The “pop-up shop” in the East Market proved truly effective. In the following days, people specifically sought out Shen’s taverns in Chongxian and Qinren Wards to eat hotpot.
Some who had eaten at the East Market in the first two days came back for more: “How do you make your lamb so fresh? Our home cook can’t achieve this flavor.”
“Our soup base is excellent… Don’t trouble yourself trying to replicate it, just come to our establishment. Whatever soup base you want, whatever ingredients you’d like to cook in it—we have it all. We also offer Xinfeng wine, osmanthus brew, agate meat, jade dumplings, and various delicacies. Besides—you can watch Zhang Second eating bouncy meatballs,” the tavern manager was quite eloquent.
Hearing the last line, the customer laughed.
“Would you like another plate of fresh shrimp?” the manager looked at the customer’s table and asked warmly.
Some came having heard of the reputation: “People say there was a ‘Hotpot Festival’ in the East Market on Winter’s Beginning Day, selling excellent small-cauldron meat courses. That was you, right?”
“Indeed it was Young Lord, please come in. Would you like to try our milk soup base? The same one we served at the East Market.” Due to outdoor limitations, they had only prepared the most essential soup bases that day, among which the milk soup was the most popular.
“I’ll have that! I heard the soup alone is incredibly flavorful.”
“Well said, Young Lord! With this soup, never mind our fresh lamb and tender fish balls—even plain noodles would taste amazing. Please, smell the fragrance in our establishment.”
Some unfortunate ones had been at the East Market but didn’t have time to eat, or couldn’t even get a seat.
“I finally get to try it today!” they would say, looking utterly satisfied.
For such customers, the manager specially offered a plate of “flower cakes that made the Top Scholar dismount” to make up for their previous disappointment.
Shen Shaoguang and Shao Jie inspected the shops and were quite satisfied with the situation.
“It’s a shame there’s only one Winter’s Beginning per year…” Shao Jie said insatiably.
Shen Shaoguang consoled him, “No matter. When spring comes and fresh vegetables hit the market, we’ll sell spring rolls. In summer, we’ll sell various cold noodles. Come autumn, we can create a Roasted Meat Festival or Crab Festival. As long as Young Lord can find spots to set up stalls in the East and West Markets, we can create occasions four or five times a year.”
However, Shao Jie placed special importance on this “first time”: “Although we’ll set up stalls in the East and West Markets again, perhaps even more grandly than this time, this first occasion has special meaning. Young Lady, since you can paint, you should capture the East Market Hotpot Festival scene.”
Shen Shaoguang saw through his thoughts: “Would it be better to paint several pieces to hang in all our shops?”
“That would be excellent!” Shao Jie clapped his hands, “Best to make it a long scroll, and make the title grand, perhaps connecting it to ‘Prosperous Peaceful Times.'”
Shen Shaoguang gave her major shareholder a meaningful look.
Shao Jie paused, then chuckled, “That would be quite labor-intensive, wouldn’t it? Two pieces… even one would be fine—too many would diminish their value. This painting must be mounted by the best framing shop in the East Market, then rotated among our establishments.”
Shen Shaoguang figured it out—if Young Lord Shao lived in modern times, he would definitely wrap commercial activities in public welfare, having people take photos, make videos, write soft articles, post on public accounts, post on Weibo, publish in print media, broadcast on television, oh, and buy trending topics too. What a shrewd merchant…
Shen Shaoguang responded with the air of a big shot, “Alright, I’ll consider it.” Then she laughed at herself.
Shao Jie laughed too.
Then they proceeded with their “shareholders’ meeting routine”—business boasting and future planning.
“The third and fourth shops will open soon. I estimate by next summer, we could have six or seven shops?” Shao Jie said.
Shen Shaoguang thought he was too optimistic but didn’t discourage him.
