Chapter 40 Three Conditions
Ji Yushu looked at Fan Xiaoxiao, who was leisurely drinking tea, swallowed hard, and could hardly believe his ears.
"Miss Fan, you just said... you only want fifty taels of silver as payment?"
Fan Xiaoxiao nodded, still with that same smiling expression.
"That's right, you heard me correctly, I said I only want fifty taels."
This time, Ji Yushu heard clearly. He began to wonder if this young lady had lost her mind. The amount his family had proposed was clearly far more than fifty taels! Perhaps Fan Xiaoxiao hadn't understood him, so kindly, Ji Yushu repeated the conditions his family had proposed.
"My lady, did you not hear our terms clearly? We're asking for one hundred taels!"
“I heard you clearly, one hundred taels. But I only want fifty taels, plus three conditions that your Ji family agrees to.”
Upon hearing that there were additional conditions, Ji Yushu's heart, which had just settled down, tightened again.
"What are the conditions?"
"First, I want the map on your desk."
Ji Yushu looked at the map Fan Xiaoxiao pointed to and frowned slightly, looking somewhat troubled. This was a feng shui record from the Great Zhou Dynasty, which roughly described the mountains and rivers of various places. It wasn't anything particularly valuable, but it was a gift from a friend.
"This...this map was a gift from a very important friend. If it were possible, would you allow me to make a copy for you, my lady?"
Fan Xiaoxiao thought for a moment and agreed without much hesitation. After all, all she needed to know was where Guqu Town, where she was now, was in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and where Tianshan was.
"And what's the second condition?"
"The second condition is that after you establish your chamber of commerce, you must sell the recipe for fish balls to the Huang family for one hundred taels of silver. I don't care how you sell it, but you must do it. After the sale, you must give me half of the profits. Also, if I need fans in the future, your chamber of commerce must provide them to me at cost price."
Ji Yushu had no objection to the condition that the fans be provided to Fan Xiaoxiao at cost price in the future. However, the condition of selling the fish ball recipe to the Huang family for one hundred taels of silver was somewhat puzzling. He couldn't understand Fan Xiaoxiao's thinking and frowned as he asked:
Why sell the fish ball recipe to the Huang family?
Madam Ji understood quickly, slapping her unfortunate son on the back of the head and scolding, "Are you stupid?! Of course, we should let that old bastard Huang Yuan spend the money. If he spends the money, we have to find a way to make it back. Only then can we open up trade in Guqu Town in one fell swoop! Letting that old bastard see that there's profit to be made is like letting flies see a cracked egg! Do you understand?"
After hearing this, Ji Yushu finally understood. Rubbing his head, he repeatedly gave Fan Xiaoxiao a thumbs up: "Brilliant."
Madam Ji shook her head helplessly at her silly son, then smiled apologetically at Fan Xiaoxiao: "Miss Fan, you're being too formal. If Huang Yuan really bought the recipe for fish balls, then we'll give you all his money!"
“No, I only need half. Madam Ji, the other half of yours should be used to establish a chamber of commerce. After all, opening up Guqu Town is only the first step, but I believe you know better than me how to ensure its long-term success.”
Fan Xiaoxiao winked at Madam Ji, who knew perfectly well that this was Fan Xiaoxiao deliberately doing them a favor. She immediately nodded and smiled, "I know, we'll gladly accept your offer. My Ji family thanks you in advance, Miss Fan."
"Hai, let's talk about this after it's all settled."
"Then... what is the third condition?"
When the third condition was mentioned, Fan Xiaoxiao revealed a mysterious smile: "Speaking of this third condition, it's still related to whether you can keep control of the Guqu Town business for a long time. This will require you two to make some sacrifices. It's like this..."
Upon hearing Fan Xiaoxiao's third condition, both members of the Ji family wore unusually serious expressions. Fan Xiaoxiao, on the other hand, leisurely sipped her tea. The condition she proposed wouldn't harm them, so she wasn't worried about them refusing.
After a while, Ji Yushu gritted his teeth, as if he had finally made up his mind, and said, "Alright! We'll do as Madam Fan says! We'll agree to the conditions you've proposed!"
Seeing how cooperative the Ji family was, Fan Xiaoxiao smiled and accepted the gift, saying thank you.
After Fan Xiaoxiao finished explaining how to make fish ball vermicelli and the "secret recipe," it was getting late.
Both parties signed a contract regarding everything discussed that day. After receiving the fifty taels of silver from the Ji family as payment, they agreed that the next day Fan Xiaoxiao would personally teach the head chef at the Linjiang Restaurant how to make vermicelli and other ingredients. Madam Ji and her son then saw her off at her doorstep. Before leaving, Ji Yushu bowed respectfully to Fan Xiaoxiao again and said:
“Miss Fan, I will have someone deliver the map to your residence after I have finished copying it tomorrow.”
Hearing Ji Yushu's words, Fan Xiaoxiao was both amused and exasperated. What kind of mansion was this? They were at most living under someone else's roof. So, after nodding haphazardly, Fan Xiaoxiao followed Uncle Wang and left the Ji family in the heavy rain.
Meanwhile, at the Zhang family's place...
Zhang lay weakly on the bed, rubbing her temples. Zhang the butcher, standing beside her, was also bruised and swollen, groaning in pain. The two of them had been terrified by the "surprises" Xiao Hei had caused to fall down a couple of days ago. In the chaos, Zhang had stepped on a bench leg, which tilted up and smashed directly onto her forehead, making her see stars.
Before Zhang could even recover, her foot slipped, and the bench slammed into Zhang the butcher's nose, causing him to cover his nose and cry with tears and snot streaming down his face. He couldn't speak for a long time. As he backed away, Zhang the butcher wasn't paying attention and stepped on a dead rat. He lost his balance and, pulling Zhang along, fell into the disgusting pile of things with a thud. It was a hard fall, and neither of them could get up for a while.
In addition, with the torrential rain these past two days, there was no way to go out and set up a stall, so the two of them just lay at home groaning and moaning.
"Damn it! I absolutely mustn't let him find out who that guy is! If I do, I'll skin him alive!"
Butcher Zhang rubbed his nose and spoke harshly. Zhang Shi, who was standing next to him, sneered and her eyes were full of resentment.
"Do we even need to arrest them? It must be that little slut surnamed Fan! She just had a falling out with us during the day, and now she's doing this despicable thing at night! Bah! I'm going to talk to our daughter about this later! I'll make sure Mayor Huang kicks that family out!"
Mentioning the Fan family made Zhang the butcher's teeth itch; the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Suddenly, he slammed his fist on the bed and cursed, "Damn it! Tomorrow! Tomorrow it is! We're going to make that braised pork offal business a success!"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
