It was still early, and there weren't many customers eating at Baifulai yet. The waiters were quite idle, so they gathered together to chat and gossip.
Suddenly seeing three people enter, they hurriedly and warmly greeted them.
Gan Li asked directly, "Is your boss here?"
Gan Li had been to Baifulai several times, so the waiter naturally recognized her. Knowing that even his own master treated her with great courtesy, he dared not be negligent and quickly replied upon hearing the question:
"You've come at the right time. The master is here for an inspection today and is upstairs. Shall I take you up?"
Ganli nodded and followed the waiter upstairs with her two older brothers.
Old Sun was checking the accounts when he heard that Gan Li had arrived. He quickly invited her in and noticed that Gan Mingli beside him looked much thinner than he had in the past two days, which made him uneasy.
"When I heard the news that Mingli had been arrested for some reason, I was very anxious, but I remembered what you told me, so I held back and didn't dare to interfere. Now I see that he has lost a lot of weight, so he must be suffering inside."
Old Sun knew that she intended to give away the prescription. On the day she set off for the county town, Gan Li made a special trip to Baifulai to instruct Old Sun not to reveal this news.
In addition, she asked Lao Sun not to interfere if Chen Danian and the others attacked her family members while he was away, unless it involved matters of life and death.
And her prediction was correct. Master Zhao and the others were after the recipe for making ice. They had only taken Gan Mingli away to force her to submit. Therefore, although they had taken her away and locked her up, they did not dare to do anything to Gan Mingli.
Seeing the guilty look on Old Sun's face, Gan Mingli was flattered and quickly said:
"Actually, I didn't suffer much, I just didn't sleep well."
It was an abandoned dye house, dark and eerie even at night without a single light.
Of course, Gan Mingli, a grown man, wouldn't be scared to death. The reason he lost weight was because he heard Chen Danian's words that day and was worried that his younger sister might encounter danger in the county town, which made him very anxious.
But now that I see my little sister back safe and sound, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Hearing this, Old Sun felt a little better and then remembered to ask Gan Li if her business in the county town had gone smoothly.
Gan Li nodded: "Although there were some twists and turns, the prescription has been presented. The county magistrate wrote a secret letter on the spot and ordered someone to send it to the capital by fast horse. It should be presented to the emperor in a few days."
"That's good." Upon hearing this, Old Sun was pleased and couldn't help but start to imagine: "I wonder what kind of reward the Emperor will give you? If you become successful in the future, don't forget about me, Old Sun."
"Of course I haven't forgotten. Here I am, isn't that right? Manager Sun, do you still remember what I said back then: after I present the formula to the imperial court, there's another business opportunity we can do together?"
Old Sun's eyes lit up: "Of course I remember! What kind of business was it?"
Gan Li smiled but did not answer, instead asking, "Manager Sun, aren't you curious how Master Zhao released my brother so easily?"
Old Sun didn't know how she had steered the conversation off-topic again, but he was indeed curious: how could that ruthless Zhao release someone so easily without any benefit to him?
Thinking of this, he hurriedly asked, "What exactly happened?"
Gan Li smiled slightly: "I sold him the ice-making recipe for two thousand taels of silver."
"What? That prescription isn't..." Old Sun was stunned for a moment, then suddenly came to his senses, looked at Gan Li and laughed heartily: "Young lady, you really have some good skills!"
He's a shrewd man; how could he not see through the trickery involved?
Master Zhao spent a fortune to buy the recipe, hoping to make a huge profit from it. Little did he know that Gan Li had already presented the recipe to the imperial court. Soon it would be promoted throughout the country. At that time, everyone could make it at home, so who would spend a lot of money to buy ice from you?
That guy surnamed Zhao, this time his shrewdness backfired, and he shot himself in the foot!
Old Sun already hated that Zhao for using underhanded methods to steal his family's secret recipe. Now that he knew Zhao had also stumbled over this recipe, he couldn't be happier!
He thought the matter was over, but he didn't expect Gan Li to have another trick up her sleeve.
Ganli steered the conversation back to business: "Last time I said that even if we gave away the recipe, we could still make a profit from it, and now the opportunity has come."
Making ice requires saltpeter, and once the imperial court promotes ice-making methods, saltpeter will definitely be in short supply. If we stockpile as much as possible before then, and sell it later, even if we don't earn as much as selling ice blocks, it will still be quite a bit.”
Old Sun nodded repeatedly, praising her one after another:
“Young lady, you have a good strategy. You’re right. Although saltpeter is expensive in pharmacies, they make at least half the profit. If we find a source, we can stock up on some at a very low price.”
Even if they don't raise the price, they can still make a lot of money.
He paused, then looked at Gan Li and smiled, "I've been in business for many years and have some connections. If you trust me, I'll help you stock up on some too, and then we'll sell them together. You just need to wait to collect your money."
That's the good thing about doing business with smart people; they understand things immediately.
In fact, Gan Li had this purpose in mind when she decided to bring Lao Sun into this business.
My own connections are still shallow, and I only know Old Sun in the town. I don't have any connections, so even if I had money, I probably couldn't do this business.
But Lao Sun is different. He has been in business for many years and has plenty of ways and means, so this is naturally no problem for him.
Gan Li readily agreed to Lao Sun's suggestion and handed over two thousand taels of silver notes to Lao Sun, who was also very accommodating and took the initiative to write a receipt for Gan Li.
Ganli wasn't worried that Lao Sun would embezzle her money, but she was worried about something else.
She instructed Old Sun: "When buying saltpeter, it's best to keep the price at the original level. If someone tries to snatch it at a higher price, you can slightly raise your price, making it seem like you're going to compete with them, but don't go too far; stop when you've reached a reasonable level. But remember, never try to snatch saltpeter by raising the price."
"Why is that?" Old Sun asked hurriedly upon hearing this.
Ganli replied, "It's hard to explain now. If you trust me, just do as I say."
Old Sun thought for a moment, then nodded: "I believe you, young lady!"
Why wouldn't he believe it? This man still has two thousand taels in his hands; cheating him would be cheating himself, and Gan Li obviously wouldn't do that.
Moreover, he originally thought the Zhao family had only been swindled out of two thousand taels this time, but judging from this young lady's current behavior, it was clearly more than that...
There's an even bigger pit inside one pit!
The thought that the Zhao family would suffer a major setback in this series of pits made Old Sun feel even more delighted than if he had eaten ten bowls of taro balls!
Hehe, this is going to be interesting!
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