Upon hearing this, Yan Qingqing quickly invited Steward Ling to take a seat, but Steward Ling waved his hand and said, "There are still many things to do in the yamen, and the master can't do without me."
"If it's convenient for you, Madam, could you please let me take some of your family's specialty dish back for the Master to try?"
Yan Qingqing naturally wouldn't refuse. She had Li Xiang'an give the braised chicken and roast duck that had been reserved to entertain guests to Steward Ling, and said, "The magistrate has worked hard for the people, but these meat dishes taste better when they are freshly made."
"Whenever the adults want to eat, they can simply send someone to pick it up."
Yan Qingqing naturally wouldn't let go of such a good opportunity to curry favor with someone powerful.
At least today, with Magistrate Ling delivering gifts, no one in Chengyang County dares to mess with their Canghe Liji shop.
Butler Ling took the things and left without lingering, accompanied by two constables.
After they left, the group started discussing amongst themselves. Of course, the vast majority praised Magistrate Ling for being a benevolent and kind official.
They dared not discuss anything further; these days, the difference between officials and businessmen is like heaven and earth.
Although Yan Qingqing was also very excited inside, she didn't show it on the surface. She treated the people who came to congratulate her to a good meal and drinks.
Everyone was exchanging auspicious blessings, and the atmosphere was one of great joy for both host and guests.
When everyone finally got to eat the braised chicken and drunken duck they had been looking forward to, their mood changed completely.
Some people were genuinely happy for them, such as the gluttonous Master Ding and the people of Canghe Village.
Of course, there were also those who were half happy and half bittersweet, such as the three restaurant owners. They praised the delicious food made by Yan Qingqing's family, but regretted that it wasn't sold in their restaurants, which meant they would lose a lot of money.
They say competitors are enemies, but they're not even competitors yet.
After finishing their meal, they all said goodbye early, as they had business to do in the afternoon.
After seeing the guests off, Yan Qingqing and the others quickly cleaned up the dishes and started serving new guests as soon as they finished.
Yan Qingqing also specifically instructed Li Xiang'an to leave some for Zuishenglou, so that the shop wouldn't be empty when people came to collect their goods.
Yan Qingqing had already made arrangements with Zuishenglou. Li Xiang'an knew about this and said, "Mother, don't worry. I know what I'm doing. I've already reserved ten braised chickens and ten roast ducks for them."
Yan Qingqing nodded upon hearing this. The afternoon went smoothly, and the products were sold out by three or four o'clock.
Li Xiang'an put up the "sold out" sign, and the whole family started doing the math.
All they knew was that business was exceptionally good today, and everything they made was sold out, but they were all stunned when Yan Qingqing took out the box containing the silver.
Looking at the half-box of silver, how much is that?
They used to use this kind of money box when they set up their stall, but back then they only collected copper coins. This time, the vast majority of the money was silver ingots that had been crushed from silver ingots.
Seeing their excited expressions, Yan Qingqing said, "No need to count anymore, I've already calculated it."
Today we sold a total of 120 braised chickens. The original price was 500 coins each, but after a 20% discount, the total price was 48 taels.
Eighty roast ducks and drunken ducks were sold in total. The original price was 550 coins each, but after the discount, the total price was 32.2 taels.
The price of the red wine was 70 coins per catty, and a total of about 70 catties were sold, which amounted to 4.9 liang.
Those braised dishes sell for a relatively small amount, about one or two taels of silver.
So today we sold a total of eighty-six taels of silver.
The group was very excited when they heard this. They had earned more than eighty taels of silver in one day, not even counting the ten chickens and ten ducks they had left for Zuishenglou.
The money they earned in one day from this shop was equivalent to what they used to earn in half a month.
Li Xiangjian said excitedly, "At this rate, we'll be able to earn back the money we spent on the shop in just a few days."
"If we had known this would happen, we should have opened the shop sooner."
Li Xiangping said, "Third brother, you can't just think about how much money we've made. All these things have costs."
Yan Qingqing nodded and said, "Your older brother is right. You can't just look at how much we've earned now; you have to think about how much we invested in the early stages."
It's not just the 500 taels of silver for the shop, but also the cost of the chickens and ducks. Our chickens are all fed with artificial feed, and on average, the cost of one chicken is about 50 coins.
The cost of a duck is around sixty coins, which is more than ten taels.
There's also the cost of the braising spices. We use only the finest ingredients, many of which are bought from pharmacies. That alone would cost seven or eight ounces.
There are also labor costs. Wei Laosan and his family need to be paid wages for raising chickens, and you also need to be paid wages for working in the store.
Oh, right, there's also pork offal and braised dishes. Although the cost isn't high, they're very troublesome to make, especially pork offal, which all need to be factored into the cost.
"Also, this is our first day of opening, and many people are here to try it out. Later on, there definitely won't be as many people."
Li Xiangjian exclaimed, "Ah!" After his mother's analysis, they realized they didn't have much profit to make.
Seeing Li Xiangjian's dejected look, Yan Qingqing laughed and said, "But after deducting all that, you can still have a net income of about sixty taels, which is quite good."
Our business will be fine at least until the end of the year.
Everyone's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this; sixty-odd taels was no small sum. This was more money than an average person could earn in a lifetime.
Yan Qingqing glanced at the sky and saw that it was getting late, so she prepared to pack her things and return to Canghe Village.
Li Xiang'an, Wang Dong, and the other two are not going back; they want to stay and guard the shop.
Li Xiangjian was to go back to Canghe Village with them because they needed to transport the slaughtered chickens and ducks over early the next morning.
Li Xiang'an asked, "Mother, should we increase the quantity tomorrow?"
I was thinking of taking advantage of the three-day opening event; with so much foot traffic, we could make a lot more money.
Yan Qingqing nodded and said, "I already told Wei Laosan and the others to slaughter more chickens and ducks when we came."
But you can't have too many, or you won't be able to handle it.
Money can be earned anytime, and there's always more to earn. But if you overwork yourself, all the money you earn will be wasted.
Li Xiang'an is good in every way—he's intelligent, has a good business sense, and is ambitious—but Yan Qingqing just feels that he's too ambitious and too strong-willed, and that he'll wear himself out sooner or later.
Li Xiang'an wanted to say something, but Yan Qingqing stopped him and said, "Don't worry, Mother has already planned out the follow-up activities. Just focus on doing your best in the present."
Want to organize an event? That's easy. In her past life, every businessperson racked their brains to come up with a few events. Yan Qingqing didn't even need to think about it; she just needed to take some examples.
Seeing Yan Qingqing's confident demeanor, Li Xiang'an felt relieved.
It was as if his mother's presence could resolve all his anxieties.
Having wasted some time, and with the sun almost setting, Li Xiangjian drove the carriage straight to Canghe Village.
Xu tried to soothe the wailing Li Xiangyang no matter what she did. Li Xiangyang started recognizing people on his own, and by nightfall he didn't want anyone except Yan Qingqing.
Seeing that Li Xiangyang was crying so uncontrollably, Xiao Mochen couldn't bear it and reached out to take her from Xu Shi's arms.
It's quite amazing, but Li Xiangyang stopped crying when he was in Xiao Mochen's arms. He just stared at him blankly.
Madam Xu remarked with some emotion, "At such a young age, she already knows how to be attracted to beautiful women. What will become of her in the future!"
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