Another woman came today. She was dressed simply but cleanly and neatly, and her expression revealed a simple and honest nature.

When Meng Zhao mentioned the fifty taels franchise fee, he immediately stood up and shook his head, "I'm sorry, Madam Meng, fifty taels is too much, I can't afford it, I'm really sorry to bother you."

Seeing that she had no money but spoke frankly, unlike the one he met yesterday who had no money but was trying to trick him into giving him money to open a shop, Meng Zhao stopped her and asked her what she was thinking.

After sitting down, the man slowly said, "I know that Madam Meng's braised meat is delicious and famous in Qingshi County. My family loves to eat it too, but we are busy on weekdays and can't come every day. There are other people in the village who are in a similar situation to me, so I was thinking about whether I could open a small shop in the village."

Hearing her say that, Meng Zhao couldn't help but frown. Take the villages in Qingshi County for example, the larger villages only have about two hundred households, so the population is already limited.

Most of the villagers rely on farming for a living and are very frugal with their money. They wouldn't spend so much money to buy braised meat.

In her view, opening a braised meat shop in the village was naturally not feasible.

But Meng Zhao was patient, and in the end, she didn't interrupt, but let her continue.

The woman continued, "I'm from Dafang Village. I run a tofu shop in the village and make a living by selling tofu."

"So, how much tofu does your tofu shop sell each day?" Meng Zhao immediately grasped the key point.

"Normally, it weighs around 200-300 jin, but during holidays it might weigh more, up to 400-500 jin."

Meng Zhao's eyes widened in surprise. "How could they sell so many?"

She remembered that there weren't that many people in Dafang Village; surely the villagers couldn't eat tofu every meal.

The woman quickly explained, "Although I am from Dafang Village, my family's tofu shop is located at the entrance of the village, which is a rather special location. It is also close to the other two villages, which do not have any tofu makers. So they all come to my shop to buy tofu. In addition, my husband has arranged with two shops in the county to deliver tofu to them, which is why we have sold more."

Meng Zhao couldn't help but ponder. The fact that they could sell so much tofu meant that their shop must have a lot of customers every day. The most crucial thing in doing business is customer traffic; as long as there are people, there is business to be done.

Even so, opening a braised meat shop is not very realistic, since villagers are willing to spend money to buy tofu, but they may not be willing to spend money to buy braised meat.

Just as Meng Zhao was pondering, she suddenly remembered the counters at the entrances of some modern convenience stores, such as ice cream counters, dairy product counters, and the now-popular shared power banks.

These small counters don't require a franchise; you just need to stock up on goods regularly.

This approach not only enriches the product range of convenience stores but also allows them to leverage the foot traffic to sell their own products, creating a win-win situation.

The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed, so he told the woman his idea. "Here's the thing," he said. "I was thinking of setting aside a special place in your tofu shop to put a counter for Meng's braised pork offal. This counter can only display our shop's products, but then you won't be able to make your own braised pork offal. You'll need to come to our shop regularly to pick up your goods."

Upon hearing this, a glint of surprise flashed in the woman's eyes. "In that case, is there still a franchise fee?"

Meng Zhao gently shook his head. "No franchise fee is needed. We only need to pay for a custom counter and the usage fee for the signboard."

A counter, including materials and labor, would cost about two or three hundred coins, so he said, "About one tael of silver will do."

Upon hearing this, the woman's face lit up with even greater delight. "Okay, one tael is fine. How shall I pay?"

She had eaten Mengji's braised pork offal many times and loved the taste to the extreme. If this dish were sold in her tofu shop, it would definitely attract many customers. Moreover, getting the product from the shop would save her the time of making the braised pork offal herself, which couldn't be better.

Seeing how excited she was to pay, Meng Zhao quickly reached out to stop her. "Our braised meat can't be sold if it's only kept for one day, so you need to come to our shop every day to pick up the goods. Can you do that?"

The woman nodded without hesitation. Her husband delivered goods to the county every day. He couldn't come to buy braised meat every day before because making tofu was really hard work. It would be a waste of time to make a special detour just for food. But if he could make money by making a detour, then he would naturally make time to come.

To ensure a smooth collaboration, Meng Zhao decided to visit the woman's tofu shop for an on-site inspection.

The tofu shop was spacious, with enough room to place the braised food counter, and it was relatively clean and tidy with good hygiene.

During the time she stayed there, she encountered many people from nearby villages who came to buy tofu, so there was a steady flow of people. She nodded in agreement.

On the way to Dafang Village, Meng Zhao had already asked the woman her name and learned that she was called Zhang Fangniang.

Before leaving, he said, "Fangniang, I'll take this tael of silver. Come to my shop to pick it up in five days. In the next few days, you can find out what the villagers like. From now on, every time you pick up goods, make sure you know what you want for the next day so I can have someone prepare it for you in advance."

Zhang Fangniang nodded quickly, indicating that she understood, and then warmly saw Meng Zhao out of the village.

With this method of selling counters, Meng Zhao sold two counters, even though he didn't recruit any new franchisees.

At first, they didn't dare to take too much stock, but after a few days, the daily volume had increased from a few kilograms to more than ten kilograms, which shows that there is a market for it.

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