After a male student transmigrated into the body of a widow,

"bang bang bang"

The once quiet street was suddenly filled with the sound of gongs. Passersby couldn't help but look towards the source of the sound, where two tall, thin men were standing.

They stood outside the entrance of a brand-new restaurant, shouting loudly.

"The new store is opening its doors to welcome guests from all directions, and we look up to welcome wealth from all corners of the world."

"Grand opening! Lanterns and decorations welcome the God of Wealth. Fortune, prosperity, longevity, and happiness will come to your home without you saying a word."

One auspicious and pleasing word after another came from their mouths, loud and clear.

Passersby who were just passing by the restaurant to watch the commotion stopped in their tracks when they heard the joyful and auspicious blessings that were not repeated in any of them.

A man looked up at the brand-new restaurant draped in red cloth and asked the two men loudly, "What does your restaurant do? It's so lively so early in the morning. I could hear you from the next street."

Before the two waiters at the restaurant entrance could answer, another man standing next to the man said, "I heard it's an antique soup shop. They started renovations a month ago and only opened today!"

Upon hearing this, the man in front shook his head and muttered, "Antique soup? How many shops have there been now? They have antique soup from all over the city. What was the owner of this restaurant thinking? Why sell antique soup of all things?"

While everyone discussed the matter, Yu Ercheng and another colleague did not join in.

Seeing that more and more people were gathering at the entrance of the restaurant, Yu Ercheng stopped shouting, stepped forward, and cupped his hands to the crowd, saying: "Don't miss this opportunity, everyone! Today is the grand opening of our restaurant. To make friends with you all, we are offering a great discount for the first three days. Spend over five liang and you can get a 500-wen discount. The dishes and meats in the restaurant are fresh and plentiful!"

"Furthermore, considering that we are all neighbors and it is not easy to get to know each other, today every customer who enters the restaurant will receive a pot of wine as a gift!"

When the crowd standing in front of the restaurant first heard about the discounts mentioned by Yu Ercheng, they were tempted but managed to restrain themselves. However, when the other party said that drinks would be served, they couldn't resist.

These days, alcohol is made from grain, so even the people of the prefectural city can't afford to drink alcohol more than a few times a year.

However, some people remained skeptical and asked loudly, "Your restaurant wouldn't try to fool us with murky wine, would you?"

The cloudy wine was cheap; a jar could be bought for just a few dozen coins.

"You wouldn't be trying to trick us into going in, and then not let us go home until we've paid enough money, would you?"

"Yeah, yeah! I don't believe any restaurant is so generous as to give away drinks for free!"

As everyone gradually calmed down, doubts crept across their faces as they wondered if the newly opened restaurant was trying to deceive them.

Yu Ercheng cupped his hands and said to everyone, "The owner is an honest and upright merchant. He would never dare to do such illegal and disorderly things. Moreover, gentlemen and ladies, we only have a few people in our restaurant. If we were to deceive you, you could all drown us with your spit."

Perhaps it was Yu Ercheng's sincerity, or perhaps his words convinced everyone, but the noise gradually subsided.

A man in the crowd asked, "In that case, when will your shop open? I want to see what you're up to!"

Yu Ercheng replied with a smile, "Don't worry, it'll be quick."

As soon as he finished speaking, a figure walked out of the restaurant.

Upon seeing this, the man's face showed surprise. He looked at Yu Ercheng and said, "You're not being fair, kid. The restaurant hasn't even opened yet, so why is that guy coming out of the restaurant?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Ercheng looked in the direction the man was pointing.

At this moment, Gu Lin had already walked up to them.

Yu Ercheng and another employee said to Gu Lin, "Boss!"

Logically speaking, they were servants bought by Gu Lin, so they should either call Gu Lin their master or their husband. However, when Gu Lin trained them, he made them all call him their master.

Therefore, Yu Ercheng and the others all referred to Gu Lin as their boss.

The boss?!

The way the two waiters addressed the young man who came out of the restaurant caused a stir among the crowd, especially the man in the lead, who was dumbfounded.

There are examples of women running shops in the prefectural city, but the shop assistants and managers never refer to them as "bosses".

Before a young woman gets married, she manages the shop, and the people below her will call her "young master" or "madam." After she gets married and has a husband, the people below her will call her "husband" or "wife."

In short, the term "master" is mostly used for men and has never been used for women.

Seeing the incredulous looks on everyone's faces, Gu Lin was used to walking from Xiahe Village to the prefectural city.

