Chapter 10 Li Yang Joins the Party; Li Yang Has a Way with Money - Technical Involvement...
"Oh dear, young lady, who has upset you? Look at your little mouth, it's big enough to hang an oil bottle." Fang Yuan had just finished greeting the tea guests when she turned around and pinched Li Yang's little mouth.
This young lady's face is practically screaming "I'm not happy," it's so funny!
Li Yang slapped her hand away, hummed, and turned his head away, leaving only the back of his head visible.
Fang Yuan chuckled when she saw that Fang Yuan's stiff neck made her look like a silly goose.
"You're still laughing at me!" Li Yang immediately turned around and glared at her.
"Okay, okay, I won't laugh anymore." Fang Yuan dragged over a stool and examined her closely, noticing her wet eyelashes. "Huh, you've been crying! What happened? Did Chen Junbo bully you?"
"No." Li Yang wiped his face haphazardly with his sleeve. "I didn't cry. Don't mention that bastard."
"Did he really bully you?!" Upon hearing this, Fang Yuan slammed her hand on the table and was about to go find him. "Come on! Where is he? Let's find him!"
Amused, Li Yang recounted the events of the afternoon in detail, "Yuanyuan, does he look down on me because I only have fifty taels of silver?"
"How could the Chen family be like this..." Fang Yuan was stunned for a moment, then said, "Fortunately, Chen Junbo is a man after all, and he stepped in to resolve the issue."
Li Yang was unwilling to listen. "So what? He doesn't believe that I earned this money myself. I've already written down all the accounts, but he doesn't even bother to look at them."
Fang Yuan pursed her lips, thinking that President Chen had even sent his butler to discuss marriage negotiations, so he probably didn't have time to think about fifty taels of silver. But given Li Yang's current state... she glanced at him and said, "By the way, Zhao Zhao, I have a way to make money. Are you interested?"
"Of course!" Li Yang grabbed the other man's arms. "What connections? Tell me quickly!"
That expression is just like a puppy smelling meat.
Fang Yuan just kept suppressing her laughter, while Li Yang urged impatiently, "Hurry up and tell us!"
Seeing the other person mysteriously beckon with their finger, I leaned in to listen. I heard them say, "It was Zhou Chengli who said that his father was asking about your wonton recipe a few days ago. Before, he would buy your wontons every now and then to take back to his father. Now that you're not in business anymore, his father might have developed a craving for them. He wants to ask you if you'd be willing to sell the wonton recipe to Yanlou."
"That second-generation rich kid from the Zhou family was kind enough to tell you about this." Li Yang narrowed his eyes, and the look in his eyes as he glanced at his friend was anything but innocent.
Zhou Chengli is the only son of Manager Zhou of the banquet hall. He passed the county-level imperial examination at around eighteen years old and became a scholar. Manager Zhou said he wanted him to continue his studies, pass the provincial-level imperial examination, and become the top scholar, so as to bring honor to the Zhou family.
Unfortunately, Zhou Chengli didn't seem to be very diligent. He didn't go to the academy all day, but preferred to go to the Fang family's teahouse, saying that the Fang family's tea had a unique flavor.
Every time he came over, he wouldn't leave for three or four hours, always talking to Fang Yuan with a grin, but Fang Yuan found it annoying.
Later, Chengli changed his strategy this week. Every time he came over, he would buy a bowl of wontons with Liyang to take away and chat with her for half a day. Fang Yuan couldn't send him away anymore.
Now, when Li Yang heard that Shopkeeper Zhou wanted to buy her prescription, she knew that Zhou Chengli must have pulled some strings behind the scenes. He figured it was to create another excuse for Fang Yuan to owe him a favor.
This fellow has such a clever mind; if he had studied hard, he probably would have passed the imperial examination long ago.
Thinking this, her mouth almost stretched to her ears. Only a fool wouldn't make money!
At the shop entrance, two yellow dogs were sunbathing with their bellies up and eyes half-closed.
Li Yang was also secretly calculating how to negotiate this deal to make more money.
"Hey! Are you selling or not? Give me a straight answer so I can give them a reply." Fang Yuan shoved her shoulder.
He stumbled, then immediately sat up straight. "Sell!"
"By the way, is your 'Brother Chengli' at the banquet hall today?"
Fang Yuan sneered, then swung the rag over her shoulder and shoved it at him.
After making a fuss for a while, she finally said, "The banquet hall is always taking stock of its accounts during these few days of the month, and his father won't let his scholar son go out."
"You seem to know exactly when the banquet hall holds its accounts..." Seeing the rag about to be pulled at him again, Li Yang got up and ran off, "Let's go, to the banquet hall!"
"Zhao Zhao, oh, my ancestor, wait a minute! Wait for me a moment, I'll go with you!" Fang Yuan called out, clinging to the eaves of the door and standing on tiptoe.
Li Yang's figure grew smaller and smaller until he disappeared into the crowd.
