Song Anxin smiled politely and said, "The shopkeepers haven't left yet. Please forgive me for not being able to entertain you properly due to family matters. Come, let me see you off personally."
Manager Cai put on a big smile and said, "No, no, no, we have not been inadequate in our hospitality. We stayed here specifically to wait for you, Madam Hui."
"Oh, esteemed shopkeepers, is there something you need from me? But please still call me Sister-in-law Lin, we're all old acquaintances. I really don't like it when you all call me 'Lady Hui,' and the villagers still call me that too, so don't be so formal," Song Anxin said.
Manager Meng hurriedly said, "Second Sister Lin, could you sell me your recipe for Dongpo Pork?"
Manager Cai's eyes widened: "Hey, you rascal, I was the one who asked for the Dongpo pork recipe first."
Manager Liu of Kelai Restaurant said, "We all saw this Dongpo pork at the same time, so there's no such thing as first come, first served. Manager Cai, don't be unreasonable. Sister-in-law Lin, I'll offer two hundred taels for this recipe."
Manager Meng and Manager Cai had long held the top two positions in Ningdu County's restaurants, constantly vying for dominance, making his third-place restaurant always seem insignificant. Luckily, Sister Lin's "Prosperous Eggs" and "Braised Delicacies" had given him a brief period of prestige. Now, he absolutely couldn't miss out on this Dongpo Pork; with it, Ke Lai Restaurant could hope to match the other two, and he would no longer be the obscure third-place owner. Thinking this, he hurriedly added:
"No, no, Sister-in-law Lin, I'll offer four hundred taels of silver. You absolutely must sell me this recipe."
The owners of several restaurants in Heyang County were not going to back down.
Manager Li of Dawanju Restaurant in Heyang County said, "I'll offer five hundred taels."
Manager Huang of Heshun Restaurant said, "I'll pay six hundred taels for the roast duck recipe."
Immediately, several shopkeepers began bidding, and finally, Shopkeeper Cai shouted out a high price of two thousand taels. Immediately, a group of shopkeepers began to accuse him of malicious bidding, and everyone started arguing again.
When Lin Fengshou returned after seeing off the guests, he was bewildered to see the shopkeepers arguing. After listening to their argument for a while, he finally understood and asked his mother, "Mother, do the shopkeepers want to buy our family's recipes?"
Song Anxin was speechless. It wasn't that she hadn't tried to stop them, but they simply wouldn't listen to her and were completely absorbed in their own competitive world.
She calmed herself down and raised her voice: "All you shopkeepers, please stop arguing."
Finally, the shopkeepers heard what was happening and stopped arguing, all looking at Song Anxin. Shopkeeper Cai quickly stepped forward and said with a smile:
"Sister-in-law Lin, I have the highest price, they can't beat me, I'll take this Dongpo pork recipe."
Song Anxin: "..." Did I ever say I was selling it?
She maintained her businesslike smile and said, "Gentlemen, I'm really sorry, but we don't sell this recipe. How about we try a different approach and start a new business?"
When everyone heard that the vegetables weren't for sale, they were extremely disappointed. It turned out that their argument had been for nothing. However, when they heard from Sister-in-law Lin that there was a new business opportunity, their interest was immediately rekindled.
Manager Meng hurriedly asked, "Second Sister-in-law Lin, what's the new business? Have you come up with any new dishes?"
Everyone quickly asked, "Yes, yes, but are you supplying us with food items like braised delicacies and 'rich eggs'?"
The shopkeepers thought it didn't matter if the recipes weren't sold, as long as Lin Ersao could supply them with the food, since Lin Ersao's food was definitely not bad.
Shopkeeper Huang asked, "But the snow skin mooncakes that even the prefect and the magistrate like. Although I've never eaten them, I know they must be delicious. Why doesn't Sister-in-law Lin make them for us like the persimmon cakes?"
Song Anxin shook her head, indicating that it wasn't that. Making snow skin mooncakes was too troublesome, and there were no preservatives in this era, so they would spoil easily. Most importantly, she wanted to keep them for future use.
She began, "Isn't everyone curious about where the mushrooms in our chicken stew with mushrooms come from? They're clearly fresh shiitake mushrooms, not rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms."
Upon hearing Song Anxin mention this, the shopkeepers suddenly remembered that they had been wondering why there were still fresh shiitake mushrooms at this time of year. They had been so focused on the recipes for Dongpo pork and roast duck that they had completely forgotten about this.
Manager Meng asked, "Yes, Sister-in-law Lin, how come you still have fresh shiitake mushrooms? Even our restaurant doesn't have any now, we only use dried shiitake mushrooms, and the ingredients are very expensive."
Song Anxin smiled mysteriously and, together with Lin Fengshou and several shopkeepers, went to visit their mushroom house. Lin Fengnian was inside spraying water on the mushrooms.
The mushroom house was warm because mushrooms cannot grow at temperatures below 20 degrees Celsius. It was already late autumn, and the daytime temperature was probably only around 10 degrees Celsius, with the nighttime temperature even lower. Therefore, Song Anxin lit some charcoal fires around the mushroom house.
Charcoal is so expensive, she certainly couldn't buy it specifically for the mushroom house. Instead, she and her sons made their own homemade charcoal. The method was simple: build a simple earthen kiln with mud and running water, then place three parts dry firewood at the bottom and add three parts wet firewood inside to simmer. However, this method could only be used temporarily in late autumn because homemade charcoal had a low yield and was prone to failure if not careful, with all the charcoal burning to ash. Fortunately, it wasn't deep winter yet and the weather wasn't too cold, so the amount of homemade charcoal they successfully made was enough for now.
But it won't work when the weather gets colder, as charcoal is difficult to make and the supply will be insufficient. So she plans to upgrade the mushroom house when she builds the house, and add a large earthen bed to the mushroom house so that mushrooms can grow even in winter.
When the shopkeepers arrived at the mushroom house and saw the mushrooms growing inside, they all stared wide-eyed at the layers of mushrooms. Good heavens! It was the first time they had ever known that mushrooms could be grown, and even in late autumn!
Song Anxin smiled and said, "Esteemed shopkeepers, our family has just started to try planting these fungi, and the yield is not very high yet. You are our long-time partners, so of course we should give you this great opportunity first."
She then said to the Lin brothers, Fengnian and Fengshou, "Fengnian, you lead the shopkeepers on a tour and introduce the different types and varieties of mushrooms we have. Fengshou, you will discuss the specific quantities and prices of different types of mushrooms with the shopkeepers later."
Both brothers agreed in unison. Lin Fengnian then began to systematically introduce the types of mushrooms in each compartment, their harvest time, yield, quality, and so on...
Lin Fengnian is not the same as before. He is not at all reserved in front of these shopkeepers. He is very calm and confident when introducing the mushrooms that he has carefully cared for and is familiar with.
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