Chapter 47 Bean Curd Skin Workshop Production Line +1

Lin Yao and Lin Cheng had just arrived at the martial arts school entrance when they bumped into Lü Dazhi carrying a bulging bundle as he walked out. Lin Yao quickly greeted him, "Uncle Lü! Are you going on a long trip?"

Lu Dazhi hadn't expected them to arrive so early. He subconsciously tightened his pack on his back and sighed, "Of course! The Ghost Festival is in a few days, and we have to rush back to our hometown to pay respects at our parents' graves."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yao immediately took out a paper package from the food box and handed it over: "What a coincidence! This is a freshly made roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) this morning. Uncle, have some to eat on your way." Lü Dazhi thanked her, took the roujiamo, and hurried away.

Lin Cheng frowned as he watched Lü Dazhi's retreating figure: "Uncle Lü is acting a bit strange today; he's talking less than usual."

Lin Yao shook her head: "Perhaps he's going to pay respects to his relatives and is feeling sad. Let's not worry about it for now, let's go find Young Master Xu."

Upon entering the martial arts school, the shouts of martial arts practitioners immediately greeted him. In the central open space, seven or eight apprentices stood in standard horse stances, their coarse cloth shirts soaked with sweat and clinging to their backs. They gripped wooden spears tightly in both hands, the red tassels tied to the spearheads swaying violently with their movements, making Lin Cheng's eyes light up.

In the corner, two burly men were lifting a stone weight together, their veins bulging on their arms like gnarled old tree roots. Lin Yao subconsciously took a step back. This must be fatty muscle; she still preferred thinner muscles, like the young man sweeping the floor next to her. The young man had a simple headband, and the rustling sound of his bamboo broom sweeping across the blue bricks revealed half of his strong forearm. She quickly looked away, mentally despising herself.

My apologies, I'm really a twelve-year-old in body but a twenty-year-old in mind. I mustn't give myself away.

Just then, Xu Zhiheng's voice came: "Miss Lin, this way please." Xu Zhiheng had actually arrived earlier and happened to see Lin Yao staring at the young man.

The group arrived at the inner courtyard of the martial arts school and began discussing the bean curd skin business. Lin Yao described the bean curd skin production process to everyone, saying, "Young Master Xu, making bean curd skin is not difficult, but it is time-consuming and labor-intensive, with a large investment and low output."

Xu Zhiheng suddenly pulled out an abacus from his sleeve and started fiddling with it. “What Miss Lin said is absolutely right. Setting up a separate workshop is too costly.” He pushed the abacus, and the beads clinked together with a crisp sound. “Since Miss Lin said it’s simple to make, then let the people in the crystal powder workshop do it as well.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Yao exclaimed, "Zhou the Skinflint!" because the group of elderly, weak, women, and children were to be paid one salary for doing two jobs.

"What?" Xu Zhiheng didn't understand what Lin Yao meant by "Zhou Bapi" (a derogatory term for a exploitative person), but he knew from the disdain Lin Yao unconsciously showed that it wasn't a nice thing to say.

Lin Yao quickly tried to cover it up, "It's nothing. I just suddenly remembered an old friend who, like Young Master Xu, is well-versed in business."

Xu Zhiheng looked at Lin Yao with suspicion, but seeing that her expression was normal, he did not delve into it: "But this will increase the workload of the crystal powder workshop. If I add some more people, the wages will increase by six coins per person. Is that alright?"

Lin Yao then realized that she had misunderstood and hurriedly said, "Young Master Xu has thought things through. In this way, we can solve the manpower problem and also allow the workers to earn more income. It is a good idea."

The profit sharing from the bean curd skin business continued to go to Lin Yaosan and Xu Zhihengqi from the crystal powder business. The reason is simple: if Lin Yao wants her business to continue steadily, she really needs Xu Zhiheng as a backer.

Xu Zhiheng took out a contract from his pocket. "Miss Lin, take a look at this contract. If there is nothing wrong with it, you can sign and affix your seal."

Lin Yao took the contract and glanced at it. "There's naturally no problem with the contract written by Young Master Xu."

While waiting for the ink to dry, Jin Yu rushed in, panting, and slammed a purse of silver onto the table. Lin Yao was startled by the noise and almost fell off her chair. Fortunately, Lin Cheng caught her, preventing her from falling flat on her face.

"What's the rush? Are you in such a hurry to be reborn?" Xu Zhiheng poured a cup of tea and pushed it in front of Jin Yu, looking annoyed.

Jin Yu's eyes flickered, and she picked up her water cup and took a big gulp of tea before she could recover: "My lord, the money has been retrieved."

Xu Zhiheng pushed the purse towards Lin Yao. Lin Yao looked at the indigo purse, then at Xu Zhiheng, "Young Master Xu, this..."

Xu Zhiheng opened the folding fan in his hand, shook it, and said unhurriedly, "Profit sharing. This is the interest from the Crystal Powder Workshop last month, a total of seventy taels."

Lin Yao picked up the purse, its heavy weight causing her to instinctively tighten her grip. The rough texture of the fabric pressed against her palm, but it couldn't compare to the turmoil surging within her. "Seventy taels!" she murmured, a hint of excitement in her voice. Her gaze was fixed intently on Xu Zhiheng. "Young Master Xu, is this truly the workshop's net profit from last month?"

“Miss Lin, are you perhaps thinking it’s not enough? Last month was the first time the crystal powder was sold to the public. It will take time to open up the market. In time, the profits will definitely multiply several times over,” Xu Zhiheng said confidently.

