Jiang Zhou went to the store again on the second day. To his surprise, there were still many customers today. Although not as many as yesterday, there was still a lot of traffic.

Most of the people in the town knew him, and when they saw him wandering around the store, they all wanted to invite him to sit down: “Jiang Da, come and have a drink?”

Someone next to him poked him in the elbow: “What are you talking about? His name is Shopkeeper Jiang now!”

There was no hint of jealousy in their words. They expressed pure admiration and clear eyes. They were congratulations from the bottom of their hearts. After all, if they were given such a big store, they might not be able to develop like this, and they wouldn’t even think about coming up with novel ideas.

Of course, Jiang Zhou would not be angry because of their teasing. He only greeted them with a smile: “I’ll be busy, you can eat and enjoy!”

He wandered around to check how the waiter’s preparations were going.

Fortunately, the waiters were all diligent. When he turned left and right, he specifically looked at the blind spots on the tables, positions blocked by chairs, and the edges of the pots. These were easily overlooked places, but after checking, he found them very clean, so he nodded in approval.

Walking inside, the youngest waiter was frying sweet potato balls.

He was a shuanger. Originally, Jiang Zhou was not prepared to hire him. He looked too thin, dark, and skinny, like a little monkey. But in the end, the young man forced himself to prove his capabilities, using his two tiny arms. He moved a bunch of things to demonstrate and made a lot of guarantees. Wen Yan was there that day, so he took pity on the shuanger.

The shuanger’s name was Xia Dong. Jiang Zhou stood there for a long time, but the shuanger didn’t notice anyone. He continued frying the sweet potato balls in his hand carefully. It could be seen that he was already very skilled in his movements. The golden sweet potato balls, after rolling in the oil a few times, were picked up, drained of oil, and placed on a plate. The color was beautiful.

Xia Dong turned off the oil pan and then realized that Jiang Zhou was next to him. He was a little embarrassed and said, “Brother Jiang.”

There were two shopkeepers in their store, so they usually didn’t call them shopkeepers but brother.

Jiang Zhou smiled at him: “Don’t be nervous, how is your family?”

When he took Xia Dong in, he got to know his family. He knew that they had many children, including an eldest son and a younger daughter. He was the only one caught in the middle. The shuanger who couldn’t get married was a little uncomfortable, so he came out early to make a living.

Xia Dong was a little shy, but his eyes were grateful: “That’s it, my family doesn’t care about me anyway, so I have to thank Brother Jiang and Brother Yan for taking me in.”

Jiang Zhou shook his head: “You came in based on your ability. We didn’t take you in on purpose, so go ahead and do your work.”

He had already said this, but Xia Dong still felt that his boss was really a good person. If Wen Yan hadn’t felt sorry for him, he probably wouldn’t have been able to come in, let alone enjoy eating meat now.

He vowed in his heart that he would work hard to make money.

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Jiang Zhou had already walked out of the door and proceeded to the restaurant.

The opening of hot pot restaurants had had some impact on other places, but not excessively so. Not everyone had enough money to indulge in hot pot; more people opted for cheaper restaurants and ordered a bowl of noodles. Adding another portion of braised chicken feet, then they returned to work in peace after eating.

Evenson, their restaurant was also bustling with some people at this moment.

From afar, Jiang Zhou spotted Liu Buping sitting inside with his legs spread apart.

Upon seeing him approach, Liu Buping snorted twice, saying, “Congratulations, Lu Jiang Restaurant’s business is doing well.”

As soon as he said this, those accompanying him were a little surprised. When did young master Liu become so easy to talk to?

Jiang Zhou felt pleased at the congratulatory remark. He wasn’t the type to harbor resentment over one person’s mistakes. Holding an average opinion of Liu Buping, he accepted the congratulations and asked, “I thought you would give it a try yesterday.”

Liu Buping, usually on the front lines of indulgence, had been absent on the opening yesterday, which intrigued Jiang Zhou. He was a bit concerned if something might be wrong with the restaurant, so he inquired specifically.

Liu Buping rolled his eyes. He wanted to go, but who knew there would be such a long queue? While at home, his father, Liu Chengfeng, warned him not to provoke Jiang Zhou casually, mentioning an inspector behind him. Moreover, the restaurant had imperial edict, so he didn’t dare to jump in line.

Deigning to stay at the door and wait for half an hour was beneath his dignity. As a result, the hot pot restaurant gained popularity in the past two days, and he finally had a good time to go for a meal.

After observing his expression, Jiang Zhou knew what he was thinking and immediately laughed, “Well, if you want to eat, why not reserve a table in advance? Just tell when and how many people will come, and I will reserve a private room for you. How about that?”

He suggested, “You can also reserve the pot base in advance, so you won’t have to wait when you arrive.”

