After Zhong Gang and Li Fang's plan to set the children up failed spectacularly and Li Fang finally managed to lure Guanyu back to her room, Zhong Gang led Mister Zhong and his family to the teahouse.
Getting these children to like each other was just a matter of time in his opinion, so he wouldn't worry too much. But the teahouse was something, that couldn't wait. The sooner it could open, the better. And everything had been ready for quite some time. He had only waited for his cousin Zhong Lei to arrive. If everything went well, they could even open it tomorrow.
The teahouse was two streets further down the main street and did not seem as well off as the restaurant. It had two floors, too, but from the tiles on the roof to the plaque above the door to the width of the entrance it seemed more humble.
Mister Zhong sighed in relief, when they stepped in. The furniture, too, was less pompous. It still had an elegant feel about it, that let him think of himself as lacking, but at least this was a type of calm and quiet elegance, that had nothing to do with throwing money around. The people who came to such an establishment, should be people with a good character, who wouldn't make things difficult for someone like him.
He was really lucky, that his cousin had thought of opening such a place. If this had been another restaurant like the first one, this might have ended badly. But seeing this teahouse, Mister Zhong stopped worrying. He certainly wouldn't disappoint his cousin.
"What do you say?" Zhong Gang waved at the interior and smiled broadly. He was proud of this new establishment of his. In fact, it made him even prouder than his restaurant. Everybody could make a place the rich loved if he just had enough money and was willing to throw it around. But creating a tasteful place like this was hard work. If he was able to grab the attention of those famous scholars and make them his frequent customers, he would be smiling even in his sleep!
"It's great! When can I start working?"
Zhong Gang laughed and put his arm around Mister Zhong's shoulders. "Everything is ready. If you want to you can start right tomorrow morning!"
Mister Zhong nodded. "Sounds good! Then I'll do that."
"You don't have to force yourself, though. You just arrived the day before yesterday. Don't you want to take a rest first?"
Mister Zhong shook his head. "Such things are better done immediately. I wouldn't want you to miss any opportunities just because I didn't get to work soon enough."
"That certainly wouldn't happen."
"It's alright." Mister Zhong smiled, wriggled out of his cousin's grip and made a round through the teahouse.
The lower floor consisted of just one big room for the customers and a row of smaller chambers for storing the materials and preparing the tea. There wasn't much to see. Though nearly the whole floor was dedicated to the customers, there weren't many tables. Instead, just a dozen were spread through the room, with enough space between them to allow for some privacy. If the teahouse really attracted scholars, like Zhong Gang imagined, they would be able to freely talk at their table without being bothered by the other guests.
Mister Zhong made his way to the upper floor, looking around with wide eyes. While the lower floor already seemed like an elegant place, that only noble people would frequent, the upper floor gave that impression even more so. Zhong Gang had separated it into several rooms, that overlooked the streets.
Yes, the teahouse was situated at the corner of the main road and one of the quieter side streets. Like this, not only was there a constant stream of people passing by on the main street guaranteed, the customers would still be able to enjoy peace and quiet. It really was a good place for a teahouse such as this.
Each of these small rooms facing the street were decorated differently, based on famous paintings or poems, lending them a sophisticated air and giving the customers renting them a subject for a first conversation. If the scholars didn't like this, what would they like?
Besides these rooms, there was another, larger one in the back part of the building, that could be used for gatherings. Was there a joyous occasion to celebrate, a contract to discuss or a thank you needed to be expressed for good friends? All of that could be done there and since this was the only room in the teahouse for something like that, Zhong Gang was sure it would give people the urge to rent it. After all, getting what was scarce always held a special sense of accomplishment, no? Even those gifted scholars would like to brag once in a while.
Zhong Gang had really thought of everything. It was nigh impossible for anything to go wrong.
Or so he thought.