I thought that if I could appease Tang, the milk tea incident would be over, but unexpectedly, Si Li heard a loud quarrel coming from outside the wall early the next morning. Not long after the city gate was opened, Tang, who had returned to the shop to welcome the milk seller, was silent for a long time. Only the milk seller with a familiar voice was shouting.

"...If you don't buy it, there are plenty of people who will! You poor bastard, you won't spend the money you earn. It's a different time now, the price has changed, do you understand the rules?"

Some of the customers lining up in front of the restaurant knew the relationship between Manager Tang and the store. When they heard the commotion over there, they stopped lining up and stretched their heads over to see what was going on. Si Li came out with some wolf-tooth potatoes that had just come out of the pot, and someone pointed her in the direction of the restaurant, "Miss Si, there's a commotion over there!"

"Ah, is this all over?"

The wooden cart pulled by the cow turned a corner at the end of the street. The usual morning unloading shouts were silent. The two heavy buckets of milk were driven in the other direction. Someone who saw what was happening smacked his lips and said, "I'm afraid there will be no milk tea to drink today."

Si Li signaled Xiao Que to bring out the first batch of milk tea made in the morning from the lobby, to stabilize some of the guests who were about to leave, and called Wang Ting to go to the dessert shop together.

As soon as she turned the corner, she saw Shopkeeper Tang squatting on the doorstep in a daze. Si Li sighed, "Uncle Tang, what happened?"

After calling out twice, Shopkeeper Tang finally came to his senses, "That kid... is no good."

Dessert shops originally did not buy milk from milk sellers. In the villages and counties surrounding the capital, the milk of the large cattle and sheep farmers was basically reserved for the pastry shops, and the milk produced by the rich farms was also for their own consumption. Few people would buy milk to drink on its own.

But ever since the taste of Wanglaiju milk tea changed and Si Li's recipe was proven to be feasible, Shopkeeper Tang has been running around looking for milk supply points. Since Wanglaiju opens early in the morning, in order to supply the quantity before the city gates open and ensure the freshness of the ingredients, Shopkeeper Tang also specially found a cattle-raising merchant in the Maima City in the capital and placed an order for the first batch of milk in the morning.

The price of milk in the city is naturally different from that outside the city. Shopkeeper Tang was reluctant to buy more. The milk delivered every morning was just enough to make two pots of milk tea before the milk seller outside the city delivered milk. Who knew that after the new method appeared and milk tea became a small trend, the three big shops joined together to buy milk, and the price immediately went up. The milk seller wanted to make more money, but Shopkeeper Tang wanted to keep the previous price, which led to the dispute in the morning.

In the end, it was all about profit. It was easy to break the contract because there was no contract signed. In addition, the dessert shop was indeed small, and it was not as strong as those big shops when it came out to speak, so it was rejected by others. When a food becomes popular, the market will automatically adjust the price. She neglected this point and underestimated the speed of market reaction.

"That's all we have left today. We can't supply any more." Shopkeeper Tang smiled bitterly. "I should have listened to you and written it down in black and white. How could this happen? It costs ten cents per pound. If it increased by two or three cents, I would accept it. But why do you want to double the price just because you opened your mouth? Who can bear it?"

Si Li asked Wang Ting to go back and inform them that the supply of milk tea would be limited today. In order to ensure that every customer could buy as much as possible, each person could only buy one cup. But this was ultimately a delaying solution that would not only solve the problem but also provide the raw materials.

The milk seller that Tang contacted was diligent and had connections with several nearby villages and counties. Seeing that he would not give in to the price increase, they probably would not get a cheaper price even if they went to the county. And they probably could not even think of buying milk from merchants in the city. Judging from the reaction of the milk seller today, the city merchant was able to deliver milk this morning because of the signed contract. No matter how many others there were, they would not be able to sell at the previous price.

The more Shopkeeper Tang thought about it, the angrier he became. He pounded the doorstep and stood up. "No, I'm going to see if he dares to lie to those people like that!" After saying that, he even left the shop behind and headed straight for Wuweilou, which was also located in the East Market.

The ox cart was moving fast, but the strong shopkeeper Tang walked out at an extraordinary speed. Si Li didn't stop him for a moment, and closed the door with a headache. He just returned to his own store in a trance, and before he could think of a way to purchase raw materials, he saw the shopkeeper Tang rushing back again.

Shopkeeper Tang slammed the table and said angrily, "These bastards! I followed him to the back door of Wuweilou..."

He lowered his voice and carefully recounted what he had seen. The milk seller hurried past Wuweilou and Guanwailou, raising the price of milk by two cents, instead of the ten cents he had asked Tang. Moreover, someone from Guanwailou specifically asked if he had kept his promise not to sell milk to Wanglaiju.

It was clear that the milk seller had asked for a price that they could not possibly agree to in order to cause trouble and cut off the milk tea supply from Lai Ju. If the source of the trend and the one with the best quality were out of stock, wouldn't the diners have to go to them to try the new product?

Si Li had previously wondered why the market reacted so quickly, and it turned out that this was the crux of the matter. No wonder modern business wars like to use the tactic of controlling raw materials, which is indeed too useful.

"Wait, Wang Ting, did the horseshoe tell you where his son's home is before?"

Si Li thought about it and suddenly saw a pile of unused pots in the backyard. An idea flashed in his mind. If I remember correctly, he said that his family raised cattle and sheep.

Wang Ting slapped his forehead and said, "I wouldn't have remembered it if you hadn't told me! Old Tang, let's go find someone!"

