Chapter 199 Lingering Fragrance
The young master nodded: "Delicious! I have never eaten such unusual food before."
Hongluan's smile grew even brighter, her slightly narrowed fox-like eyes gleaming with a sharp light: "Young Master, you have power and influence, so you must have your own businesses, right? Like, restaurants or something?"
The young master was taken aback.
"No."
Hongluan's smile vanished instantly: "Oh."
She took the spicy snacks away and said with a blank face, "You guys continue your conversation."
Young Master: "?"
Yu Zhiyi smiled, looking at the young master's blank expression. How could she possibly reconcile him with the domineering young man from yesterday?
Right now, he's like a big wolfhound whose bone has been stolen by its owner; the light in his eyes seems to have disappeared.
Seeing the boy's blank expression, as if he didn't know what he had done wrong, Yu Zhiyi stopped teasing him: "If the young master wants money, the method is quite simple."
"While I won't plead for you, I can offer you a way to make money."
As the young master regained his senses, he hesitated and asked, "Spicy strips?"
As the future head of the Duke's mansion, he was naturally no fool. With Yu Zhiyi's mention and Hongluan's unusual attitude just now, he instantly guessed what was going on.
Yu Zhiyi nodded: "With Young Master's influence, seeking cooperation with a restaurant shouldn't be difficult. Hongluan will provide a certain amount of spicy strips every day, and the price will depend on Young Master's abilities."
"As the provider of the food, Hongluan will take 70% of the price. The remaining 30% can be allocated between Young Master and the restaurant. What do you say?"
The young master began to think seriously.
In the past, he certainly wouldn't have been interested in something like this.
For a young master like him, spending tens or even hundreds of taels of silver with a casual gesture is nothing.
He's never known how to write the word "lack of money" in his entire life.
After all, his monthly salary is one thousand taels.
Moreover, this is only what's out in the open.
If he runs out of money, he can always ask his mother for more.
But his father was furious this time. He not only explicitly forbade him from receiving a monthly allowance, but also reprimanded his mother, forbidding her from providing him with financial assistance privately.
He had considered making a living by selling his paintings, after all, it was his proudest skill.
Can……
Let's not talk about it.
Yu Zhiyi's suggestion is indeed a good idea.
People only realize that making money is not shameful when they are extremely short of money.
Besides, he only said he was helping his friends make connections. Apart from Yu Zhiyi and the other person, who knows what role he actually played?
Having figured this out, the young master began to take action.
He was efficient, and soon found a follower to work under him.
The servant's mother's family were in business, and she brought many shops as part of her dowry when she got married, including a restaurant.
That's right, this restaurant is barely surviving.
When the young master approached his henchman to say he wanted to help a friend make a business deal, the henchman was flattered.
I thought it was some huge collaboration.
Unexpectedly, it turned out that all they wanted to do was sell a dish in the restaurant.
The follower was both amused and exasperated, and also felt somewhat disappointed.
His family's restaurant business wasn't actually that good. There were at least eighty or a hundred restaurants of all sizes in Beijing, and about twenty of them could be named with the character "楼" (lou, meaning building/restaurant).
His family's restaurant was among the worst-performing businesses.
Each month, we can barely break even.
The lackey, unaware of the young master's role, assumed it was simply a matter of helping out and agreed without explaining the situation of his family's restaurant to the young master.
In his mind, what kind of noble family could a family be that could ask the young master to help sell food?
Perhaps the young master met some commoner by chance.
Even if such a person doesn't make money in the end, they won't cause any trouble.
Besides, since it's a collaboration to sell things, you have to sell them yourself before you can give the other party a share, right?
If you can't even sell your own products, isn't it normal that you can't afford to spend the money?
The little follower, who was secretly plotting something, received his first batch of spicy strips that very night.
There were fifty portions of spicy strips in total, all packed on plates and then divided into several food containers.
In addition, each food box was sealed, with a uniquely shaped piece of paper pasted around the seam.
There are ten food boxes in total, each with five layers.
Moreover, each layer was individually sealed.
If someone has touched the food box, it will be obvious at a glance.
The henchman looked at the papers and muttered, "They've made it look quite convincing, as if someone would tamper with these food boxes."
According to the agreement, if the food doesn't sell, the unopened food boxes can be returned, and only the sold spicy strips need to be settled that day.
If the food boxes are not returned by the end of Hai hour (9-11 PM) on the same day, they will be considered sold out.
A plate of spicy strips costs one tael of silver.
In other words, if all the spicy strips can be sold, Hongluan will receive thirty-five taels. How to divide the remaining fifteen taels is a matter for the young master and the restaurant.
However, despite Hongluan taking the lion's share, she didn't actually gain much advantage, since she was the one providing the food and also had to bear the risk of not being able to sell it.
Fortunately, Hongluan is not short of money now. The reason she started this business is simply to prepare for leaving Jinxiufang.
She's a woman who wants to make big money and be her own boss; she can't possibly work for someone else in Jinxiufang her whole life.
The lackey wasn't very confident about the collaboration the young master had secured, but he still had to give the young master some face, so he instructed the shopkeeper and waiters to focus on promoting spicy strips today.
As for how many he can sell, that's none of his business.
If the cooperation yielded poor results after a few days, he would simply tell the young master that the products weren't selling well, and the young master probably wouldn't hold it against him.
The follower was pessimistic and didn't have much hope for the profits from the spicy snacks.
Then, I was shocked.
Not long after, the shopkeeper sent someone to tell him that the spicy strips were sold out! He asked if he could urgently send some more stock.
Follower: "?"
No, what is that?
How come that food, which sounds so unappetizing, sells so well?
Moreover, the fact that there was no increase in customer traffic today indicates that the spicy snacks were all bought by regular customers, and some tables even ordered several plates at once!
He suddenly regretted not trying the spicy snacks when they arrived.
He wanted to see what kind of heavenly delicacy it was.
Now there's no chance to try it.
Fortunately, it's only noon, so there should still be time.
He hurriedly went to find the young master himself.
The young master was also surprised when he heard about the sales of spicy strips.
But thinking about it, I feel relieved. After all, the taste is really unique, and the aftereffects are quite strong. The taste lingers in your mouth for a long time after you finish eating it.
No, I can't think about it, it makes me crave it.
"Wait, I'll go ask."
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