24 Lotus White Tea
◎It seems she thought things were too simple.◎
Song Jinyi strode to the cooking table and began to prepare lotus white tea. This lotus white tea needs to be made with scented tea. The "Tea Recipe" says: Before sunrise, open the half-closed lotus flower, put a handful of fine tea leaves in the pistil, tie it lightly with hemp skin, and let it sit overnight.
This scented tea is inspired by a section in Six Records of a Floating Life, which describes Yunniang's lotus tea: "When the lotus flowers first bloom in the summer months, they close in the evening and open at dawn. Yun uses a small gauze bag to scoop a few tea leaves and places them in the center of the flower. The next morning, she removes the tea leaves and steeps them in spring water, creating a breathtakingly fragrant aroma."
Song Jinyi had packed about a dozen lotus tea leaves last night and stored them in a pastel-colored floral amphora. She pulled out one and gently cut the hemp rope. The lotus blossoms unfolded layer by layer, revealing the stamens and tea bag within, along with a faint, delicate lotus fragrance.
Song Jinyi carefully took out the white tea bag. The taste of white tea was slightly light, almost overwhelmed by the fragrance of lotus flowers. Song Jinyi knew that Yunzhou was rich in green tea and white tea, but it was a pity that she could not buy the best white tea, and she was afraid that this "great tea drinker" who was used to drinking tea would find it bland.
On the day of the meeting with Mr. Feng, she wanted to drink watermelon juice, which made her think of fruit tea.
When she improved the menu, she added scented tea to it, using the flavor of fruits or flowers to cover up the bad taste of tea.
Song Jinyi picked a few pale pink petals and spread them on the bottom of the bowl, sprinkled white tea with lotus fragrance into the middle, brewed it with cold water, and waited for the tea leaves to spread before serving it on the table.
The customer who ordered the Lotus White Tea was not optimistic at first. His brows were wrinkled like crumpled rice paper, his nose wrinkled, and he looked very disgusted. He had already labeled the tea as unpalatable without even tasting it.
Just as he was about to refuse the tea, he suddenly smelled a faint fragrance. He picked up the teacup, puffed his nose and sniffed carefully. The faint tea fragrance was mixed with the scent of flowers. He took a small sip hesitantly, and his frown dissipated like dark clouds.
The tea has a novel taste and the tea drinkers find it delicious and thirst-quenching. They drink one sip after another and finish the whole cup very quickly.
Seeing him like this, the others followed suit and ordered a few cups of fruit tea.
Flower tea, fruit tea and drinks each have their own characteristics, but the common feature is that they are all delicious.
******
In the first three days, the restaurant attracted customers by offering half-price discounts, and later on, it relied on word-of-mouth reputation to attract customers.
Song Jinyi opens the shop at 9:00 am every day. Customers come into the shop continuously and Song Jinyi is busy greeting them.
In the late afternoon, it was the peak period. Song Jinyi was so busy that she had no time to rest. In the evening, she had to clean up until late at night, which made her so tired that she almost became as thin as a stick.
This day.
In the sweet water shop, Song Jinyi brought tea to the front hall to serve the customers. She held up the tea tray and glanced back, and saw a woman in the corner staring at her.
At first she thought it was her illusion, but after she went back and forth seven or eight times and saw that the man's eyes were still on her, she was sure it was not her illusion.
There were many customers in the store, and some fruit teas needed her to make freshly, so she couldn't stop at all. After half an hour, half of the customers were gone. Song Jinyi went over to clean up the tea tray on the table in front of the woman and handed it to Xie Wuyang.
She walked towards the woman, bent down and asked softly, "I noticed that the young lady has been looking at me, but what's wrong with the tea?"
The other person smiled brilliantly, his eyes curved into crescents, and he tilted his head and asked, "Madam Song, do you still remember me?" Seeing Song Jinyi's confused expression, she pointed to the hibiscus flower on her head.
From the other party's attitude, Song Jinyi knew that the other party had no ill intentions, so she felt relieved and looked at it carefully.
The woman before him did look somewhat familiar. He stared at the bright red flower, his eyes flickering as he suddenly realized something. He uttered a key word: "Ice cream cheese." He then looked at the woman again, his tone rising, "It's Lady Hairpin Flower."
When she heard Song Jinyi call her "Madam Hairpin Flower," her cheeks were stained with rouge and she turned away shyly, "Oh! Just call me Madam Sun."
Being able to meet an old customer here, Song Jinyi's eyes and eyebrows were filled with smiles, and she felt quite happy as if she had met an old friend in a foreign land. She put down the work in her hands and sat opposite Madam Sun, waving her hand to let Xie Wuyang look after her.
Song Jinyi looked down at the tea on her table. It was the new red-skin pomegranate tea that had just been released a couple of days ago. Not many people were ordering it, so she took the opportunity to do some market research to see what needed improvement. "Madam Sun, what do you think of the taste of my red-skin pomegranate tea?"
"Needless to say, Madam Song's craftsmanship is excellent. After drinking Madam Song's tea, I feel that all the tea I drank before was in vain."
Song Jinyi wanted real customer feedback, so she tactfully asked, "Madam Sun, don't you think there's room for improvement?"
After hearing this, Madam Sun looked at Song Jinyi and saw the expectation and inquiry in her eyes. She knew that her question had a deeper meaning. After pondering for a moment, she said, "The tea made by Madam Song is indeed impeccable.
But... I have a humble opinion. I am a loyal tea drinker of Madam Song, and I know your craftsmanship very well. No matter which one you order, I won't worry about the taste not being compatible.
