After being persuaded by her smooth talk, Sili Ren's earlier doubts vanished in an instant. This woman, so knowledgeable about pastries from both the north and south, must be truly capable. Some of the pastries that Qin San Niang mentioned were completely unheard of to him! As a pastry seller, she's truly unqualified!

Thinking of this, Manager Si quickly stood up, cupped his hands in a very devout manner, and said, "Hearing your words is better than reading ten years of books. Young lady, you are very capable. I beg you to help save my pastry shop!"

To be honest, I started working as a shop assistant in a shop when I was a teenager, then became the manager, and later opened this shop with the family's permission. In the first few years when business was good, the monthly profit was decent, but since the war started three years ago, my business has been getting worse and worse.

I initially thought the war and displacement had led to widespread poverty, naturally resulting in fewer people buying pastries. While I felt sad, I wasn't exactly disappointed. But to my surprise, the pastry shop across the street was bustling with customers! I heard it was owned by a family from Jiangzhou, and its decor alone was far superior to ours. What's more, they were very affordable, with prices significantly lower than ours!

But the ingredients for these pastries are expensive, so there really isn't much of a discount on the price. I can't lower the price, and I can't just use inferior ingredients, can I?

For the past six months, I've been traveling everywhere, trying to find a good remedy, but... sigh..."

A waiter named Xiao Wu came over to serve tea. Hearing the shopkeeper sigh, he interjected, "The Chen family is trying to bankrupt you! They're waging a price war, otherwise how could their lard pastries be only one coin each?! The lard alone costs more than that!"

Xiao Wu muttered indignantly, "Isn't it all because he wants the shopkeeper's old house in the south of the city?! You treacherous villain! Shameless!"

The long spout in the waiter's hand moved rhythmically with his actions, and the water inside was steaming hot, probably still boiling!

Qin San Niang was very worried that he might get excited and throw the kettle at her, which could disfigure her!

Fortunately, Manager Si stopped Xiao Wu's impulsive behavior in time and quickly instructed him to do other work so that he wouldn't bother people here anymore!

Qin San Niang felt that Manager Si was a good boss, which could be seen from his attitude towards his employees. Although Xiao Wu had a bad temper, he was very protective of his boss in his words. Such a relationship showed that the boss was not bad! Since that was the case, she decided to do business with Manager Si.

"It's getting late, and we need to go home! How about I make some pastries when I get home and bring them over for you to take a look another day? Whether they're good or not, we'll decide then! Wouldn't it be better if we discussed whether we should work together then?"

Qin San Niang took another sip of tea. The tea tasted very strong at first, but after having another cup, the flavor improved.

Shopkeeper Si's eyes lit up with delight. Seeing the actual product, and especially tasting it, before deciding whether to mass-produce it would be the safest option. It seemed this woman also intended to do business properly; what did he have to worry about? He quickly agreed!

The group left Si's Cake Shop amidst the enthusiastic farewell from Manager Si and Xiao Wu's half-proud, half-expectant gaze.

Since she wanted to make pastries, she naturally needed to buy some sugar, oil, and dried fruit. These were available in the space supermarket, but Qin San Niang wanted to go to the general store to see if her pastries, made with her own ingredients, would be approved by Manager Si, but the ingredients were not available in this era. That would be awkward.

After buying their things, the group hurried and finally arrived at the south carriage shop an hour later. The shop assistant, Ah Jin, was already waiting outside. Upon seeing them, he quickly went to greet them.

"Madam, you've arrived? I've already brought over the grain and seeds. Where would you like to put them?"

After saying that, Qin San Niang looked at the cart behind A Jin, where several bags were neatly stacked, indicating that she had been waiting for a while.

"Thank you, young man, for keeping you waiting." As soon as Qin San Niang finished speaking, Fatty and her son drove the carriage to the front.

To the astonishment of the porter, Ah Jin, Fatty nimbly jumped off the carriage, then carried all the grain onto the carriage with a sack in each hand—she was incredibly strong! Truly, her plump figure was worthy of her weight!

Seeing Ah Jin looking at her, Fatty chuckled, jumped onto the carriage, and rode away.

The official road was smooth, and it didn't take long to reach Shiligou.

"Look, that's the family that just arrived. They say they have three horse-drawn carriages! My husband said they even have a scholar in their family!" Several women doing small business near the official road of Shiligou whispered among themselves.

During the winter off-season, the young women and wives of Shiligou would sell cakes, rice cakes, or fruits by the roadside. Some travelers would buy some, which would earn them some money to supplement their household income.

"So what if he's a scholar? A scholar can't just settle down in this poor mountain village, can he? He'd have to go to the prefectural capital!" The speaker was a woman with upturned eyebrows, her words dripping with the smugness of someone who'd just eaten sour taro. She figured that even if he was a scholar, he was probably a down-on-his-luck guy with no real education! Only the village head and a few elders were so naive and treated him like a treasure!

"Hey, Liu Meixiang, are you jealous again? My grandfather said that he is a genuine scholar, and he came to the village in three horse-drawn carriages! Even the simple gift he gave as a thank you was steamed buns and meat! What's more, he wants to open a private school in our village! If you don't believe me, don't let your Er Gouzi go!" Er Gouzi was Liu's lifeblood and her precious treasure, so she didn't believe that Liu wasn't anxious.

Sure enough, upon hearing that the man was going to open a private school, Liu quickly changed her tune, "He Xing, don't spread rumors! I didn't say anything bad about that scholar! I was just a little surprised!"

Liu Meixiang spat out the pumpkin seed shells in her mouth and yelled at the woman who had just spoken, "Don't think I don't know! Your grandfather just got a little something for leading people around! Is it really necessary to be so eager? Does he even know who you are? With your son Da Xiong like that, it's questionable whether he can even go to school!"

The woman named He Xing was also a shrew. Before Liu Meixiang could finish speaking, she slapped her hard across the face with a powerful thud. "I'll smash your stinking mouth! What's wrong with my Da Xiong? He's a perfectly good man, why should you point fingers at him! Liu Meixiang, let me tell you, if you dare say that again, I'll beat you every time I hear it. If you really piss me off, I'll come to your door every day to argue and throw excrement at you, you believe me?!"

Liu Meixiang, who had been beaten, was not about to let it go. "You, He Xing, you dare to hit me! Your Da Xiong is a hunchback, so what? You won't let me say anything?! You dare to hit me, I'm not finished with you..."

After saying that, the two women started fighting.

The women around rushed over to break up the fight. After all, they were all from the same village, and it would be unreasonable for them to stand by and do nothing if something really happened, especially since their men were all from the same clan.

只是，这都叫什么事儿！好好的生意还做不做了！没看到经过的路人都不敢驻足了嘛？！