The Rise and Fall of the Last Imperial Cook

28. The Promise

Translator: Qiu Yi

Proofread by Peter Gong

As Cai Renxin walks out of the teahouse, he notices Xu Zhiwei and realizes that he is exactly the man who saved steamed buns and improved noodles. He scratches his broom-like head and decides to run after him to say hello to him. But not long after he trots a few steps, he suddenly realizes that this moment is the crucial part of “Collecting after Hanging-up”. Any unnatural action will waste all the previous efforts. So he drops that idea and slows down.

Cai Renxin’ pace is really slow. At this speed, he can’t even reach the end of this street in two-cup-of-tea time. He keeps pacing, but he feels extremely nervous, hoping Zhu Shenpeng can finish his job quickly inside the teahouse.

Before long, Zhu Shenpeng trots out of the teahouse, complaining, “What’s this? Dishonest man. You claimed that the backyard will be rented out together with the teahouse. Why do you change your words now? If the backyard isn’t included, why should I pay such a high rent?”

“You’re making trouble with me. Where did you hear that the backyard is rented out with the house? You blockhead. Where should I live if I rent all of them to you?” Qian Hezi yells, chasing after him. When he walks out, he finds that Zhu Shenpeng is farther away, and presumably, it’s too late to catch up with him. So he stamps his feet anxiously before the teahouse, circling around continuously like a blind fish which is desperate to run for its life.

“Hey! You, it’s you!” Suddenly, Qian Hezi notices Cai Renxin who hasn’t walked far, and then immediately jumps to grab him by his hand, “Stop. I see honesty in you. I decide to rent my house to you in spite of the high rent offered by other bidders. You offered a price of fifty-nine taels, and I’d like to give you two taels cheaper. It just costs you fifty-seven taels.”

As if unable to react immediately, Cai Renxin doesn’t utter any words but shows a blank expression with his mouth half open.

“Fifty-five, is that ok?” Qian Hezi gives another two taels cheaper in a hurry.

Now Cai Renxin responds slightly. He curls up his lips, smiling, and then shakes his head quickly and resolutely.

Qian Hezi is a little stunned for his reaction is out of his expectation. Nevertheless, as a veteran businessman, Qian Hezi knows how to negotiate, “The price can be settled later. Let’s talk about it in the teahouse.” As he speaks, he puts his arm around Cai Renxin’s shoulder and pulls him back into the teahouse.

After entering the teahouse and seating Cai Renxin in the chair, Qian Hezi begins to splutter about the location, the structure and the geomantic omen of his teahouse. But Cai Renxin remains silent in the chair, making no reaction except for scratching his broom-like head occasionally.

When Qian Hezi gets exhausted and bored with his boasting, he comes to realize that his well-considered calculation is done and he doesn’t need to say more. At this moment, he turns around suddenly and looks into Cai’s eyes, “Fifty-two taels, and the space behind the front houses will be a bonus for you. This is the lowest price.”

Cai Renxin laughs for a while and then says, “You’re good at making crooked promotion. The space behind those houses is the courtyard of the teahouse rather than the property of front houses. The water vats and firewood of your teahouse are piled there. If I rent the teahouse, you won’t let me place my sundries on the street, will you?”

“Haha. Ah. That’s right.” Qian Hezi gives a hollow laugh but he doesn’t feel embarrassed. Instead, he appears relaxed because at least he is quite sure Cai will rent his teahouse.

“How about fifty taels? You offered fifty-nine tales, but now it’s nine taels cheaper.”

“You couldn’t get this price if it were not for that troublesome wretch.” Qian Hezi lowers the rent by two taels reluctantly.

But what Qian Hezi will never know is that Cai Renxin won’t accept his offer, and he won’t even pay the floor price of forty taels at all because they don’t have enough money. If they want to start a great restaurant, every coin in their pockets matters a lot now.

“Collecting after Hanging-up” is a jargon in the seafood market and it’s also a trick peddlers employ in their bargain with boatmen. “Hanging”, also called “hanging in pairs”, means two or three people keep bidding up the price until other purchasers are forced out of the competition. But the auction will not end up with the highest bid. The bidder will find all kinds of nonsensical excuses and hang the seller up. As for “Hanging-up”, it means the negotiation between the seller and the buyer who offers the second highest bid, whose aim is not to reduce the price but to consume enough time. The buyer should show his strong desire for the product and also his hesitation when the price is too high. Since marine products are vulnerable to long time exposure of air once they are off shore, and one or two hours later, they will be sold at a discount price. So when the time is right, that is when the seller is desperate to sell his products, the third person or the second bidder himself makes the purchase at a low price. And that is the final step— “collecting”.

