Gu Chaobei asked, "Buddy, does your restaurant offer home delivery for your dishes?"
"Yes, sir. Where would you like it delivered? What dishes would you like to order? Please let us know in advance, and we'll deliver them at the time you specify."
"Is there an extra charge?" Gu Chaobei wanted to get all the details.
"No extra charge. You're a regular customer, so why would we charge you more?"
The waiter was quite a shrewd businessman. He had never seen them before, yet he called them 'regular customers.'
First impressions, getting acquainted, and about to place an order, they were already considered regulars – no problem there.
Gu Chaobei nodded, paid the bill, and told the waiter that he would often order takeout and delivery from them in the future and would notify them in advance.
Their own residence hadn't been tidied up yet, and it would be inconvenient to have the restaurant deliver to the inn. They would have to wait until the residence was ready before ordering large-scale delivery from the restaurant.
The three of them enjoyed a hearty meal of meat and fish. When they settled the bill, it was only 580 copper coins.
Converted to modern currency, it was less than 200 yuan, which was truly cheap.
In modern times, you could only dream of ordering such good food for 200 yuan! It was all in dreams!
Most importantly, they had obtained this money effortlessly and spent it without any psychological burden. Eating it was like making a profit.
Gu Chaobei put the remaining string of copper coins into his sleeve and, with a touch of ostentation, said:
"Everything is good, it's just that these small change coins are too heavy. Walking around the streets with them feels like an arm workout."
He said this, but he hoped to train his arm strength like this every day!
Gu Qingcheng and her mother laughed heartily!
Dad is so funny!
With this laughter, Gu Qingcheng received another 3 "satisfaction points" from the system, sourced from: satisfaction from harmonious and loving family relationships!
Upon leaving Xinghua Restaurant, they found similar restaurants lining the street. This was likely a restaurant street. Gu Chaobei, with his newfound experience, inquired at several restaurants with many customers and found that they all offered takeout and delivery.
The three of them were secretly delighted and planned to have restaurants deliver food to their home every day once their residence was ready.
Having just one restaurant deliver food daily would be too conspicuous. They had to rotate between different restaurants each day.
As they strolled along the street, Gu Qingcheng spotted a dark-looking shop with a pile of coal briquettes displayed at the entrance. A sign hung there, reading: Coal Briquettes for Sale.
Huh? So people here already knew how to burn honeycomb briquettes?
Gu Qingcheng, having studied history, knew that in ancient times, coal was typically processed into charcoal and then used in households as an energy source for heating.
The process of mining and burning charcoal was costly. Therefore, in ancient times, only wealthy families or official households could afford to use coal.
Even in the Qing Dynasty, coal, then called "carbon tribute," was often among the items presented by lower-ranking officials to their superiors.
She hadn't expected that the common people of the Great Zhou Dynasty already knew how to use coal directly for heating!
This was a great boon to her!
Gu Qingcheng stopped and went inside to ask the shop owner how much the coal briquettes cost.
The shop owner was a man in his early thirties. His hands and face were smudged black from the coal business, with only his teeth and eyes shining brightly.
"Do you want to buy coal powder or honeycomb briquettes? For coal powder, it's 500 copper coins per jun. For honeycomb briquettes, the price is calculated based on the equivalent weight of coal powder. It's about 180 cakes for 500 copper coins. Because honeycomb briquettes also require yellow soil, the price is slightly reduced."
Gu Qingcheng quickly calculated:
One jun is equivalent to thirty catties. Thirty catties of coal cost 500 copper coins, so one catty of coal costs about 18 copper coins. Converted to modern currency, one catty of coal costs about three yuan.
In modern society, under normal circumstances, coal costs around 4 mao per catty, with a maximum of about 1 yuan. Compared to current prices, coal was very expensive at this time, and ordinary people would definitely not be able to afford it. Those who came to buy coal to burn must have been officials or nobles.
No wonder the shop owner hesitated when she asked for the price, perhaps thinking that the Gu family, dressed in rough cotton clothes, couldn't afford coal.
However, this price was not expensive for Gu Qingcheng, mainly because she had an inexhaustible supply of "satisfaction points" to exchange for silver ingots.
"I'd like to order one hundred jun of coal powder and one thousand eight hundred cakes of honeycomb briquettes. Can you deliver?"
"Ah? One hundred jun? Do you really want that much?" The shop owner was stunned.
One hundred jun is equivalent to 3,000 catties, worth 50 taels of silver. 1,800 cakes of honeycomb briquettes would also cost 5 taels of silver, totaling 55 taels of silver. It seemed that the Gu family didn't appear to be able to afford this sum.
"My residence is at Ya Mountain. Can you deliver? If so, please deliver it in a few days."
Hearing her firm tone, the shop owner asked why she needed to buy so much coal at once.
Gu Qingcheng said that Ya Mountain was quite cold and burning coal made it convenient to keep warm.
The shop owner listened and kindly said:
"Then you must pay attention to ventilation. Otherwise, burning coal will produce a thin, toxic gas. If the room is too tightly sealed, it can be deadly."
Gu Qingcheng found the owner to be quite kind and expressed her gratitude, developing a good impression of him.
The family stood in the shop for quite a while, and Gu Qingcheng didn't feel cold. At first, she thought it was because the room was sheltered from the wind. Later, she realized something was wrong. It was so warm that she felt like she couldn't wear her down jacket anymore. This was definitely not the normal temperature for this time.
Gu Qingcheng then asked the shop owner why his home was so warm.
The shop owner smiled and said that they had moved from the north. The weather had suddenly turned cold recently, and they had elderly people at home. Fearing that the elders couldn't withstand the cold, they had installed underfloor heating and used coal to heat it, so the temperature was much higher than outside the shop.
Gu Qingcheng thought this was a good idea and discussed with Gu Chaobei whether they should also have a bedroom with underfloor heating in their residence.
Gu Chaobei and his wife naturally had no reason to object.
Therefore, Gu Qingcheng asked the shop owner if he could help install underfloor heating. She promised to order all the coal for their underfloor heating from him in the future.
When the shop owner heard about the potential profit, he was naturally happy to oblige.
After getting the address, he said he would bring his helpers to do the work tomorrow but estimated it would take a few days.
Upon hearing that it was their old residence at Ya Mountain, the shop owner knew it. He remarked that the residence had been abandoned for a long time and was surprised it could still be sold.
He also kindly advised Gu Chaobei to be thorough in cleaning the old house, not just superficial weeding and plastering.
Since it had been uninhabited for too long, the sewage pipes were likely clogged and needed to be cleared. The dead branches and weeds on the roof eaves also needed to be removed. Otherwise, if it snowed heavily, it could damage the roof tiles, and it would be troublesome to find someone to handle it in the middle of winter.
The Gu couple suddenly realized that the repairs would likely incur significant costs, no wonder Sun Sanniang seemed so eager to sell.
If it weren't for the shop owner's advice, they wouldn't have known about so many trivial matters to deal with.
Gu Chaobei then engaged in pleasantries and sought advice from the owner, establishing a good relationship. He then asked the owner to call a few more experienced people to help him with the residence tomorrow.
The shop owner introduced himself as Zhang. He came from the north at the age of eighteen to start his business. He later married and had children, settling down here, which is why he understood the northern methods of keeping warm.
Shopkeeper Zhang also lamented that in recent years, other businesses were becoming increasingly difficult, with only the coal business doing well.