Jiang Yuwei was busy collecting money and had no time to look at Sun Shi. Ning Qiu thought that all the food would go to waste, but unexpectedly, because of Chen Guixiang and Sun Shi's commotion, the fried cakes sold even faster.
Before noon, the two had sold out all the food they brought. As usual, Jiang Yuwei gave Ning Qiu thirty copper coins, while she herself thought about going to check on how business was at Lianxianglou.
Jiang Yuwei thought that if the chili sauce sold well, all the chili sauce she had taken last time would be used up. This time, she had marinated a hundred jars of chili sauce in advance and stored them in her space, just waiting to go to the market today to deliver them to Lianxianglou. So Jiang Yuwei found a secluded place, carried the chili sauce into her basket, and then headed towards Lianxianglou.
Jiang Yuwei was surprised to see such a long queue as soon as she arrived at the restaurant on East Street, with the people in front of her shouting impatiently:
"Isn't it our turn today?"
"After waiting so long, are there still any of those spicy crucian carp left?"
At this moment, Manager Xu was in the lobby trying to calm the guests down. He looked extremely anxious and was shouting to the servant behind him:
"Quickly, find me the woman who sold the child that day!"
Just as the servant was about to go out to look for Jiang Yuwei, he looked up and saw her. He excitedly called out to Manager Xu:
"Shopkeeper, we've found the person, no, the person is here."
When Manager Xu heard that Jiang Yuwei had arrived, he didn't care about anything else and quickly squeezed through the crowd. Upon seeing Jiang Yuwei, he hurriedly beckoned her to come inside. Jiang Yuwei didn't dare to delay and finally managed to squeeze in.
Manager Xu asked anxiously:
"Hurry up, did you bring chili sauce today? The kitchen is out of chili sauce, and there are so many people waiting. I'm really worried about this."
Jiang Yuwei quickly smiled and handed the basket to the servant beside her, saying:
“Count them, there are a hundred jars in total. I came here today specifically to deliver chili sauce to you.”
Manager Xu hurriedly instructed his servant to take the chili sauce to the kitchen and then invited Jiang Yuwei into a private room on the second floor.
Upon seeing the chili sauce, Manager Xu's anxious mood eased. His only regret was that he hadn't discussed with Jiang Yuwei when she would deliver the chili sauce. If she hadn't come today, the newly established reputation of Lianxianglou would have been ruined.
Manager Xu first poured Jiang Yuwei a cup of tea, and then said to her:
"May I ask your honorable name, Madam?"
Jiang Yuwei took the teacup handed to her by Manager Xu and smiled:
"My name is Jiang Yuwei. I see there are quite a few customers today. Manager Xu's shop must be getting more and more popular."
Manager Xu waved his hand and smiled:
"It's all thanks to you that you sent that life-saving recipe and taught me how to attract customers. Today you also delivered the chili sauce just in time. From now on, just make more of this chili sauce. My shop uses a lot of it. You can send me a hundred jars of chili sauce every seven days. And if you have any new recipes in the future, just send them over. I want them all!"
Jiang Yuwei smiled and said:
"From now on, I will have to rely on Manager Xu's help."
The customers downstairs were getting impatient, and Manager Xu had no time for pleasantries with Jiang Yuwei. He quickly settled her bill and then saw her downstairs.
Jiang Yuwei smiled and weighed the heavy five taels of silver in her hand, thinking to herself that making money was indeed addictive. As soon as Jiang Yuwei finished putting the silver away and came out of Lianxiang Tower, someone grabbed her arm.
Just as Jiang Yuwei was about to retaliate, she turned around and saw that it was Manager Lin from the Drunken Immortal Pavilion that day. She angrily pulled her arm away and shouted:
"Manager Lin, what do you mean by this? Men and women should not touch each other. Are you trying to tarnish my reputation in the street?"
Seeing this, Manager Lin quickly waved his hand with an embarrassed smile and said:
"No, no, you misunderstood. I was just a little anxious and pulled you along. Please keep your voice down, let's talk in the store."
Jiang Yuwei glanced sideways at Manager Lin, noticing that he was completely different from his imperious demeanor the last time they met, and said coldly:
"Let's talk here, I'm busy right now."
Seeing this, Manager Lin had no choice but to step forward and whisper:
"I wonder if Madam has any other recipes that she can sell to Zuixianlou?"
Jiang Yuwei then realized his purpose and sneered:
"How could I, an ignorant village woman, possibly catch the eye of Manager Lin? Besides, Manager Lin avoided me like the plague the other day, so why is he asking me for a prescription today?"
Manager Lin felt extremely regretful when he thought about what happened that day. He never expected that this inconspicuous woman would revitalize Lianxianglou's business just by selling a recipe to that man surnamed Xu. Now, their Zuixianlou was squeezed out and had almost no business. A few days ago, the restaurant owner came and scolded him severely.
Thinking this through, Manager Lin dared not neglect the man before him any longer, and so he smiled obsequiously and said:
"What are you saying? I was blind to your greatness. Please don't take offense, Madam. If you have any other prescriptions, I will definitely buy them at a high price!"
Jiang Yuwei looked Manager Lin up and down before speaking:
"Are you really going to buy my prescription?"
Seeing that his words had moved Jiang Yuwei, Manager Lin quickly nodded respectfully and said:
"Madam, there are too many people here, let's talk inside."
At this moment, Jiang Yuwei no longer declined and followed Manager Lin into the main hall. Jiang Yuwei looked around and saw that Zuixianlou was indeed not as crowded as when she last came. Most people were queuing at Lianxianglou now.
Jiang Yuwei didn't stand on ceremony and directly found a table to sit down, saying to Manager Lin:
"I do have a formula I can sell you right now, two of them."
Upon hearing this, Manager Lin's eyes lit up. Lianxianglou had only one recipe and yet its business was so booming. Now that this girl was willing to sell him two recipes, Zuixianlou would surely remain the most prestigious restaurant on the street, and the owner would naturally stop scolding him.
Thinking this, Manager Lin quickly sat down, poured Jiang Yuwei a cup of tea, and smiled:
"If you are willing to sell the recipe to our Zuixianlou, I will certainly not let you suffer any loss."
Jiang Yuwei took the teacup, took a small sip, nodded in satisfaction, and said:
“I was originally unwilling to sell this recipe. Even when the manager of Lianxianglou asked me for it, I refused. But now that I see how sincere you are, I’d like to do business with you. Lianxianglou has my recipe for double-pepper crucian carp, and it’s packed with customers at noon and in the evening. Right now, the customers have all tried it and are still enjoying it. You can’t take this business away from me anytime soon, so you might as well use my recipe to do your morning business.”
Seeing that this woman not only knew how to cook but also had some knowledge of business, Manager Lin nodded repeatedly and said:
"So, if I do this according to Madam's wishes, will my morning business become very successful?"
Jiang Yuwei pondered for a moment and then said:
“I noticed this street is near the dock, so there must be a lot of merchants coming and going. Don’t underestimate the breakfast business. If you run it properly, it can be a big business. If you buy my recipes for fried cakes and gardenia soy milk, you can make them into set meals and sell them. That would definitely be a good business.”
As Manager Lin listened to Jiang Yuwei's description, he became increasingly interested and couldn't wait to start the breakfast business the next morning. He hurriedly asked:
"So, how much would you like to sell these two formulas for?"
Jiang Yuwei smiled mysteriously, then took a fried cake and a cup of gardenia soy milk from her basket and handed them to Shopkeeper Lin, saying:
"Manager Lin, don't rush to ask about the price. Why don't you try these two dishes I made and see if they suit your taste?"
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