Chapter 153 Stay
"Hey, young lady, please stay... stay... Are you dissatisfied with something? I assure you that our mooncakes are impeccable and taste amazing!" The waiter said while patting his chest.
You have to know that the shopkeeper is right next to you. I wonder what he would think if he saw the guests he entertained leave in dissatisfaction.
"Of course I know that your mooncakes are delicious, and I came here because someone recommended it to me, but..." Ji Zhisui seemed to find it difficult to say this, and finally he closed his mouth and turned away.
From the very beginning, the shopkeeper of Xiangruizhai noticed this young lady. She had a good appearance and temperament, bright eyes and white teeth, and seemed to be of a noble background.
Then she looked around at the mooncakes, with a look of disappointment on her face, and seemed very dissatisfied with them.
This also aroused the curiosity of the owner of Xiangruizhai. Since this young lady thought that there was no problem with the taste of her mooncakes, then what was the problem?
He walked out from behind the counter, walked in front of Ji Zhisui, blocked her way, and said politely, "Young lady, I am Manager Deng of Xiangruizhai. I have something I want to clarify with you."
Ji Zhisui's face was slightly surprised, and he asked in confusion, "Manager Deng, do you have any questions?"
"My dear lady, since you are satisfied with the taste of our mooncakes, what are you dissatisfied with? Could you tell me? Maybe I can improve it."
"The patterns on your mooncakes are too simple and plain. I was planning to give them away as gifts."
"Single pattern?"
"Yes, yes!" Ji Zhisui took out the mooncakes he had baked and said to Shopkeeper Deng, "This is a mooncake someone gave me. I really like the design and wanted to buy some as a gift. I just came to take a look at your place, and it seems that you don't have any such products."
Ji Zhisui took out the mooncakes and waved them in front of Shopkeeper Deng for a few seconds to make sure that he could see the mooncakes clearly, then put them away.
I was satisfied to see the look of interest on the other person's face.
Shopkeeper Deng liked the mooncakes very much because the patterns on them were so delicate that they reminded people of various scenes of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
In comparison, the mooncakes with uniform patterns on them are really nothing special. If you give them to others as gifts, the former will give them enough face.
"Young lady, where do these mooncakes come from?" Shopkeeper Deng was really curious. He had never heard of anyone else making mooncakes like this. It seemed that everyone else's mooncakes were no different from the previous ones, so naturally theirs would be the same.
"This was given to me by my friend, but she's not from Qizhou County, so I don't know where it came from."
After hearing this, Shopkeeper Pei's eyes lit up even more. He enthusiastically said to Ji Zhisui, "Young lady, could you please ask your friend? I just want to know where these mooncake designs come from. If you have any information, I can give you a commission."
The main reason why he was so happy and excited was that these mooncakes were not bought in Qizhou County, which meant that as long as he knew the origin of these styles, he would be the first to make them.
He can already foresee how booming the business will be this Mid-Autumn Festival.
"Okay, then I'll ask my friend. I should be able to give you an answer tomorrow."
After hearing about the introduction fee, Ji Zhisui's face was filled with joy, and it was obvious that he took this matter seriously.
Seeing the people leaving, the waiter couldn't help but ask, "Boss, are those mooncakes really that good?"
He still felt that the mooncakes from Xiangruizhai were the best.
"You'll know when the time comes."
The next day, Ji Zhisui came to Xiangruizhai again, and Manager Deng was waiting there early.
After seeing the young lady, he happily greeted her and asked enthusiastically, "Young lady, how did your investigation go?"
Ji Zhisui replied, "Shopkeeper Deng, I just found out yesterday that those mooncakes were made with molds carved by my friend."
"You made the mold yourself?"
"Yes, my friend is a great painter. Any pattern can come alive under his hands."
"Can you invite your friend to help us make the molds, or if he has any molds you can sell to me? I also want to print these patterns on our mooncakes."
"That's perfect. I brought out the molds made by my friend today." Ji Zhisui took out the several mooncake molds made by the carpenter.
After seeing these molds, Shopkeeper Deng liked them more and more. Although they looked simple with just a few strokes, they actually took a lot of thought into them.
He could imagine that if these patterns were printed on mooncakes, they would definitely look beautiful and lively.
"Young lady, can I do business with you?" Shopkeeper Deng likes these styles and naturally wants to take advantage of the Mid-Autumn Festival to greatly increase the sales of these mooncakes.
"Business? How do you do business?"
"Just sell your friend's molds to me. Of course, there's a prerequisite: you can't sell them to other pastry shops."
If these molds were sold to others, wouldn't other pastry shops also have these patterns? Theirs wouldn't be special.
Ji Zhisui pondered for a moment, "Okay, but I don't know how much you are willing to pay, boss?
"Five taels, I'm willing to pay five taels of silver to buy these molds. I wonder if the young lady is willing?"
"I'm afraid not. My friend is a talented painter, and any of his paintings can sell for three or four silver coins. There are seven or eight of these mold shells in total. Besides, these are my friend's, and I can't decide the price..."
Mooncakes are not cheap. A palm-sized piece costs twenty or thirty cents. If you want to give it as a gift and have it beautifully packaged, it will cost about forty or fifty cents.
With Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, the demand for mooncakes is only increasing, and it is hot selling season. This shop probably sells hundreds or even thousands of mooncakes a day.
Ji Zhisui pushed everything onto her friends, since this matter had nothing to do with her anyway.
Shopkeeper Deng pursed his lips. Seeing that the young lady in front of him had no intention of making a deal, he looked at the exquisite molds.
In the end, he finally compromised and gave in. "How about ten taels of silver?"
Then Shopkeeper Deng continued to add fuel to the fire, "Young lady, please persuade your friend. As long as he can sell these molds to me, I will pay you an extra one or two taels of silver as a commission. How about that?"
Seeing that this was the biggest concession Manager Deng could make, he agreed to his request.
I spent two taels of silver to make these molds myself. The patterns were hand-painted by myself and Pei Yian. After deducting the cost of making the molds from the eleven taels I earned, I made a net profit of nine taels of silver. This deal is definitely a win-win.
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