To The Land of Nevernight

In the 29th year of Kaiping, on April [-]th, Chongma, Shanan.

It is advisable to marry, offer sacrifices, open a market, collect property, and avoid entering a house, cutting trees, and making beams.

In the early morning of this day, the sun was rising, and Zhengyangmen Street was full of bustle and bustle.Looking at the entire Shengjing, and even the entire Song Dynasty, Zhengyangmen Street is the most prosperous street.At this moment, four lion dance teams dressed in special costumes performed in the middle of the street to celebrate.The road that could have accommodated ten horse-drawn carriages driving side by side was blocked by crowds of onlookers.

The sound of gongs and drums, suona, warm applause and cheers sounded from time to time, deafening.

More and more people were attracted to gather around to watch this grand performance.With such a costumed performance, many passers-by almost thought it was a festival.

As early as ten days ago, there were rumors that Xixialou opened another store on Zhengyangmen Street.

Since the opening of Xixialou, many restaurants specializing in dialing Xiagong have sprung up in Shengjing.But there is no doubt that Xixia Building is the most popular among them. There are so many guests every day that you need to wait in line at any time.

It is unimaginable to queue up to eat in other restaurants.Even in Qianlilou, the number one restaurant in Shengjing, few customers are willing to wait half an hour for a meal.Xixia Building is different. When waiting in line at Xixia Building, the staff will arrange special tea seats, and you can also listen to books.If things go on like this, many customers go to Xixialou to eat, not only for the meal, but also for listening to books.

Xixialou did this, and other restaurants followed suit and followed suit.But no matter how you learn it, you can't draw a tiger to be an anti-dog.The books they talked about were not as smooth as Xixialou's. Gradually, Xixialou's position in the hearts of the people in Shengjing became more and more stable.

People love to go to Xixialou to eat and listen to books, and they will naturally listen to the staff while listening to books. It won't be long before Xixialou will open another store in Shengjing.

A person with good deeds asked: "But another shop has been opened to make rosary offerings?"

The buddy made a fool of himself: "Where can we do the Paoxia offering again. You will know what to do in due time. It will open on April [-]th, so don't forget to join us!"

In this way, it is passed on to ten, ten to a hundred, and half of the people in Shengjing know that on April [-], a new store will open on Zhengyangmen Street.

Watching the lion dance and suona performance, an old scholar said: "I see that the owner behind this Xixia Tower is also very powerful. They only opened a store in Shengjing last year, and now they have opened again, and they are so big. .I grew up in Shengjing, and I have never seen such a big store. What do I have to sell to have such a big store?"

"How did I know? It was pretty good to watch the show, but after hearing what you said, I hope the show will end soon, so let's see what kind of medicine is sold in the gourd in Xixialou!"

Ordinary shops are opened, and lion dance teams are invited to perform, all to attract customers.It turned out to be the opposite when it came to Tang Shen's place. The common people didn't want to watch the show more and more, they just wanted to know what this store was for!

After finally watching the performance for less than half an hour, in the anticipation of everyone, I saw shopkeeper Lu from Xixialou and a handsome little girl in men's clothing walking to the center of the lion dance team.Two mighty "lions" shook their heads, like door gods, standing on both sides of shopkeeper Lu and the little girl.

Shopkeeper Lu and the little girl looked at each other, stretched out their hands together, and unveiled the signboard of the store.

Baibao Pavilion!

At three o'clock in the afternoon, in a shop on Zhengyangmen West Street, the shopkeeper was yawning and fiddling with the abacus listlessly, trying to clear up yesterday's accounts.

Suddenly, a stalwart figure staggered into the store and said out of breath: "The shopkeeper is not good, not good! That Xixialou opened a store on Zhengyangmen Street today, and wants to steal our business." It's gone!"

"What nonsense are you kidding. The Xixia Tower is in the business of making Xia offerings, a place to eat. Even if he wants to grab the business, it's the restaurant business. What does it have to do with us running a grocery store?"

The waiter said anxiously: "Shopkeeper, who said that the new store opened in Xixialou is a restaurant? They even opened a grocery store!"

"Ah?!" The shopkeeper, who had been sluggish just now, instantly regained his energy. His eyes widened and his mouth was wide enough to swallow an egg.

Two quarters of an hour later, Shopkeeper Liu brought his shop assistants to Baibao Pavilion with a gloomy face.

Shopkeeper Liu’s single name is Qi. Since his grandfather opened a grocery store, he has established a firm foothold on Zhengyangmen Street in Shengjing. It has been passed down to Liu Qi’s generation for three generations.Shopkeeper Liu never thought of developing his small grocery store, it would be nice to be able to make a living.The Liu family's grocery store is said to sell groceries, but in fact it mainly sells star anise, cinnamon, five grains, and occasionally some furniture and ironware.

Shopkeeper Liu stood under the signboard of Baibao Pavilion and carefully read these three words three times.Then he pursed his lips and said, "Come on, let's go in and have a look."

As soon as the two stepped into the store door of Baibao Pavilion, they both froze in place.

Shopkeeper Liu was stunned, and the boy was also dumbfounded.

After a long time, shopkeeper Liu said: "This, this is the grocery store you mentioned?"

Boy: "I also heard people say, shopkeeper, this is a grocery store, how can there be such a big grocery store in the world!"

In the spacious and tidy store, countless shelves were neatly arranged, and hundreds of customers were holding baskets in their hands, picking and choosing from the shelves, and putting what they wanted into the baskets.