He stepped forward to the crowd, bowed, and said with a smile, "Thank you all for gracing us with your presence. Now that the auspicious hour has arrived, the restaurant is open for business!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Xiaoyao, who had followed Gu Lin out, immediately stepped forward and lit the firecrackers hanging in front of the restaurant.

Suddenly, long, red firecrackers crackled and popped, scattering red paper scraps all around.

After the firecrackers stopped, Gu Lin pulled down the red cloth hanging on the restaurant's signboard, and instantly, the three characters "Good Luck Restaurant" appeared before everyone's eyes.

Yu Ercheng shouted loudly, "Good luck comes to Haoyunlou, good luck will keep coming after you eat there!"

Lin Xiaoyao said, "Good Luck Restaurant, stay for good luck, eat at Good Luck Restaurant and never leave!"

"What a wonderful place! Since Haoyunlou has brought this up, it would be a shame if we didn't go in and have a meal!"

"Boss, can we go in now?"

Gu Lin replied with a smile, "Of course, thank you all for coming!"

After saying that, he turned and stood to the side.

A few people emerged from the crowd that had been surrounding Haoyunlou Restaurant. Although it didn't seem like many, they entered the restaurant one after another, and soon the lobby of Haoyunlou Restaurant became lively.

Gu Lin turned to go inside when suddenly a handsome young man ran over and asked, "Does your restaurant have private rooms?"

Gu Lin turned his head and nodded slightly, replying, "Yes, the entire second floor is filled with private rooms. In addition to the private rooms, the building also has dedicated staff to serve and help with cooking hot pot and grilling meat."

"Oh?" The handsome young man was intrigued by Gu Lin's words and asked curiously, "Isn't your restaurant supposed to serve antique soup? Why do you also have roast meat?"

Gu Lin patiently explained, "Making only the antique soup can be a bit monotonous. By setting up a grill next to the stove, guests can eat grilled meat to balance the flavor if they find the antique soup too bland, or hot pot to neutralize the dryness and greasiness of the grilled meat."

Yanli Ge'er praised, "You're so clever. But we don't need the waiter to serve us. Our young master is a boy, and I'm fine with him by his side. Just give us a private room."

Gu Lin smiled slightly and said, "Young master, you don't need to worry about the issue of men serving outside. The waiters in our restaurant include not only men, but also women and young men. If your young master needs someone to serve him, we have several women and young men here."

Seeing how well-arranged the restaurant was, Yanli Ge'er's expression showed a hint of surprise and said, "Your place is very well-organized. Help me pick a quick and quiet young man, and I'll bring our young master over later."

"it is good."

After saying that, Yanli Ge'er turned and left.

Gu Lin watched as the other person entered the cloth shop across the street, and a moment later, the other person came out with a young man who had a cool appearance and outstanding temperament.

They approached Gu Lin, and Yanli Ge'er stepped forward and said to Gu Lin, "This is our young master, surnamed Zhen. My name is Zhen Qingqing. What is your name, boss?"

"My name is Gu Lin."

Upon hearing this, Yanli Ge'er immediately turned around and smiled at his young master, saying, "Young master, you see, I was right. The owner of this restaurant is not only handsome, but also has a nice name."

Gu Lin was slightly surprised and looked at Zhen Qingqing, who was evaluating him in front of him.

Zhen Yun frowned, glanced at Zhen Qingqing in front of her, and gently scolded, "Qingqing, you mustn't be rude."

Zhen Qingqing stuck out her tongue slightly and turned to Gu Lin, saying, "Master Gu, I didn't mean to belittle or tease you. We saw you at the cloth shop when Haoyunlou opened earlier, and we were quite surprised to find that the restaurant owner was a young man. Then we saw that you were not only a young man, but also very beautiful, and we couldn't help but feel fond of you."

Seeing that Zhen Qingqing's words were becoming increasingly outrageous, Zhen Yunqing's cold expression revealed a hint of helplessness: "Qingqing."

After Zhen Qingqing finished speaking, she realized that what she said next was inappropriate, but the words had already been spoken and could not be taken back.

With an apologetic expression, Zhen Yun said to Gu Lin, "Master Gu, I am truly sorry. Qingqing has been spoiled by his family, and his temperament is inevitably a bit impulsive. Sometimes he speaks without thinking, but he has no bad intentions. I hope Master Gu will not take offense."

Seeing the aloof young man across from him apologize, Gu Lin felt a little embarrassed.

Gu Lin wasn't angry at Zhen Qingqing's words; he wasn't so clueless as to whether she was being sarcastic or genuinely praising him.

Gu Lin liked it when Zhen Qingqing praised herself. Of course, he would be even happier if she could replace "pretty" with "handsome".

