Chapter 92
After the shopkeeper left, Gu Daniu quickly asked, "Master Chen, what did you just do..."
Gu Xinxin waved her hand: "I'll ask later."
Setting up a stall was profitable, but opening a shop was even more profitable. However, the cost of opening a shop was also high, including the space, labor, and logistics. She didn't have any of these, but Young Master Chen did.
Gu Xinxin didn't rush back the next day. Instead, she went to find Cheng Shansong first: "What is Mr. Chen's identity? If I want to do business with him..."
Cheng Shansong was a little surprised: "You want to do business with him?"
Gu Xinxin nodded: "Yes, you know, my family doesn't have any backers. Now it's because of the stall that we are not so eye-catching. Even so, the He family almost cut off our business before."
Fortunately, she has a wide variety of snacks, and the He family only has a monopoly on the pickle business in a county town, and is not yet so powerful as to influence the provincial capital.
"What do you think if we opened a restaurant with those dishes from yesterday?" Gu Xinxin asked. Cheng Shansong smiled and said, "That's great. Firstly, they're rare, and secondly, many people like to eat fish. If we specialize in fish, I'm sure we'll attract a lot of customers."
"Mr. Chen and I don't have any friendship, so I'd like to ask you to come forward... If you can really open a shop, I'll give you 10% of the profits, and I can give Mr. Chen 30%."
This adds up to 40%, and she gets 60%.
Cheng Shansong was a little surprised. What about his own?
He waved his hand and said, "No, I don't need it. It's just a question, but I can't guarantee that it will be done. If Master Chen doesn't want to, I don't have any other options."
"I know, you just need to do your best." Gu Xinxin pondered for a moment, then said, "If Mr. Chen is willing to help find a shop and arrange staff, I will give him another 20% of the profit."
Forget it. Since she was planning to borrow Mr. Chen's family background, she couldn't be too stingy. It was only 20% of the profit, right? She would just give it.
Cheng Shansong smiled and said, "Then this shop is opened for Master Chen?"
The people belong to Mr. Chen, and the place belongs to Mr. Chen. Once the shop opens and the chef learns how to cook these dishes, what will Gu Xinxin have to do?
Gu Xinxin smiled and said, "The key lies in the seasoning. I plan to mix the seasoning myself. Also, fish balls and fish chunks need to be purchased from me. Of course, the purchase price is the purchase price, which needs to be included in the cost."
In other words, she can make extra money from purchasing goods.
Of course, this is just a small amount of money, hard-earned money.
She could outsource the fish ball production to her uncle, while still keeping control over the seasoning. This wasn't too much work, and the profit was also higher.
Seeing that she had a plan, Cheng Shansong nodded and said, "Okay, I'll ask for you later. I'll reply to you tonight at the earliest and tomorrow morning at the latest. When will you return to Dafeng Town?"
Gu Xinxin pondered for a moment: "Since you want to reply, then do it tomorrow at noon. If it doesn't work out, I won't have to come next time. If it works out, I might come again in three or five days."
After finishing the business, Gu Xinxin asked about the Fucheng Academy. The imperial court appointed the imperial edictaries to the academy. This was the reason why Fucheng Academy was so prominent among all the academies—firstly, it was a government-run school. If you were well-known there, the prefect would know your name. Secondly, the imperial edictaries came from the court, so they were more familiar with its policies. If there were any special examinations, the people at the prefectural academy would be the first to know.
Even if you don't ask about the special examination, by building a good relationship with the teacher, you can still find out some things about the capital - for example, who will be the chief examiner of the next imperial examination, what kind of writing style this examiner prefers, etc.
Cheng Shansong laughed and said, "If I remember correctly, your brother is still young and hasn't even passed the Tongsheng exam. Isn't it too early for you to ask now?"
Gu Xinxin laughed along, "It's better to start early than late. The sooner you know what you want to do, the sooner you can set your goals. If you wait until you get to the exam room to start thinking about what you want to do, isn't that too late?"
"Also, I would like to ask Brother Cheng, do you have any books to recommend to my younger brother?" Since Cheng Shansong can become friends with Master Chen in the provincial school, he must be a scholar. He might have some secrets about the imperial examinations.
Cheng Shansong pondered for a moment and shook his head. "Gu Xiangrong, the most important thing right now is to learn everything the teacher has taught you. Being a Tongsheng...it's just a test of your familiarity with the Four Books and Five Classics, not an essay. So as long as you memorize the books thoroughly, there won't be any major problems."
After a pause, he continued, "Practice calligraphy more in your spare time. Beautiful handwriting will always be an advantage."
If your handwriting is messy, it will be useless no matter how well you answer the test.
However, Cheng Shansong specially took out a copybook of calligraphy that he liked very much and gave it to Gu Xinxin: "You can ask Gu Xiangrong to copy this later."
Gu Xinxin hurriedly thanked him, but couldn't help gossiping: "Did your family... split up?"