This trick is not completely suitable for renting houses. Zhu Shenpeng has no other choice but to clutch at this straw. Since there is no such worry about houses as “going bad”, it doesn’t matter when his house is rented. So only “hanging” can be used in this case. As for “collecting”, all they can do is to move Qian Hezi with all their sincerity and promises.

“Uncle, I shall tell you the truth. That wretch is my brother.” Cai Renxin scratches his broom-like head, prepared for Qian’s beating.

“What? Your brother?” Qian Hezi is struck dumb in an instant, but quickly he comes to himself and catches Cai Renxin by his collar, “What on hell are you planning?”

“Uncle, listen. We are not swindlers. We really want to rent this teahouse and open a restaurant. Considering all the streets in this area, only your teahouse is the best option. Without this shop, we even have no confidence to manage our restaurant well.” With his eyes narrowed and face tightened, Cai Renxin persuades with great sincerity.

After hearing his words, Qian Hezi loosens his grasp a bit but immediately it tightens up.

“Uncle, we have little money. Just with a glance, you will find that we are losers who suffered a lot yet made no fortune. So we decide to invest all our savings in your teahouse to open a decent restaurant and endeavor to make it the best restaurant of Shanghai in the future. But at present our savings are not sufficient enough for such a goal. We look forward to your help. We can give you our word or put it down on lease documents that once our business takes off, we will not only pay you the highest rent and also make up for the rent unpaid previously.” Rough as Cai Renxin looks, his words are quite touching.

“You forced other competitors to leave because you want to rent the house at a low price?” Qian Hezi thinks that he has already understood why they use that dirty trick.

“No, besides that, we also hope you can surrender part of the profit. How about thirty taels per month?” Cai Renxin tightens his face and scratches his face, feeling embarrassed for what he said.

“Good wish. Do you think it’s possible? I step on dog poop today, but I will send out invitations for another auction tomorrow.” Qian Hezi only wishes to slap Cai Renxin in the face.

“Please hear me out! Although this price is ten taels lower than your base price, we promise that we will pay you sixty taels if our restaurant prospers. In this way, you can get not only the minimum guarantee of thirty taels but also the dividend. Besides, if you don’t rent your house to us, others will think that you deliberately employ us here to raise the base price. And you will be blamed as a fraud.” Frank as he is, Cai Renxin speaks without scruple. More importantly, his frank words makes “Hanging-up” possible.

Qian Hezi is shocked at Cai Renxin’s remarks that hit the nail on the head. That’s why he kept Cai Renxin and reduced the rent constantly. No public bidding has been held on Confucius Street before. People in foreign firms claimed that this method worked well, so he followed their advice.

In fact, the neighbors gossip secretly about his being greedy, criticizing that he is reaching out for money in the coffin—dying for money. Now as his bidding is screwed up by these two boys, if the news is given out, there must be some people suspecting that he has played tricks, and more people will laugh at him for lifting a rock only to drop it on his own feet. He dreads losing his face.

“The rent of thirty-two taels is too low. I don’t know you two, and I don’t trust you two either. Thirty-five taels, at least.” After a short moment of hesitation, Qian Hezi opens his mouth.

“Since you clarify your opinion, we should show you enough respect. Thirty-five taels. That’s a deal. But there is something else we’d like to discuss with you. We can’t pay you the rent for three months as the deposit but pay the rent monthly. But we guarantee that we will pay the rent three days in advance.”

“You wretch! Are you making a fool of me?” Qian Hezi flies into a rage, his crinkled face expanding into a deep-dried dough cake. The hand which grabs Cai Renxin’s collar is now pushed back, but the other hand is raised suddenly.

At this time, a clear voice comes from the backdoor of the teahouse, “My old father, what are you doing? Why are you so angry?” Then from behind the short door curtain made with blue cloth, a small girl with a good figure walks out. Seeing Qian Hezi’s hand in the air, she rushes to hold him.

“Hold on! Father, why do you want to beat him? You are old now, and what if you hurt no one but yourself?”

“Shui Xian, none of your business. This wretch screws up my bidding and even wants to rent my house at a low price. Dream it! you want to open a restaurant? A toad that jumps over the sacred threshold is still an wretched thing.” Qian Hezi is mad.

“What’s wrong with you? We haven’t picked on you, but why do you mess up our business? You can fool around anywhere but not here. Your presence here only makes us troubled. To be frank, if my father is taken to his sickbed, I will bring you to trial.”

