Yun Ruoxia immediately stopped herself from telling him about the mushrooms. "Manager, I'm just a mushroom seller. How would I know anything about the business of a restaurant?"

Seeing that his persuasion was ineffective, Manager Zhou simply said, "I won't hide it from you, young lady. Our restaurant needs a lot of goods, and the suppliers to our restaurant will offer prices lower than the market price. In the past few days, quite a few mushroom sellers have come to us. Their mushrooms are not bad either, and they only sell for two coins per ounce."

Yun Ruoxia chuckled inwardly. They weren't any major mushroom producers. If he wanted more, they might not even be able to grow enough. This kind of thing is valued for its rarity, and it's all about the price. If she had to compete with others by selling at a low price, she'd rather not sell at all.

"Since Manager Zhou has said so, let's cooperate again when there's an opportunity in the future."

Manager Zhou didn't expect her to refuse so decisively, but he couldn't bring himself to stop them. So he just waited, not believing they wouldn't come back.

Yun Ruoxia certainly didn't want to go back. She drove the donkey cart to the roadside, bought a scale, and started selling immediately.

"Don't miss out! Come and take a look! The same black mushrooms as those at Shengfu Restaurant, only five coins per tael, just five coins per tael!"

Yunling quickly smeared mud on her face and hands, pretending to look pitiful as she stood next to Yun Ruoxia. Soon, a crowd gathered in front of their car.

"Is this really the same dish as the one served at Shengfu Restaurant?"

"Auntie, our business is all about honesty. Look at these mushrooms, aren't they better than any you've ever seen? They're so tender."

Yunling ran her fingers around the basket, and the small black mushrooms looked even more tempting, causing everyone to scramble for them, but some were still hesitant.

"Could you make it cheaper? Four coins, I'll buy it for four coins a tael."

While weighing the mushrooms, Yun Ruoxia replied, "Auntie, we're just earning a meager living. My mother gave birth to five girls, and you can see my little sister hasn't had enough to eat for days. If we weren't forced by circumstances, we wouldn't be out here."

"Alright, alright, give me three taels, no, five taels."

"Okay."

Thanks to the brand effect previously established by Shengfu Restaurant, the black mushrooms sold out quickly. However, the flower mushrooms were not so easy to sell. They were priced at ten coins per ounce on the market, but Yun Ruoxia wanted to sell them for twelve coins. Just saying that these mushrooms were very good and plump was not enough to convince most people to buy them.

Yun Ruoxia then drove the donkey cart to the north of the city, where wealthy families lived. The people there were knowledgeable and would surely be able to distinguish the quality of the mushrooms. Sure enough, after only a couple of calls, the mushrooms were bought by two families. Seeing how quickly they bought them, Yun Ruoxia immediately felt that she had sold them too cheaply.

All of this was witnessed by Manager Zhou, who was following behind them. He had been trying to persuade Yun Ruoxia in the restaurant when he suddenly heard someone outside selling black mushrooms under their restaurant's name. He ran out to see what was going on and was shocked to find Yun Ruoxia and Yun Ling selling them. He was both angry and ashamed. Then he saw them selling flower mushrooms...

Those shiitake mushrooms were truly excellent; their caps were thick and they were larger than those sold in the market. I suppose they were intended for him, but unfortunately, he lowered the price first, and I missed such a good opportunity.

Later, they came to this wealthy area and sold out in no time. The people here were all businesses he wanted to develop long-term, and he really regretted it.

Manager Zhou calmed himself down. He figured Yun Ruoxia and the others would definitely come back to the city, so he sent people to keep an eye out. Sure enough, two days later, he saw them again.

"Young lady, are you in town selling mushrooms again?"

Yun Ling didn't know what Yun Ruoxia was thinking, but she felt that Manager Zhou's smile was a bit scary, like the wolf in sheep's clothing trying to lure Little Red Riding Hood away.

"Manager Zhou, where are you going?"

"Oh, to be honest, I, Zhou, would like to have a talk with the young lady."

Yun Ruoxia didn't waste any time and drove the donkey cart directly to his restaurant.

"I apologize for my inappropriate words earlier, young lady. I wonder if our cooperation can continue? Rest assured, the black mushrooms will still be five coins per tael, and the flower mushrooms will be twelve coins per tael. What do you think?"

Yun Ruoxia knew that in business, having more friends was always better than having more enemies. Since the other party had apologized to her and was also her elder, she had no reason to put on airs, so she agreed.

Seeing that she didn't hold a grudge, Manager Zhou smiled broadly, his crow's feet crinkling at the corners of his eyes. He even brought out four large hairy crabs as a gift.

As the saying goes, when the autumn wind blows, it's the perfect time to eat crabs. Yunling and the others brought four large hairy crabs back to the village. Just as they were wondering how to divide them, Yun Shenghua's employer sent someone to deliver six more hairy crabs. Together, they could each have a share, with two extra.

First, Zhang boiled water in a pot, added ginger slices, scallion segments, and wine. Then, she washed the hairy crabs, tied them with straw rope, and placed them in the pot with their bellies facing up. She added ginger slices to remove the fishy smell and dispel the cold, then covered the pot and waited for the delicious meal.

Taking this opportunity, Zhang cleaned the rice paddy fish, pan-fried it until golden brown on both sides, added water to make soup, and then added a few pieces of tofu.

Fifteen minutes later, bright red hairy crabs and milky white, fragrant rice flower fish and tofu soup were served. Zhang also brought a basin of water with two chrysanthemums floating in it, saying it was for washing hands after eating the crabs.

After finishing a bowl of rice paddy fish and tofu soup, Yunling couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. It was so delicious, and the rice paddy fish even had the aroma of rice flowers, which made her like it even more.

For Yunling, aside from the wild crabs she ate last time, this was the first time she had ever properly eaten crabs. She picked them up like her older sister Yunchu, but felt quite awkward.

Zhang smiled and took the crab from her hand, demonstrating how to dismantle it, how to remove the inedible parts such as the crab lungs, gills, and heart, and then breaking it in half.

Looking at the flowing yellow crab roe, Yunling swallowed hard. She took a bite and found it very fresh and sweet. The crab roe was a little sticky but not greasy at all. Yunling couldn't help but slurp it up, and the fresh and fragrant crab juice burst in her mouth instantly.

"Delicious!" Yunling couldn't help but say.

Grandma Yun immediately grabbed one and placed it in front of her, saying, "If you like it, have another one."

“My sister and I will each have half.”

Yun Chu immediately became happy and agreed, taking the initiative to peel the crab. The other crab was naturally shared equally by Yun Ruochun and Yun Ruoxia.

**

Having reconciled with Manager Zhou, Yunling and Yun Ruoxia delivered goods as usual. However, when they came out of the restaurant that day, their donkey cart was gone.

Yun Ruoxia panicked. She anxiously asked Manager Zhou to help send people to search for it, and she also inquired about the location of the county government office so she could report it to the authorities. That was her plan, but the donkey cart had nothing special about it and no unique markings, so finding it would be no easy task.

Yun Ruoxia was so anxious that she almost got blisters on her lips, but Yun Ling remained calm because her superpower had already helped her find the donkey cart. Without saying a word, she led Yun Ruoxia away.

The two men navigated around two narrow alleys and found the donkey cart in the middle of one alley, but there was also a group of roguish, dissolute men.