When the young man heard that Qin San Niang needed thirteen steamers of steamed buns, he almost fell to the ground. After he realized what was happening, he was incredibly excited.
"What? You can't make it? I need it before noon today," Qin San Niang asked. If this stall couldn't make that many, she could go to other stalls, but she had other things to do and didn't plan to waste time here.
In addition, it would be quite difficult to make such a large quantity of steamed buns without help.
"Yes, definitely, don't worry, sister. My home is just down the street behind here. If there's a big order, my mother and wife will help. We can make at least twenty steamers, let alone a dozen." The young shop assistant said hastily, afraid she might change her mind.
"Alright, then I'll give you half a tael of silver as a deposit. I'll come and pick it up before noon. But you must guarantee the quality; they must all be this size, and you can't cut corners. Otherwise, I won't pay you." Qin San Niang gave a heads-up beforehand, after all, this was a thank-you gift to be given out. If the sizes were uneven, it wouldn't be building goodwill but rather inviting hatred.
"Don't worry, sister, we won't ruin our reputation, right? Besides, I've been selling steamed buns on this street for many years!" The young man hurriedly assured him, his face beaming with joy.
After Qin San Niang left, he quickly pushed the cart home to tell his mother and wife the good news: today's business in one morning was equivalent to the total of the previous seven or eight days—a truly big deal! Thinking of the admiring looks his mother and wife gave him, the young man was overjoyed.
Where did Qin San Niang go? Naturally, she went to meet Chen Yushan, who had taken good care of her.
Chen's Pastry Shop and Si's Pastry Shop are only one street apart. These two streets used to be mostly pastry shops, but now most of them have changed hands. Only Chen's and Si's are still competing with each other.
Compared to its previous bustling atmosphere, Chen's Dim Sum is now practically deserted. In fact, even the employees at Chen's Dim Sum don't understand why those fools would still buy Si Ji's dim sum, which costs twice as much, when their dim sum is so cheap. They really have too much money to burn!
Once in the back alley, she took out a grappling hook from her spatial storage. This thing was very useful and perfect for someone like her who didn't know light-footed kung fu but needed to scale walls and roofs. Besides, she was now strong and could throw it a long distance.
After accurately projecting the hook onto the corner of the roof, it pulled it back slightly to make sure the hook was in place before swiftly climbing up like a cat.
I wonder when I'll be able to somersault into the wall like Qingshan.
A brown stray cat perched on the wall, staring at her with its deep brown eyes, almost knocking her back!
With a wave of her hand, Qin San Niang put it into her spatial storage to avoid causing her trouble later.
Inside the study, Chen Yushan's angry voice rang out.
"Still no word from Si Ji? Are all your men incompetent? Where did Si Li Ren get those recipes from? How come she can keep launching new pastries, catching us completely off guard? It's utterly infuriating!"
"Master, spare us! That man surnamed Si is a cunning old fox. Our men have been guarding the entrance to Si's shop and his house since before the Lunar New Year, but we haven't found anything."
"Do you think this recipe was handed over by him outside, perhaps in Jiangzhou? He goes to Jiangzhou every month, and every time he comes back, there are new pastries." Seeing his master's distorted expression, Wang Laishun quickly came out to put out the fire.
Wang Laishun's words made sense, but his men never expected that Qin Sanniang would disguise herself as a man and sneak into Siji Pastry Shop, and that she would not enter through the back door, but through the front door, which they thought was the most dangerous.
Qin San Niang did encounter those people who were staking out the door a few times. Perhaps because they hadn't had any results for a long time, they were all somewhat unmotivated. On several occasions, she even saw them gambling in groups of three or five. Is that all? Can they be spies?
From this, she deduced that Chen Yushan, the owner of Chen's shop, might not be a very important figure. At the very least, he wasn't from a prestigious family or a well-trained mobster. Those kinds of people would never be so lax in managing their subordinates. Take Lan Yao, for example. Although he was young and seemed carefree on the surface, he was very organized in his work, and his servants and guards didn't dare to act recklessly.
Having figured all this out, Qin San Niang dared to become a thief.
He tiptoed up a loose tile and finally saw Chen Yushan's appearance. The man in front of the table was wearing a gray brocade thin cotton robe and a gray rat skin hat. He was tall and slender, with narrow eyes, slightly upturned eyebrows, a hooked nose, and tightly pursed thin lips, all of which seemed to indicate that he was not someone to be trifled with!
He had taken Wang Laishun's words to heart and thought about them for a while. They weren't without reason. Either the Si family's main branch had put in the effort, or that old fox Si was hiding his true intentions too well.
"Alright, since that's the case, let's put Si Ji aside for now."
"How's the preparation for our winery going? Is the shop decoration almost done? And you absolutely must keep a close eye on the winemaker; we can't afford any mistakes this time!" Chen Yushan rubbed his temples; he'd been having a real headache these past few days. Fortunately, his superiors hadn't criticized him too much for his poor performance this time.
The reason might be that a major secret outpost in Jiangzhou was taken down, which would make Hexian even more important.
Thinking about the intentions of those above, who wanted to monopolize the commerce of He County, the pastry shops were only a small part, and the profits were not large, while wine and tea were more precious.
People in Jiangnan love wine and tea. If one could start from He County and gradually take over the wine industry in Jiangzhou and even the entire Jiangnan region, one would be incredibly wealthy, far beyond what a small pastry shop owner could achieve.
Chen Yushan was so confident because his superiors had brought him a master brewer from Jingzhou. It was said that this master brewer was so skilled that he could even brew the tribute wine that was popular in the capital! He had been fortunate enough to taste it once, and the taste was simply irresistible and intoxicating. If he could really get such a master, he was absolutely confident that he could make his business bigger and stronger!
Perhaps sensing that he was no longer dwelling on the Si family matter, Wang Laishun hurriedly replied, "Don't worry, boss, everything is ready. We're all set, just waiting for the right opportunity. We'll definitely make a splash in He County, and those small taverns will be no match for us." Then, Wang Laishun hesitated before asking, "What about the Si family? Should we continue to follow up?"
"I'll make him throw it up sooner or later. Once our wine is ready, we'll figure out a way to deal with him and let him be smug for a few more days!"
“But boss, why don’t we…” Wang Laishun made a throat-slitting gesture.
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