Seeing that her younger sister was sensible, Li Baoyan thought to herself that she was indeed her good sister, and then quickly moved closer to Meng Zhao, "Madam Meng, did you have a good time today?"
Meng Zhao nodded and replied politely, "I'm very happy, thank you for the invitation, Young Master Li."
Li Baoyan was even more delighted and continued, "That's good. In a few days, there will be a poetry competition in the city, and many people will participate. Would Madam Meng like to go and have a look?"
Looking at the man before her, Meng Zhao sighed inwardly, "Young Master Li, I am a widow."
Li Baoyan was taken aback, then quickly waved his hand, his tone urgent: "Don't worry, Madam Meng, I will never look down on you."
Meng Zhao felt a little helpless. She wasn't worried about being disliked; she just wanted to tell Li Baoyan to keep his distance. Seeing his silly appearance, Meng Zhao knew she couldn't keep quiet.
“Young Master Li, I already have someone I love in my heart, and I will never love anyone else in this life. I am very grateful that you saved me, but I do not like you. Tomorrow, I will send a gift of thanks to the Li residence. I hope that you will not go to the Treasure Pavilion again in the future.”
She's never been one to drag things out; if she doesn't like something, she simply doesn't like it.
I came here today not only because I wanted to have some fun, but also because I wanted to give him face. But if he thinks there's something going on between us because of my visit, that wouldn't be good.
Therefore, she chose to speak up as soon as possible to avoid future entanglements.
Li Baoyan opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just lowered her head and said in a low voice, "I...I understand."
On the return trip, compared to the quietness of the Li siblings' carriage, Meng Zhao's carriage was much more lively.
Shen Qingze and Shen Qingyu chattered excitedly about their happy day, while Huang Cui and Yin Chun laughed and chimed in.
Meng Dashan and Xu Yunrong were very happy to come out today and made plans to come over together again sometime when they have time.
Shen Qinghe was in a great mood as he drove the carriage. He knew his sister-in-law well enough to know that she must have rejected that annoying guy. He couldn't help but laugh when he thought of how Li Baoyan got into the carriage.
After what happened last time, when Meng Zhao went to the Treasure Pavilion again, she did not encounter Li Baoyan again. She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Although Li Baoyan's attentiveness was not malicious, it was a burden to her. If she could really make him give up his thoughts, it would be good to be friends in the future.
As soon as Meng Zhao entered the Treasure Pavilion, He Jianxia greeted him, "Manager, the medicinal herbs delivered by Huichuntang have arrived. Please come and take a look."
Meng Zhao nodded and followed He Jianxia to the backyard storeroom, which was filled with large and small cloth bags, and the air was filled with a faint medicinal fragrance.
Treasure Pavilion's business is getting better and better, but the supply of raw materials can never keep up, resulting in a constant shortage of supply and an inability to expand its scale.
Moreover, the price of medicinal materials fluctuates too much. The price may differ by two or three times depending on where you purchase them, resulting in unstable profit margins. What's most intolerable is that the same medicinal materials produced in different places may have different effects.
This is what she fears most in her standard products, so she has put a lot of thought into the procurement of raw materials.
When she had no other choice, she went to Huichuntang. Huichuntang had been in business for decades and had a complete supply chain with consistent prices and guaranteed quality. If she could have them purchase some medicinal herbs on her behalf, wouldn't that save her a lot of trouble?
Because of the previous incident with opium, she and Doctor Wang had some connection. After explaining the situation, Doctor Wang nodded in agreement, and Meng Zhao naturally wouldn't let them suffer any losses, giving them a rebate based on the quantity ordered.
Today is the day that the first batch of goods delivered by Huichuntang has arrived. Meng Zhao opened the cloth bags containing the medicinal herbs one by one and carefully checked their color, texture and smell.
He Jianxia stood aside, holding an account book in her hand, and said in a low voice, "I have checked all these medicinal herbs one by one. The quality is better than the ones we bought before. They are not bad, but the price is slightly higher. However, it saves us the cost of hiring people to buy them back and forth, so we can barely break even."
Meng Zhao was relieved after checking and finding no problems. He turned to He Jianxia and said, "Although the products are good, we can't be careless. We must check everything thoroughly. Also, we can't just order everything from Huichuntang to save trouble. We still need to buy some of the more important but less-used medicinal materials ourselves."
He Jianxia nodded in agreement, her tone serious, "Don't worry, shopkeeper, I will personally oversee the process and ensure that no substandard products are allowed to slip in. I will also arrange for people to regularly purchase the key medicinal herbs from the market."
Meng Zhao continued, "Also, we should order the ingredients for each product in batches as much as possible, so that people don't find out our recipes."
Although Meng Zhao trusted Huichuntang, there were too many people involved in the procurement process, so it was best to be cautious. The prescriptions should be kept safe.
He Jianxia nodded solemnly after hearing this.
After leaving the Treasure Pavilion, Meng Zhao turned around and went to the Mingxiang Restaurant next door. As soon as he entered, Madam Qin greeted him with a smile, "Manager, you've arrived."
"How's it going? Are there any seats left?" Meng Zhao asked hurriedly.
Qin Niangzi covered her mouth and smiled, "Yes, yes, I specially reserved a place for you, but all the private rooms are full, so please make do in the main hall."
Meng Zhao didn't mind at all. Making money was the priority. What's wrong with sitting in the main hall? He immediately said, "What's wrong with that? It's more lively to listen while sitting in the main hall."
Meng Zhao was in such a hurry because a new book was being launched at the teahouse today.
When Song Wanyin and Meng Zhao opened this teahouse together, they intended to promote their storytelling works. However, they couldn't find a suitable storyteller at first. Later, they did find one, and the first story they told was Song Wanyin's tale of a wealthy young lady who made a comeback after her family fell on hard times.
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