The two men left in a hurry. Si Li was worried about the source of milk. She was a little uneasy the whole day. After a while, her thoughts drifted to how to make the business bigger and stronger and prevent such incidents from happening again.

In theory, setting up a farm is the best solution, but Si Li does not have that much money. The price of farms in the suburbs of Beijing is ridiculously high. Even Si's father, who was the chief assistant, only bought a farm when Si's mother was still alive. It is really unaffordable. Another option is to reach a cooperation with the breeders, so if you can reach an agreement with the horse shoe cabinet family, this problem will be solved.

After thinking for a long time, Si Li realized that the decision-making power was in the hands of others. She turned to think about how Wanglaiju milk tea could be made into a high-end product. She was in a daze and didn't even notice that Manager Tang and the other man had returned.

"There are two questions, one good and one bad. Which one do you want to hear first, boss?" Wang Ting no longer had the nervousness he had when he left, and came up to talk with a provocative look on his face.

Si Li drew the last word on the ground and looked at him. "It looks like the deal is done."

"That's boring." Wang Ting curled his lips, and it was Shopkeeper Tang's turn to talk to Si Li.

Shopkeeper Tang was indeed very happy. Just as Si Li said, the matter was negotiated very smoothly.

The horse butcher was shocked to see them. One was a neighbor who had been annoying in the past, and the other was a newcomer who was thought to be in business for a short time. This combination seemed strange. When he heard that they were here to discuss business, the horse butcher was relieved and confirmed that it was not because of any problems in the shop that made them come to the door. In the end, the milk was sold at a price of twelve cents per pound. Tang hurried back just to ask Si Li to help draft another contract so that the contract could be signed when the horse butcher's son delivered the milk tomorrow.

Si Li silently pointed at Meng Taotao and said, "Last time it was Taotao who wrote it, just ask her. Brothers should settle accounts clearly, Uncle Tang must not give her less money for the writing fee."

Shopkeeper Tang went to buy paper happily without saying anything. Si Li looked at Wang Ting, "So, what is the bad thing?"

"Ahem." Wang Ting was a little uncomfortable. "It's about the prince of Yue. Old Ma told me that he was in a hurry to sell it and even lowered the price to one hundred taels. In fact, it was because the ghosts in the Qiyunlou next door kept haunting him every night, which made him unable to sleep, and they were unwilling to take over his shop. Several buyers came one after another before, and they were waiting to go to the government office to stamp the seal after the negotiation, but they always changed their minds when it came to the last day, which left him with nowhere to go."

So the Prince of Yue is not a good person and is interfering? Si Li recalled Jiang Lang's calm face pretending to be an adult, and laughed for a moment, "Now that things have come to this, if he wanted to do the same to me, he would have done it long ago. Besides, we have lived here for so long, and we haven't seen any ghosts, right?"

She believed that Jiang Lang had secrets, but she didn't think it was possible that he would cheat or even hurt others... After seeing how they got along as siblings, she always felt that it was unlikely.

"Then just pretend I didn't say that."

Wang Ting went back to do his own thing. Si Li was cooking and earning achievement points while daydreaming. Wanglaiju's limited purchase policy meant that the stock of milk tea only lasted until noon. In the afternoon when there were the most people, even Xiao Qi couldn't buy a cup, and more people complained. Si Li heard someone encouraging them to try other restaurants, and it was difficult to tell whether they were sent by those restaurants.

You don't think so highly of her small shop, do you?

Xiao Qi swung the purse on her finger twice and knocked on Si Li's window. "Are you frozen? Why do you look so dazed?"

"What's wrong?" Si Li replied subconsciously, and then came back to her senses. Seeing Xiao Qi remembered something she didn't say in the morning, she said, "I have something to talk to you about."

"What a coincidence." Xiao Qi smiled, "I have something to talk to you about, too."

The two looked at each other and said almost in unison, "Invest!"

"I don't have much private money, it's all here. I don't have any other requirements. I just want the annual share to be exchanged for food." Xiao Qi complained a little, "I bought so much, but you didn't show any other expression."

Si Li blinked, "From now on, I can just come and eat without paying, okay?"

"How can that be considered a privilege? You are the one who is trying to get the upper hand..."

That's because you haven't seen anyone more stingy. Si Li dismissed the image of Jiang Lang that immediately popped up in front of her when she heard the word stingy, and talked about a lighter topic, "Let's talk about the money later. There was a little accident today, so I didn't let you buy milk tea. You decide what to bring for the day after tomorrow's outing."

"Really?" Xiao Qi asked doubtfully, "I want to eat donkey rolls, milk balls, sazi, sugar cakes, stinky tofu..."

Well, she opened her mouth and told him everything she didn't know how to cook. Si Li quickly stopped reading the names of the dishes and said, "Tell me something I know how to cook!"

Xiao Qi looked at her with disdain, "I don't know how you opened this shop. You'd better not prepare anything. It would be embarrassing if you vomited all over the horse's back. Wait for me to bring you something delicious."

The conversation was still going on behind a wall under the eaves. The guards who were hiding quietly nearby saw a dim light on the Qiyun Building next door and left quietly.

After hearing the guard's report, Jiang Hengyun raised his eyebrows and asked, "Ghost?"

A drop of cold sweat slid down Zhong Liuru's back. This master hated the idea of ​​ghosts and gods the most. This time he was mistaken for a ghost. He was probably going to annoy those wandering Taoist priests even more. "Your Highness, the people are ignorant."

Jiang Hengyun did not answer. He stroked the short, narrow piece of paper in his hand and chuckled in an ambiguous way, "You are so careless."