0p0 Chapter 47 One Word Gold
Chapter 47 One Word Gold
Chapter 47 A Word Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold
A large crowd of people gathered in front of the HSBC Steamed Bun Shop.
The people discovered that all the prominent gentry of Hanshan County had come today.
How could they not come! Geng San took Wang Wenzhou's visiting card to invite them, and the gentry had no choice but to give Lord Wang face.
Cheng Benqing stroked his beard and said, "Geng San, your steamed buns are quite reasonably priced!"
Geng San laughed and said, "This is a shop that Lord Wang instructed me to open. How could I possibly cheat my fellow villagers? Not only are the prices reasonable, but the taste is also excellent! You should try a few more later!"
"Excuse me! The adults' procession has arrived! I must go and greet them!" Geng San cupped his hands in greeting and hurriedly ran towards the procession.
Wang Wenzhou got out of the sedan chair, took Sheng Lan's little hand, and walked to the door.
Wang Wenzhou cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Today is my wife Sheng Lan's birthday, so I'm treating everyone to steamed buns. Each bun only costs a few coins, so please don't mind!"
"You're welcome!"
"Lord Wang, when will you and your wife get married?"
"Lord Wang, I absolutely must go to the wedding banquet!"
"In a few days, once I'm done with my work, I'll get married! I'll definitely invite everyone to the wedding feast!" Wang Wenzhou said with a smile.
Sheng Lan looked at Wang Wenzhou with red eyes. The lord had promised to marry her in front of so many people. How wonderful! After all the hardships, she could finally marry him!
Li Jinshui nudged his younger brother, Li Shuli, beside him and whispered, "What's Wang Shazi up to? Why would he open a steamed bun shop? Does he really need that little bit of money for such a small business?"
Li, the clerk, shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Brother! Stop calling Wang the fool! That's our godfather! I've been telling you for a long time to visit him more often! But you wouldn't listen! He's a genius of all time! I roughly estimate that this steamed bun shop can earn at least a thousand taels of silver a month!"
"What? How is that possible?" Li Jinshui said in disbelief.
“Why not? Earning one coin per bun isn’t much, but we sell a lot! Do you know how many buns we prepared for lunch today?” Li the clerk asked.
Li Jinshui shook his head.
"Eighty thousand!" Clerk Li held up two fingers and said, "About a hundred people started making them before dawn and have been busy until just now. Judging from what Geng San said, we can sell at least that many buns every day from now on!"
"Phew!" Li Jinshui took a deep breath. He'd been forced into becoming Wang Wenzhou's godson that day, and he'd never been able to swallow his anger. He'd never even bothered to visit Wang Wenzhou, and he'd been hiding at home all the time. Now he finally regretted it, realizing that having Wang Wenzhou as his godfather wasn't such a bad thing after all! Wang Wenzhou was truly a god of wealth!
"Sir! Please cut the ribbon!" Geng San handed the golden scissors to Wang Wenzhou.
"Today is Lanlan's birthday, Lanlan, come here!" Wang Wenzhou handed the scissors to Sheng Lan.
"How do we do it?" Sheng Lan asked softly. She had never seen it before and didn't know how to cut the ribbon.
Wang Wenzhou pointed to the red flowers and red ribbons in front of him and said, "Cut the ribbons, just to go through the motions. This is called ribbon-cutting. Remember to take the scissors with you; they're pure gold!"
"Crackling..."
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, firecrackers were set off.
Wang Wenzhou staged the "ribbon-cutting" ceremony solely to make money. He wanted the people of Hanshan County to witness it, and with Lord Wang as their "spokesperson," business was sure to boom! Of course, the ribbon-cutting ceremony couldn't be sloppy! It had to be done according to the standards of the Huifeng Steamed Bun Shop's ribbon-cutting ceremony. The scissors had to be pure gold, and after the ribbon-cutting, these tools couldn't be taken back; they had to be given to Lord Wang.
"Please, Lord Wang, help me write a signboard for my shop!" Geng San said.
"Of course! Of course!" Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, his large belly protruding.
