Song Lingqin had already eaten the second lotus-shaped pastry. "Wow, this is the first time I've ever had a savory lotus-shaped pastry!"

"Lotus flower pastries are on the sweeter side and can be cloying if you eat too many. These savory lotus flower pastries are filled with a whole salted egg yolk, and they are savory, fragrant and soft. You won't feel greasy even if you eat a few."

After hearing Meng Zhao's introduction, Fu Wan's appetite was whetted. Unfortunately, there was only one savory flavor on the plate. But then she thought, the shop is right here, so she can just buy another one if she wants.

Meng Zhao spent the entire day serving these young ladies from the Song family, half the time doing skincare, half the time explaining the various kinds of food to them, and finally teaching them how to apply makeup without makeup.

After finally seeing the young ladies off, Meng Zhao felt utterly exhausted, so she simply lay down on the soft couch she had just been on. "Jianxia, ​​quickly massage my back, my body feels like it's about to fall apart."

Seeing her like this, He Jianxia felt extremely sorry for her and couldn't help but complain, "Those ladies are really something. They didn't even let you go during lunch, and they kept you talking about this and that, so you didn't even have time to eat. They, on the other hand, ate with great relish and didn't seem hungry. In my opinion, they should be separated so that you can have an easier time."

“Jianxia, ​​it’s fine if you complain to me, but please don’t let anyone else hear you say this. Customers come to our shop and bring us business; there’s no reason to turn them away. Besides, our teahouse has only been open for a short time. If I don’t hurry up and bring in more customers, I’m afraid I won’t even be able to pay our workers’ wages later. So many of the women in the shop are waiting to make a living,” Meng Zhao said, trying to sound tough.

Upon hearing this, He Jianxia immediately lowered her head, her face full of guilt, and said, "Shopkeeper, I know I was wrong. I will never say that again."

After saying that, he tightened his grip, trying to make Meng Zhao more comfortable.

Meng Zhao felt extremely comfortable from the massage and comforted him, "It's okay, I know you're just worried about me. I ate all the food you prepared for me while I went out to get something, so I'm not hungry at all."

Although she wasn't hungry, she was exhausted, especially when giving massages to customers. She had to use her fingers to apply pressure, otherwise the massage wouldn't be effective. After all that, her fingers were sore and aching, and she had almost no strength left.

Even though his fingers were aching terribly, it didn't stop Meng Zhao from checking the accounts. When he saw the teahouse's revenue for the day, a relieved smile finally appeared on his tired face.

These young ladies were very generous, not even looking at the prices when they ate, and all the items they ordered were expensive desserts.

Especially the soufflé, which looked like a big, soft piece, but it didn't actually fill you up. Each of the ladies ordered one.

Although Meng Zhao made his own egg beater, it was still extremely labor-intensive to make. A soufflé drizzled with jam was priced at fifty coins at the teahouse. You should know that at this time, many people did not even earn fifty coins a day. It was definitely an expensive dessert.

In addition, they each packed several kinds of snacks before leaving, so they spent a total of two taels of silver at the teahouse today, which is almost as much as the teahouse's daily revenue on a normal day.

All the hard work finally paid off, and Meng Zhao fell asleep peacefully with a satisfied smile.

The next morning, Meng Zhao slept in late, washed up briefly, and then began training his employees.

After all, she can't do everything herself in the future, otherwise even an iron body can't handle it.

Meng Zhao brought a basin of warm water and had everyone soak their hands for a while. After drying their hands, she had them apply a thick layer of face cream and wait for their skin to absorb it slowly.

He then personally demonstrated a set of finger exercises to train finger dexterity, urging everyone to practice them diligently every day.

Meng Zhao said to the two employees, "When you two go back, explain the situation to your families. From now on, you don't need to do any of the rough or tiring work at home. Just say that I specifically instructed you to keep your hands soft and smooth before you can provide treatments to customers. If your hands are covered in thick calluses and you accidentally scratch a customer's face, who would dare to come to our shop in the future?"

The two of them were secretly delighted. Who wouldn't be happy to have a legitimate reason not to do those housework?

As for Meng Jianqiu and He Jianxia, ​​Meng Zhao also told them to stop grinding powder and focus on the affairs of the Treasure Pavilion. She would find someone else to do the grinding of braising powder.

Since the county magistrate visited last time and followed the rules of the teahouse, no man has dared to come and cause trouble again.

After all, even the county magistrate follows the rules; no matter how arrogant you are, you can't be more arrogant than the county magistrate.

Meng Zhao's hard work during this period did not go to waste. Her method of using the customers of Zhenbaoge to attract customers to the teahouse was very effective, attracting a group of customers with strong spending power to Mingxianglou.

Nowadays, the private rooms in the teahouse are no longer as deserted as when it first opened. Women often come together to drink tea and discuss business, while many others come simply to enjoy tea and snacks.

From barely breaking even at the beginning, Mingxianglou has grown to make a small profit, and now, although it can't earn as much as the neighboring Zhenbaoge, it still earns several taels of silver every day.

The only downside is that Meng Zhao has been searching for a female storyteller but still hasn't found one, and Song Wanyin has also been searching for a long time but hasn't found a suitable one either. Otherwise, the teahouse business would probably be even better.

After finally finishing up her business here, Meng Zhao was able to take some time to go home for a few days to rest. As soon as she got home, Madam Gu told her some good news.

“Zhaozhao, Xiao Zheng came over a few days ago and said that the owners of our shop and courtyard are interested in selling them. He asked if we wanted to buy them. You were busy the past few days, so I didn’t go to tell you. I just agreed. Xiao Zheng is arranging a date now. Once the family comes back, we’ll go to the government office to complete the transfer procedures.”

Meng Zhao was immediately overjoyed, "Really? That's wonderful! I've kept this in mind all along, afraid that something might go wrong if I waited too long. Mother, you handled this so well!"

Gu's face was filled with a relieved smile. "I knew you would agree, so when Xiao Zheng mentioned it, I agreed without much hesitation. However, Xiao Zheng secretly told me that the price might be higher than we expected."

Meng Zhao was prepared for this. Their business was booming, and the shop was always bustling with people. Others weren't blind, so they naturally understood that the shop wouldn't move away easily. Therefore, raising the price was to be expected.

Meng Zhao wasn't sure exactly how much they would ask for. Although she wanted to try her best to get it, she wouldn't let them take advantage of her if they asked for an exorbitant amount.