flstandardbreds Chapter 177 After eating, I walked back.
Chapter 177 After eating, I walked back.
After the transaction at the brokerage firm, Zhang Youtie took out his pocket watch and checked the time. It was already late afternoon, and there was clearly no time to go to the government office to exchange the indentures for the official contracts that day. So, he arranged a time with the brokerage firm to go to the government office to exchange the indentures, and then handed all the indentures for sale to Xia Yu for safekeeping.
However, they faced another problem: with only two cars, they couldn't fit so many people. After discussing it with Liu, the two decided to take everyone to eat first, since they had only had a quick and easy lunch.
They found a small restaurant selling wontons, and Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi went in first. It wasn't mealtime, and the restaurant was completely empty when they entered.
"Is anyone here? Manager!" Zhang Youtie shouted loudly from inside the restaurant.
"Coming, coming!" a woman's voice came from the back room. Then a plump woman wearing an apron came out. Seeing Zhang Youtie and the others standing in the restaurant, she smiled.
"Would you like some wontons?"
"Okay, give us each a bowl first," Zhang Youtie said.
The woman glanced at the person standing next to Zhang Youtie and shouted loudly to the people behind her, "Father, five bowls of wontons."
Zhang Youtie turned his head to look behind him, puzzled by her words. He then realized that none of the twenty-odd people who had bought the items earlier had followed him in.
"Where are the others?" Zhang Youtie asked Uncle Ma.
"Master, they didn't dare come in without your orders; they're all waiting outside," Uncle Ma replied respectfully.
"Oh, go and tell them to come in. Our car isn't big enough, and we'll have to walk back later. Eat first; you'll have energy if you're full," Zhang Youtie instructed Uncle Ma after hearing that they hadn't come in yet.
"Yes, this servant will go and fetch them right away." Uncle Ma said, then turned and walked out.
"Manager, there are twenty-two more people outside. Could you please make another twenty-two bowls of wontons for us?" Liu said with a smile to the plump woman after sitting down at a table.
"Another twenty-two bowls? Oh, Madam, you'll have to wait a while. We don't have enough wontons made at home right now, I have to go and make some more." The plump woman said to Madam Liu when she heard that Madam Liu and her family had ordered another twenty-two bowls of wontons.
"It's alright, you just go ahead and pack it, we'll wait here."
As Liu was talking to the plump woman, Uncle Ma and his men walked in. Seeing the group's attire and the restraint on their faces, the plump woman realized they were probably newly hired servants. Though she didn't say anything, she was quite surprised that the woman she was speaking to could employ so many servants; appearances can be deceiving. However, she didn't say anything more and turned to go to the back room to make wontons.
The small restaurant only had five tables. Xia Yu and his group occupied one, leaving four others for Uncle Ma to seat. Despite the large number of people, there was not a sound. All twenty-odd people were quiet and well-behaved. Even the five-year-old toddler was well-behaved. Xia Yu thought that these people must have been trained in the brokerage business.
After everyone had settled in, Uncle Ma came over to ask Zhang Youtie if he wanted to say a few words to everyone.
"Go tell everyone to eat as much as they want. Our car can't fit them all, so they'll have to walk back. Don't let them get hungry and unable to walk halfway back." After saying that, he nodded to Uncle Ma to indicate that there was nothing else.
Xia Yu watched his father arranging things with Uncle Ma and nodded, thinking to himself, 'Hmm, he's starting to look more and more like a wealthy landlord.'
After receiving Zhang Youtie's words, Uncle Ma walked to the middle of the restaurant, looked at the people at those tables, and clapped his hands to signal everyone to look in his direction.
"Gentlemen, our master is kind-hearted. Knowing you're all hungry, he specially told us to eat our fill before going back. Master and Madam said to eat as much as you like during the meal. Since there's not enough room in the carriage, we'll walk back. Don't say you're too hungry or tired halfway there; that won't do." Seeing their excited expressions, he added, "There are many of us, so remember not to be loud. Alright, that's all. The manager is waiting in the back; let's just wait patiently." He then returned to Zhang Youtie's side.
"Uncle Ma, Aunt Ma, sit down and eat with us," Liu said to the couple who were standing.
“Madam, now that there are more and more people in the household, we need to establish proper rules. How can we servants eat at the same table as our masters? That's against the rules. Old Ma and I will go eat at their tables in a little while,” Aunt Ma whispered in Liu Shi’s ear.
Hearing her say that, Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi didn't press the matter further. Now that there were more and more servants in the house, rules needed to be established. Although these people seemed good at first glance, there were bound to be some with ulterior motives. While they weren't going to be harsh on the servants, they couldn't be too lenient either. Otherwise, they would eventually start to ride roughshod over their masters.
Xia Yu wholeheartedly agreed with Aunt Ma's words. She had read *Dream of the Red Chamber*, where some servants were even more extravagant than their masters. Incidents of wicked servants bullying their masters were not uncommon, and she certainly didn't want her newly wealthy landlord family to be controlled by such servants.
Soon, the plump woman and a man brought up ten bowls of wontons. They placed five bowls on Zhang Youtie's table and the rest on another table.
There were eight people of all ages sitting at the table, and only five bowls of wontons. Everyone looked at each other, but no one touched the bowls. They were all hungry and cold, and the aroma of the wontons made them feel even hungrier.
Aunt Ma noticed the situation and came over to look at the people sitting at the table. There were four adults and four children. Aunt Ma gave each adult a bowl, and gave the last bowl to the oldest child.
"Children, have a bowl with your mother first, the rest will be served soon," Aunt Ma said to the people at the table, and also to the people at several other tables.
Zhang Youtie, Liu Shi, and Xia Yu each took a bowl. Looking at the two extra bowls of wontons, Liu Shi said to Uncle Ma and Aunt Ma...
"Uncle Ma and Aunt Ma, please eat these two bowls first. You'll have the energy to take care of things when you're full."
"Thank you, sir and madam." Uncle Ma and Aunt Ma respectfully thanked Zhang Youtie and Madam Liu before reaching for the two bowls of wontons. The two men carried the bowls around the room, looking for a place to eat. Several quick-witted people, seeing this, immediately stood up to make way.
"Uncle Ma, Aunt Ma, sit over here and eat."
Seeing the seats that the other people had given up, Uncle Ma and Aunt Ma didn't stand on ceremony. They picked up their bowls, randomly chose two seats, and sat down to start eating.
Aunt Ma was alright; she had eaten a sesame seed cake and some beef after arriving in town. Uncle Ma, however, hadn't had a drop of water since breakfast and was starving. Now, holding the wontons dripping with sesame oil, his hunger intensified. Ignoring the heat, he ate them quickly, one after another. Aunt Ma felt sorry for him and took a few from her own bowl.
"Okay, you eat, you eat, I have some." As he spoke, he raised his bowl high, trying to stop Aunt Ma from putting wontons into his bowl.
"Eat slowly, be careful not to burn yourself."
As they were eating, several more bowls of wontons were brought out. Uncle Ma stopped Aunt Ma, who was about to get up, and stood up to arrange the food. The women and children ate first, and the men waited. Naturally, no one objected to his arrangement. Of course, even if someone did have objections, they kept them to themselves for now. After all, everyone could see that their new master trusted Uncle Ma and Aunt Ma, and they would only try to please and flatter them, and would never do anything out of line or that would cause offense.