Early in the morning, Jin Sanwang prepared two buckets of cold noodles and rushed to Qiongxianlou.
Manager Yu sat on the bench by the door, lost in thought, when Jin Sanwang strode over.
"Manager Yu, what's wrong? Has someone come to collect a debt again?"
Manager Yu let out a long sigh: "Sigh, forget it. If your mother wants to take over this Qiongxian Restaurant, then you should go back now and have her come over!"
Jin Sanwang was somewhat suspicious. Why did Manager Yu suddenly change his mind today when he was unwilling to sell Qiongxianlou before?
"But, manager, didn't you disagree with selling the restaurant before? What happened?"
"Stop asking, just go!"
Jin Sanwang didn't dare to hesitate. He unloaded all the cold noodles from the donkey cart, then got on the cart and lashed the donkey's rump with a whip.
Soon, Liang Shuyan was brought over!
As soon as they entered, Manager Yu led Liang Shuyan to the second floor and pointed to Qiongxian Restaurant, saying, "Look, I personally oversaw the setup of every single detail of this restaurant. Now, I'm driven to desperation by my son's gambling debts, and I've finally decided to turn things around. Old Chen from the gambling den isn't cut out to run a restaurant. To avoid wasting my years of hard work, I have no choice but to entrust this restaurant to you. As long as you can manage it well, I'll be at ease!"
Liang Shuyan did indeed have the intention and ability to take over the restaurant before, but now, due to various reasons, she has begun to hesitate. The teahouse has not yet officially started operating, and she recently donated 500 taels of silver to Huai Shu Village. Her family is also preparing to build a house, so she may not be able to come up with so much money all at once.
"Manager Yu, I understand your difficulties. You know that the people of Huai Shu Village were flooded a while ago. Not only did the people of Da Ling Village donate grain, but I also specially donated 500 taels of silver to help them build houses. I'm not afraid of being laughed at by you, but I really don't have that much silver on me!"
Manager Yu said, "My son owes the gambling den more than 300 taels of silver. The gambling den has been chasing us for several days. Business at the restaurant isn't very good right now, and we can't come up with that much money all at once. So I can only beg you. Even if you can just scrape together the 300 taels of silver, you can pay the rest when you have time later."
Liang Shuyan didn't want to take advantage of the situation, but Manager Yu looked troubled. They had been business partners for so long, and she couldn't bear to do it.
"If that's possible, let's write a contract first, and I'll give it to you once my teahouse starts making money."
Manager Yu excitedly picked up paper and pen from the table: "Then, I'll write it down for you now. We'll put our fingerprints on it, and from now on, this restaurant will be under your management."
Liang Shuyan took out more than 300 taels of silver from her bosom, weighed it in her hand, and handed it to Manager Yu!
"Here's some silver for you. You can take it and give it to the gambling den. I'll give you an IOU for the rest. I'll go back and raise the funds, and then I'll give it to you. After all, we've been working together for a while now, and I can't just take advantage of your misfortune, can I?"
Manager Yu knelt on the ground excitedly and kept kowtowing: "Thank you, this is all thanks to you. The manager of the gambling den wanted to take over my restaurant, but after thinking it over, I felt more at ease handing it over to you."
After a quick transaction, Manager Yu hurriedly went to the gambling den to pay the money.
Liang Shuyan glanced around the restaurant, and I waved to Sanwang at the door: "Sanwang, bring all the cold noodles in."
Sanwang happily carried in several buckets of jelly.
"Mother, does this mean the restaurant has really become our family's?"
"Yes, the IOU is all written. Let's clean up the restaurant first, and let me think of a signboard!"
"Mother, do you mean to change the name of the restaurant?"
How could Liang Shuyan possibly continue to use someone else's name?
"Of course, although Qiongxianlou has a good name, it may have some negative connotations due to the manager's behavior, so we should choose a better-sounding name!"
While wiping the table, Sanwang said, "Mother, how about we call it Jin's Restaurant?"
Liang Shuyan pondered for a moment: "Jin's Restaurant? That's too tacky. Since it's a restaurant, it should be grand. How about Jinzhou Restaurant? Jin and Jin are homophones, and it also represents the Jin family!"
Sanwang laughed heartily: "What a wonderful name! Mother, you are even more eloquent than Mr. Su. Such a beautiful name, I doubt Mr. Su could have come up with it for a while."
Jin Sanwang's words left Liang Shuyan completely bewildered. She muttered to herself, "When did this brat become so eloquent?"
After cleaning up, Liang Shuyan took Sanwang to the market, found a shop that made signboards, and explained her intentions.
The shopkeeper immediately provided three options according to Liang Shuyan's wishes: one was blue background with black text, one was a guaranteed minimum with black text, and one was black background with red text!
Liang Shuyan glanced at the papers on the table and nodded: "Then hurry up and write it in red! By the way, the font must be large, eye-catching, and impressive!"
"Alright! One large character is 25 coins?"
Liang Shuyan nodded without hesitation: "No problem, just do it!"
Jin Sanwang breathed a sigh of relief: "Mother, just now you said you didn't have the money to take over the restaurant, but now a single word costs 25 coins, and you say it's no problem?"
“You know, we’re building a brand, it’s like making a name for ourselves. The Jin family’s brand has to be grand and attractive, of course. Besides, how much silver can we save on a brand?”
Jin Sanwang remained silent, suddenly realizing that his mother's words made sense.
After making the sign, the two went to the restaurant, put the sign down, locked the door, and drove the donkey cart back to Daling Village!
Sitting on the donkey cart, Liang Shuyan said, "In a little while, I'll go with your older brother to hang up the signboard, then order some wooden signs, write a job posting, and hire some workers!"
When Zhang saw her mother-in-law return, she went up to her and said, "Mother, you're back. How's the restaurant?"
Liang Shuyan spread her hands: "The restaurant now belongs to our family. It has been renamed Jinzhou Restaurant. Pack your things and come with me to the restaurant after you finish eating!"
Zhang's face flushed red instantly: "Mother, you're not really going to let your daughter-in-law cook, are you? The customers in the restaurant are all wealthy people from the capital. I... I can't do it well?"
Liang Shuyan sat down on the bench: "Your cooking skills are definitely not good enough right now. The restaurant has just opened, and I need the head chef, but you, as my assistant, must learn well. When the teahouse opens, I will have a lot of things to do, and then I will hand over the management of the restaurant to you!"
This is good news for Zhang, but he is still feeling a bit nervous. His mother-in-law is indeed a good cook, but he has only learned to cook a few simple dishes during the time he has been with her.
"It's alright, granddaughter-in-law, Grandma will help you!"
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