But other people don’t think the same way as I do. Most people will choose the flavors they are used to and won’t go wrong.”
Song Jinyi nodded slightly, thinking that what Madam Li said made sense. She was limited to thinking from the perspective of a merchant and failed to consider the customer's perspective.
No matter how cheap a pot of tea is, most people who have ordered tea will not spend extra money to bet on another one that tastes better just because the taste is not to their liking. After all, no matter how good a pot of tea tastes, it will not double like gambling, so it is not worth the gambler's risk.
If you order something you've had before, you'll probably start to feel annoyed while drinking it, wondering why you always have to try new things and whether it's a waste of time. As a result, no matter how familiar you are with someone, you'll only order the tea you've already tried.
If she wanted to launch a new product, she should lower the price to attract customers. She made a decision and would perfect the pricing strategy tonight.
Song Jinyi brought the topic back to the present, and they unknowingly talked about opening a shop. Madam Sun said half-sadly, half-smilingly, "Madam Song, why didn't you come to West Luohua Street to open a shop? You didn't even tell us that you opened a shop here. You really don't treat us as friends."
Song Jinyi simply replied that a friend recommended the store here, and then modestly said, "My store is on South Street. Most of the merchants on West Luohua Street live on North Street. Why would they come to me just for a drink?"
Madam Sun slapped the table and said, "How can that be true? It's fine for others, but Madam Song, your cooking skills are unique in Yunzhou City. Let alone going from North Street to South Street, even if Madam Song goes to Shengjing, I'm willing to go too."
These words made Song Jinyi, a veteran, feel embarrassed. She smiled and said that Madam Sun was making fun of her.
Madam Sun sat upright, and Chen said, "My fellow tea drinkers on North Street are looking forward to your return, Madam Song. Without your tea, life always feels a little less enjoyable."
Song Jinyi was delighted to hear this and gave Madam Sun a plate of melon seeds for free. Seeing her thoughtfulness, Li Sunzi said frankly, "Don't worry, Madam Song. I'll go to Xiluohua Street to promote your business. I guarantee that your business will be even better in the future."
Madam Sun did what she said and promoted her business. Many tea drinkers on North Street heard about it and not only did many old customers come to support her, but also new customers came to join in the fun.
In the first few days, the place was packed with people. Sometimes there was no place to step, which was comparable to the ancient version of "Snow King Beverage Shop".
After a busy month, at the end of the month, Song Jinyi closed the store an hour earlier than usual. She gave Xie Wuyang some money and asked him to buy two bowls of mutton soup with steamed buns.
She went back to the yard and washed her face. There were still drops of water hanging on her eyelashes, falling down one by one. She lowered her head and looked at the water tank, looking at her reflection in the water.
She touched her chin. Her small round face was almost becoming a melon-seed face, revealing a slightly pointed chin. There was an unconcealable fatigue between her eyebrows.
She returned to her little house and waited for Xie Wuyang to come back with food. She lay on the kang and stretched out her limbs in relaxation. She was really exhausted this month.
About five to six hundred bowls of tea are sold every day. Although Xie Wuyang helps, there is a limit to what he can do, so she has to worry about everything. She wishes she could split herself into three parts: one to make tea, one to clean up, and one to greet customers.
Fortunately, in the second half of the month, thanks to Madam Sun's promotion, the sales doubled. Song Jinyi closed her eyes and calculated in her mind, how much money did I make today? How much did I make yesterday... As she calculated, she gradually lost consciousness and fell asleep.
She woke up again when Xie Wuyang called her. She felt more sleepy than hungry, but then she thought that this bowl of mutton soup cost eight cents, so she tried her best to keep her eyelids open and eat.
After dinner, Song Jinyi hunched over the long table, flipping through the account book with one hand and turning the abacus with the other, muttering: "Before the middle of this month, I sold about 400 bowls a day, and in the second half of the month, I sold 600 bowls. At an average of 8 wen per bowl, that's 48 taels plus 72 taels, which is 120 taels. After deducting the cost, there's 100 taels left."
Song Jinyi looked at the final result silently. She wondered if she had calculated it wrong and was about to calculate it again when suddenly a cool breeze came in from somewhere. Song Jinyi was sweating from working all day and had taken off her jacket, leaving only a thin dress. The cold wind made her shiver, and the pen in her hand also shook, splashing a few drops of ink.
She thought her business was doing well, and indeed it was. When she worked in Qiaoge Street before, she did a rough calculation of the accounts and found that she had a net income of about thirty taels per month since she left. The sweet water shop she opened now made seventy taels more than that.
Unexpectedly, the goal was still far away. With two months left, how could she earn a thousand taels? Thinking of this, she sighed deeply.
It seems that she thought things were too simple.
Before she could come up with a solution, a new problem arose.
Some customers recognized her as a pastry chef from the Qiaoge Street Tea Shop and repeatedly suggested that she could make some tea and pastry combinations. She smiled and said she was considering it, but she felt very sad inside.
Guests are God. Song Jinyi had heard and thought about the suggestion that she add more refreshments before.
But she was almost exhausted just by preparing the tea, not to mention the snacks. She was thinking about whether to hire a pastry chef. After much thought, she found that apart from her, Chun Sanniang from Zui Liuxia had good cooking skills.
But I'm afraid she must be crazy to think that she can invite Sanniang to her place.
Half a month had passed in the blink of an eye, and Song Jinyi was so busy that she almost forgot about the important matter - the important matter of the Gu Mansion!
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