Geng San waved his hand, and the shop assistants immediately prepared the Four Treasures of the Study.
Wang Wenzhou wielded his brush and wrote the entire piece in one go.
"Huifeng Steamed Bun Shop, Wang Wenzhou is the owner!"
The last character should be "题" (ti), but Wang Wenzhou's calligraphy is so bad that the character "题" is separated and looks like two separate characters, "是页" (shi ye).
"Lord Wang's calligraphy is unique, fresh and elegant, like dragons and phoenixes in flight." A gentleman flattered him earnestly.
"Pfft!" Old Cheng couldn't help but laugh. Lord Wang's handwriting! Even my eight-year-old grandson writes better than him!
"Thank you, Lord Wang!" Geng San bowed and expressed his gratitude.
"Sir, this is five hundred taels of writing fee, please accept it!" Geng San waved his hand, and two shop assistants carried over a box containing five hundred taels of silver.
"Ah!" The onlookers were dumbfounded. A signboard, five characters, and the fee for writing it was five hundred taels of silver! Lord Wang was practically worth a thousand pieces of gold per word!
"Cough cough..." Wang Wenzhou coughed a few times and said, "I cannot accept this money!"
"Sir, you've inscribed the nameplate for my shop! How can you not charge me a fee?" Geng San hurriedly advised.
“Alright then!” Wang Wenzhou said with a smile, “I will accept this money. But I cannot put it in my own pocket! I plan to establish a charitable foundation, and this money will be invested in the charitable foundation. I plan to open a school in Hanshan County, so that all children in Hanshan County will not have to spend a single penny to go to school.”
"Lord Wang is benevolent and righteous!"
"Wang Qingtian!"
"Lord Wang is wholeheartedly devoted to the people!"
The people were so moved that they shouted their approval repeatedly.
Even Cheng Benqing looked at Wang Wenzhou with respect. Lord Wang is truly a just and upright official who wholeheartedly serves the people; no wonder he is a descendant of Wang Shouren, the Earl of Xinjian!
"I hereby announce that the school will begin enrolling students next month. Children aged six to sixteen, regardless of gender, are welcome to apply. We are also recruiting a few teachers; those interested can contact Wang Qiang," Wang Wenzhou said, pointing to Wang Qiang.
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
"Our family can produce a scholar now!"
"Wang Qingtian!"
Immediately, the people knelt down in gratitude, kowtowing to Wang Wenzhou. In the Ming Dynasty, not everyone was literate. Poor families couldn't afford to send their children to school. The people were truly grateful to Wang Wenzhou, the upright official.
"Everyone, get up quickly!" Wang Wenzhou waved his hand and said, "It's getting late, and you must be hungry! Today is my wife's birthday, and I'm happy to treat you all to steamed buns. From now on, everyone gets three steamed buns. Just show your good citizen certificate to receive them for free."
Wang Wenzhou took Sheng Lan's small hand and said, "Lazy Lan, let's go."
As soon as Wang Wenzhou left, the staff at HSBC Steamed Bun Shop began moving tables out.
In no time, a dozen tables were lined up in a row, each table serving as a counter, and long queues formed in front of each table.
Several uniformed constables stood by to maintain order.
This was Wang Wenzhou's special instruction; with so many people, Wang Wenzhou was afraid something might happen.
"Damn it! Line up!" A yamen runner pointed at someone trying to cut in line and cursed loudly.
The man smiled apologetically, "Officer, I was wrong! I'll go back to line up right away!"
Wei Shilin was at the front of the line. He was the first to receive a steamed bun, and he took a bite with a big smile as the delicious broth flowed out.
"Whoosh!" Wei Shilin quickly slurped the delicious soup into his mouth.
These steamed buns are absolutely delicious! And these are vegetable buns, yet they have two large chunks of meat inside. Before, Wei Shilin couldn't bear to buy a vegetable bun that cost two coins. But now, every morning, he runs around the city gates and earns sixteen coins. He can afford to eat a few buns. Wei Shilin thought to himself, "I'll definitely come and eat these delicious buns every day from now on."