Jiang Youchen rolled his eyes at his younger sister helplessly, secretly relieved that his spendthrift sister was born into the Jiang family.

Oh no, thankfully she's the daughter of the Su family's daughter.

Otherwise, even with the Jiang family's wealth, it wouldn't be enough for her to squander for three days.

Seeing Shen Zhangyu's expression, Jiang Youchen couldn't help but ask, "Isn't that enough? Didn't you just say you only wanted a hundred taels?"

"No, no, no!" Shen Zhangyu swallowed hard, quickly stuffed the two thousand taels of silver into his sleeve, then looked around and, finding that no one was paying attention to them, solemnly said, "I'll go back and prepare the contract immediately."

Xiao Youran asked a professional question, "How do you plan to write it in the contract? We invested two thousand taels; what percentage of the shares do you intend for us to own?"

Shen Zhangyu paused for a moment, thought for a second, gritted his teeth and said, "We are struggling to make ends meet right now, so it's unlikely we can contribute any money. But the three of us are all very strong and can dedicate ourselves to managing this restaurant perfectly. How about we take a 10% stake first, and then invest more in two years when we have some extra money?"

His demand for a 10% stake was also to have a legitimate reason for his actions. If one day it really came down to a showdown with the Xiankelai Restaurant, they could act as the managers and fight against his second uncle.

Most importantly, he also possesses the recipes for his father's unique dishes. If he wants to use them to make money, he needs to do so legitimately.

Even if you lose the battle, you must at least have a legitimate reason for attacking!

Xiao Youran smiled and said, "Ten percent is too little, so I'll give you thirty percent. I'll only provide verbal guidance, and the three of you will handle all the other trivial matters. We'll do an annual profit-sharing ceremony. What do you think?"

Shen Zhangyu was excited. Someone actually put money into the business and complained that he had too much of a stake?

Moreover, the entire restaurant was managed by him, his elder brother, and his sister-in-law. Doesn't that mean they had the final say in everything about the restaurant?

How is this any different from the fact that the restaurant belongs to the Shen family?

Where in the world is there such a good thing?

"So... how big does this shop need to be?" Shen Zhangyu asked cautiously. Even with two thousand taels in hand, he could open a small shop with just a hundred taels. If the big boss had such an idea, he would naturally respect it. Therefore, he had no choice but to ask.

Xiao Youran tilted her chin towards her brother, "Ask your brother."

Jiang Youchen was speechless.

He was the one who put up the money, but he had nothing to do with such an important matter as taking a stake, while he was asked about trivial matters like how big the shop should be.

Faced with Shen Zhangyu's pleading gaze, he could only smile helplessly, "Take out 1,500 taels of silver. Whether you rent or buy, whether you rent an old building or renovate a new one, it's up to you. Keep the remaining 500 taels as working capital."

Shen Zhangyu became even more excited and slammed his fist on the table. "Alright, you two just watch! I, Shen Zhangyu, swear here and now that I can't build a restaurant better than Xiankelai, I swear I'm not a human being!"

Jiang Youchen was shocked once again.

He looked at ten-year-old Shen Zhangyu, then at himself, and finally at his four-year-old sister, feeling a cold sweat break out on his forehead.

He felt that these three immature kids had casually negotiated a deal for a new restaurant worth two thousand taels of silver? And one of them even swore to do it better than Xiankelai? Were they three idiots?

Although he had never been to Xiankelai, he had seen it from afar that night when he delivered the gift to the Yun family. It was a brightly lit and bustling restaurant!

However, Xiao Youran gave her brother a confident look, "Okay, we believe you!"

Jiang Youchen: ...

Sister, where does this inexplicable confidence of yours come from?

If you had known it would turn out like this, you would have wasted two thousand taels of silver. You might as well have found another black pot for your brother to take the blame for!

Oh wait... those two thousand taels are gone just like that, this mess is absolutely unbelievable... who's going to take the blame now?!

Shen Zhangyu excitedly got up to leave, but suddenly remembered the most important thing he hadn't asked yet, so he quickly turned back, "Miss, where are the fried dough sticks you mentioned earlier?"

Xiao Youran chuckled, "You haven't forgotten about this fried dough stick?"

Shen Zhangyu nodded, "Now that we have a restaurant, what we lack most is new-style food, so we should naturally take care of that."

This time, Xiao Youran didn't hold back, since they were partners after all, so she generously explained the recipe for fried dough sticks in detail: "Fried dough sticks are a type of deep-fried food. First, mix flour, eggs, a small amount of salt, and yeast powder evenly, then knead the dough with warm water. When it has doubled in size, press the dough into a long strip, then cut it into pieces about two fingers wide, stack them on top of each other, press down in the middle with chopsticks, and let it rest for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. Finally, stretch it out and fry it slowly in oil over low heat, turning it with chopsticks until both sides are golden brown, and it will puff up to this size..."

As she spoke, she gestured to indicate the length and size, and couldn't help but drool.

This snack, which every household in later generations loved to eat... I finally had the chance to taste it!

Shen Zhangyu was stunned... So this was the correct way to verbally describe the master's new recipe?

So... how did I manage to make those pan-fried buns based on just two simple sentences relayed by my sister-in-law?

After Xiao Youran finished speaking, she didn't even care whether Shen Zhangyu could understand her, and pulled her brother upstairs. "Let's leave it at that for now. Let's go see Mother!"

Shen Zhangyu stared blankly as the brother and sister walked up the stairs before snapping out of his daze. He quickly bowed deeply to them and then excitedly ran out.

As the brother and sister went upstairs, they saw a person suddenly jump up in a corner of the lobby on the first floor and overturn the entire table.

The brother and sister stopped in their tracks and looked in that direction without prior arrangement.

"Shopkeeper, is there poison in this food?! Ouch! It hurts so much..." the man who overturned the table wailed.

"Brother Liu, Brother Liu, what's wrong?" Someone next to her helped her up.

"Damn it! Who dares to poison the food? Step forward!" another person yelled frantically.

A bystander exclaimed, "Oh my god, murder!"

"Go report this to the authorities immediately!"

Several more tables of customers got up and fled, shouting, "Quick, quick, someone's going to die!"

"What are you afraid of? Let's watch the excitement before we leave!" one person said, reluctant to go.

His deskmate tried to pull him away, saying, "They're about to fight, do you have a death wish?"

The man remained calm and collected. "I just want to see which royal relative is backing this Xilai Inn?"

His friend stamped his feet in desperation, "Even the most powerful relatives can't help! Didn't you see that the one who was poisoned... was the princess's husband?"

"Wh...what?" The man looked shocked and couldn't sit still any longer. He got up and ran out the door.

The shopkeeper rushed over, asking, "What happened?"

The man who appeared to be the prince consort slapped the shopkeeper across the face, saying, "How dare you poison my wine?"