Stay Home Daddy: I Was Reborn After My Daughter Passed Away
Chapter 395 Xunxian Brew_1

Chapter 395: 395 Xunxian Brew_1

"The store’s new Royal Imperial Wine, Xunxian Brew, an antique recipe reborn into the world, fifty-one bowls’ worth, hurry if you want a taste~"

Gu Chen stood next to the large jar and called out to the people in front of him with a long shout.

Then, with a smack, he broke the clay seal on the top of the wine jar and a strong, crisp scent of wine wafted out.

Almost instantly, it spread rapidly with the breeze at the door.

The crowd on the scene burst into a clamor after hearing Gu Chen’s shout, unable to refrain from discussing among themselves.

If the five-yuan steamed buns had refreshed their understanding of pricing,

then the thought of paying fifty yuan for a small bowl of wine

made them so indignant they wanted to hang the con artist Gu Chen from the streetlights.

But considering he was an Imperial Chef, they thought maybe they should add a touch of humanity.

For example, allowing him to choose his own favorite streetlight...

Gu Chen, in the face of the noisy crowd below, maintained a smiling expression.

He revealed utter calm and even directly stated,

"Our Great Ming Emperor, after finishing his carpentry work, enjoyed nothing more than a bite of our family’s buns.

And after praying to the Immortals and burning blue-green verses,

his favorite was our very own Xunxian Brew, and even this name,

was personally bestowed by our Great Ming, ’Heaven’s great Luo Celestial Immortals, Purple Ultimate Eternal and Wise Sages.

Manifesting the spiritual, governing the elemental, the grand master of Jade Void, Master of Five Thunders, Emperor of Longevity from Xuandu Domain.

My Emperor Jiajing himself ennobled it.’

Today, I charge you fifty-one yuan a bowl,

simply because I can’t bear to see the once revered Imperial beverage gather dust.

So, I begrudgingly made this decision that goes against the wishes of my ancestors.

You all curse me as a swindler; do you not realize how much my conscience aches right now?"

Gu Chen came up with a stream of blarney, his tone and expression so vivid, as if he were moved to tears.

One hand on the wine jar and the other over his heart, he made a show of being the regretful scion, in agony beyond measure.

Of course, although his expression read pain, his heart was overjoyed.

After all, this was the first step in making a fortune, a case of ’pain tinged with pleasure’ perhaps.

Seeing him in such a state briefly rendered the crowd silent,

unable to continue their harsh censure of Gu Chen; even without drinking,

just standing there made them struggle not to salivate incessantly.

They soon agreed that the wine indeed smelled too good; just standing nearby

was enough to lure out the ’wine worm’ in their bellies, truly worthy of being the Great Ming’s royal wine from centuries ago.

In a word, it was damn authentic.

Authentic or not, Gu Chen couldn’t care less; his focus was on whether anyone was willing to pay up.

Once the act was over, there was no need to continue the nonsense.

His performance was merely to give the crowd a reason to willingly spend their money.

In these times, purchasing power didn’t match up to the future; many would make only fifty or sixty yuan in a day’s work.

And whether it was the city or the countryside,

most people still held on to the habit of frugality, unlike the chives of later times, tirelessly bombarded and brainwashed by countless merchants.

If I advertised this as our shop’s homemade rice wine for fifty-one yuan a bowl,

I’d be drowned in spit—no doubt about it.

But if you say this is an ancient recipe passed down for hundreds of years, a celestial wine graced by the Great Ming Emperor himself,

The pretentiousness of the situation naturally skyrocketed.

You didn’t need to worry whether others believed it or not; after all, everyone was just looking for a reason.

A reason that allowed them to willingly fork over money, and to feel that the drink was worth it.

Not only worth it for themselves, but also providing a sense of pride when mentioned to others.

As long as the wine was good enough, even if it wasn’t truly an immortal brew, it would eventually be touted as the real deal by everyone.

All his preparations were now in place, just waiting for the chives...

Oh no, I should say, waiting for the fish to bite.

The fragrance of the wine spread with the breeze, causing nearly everyone who caught a whiff of it on the scene.

To swallow hard, even Gu Chen the brewer could not avoid doing the same.

At this moment, the eyes of everyone on Pedestrian Street.

Involuntarily converged on the jar of wine; some even found it hard to move their legs.

Seeing this, Gu Chen smiled slightly, then clapped his hands, snapping everyone present out of their reverie.

Just then, the buns that had been placed in the steamer were finally ready.

Gu Chen lifted the lid of another steamer tray.

His Qiwei Vegetarian was finally ready to serve its customers in full form for the first time.

Now that he had the help of Cui Hua and Xiao Fang.

Gu Chen himself could finally relax a bit as the boss.

Under his arrangement, Cui Hua, being the more lively one.

Mainly handled bagging for customers outside the door and picked up buns, while also keeping an eye on the jar of wine.

Otherwise, if someone without money rushed in to drink it, Gu Chen would be in for a big loss.

The timid Xiao Fang was specifically tasked with collecting and giving back change.

Gu Chen wasn’t worried about her collecting too little.

Even if she made mistakes at the start, it wasn’t a big deal—they would improve with practice.

After all, the number of buns made each day was counted, down to forty trays, even down to the number of buns.

If there was any discrepancy, it would be obvious at a glance, and if it didn’t work out today, they would just continue tomorrow.

But the real reason was that Gu Chen, having brewed the Xunxian Brew,

No longer cared about the small change from selling buns.

He hadn’t stopped selling them simply because he wanted to stabilize the market for a few more days with this item.

If his wine sold well in the future, he would even consider giving up selling buns altogether.

The extortionate price of five yuan each was still too cheap for Gu Chen.

He thought earning a bit of hard money at the beginning was enough.

What he wanted was for Qiwei Vegetarian to become the number one restaurant renowned throughout Chuan City.

Unfortunately, although Gu Chen’s idea was plump, reality was always skinny.

He had thought customers would flock in quickly, but since he opened that morning,

He had been waiting for nearly two hours, even the buns he had wrapped the day before were almost sold out,

But still, not a single person was willing to pay for a bowl of the Xunxian Brew.

This made Gu Chen feel quite disheartened, for by all logic, it shouldn’t be like this.

He had tasted his own wine; it was definitely a top-quality drink that one would never forget in a lifetime.

At fifty-one a bowl, it was a real bargain, especially considering its taste.

His Xunxian Brew was many times stronger than the soy-flavor financial liquor from before his rebirth.

And just then, a man dressed in a high-end suit, with a stern face,

Walked straight in from outside, then looked up at Gu Chen who was sitting behind the counter and said,

"Boss, give me a bowl of your best wine."