After the meal, Chen Yuancheng had hot tea brought over, and among the four plates of pastries was a slightly flawed steamed cake.
Ling Qi's eyes never left the steamed cake the moment it was served.
Since his young master hadn't eaten, he couldn't make the first move.
Chen Yuancheng pretended not to see his expression, poured tea for Xiao Yunying, blew on the tea, and didn't touch the snacks.
Xiao Yunying couldn't stand it anymore and pushed the cake in front of Ling Qi: "Eat it if you want to. How can you taste it just by looking at it?"
Ling Qi immediately stared longingly at her young master.
Chen Yuancheng was too embarrassed to look at him: "Eat up, eat up. You're quite good at recognizing things; you can tell at a glance which pastry was made by Yunying."
"Thank you, young master."
Ling Qi immediately grabbed one and ate half of it in one bite.
"Such soft and tender snacks, not dry at all."
Xiao Yunying smiled and said, "I'll teach the pastry chef at Huiweilou how to make steamed cakes later. If you want to eat them in the future, your young master can bring you here."
"Alright, Miss Xiao, could you teach me a few more?"
"No problem, what would you like to eat?"
"Everything Miss Xiao makes is delicious..."
Chen Yuancheng had to interrupt him: "Ling Qi, go and get the brush, ink, paper, inkstone, and the letter I wrote."
Ling Qi knew that the young master was about to get down to business, so she stuffed the remaining half of the cake into her mouth and said, "I understand, please wait a moment, young master."
Xiao Yunying took a small sip of her tea: "Why is it that everyone I know is a foodie?"
What does "foodie" mean?
"It's a nickname used to describe someone who loves to eat or is greedy."
Chen Yuancheng put down his teacup: "Actually, you can't blame them. It's just that your cooking skills are too good."
Xiao Yunying nodded in agreement: "Yes, you're right."
"Why aren't you being modest this time?"
"No need to be modest in front of you." Xiao Yunying tapped her teacup with her finger, then remembered something: "Hey? I didn't clean the small kitchen."
"You don't need to clean it up, someone has already taken care of it."
"Then I'll take advantage of your kindness and slack off for a bit."
Ling Qi quickly brought over the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, along with three pre-written contracts.
Chen Yuancheng said succinctly, "Take a look, if there are no problems, sign it."
Xiao Yunying smiled helplessly, "This is the contract for distributing your silver, don't be so impatient, okay?"
“I don’t believe this is a contract for distributing my money.”
"Hopefully, this will help you earn more money."
Chen Yuancheng smiled without saying a word; what he was thinking about wasn't the money.
Xiao Yunying carefully looked at the contents of the paper. She could understand most of the words, and occasionally asked about the meaning of the words she didn't understand.
The contract, roughly translated, means that she contributed vegetables and her cooking recipes as capital, and with Chen Yuancheng's consent, received half of Huiweilou's shares. (I can't quite put my finger on the classical Chinese, so please bear with it.)
Xiao Yunying pointed to the place on the paper that said 50% equity:
"Are you really going to give me 50% of the shares? Isn't that too much? I don't know how much profit my recipes and vegetables can bring to Huiweilou. How about we test it for a while and see the results?"
"There's no need for that, I trust you."
Xiao Yunying held up three fingers: "No way, I don't believe in myself. How about we change it to 30%?"
On this point, Chen Yuancheng displayed an unprecedentedly firm stance in front of Xiao Yunying, refusing to budge:
“Yun Ying, you may not understand, but the value of the vegetables you grow far exceeds your expectations. If you want to keep those vegetables, you need to find a powerful backer to protect you. That’s why I want you to invest in Huiweilou and let the Chen family become your backer.”
I consider you a friend, and I don't want this to make you look inferior to me in the eyes of others. I want them to know that I am your equal, and no one can look down on you.
Chen Yuancheng's words deeply moved Xiao Yunying, but the more he said that, the less she wanted to take advantage of him.
"I don't care what others say."
“I care! You don’t need to worry that you can’t bring enough profit to Huiweilou to get 50% of the shares. I’ve been learning how to do business since I was a child from my mother. I can see the value of things better than you. I’m a businessman. I won’t do business at a loss.”
Xiao Yunying thought about it seriously for a while.
Every word Chen Yuancheng said was for her benefit, leaving her unsure how to refuse.
Encouraged by his words, she gained confidence in herself. Perhaps, as he said, she could really make Huiweilou famous throughout the country.
Xiao Yunying made her decision: "You're right. I'm not very good at business, and I need a protector to support me. You've always thought of me, so it would seem pretentious to refuse again, wouldn't it?"
Have you thought it through? If you have, I'm signing now, and once you sign, you can't go back on your word.
Chen Yuancheng personally ground the ink, dipped a brush in the ink, and placed it in Xiao Yunying's hand: "Sign quickly... What happened to your hand?"
Xiao Yunying turned her hand over and glanced at it: "Oh, I accidentally burned myself in the iron pot while cooking just now."
The burn on the back of her hand was relatively mild, and her skin returned to its normal color. Her wrist joint was red and had two small blisters, about the size of millet grains, but they weren't serious, so she ignored them.
Chen Yuancheng was annoyed. She was wearing loose, old clothes with sleeves that were a little long and covered half of the back of her hand. Plus, the person who had been watching her hadn't noticed her hand and hadn't seen that her wrist was burned.
"Ling Qi, quickly go to the clinic and get a bottle of burn ointment."
Xiao Yunying signed her name: "No need, this little injury will heal on its own."
Ling Qi ignored her and went straight to the clinic after leaving the private room.
For the first time, Chen Yuancheng spoke to Xiao Yunying in a very stern tone: "That's what you say again. Even if you lose a leg, as long as you don't die, you'll get better on your own. Can't you take better care of your body?"
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