After finishing their meal, the two took Xiaoqi to the inn to rest. The next morning, Xia Hua packed the braised meat in a basket, and the two took Xiaoqi to the largest restaurant in Huatian City. They told the waiter that they wanted to see the manager, and the waiter told them to wait a while while he went to find him.
Before they could keep them waiting long, the shopkeeper arrived, followed by the waiter.
The restaurant manager came over and said, "What brings you two ladies here? The waiter told me you were looking for me."
Xia Hua pulled open the cloth in the basket. "We want to talk business with the shopkeeper. This is braised meat, which can be eaten hot or cold. I wonder if the shopkeeper would be willing to give it a try?"
The shopkeeper looked at the strange object, puzzled but not at all refusing. "Ladies and young lady, please come upstairs. I'll have my waiter take this braised meat to the kitchen to heat it up, how about that?"
Xia Hua took out four pieces of braised pork. "Please heat these up for me. You can cut them open from here."
"Yes, madam." The waiter took the food to the kitchen and had the cooks heat it up while he waited on the side.
"Xiao Nian, is this meat? That customer brought it himself. It smells quite good." The restaurant's chef looked at the braised meat and asked curiously.
Xiao Nian explained, "This wasn't brought by the guests, but by the two ladies. They said they wanted the boss to try it, and if he liked it, they would put it in the restaurant to sell."
The chef nodded and took out the already heated meat. "Xiao Nian, may I have a taste?" It smelled very good when it was steamed, but it smells even better now that it's out of the steamer.
Xiao Nian shook his head, "No, these were brought by the two ladies. The shopkeeper has to try them first. But Chen Da can come with me. You'll be more confident than anyone else in tasting them."
The head chef agreed, after all, he was the head chef, and he made all the dishes in the restaurant. If they weren't good, and they were still sold in the restaurant, wouldn't people misunderstand that he made them?
"Let's go then, I'll go with you." Although that was what he thought, he knew that the meat smelled amazing and it must be delicious, so he decided to try it.
The two of them took the braised meat to the second floor of the restaurant, placed it on the table, and Xiao Nian said, "Manager, this is the braised meat that the two ladies brought. It's already heated up."
The shopkeeper nodded, "Chef Chen is here too, so let's try some together." He picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of meat, and after finishing it, picked up the braised chicken next to him. He then tried each kind of meat.
Before the braised meat was served, the two ladies gave him a taste of the cold braised meat. It was delicious, and the meat was very chewy, but it was not quite as good as the hot meat now.
Seeing the shopkeeper start eating, Chef Chen picked up some braised pork and ate it himself. "Mmm, delicious!" Then he picked up some braised chicken. "This is even better."
In the end, he didn't care that it was meant for the shopkeeper to try, and started eating it himself. He even tore off a chicken leg for Xiao Nian. Seeing that he was eating with relish, Xiao Nian didn't say anything and just ate along with him, nodding as he ate.
Judging from their expressions, the shopkeeper knew the meat was truly delicious. After all, although Chef Chen had a good temper, he would never touch anything that didn't taste good.
"Madams, may I ask how much your braised meat costs?"
An Shuyi and Xia Hua sat to the side watching them eat. As the amount of meat on the table gradually decreased, they knew that the business was stable. They just wondered if they would go to pick up meat from such a far away place.
When Xia Hua heard the shopkeeper's question, she said, "Shopkeeper, we are not from Huatian City, but from Jinnan City. We are here to sell braised meat. Our braised meat can be guaranteed to last for fifteen days without spoiling. You will need to pick it up yourself. If you can accept that, I will tell you how much silver it costs."
The shopkeeper was somewhat troubled upon hearing this. "Ladies, why don't you open a shop in Flower Field City to sell this meat? This place is quite far from Jinnan City."
If it were nearby, it would be fine, but Jinnan City is a five-day journey. A round trip would take ten days. Although there are still ten days to sell the braised meat after it's brought back, the journey itself is still troublesome.
Seeing the shopkeeper's expression, Xia Hua said, "We have no intention of opening a shop in Flower Field City. Although the journey is quite long, the shopkeeper should know that this meat would definitely sell well if it were placed in a restaurant."
"Furthermore, since we're opening a shop here, we won't be selling our products in your restaurant; we'll be selling them ourselves. After all, the unpackaged products we sell in Jinnan City are doing quite well."
Shushu had mentioned before that she could sell braised meat powder, but how much silver could she sell it for? Although she could buy as much as she wanted in the mall, even if she sold it for ten taels of silver a pack, she wouldn't earn as much as she would from selling braised meat. Moreover, the braising liquid could be reused repeatedly, which wasn't cost-effective. Besides, all the chickens, ducks, and geese in their village were bought through Shushu's trading system, which was very cheap.
Although I also buy from Jinnan City, I don't buy much. Shushu's place is better; it's cheaper, and you can buy as much as you want.
The shopkeeper agreed. After all, if it were in Flower Field City, they wouldn't sell it to him; he could sell it himself. As for buying the formula, seeing that these two women could sell it in Jinnan City, they must have powerful backers, and he couldn't steal it from them.
"Alright, then we'll go get it ourselves. How much does this braised meat cost?"
Xia Hua looked at the bones on the table and ate them very quickly. She said, "This braised meat costs one jin (500 grams) per pack, and one tael of silver per pack. A braised chicken costs two taels of silver, a braised duck costs four taels, and a braised goose costs six taels. It's not this expensive in Jinnan City, but those are all unpackaged."
"These packaged braised meats can be stored for fifteen days as long as they are not opened. Of course, this is true in hot weather. If the meat is kept in a cold environment, it may last longer, but not too long, or it will affect the taste."
The shopkeeper nodded, "Madams, we have no problem getting the meat, but could you only sell it to our restaurant? You see, if the meat is sold in large quantities in Huatian City, we won't make any money."
Xia Hua hesitated for a moment, "We can sell only to you. We won't sell to anyone else. But we can't guarantee it to those big families. Even if they buy, we won't sell too much. What do you think?"
Actually, they didn't intend to sell to other restaurants. They only needed to reach an agreement with one restaurant. If they sold to too many restaurants, it would be good at first, but later people would get tired of the food and stop eating there.
It's better to have only one restaurant. If one restaurant dominates, there will be many customers, but some people won't be able to eat there. They might be able to eat there next time, but what about the time after that? This way, they'll miss out on the food and that's how the restaurant can stay popular for a long time.
"Sure, as long as it's not sold to those restaurants, the inn will be fine. I'll go write the contract." The innkeeper said and hurriedly left.
Before long, the shopkeeper returned. After Xia Hua pressed her handprint, he said, "Madams, sell me all the braised meat you have. I'll test the customers' reactions first. We also have a restaurant in Qingyan City. Although there's one in the capital, it's too far, and it'll be too late to get it there."
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