A small courtyard adorned with flowers.
Under the bright sunshine, the workshop in front was bustling with activity, as batches of cured meat were dried until they met the required standards, then smoked, and finally piled up in the warehouse, resembling a small mountain.
With just two You Ran Ju restaurants, at their rate of purchasing 300 to 500 jin of goods every three months, they really couldn't possibly consume it all.
Fortunately, everyone in this world is constantly moving. Xu Mo, on the sunny side, is busy with the Sun family's affairs, while Zheng Ruqian, on the other side, is not idle either.
Besides transporting dried green beans to Manager Hao in Anyang County, buying them in bulk for 25 taels and selling them for 50 taels, he also brought cured meat to Anyang County. By giving away samples, he gained the favor of several dried goods stores. Zheng Ruqian reached a cooperation agreement with them, storing the cured meat in their stores and splitting the profits 20/80.
The shop takes two, Zheng Ruqian takes eight.
In addition, the demand from the two restaurants, You Ran Ju in the prefectural city and You Ran Ju in the county town, just matched the output of the workshop.
If we want to sell to more stores, we'll have to expand the workshop and manpower, which is really not worthwhile.
For Zheng Ruqian, earning a hundred taels of silver a year from such a small workshop was enough.
So when Xu Mo said we could go back to Xieyang County, Zheng Lao Er was the first to jump up and respond, grinning as he sorted out the two cartloads of dried green beans he wanted to bring to Manager Bai, and the several boxes of Anyang County specialties for Magistrate Pang.
As he passed by Jiang Sheng, he didn't forget to ruffle her newly combed braids.
"You stinky second brother." Jiang Sheng was whispering to her third brother when he interrupted her. She immediately stood up angrily with her hands on her hips, looking like a teapot. "What are you doing? What are you doing? I'm not talking to you anymore, you stinky second brother."
Zheng Ruqian used to worry about his younger sister getting angry, but he doesn't anymore because he has a killer move—candied hawthorn.
But before he could take out the sour fruit coated in syrup, Jiang San rushed in.
"Second Young Master, something has happened! Something has happened!"
Everyone in the courtyard was taken aback.
Sun Yu competed for the position of Prefect of Anshui County in order to help the Sun family deal with Fang Heng. Although the Wang family also had internal conflicts, they should be of one mind in killing Fang Heng.
So even if Sun Yu falls and the Sun family falls into chaos, the Wang family will still target Fang Heng, and the Wang family will still cause trouble.
Xu Mo had even made all sorts of preparations to face the storm.
They just didn't expect that the one who got into trouble this time would be Zheng Lao Er.
"Me? What could possibly happen to me?" Zheng Ruqian laughed. "I'm not on any scientific expeditions, and I haven't gone out alone. What could possibly happen to me?"
Even the task of transporting dried green beans to Anyang County was carried out by Jiang Si.
Could something have happened to Jiang Si?
Or perhaps the Pangda Mountain brothers who run through Yunshui County?
Thinking of this, Zheng Ruqian's attitude finally became serious. "Who was in trouble? Is the person still alive? If they are, send them to the hospital immediately. If they are dead, avenge them."
As he spoke, he clenched his fist, his back view lonely and desolate, exuding a sense of chivalrous heroism.
Jiang Sheng, who was standing to the side, was almost in tears. It was the first time she had ever seen her second brother so loyal. She decided not to blame him for messing up her braid. She also wanted to comfort him and tell him to take it easy on him.
Seeing that the brother and sister were about to burst into tears, Jiang San paused for a moment, then said, "No one was injured or killed. It's just that your business was stolen."
"Oh, as long as no one is hurt." Zheng Ruqian patted his chest.
Jiang Sheng let out a long sigh of relief and wiped her nose with a handkerchief.
But the next moment, Zheng Ruqian reacted, jumped two feet high on the spot, and yelled at the top of his lungs, "What? What? What business was stolen? Which son of a bitch stole my business? You bastard, I'm not done with him, not done with him!"
Jiang Sheng turned her head in shock.
Xu Mo coughed, signaling to Zheng Lao Er that it was okay to lose his temper, but he shouldn't use foul language, lest he corrupt his sister.
Fang Heng went straight up and covered Jiang Sheng's ears to prevent her from hearing.
"@#￥@#￥Damn it, @#￥#￥You little bastard#￥%@#￥..."
Zheng Ruqian has finally finished his output.
I've been doing business outside for the past two years, but I haven't made much money. However, I've learned a lot of vulgar language.
Jiang San listened with admiration, almost giving him a thumbs up.
"Who is it? Who is it?" Zheng Ruqian shouted.
Jiang San hadn't spoken yet.
Zhang Qiquan from the front workshop came over, looking distressed, and said, "Boss, it's cured meat. The recipe for making it has been leaked, and now there are many more people selling cured meat outside."
The person who stole the recipe probably disdained making such lowly food and simply spread the recipe around.
As a result, anyone in the city with even a little cooking skill could make cured meat, and You Ran Ju's cured meat, which cost several hundred coins a plate, could no longer be sold. Naturally, their business with You Ran Ju would also fail.
To be honest, recipes for things like cured meat aren't exactly top-secret, so over time, some of them will inevitably be leaked.
However, according to Zhang Qiquan's calculations, it would take at least two or three years, and it would be impossible to distribute the complete recipe, as there would be some differences in taste.
In this way, although the workshop's business worsened, it was still able to stay afloat.
Unlike now, when the complete recipe is leaked, one can easily recreate the original workshop flavor with just a little experimentation.
“I’ve already told the workers to stop, but I haven’t let them leave.” A ruthless glint flashed in Zhang Qiquan’s eyes. “They must have leaked the formula. I’ll find out who it is.”
But so what? The method of making cured meat is no secret, and the workshop's business is over.
Zheng Ruqian stared blankly at his surroundings. He wasn't particularly talented in business. In the beginning, it was Xiao Jiangsheng who pulled him along, encouraged him, and accompanied him when he started selling things.
Later, as he grew bolder, desires arose, and he tasted the sweetness of success, which led him step by step to where he is today.
But he had never suffered a loss before, much less a blow like this.
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