The Rise and Fall of the Last Imperial Cook

27. The Trick of “Collecting after Hanging-up”

Translator: Li Ruoxuan

Proofread by Peter Gong

The shop for rent used to be a teahouse located at the intersection of Confucius Street and Baisong Street, that is, a typical “golden corner”. What’s more, this shop is located at the eastern end of the street, and that makes it the “first place of the dragon head”: most of the main customers of this street come from the East Bund, so naturally they will first choose to eat in the shops in the east. In addition, from Baisong Street to the north is the French concession where lie those strange looking high-rise buildings and foreign houses built by foreigners, which ensures the employment of many craftsmen and laborers. That’s also a big source of diners. If those workers come here to find something to fill their belly, they will also go along Baisong Street to the eastern corner first.

And the shop itself is very well constructed. The facade is built high and wide, and the second floor provides enough space for private rooms. Through the shop to the inside space, there are two courtyards leading straight to Wangpi Back Street. The owner can thus live in the courtyard behind the facade, and that’s a common building for both business and living in the past.

The shop was originally designed as a teahouse by its original owner. The surrounding residential area is called Defuli, where literati, idlers and businessmen live in harmony, so the business of the teahouse used to be good. However, after the opening of Shanghai port, the number of the idlers who originally had nothing to do all day long but drank in the teahouse has declined nowadays. Moreover, many people learned from foreigners to try coffee, a drink with a strange taste like traditional Chinese medicine. The coffee shop gradually becomes a fashionable way of public gathering and talking. In this way, it’s not worthwhile to keep the teahouse open anymore, for the profit is only enough to cover labor cost. Therefore, renting the house and collecting rent seems an easier way to make money.

Qian Hezi, the owner of this shop, is a shrewd businessman who knows a lot about all kinds of tricks and knacks not only from his own experiences of long years, but also from the chats of those guests in the teahouse every day. Therefore, he adopts the way of bidding when renting his shop. All he needs to do is to gather all the people who want to rent his shop and give a reserve price. If there is only one, the deal will be made directly. If there are more bidders, then they can increase the price according to their own affordability. When others all quit with the rising price, the last one left will become the tenant with the highest price he offers. This kind of renting method is a sure bet for the house owner, for the bidders have no chance to haggle over the rent, but on the contrary, they keep raising a higher price through competition.

It is the bidding day of the teashop when Cai Renxin hears the news on the street, and he runs back to tell Zhu Shengpeng. When they two arrive at the shop, there are already more than a dozen of competitors.

With a large number of comers here, the shop owner Qian Hezi pretends to look up at the sky and the Incense Plate of time checking. Then he coughs and begins to speak, “It’s a good thing that you sirs come to rent my house, so I must choose a good time to make an offer. Forty taels of silver as a monthly rent, that’s my base price; leave one month’s rent as a deposit and pay the rent of three months, that’s the rule. The rent of the next three months should be paid a month earlier.”

Actually the price doesn’t seem to be high in terms of actual value. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, forty taels of silver was almost equivalent to 8000 to 10,000 yuan at present. It’s such a bargain to rent such a big shop that costs merely 10,000 yuan a month. But the rent at that time could not be measured by the current skyrocketing land value in Shanghai. Although the port had been open for more than ten years, all kinds of businesses had not flourished yet, and those Shanghaiers still tended to doubt and resist those foreign goods. The houses were not in high demand as they are now, therefore, the price of the shop itself was not so high. Forty taels of silver was equivalent to the salary of a junior military officer in Yamen (a government office in old China) for four or five months. Then, the rent is not as low as we imagine, either; it’s still a reasonable price.

As for the way of rent-paying, it’s also reasonable with a certain degree of protection for the landlord. However, this method will lead to great pressure on those tenants with insufficient investment funds. The payment for the first three months, including the rent and the deposit, has reached 160 taels of silver. And this is merely the beginning. Together with the development of the restaurant, the follow-up investment will only increase.

However, Zhu Shengpeng is suddenly baffled by the base price. Though he hasn’t made a thorough investigation into the following investment to run a large restaurant, the bottom price and the way of rent-paying have pushed them too hard already. Their savings must be running out after this large amount of expense, and they don’t know how to maintain the further investment of running a restaurant in a proper way.

