Chapter 73 This plan is brilliant. What are your plans for these tea drinks...?
Ye Lan paused for a moment, seemingly remembering Su Mang, and said solemnly, "I didn't see Miss Su when I came in."
She glanced around at the other people in the shop and at the entrance, and asked, "Have any of you seen Manager Su before?"
Everyone else shook their heads: "No."
Fu Jun frowned slightly, his expression becoming serious. He lowered his voice and said, "Commander Ye, based on my understanding of Su Mang during this period, she is not the kind of person who disappears without a word. I suspect that she encountered some difficulties, but did not want to cause trouble for others, so she left alone to resolve them."
He looked at Ye Lan earnestly and asked, "Could I trouble you to send someone to search for her as well?"
“Of course.” Ye Lan agreed without hesitation: “It’s just a small matter, a simple favor, nothing to worry about.”
Without waiting for Fu Jun's response, she pointed to one of the women at the door and said, "You, come in."
The woman whose name was called immediately stepped into the shop, cupped her hands in greeting, and said, "Greetings, Commander."
Night Blue asked, "Your name is Xiao Jing, right?"
The woman nodded in response: "Reporting to the Commander, this humble servant is Jingzhi. What are your orders?"
Ye Lan instructed, "Take two people and ask the shopkeepers around the store if anyone has seen where Manager Su went."
"Yes, sir. I will take men to find Manager Su's whereabouts immediately."
Ye Lan waved her hand, indicating that she could leave.
After Jingzhi and the two others left the shop, Ye Lan got back to the main point: "What do you plan to do with these tea drinks?"
Fu Jun suppressed his worry and glanced at the buckets of milk tea and drinks that had only decreased by a third. After a moment of contemplation, he looked up at the street outside the shop, his gaze sweeping across the shops across the street before settling on the teahouses and restaurants. Suddenly, an idea came to him: "Since we can't sell to customers in the restaurant area today, let's sell to them wholesale!"
Upon hearing this, Ye Lan looked surprised and asked, "Can they accept such a large quantity?"
Fu Jun was not worried at all, and smiled calmly: "There are no less than sixty restaurants and teahouses in the city. They add up to a lot, so it is no problem for them to take our amount. In addition, we already have a lot of stable customers. It will not be difficult to sell out these few barrels. It is very likely that we will not be able to sell enough. We have been unable to meet the demand before."
A hint of joy flashed in Ye Lan's eyes: "That's great, then we don't have to worry about losing money."
Fu Jun sighed, somewhat unwilling: "It's a pity that the wholesale price and the retail price are different. Today's turnover will probably reduce profits by 20%."
Ye Lan's beautiful eyebrows and eyes revealed a sharp look: "These people are really audacious. They dare to disturb the city's order in broad daylight. They simply don't respect our imperial court."
Her gaze held a hint of guilt: "Young Master Su, I am very sorry. Due to the government's negligence in maintaining order, you have suffered such a loss of silver on your very first day of business. This is a dereliction of duty on the part of our court, and I am deeply sorry for the inconvenience it has caused you."
As she spoke, her gaze turned cold and her tone became firm: "Young Master Su, rest assured, the imperial court will definitely give you an explanation and make up for all your losses."
Fu Yun shook his head, knowing full well that this matter had nothing to do with the imperial court: "They are deliberately targeting me. No matter how heavily guarded you are, they will use every means to achieve their goal. So the fault is not yours, and you don't need to apologize to me."
He walked around the several buckets of beverages as he spoke: "The first thing to do now is to distribute these buckets of tea drinks."
Selling them by the barrel is definitely not feasible. Lingzhou City covers such a large area that even if we used horse-drawn carriages to transport them, it would take until dark to sell them all if we had to run them around the entire city.
Ye Lan stared at the tea in the wooden bucket, lost in thought, seemingly considering the most suitable method of transportation.
Fu Yun remained silent for a moment, her gaze sweeping over the retail Coca-Cola bottles on the counter, packaged in gourds. Her eyes paused slightly, then a smile appeared on her lips as she asked Ye Lan, "Do you know of any cheap wine jars around here?"
He paused, then quickly added, "Smaller wooden barrels will also work, but I don't know which of the two containers is cheaper."
Ye Lan raised an eyebrow, a hint of joy flashing in her eyes: "You mean..."
She hesitated, clearly understanding Fu Jun's intention.
“That’s right.” Fu Jun naturally understood what she meant: “That’s right. If the other party wants to use the wine jug and wooden barrel to store things, we will sell them to them with the cost of the wooden barrel. If the other party doesn’t want them, we will take them back and reuse them.”
Ye Lan's pupils trembled slightly, surprised by his composure and calmness. She couldn't help but praise him, "This plan is brilliant. Young Master Su is indeed worthy of being the son of the richest man in the past. He has extraordinary business acumen. He is truly gifted, resourceful, and a great talent in business."
She then added jokingly, "In my opinion, His Majesty's taking you under his command is like adding wings to a tiger. Our Nü Kingdom is one step closer to a peaceful and prosperous era. It's only a matter of time before it flourishes and the people live in peace and tranquility."
Fu Jun's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly waved his hand, feeling that he couldn't accept the honor: "Commander Ye, you flatter me too much. There are thousands of merchants in this world, and I am just an ordinary merchant. How could I have such great power to affect the prosperity of the country and the well-being of the people?"
Ye Lan curled her lips into a meaningful smile, walked to Fu Jun's side and stood down, saying in a voice that only she and Fu Jun could hear, "But apart from you, I'm afraid no merchant would willingly hand over most of the money he has earned to the Guangchu Division, right?"
