Hearing the sound, Liang Shuyan came out. A man, about fifty years old, got off the carriage. He was wearing a dark blue brocade robe, with a brownish-red money bag and a crescent-shaped milky-white jade pendant hanging from his waist. He looked like a very wealthy and important person.
"May I ask who you are?"
The man laughed heartily: "You're the woman who sells jelly? I'm Manager Yu from Qiongxianlou Restaurant. I've come today to discuss the jelly recipe with you!"
Upon hearing the name Qiongxianlou, Liang Shuyan immediately thought of that arrogant man from last time and became extremely angry: "Since it's Qiongxianlou, then forget it, I won't consider it!"
The man waved towards the carriage, and a man rolled off the carriage, his hands and feet bound. Upon seeing Liang Shuyan, the man shouted loudly, "Madam, please, I acted on my own last time and spoke to you without thinking, which angered you. It was my fault, please don't be angry. This is the manager of our Qiongxian Pavilion. Today, we have come to apologize!"
Liang Shuyan politely said, "Never mind, I don't want to buy it. We developed our own jelly, and I make it myself!"
Manager Yu immediately stepped forward and said, “Although you can make it yourself, have you thought about it? From raw materials to processing, you also have to set up a stall to sell every day. How much will you sell? Why not sell the recipe to Qiongxianlou? The customers who come to Qiongxianlou will not be the same as those at the small stall. A bowl can cost several coins.”
Liang Shuyan hesitated for a moment, then said very politely, "No need, Manager Yu. Thank you for coming all this way to our house, but the recipe for this jelly is passed down from our ancestors, and we can't sell it. However, seeing your sincerity, how about we consider a collaboration? What do you think?"
Li Lanfang came out warmly and instructed Liang Shuyan, "Daughter-in-law, why are you making the guests stand outside? Quickly call them in and let them sit down to talk!"
Liang Shuyan said "oh" and then let Manager Yu and the others into her small courtyard. They sat down at the table under the tree. Zhang hurriedly poured a cup of hot tea, then bowed slightly and left politely.
Shopkeeper Yu took a sip of tea and said in surprise, "Hey, where did you buy this tea? It's so delicious! Not only is the color clear, but it also has a subtle floral fragrance."
"Oh, this is made from flowers and herbs we picked ourselves from the mountain. It's nothing special, just for our own family. Please excuse us, Manager Yu."
Shopkeeper Yu glanced at Liang Shuyan's small courtyard and kept praising her: "I've seen many farmhouses, but I've never seen one like yours. The yard is so clean, you can't even see a tool. Was that your daughter-in-law just now? She's so polite, it's really rare to see someone like that."
Liang Shuyan smiled slightly: "Manager Yu, you flatter us. We are just farmers and don't have anything special to offer you! I don't want to sell this recipe, but if we can cooperate, we can discuss it."
Shopkeeper Yu's eyes flashed, and he immediately looked at Liang Shuyan: "I wonder how exactly this cooperation you mentioned will work?"
"We'll process this jelly ourselves, and we'll give it to you for eight coins a bowl. You can put it in your restaurant and sell it. Of course, we'll also guarantee that we won't run out of stock."
Manager Yu thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "This kind of cooperation is good, but if I give you eight coins at this price, can our restaurant sell it for ten coins a bowl?"
Liang Shuyan smiled, pursing her lips: "Manager, didn't you just say that the guests at Qiongxian Tower are not ordinary people? This amount of money is just a drop in the ocean for them."
Shopkeeper Yu was speechless after being flattered by Liang Shuyan. He then nodded and said, "How about this, starting tomorrow, you will be responsible for delivering three buckets of cold noodles to me every day. I want to try it out first. If it sells well, we can continue this cooperation. If it doesn't sell, then... well, then I'll pretend I never came here today, okay?"
Liang Shuyan was extremely confident in her family's cold noodles and nodded: "Okay, then we'll deliver three buckets of cold noodles to you as you wish. Try it first, and if it sells well, we can continue to cooperate! However, I do have a suggestion. You could add some green vegetables to the cold noodles. With a generous portion, even if a bowl of cold noodles costs 20 coins, it's not expensive. If you can afford to enter Qiongxianlou, surely you can afford 20 coins? Shopkeeper, your customer base is different from ours, isn't it?"
After thinking for a moment, Manager Yu slammed his hand on the table and finally made a decision: "Alright, in that case, we'll have you deliver it to us on time every morning at the price of eight copper coins per bowl, and then settle the payment at the accounting office!"
Liang Shuyan nodded: "Okay, sure! It'll be a pleasure working with you!"
Manager Yu glanced at the bound servant beside him, glared at him, and casually said, "Fool, why aren't you apologizing to Madam Jin?"
"Yes, I'm sorry, Madam Jin! It was my fault, my narrow-mindedness!"
Shopkeeper Yu laughed heartily: "In that case, we won't bother you any longer, let's go back!"
After seeing the manager and his party off, Liang Shuyan returned to the courtyard and gave them another instruction: "Sanwang, it seems you will be in charge of delivering the cold noodles now. Every morning, you must deliver the cold noodles to Qiongxianlou in advance."
Zhao Heng glanced at it, stuck out his tongue, and said, "Auntie, if that's the case, does that mean you won't set up your stall in front of Shengming School anymore?"
Liang Shuyan glanced at Zhao Heng, wondering what the boy was thinking, and then said, "How could that be? All the boys at school are so eager for my cold noodles, of course I'll go. Why would I ask such a silly question?"
Zhao Heng blushed, rubbed his clothes, muttered something to himself, and then turned and left.
Da Shan was a little puzzled, so he stepped forward and said, "Mother, I've learned enough about painting. I want to start by helping San Wang deliver cold noodles. Once I have some money, I'll open a painting studio."
"What did the master say? Did he say your painting was acceptable?"
Jin Dashan hesitated for a moment, then said, "No, the teacher didn't say anything. I just feel that there's no point in staying at the school any longer!"
Upon hearing that Jin Dashan was leaving the school, Zhao Heng grabbed Jin Dashan's sleeve and said, "Brother Dashan, this is not fair! My father told you to take good care of me. How can you just leave like that? Besides, the teacher didn't agree to let you leave."
Zhao Heng's interference led Liang Shuyan to flatly refuse the matter: "Alright, don't worry about it. Sanwang is all grown up now, he can handle this kind of thing. You should focus on learning from your teacher!"
"Mother, Chunyan is here! Second Aunt is chasing after us with a stick!"
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