The few of them came to Zuixianlou again. This time, the waiter who greeted them was very kind and politely asked, "Gentlemen, it's not dinner time yet. If you want to eat, please come back at 9:00."
Mr. Xu said, "Young man, we are not here to eat. We want to discuss business with your restaurant. Could you please inform your owner?"
After hearing what they said, the waiter looked at the ox cart behind them. There were several large baskets on the cart, covered with cotton cloth. He didn't know what was inside. He retracted his gaze and said to Mr. Xu, "Okay, then please wait a moment, let me go to the back to inform everyone." Then he turned and ran into the restaurant.
After a while, a middle-aged man in his forties with a round face and wearing a green robe walked up to them and said, "I heard from the staff that you are here to discuss business at Zuixianlou. What kind of business do you want to discuss?"
Old Master Xu said, "Boss, we grow our own food and think it tastes great. We'd like to cooperate with your restaurant. What do you think?"
The shopkeeper said, "Oh? I don't know what kind of food it is. We have our own supply channels for ordinary food ingredients and don't buy them from outside."
Old Master Xu hurriedly said, "Shopkeeper, these are all vegetables we grow ourselves. I can't say whether they are available elsewhere, but they are unique in Huamen Town. Please take a look, shopkeeper..." As he spoke, he reached out and lifted the cotton cloth covering the basket.
The shopkeeper wanted to see what this unique thing looked like, so he looked at the basket with the cotton cloth lifted up. He saw that the basket was full of purple, red, yellow, and green things he had never seen before.
With a look of surprise, he asked Mr. Xu, "I wonder if you can explain to me what these crops are? I have been a shopkeeper for so many years and this is the first time I have seen them."
Mr. Xu hurriedly introduced the vegetables in the basket one by one and said, "I bought these vegetables from the Hu people in other places and planted them in my own vegetable garden with the attitude of giving it a try. I didn't expect that they would grow and taste surprisingly good. That's why I thought of cooperating with the restaurant to increase the income for the family."
The shopkeeper said, "So that's how it is. It turned out to be obtained from other places. No wonder I have never seen it before. Please discuss it with me." He thought to himself that if these things were really as he said, the restaurant's business would be even better.
A group of people came to the backyard of the restaurant and sat down. The shopkeeper said, "My last name is Tong. What are your names?"
Old Master Xu said, "My surname is Xu, and I'm from Xujia Village. These three are my sons. The eldest is Xu Yifeng, the second is Xu Yihua, the third is Xu Yicheng, and this is my granddaughter Xu Linyue."
When Qibao saw his grandfather introducing himself, he grinned and said, "Hello, Grandpa Tong, you can call me Qibao. My family calls me that. Let me tell you, the vegetables I grow are delicious. Grandpa Tong will definitely like them if he tries them!"
Seeing that the little girl was not timid and shy like other children, Shopkeeper Tong teased her, "Really? Then Grandpa will have to taste what Qibao's food tastes like. If it doesn't taste good, Grandpa Tong won't accept it."
At this time, Uncle Xu said, "Manager Tong, why don't you let me take some of each and ask the restaurant kitchen to make them. You can try them first, and then we can discuss it."
When Shopkeeper Tong heard this, he thought it made sense, so he ordered his waiter to take Uncle Xu and Qibao to the kitchen to teach the chef how to cook these dishes that he had never seen before.
The adult and the child were led by the waiter to the kitchen. When the chefs saw the waiter bringing two strangers in, they asked them about it. After the waiter told the chefs what happened, he asked Uncle Xu to tell the chefs how to deal with the vegetables. Qibao was also directing them. She planned to cook all the dishes that her family had eaten last night.
By the time everything was finished, half an hour had passed. The aroma permeated the kitchen. The chefs had never smelled anything so unique before, and they were eager to try it. Even the shopkeeper, Tong, in the backyard, caught wind of the aroma and swallowed, but remained expressionless. Qibao had reserved a little of each dish for the chefs to try, and had the waiters bring the finished dishes into the backyard. As the dishes reached the table, the aroma grew even stronger.
Qibao said, "Grandpa Tong, try it first to see if it suits your taste."
Shopkeeper Tong quickly picked up a piece of tomato with his chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth. His eyes narrowed immediately as a unique fragrance spread in his mouth. The egg was coated with red broth, sour and sour. It was the first time he had tasted a dish with this flavor. Then he took a bite of the tiger skin green pepper and felt a spicy taste in his mouth. He picked up the teacup beside him and took a sip. "Why is this dish so spicy?" he asked.
Qibao laughed and said, "Grandpa Tong, of course the pepper is spicy. If you taste it carefully, what else is there besides spicy?"
Shopkeeper Tong smacked his lips and said, "You know what, although this chili is spicy, after taking a bite you can't help but want to try a second bite. The spiciness is really satisfying, especially when the weather is cold, a bite of chili will definitely warm your body. It's a good thing!" After saying that, he tasted other dishes and couldn't stop eating until his stomach was full.
After taking a sip of tea, he thought, "These dishes are really good. I wonder what price you would like to sell them for?"
Old Master Xu said, "Shopkeeper Tong, there's no other restaurant that has these vegetables. They're unique, and as long as we cooperate with Shopkeeper Tong, these dishes won't appear in any other restaurant."
When Shopkeeper Tong heard him say this, he said, "Although these vegetables are rare, if the cost is too high, the price of the dishes will not be cheap, which will also affect business. I will buy these vegetables at a maximum price of fifteen cents per pound. What do you think?"
Qibao thought the price was suitable, so he discussed it with his grandfather and agreed to it, but he had to sign a contract.
So, according to Qibao's suggestion, Mr. Xu and the shopkeeper drafted a contract in duplicate, which clearly stated that these vegetables were only supplied to Zuixianlou, and Zuixianlou could not lower the price for other reasons in the future. The two parties were in an equal cooperation.
After weighing the vegetables Qibao and his companions brought, they found that the eight baskets weighed a total of 500 kilograms, and sold them for 7500 wen. Manager Tong asked them to deliver the vegetables every three days. After the matter was settled, Mr. Xu asked Manager Tong about the direction of the academy in the town. Then, they said goodbye to Manager Tong and set off towards the academy.
Here, Shopkeeper Tong sent the few people away, and then went straight to the study in the backyard, picked up a brush and wrote down the whole matter, put it in an envelope, and told the clerk to send someone to deliver it to the boss as soon as possible.
Grandpa Xu brought his sons to a school called Chunqiu Academy and asked the teacher there about the admission requirements. The academy charges an annual tuition of five taels of silver, and students need to prepare their own pens, ink, paper and inkstone. He asked them to register tomorrow and that they could only enroll when they were seven years old. Children who were too young would not be able to sit still in class.
A few of them went to the pastry shop to buy some pastries, and then went to the butcher stall to buy a few pounds of meat, and then rushed to Xujia Village.
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