Chapter 179

Chapter 179: The Rather Interesting Herbal Cuisine Tavern

News from Madam Liao came quickly; she gladly accepted the invitation, and Xin An left with a smile.

The autumn wind had grown ever sharper, and with several rains the days had turned cooler. Thinking she still had time, she had the carriage detour to look in on the herbal cuisine tavern under preparation.

The shop was in the south of the city on bustling Yongkang Avenue, a place thronged with the high and mighty and ceaseless traffic, where shops were truly hard to come by and the rents dear.

The two-story premises felt stately. The pillars and doorframes were brand-new, and as one approached there was still the scent of lacquer. The main entrance was finished, with a four-panel screen set at the threshold; space had been left before it, from which one could tell something was meant to be placed there.

Hearing the news, Fang Da came running from the back, face alight with delight, and said: “Young Miss—no, Second Young Madam, what brings you here?”

She said: “I had a moment free and came to take a look. Is it almost finished?”

It was Xin An’s first visit. She lifted her eyes and looked around, then said: “The progress is even faster than I expected, and the outfitting has quite some flair.”

Fang Da surveyed the place with satisfaction. He had put great effort into the décor and felt proud. Without waiting for Xin An to ask, he began to introduce it, saying that a piece of potted landscape would be placed before the screen.

He said: “The kind with miniature mountains and running water, with moss planted among them and tiny figures carved in place, very atmospheric. There is a bonsai shop in the capital skilled at such ingenious craft; they can make the water circulate endlessly. Water brings wealth, and with two koi kept there, it would be perfect for this spot.”

As he spoke, he invited Xin An to walk further in. Behind the screen, craftsmen were crouched painting landscapes on the floor, while others arranged the scene beside them, with piles of sand and stone.

He said: “With a screen at the entrance the main hall would not be bright enough, and anyone who can come to our establishment will surely be wealthy or noble. Likely no one will want to sit in the hall, so turning it into scenery is interesting too: mountains piled of stone, a stream flowing through, medicinal herbs growing from the cracks…”

Xin An, who had been to plenty of restaurants, felt this layout was the first of its kind she had seen, and asked: “So there will be no dining tables on the first floor?”

The premises had only two floors; though spacious, to forgo an entire floor felt wasteful to Xin An.

Rather than answer at once, Fang Da led her out of the hall, turned right from the screen at the entrance, and entered a wooden-floored walkway, saying: “Behind the hall’s landscaping are two private rooms. At the back of the tavern there used to be a rear courtyard where the servers rested. We have rebuilt the courtyard.”

He pushed open the door to a private room. The tables, chairs, and cabinets had yet to be delivered, so it looked especially spacious. Directly opposite the door were two windows, and outside was a small garden with a grape trellis. The flowers and plants looked newly planted. Fang Da smiled and said: “Please look at this square little courtyard. Directly opposite is our tavern’s largest private room; it can hold two round tables to seat twenty for a meal. The left and right wings have also been converted into private rooms, two each. If someone books the entire first floor, the windows of all the private rooms can be removed; the host can stand here in the garden to speak, and the guests in the surrounding private rooms can see and hear, and even raise their cups from afar to toast…”

With these changes, the square courtyard yielded seven private rooms in all. Xin An pictured dining here: sitting in a private room and seeing the flowers blooming in the courtyard, breathing in their fragrance; if one knew the people in the room opposite, one could raise a cup in greeting, and if not, one could lower the curtain or gauze. If one did not know them but wished to, here was a ready opportunity.

She said: “Uncle Fang, you have great talent.”

He said with a grin: “It is because Second Young Madam has given me sufficient silver.”

Many people have clever ideas, but most such ideas require silver to support them. With ample funds in hand, he could naturally execute the best concepts.

They left the private room and detoured into the garden. Though she was no expert on flowers, she could tell at a glance that the peonies here were no ordinary stock and the roses were uncommon varieties. Feeling a bit proud, Fang Da said: “We were going to buy flowers at the Flower and Bird Market, but by chance we learned that the steward of Qian Ya Garden was letting go of a batch of peonies and roses of excellent quality at only thirty percent of the market price. The master of Qian Ya Garden said he had grown tired of them.”

Speaking of the flowers, Fang Da wore the look of someone who had gotten a bargain. Seeing the batch was indeed fine, he bought it all. A portion had been planted here, and the rest in the Xin family’s compound. They had even hired an elderly gardener to design the landscaping, striving to keep every plant alive and to pair them with other flowers to create something fresh.

Xin An was headed to Qian Ya Garden today, and her heart stirred a little. Still, she did not mind; even if not sold from Qian Ya Garden, such flowers would flow directly to the Flower and Bird Market and be bought back in the end, only at a different price.

[Getting them cheaply was of course best.]

He asked: “Would you like to see the second floor?”

She said: “Yes.”

There was another landscape feature in the center of the second floor, with private rooms on all sides, eight in total. Altogether the large space held fifteen private rooms. She asked: “Have we set the prices for our dishes?”

He said: “Not yet.”

Fang Da said that a large portion of the dishes had been finalized and the costs recorded in detail; they would set the prices at the end. Xin An instructed: “Do everything to the highest standard, and do not price too low; otherwise it will not suit the status of the dignitaries and nobles.”

Fang Da nodded with a smile, thinking that it was not that they wished to be heartless profiteers, but that if the prices were set too low, the great and the powerful would think the fare inferior and the patrons would feel they had lost face.

[The pricier, the more prestige.]

She asked: “About how long until we can open?”

Fang Da had already asked someone to calculate the timeline and said: “Another month. On the fifteenth of the tenth month we can open. We have many nourishing pots; people can eat them hot. By then the weather will be cool, which will be just right for our fare.”

She said: “Good.”

Xin An then asked about the general-goods shop on Ying Hui Street. Fang Da said the renovations were complete, the shopkeeper and servers were in place, and part of the stock had arrived, and he added: “In another half month the goods will be fully stocked. We can open first and just catch the year-end rush when everyone buys for the New Year.”

He continued: “Shopkeeper Xu says he will arrange for several boatloads of goods and has already started looking at additional premises. We will strive to catch that pre–New Year period when people are willing to spend, and earn until our bowls and pots are full.”

Xin An was very satisfied. Business needed to be quick and lively.

Learning that Qin Bai had gone out to procure medicinal herbs, she did not wait. The hour was almost upon them anyway, so after leaving she got directly into the carriage and headed to the gathering.

Because of this delay, she became the one who left earliest but arrived latest. Qian Ya Garden had more than twenty varieties of chrysanthemums, most still in bud; as one approached, the unique clean sweetness of chrysanthemums wafted over.

In the pavilion, Lin Yao waved to her and said: “What took you so long?”

Xin An quickened her steps. She had thought there would be many people today and was surprised to find only Lin Yao and Madam Liao. She smiled and said: “I left early, but on the way I remembered something I needed to attend to, which delayed me.”