Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 41 This place is interesting.

Speaking of which, didn't Old Guo enter the post station? Originally, this post station did serve as an inn, but it was impossible to expect a good environment. All the way here, a post station as big as Hongdu Prefecture could only provide a bowl of noodles and shelter from the wind and rain.

But it was different here, there was a stage in the middle, with several girls playing instruments and singing, and tables were placed next to it for people to eat and drink. Other restaurants had something called a menu board, which was hung in the lobby for people to order food, but here was a menu, a carved wooden board with the names of the dishes on it. The guests told the waiter what they wanted, one order per table.

The rich variety of dishes here actually surprised Lao Guo. He was curious about how this tiny place could achieve such a level of variety, so he looked up and asked the waiter, "Do you really have all the dishes on the menu?"

"Yes, yes, we have everything from all over the world. The Tang family caravan travels all over the country and can bring things from all over the place. The price is just a little higher, after all, the cost of buying them in the store is there. But if you want to eat the local dishes, you can, the price is much lower."

The waiter patiently explained to Lao Guo, which also made Lao Guo very curious, that is, all the waiters here seemed to be very polite. What kind of experience did Lao Guo have? He was from a wealthy family, and he had been in the army in his early years and had traveled all over the country. He knew very well how bad these waiters were and how they looked down on others. If he was dressed in fine clothes, these people would naturally welcome him with a smile, but if they saw him in rags and dusty clothes, they would not be very happy.

But it's different here. No matter it's a caravan or a few individual travelers, or even a traveler who looks down and out, the waiters here are as enthusiastic as if they were meeting their own father, which makes people curious.

"Boy, let me ask you, why are all the waiters here so polite?"

The waiter laughed and pointed to a wooden sign on the wall. Lao Guo walked up to take a look. It turned out to be the employee code of conduct, which listed eight do's and eight don'ts. There was also a notice to guests at the bottom. There were two interesting words mentioned in it: smiling service and mutual respect.

"You all know how to read?" Old Guo came back and sat down again: "That's impressive."

"We are students in the county. The township head said that we can read books for free, but we still have to work. He also said that the only way out for people like us is to study and go out."

"Reading?" Old Guo felt nervous when he heard this: "Who is teaching?"

"We have shifts. We work in the morning on seven days and in the afternoon on seven days. We work in the evening for the morning shift and in the morning for the afternoon shift. This is the way it is every day. The professors are hired from outside. Occasionally, the township governor will come to teach us. Don't underestimate his young age. He is a first-class talent."

Oh my god, what on earth did this kid do here? No wonder these waiters look young but well-educated. It turns out that they have been to school. This is different. It even makes this place more upscale.

This Xinping Township is interesting, very interesting. It has only been two years, if it is longer, who knows how much it will grow.

Soon the dishes came up. As soon as they came up, Lao Guo smelled the familiar flavor of his hometown, which made him salivate. He even forgot to care about the wine and started to simmer the rice.

The journey was indeed tiring. Although Lao Guo was born into a family of Confucian scholars, he was old and he was a grandfather after all. After the meal, he had almost finished the strong liquor. Lao Guo felt dizzy and hot, so he thought about taking a nap and going into the village tomorrow.

But when he called the waiter to pay the bill, the waiter smiled mysteriously at him and said, "Since you have come from afar, why don't you spend a little more money to enjoy yourself? It doesn't cost much, but you can buy some happiness."

Old Guo became curious. With a little drunkenness, he smiled and asked, "How do you enjoy it?"

"There is a kiln behind us that burns porcelain, and the fire is burning every day. The township chief felt that the fire was wasted, so he built a pool and used the kiln fire to boil water, which was continuously poured into the pool. Therefore, even in the coldest days of winter, the pool is warm and pleasant. And that's not all. If this guest is willing to spend eight cents of silver, he can find someone to massage your feet. If it's one or eight cents, someone can pour wine and tea for you and massage your shoulders and neck. If it's two or eight cents..."

"Alright, alright, what's your highest? I'm just going to enjoy myself today."

Seeing that this was an important customer, the waiter smiled even more broadly: "It's a good deal, eight taels and eight cents."

"Oh, it's not cheap."

But eight taels and eight cents was really not a lot of money for Lao Guo. Not only did he wash the water himself, he also asked each of the guards who accompanied him to wash it with one tael and eight cents. And his eight taels and eight cents was for one person per pool, a supreme enjoyment.