Gu Lin said to Zhen Yun, "It's alright, I know Qingqing meant no harm."

Upon hearing this, Zhen Qingqing immediately breathed a sigh of relief. If the other party really cared, she would definitely be punished by the young master when she got back.

He didn't want to go a month without being able to eat pastries.

Seeing that Gu Lin was indeed sincere and had no grudges, Zhen Yun softened her cool expression and said, "Let's go inside. Don't stand here and interfere with Master Gu's business."

Gu Lin said, "Please."

After the three of them went inside, there were more and more guests in the lobby. Gu Lin beckoned to Lin Xiaoyao and said, "Take this young master Zhen upstairs to the quietest private room at the back."

Lin Xiaoyao nodded in agreement, and then Zhen Yun and Zhen Qingqing followed them up to the second floor.

On the way to the private room, Zhen Qingqing said with a hint of regret, "What a pity. I was planning to invite Boss Gu to eat with us. With Boss Gu's face in front of me, I could eat quite a lot of food."

Zhen Yun said, "I've never seen you eat less than usual."

Seeing her young master undermining her like this, Zhen Qingqing puffed out her cheeks and said, "Young master, do you think I've eaten too much?"

Zhen Yun wasn't fooled and said, "There were six plates of breakfast on the table this morning. I ate one piece from each plate. Who ate the rest?"

As soon as Zhen Yun finished speaking, Zhen Qingqing blushed: "Young Master!"

Although Zhen Yun's expression was aloof, a smile appeared in her eyes when she saw the young man beside her looking annoyed.

Unaware of the playful bickering between the master and servant, Gu Lin was busy behind the counter greeting customers. Fortunately, he had the foresight to buy more than a dozen people, otherwise dealing with this group of customers from the prefecture city would have been quite difficult.

Good Fortune Restaurant had only been open for a short time when Gu Lin began writing down numbers in the ledger. As he wrote and looked at the figures, Gu Lin couldn't help but marvel at the sheer number of wealthy people in the city.

If the gap between the rich and poor in a county town is huge, with the rich being extremely rich and the poor being extremely poor, and the middle group of people with some wealth being very few, then the prefectural town would be much more balanced.

Although there is a gap between the rich and the poor in the prefectural city, it is obvious to the naked eye that the people here live much better than the people in the county town.

The diners at Haoyunlou Restaurant weren't all young masters or noble ladies; they were all ordinary people who happened to be passing by and were drawn in.

Good Fortune Restaurant is not cheap. A meal here will cost at least five taels of silver, which is enough for a family of four in the prefecture for three months!

However, Gu Lin was not so naive as to assume that all the people in the prefecture could afford to go to a restaurant just because the hall was full.

Overall, the quality of life for the people in the prefectural city was indeed much better than that for the people in the county town; at least they could afford to go to a restaurant once or twice a year.

In addition, the number of people booking private rooms has also increased.

The Xingfu Building in the county town also has private rooms, but apart from holidays, very few people book them on weekdays.

The situation in Fucheng is different. Haoyunlou has a total of twenty private rooms, and five of them have already been booked shortly after it opened, which shows the spending power of the people in Fucheng.

Because Good Fortune Restaurant provides dedicated service, diners who book a private room will request a waiter to serve them.

Of course, Gu Lin had already stated that the waiters in the building would only serve male diners, and male diners could only order male waiters.

It's no wonder Gu Lin is cautious. Even in modern times, when doing business in the county town, some men who saw that he was a young man tried to take advantage of him, but Gu Lin always managed to thwart them.

If Gu Lin didn't make things clear beforehand, who would know if some diners came to eat or had ulterior motives?

Although diners could order waiters to serve them their meals, the number of waiters in the restaurant was limited. Gu Lin believed in first come, first served, so once all the waiters had been ordered, the remaining diners couldn't spend their money even if they had it.

Not only can diners in private rooms order waiters, but diners in the main dining area can also have waiters serve them.

However, since the waiter service in the main hall is free, and one person has to take care of guests at four or five tables, diners in the main hall cannot experience the same personalized service as those in private rooms. For example, the waiter will help them grill meat and add vegetables to the soup.

However, the diners in the main hall didn't mind. They felt that instead of wasting money on being served meals, they would rather use the money to order more dishes.

Moreover, the diners have never experienced grilling meat themselves. In other restaurants, the so-called grilling meat is simply the chefs grilling and cutting the meat before serving it to them.

Nothing beats the fun of grilling and cutting meat yourself, and the diners enjoyed grilling, cutting and eating the meat with great enthusiasm.