“Chang’an has one hundred and eight wards. Excluding the poor southern outskirts, the wards half-occupied by nobles, and those filled with large gardens and temples, surely half remain? Of these fifty-plus wards, if we open one shop for every four or five wards… Young Lady, couldn’t we cover most of Chang’an by the end of next year?”
Shen Shaoguang: “…And then we’ll expand to the Eastern Capital, Northern Capital, Bian Prefecture, Pu Prefecture, and even the Jiangnan region?” They said the last few words together, then burst into laughter.
Though they knew it wasn’t easily achievable, it felt good to dream big.
Yu San came to the back courtyard for meat and saw the two fools laughing by the wall, feeling somewhat speechless.
However, Shen Shaoguang and Shao Jie were enjoying their sunbathing, hands in their sleeves as they continued their “high-level meeting.”
“Later, we should assign specific people to manage shop inspections, accounting, training new staff, and purchasing. Otherwise, even with three heads and six arms, we couldn’t handle it all.”
Shen Shaoguang nodded: “Indeed. Like the imperial court with its Three Departments—Secretariat, Chancellery, and Department of State Affairs—plus Six Ministries, Nine Courts, and Five Directorates. Each department has different responsibilities, working together to keep everything running.”
The Shao family, being major merchants, had time-tested management methods. Though family-based, they were worth referencing. Shen Shaoguang, coming from the future and being half-involved in the restaurant industry, was also familiar with restaurant company operations. Moreover, they had already opened two branch stores operating well, so the two discussed and built the framework for the future “Shen Catering Chain Company.”
Inside the hall, Shen Shaoguang drew out the organizational structure.
Looking at the neat structure drawn and thinking about their current staff, Shen Shaoguang swallowed: “Young Lord Shao, I think by the time we fill this framework, your son will probably be old enough to buy soy sauce and oil?”
Thinking of his future bride who was still unknown, and looking at this diagram, Shao Jie felt somewhat troubled, “Not necessarily…”
Shen Shaoguang laughed heartily. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and a feast is eaten one bite at a time. This grand organizational structure could wait—first, they needed to arrange for operations, finance, and procurement staff.
However, Shao Jie examined Shen Shaoguang’s small hall, then looked at the wing rooms added to the courtyard—with more staff and storage needed for rice, grain, and vegetables, space was becoming insufficient. “I must say, you should buy a residence. As the owner of over ten taverns, living in such a modest place doesn’t suit your status…” And when she eventually married Assistant Magistrate Lin, leaving such a residence wouldn’t be appropriate either.
Shen Shaoguang: “…How did it become over ten?”
“If things go smoothly next year, won’t it be over ten?” Shao Jie said righteously.
Shen Shaoguang: “…”
“Are you saying these ten-plus shops aren’t all yours, Young Lady Shen? But I have a large residence to live in…”
Shen Shaoguang was led astray by his peculiar logic and felt… he might have a point.
Shen Shaoguang slyly said to him: “Hey, Young Lord Shao, I have my eye on a residence—”
Shao Jie became interested, “Tell me, tell me! I’m always looking at properties and know the real estate people well, I can help you look. Buying a residence isn’t like other things—better not buy a haunted house.”
Shen Shaoguang: “…It is a haunted house.”
Shao Jie: “!!!”
Shen Shaoguang excitedly said: “It’s the one at the head of our ward’s street, a three-courtyard residence. The first owner was a merchant from the south. The house isn’t old, only about ten years old. It looks quite orderly from the outside and has a bit of that Jiangnan waterside elegance. I heard it has a pond and flowers inside, with complete corridors, pavilions, and halls, all done properly. That merchant—”
Shen Shaoguang coughed, eventually not mentioning the sudden stroke, “Well, he was somewhat loose with women, died in Pingkang Ward. The next owner was robbed by bandits while trading in Youzhou Prefecture. Neither died in this residence, so it can’t be considered haunted.”
“How is this not haunted?”