When he entered, he first cleaned the dirt on his body outside, and then was guided to the swimming pool. As soon as he got into the water, the heat made his limbs stretch out, and the fatigue from the journey was swept away. When he lay down, Lao Guo, who had eaten and used a lot, couldn't help but groan.

The heat wave, coupled with the alcohol and fatigue, he actually fell asleep in a daze. But after just over half an hour, he was awakened by the staff here. The staff squatted beside Lao Guo and whispered: "Guest, you can't soak in the water anymore. If you soak in the water anymore, you will faint. You still have projects to do later." Lao Guo nodded, reluctantly got up and changed into the linen gown prepared for guests here. He was led to another room. There was a reclining chair in this room, and some wine, tea and snacks were placed on the small table next to it. After Lao Guo lay down, the staff clapped their hands, and then a row of young girls walked in from outside.

"May the Master be blessed with good health and happiness."

The girls' unanimous greetings made Lao Guo very happy. He asked curiously, "What is this?"

"Oh, sir, this is how it is. You can choose three items from this set meal. One will help you massage your feet to relieve your fatigue from the journey, one will help you massage your arms to relieve your elbows and shoulders, and one will help you pour wine and tea and gently massage the acupuncture points on your head and neck."

"Three." Lao Guo nodded: "Then let's keep number 3, number 7, and number 11."

At first, Lao Guo actually thought it was just a brothel. He was a frequent visitor when he was young, but he stopped going there as he was too old. But who knew that these girls would use completely different attitudes once they got started. The three of them touched Lao Guo's old bones, which were almost falling apart after traveling all the way here, and they made them crackle. He felt so comfortable that he kept moaning.

When he took a short break, the hot wine was brought to his lips. After he took a sip, he was turned over like a roasted meat. Then the slim girl began to massage Lao Guo's waist and back, which had been caused by long periods of sitting at the desk.

When he touched the spots that would feel sore and painful everyday, Lao Guo would howl if he exerted a little force, but after a while he felt extremely comfortable. At this moment, there were no government affairs or people's livelihood in his mind. All he had was one sentence: "I've fought in wars all my life, so what's wrong with enjoying myself?"

After pressing the button for a while, a man and a woman came in. They started singing a gentle southern tune. Lao Guo couldn't understand it, but the soft Wu dialect sounded pleasant to him.

"All my work has been in vain. My whole life has been in vain." Old Guo muttered to himself, "Even the emperor can't enjoy this kind of pleasure..."

If someone else said this, they would definitely be ridiculed, but Lao Guo really didn't enjoy it that way. After all, he and the emperor grew up together, naked, so how could he not know what the fourth brother's day was?
During the intermission, the three girls sat by and wiped their sweat with towels. Lao Guo sat there relaxedly sipping tea and eating snacks. He asked curiously, "What did you do before?"

The three girls looked at each other, and then one of them said sheepishly, "We used to be in those red-light districts... Later, Miss Tang spent some money to redeem us and asked us to come here to work. After paying off the debt, we were free."

"Have you paid it off yet?"

"It will be paid off in four months." The youngest of the three said, "Now we all earn our own money, which is much better than working in a brothel. Although it is more tiring, we don't have to work like pigs and dogs for others."

Hearing this, Lao Guo also laughed: "It seems that you like it very much."

"Whether you like it or not, it's better than the days in the brothel. It was really dark and gloomy. I'm scared now when I think about it. I'm afraid this is a dream. One day I'll open my eyes and find myself back in the brothel." The older girl sighed and said, "Sir, if you have a good rest, we still have half an hour."

"Okay, okay." Lao Guo nodded: "What if I want to add some time?"

"Then I will help you call the person in front, and you can just give him the silver."

Lao Guo later added three hours...

This is no joke. This place is ten miles away from Xinping Township, and Lao Guo and his party have already spent more than one hundred taels of silver. They haven't even finished experiencing the service yet. I heard that a troupe will be coming here to perform tomorrow morning.

The next day, Lao Guo watched the performance, and then people told him that he could go fishing in the nearby fish pond during the day, and there was a vegetable garden for picking. He could bring the fish and vegetables to the post station and have the chefs there process them for free.

They played for a whole day and it was almost evening. Lao Guo had eaten and drunk his fill and thought that since it was already evening, he might as well have a foot massage... They said that they would celebrate Laba Festival the next day and there would be various acrobatic performances during the day and free Laba porridge in the evening.

Just a post station, but he controlled a frontier official for three whole days... three whole days! Spending a few hundred taels of silver was a small matter. If it was during the march and the war, Lao Guo would not have enough heads to chop off.

(End of this chapter)