Gu Yaoniang looked at Lu Zhaoan with suspicion.
Lu Zhaoan was initially quite at ease, but gradually his guilty conscience became apparent.
"Is Boss Lu plotting against me?"
Gu Yaoniang's tone was cool.
Lu Zhaoan had helped her a lot and had also revealed his past wounds to her. She had a closer feeling towards Lu Zhaoan than that of an ordinary business partner.
She wasn't really angry, but she disliked this seemingly ulterior motive in approaching her, and she disliked the feeling of being manipulated.
Lu Zhaoan quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "That's not the case. It's just..."
"You just felt that if I were to have a serious discussion with you, I wouldn't agree. So you used some tricks?"
Gu Yaoniang interrupted him, her tone somewhat muffled.
Lu Zhaoan hadn't expected her to react so strongly. He wanted to say something more, but he simply bowed deeply and sincerely apologized, "It was my oversight."
Seeing his polite manner, Gu Yaoniang felt as if she had punched a cotton ball, and felt even more frustrated.
She was determined to teach Lulu Zhaoan a lesson and vent her frustration.
She said, "When Mr. Lu is doing business with other people, would he first play the victim to soften their hearts and then talk business with you?"
Seeing that Lu Zhaoan remained silent, she continued, "You probably never really regarded me as the owner of Jinyulou, a businessman."
Lu Zhaoan vehemently denied it, but Yao Niang ignored him and said, "If you really consider me the owner of Jin Yu Lou, then you should be open and aboveboard and work with me for mutual benefit, instead of using your status as a friend to blackmail me."
Gu Yaoniang, mimicking Lu Zhaoan's previous demeanor, sighed and said, "In the end, you look down on me, thinking I'm just a young woman who acts on emotion. Even when discussing business, you have to use emotions to coax me."
Ultimately, in Mr. Lu's eyes, I was not someone he could entrust his business to, nor was he willing to treat me with sincerity. It was I who, thinking that I had met Mr. Lu a few times, done business with him twice, and listened to a few of his words, truly considered myself his friend.
It was my own fault for being so arrogant and ignorant.
Lu Zhaoan was filled with unease. Seeing that Gu Yaoniang's words were becoming increasingly sarcastic, he secretly groaned inwardly.
He thought to himself that the woman was indeed perceptive and thoughtful. Even though he himself could not clearly perceive his own vague thoughts, she had pointed them out one by one.
Lu Zhao'an knew in his heart that although he wasn't as despicable as Yao Niang had described, he was still lacking in gentlemanly conduct. And indeed, as Yao Niang said, he had indeed treated her somewhat lightly and hadn't truly taken her as a person in the business world.
Thinking of this, Lu Zhaoan bowed again, his tone even more sincere: "I'm sorry! It was my oversight."
Gu Yaoniang stepped aside to avoid his greeting.
She wasn't really angry, just resentful. When men are alive—merchants, scholars, officials—people have different expectations and perceptions of them because of their different social statuses.
In the outside world, a woman's only identity seems to be that of a woman. Whether she is a daughter of a high-ranking official or a common woman, she is still a woman. Women are seen as emotional, gentle, and virtuous.
This is indeed a beautiful expectation for women.
But since Lu Zhaoan was discussing business with her, she was now a businesswoman. Her status as a woman was no longer important; what mattered was that she was a businesswoman.
However, Lu Zhaoan did not discuss the benefits with her, nor did he talk about whether or how this move would benefit Jin Yulou. Instead, the two engaged in a heated debate over the division of the profits.
Instead, he directly appealed to her emotions.
She felt somewhat upset and frustrated. It made her feel that all her efforts for Jin Yulou seemed like child's play in the eyes of others.
She didn't want to get entangled with Lu Zhaoan on this matter, nor did she care whether Lu Zhaoan truly knew what she cared about.
Such delicate feelings are difficult for anyone other than a woman to empathize with and understand, and to comprehend this sense of loss.
Since Lu Zhaoan had already apologized, she composed herself and said, "I won't hide it from you. You must have heard that I said the other day that I want everyone to be able to afford to eat out, so Jin Yu Lou will not set high prices."
"Drunken Moon Pavilion is an aristocratic restaurant, while my Golden Jade Pavilion now wants to offer more affordable options, so our businesses don't clash. Golden Jade Pavilion has some new dim sum, selling some to you wouldn't be a problem. I just wonder what kind of reward Boss Lu intends to offer me?"
Lu Zhaoan seemed somewhat flustered by his earlier words. He hesitated to speak easily, and cautiously asked, "I wonder what the rules are for Jin Yu Lou's monthly release of new products?"
Gu Yaoniang lowered her head, as if suddenly remembering something, and asked Bitao to go to the kitchen to fetch some pastries. She had just answered Lu Zhaoan's question—
"For the next year, we will launch a new dim sum on the 15th of each month and a new dish on the 1st of each month."
Seeing Lu Zhaoan's eyes light up when he heard about the dishes, Gu Yaoniang promptly interrupted his eager thoughts: "Our dishes cannot be taken out."
As for the recipes, they are usually family-inherited techniques passed down through generations. Jin Yu Lou's ability to create new dishes every month is a testament to its skill. Lu Zhao'an naturally had no face to ask Jin Yu Lou for their recipes.
"Jin Yu Lou now sells in limited quantities, with larger quantities available on the day of release each month and smaller quantities available on other days. What we can give you is naturally also limited. Moreover, as Boss Lu just said, we'll give you three times the price."
Thinking of the delicious taste of the ham pastry and the reasonable price of only one hundred coins that Gu Yaoniang had agreed to, Lu Zhaoan readily agreed: "Okay."
Gu Yaoniang looked at him and said, "However, I also have conditions."
Lu Zhaoan remained silent, gesturing for her to continue.
"Firstly, we keep the new pastries we produce this month for our own sale only. If Zuiyuelou wants them, they'll have to wait until next month."
Before Lu Zhaoan arrived, he had already considered Gu Yaoniang's thoughts and knew that what she wanted now was the scarcity of Jin Yu Lou, to make it unique, so that people in Shuojing City would only go to Jin Yu Lou when they mentioned those pastries.
Now that Gu Yaoniang has made an offer and is willing to sell some of the new products to Zuiyuelou next month, it's already quite an achievement. So she readily nodded: "Okay."
Gu Yaoniang smiled and proposed a second condition: "Secondly, Boss Lu must set the price of the pastries at Zuiyuelou no less than five times the original price."
Lu Zhaoan was taken aback. What kind of condition was this?
He readily agreed.
Seeing his straightforwardness, Gu Yaoniang added, "And I can only sell you a maximum of one hundred portions per day."
Lu Zhaoan shook his head: "One hundred portions are too few."
"That's quite a lot. A hundred ham pastries might be a bit few, but in the future, the portions of other pastries from Jin Yu Lou will be quite large."
Gu Yaoniang appeared calm and composed. She casually picked up a round fan from the table, waved it lightly, and covered her mouth with a slight smile.
She secretly sighed in her heart: It's fortunate that Bizhu always gives her a round fan to hold when she does her hair and makeup.
Yao Niang began to understand why her second uncle and Lu Jing'an always carried fans. Waving a fan in their hands made them appear more imposing for no apparent reason.
At this moment, Bitao had already brought over a lot of snacks.
The private room was immediately filled with the aroma of milk and rice, as well as a sweet and warm fragrance that Lu Zhaoan had never smelled before.
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