Although the girl looks gentle, she has a quick and sharp mouth. Silenced by her rebuke, Cai Renxin comes to realize the repercussion of their trick.If Qian Hezi is made ill by the anger, they can’t rent his house and they will take responsibility for him in the court. Thinking of this, he can’t help feeling a little frightened.

In the past, the teahouse was a gathering place, a place more chaotic than restaurants, where folks from all walks of life could trade openly with various tricks. Growing up in a teahouse, the girl has seen enough tricks in the markets and many a dirty word on the streets. Although she prevents Qian Hezi from beating Cai Renxin, on behalf of her father, she points at Cai Renxin’s nose and continues scolding him sharply, “Don’t play the fool as if nothing happened. A dead pig is not afraid of boiling water. But when everyone hates you and treats you like a piece of shit, you will know what the fear is…Oops! Why it’s you?”

Confronted with the curse, Cai Renxin flushes and keeps scratching his head. But when he hears “why it’s you”, he turns his head to the entrance automatically, guessing someone’s coming. “Why did you do this? You look like an honest seller. Is there any misunderstanding?” The girl asks again. Until then, Cai Renxin finds that he himself is the person the girl is addressing. But how could she know him? An honest seller? Did she once buy something from him?

“Shui Xian, don’t talk bullshit with him. Let me beat him out of the house!” Qian Hezi is still stamping his feet.

“Father, calm down. I know him and I owe him the money for a broom. Neighbors usually buy groceries from him and think he is very honest. How did he irritate you?” Shui Xian is exactly the girl who selected brooms slowly and didn’t pay the money because Cai Renxin rushed to Mudu Port immediately. So after recognizing Cai Renxin, she shows a more polite attitude.

“It’s my fault. I irritated him. Here’s what happened….” Scratching his broom-like head in embarrassment, Cai Renxin tells Shui Xian everything about his helplessness and the trick. Then he speaks frankly about his sincere desire for renting this house. He promises that he can give Qian Renzi a written guarantee that they will pay the highest bidding price as the rent if their restaurant runs well.

“Not bad. We can get the rent monthly and try our luck on your business. It’s like receiving dividends.” Shui Xian is somewhat speaking for Cai Renxin.

“Don’t give any fig to his bullshit. You said you owe his money? He is just a lowly street vendor who probably can’t fix his meals well. How could he manage a grant restaurant? It’s a ridiculous dream.” Knowing Cai Renxin sells groceries, Qian Hezi despises him more. Even if Cai Renxin raises the rent now, Qian Hezi won’t accept it anymore.

“It sounds right. If you don’t know how to cook, how can you run your business? Besides, as there are many good restaurants, what you need is not just a cook but a good chef; or the restaurant will run at a loss even if you can rent this house.” Shui Xian considers for the sake of Cai Renxin.

“That’s right!” Qian Hezi pounds the table, “If you can cook dishes that can be recognized by me, or hire a cook who can cook dishes that I can’t find fault with, I’ll let you rent the house at the price and in the way you just said. Because only in this way can you open a good restaurant and can I get the high rent you promise to offer. But can you make it? Do you have such a cook?”

Cai Renxin stands still. Although he is familiar with selecting fresh seafood, he is not good at cooking. The restaurant needs a good cook indeed. Without delicious dishes, any restaurant will go bankrupt after a few days. But the point is that he should rent a house before recruiting a cook. Qian Hezi is putting him in a difficult situation.

But it is not long before Cai Ren regains his energy from stillness for he recalls Xu Zhiwei whom he saw outside the house. Xu Zhiwei saved steamed buns and improved noodles with marvelous cooking skills. Though he hasn’t watched him cooking, he notices a number of knives carried along with him. People who carry knives are not necessarily bandits. They might be cooks. And the cook with many knives should be very skillful.

“Stay here. I’ll go to find the cook right now. Please do not rent the house out before I return with the cook. If I can’t meet your requirement, I’ll give up and clarify the truth from door to door for you, bringing your bidders back.” His words finished, he dashes out of the house with his sleeves flying and he stops after a few steps, “Don’t rent out the house!”

“Go ahead. I won’t rent it out until you come back.” Speaking on behalf of Qian Hezi, Shui Xian volunteers to reassure Cai Renxin. As Cai Renxin runs out of the teahouse, Zhu Shenpeng, who is pacing back and forth on the other side of the street, notices him and asks, “How’s it going? Can we rent the house?” “Go with me. We should find the cook first, the person who saved steamed buns. Whether we can rent the house or not depends on him.”