Shopkeeper Liu was still in shock, and a voice woke him up: "Guest officer, do you want a basket? Baibao Pavilion has just opened, so you probably don't understand it. Let me tell you, you took this basket and went to the shop casually You can choose what you want from the shelf. When you are done picking and there is nothing you want, go to the back and settle the score." After a pause, the clerk in Baibao Pavilion said again: "So, sir, do you want a basket?"

Shopkeeper Liu turned his head to look, and saw that this guy was upright, with a springy smile on his face, which made people feel good just by looking at him.

Since we're here, of course we're not here to make trouble, but to observe the enemy's situation.

Shopkeeper Liu: "Give me one."

"Okay!"

Throwing the basket to himself, shopkeeper Liu walked up in Baibao Pavilion.

Baibao Pavilion has two floors, and each floor occupies the size of three shops.At the same time, the backyard was opened up, with a huge space and so many people that you can't see the end at a glance.

The shelves here are well placed, and because the space is limited, there is room for three people to walk between every two shelves.There are still some signs hanging on the shelves, with words such as "farm tools", "fat powder" and "grain grain" written on them.If you want to buy five grains, if you walk into the shelf with the "Grain" brand, you can see red beans, black beans, millet, sorghum...everything you can think of, this shelf has it all!

Shopkeeper Liu was dazzled, and every person in Shengjing who passed by him also let out a sigh of relief.

Shopkeeper Liu's heart sank gradually. He carefully looked at every shelf on the first floor, which took him nearly half an hour.

"Come on, let's go to the second floor to have a look."

The man followed shopkeeper Liu and went up to the second floor.

From the first floor to the second floor, there were suddenly fewer people.

Shopkeeper Liu took a rough look and found that the items sold on the second floor were more expensive than those on the first floor.For example, the soap that is only sold in Shengjing Painting Hall in autumn is available here.The first floor also sells clothes and fabrics, but the second floor sells all high-quality silk.The environment on the second floor is quieter, and the first floor is more spacious. The main products are also things that are commonly used in daily life.

Shopkeeper Liu walked in silently, quietly looking at everything on the shelves.

Suddenly, he saw something, his eyes froze for an instant, and he stood there, looking at this thing in disbelief.

After a while, a guy in uniform ran up and said with a smile, "Guest officer, is there something you want? Just tell me what you need, and I will find it for you."

Shopkeeper Liu opened his eyes wide, turned his head and said, "The ones selling on this row of shelves are the golden strands that can only be found in Huatangqiu?!"

The clerk said: "Guest officer's good eyesight is just the golden strand."

Shopkeeper Liu: "How can you use so much colored glaze to put golden strands, is your shopkeeper crazy!"

The guy froze for a moment, not knowing what to say.At this time, the shopkeeper Lu came up and motioned for the waiter to go down first, and let him receive the guest.Shopkeeper Lu glanced at Shopkeeper Liu up and down, but he didn't know who Shopkeeper Liu was. He smiled and said, "Guest officer, I am the shopkeeper of Baibao Pavilion. Please take care of him if he doesn't treat well. Do you need me?" What, I asked someone to bring it to you?"

Next to every two shelves in Baibao Pavilion, there is a guy in a red mandarin jacket waiting beside him.Firstly, they are watching for petty theft and stealing things; secondly, if the customer needs it, they can rush up as quickly as possible to help the customer solve the problem.

This is one of the ten principles of Baibaoge that Tang Shen told shopkeeper Lu before opening the store.

Shopkeeper Liu blushed, but he still couldn't believe his eyes.He turned his head again and observed those golden strands carefully.In the end, when he was really sure that the vials full of golden wisps were all glass bottles, he was suddenly discouraged.

"The Baibao Pavilion is really rich and powerful, shopkeeper Lu, so many glass bottles are used to hold the golden strands... I have never heard of it before, it is really a good experience."

Baibao Pavilion has become so rich, how can he compete with the other party for a small grocery store?

Shopkeeper Lu sensed something was wrong, he looked at Shopkeeper Liu deeply, and said: "You don't know, this is indeed Liuli, but it is the Liuli specially provided by my Baibao Pavilion. Baibao Pavilion will launch many Liuli products in the future , if you like it, you can come and see it at any time. By the way, there is another glass object in the store, would you like to see it?"

Shopkeeper Liu lost his temper a long time ago. He nodded and followed shopkeeper Lu to a shelf in the middle of the second floor.

There are many customers around this shelf, most of them are wives and ladies from rich families in Shengjing City.I saw them all showing joy, and the maids standing beside them raised their heads and spoke for the master.

"How many mirrors do you have in stock in Baibao Pavilion?"

Guy: "Don't worry, we have plenty of mirrors here."

A lady from a wealthy family whispered in the maid's ear, and the maid said, "The Luo family in the west of the city wants twenty mirrors."

"My servant's mansion wants fifteen noodles."

"My Dingguo Mansion wants thirty noodles!"

Shopkeeper Lu smiled satisfied after listening to these words.He turned his head and said to Shopkeeper Liu, "Guest officer, do you need to buy a mirror too?"

In the tall and spacious room, shopkeeper Liu stared blankly at the smooth and beautiful mirror surrounded by everyone.I saw his dull appearance at the moment was completely reflected on the flat mirror.His blue cloth cap, black coat, and even the wrinkles around his eyes are clearly visible.

Baibao Pavilion...

The name is well deserved.

Will there be a way for people to survive! ! !