Shen Shaoguang whispered: “You call this haunted? How many people have died in the Daming Palace, Taiji Palace, and Xingqing Palace? Are they haunted?”
Shao Jie: “…”
Shen Shaoguang quoted Bai Juyi’s reasoning: “Zhou and Qin both ruled from Mount Yao, one lasted eight hundred years, the other ended in two generations. Look at us compared to the former Sui… So, ‘It’s people who are ill-fated, not the residence!'”
Shao Jie thought about it and seemed to agree—was there any place more “haunted” than the imperial palace? Yet didn’t the sage emperor still live there? He wasn’t one to strictly follow conventions anyway, otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten along so well with Shen Shaoguang. He immediately set aside his concerns about “haunted” places and asked instead: “Then why haven’t you bought it? Why make do here?”
Shen Shaoguang became modest again: “Actually, these few thatched rooms, a small courtyard, peach and plum trees in front of the hall, scallions and chives by the wall, and the mother hen clucking with her chicks… it’s quite nice too.”
Shao Jie: “Pfft—”
If the branch stores hadn’t expanded so quickly, Shen Shaoguang would have saved enough, but now personal expenses had to give way to business investment.
Shen Shaoguang felt that once the branch stores stabilized next year and they no longer needed to buy chickens but could wait for eggs to be laid, she could quickly save enough for this “yellow dish.”
To realize her mansion dream sooner, Shen Shaoguang intensified training for new staff, waiting only for the new shops’ renovations to be completed and equipment to be fully supplied before opening. Meanwhile, she also pulled Xu Fourth, Zhang Second, and A Dou to form a dedicated performance troupe to tour the various shops.
Those two shows alone wouldn’t be enough. Shen Shaoguang pondered that Zhang Second’s character as a greedy glutton shouldn’t change, and based on this character, they should create a “series” of shows. Unfortunately, it wasn’t easy to find professional scriptwriters, so she had to take it on herself, thinking about the jokes from the shop and digging deep into the corners of her memory—like that collection of ribald jokes from “Extended Records of the Forest of Laughter.”
Shen Shaoguang had plenty of vulgar material in her mind but kept it to herself, never speaking it aloud, unless in private—like teasing Assistant Magistrate Lin.
Shen Shaoguang imagined making Assistant Magistrate Lin blush, his expression caught between anger and amusement and felt quite excited.
But after Winter’s Beginning, the New Year wasn’t far off. Foreign envoys coming to pay New Year’s respect to Chang’an had started arriving, candidates from various prefectures had arrived, winter festivals were numerous, the Winter Solstice Grand Sacrifice was approaching, and autumn and commercial taxes needed to be collected within these one or two months… The Capital Prefecture not only handled household registration, taxes, labor service, judicial cases, agricultural promotion, and educational examinations like ordinary prefectures but also had to assist various imperial departments with special Capital Prefecture matters. During such times, Assistant Magistrate Lin was exceptionally busy. Shen Shaoguang was busy too, and they had few chances for peaceful conversation, so her teasing plans could only remain in her imagination.
In the empty space of the front hall, Zhang Second was enjoying “fried quail” with great relish, saying between bites: “Young Lord Dou, why aren’t you eating?”
A Dou replied mournfully: “Of four quails, you’ve eaten three. You might as well eat the last one too, so they won’t be separated—poor things.”
Shen Shaoguang grinned, thinking A Dou’s expression quite resembled Third Princess.
Author’s Note:
① Bai Juyi’s “Haunted House”: Zhou and Qin’s residences were at Mount Yao, their dwellings not so different. One prospered for eight hundred years, one died at Wangyi Palace. A message to families and nations: it’s people who are ill-fated, not the residents.
② Adapted from “Extended Records of the Forest of Laughter” section on eating sparrows: Two people dining together had four sparrows in their bowl. One greedily ate three and asked his companion, “Brother, why aren’t you eating?” The other replied, “You might as well put it in your stomach, so they won’t be separated.”