Seeing the woman shouting, Yellow Dog B sighed, glanced at Yellow Dog A beside it, tilted its head, and stuck out its tongue at the woman with a grin. Unexpectedly, the woman raised a rag and lashed out, yelling, "Look, look! What are you looking at? Get lost!"
A yellow dog let out a howl and leaped into the air. The other dog jumped up in fright and followed its older brother, running for its life. Two clouds of yellow dust rose up on the street.
Yellow Dog A couldn't help but look back, and the woman had actually caught up with them! Awooo!
The two dogs ran like the wind to the entrance of the banquet hall, and then, thud! thud! their rear ends landed on the ground, steaming hot.
Inside the store, Li Yang pressed his lower back, bent slightly, and fanned himself with one hand.
"Brother Chengli!" She spotted Zhou Chengli with her sharp eyes. "Is Manager Zhou here?"
Upon seeing her, the latter hurriedly asked the waiter to fetch someone, while he couldn't help but peek behind her.
Manager Zhou, who resembled Maitreya Buddha, shuffled over with his fat feet. "Little Liyang, it's been a long time. You should call me Madam Chen now." He loosely tied his waistband around his belly.
He had a rosy and glowing face, downturned eyebrows and eyes, and a large nose that pushed up the fleshy part of his face.
With that憨憨 (simple and honest) look, he just happens to love wearing the duck-egg blue long gown that is most commonly used by students from Jiangnan. Well, now he looks like a standard salted duck egg.
Li Yang smiled and said, "Uncle Zhou, you're joking with me too."
"Oh, Zhao Zhao, you ran too fast!" Fang Yuan said breathlessly as she entered the store. "Hello, Uncle Zhou."
Manager Zhou hummed in agreement.
"Yuanyuan." Zhou Chengli exclaimed happily, but his father glared at him, so he had to shut up.
Seeing this, Li Yang didn't beat around the bush, "Uncle Zhou, I heard from Fang Yuan that you wanted to buy my wonton recipe, is that true?"
Upon hearing this, Manager Zhou sized up the three young men. "Little Liyang, look, you're not doing business anymore. It's a pity I can't eat your wontons anymore. No one else's wontons taste the same. Have pity on Uncle Zhou, why don't you tell Uncle Zhou the recipe? Uncle can make them himself next time he wants to eat them, how about that?"
That's ridiculous! They're treating people like three-year-olds! So cunning, they didn't even mention the word "buy".
Li Yang pouted, "Uncle Zhou, look at what you're saying! If you want to eat wontons, just send someone to tell me, and I'll come to the shop to make them for you right away."
She wasn't in a hurry. Manager Zhou was happy to lead her around in circles, and she had plenty of time to play along. In any case, someone was more anxious than she was.
Then, Zhou Chengli said in a low voice, "Dad, didn't you say you were going to buy a wonton recipe to make them at the shop? Why..."
"Shut up!"
Shopkeeper Zhou's eyes narrowed sharply, but he quickly put on a smile again. "Little Liyang, to be honest, I really do want to sell your wontons at Yanlou. You and Chengli are friends, and Uncle Zhou has always treated you like family. We're all family, so let's not stand on ceremony. You've married into such a wealthy and noble family like the Chen family, so you'll never have to worry about food or clothing again. Why don't you give me the recipe? My business is small, and it's not easy to run. Earning a little extra is always good."
"What kind of talk is this?" Li Yang was furious. "Uncle Zhou, what does the Chen family's wealth have to do with me? Every penny I have is earned by working hard from dawn till dusk. The banquet hall is so grand, how could it be short of money for my recipe?"
Hearing this, Fang Yuan understood that Manager Zhou was trying to trick Li Yang into giving away the wonton recipe for free. Someone actually dared to have such a pipe dream in broad daylight! She was furious and glared at Zhou Chengli, her eyes flashing with anger.
When Zhou Xiucai saw the young lady's brows furrowed, his heart tightened. He thought, "This is bad." He quickly pulled at his father, "Father, our family doesn't need this much money."
Seeing his son siding with outsiders, Manager Zhou wanted nothing more than to bang his head on the ground. He sighed helplessly, "Fine, little Liyang, then give me a number."
Li Yang smiled and said, "Uncle Zhou, I don't sell wonton recipes."
Everyone was stunned. Manager Zhou's cheeks twitched, and he was about to get angry.
She continued, "I want to use this recipe at the banquet hall."
As if his ears had been burned, Manager Zhou nimbly twisted his belly and slipped under the counter.
He settled comfortably on the high stool, let out a long, drawn-out "Heh," and started clicking the abacus beads with his fingers, his tone laced with sarcasm, "Little Liyang, were you having a nightmare last night? Open your eyes and look around. My banquet hall has three floors. See? There are fifteen eight-immortal tables in the main hall alone, and more than twenty private rooms upstairs! You..."
As he spoke, his thick, round fingers tapped on the counter. "With just a wonton recipe, you think you can join my banquet hall with a single word?!"
He shook his head, letting out a cryptic chuckle, the abacus beads clicking and rattling.
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