Lu Yinghuai felt that all the business he had learned over the years was wasted, which was why he could speak so incoherently, let alone talk about rare lanterns. He couldn't come up with anything else, which was really embarrassing.
He just wanted to see her, he just wanted to ask if she remembered him, he just wanted to ask if she could talk to him, he just... He was so stupid.
He suddenly felt as if dark clouds were gathering above him, and the air around him was unusually oppressive, but with a crisp reply, "Yes," everything vanished.
He suddenly came alive. If no one had been there, he would have jumped up and down and roared wildly to express his excitement. But with Granny Yun still there, he could only bite his lower lip hard to suppress the uncontrollable upward curve of his lips.
Pretending to be calm, pretending it was just a casual question, I nodded and replied with only one word, "Okay."
Yunling's thoughts were simple: she wanted to see the lanterns, but her mother wouldn't allow it. Now that the young master Lu had personally asked, surely her mother wouldn't refuse, right?
Zhang shivered. Just now, Lu's mother said she was going to the restroom, but she didn't know why she'd been gone so long. Bored, she looked around, trying to see where Yunling was.
Turning around, she saw Old Lady Yun waving and calling her from under the tree. After learning that Yun Ling had gotten her clothes wet, she hurriedly pulled Yun Chu, Yun Ruochun, and the returning Yun Ruoxia to pack their things and return to the donkey cart.
They didn't expect Yun Shenghua and Old Man Yun to abandon their social engagements and go back with them, so they asked Lu Yinghuai to pass on the message, and then drove away in their donkey cart.
As Lu Yinghuai watched the donkey cart drive further and further away, the smile on his lips grew brighter and brighter.
"How come I didn't know there would be a rare giant lantern for this year's Lantern Festival?"
Lu Yinghuai turned around and looked up. Who else could it be but his mother standing there?
His heart skipped a beat. He hadn't expected his mother to be in such a position and to see right through him. But he didn't want to deny it. He had thought many times that if he had to choose someone to grow old with in this life, that person had to be Lingniang!
So he relaxed and replied:
"The Lu Family Trading Company is sponsoring this year's Lantern Festival and has prepared large lanterns for the public to enjoy, praying for favorable weather, good harvests, happiness, and well-being in the coming year."
Looking at her extravagant son, Lu's mother was truly at a loss for words. He had only said two words to her, and he was like a peacock spreading its tail feathers. If no one had seen him, he probably would have hopped around and made a few noises.
Luckily, she noticed something was wrong with the small boat earlier, which allowed her to catch the guy's little trick. Unexpectedly, he ran away quite quickly.
After the Dragon Boat Festival, Lu Yinghuai was very busy. He first went to the county government office to discuss the matter with Master Qin. After obtaining permission, he participated in the design of the large lantern, the purchase of materials, communication and transportation plans. Even Uncle Cao could hardly see him more than a few times.
Meanwhile, Yunling was also busy. Her mushrooms had grown out of the bag, and the mushrooms that had grown out were better than those that had been grown using dead wood in terms of shape, cap size, and yield. More importantly, the mushrooms were also growing much faster, which was a good thing.
Looking at the remaining space, Yun Ruo couldn't sit still any longer, even before Yun Ling. "Ling-jie, how about we buy another five hundred bags and fill the shelves?"
"Okay, but we won't expand the scale of the black mushrooms; we'll use them all to grow flower mushrooms."
Yunling already had two hundred bags of black small mushrooms and three hundred bags of flower mushrooms. This amount of black small mushrooms was enough for Shengfu Restaurant to consume. As for the flower mushrooms, she planned to dry the excess into dried goods and sell them to other places through merchants to generate additional income.
Yun Ruoxia readily agreed and followed Yun Ling to collect all two hundred bags of black mushrooms, while only collecting one hundred bags of flower mushrooms for the time being.
The two followed Yun Shenghua into the city with the mushrooms and arrived at Shengfu Restaurant. Manager Zhou rushed out anxiously, "We've been waiting for you two for so long! I thought something had happened to you since we didn't deliver the mushrooms for so many days."
Yun Ruoxia unloaded the mushrooms from the cart and lifted the thin cloth covering them. "Manager Zhou, look, aren't these mushrooms even better?"
Shopkeeper Zhou rubbed his eyes, leaned forward, and said, "Yes, this looks much better. Is it the same kind of mushroom? Will the price go up again?"
"It's the same type of mushroom, the price hasn't gone up, it's just that the quantity has increased."
Upon hearing this, Yun Ling hurriedly tried to tug at Yun Ruoxia's sleeve, but she couldn't keep up with Yun Ruoxia's pace of speaking, so she had to reluctantly withdraw her hand.
Upon hearing that the price hadn't changed, Manager Zhou immediately became nonchalant. "It's no problem if you have a lot of food. Bring over whatever you have at home and I'll buy it. As autumn and winter approach, hot pot becomes popular, and this mushroom hot pot base is the best-selling one."
The words "hot selling" hit Yun Ruoxia right on the head like a flying stone. She'd heard so many times this old fox say things like the black mushrooms were hard to sell and wouldn't even break even, and that he'd only bought them out of respect for her.
That's why she didn't raise the price because of the large quantity and the fact that the restaurant couldn't afford it right away. Damn it, if she raised the price by even one copper coin, given the current mushroom production rate and output, how much more would that cost!
Shopkeeper Zhou paid no attention to Yun Ruoxia's colorful face and happily carried the mushrooms inside. When he came out, he was still smiling, carrying copper coins and two boxes of fine pastries.
Yunling accepted the food. Ultimately, her aunt's weakness was her illiteracy. The main hall was adorned with small wooden plaques displaying various delicacies, with the mushroom oil noodles listed as the best, clearly labeled "Authentic."
Next comes the type of hot pot, with mushroom broth being the top choice. Mushrooms sell very well, and even if you raise the price by a penny or two, Mr. Zhou won't object.
Unfortunately, her aunt spoke too quickly, and she didn't have time to stop her. Moreover, once a business statement is made, there's no going back, so Yunling didn't say anything more.
In fact, before the mushroom oil noodles, black shiitake mushrooms and flower mushrooms were in a mediocre position at Shengfu Restaurant; they certainly weren't losing money.
It was only after the emergence of the termite mushroom oil brand, coupled with Manager Zhou's massive advertising campaign, that Shengfu Restaurant was able to break through the encirclement and gain a foothold. As for black mushrooms and flower mushrooms, their prices naturally rose accordingly, and Manager Zhou was even worried that Yunling and the others would not have enough supply.
The price was already set, so there was no need to think about it further. However, Yunling thought that since Yun Ruochun and Yun Chu had gone to the private school to learn to read, Yun Ruoxia should also go with them. Even if she couldn't write, she would still be able to recognize the characters, so she wouldn't suffer any losses.
After bidding farewell to Manager Zhou, the two went to the cloth shop. The owner was overjoyed to hear that he had placed an order for another five hundred bags and invited them into the inner hall for tea and fruit.
Yunling didn't rush to take out her coins and leave. After taking a sip of tea, she asked, "Master, how much does this bolt of cotton cloth cost?"
"Young lady, how much do you want? If you can get more than ten bolts of cotton cloth, there will be a discount."
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