Chapter 59 This is called win-win cooperation
Cheng Wanwan was in a great mood after the business deal was finalized.
But when he turned around, he saw his four sons with miserable faces, looking very unhappy.
After hesitating for a moment, Zhao Dashan said, "Mom, we can sell them ourselves. It's okay if it's hard work. I can set up a stall by myself."
Zhao Ergou also said, "It's like giving money away to that Manager Chen for free."
Cheng Wanwan laughed. These silly sons would rather suffer themselves than give away money for nothing.
But sometimes, business partnerships can help expand the market and make things easier for yourself.
She asked, "Our family can harvest at least 20 kilograms of lanterns a day. Can anyone tell me how many kilograms of seeds are left after peeling them?"
The four sons bowed their heads in unison and counted on their fingers.
Zhao Ergou was slightly better off; he quickly calculated the result: "Mom, it's about six jin."
"Then let me ask another question," Cheng Wanwan continued, "How many kilograms of ice jelly seeds were used in these three buckets?"
“I know!” Zhao Dashan quickly replied, “A little over two jin.”
“If we turn all six catties of ice jelly seeds into ice jelly every day, that’s nine buckets. Can the five of us sell them all by ourselves?” Cheng Wanwan looked at the four children in front of her. “Sometimes, we need to rely on the strength of others. This is not called giving money away for free. This is called cooperation and win-win. If he can make money, we can also make more money. Do you understand?”
Zhao Sidan blinked: "I think I understand."
Zhao Ergou counted on his fingers, going over the numbers again and again, before finally saying, "If all nine buckets of ice jelly are sold for two coins a bowl, we can earn more than one tael a day..."
He couldn't calculate exactly how much one ounce was.
Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "If we sell ice jelly this way, we won't need the whole family to come to town to set up a stall anymore."
She took her sons and walked into the street.
In the past two days, she has come to know the situation in Hekou Town. There are seven or eight restaurants of all sizes. The largest restaurant is Zuixianlou. As soon as she arrived at the entrance of Zuixianlou, she saw the shopkeeper who had wanted to buy her recipe before. When the shopkeeper turned away, his face was very gloomy. If she hadn't been worried that the shopkeeper would cause trouble, she would not have thought of going through the cooperation route.
Cheng Wanwan, true to her business acumen, smiled at the shopkeeper.
The manager of Zuixianlou, surnamed Yang, sneered. Less than an hour had passed, and this woman was already regretting it. He would never give her five taels of silver; three taels at most.
As Manager Yang was pondering how to lower the price, he saw Cheng Wanwan pause, turn around, and head towards the second largest restaurant opposite Zuixianlou, Jixiang Restaurant.
He suddenly stood up.
Could this woman be planning to sell the recipe to the owner of Jixiang Restaurant?
Jixiang Restaurant has always been overshadowed by Zuixianlou. If they could get the recipe for ice jelly, they could be ranked first alongside Zuixianlou.
Manager Yang rushed out to call for help, but it was too late. Cheng Wanwan had already led her four sons into the Jixiang Restaurant.
It was past lunchtime, and the restaurant was nearly empty. The manager and waiter were chatting idly when they saw an older woman in patched clothes leading her four sons, who were also dressed in patched clothes, walking over. The waiter's face showed a hint of disdain.
Manager Zhou said casually, "Go ask this lady if she wants tea."
He was used to begging people coming to the entrance of the grand restaurant for tea and leftovers.
The waiter went over to ask, and Cheng Wanwan glanced at the menu. The price of the noodles was about the same as that of the stalls outside, ten coins a bowl.
Two months ago, a bowl of noodles cost about six coins. Due to the poor harvest, grain prices rose, and everything related to food went up in price, but wages didn't. For example, the porters at the docks could earn thirty to fifty coins a day two months ago. But with this severe drought, there's not much work to do in the fields, so the men in the village have all come out to carry goods, which has lowered their wages. They only earn twenty coins a day, which is gone after eating two bowls of noodles. Of course, these porters can't afford to eat expensive noodles.
Cheng Wanwan ordered five bowls of vegetarian noodle soup. The waiter was a little surprised, not expecting that someone dressed in such shabby clothes would be willing to spend fifty coins to eat noodles.
The waiter instructed the kitchen to prepare noodles. At that moment, another group of guests arrived in the main hall, dressed in fine silks and satins. The innkeeper personally greeted them and led them to a private room on the second floor. After they came out of the private room, the innkeeper stood at the kitchen door and ordered: "Eight-treasure duck, assorted chicken, five-treasure sashimi, braised lion's head meatballs... and another pot of wine."
Every time the shopkeeper announced a dish, Cheng Wanwan would swallow hard.
She did a quick calculation and realized that this meal cost at least three taels of silver.
She's still too poor to order such expensive dishes. She needs to work hard to earn money so that one day she can eat whatever she wants.
The four boys around him were also constantly swallowing their saliva.
They were engrossed in eating their vegetarian noodles, even though the noodles themselves were quite delicious and the broth was very tasty. They weren't even satisfied with just noodles; they dared to dream of eating lion's head meatballs...
But what exactly is a lion's head? Is it made by cutting off a lion's head and cooking it?
The four boys racked their brains but still couldn't imagine what kind of dish it was.
The mother and her five children quickly finished their lunch. Cheng Wanwan counted out fifty copper coins and went to the counter to pay.
The shopkeeper was busy calculating accounts when he saw her coming. He stopped what he was doing, counted the coins, and then said with a smile, "Take care, don't bother seeing me off."
Cheng Wanwan didn't leave. She smiled and said, "Manager Zhou, have you ever heard of ice jelly?"
Shopkeeper Zhou's fingers paused. He had certainly heard of ice jelly. It had started to become popular in Hekou Town a few days ago, and some customers even asked him to have a bowl of ice jelly as soon as they entered the shop. He had been busy and hadn't had time to see what ice jelly was all about.
Cheng Wanwan took a bowl of crushed ice jelly from the wooden bucket. Because it was crushed and not in shape, it didn't look very appealing, but the taste was pretty much the same.
She pushed the bowl of ice jelly towards him: "Manager Zhou can give it a try. If you think it's feasible, then we can talk about selling ice jelly together. If not, then I'll have to go find Manager Yang of Zuixianlou across the street."
Upon hearing this, Manager Zhou's eyes widened immediately.
Zuixianlou was a giant mountain standing in his way. His goal in life was to surpass Zuixianlou and become the number one restaurant in Hekou Town.
But Jixiang Restaurant is their family's ancestral property, while Zuixianlou is a chain that originated from Huzhou. He always felt that he would never be able to achieve his goal in his lifetime.
If we can't achieve it, so be it. How can we let Zuixianlou leave us even further behind?
Shopkeeper Zhou took a sip of the iced jelly, which solidified his resolve. He said, "Iced jelly recipe, eight taels of silver, is that alright?"
Cheng Wanwan: "..."
Why are these restaurant owners always thinking about buying sons?
Seeing her hesitant expression, Manager Zhou raised the price: "How about ten taels of silver? If ten taels isn't enough, then twelve taels. That's the highest price I can offer."
"Manager Zhou, how about we try a different approach?"
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