It was truly novel!
As long as one paid two hundred taels of silver to become a member, they could freely enter the teahouse to read these interesting stories.
Of course, there wasn't just one type of membership at the teahouse. Just like the number of floors in the teahouse, there were three tiers. The more silver one paid, the quieter and more elegant the reading environment would be.
In addition, if one wanted to order a cup of tea or a dessert while reading, the price would start from one tael of silver.
Song Yiqing couldn't help but sigh that Bai Zheng's money - making tactics in this teahouse were so effective that even the famous pleasure quarter in Yongding City, the Willow Lane, would be envious.
Although reading inside the teahouse was free.
But the books could only be read in the store and must not be taken away.
This made those who were captivated by the stories in the storybooks unable to tear themselves away and they had to come every day.
Even Song Yiqing's playboy friends who used to indulge in pleasure no longer went to the Willow Lane. Instead, they simply camped out in this teahouse, greedily flipping through the stories inside.
This relieved their parents.
They didn't care what kind of books their naughty sons were reading. As long as they could calm down, change their ways, and stay in a refined environment instead of going to those dirty places, it was fine.
As a result, later on, there appeared a group of well - intentioned parents in the teahouse who specifically dragged their sons here to apply for memberships.
This completely amazed Song Yiqing.
One should know that it was truly rare in the world to do business as successfully as Bai Zheng, who could grasp people's minds so accurately.
Of course, as Bai Zheng's business thrived, there were more people who were jealous.
Especially for a dessert shop that sold food, it was extremely easy to cause trouble there.
At that moment, Bai Zheng was sitting on a single - person sofa on the third floor, holding a white teapot and pouring hot milk tea into a small porcelain cup with a handle.
The faint fragrance of black tea and the delicate fragrance of milk wafted out from the steamy spout of the teapot, making one's mouth water.
But this peaceful scene didn't last for a moment before Zhu Ling rushed up out of breath: "Madam, something's wrong, Madam!"
Then she pulled Bai Zheng downstairs.
"What's going on?" Bai Zheng asked blankly, but didn't dare to be careless with her feet and quickly followed Zhu Ling down the stairs.
"Someone's causing trouble downstairs." Zhu Ling was running so fast that her voice was gasping, but she still stammered an explanation, "They said they ate the egg yolk pastry from our shop, but the egg yolk inside was spoiled and there were traces of being bitten by insects..."
Bai Zheng stopped in her tracks: "That's it?"
This method of framing was rather childish...
Zhu Ling stamped her foot angrily: "If it were just such a small matter, it would be fine. But the other side insisted that the insect was poisonous and after eating it, the person was almost dying on the spot!"
Bai Zheng was a bit shocked: "If the person is almost dying, why aren't they rushed to the medical clinic immediately? Instead, they have the leisure to come here and cause trouble?"
Zhu Ling sighed: "They've already been sent to the medical clinic. The doctor said there was no way to save them and they could only go back and wait for death.
After the person left the medical clinic, they were directly carried to the front of our shop.
Now that person's old mother is crying and making a ruckus. Not only has our business been disrupted, but also many people who bought the egg yolk pastries have rushed to the shop to return them after hearing the news!"
Hearing this, Bai Zheng frowned tightly.
By now, she had been pulled to the first floor and could already hear the ear - piercing cries from outside. The large hall on the first floor, which was originally full of people reading, was now empty. Everyone had crowded outside to watch the commotion.
Bai Zheng couldn't help but be glad that when the teahouse was designed, the sound insulation on the second and third floors was made extremely good. So the guests reading on the second and third floors were still staying there quietly and didn't come down to add to the chaos.
She looked in the direction outside and couldn't help but sneer.
Since the dessert shop opened, she had expected that one day she would encounter such troubles.
Now that the trouble had come, she wasn't afraid.
The egg yolks in the egg yolk pastries were all from top - quality duck eggs that she had selected before her marriage and pickled with salt for more than a month.
Before making the egg yolk pastries, all the ingredients would also be inspected by a special person.
After all, food was something that could easily cause big trouble if not handled carefully.
Bai Zheng was extremely cautious.
This was also the reason why at the beginning, she would rather lose a large number of customers due to insufficient supply because of a lack of manpower than casually hire a cook.
If this trouble was a frame - up by someone with ulterior motives from the outside, she would always have a way to deal with it.
But if someone managed to sneak into the kitchen and actually poison the desserts sold, too many innocent people would be affected.
Bai Zheng would rather earn less silver than drag innocent people into this.
With this in mind, Bai Zheng was naturally confident.
The problem with today's commotion definitely didn't lie with the egg yolk pastries they made. As for where the problem was, she had to see it with her own eyes.
She lightly lifted her steps and walked out of the teahouse.
Although Anren Alley was an alley, because of the prominent status of the people living there, it was much wider than ordinary alleys.
Since the dessert shop opened, it had been crowded with people every day, making the alley seem even smaller.
Now, because of the commotion, the alley was surrounded by people in layers.
"Make way, our shopkeeper is here."
Zhu Ling shouted as she pushed through the crowd in front. When the crowd heard this, knowing that there would be a good show, they made way, allowing Bai Zheng to catch a glimpse of the situation inside.
On the stone - paved ground, there was a tattered straw mat, and a young girl with her eyes tightly closed, a pale face, and purple lips was lying on it.
An old woman who looked nearly fifty was kneeling beside her, crying sorrowfully, holding a half - eaten egg yolk pastry in her hand.
Bai Zheng squinted her eyes and carefully looked at the egg yolk pastry in her hand.
The egg yolk was no longer the normal golden color, but a black - purple color, almost indistinguishable from the red bean paste wrapped around it. It really did look like it had been bitten by a poisonous insect.
As soon as the old woman saw Bai Zheng come out, she immediately stopped crying, her eyes filled with a fierce light.
She stood up nimbly, rushed straight up to Bai Zheng, and reached out to grab her collar.
"You heartless merchants only care about making money. You don't care about our lives at all!
Look at these shoddy things you made. This small thing called egg yolk pastry costs thirty wen, but the egg yolks inside are all spoiled! And they've been bitten by poisonous insects!
How dirty must your kitchen be for poisonous insects to get inside?"
Seeing the claws that clearly showed no mercy reaching out, Bai Zheng nimbly stepped to the side and dodged.
The next second, Qing Shao rushed out, stood in front of Bai Zheng, grabbed the old woman's hand that was still trying to reach for her, and gently pushed her away.
"Look, they're murdering someone! In broad daylight, they're trying to kill someone to cover up their crime!" the old woman immediately let out a shrill scream.