Chapter 25: A Happy Dilemma

It was already high noon, yet the stream of people in front of the Drunken Immortal House showed no signs of thinning; if anything, it continued to grow. To describe business as booming would be an understatement; it was a veritable spectacle, the likes of which had not been seen in the capital of Bianjing since the Great Song Dynasty established its reign here.

Faced with such an overwhelming turnout, Li Qi found himself in a predicament that was difficult to voice. From this morning until now, he hadn't even had a drop of water, and his hands were trembling from exhaustion, feeling as if they were about to go numb. Fortunately, he was in his prime and had always been diligent with exercise, so he managed to hold on. As for the elderly Wu Furong, his hands were so tired from counting coins that he felt he had never known a copper coin to be so heavy.

Perhaps this was what they called a "happy burden."

When Li Qi finally handed the last bowl of stinky tofu to a customer, he let out a long sigh of relief and shot a look at Wu Xiaoliu; he no longer had the strength even to call out.

Receiving the hint, Wu Xiaoliu jumped onto a stool and shouted to the crowd, "Everyone, everyone, I am terribly sorry! All of our stinky tofu for today has been sold out. For those who didn't get any or would like to have more, please come early to queue tomorrow. Our deepest apologies!"

As soon as these words were spoken, an uproar broke out.

The crowd was not having it. They had spent the entire morning waiting in line, only to see not a single scrap of tofu. They felt cheated and immediately surrounded the stall, demanding that the business continue or they wouldn't let them pack up. Wu Xiaoliu, having never seen such a scene, was terrified; he jumped off the stool and hid behind Li Qi.

Li Qi glared fiercely at Wu Xiaoliu, but the boy refused to budge. With no other choice, Li Qi mustered his last remaining strength and shouted, "Everyone, please quiet down and hear me out—"

His words were instantly drowned out by a shower of saliva from the crowd.

"We have been waiting in line for over two hours! How can you just stop selling? This is outrageous!"

"Exactly! It's not like we aren't paying. By what right do you refuse to sell to us?"

"No way! If you don't sell us the stinky tofu, you aren't going anywhere!"

"That's right! We want our stinky tofu!"

Seeing the crowd becoming increasingly agitated, with some people already grabbing objects to use as weapons, the scene was even more chaotic than a commercial. If he didn't stop this now, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Damn it! Are you kidding me? Where are the guards? The bailiffs? Where the hell did they all go?

Just as Li Qi was about to cry for help, he noticed two men in uniforms standing in the crowd, and they were shouting even more aggressively than everyone else.

Damn it! Li Qi was so furious he nearly choked, his back already drenched in sweat. This situation was both within his expectations and yet beyond his control.

In truth, Li Qi could have told them much earlier that there were only about five hundred portions, but he hadn't. His goal was to generate buzz; having so many people fighting to queue for the Drunken Immortal House was the best advertisement possible, effectively washing away the establishment's previously tarnished reputation. However, Li Qi had miscalculated the low conduct of these people, and those bailiffs were even more infuriating than city inspectors.

"Brother Li... Brother Li, what do we do now?" Wu Xiaoliu whimpered from behind him.

You're asking me? Who do I ask? Li Qi rolled his eyes and glanced at Wu Furong, whose lips were quivering. Sighing inwardly, he realized there was no point in relying on these two, so he steeled himself. He picked up the large wok of oil directly, set it aside, and used a ladle to scoop up some boiling oil and pour it onto the red-hot charcoal.

"Whoosh!"

A tongue of flame, a full yard high, erupted from the furnace. The crowd recoiled in shock, staring at Li Qi with mouths agape.

"Everyone, please quiet down and listen to me," Li Qi seized the opportunity and shouted, "We are not intentionally refusing to sell to you. It is simply that we have run out of stock, and there is no time to prepare more. We are here to do business; why would we turn away money? You understand that, right?" He paused, and seeing that everyone had fallen silent, he struck while the iron was hot. "You may not know this, but the process of making this stinky tofu is extremely complex and the cost is very high. Moreover, this is our first time selling it publicly, and we didn't know if you would like it, so we dared not make too much. If we couldn't sell it, our proprietor would lose his shirt!"

The crowd burst into laughter, and finding Li Qi's explanation reasonable, most of their resentment dissipated.

Seeing them laugh, Li Qi let out a sigh of relief and continued, "We limited each person to one portion only to ensure that as many people as possible could taste it. However, the quantity is indeed limited, and I hope you can understand. Please rest assured, since you have all been so supportive, we will work through the night, skipping sleep and meals, to prepare as much as possible. We will open our doors promptly at seven tomorrow morning. If you wish to have a taste, please come early to queue. The Drunken Immortal House treats everyone equally; it is first come, first served—absolutely fair."

Since it had come to this, the crowd could hardly say anything else. After grumbling a bit and confirming the opening time for tomorrow, they left with expressions of regret.

The customers who had just walked out of the shop looked incredibly smug—not for any other reason than they had actually eaten a few pieces of stinky tofu.

"Phew!"

As soon as the crowd dispersed, Li Qi, Wu Xiaoliu, and Wu Furong all collapsed onto the ground simultaneously. That situation had nearly scared them to death.

"Brother Li, you really have a way with words. You sent them away in just a few sentences," Wu Xiaoliu panted, not forgetting to butter Li Qi up.

You coward, don't think a few compliments will make me forgive you. Damn it, daring to use me as a shield—you'll pay for this later. But Li Qi had no energy left to deal with him now. He glared at him and said, "What are you still sitting there for? Go pack everything inside! If more customers come, you can find a way to deal with them yourself."

Upon hearing this, Wu Xiaoliu jumped up and replied, "Yes, yes, I'm going right now!"

"Young Master Li, you rest here for a moment. I'll go take care of the money," Wu Furong said as he stood up, dusted off his backside, and walked happily into the shop clutching the basket full of copper coins.

Li Qi let out a long breath. He was so tired he didn't even want to move his lips. He sat on the floor, head bowed, not moving an inch.

However, before he could catch his breath, he heard someone call out, "Waiter, give me some stinky tofu."

Although the voice was crisp and pleasant, Li Qi felt nauseous just hearing the request. Without looking up, he said irritably, "Sold out."

"Sold out?" the person asked. "How can that be? It's not even noon yet. How could you be sold out? By the way, where is your manager?"

Hey, you just don't know when to quit, do you? Li Qi looked up and saw a young girl of fifteen or sixteen standing before him. She was quite pretty, with cherry lips and rosy cheeks, and she looked as if she had just come running. But he was in no mood to appreciate that. "Our manager is very busy and has no time to entertain you. If you want to eat stinky tofu, come early tomorrow. Thank you, goodbye, and don't let the door hit you on the way out."