In fact, there is a man at the door of the shop who is more shocked than Zhu Shengpeng. He even gives up entering the shop and stops outside immediately after hearing the reserve price. Instead of attempting to be a bidder, he has directly turned into a spectator. This man is exactly Xu Zhiwei. As the saying goes, a drowning man will clutch at every straw. Feeling disillusioned about owning a small shop, Xu Zhiwei even starts to dream of setting up a big restaurant. After Qian Hezi has announced the base price, he can’t help but regret in his heart: “I really should have taken the money from Chef Clique when I left Wuxi.” Now, all the money he has is not even enough for the rent of one month.

What Zhu Shengpeng and Xu Zhiwei have heard is just the base price, which serves as the base of further increasing. At least half of the bidders express their willingness to rent, and soon someone offers to raise two taels of silver with confidence. Though other people hesitate to follow immediately, they are also considering whether to raise the rent on this base or not. Someone who is ready to follow keeps waiting too, hoping to see how the situation goes on before he offers.

“Brother, we must take this house, no matter by what means. I’ve sold my house in Ningbo to seek fortune here. Before, we didn’t even have the chance to take the cards and wager on; so this time, we must hold the cards in our hands. Otherwise, we’ll never have our day.” Cai Renxin turns around Zhu Shengpeng as if his buttons are on fire.

Zhu Shengpeng keeps silent, thinking about Cai Renxin’s words. It’s true. Judging from those numerous eager competitors for rent and the emerging new restaurants recently, they may never have a chance to run a big restaurant in the future if they let this chance off.

“Forty-three taels of silver!” At this time, someone raises his hand and announces a new price loudly.

After a moment of silence in the teahouse, another man calls out, “I’ll add one tael, forty-four taels!”

Zhu Shengpeng frowns tightly with sweats oozing out on his forehead, for it seems impossible for them to get the shop. “What the hell is the price going up so fast? Brother, what should we do?” Cai Renxin asks anxiously. Zhu Shengpeng turns to look at Cai Renxin and finds his eyes getting red. No wonder, he thinks. Unlike himself, this youngster has bet all on a single throw after selling his house in Ningbo, and all he can rely on is the future in Shanghai. “Brother, make a bid. We are lucky if we get this restaurant. Even if we fail, we can also make a living by going back to peddle things along the street.” Cai Renxin is trying to soothe Zhu Shengpeng’s nerves while expressing his determination again. Biting his lip, Zhu Shengpeng wipes the sweats on his forehead with his sleeve. “We will certainly lose if we rush in like this. Maybe… maybe we have to use a trick.” “Any way as long as it works! If others all use the right way, we will not be forced to do so! Tell me what to do.” “Let’s play a ‘Collecting after Hanging-up’.” Zhu Shengpeng answers in a low voice. Cai Renxin gets stunned at first and then nods twice. Zhu Shengpeng whispers a few words in Cai Renxin’s ear, and then they walk separately to the sides of the teahouse lobby.

No one in the lobby notices them muttering in the back, because they are all paying attention to the rising price. Only Xu Zhiwei who stands at the door stares at them because he thinks that Cai Renxin looks quite familiar. Though Cai Renxin took the initiative to sit at the same table with him face to face in the noodle shop that day, Xu Zhiwei totally focused on tasting noodles and improving business for Boss Cui, and he paid no attention to Cai Renxin at all. What’ more, sometimes it may be harder for one to remember the overall appearance of others sitting too close. So Xu Zhiwei just notices his familiar face, but fails to recognized Cai Renxin.

But they look anxious, muttering and whispering, which makes Xu Zhiwei feel something abnormal, and he has a feeling that they are trying to do something secretly. But this is the first time for him to see this kind of competition for rent, and he knows nothing about the tricks; so he keeps silent and watches on with interest.

“Forty-five taels.” A person raises his hand and calls in a rather low voice. “Then I’ll give forty-six taels.” The moment he finishes speaking, someone calls and raises the price again. People all looks back and find Zhu Shengpeng standing behind the pillar. “Forty-seven taels, then.” Another voice comes. Following the direction, they see Cai Renxin standing in front of the counter on the other side.

