Chapter 485 - 486: Trouble Arises

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Wu Yaqing understood the implied meaning in Third Master Lu’s words and scoffed.

Ge Lihua gently tugged at Wu Yaqing’s sleeve and whispered in her ear, “Third Master Lu has been busy backstage all this time, not slacking off.”

Wu Yaqing glanced at Third Master Lu and felt she had wronged him, feeling somewhat embarrassed, so she stopped talking.

Third Master Lu, cold and heartless, but with a broad mind, didn’t hold a grudge against Wu Yaqing, a young girl. He looked at the long queue and said, “Why don’t you take turns to eat?”

Chu Xujin agreed, “You three girls go eat first, and then come and replace me.”

Third Master Lu said, “I’ll stay and help you.”

Chu Xujin hesitated for a moment, but seeing so many people, he finally agreed, “Alright.”

The three girls left.

Lunch was ordered early in the morning by Tang Jinghong for everyone. At noon, he went to inform the shopkeeper, who then had the waiters bring the food over.

Besides their own meal, there was also food for those helping out, and dishes flowed into Guangxi Garden like a stream.

Tang Jinghong knocked on the door, “Qingzhi, it’s time to eat.”

“Coming.” Chu Qingzhi put down the plan book and went with Chu Qingyan to the dining room next door.

Everyone ate quickly, leaving some food for those who hadn’t eaten yet and immediately went to replace their family members who were still working.

Chu Xuyan, along with Yan Yixian and Jiang Zhaoyong, ate at a restaurant and didn’t join the others.

Afternoon arrived, and the rice dumplings, ice cream bars, bread, and biscuits prepared by Chu Qingzhi’s family, intended to be sold throughout the day, were all sold out. Chu Rong and Grandfather Chu hurried back to restock, busy beyond measure.

The Tan family’s pastries also sold well, about seventy to eighty percent gone by noon. They too hurried back to restock for the afternoon.

Many businesses took the opportunity during the lunch break to restock, with some selling half a month’s worth of goods in just one morning, their faces beaming like flowers.

Soon after lunch, the crowd began to swell again.

In the afternoon, more merchants from other counties arrived. Having set off in the morning, they reached by afternoon. These merchants were mostly there to buy goods or discuss cooperation. Additionally, many traveling merchants also poured in.

These merchants moved around, many having only heard the news today and arriving later as a result.

The afternoon remained bustling and lively.

The lake was irregularly circular, with three to four hundred stalls lining the shore. Just walking around would take about two quarters of an hour, and if one were to stop to look and buy things, it would take over an hour.

The stalls offered a wide range of items.

Visitors typically moved to the right, browsing along the lake shore to the left, completing a full circle.

After eating, Chu Qingzhi returned backstage to prepare for the afternoon’s hosting.

She scanned the room and frowned, “Has anyone seen my plan book?”

The resting dancers in the room shook their heads, “No.”

Chu Qingzhi thought it strange; she had clearly left it on the table, but it was gone upon her return.

Seeing that it was almost time, she stopped searching and called to the dancers, “Let’s get ready, we’re going on stage.”

“Yes.”

Chu Qingzhi stepped onto the stage to continue hosting the food festival, “Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the food festival. We will continue to showcase the products.”

Behind her, each dancer carried a different type of lantern onto the stage – palace lanterns, gauze lanterns, revolving lanterns, umbrella lanterns, each one exquisite.

Chu Qingzhi explained each one…

A newly arrived merchant asked a young boy guiding him, “Which merchant made those lanterns?”

The boy looked up and then pointed to a stall filled with lanterns, “Zhou’s Lantern Shop, over there.”

The merchant looked and said, “Let’s go and see.”

The lanterns were hung on the horizontal poles behind the stalls in all sizes and shapes – large, small, round, oval, single-colored, and multicolored, covering every possibility.

When the traveling merchant arrived, several shopkeepers with intentions to negotiate had already gathered around the stall.

The stall owner, Shopkeeper Zhou, arrived early at the stall. Seeing people approaching, he couldn’t stop smiling and hurriedly greeted them.

At the Li Family Porcelain Workshop.

A worker rushed to the Li family’s porcelain workshop, “Master Li, this is the order book that Qingshuang and the young master brought back. You need to prepare the goods quickly.”

Li Zhenzong was sitting in the room, fuming. Hearing this, he was somewhat puzzled and hurriedly came out of the room, “What order book?”

The worker handed over a stack of order books to Li Zhenzong, “Take a look.”

Li Zhenzong skeptically flipped through the book, “This, this…” He turned to the worker, excited yet incredulous, “Isn’t Chu Qingzhi…”

The worker quickly explained, “The vase we sent over for display was broken. Qingshuang and the young master rushed back to get a new one, which delayed our porcelain display.”

This differed from what Yan Yanrong had said.

Someone was lying!

Li Zhenzong fell into thought. After a while, he decided to put aside his suspicions and focus on fulfilling the orders first. “Prepare the porcelain according to the order book immediately.”

At Guangxi Garden.

In a corner, two girls stood. One of them, with dark, intense eyes, stared straight at Chu Qingzhi on the stage, biting her teeth slightly, her gaze filled with complex emotions.

The other girl, head slightly lowered, appeared somewhat fearful and subservient.

Li Changle withdrew her gaze and whispered something into Xia Wei’s ear, covering her mouth with her hand.

Xia Wei, not daring to disobey, nodded and then walked towards the Chu Trade’s table, lining up at the spot with the fewest people.

After a quarter of an hour, it was her turn.

Chu Xuhua asked good-naturedly, “Miss, what do you want?”

Xia Wei tasted a piece of bread. It was soft, slightly sweet, and full of wheat aroma. It was very delicious. She swallowed the bread and said, “I would like to order a thousand catties of bread.”

Chu Xuhua looked up at Xia Wei, suspecting she was there to cause trouble.

“Sorry, miss, but we can only take orders for up to fifty catties of bread right now, and it would take at least ten days for delivery. If you agree, I can write down your information now.”

The current bread orders already exceeded three thousand catties. Ordering a thousand catties was definitely impossible unless she was willing to wait a long time.

Xia Wei looked back at Li Changle, whose gaze was heavy, and insisted, “I want a thousand catties, and it’s okay if the delivery is late.”

Sensing something fishy, Chu Xuhua did not agree, “Sorry, we really can’t take such a large order now.”

Xia Wei angrily slammed the table, “What, are you looking down on people?”

This commotion quieted the surroundings, and tension filled the air.

Adhering to the principle of amiability in business, Chu Xuhua tried to pacify her, “It’s not about looking down on anyone. We genuinely can’t produce that much and can’t agree to it.”

Xia Wei stood up, pointing at the surrounding people, “Then why did you agree to them? Isn’t this discriminatory?”

Chu Xuhua, often dealing with business outside, had developed a strong mentality and calmly said, “They ordered less, only fifty catties each..”