"Young lady, would you like to take a couple of primers back with you? We have the Hundred Family Surnames and the Thousand Character Classic."

The shopkeeper is very good at business; everything he said was exactly what Su Luo needed.

"want!"

Each book cost three taels of silver. Su Luo bought two copies of the Hundred Family Surnames and two copies of the Thousand Character Classic. Since there were two children in the family, she always bought two of everything.

Yi Huan is a girl, and the school here doesn't accept girls, but Su Luo would never let her child be illiterate. Her worst-case scenario is that she will teach Yi Huan to read herself.

The trip cost Su Luo over forty taels of silver, leaving her with only a little over sixty taels of silver in her entire fortune.

Go buy two more bags of pastries to take home.

It was almost noon when Su Luo headed towards Fu Man Lou.

Today's Fumanlou was very different from when Su Luo first came in. The first floor was packed with people, and there was even a queue at the door. Su Luo asked a servant-looking person.

"Brother, what are you all queuing up at Fu Man Lou to buy?"

The servant looked at Su Luo and didn't seem to have any money. She was probably just a servant in someone's household, like him.

“We all come here to buy braised pig's trotters. Fu Man Lou’s new braised pig's trotters are top-notch. My husband tried them once and couldn’t get enough of them. He asks me to come and buy them every day. However, the selection is limited, and sometimes we can’t find them.”

"Oh, I see!"

Su Luo knew that her braising sauce made delicious braised pig's trotters, but she didn't expect it to be so popular.

Upon entering Fumanlou, the manager at the counter had changed, and the menu now listed braised pig's trotters at ten taels each and boneless chicken feet at five taels per serving.

The people who come here to eat are either rich or noble. Judging from their clothes, they are either landlords or merchants. There are also many people with different accents, who must have come from other places specifically to eat at Fumanlou.

"Hello, I'm looking for your boss," Su Luo said, standing in front of the shopkeeper.

The new shopkeeper glanced at Su Luo: "Are you... Madam Su?"

The manager still needs to find out the details first. The previous manager was replaced because he offended a woman surnamed Su. The salary for becoming the manager of Fumanlou is the highest in the entire Yongle County. He can't afford to lose this job.

"Yes! That's me!"

"Oh, it's Madam Su. I'll have the waiter take you to our boss."

After arriving at the third floor of Fu Man Lou with the waiter, Su Luo knocked on the door of the largest room. Ah Xu's voice came from inside: "What is it?"

Su Luo said, "It's me!"

Ah Xu came over and opened the door for Su Luo: "Madam Su, what brings you here?"

"I've come to see Nangong Qing about something."

When Su Luo entered the room, Nangong Qing stood up from his desk, still holding his ever-present fan.

"What brings you here, Madam Su? What business do you have with me?"

Su Luo's eyes drifted to the desk. The book that Nangong Qing had been flipping through earlier was filled with what appeared to be all people's names, with their ages marked after each name.

Su Luo couldn't see clearly, but they all seemed to be one year old, three months old, or five months old, so they should all be newborns.

Su Luo put down her basket, and after A Xu poured her a cup of tea, he said, "I originally came to see you for one thing, but now I have two."

Nangong Qing flicked his sleeves, his handsome face beaming as he sat down opposite Su Luo with a gentle smile, saying, "Is Madam Su always so casual in her actions? Tell me, what do you want me to do?"

After tasting Nangong Qing's tea, I realized it was the honeysuckle I had given him after dinner that day.

"The first thing I want to do is work with you."

Nangong Qing: "Aren't we in a cooperative relationship now?"

Su Luo shook her head: "No, I want to become a real partner with you."

"What's the meaning?"

Nangong Qing has seen countless people, yet he still cannot see Su Luo clearly. Perhaps the scene of Su Luo killing someone is too profound for him.

"I want to invest in Fumanlou."

Standing behind Nangong Qing, Ah Xu was a little unhappy when he heard this. He had a stake in Fumanlou, a restaurant he and the young master had opened together. They had just broken even, and Su Luo wanted to get a share of the profits.

"Madam Su, investing in Fu Man Lou isn't so easy. How much silver do you want to invest?"

Su Luo: "I have no money!"

"You want to invest without any money? Madam Su, are you playing with my young master?"

Before Nangong Qing could say anything, A Xu disagreed.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but please let me finish."

Nangong Qing and A Xu both stared at Su Luo, wondering what she was thinking, wanting to get their Fu Man Lou's money for free.

"I want to invest in Fumanlou, and of course I won't do it empty-handed. I'll use my recipes as investment, provided that I have at least one hundred dishes."

You two are both aware of my culinary skills, and with the explosive popularity of braised pig's trotters, Fu Man Lou has certainly tasted success. So, do you think I'm qualified to invest in Fu Man Lou?

Braised pig's trotters do bring a lot of profit to Fumanlou, but the quantity of pig's trotters is limited. Not to mention that Su Luo only provides Fumanlou with one hundred packets of braising spices a month.

Even the pig's trotters were a headache for Nangong Qing. No matter how good the restaurant business was, it could only consume one pig a day, and one pig only had four trotters. He and Axu had to find a way to bring back pig's trotters from outside to braise.

Because of the booming business, they bought up all the pig trotters in Yongle County, but that was still not enough. They even bought pig trotters from several nearby states to barely make enough for Fumanlou to sell.

“Miss Su, I can buy your recipes from you, but you don’t need to invest in Fu Man Lou, do you?” Nangong Qing’s eyes held a hint of cunning.

“Buying and selling is a matter of mutual consent. You are willing to buy from us, but I am not willing to sell. If you are not willing to let me join, then forget it.”

Su Luo wasn't worried at all. She wasn't the one who should be worried; she wanted to see how long Nangong Qing could stay in that position.

Ah Xu was never cut out for business. When Su Luo said forget it, he assumed she had given up. In his eyes, what impressed him most about Su Luo was her cooking skills. But he could buy Su Luo's recipes so he wouldn't have to worry about not being able to eat good food in the future.

Nangong Qing remained silent, and Su Luo also didn't speak, with an indifferent expression, which made him even more restless.

"Miss Su, I feel like you still have something to say."

Su Luo took a sip of tea and said, "I've finished speaking, but I'm thinking about the next partner. Chunhelou on South Street is quite big. Since I can't cooperate with Fumanlou, I can talk to them. A lot of their customers have been poached by Fumanlou recently, right? If they cooperate with me, with my recipes, it shouldn't be difficult to get their customers back."

Ah Xu frowned and said anxiously, "Su Luo, how could you do this? They are our competitors, Fu Man Lou. You can't help them."

Nangong Qing knew that Su Luo had a backup plan. If he did not agree to let her invest in Fumanlou, he believed that Su Luo was capable of doing such a thing.