“Forty-eight taels.”

“Forty-nine taels.”

“Fifty!”

“Fifty-one!”

“Fifty-two!”

Cai Renxin stops adding on when Zhu Shengpeng calls out this number. He waits for a moment. What does he wait for? Waiting for those who feel unable to compete anymore.

Bidding for rent is like being on a battlefield, and no loser will linger. So with the increase of the price, some who have lost the confidence of competition gradually get up and leave moodily; for if they continue to linger, the later result will bring them more humiliation.

Still five or six bidders choose to stay in the lobby, including Zhu Shengpeng and Cai Renxin. “Fifty-three taels!” Cai Renxin speaks with a tone full of ferocity. “Fifty-four!” Zhu Shengpeng adds another tael without hesitation. “Fifty-five!” “Fifty-six!” “Fifty-seven!” “Fifty-eight!” “Fifty-nine!” “Sixty!”

There is no pause among the three biddings. When Zhu Shengpeng calls out the price of sixty taels of silver, the remaining bidders almost get up simultaneously and walk to the door without hesitation. Their sudden departure throws the teahouse into a slight chaos, and the bidding stops accordingly.

The corners of Qian Hezi’s mouth slightly move, but he quickly holds back his excitement. He sits in front of the middle table and forces himself to conceal the pride and happiness in his heart and remains calm.

When the teahouse becomes quiet again, there are only Zhu Shengpeng and Cai Renxin left, who hold on to the last. It seems that Cai Renxin is struggling to weigh something secretly, but after a while, he still shakes his head and walks out of the teahouse.

“Well, well. So that’s the final choice, I think. Sixty taels of silver, the price is okay.” Qian Hezi pats the table slightly. It seems that this landlord has made a deal at a loss and Zhu Shengpeng has made a great bargain. But Qian Hezi also hopes Zhu Shengpeng makes it in the bidding. By contrast, this smart and capable young man looks much more reliable than that guy who leans against the counter with a broom-like head.

“Mm-hmm, that price is not a high one. How can they all shrink back? It’s hard to find a shop in Shanghai now, and I’ m quite satisfied, especially with the two backyards. It’s still a good deal.” Zhu Shengpeng says, shaking his head.

“What do you mean by two backyards?” Qian Hezi finds something wrong, and his eyes, nose and mouth all wrinkle up together, making his whole face look like a Shaomai[i].

Xu Zhiwei has watched the whole process outside the teahouse. At first, he did not understand what Zhu Shengpeng and Cai Renxin wanted to do. Isn’t it a competition? Why do they two raise the price for each other? It doesn’t seem to make any sense, as if they are setting a trap for themselves. But when he sees the departure of other people one after another, he begins to understand. The two young men continue to increase the price, though by small degrees, say, one or two taels each time, the rising speed remains fast without hesitation. A kind of invisible psychological pressure on others is then created. Being left no opportunity to increase the price, other competitors will soon lose confidence and finally give up. Although the bidding between them two has raised the rent a lot, it is much more cost-effective than getting the final price after the traditional bidding among others.

At the moment, Xu Zhiwei really gets some feelings in his heart. He has always concentrated on his cooking skills as if isolated from the world, and he fails to be a man with much worldly wisdom. The difficulties of food-serving in the palace, the persecutions from Chef Clique, the struggles of those small shops along the street, and the tricks in the bidding for rent… In fact, all these things together make up the worldly life itself, and nothing can be easy as making a prefect or nearly perfect dish.

People all say that everything is interlinked, and one can also understand the way of life from the way of cooking. Sometimes, the tricks in the kitchen are even more mysterious than those in other places; for instance, those techniques used by Xu Zhiwei in the test of dishes in Huiquan Hall, and his cooking skills in the competition with Chef Clique. However, Xu Zhiwei failed to understand how to change and draw lessons from these techniques; maybe he will never be able to, and he can only try to be an excellent chef. The two young men, though much younger than he, have more experience and brains in this respect. So in this way, they should be able to go further and do better than him.

Thinking of this, Xu Zhiwei nods slightly and turns away from the teahouse. A tenant who even fails to get into the door becomes almost the last one to leave. Compared with the other unsuccessful bidders, truly, he has gained something.