"Hello, sir, I'm looking for your manager."
The waiter looked Yang Cui up and down before calling the manager over.
Before long, a plump middle-aged man dressed in brocade robes arrived in front of Yang Cui, guided by the waiter.
"Who are you?"
"Manager Yu, hello. My surname is Yang. I wonder if you have time now? I would like to talk to you."
When Manager Yu saw that Yang Cui was carrying a jar, he roughly guessed what Yang Cui had come for.
"I'm sorry, I'm busy right now and don't have time."
"It's alright, you go ahead with your work. I'll grab something to eat at the restaurant and wait for you while I eat."
After saying that, Manager Yu left.
Yang Cui actually found a place to sit down and beckoned to the waiter: "Brother, give me a bowl of rice, a braised fish, and an empty bowl."
"Alright! Please wait a moment, sir!"
After the empty bowl was served, Yang Cui opened the jar and took out some with her chopsticks. The aroma of perilla, peach, and ginger was still very strong, and the people at the next table quickly noticed it, including a pregnant woman.
She's not usually a glutton, but today, the smell made her really want to eat it.
She beckoned to the waiter: "Hey you at the next table, bring me one."
The waiter glanced at Yang Cui and then said, "Excuse me, that was brought by that customer himself."
The pregnant woman was dumbfounded: She brought her own food to the restaurant?
Yang Cui had naturally overheard their conversation, and she smiled and said, "If this lady doesn't mind, I can give you a portion."
"How could I possibly accept that?"
"It's alright, meeting is fate. Waiter, could you please bring me a clean plate?"
Soon the waiter brought a clean plate, and Yang Cui opened the jar and used clean chopsticks to serve the pregnant woman a portion.
"Thank you, but I won't stand on ceremony. Waiter, I'll put the bill for her table on my tab later."
"You're too kind."
The pregnant woman took a bite, and the taste was indeed amazing!
The plate was finished very quickly.
The pregnant woman's husband asked with a smile, "Do you like to eat this?"
The pregnant woman nodded, still somewhat wanting more.
Her husband walked up to Yang Cui and said, "Miss, my wife is pregnant and likes this. May I ask where you bought it?"
"This is something I made myself: perilla, peach, and ginger. It has the effects of dispelling cold, removing dampness, relieving exterior symptoms, regulating qi, and harmonizing the stomach. Ginger slices also have the effects of relieving exterior symptoms and dispelling cold, preventing colds, and benefiting the stomach. Eating this can enhance immunity, prevent colds and coughs, strengthen the spleen and stomach, and is very good for the body."
Upon hearing this, the pregnant woman was startled: "Young lady, you know medicine?"
"I don't understand, but I always have to do my homework before I start this business."
How much do you sell this for?
"Sixty coins per pound."
Sugar is too expensive; one ounce costs sixteen coins. This jar weighs about four pounds, and the cost of the sugar alone is about sixty coins. In addition, a lot of salt was used during the pickling process. Both of these things are too expensive.
However, those who could afford to eat at the Star Gazing Tower were either rich or noble, and sixty coins were nothing to them.
"Then sell them all to me," the pregnant woman said.
"Sure, this jar weighed about four pounds when I was at home. Subtracting the portion I took out myself and the portion I gave you before, let's say three pounds. You're my first customers, so I won't charge you for the jar. It'll be 180 coins in total. How about that?"
"Can."
The man paid the money readily.
Having successfully completed her first transaction, Yang Cui became even more confident.
Shopkeeper Yu watched as Yang Cui sold the entire jar of goods before approaching her: "Miss Yang."
"Manager Yu," Yang Cui said, standing up.
Manager Yu's gaze fell on the plate of perilla, peach and ginger on the table. Yang Cui immediately said, "Manager Yu, this is perilla, peach and ginger that I made myself. It's refreshing and appetizing in the summer. Please try it first. It's all clean, I haven't touched it yet."
Shopkeeper Yu picked up a piece and tasted it, his expression unchanged.
"Manager Yu, do you have time to talk privately?"
"Please come upstairs."
Yang Cui followed Manager Yu up to the second floor, where there was a room that resembled an office.
Yang Cui said, "Manager Yu, you've been in the catering industry for many years and are an expert. What do you think of the taste?"
"It's acceptable, but not suitable for formal occasions."
Yang Cui smiled and said, "But I can't deny that some customers will like it, right? And this stuff is also great as an appetizer before meals. You can also sell a whole jar to customers like I did today."
Shopkeeper Yu remained silent.
Yang Cui then said, "I have two plans. First, I will sell to your restaurant at a price of sixty coins per catty. Second, your restaurant will act as my agent for sales, and I will give your restaurant a commission of ten coins for every catty sold. What do you think?"
Shopkeeper Yu looked troubled: "Sixty coins is a bit expensive!"
As soon as he said that, Yang Cui knew that Manager Yu wanted to buy it, but he just wanted to lower the price.
Yang Cui lowered her voice and said, "If Manager Yu buys goods at sixty coins per catty, I can personally give him half a cent for tea."
Half a percent, or five percent, is a kickback, a tacit rule that exists in all industries.
Manager Yu is not the owner of the Star Gazing Tower; to put it bluntly, he is just a high-level employee. Yang Cui has no connections in this world, so if she wants to do business, she can only use economic interests as a breakthrough.
Manager Yu was taken aback by Yang Cui's words.
"Actually, this doesn't harm the restaurant's interests at all; it's a win-win-win situation. What do you think?"
No one in this world doesn't love money, and the shopkeeper is no exception.
Manager Yu did some mental calculations. Based on the current performance of the Star Gazing Pavilion serving 150 tables a day, if each table sold one jar a day, and each jar weighed three catties, he could earn more than one tael of silver a day, which was more than his wages. His monthly wages as manager were only thirty taels of silver.
When it came to his own interests, Manager Yu was tempted and stopped haggling.
"Then let's start with thirty jars. But these jars need to be better. The ones we have today are too ugly. Our guests here are all rich and powerful. If it's just a jar of stuff, they'll feel it's beneath them. Also, don't put four jin in one jar. The number four is unlucky. Put three jin instead."
"What you say is true, Manager Yu. I will go and order a batch of nicer jars in a little while. However, since you want thirty jars, we need to draw up a contract first and you need to pay a 30% deposit. Also, if we use nicer porcelain jars, it will increase the cost, and I will have to add 12 coins per pound."
Yang Cui had learned about this when she bought the jars before. For ordinary household use, the kind she was using today cost eight coins each. The nicer ones cost tens or hundreds of coins each, and some even cost several taels of silver each. Yang Cui had seen one that day that was a little smaller than this, but it could hold three catties without any problem. It also had a peony pattern on it and cost forty-five coins each. If she bought a lot, she should be able to negotiate the price.
"You can read?" In those days, not many women could read. The shopkeeper was surprised that Yang Cui could read, and he immediately looked at her with new respect.
“I know some of them. If Manager Yu thinks it’s okay, we can sign a contract, and I’ll deliver the goods to you the day after tomorrow.”
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