making braised duck.
Meng Gui was too excited. He counted the copper coins again and strung them up with ropes. He looked around for a place to put them.
The next day, he went to work. As soon as he reached the entrance of the workshop, he saw that his stall location from the day before had been occupied.
It was actually selling something similar to his!
His colleague even teased him gloatingly, “Why are you here at work? Now, someone else has taken advantage of your absence.”
Meng Gui was also very angry, but he did not dare to resign.
After all, there was a risk in doing business.
If he devoted himself to it and ended up losing his job, how could he survive?
He ignored the gossips and found a suitable helper. After he returned from work, he made a plan to marinate the braised duck and prepare the ingredients for the stall the next day.
As for the stall that occupied his s.p.a.ce, it did not sell food with the same taste. Although he had also earned some money, his business was far inferior to Meng Gui’s. In fact, the number of customers at his stall was gradually decreasing.
Until Meng Gui’s stall was set up again, the remaining customers had all run away.
Although Meng Gui had worked a little harder, he was overjoyed as he looked at the copper coins that he had acc.u.mulated day by day.
Half a month after setting up the stall, Meng Gui realized that there were more and more copper coins. He could not keep them all in his apartment.
He went to the bank and deposited several boxes of copper coins in a row. There were thousands of them in each box.
The staff member had finished counting the copper coins of the other stall owner for four hours. His hands were about to turn into the Thousand-Handed Guanyin. He did not expect another stall owner to come.
The bank manager, Li Nian, had no choice. After all, this was their work. He could only make everyone perk up.
However, with such a huge workload every day, everyone could not take it anymore. Sooner or later, they would get arthritis.
However, they could not stop the rapid economic development of Carefree City.
Manager Li Nian frowned and was about to hire a few more employees when he suddenly saw a big client exchange a banknote of 100 taels of silver for two banknotes of 50 taels of silver.
In a flash, he suddenly thought of what would happen if they had replaced all the copper coins with banknotes.
He carefully thought about changing the copper coins to banknotes. It was convenient for everyone to pay for change, and it was convenient to carry them every time they went out.
On second thought, could everyone accept that banknotes had replaced silver?
‘That doesn’t seem likely.’
No, banknotes could have the same value as silver and gold. As long as their bank approved of it and the country approved of it, banknotes could become a convenient universal currency.
Simply put, it was to reduce the denomination of banknotes and make it more convenient for everyone to use.
Thinking of this, Li Nian couldn’t help but feel excited. If the Great Empress felt that it was feasible, the efficiency of their bank would also increase rapidly. He would probably be rewarded!
He quickly wrote a report to their bank president, Zhang Zhang.
Zhang Zhang stroked his beard and felt that this plan was very good. He immediately went to look for Bai Wutong.
Bai Wutong looked at the report written by Li Nian and was a little surprised. Everyone’s thoughts had developed so quickly.
It was now understood that money had no value in itself and the value was given by the State because of its circulation..