Fu Jun felt a surge of shock in his heart, but his face remained expressionless. He feigned ignorance and asked, "What brings you to the conversation, Commander Ye?"
He remembered clearly that he had not told Ye Lan and Qian Qingling during this period that the money he earned would be used to replenish the national treasury. Even when he needed to tell them the reason for running the fitness training camp, he only expressed his intention to increase the number of troops and did not mention any issues related to money, let alone the arrangements for the money brought by the fitness training camp.
The Empress once said that the matter of filling the national treasury is known only to Heaven, Earth, you, and me. So how did Ye Lan find out about this?
Was she trying to test or trick him?
Ye Lan slowly withdrew from Fu Jun's side, her expression carrying a hint of teasing: "You don't need to be nervous. His Majesty told me about this privately, not because I intentionally inquired. Aren't you wondering why I took time out of my busy schedule to come over? That's why I'm doing my best to help you."
"I see." Fu Yun secretly breathed a sigh of relief and tentatively asked, "General Qian is unaware of this, is he?"
“Of course.” Ye Lan’s expression instantly became more solemn. “The fewer people who know about this, the less unknown risk there will be. Although Qian Qingling is a loyal subject, it is not appropriate for her to know about the empty treasury. The reason His Majesty informed me is only so that I can cover for you when necessary, so that you won’t get bogged down in this matter. Therefore, you should know what to do, right?”
Ye Lan paused as she spoke, her gaze carrying a hint of warning.
Fu Jun nodded and replied solemnly, "I know. Without the Empress's permission, I will keep this matter to myself."
Ye Lan smiled with satisfaction: "That's right."
She made arrangements on her own: "I'll have someone buy some wine jars right away. Tell me in detail about your previous stable customers, write it down, and then I'll send someone to deliver them."
Fu Yun quickly said, "No need, I can do it myself..."
Ye Lan interrupted loudly: "Do as I say. Young Master Lu and Young Master Cheng are not here, and you are short-handed right now. If you really have to go and deliver it all by yourself, when do you plan to deliver it? In the middle of the night or when the roosters crow the next morning?"
Fu Yun: "!" There's no need to be so blunt.
【She's right! Since she offered to help, why not accept? It's time-saving, effortless, and worry-free—why not?】
Besides, didn't you want to find Lu Zhisheng, Cheng Jincheng, and Su Mang? If you personally deliver drinks to those customers, how will you have time to look for them?
Fu Yun: "..."
How did you know I planned to use the delivery to track down the three of them?
【Don't I know you? As long as Ye Lan and Qian Qingling haven't found any information, you definitely won't sit idly by; you'll definitely go looking for them yourself.】
Fu Jun sighed inwardly: Tsk! A system that's too smart doesn't seem to be a good thing. There's no privacy or secrets left with it.
Well then, Ye Lan's expression was unquestionable when she said this, and she probably wouldn't easily change her mind. There was no need to go through the trouble of refuting her.
"Alright, thank you for your help. Thanks to your team."
Ye Lan waved her hand dismissively, saying, "We are both sharing His Majesty's burdens, there's no need for thanks."
As she spoke, she lifted her foot and headed towards the door.
"I'll arrange the manpower; you write down the list first."
Fu Jun's brow twitched; he had a feeling that he was about to be doomed.
"Oh, right! Make a few more copies, so they can split up and complete the task faster, leaving time for other things."
Fu Yun suddenly felt utterly hopeless.
This is terrible!
He simply doesn't know how to write in the language of this era, okay?
[President Fu, Ye Lan has to come back as soon as she's finished making arrangements, so you need to think of a solution quickly.]
"Don't rush, I'm thinking about it."
Just as Fu Jun was feeling overwhelmed, her gaze inadvertently fell on her right hand, and seeing the bandage wrapped around her palm, she immediately had a solution in mind.
Steady footsteps came from the doorway; it seemed Ye Lan had returned.
[It's over, it's over, Ye Lan has already explained everything, President Fu, have you thought of a solution?]
Xiao Ba was even more anxious than Fu Yun at this moment. Fu Yun could actually detect a hint of tension in its mechanical voice.
Fu Yun looked towards the door, her expression calm: "It's alright, I have my own solution."
As Ye Lan walked towards him, Fu Yun was pulling open one of the drawers on the counter with one hand.
"How is it? Have you finished copying?"
Fu Yun took out a stack of scrap paper and said apologetically, "I didn't have time to tell you earlier that I injured my palm a couple of days ago and can't write yet. I might have to trouble you to copy it down."
Ye Lan was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, her gaze falling on Fu Yun's injured hand, a hint of guilt appearing in her eyes: "I'm sorry, I forgot you had an injury on your hand."
Fu Yun smiled faintly and shook her head: "It's nothing."
He casually picked up a calligraphy brush and handed it over, saying, "It wasn't a serious injury, it's just that it's a bit difficult to hold a brush."
Ye Lan took the brush and dipped it in the black ink on the inkstone: "Give me their shop names and detailed addresses, and I'll write them all down."
Fu Yun nodded in agreement.
Over the next half-cup of tea's time, Fu Yun recounted to Ye Lan in detail all the restaurants and taverns that Su Mang had mentioned to him recently.
After Ye Lan finished writing and gave instructions one by one, Fu Jun then stated his needs: "Commander Ye, I need to go out to take care of some business. Is there anything else you need me to do?"
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