In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 890 The Waiter's Yearning

After pausing for a while at the city gate, Zhang He led his caravan onward and soon arrived at a restaurant.

The restaurant was clearly not doing well, with few customers inside. As a result, the waiter immediately noticed Zhang He and his group outside and hurriedly ran to the door, asking with great enthusiasm, "Sir, would you like to have a meal or stay the night?"

Zhang He replied, "Let's eat first, then stay overnight!"

Upon hearing this, the restaurant waiter's eyes lit up. Zhang He's group consisted of over a hundred people, all of whom were young and strong. Whether they were eating or staying at the restaurant, they could bring considerable profits to the restaurant. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them big customers!

Thinking of this, the waiter's smile widened even more, and he hurriedly said, "Sir, please come in!"

"Not urgent!"

Zhang He didn't take a step, but instead asked, "Do you have a place to store goods in your shop?"

Upon hearing this, the waiter glanced at the large number of trucks behind Zhang He and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Yes, sir! Our restaurant is the largest in Lingshui County, and we have enough space to store goods and mules!"

"That's good!"

Zhang He nodded and said, "Take us to settle the goods first, and then we'll go into the shop for a meal."

"okay!"

After following the waiter to a location on the side of the hotel to place the goods and leaving about ten men to guard them, Zhang He led the remaining men into the restaurant with the waiter.

Looking at the empty hall inside the restaurant, Zhang He couldn't help but ask, "Waiter, isn't this the biggest restaurant in Lingshui County? Why are there so few customers?"

There wasn't a single customer in the entire restaurant lobby, which made Zhang He wonder if the restaurant was really the largest in Lingshui County, as the waiter had said.

"Hi!"

The waiter waved his hand and said, "It's true that our restaurant is the largest in Lingshui County, but the people of Lingshui County are so poor that they have to eat grass roots. Where would they get the money to eat and drink in a restaurant? Not to mention now, even in the past, most of the customers who came to our restaurant were high-ranking officials and nobles from the city. However, after Yang Tianwang entered the city, most of the high-ranking officials and nobles in the city were killed, so our restaurant lost its business."

"I see!"

Zhang He suddenly realized that, just as the waiter had said, only high-ranking officials and nobles had the ability to patronize restaurants, and since Yang Zheng had killed almost all of them, the restaurants had naturally lost their customers.

As for ordinary people...

This restaurant is beautifully decorated, and it's clear that it's not a place that ordinary people can afford.

"Please have a seat, sir."

The waiter personally pulled out a chair for Zhang He, gesturing for Yang Zheng to sit down.

Immediately afterwards, the men accompanying the caravan also took their seats.

After everyone was seated, the waiter handed over a menu and said, "Sir, this is our hotel's menu. What would you like to order?"

"Don't look any further!"

Zhang He was too lazy to look at the menu and said directly, "Just bring us whatever you think is best, and remember to bring plenty of meat dishes!"

Zhang He is no longer the poor man he once was, but one of the well-known wealthy men in Taiping County. After traveling for so long and enduring wind and rain every day, he naturally needs to treat himself and his men to more meat.

"Okay! Sir, please wait a moment!"

The waiter quickly ran to the kitchen to take Zhang He and his group's order. After informing the kitchen, the waiter quickly returned and stood behind Zhang He, asking curiously, "Sir, where are you merchants from?"

"From Qingzhou."

"Qingzhou? Are you from Taiping County in Qingzhou?"

Do you know Taiping County?

Zhang He looked surprised. Taiping County was indeed quite famous in the Nine Provinces because of the existence of Chenjia Village. However, Youzhou had been under the rule of the Lu family, and merchants from Taiping County could not do business in Youzhou.

This resulted in the fact that the reputation of Taiping County, or rather Chenjia Village, could not reach Youzhou at all. Even if people in Youzhou knew of the existence of Chenjia Village, most of them were well-informed nobles and dignitaries, not the lowly fellow in front of them.

"I not only know Taiping County, but I also know Chenjia Village in Taiping County!"

The waiter said with no small amount of pride, "I heard that Chenjia Village is a really great place. In Chenjia Village, everyone can eat three meals a day, and every meal consists of fluffy white steamed buns and fragrant meat. That kind of life... tsk tsk, I wouldn't trade it for a god's seat!"

When talking about Chenjia Village, the man's face was full of longing, which showed his deep yearning for Chenjia Village.

This was clearly not just the man's idea; in fact, almost every resident of Youzhou who heard of Chenjia Village longed for it.

"Great!"

Zhang He gave a thumbs up and said, "Buddy, your information network is pretty good. You even know about Chenjia Village."

"hey-hey!"

The complimented waiter scratched his head and said, "I only heard about it from others. I don't really know what Chenjia Village is like. Sir, you're from Taiping County. Could you tell me if Chenjia Village is as good as the rumors say?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang He pondered for a moment before saying, "Chenjia Village is indeed much as rumored! In Chenjia Village, even the lowest-paid person can earn five or six hundred coins a month."

Five or six hundred coins?

The waiter compared his income with that of the restaurant. His fixed monthly income was about 200 coins, plus the occasional tips from customers. In total, he earned about 400 to 500 coins a month, which didn't seem to be much less than what the people in Chenjia Village earned.

"That doesn't seem like much?"

The shop assistant frowned and said, "I can earn 500 coins a month, which is not much less than the people in Chenjia Village. Why can't I eat white flour buns and meat every day?"

In Lingshui County, a monthly income of 500 wen (a unit of currency) is not enough to afford meat; even eating steamed buns is a luxury.

The guy racked his brains but couldn't understand why the villagers of Chenjia Village, whose income was similar to his, could eat so well.

"no the same!"

Zhang He shook his head and said, "In Chenjia Village, five hundred coins can buy 50 catties of wheat flour. How many catties can five hundred coins buy in Lingshui County?"

"what?"

The shopkeeper was stunned. He recalled for a moment that the price of wheat flour in Lingshui County was about 25 wen per jin before, and that was the previous price.

During the war, the price of wheat flour soared to 35 wen per jin. Although order has been restored and grain prices have fallen slightly, they have not decreased much, and the price of wheat flour is still around 30 wen per jin.

That is to say...

The guy's monthly income couldn't even buy 20 jin of flour.

Of course, the man couldn't possibly eat wheat flour as his staple food. In fact, he and his family mainly ate bran flour porridge, and only occasionally could they have a bite of sorghum flour porridge to improve their lives.