This reservation concept did exist. For example, at Sihe Restaurant, people often made reservations. However, everyone wondered why Jiang Zhou, a newly opened hot pot restaurant, adopted this approach so boldly, while Sihe Restaurant had been opened for many years.

Liu Buping didn’t care about those things; he only cared about trying new delicacies. So, he happily booked a table.

Little did they know Jiang Zhou’s words had reached other people’s ears through a some talking.

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Liu Buping actually had something else he wanted to discuss with Jiang Zhou: “Can’t people jump the line for cement in advance?”

Jiang Zhou shook his head, stating, “This matter is not my responsibility; it depends on my father-in-law.”

At the cement factory, Wen Yuanxing was the decision-maker. Jiang Zhou didn’t particularly care; he simply waited for the money. At most, he inquired about unsolvable technical issues. Later, Wen Yuanxing found another technical talent elsewhere, and Jiang Zhou didn’t bother to follow up.

Liu Buping, feeling impatient, remarked, “Hey, I’m waiting to repair the yard. Why not let me go first? Just double the price?”

Jiang Zhou sighed, “This is beyond my control,” expressing his reluctance to interfere.

Liu Buping, growing more anxious, suggested, “Go talk to your wife! Your father-in-law must listen to him. If you sweet-talk a bit, it could work?”

Jiang Zhou found the idea, “blow the pillow wind”, amusing he almost laughed. “Young Master Liu, pushing me won’t help. Go ask my father-in-law.” Every businessman aimed to make money.

If Liu Buping paid twice the price, Wen Yuanxing would likely agree.

Discussing the cement, Jiang Zhou revealed another idea inspired by the imperial edict.

Perhaps it had been there all along, but he recently paid attention to it.

With the imperial edict, more outsiders arrived in town. Jiang Zhou overheard conversations in the restaurant, learning that people came for his delicious food.

Jiang Zhou didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He wasn’t the kind of person who was particularly good at making things; most of the time, he won because of his creativity. However, such a little creativity was enough for Jiang Zhou to become famous.

Large numbers of people came from outside just to take a look at the legendary imperial edict.

Uncle Yu’s boat has been quite busy recently, with many people wanting to swin on the lake in the small river. To be honest, the scenery on the small river was excellent, with rippling water and green grass. Different villages on both sides of the river offered diverse views. Most boatmen were older people with deep experience, familiar with the scenery. It was humorous, fun, and served as a great attraction.

In recent days, some people had begun setting up stalls again due to the large number of foreigners coming.

Jiang Zhou walked around the street, pondered, and then went to the cement factory.

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The cement factory was built on a large scale from the beginning. Wen Yuanxing had saved a lot of money over the years. Initially hesitant about expanding the scale, later, after Jiang Zhou received the imperial edict, he immediately invested money to expand the scale, contributing part of the money himself.

Wen Yuanxing changed his career and became the owner. He was very concerned about the work progress of the factory, opening the door before dawn every day to keep an eye on people to prevent them from slacking off.

When Jiang Zhou went back to have dinner with Wen Yan, he heard that many people were ordering cement, most wanting large quantities for house construction, which was very stressful.

Upon Jiang Zhou’s arrival, Wen Yuanxing was still at the stove, sweating profusely.

“The batch ordered by the emperor is almost ready,” Wen Yuanxing wiped his sweat. “Master Zhuo came to supervise the work earlier. He said he need to be notified when it was almost ready and he was going to take people to transport the cement back. Speaking of which, it would be too troublesome to transport it all the way back, right?”

There were many mountains beyond their area, and although there was a road, it was quite bumpy.

Jiang Zhou sighed: “In fact, there is nothing we can do unless we hand over the cement prescription.”

The one above hadn’t mentioned it yet, but it was estimated he would do so when the cement was sent up. Jiang Zhou was hesitant about whether to wait for the one above to do it or take the initiative to submit it himself.

In fact, if he weighed it, taking the initiative would bring greater benefits, but he had already given this recipe to Wen Yuanxing, and it depended on Wen Yuanxing.

Wen Yuanxing also saw his embarrassed look: “It’s better to hand it over. You have to do it sooner or later anyway, so why not take the initiative and exchange it for some benefits.”

The two discussed it and decided to hand it over.

Jiang Zhou mentioned Liu Buping’s matter to him again but didn’t ask him to open the back door. He just mentioned it.

Wen Yuanxing did have some information channels: “I heard that it was for some kind of garden party for the Flower Festival, and many officials from around were specially invited.”

It turned out that Liu Chengfeng’s upright and unfavorable character was the reason why he was squeezed here from Qiangzhou. To be an official, they had to be good at socializing or else they would be kick out.

Wen Yuanxing smiled: “Actually, it doesn’t matter what happens to us. You are protected by the imperial edict, so we can do business in peace. If they want cement, they have to come to us with money. I don’t dare to offend officials.”