Speaking of this, Cheng Shansong sighed: "My father's temperament is really too kind."
This statement was too pedantic. If Mr. Cheng had agreed to a division, with Cheng Shansong's ability, the Cheng family would have split up long ago. But Mr. Cheng was unwilling to do so. He brought up the kindness shown to him by the eldest son of the Cheng family and the kindness of his grandparents in raising him.
Cheng Shansong couldn't force his father to sign the family division document.
It's actually not easy to tell others about family scandals, but Gu Xinxin... saw with her own eyes the scene of him asking for money from the eldest wife, and she also had some understanding of the affairs of the Cheng family, so there was nothing to hide in front of Gu Xinxin.
Gu Xinxin couldn't help but sigh. In this world, children can never go against their parents, just like she can't hit Gu Daniu openly.
It was not too late, so Gu Xinxin waved to Cheng Shansong: "I won't bother you anymore. Wait for good news from Master Cheng."
Cheng Shansong waved at her, watched her walk away, and then turned back to the academy.
With a day off, Gu Xinxin simply took Gu Daniu to the surrounding real estate agencies to ask about the housing prices and rents in the provincial capital. They also went to the area around the provincial school. She sold snacks, so it would be better for her to start out in the market near the school.
No matter what era it is, students are the main buyers of snacks.
Cheng Shansong didn't come in the evening, but came early the next morning. Not only did he come, he also brought Mr. Chen with him.
Young Master Chen's complexion improved a little. As soon as he entered the room, he ordered his servants to bring in various things. "I should thank Miss Gu. If it weren't for your reminder, the doctor wouldn't have thought of worms in my stomach. When I got home yesterday, the doctor would have prescribed a prescription. I..."
He coughed lightly and skipped the middle part of his sentence: "Anyway, I'm a little more frugal now."
Gu Xinxin was curious: "Can you really get the bugs out?"
Are you kidding? If it were that easy, could sugar pills be a panacea? Perhaps she was thinking in the wrong direction. Traditional Chinese medicine also removes insects, but the price is high and the decoction is bitter, making it unaffordable for ordinary people. In comparison, sweet, cheap sugar pills are the best choice for the public, right?
After all, what good medicine is it if it can't be promoted? It's just something for the rich.
Young Master Chen nodded and changed the subject: "I heard Shan Ge'er talking about opening a shop yesterday. What kind of restaurant do you want to open?"
Gu Xinxin nodded. "Yes, it's called Fish Restaurant, and the dishes are all kinds of fish. Fish chunks and fish balls can also be cooked, and meat floss can be paired with white porridge. I know how to cook several kinds of fish: braised fish, steamed fish, pickled fish, sweet and sour fish..."
She counted on her fingers, and Master Chen clapped his hands: "Good!"
Gu Xinxin was interrupted and felt a little dazed. Master Chen smiled and said, "I think it's a good idea to open a restaurant specializing in fish. You can have fish porridge and pork floss porridge in the morning, and various kinds of fish at noon."
He smiled and said, "But I can't take 60% of the profit. I want 40%. As for the rest, as you said, give 10% to Shan Ge'er and you can take 50%."
Gu Xinxin waved her hands hurriedly: "No, no, no, how about this, if you think 60% is too much, how about giving you 50%? After all, this shop and the staff are all managed by you..."
Master Chen pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, it's too much trouble to keep refusing. I'll just do as you say."
At worst, he could just put in some effort to boost the shop's business and bring more friends over to eat. Well, for someone of his stature, wherever he went to eat, there was a certain... celebrity effect.
Of course, it may be a bit shameless to say that he is a celebrity, but it is true. Wherever he goes to eat, the people around him are willing to follow him to eat there.
With more people coming, business will naturally become easier.
He was confident that he could turn this fish restaurant into the best restaurant in the city.
Cheng Shansong came to draft the contract, which included the regulations that fish balls and fish fillets must be purchased from Gu Xinxin, the seasonings must be prepared by Gu Xinxin personally, and the restaurant must purchase these regulations from Gu Xinxin.
Brothers should settle accounts clearly. Now is not the time to be sentimental. This contract should be detailed to reduce disputes in the future. Mr. Chen is grateful to Gu Xinxin now, but what about ten years later?
If the restaurant makes a lot of money, how can the people around Mr. Chen not instigate Mr. Chen to do something?
Therefore, whether for the future or for now, everything that needs to be written clearly must be written clearly.
The shopkeeper is Mr. Chen's man, but Gu Xinxin can check the account book once a month.
In order to avoid taking the 10% dividend in vain, Cheng Shansong also took on the responsibility of supervision, which was to check the quality of the goods every time he delivered the goods, and to ensure that the account books were clear every time he checked the accounts so that there would be no more disputes.
Simply put, he was like a middleman, mediating between Gu Xinxin and Mr. Chen.
After writing, four copies were made, each signed and fingerprinted, and then sent to the government office to be finalized.
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