"No, no, no, this seventy taels far exceeds my expectations." Lin Yao decided that she had finally latched onto a powerful backer, and she was incredibly grateful that she had connected with Xu Zhiheng. If she had to work alone, not to mention the difficulty of expanding the market, just making crystal powder would have been enough to overwhelm her. How could she be like this now, sitting at home and making money?

Lin Yao picked up a silver ingot and examined it closely in the light. Seventy taels was enough for her to do so many things. Just as she was planning how to spend it, Xu Zhiheng suddenly said, "Oh dear, the amount of crystal powder to be produced will only increase, and the workshop's stone mill may not be enough. Why don't you leave ten taels for the cost of purchasing a new millstone, Miss Lin?"

Lin Yao's smile froze, but then she thought that Xu Zhiheng had bought the workshop and tools, and now that production was to be expanded, there was no reason for her, as a shareholder, not to contribute. "We should contribute! We'll cover 30% of the cost of buying new tools!"

Upon hearing Lin Yao's words, Xu Zhiheng immediately smiled and closed his fan. This young lady really couldn't stand to suffer any loss. She subtly implied that they would split the costs 30/70, and she would only bear 30% of the cost. "It was just a joke with Miss Lin."

But Lin Yao became serious at this moment, "Young Master Xu, please accept these ten taels of silver. As the business grows bigger and bigger, it is inevitable that we will need to purchase new tools. Our Lin family also has a share in this workshop, so there is no reason for you to bear the entire burden."

Xu Zhiheng pushed the money back, saying, "I will naturally not refuse what is due. The new tools and the increased wages for this month will be deducted from next month's interest. This month's interest has already deducted the money spent on setting up the workshop."

Hearing Xu Zhiheng's words, Lin Yao quickly stuffed the ten taels of silver back into her purse. She had thought she'd gotten a good deal from Xu Zhiheng, believing she'd become a shareholder of the crystal powder workshop without contributing a single penny. Turns out, this guy had already factored in the workshop's costs. He was incredibly shrewd in business. When discussing profit sharing, he'd said she only provided the formula, while he'd provide the workshop and sales channels, keeping the profit to only 30%. So that was what he was up to!

Xu Zhiheng saw through Lin Yao's thoughts and continued to explain: "What I told you before was not a lie. I bought the land for the workshop. I will not share the cost of the land purchase with you. You only need to pay the rental fee."

He's really got deep pockets; in doing so, he's even become his own landlord. Lin Yao put on her standard smile, "Young Master Xu, what are you saying? Of course you wouldn't lie to us. It's a pleasure doing business with you!"

Xu Zhiheng shook his head, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

~

After leaving the martial arts school, Lin Yao and Lin Cheng returned to their respective stalls. From afar, Lin Yao saw Wang Xiaoyu and Liu Xu working together seamlessly. It was lunchtime, and the stalls were bustling with customers. The two had a clear division of labor: Wang Xiaoyu cooked the noodles, and Liu Xu served the dishes, all in an orderly fashion.

"Young Lady Lin!" A strange voice startled Lin Yao. She turned around and saw a young man in a white martial arts robe. Lin Yao remembered him; he was the one who had tried to buy food from him after failing to get it from her, and had instead gone to Lu Dazhi for a free meal. "Young Master Bai?"

Bai Yi's eyes lit up: "My wife still remembers me! Ah Heng said you had a stall here, but I looked for you for several days and couldn't find you. I thought you had stopped setting up your stall."

"I had some family matters to attend to the other day, which delayed my time setting up the stall." Lin Yao looked at Bai Yi and couldn't help but think to herself, who would have thought that this person with such an elegant and handsome face would be such a glutton? She led Bai Yi to the stall and pointed to the food on the stall, "The stall has hot and sour noodles, braised pork offal noodles, and konjac noodles. Young master, please see what you would like to eat."

Bai Yi wasn't surprised to hear about braised pork offal. He always believed that there were no inedible ingredients, only incompetent cooks. "Give me one of each!"

As soon as Liu Xu placed the two bowls of noodles on the table, Bai Yi eagerly picked up a mouthful of hot and sour noodles with his chopsticks. The noodles were coated in bright red chili oil, and even before he took a bite, the tangy aroma filled his nostrils. He swallowed it whole, panting from the heat, but his eyes sparkled: "Delicious!"

Lin Yao couldn't help but chuckle at his ravenous eating: "Young master, don't be in such a hurry, there's plenty of noodles left today."

Bai Yi scratched his head sheepishly, his ears turning red. "It's just that Miss Lin's cooking is too good." As he spoke, he scooped up another spoonful of the broth from the braised pork offal noodles. Oil floated on the surface of the broth, and the tender, braised pork offal lay trembling at the bottom of the bowl. He savored it carefully. "This broth is rich and fragrant. The pork offal has been cleaned so well that there's not a trace of odor. The braising flavor has penetrated to the bone. Paired with these noodles, it's simply irresistible!"

As they were talking, Bai Yi's gaze fell on the crystal-clear konjac noodles on the side. He picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. The crisp, tender, and chewy texture made his eyes light up. "This konjac noodle has a unique taste. It's sour, spicy, and appetizing. It's absolutely wonderful when eaten with noodles!" He was so engrossed in eating that he didn't care about his image at all. He didn't even notice the soup splashing onto the corner of his mouth.

Seeing him wolfing down his food, Lin Yao didn't bother to reply. Touching the heavy purse in her sleeve, she pondered how to spend the seventy taels: buy land? Or open a shop…