books44 Chapter 157 I've struck it rich
Chapter 157 I've struck it rich
There was no such thing as absolute power in this dynasty. What you can do, others can do too, just like the half-day of leisure last time.
The two of them naturally knew that their work would inevitably be imitated, something that was unavoidable everywhere.
"I've had this in mind for a long time. Good things will always have no shortage of imitators. However, the taste of Song Niangzi's food stall is not so easy to discern. I can only taste the chili and star anise. There's another flavor, though I just can't taste it."
Wang Ziyi, having managed to open the Sifanglou restaurant, had naturally seen all sorts of strange and wonderful things. Of course, he had an absolute intuition for good things, and he could clearly sense that if he missed this opportunity, he would miss out on a lot of money.
Song Jiaojiao knew what seasoning Wang Ziyi was referring to—cumin, the kind Wang Hefan had brought back last time. They didn't have it here; logically, it should be available in Beijing. She wondered where Wang Hefan had gotten it from.
She didn't bring back much; Song Jiaojiao planted it all in her space. After several months of growth, it would barely be enough for the food stalls. If she opened several more stalls, the cumin alone would be a big problem.
"To be honest, Mr. Wang, this seasoning is called cumin. It was brought back by He Fan last time. I don't know where he bought it. It's an essential ingredient for delicious barbecue, but there's not much cumin. After several months of cultivation, it's only enough to supply this one food stall."
As Song Jiaojiao spoke, she took a sip of tea.
Wang Ziyi and Liu Xuewen exchanged a glance, surprised that such a problem existed. Indeed, insufficient raw materials meant the final product didn't taste right.
"So, I think it's a bit too early to talk about whether we can cooperate on the food stall business," Song Jiaojiao said with a smile.
"Madam Song, do you know if any of you could bring out your seasonings? You know that Sifang Escort Agency is all over the country, maybe you've seen it somewhere before, that would solve the problem."
Wang Ziyi asked, thinking that if Wang Hefan could bring it back, it meant that the Great Jin Kingdom had this seasoning. As long as the Great Jin Kingdom had it, he believed that it could be found.
"Sure, I'll have the waiter bring some unground ones later." Song Jiaojiao readily agreed. If she could find some, it would be a good thing for her.
Upon hearing this, Liu Xuewen knew he had fallen into a trap, since he didn't have a security escort agency.
"It's getting late, shouldn't Mr. Wang be leaving? I have some things to discuss with Sister Song," Liu Xuewen said through gritted teeth.
Wang Ziyi figured there was really nothing else to do now. He wouldn't know about the cooperation that Song Jiaojiao mentioned until tomorrow, and since he had already won by one-tenth of the points against Liu Xuewen, he didn't press the matter further.
"Very well, since Madam Song has other matters to attend to, I will take my leave now and come back tomorrow to discuss the rest with Madam Song."
After saying that, Wang Ziyi and Manager Wang went out. Song Jiaojiao saw them out of the shop and asked the waiter to pack a bag of cumin and send it to Sifanglou.
Back in the private room, Liu Xuewen looked straight at Song Jiaojiao and said, "Sister Song, I didn't expect you to know Wang Ziyi."
"Yes, at first our family was poor, so we sold a lot of our prescriptions to Sifanglou," Song Jiaojiao explained.
"No wonder Sifanglou was able to come back to life. It turns out that all the fresh food in the back was sold to them by Sister Song. If it weren't for these recipes, it's hard to say whether Sifanglou could have survived the New Year."
Song Jiaojiao never expected that her prescriptions would have this effect.
"What's going on? What happened in front of the Sifang Building?"
"It's nothing much, it's just that Wang Ziyi was tricked by his family. They poached his head chef, and all the signs in the building were copied, which caused the business to decline all the way down afterward."
Liu Xuewen felt disgusted thinking about the mess in the General's Mansion.
Seeing Liu Xuewen's disgusted expression, Song Jiaojiao didn't ask any further questions. She figured as long as it didn't affect her, the General's Mansion was far away from her.
"Putting all that aside, you've come here today for more than just congratulations, haven't you?"
"Of course, I'm here to give you money. Don't you realize how long it's been?" Liu Xuewen said, pulling out a notebook.
"This is Banrixian's income for this quarter. This is after deducting the cost. Now, except for some very remote towns where Banrixian is not yet available, it has basically opened in all the places that should be opened. This is about 500,000 taels. If we split it 50/50, it's 250,000 taels. The main reason is that winter drinks are more expensive than summer drinks, plus there are more activities during the New Year. Just these two things alone have earned Banrixian more than half of its income."
Thinking about this, Liu Xuewen's smile never faded. He was already making this much money while he was still in the investment phase of his half-day off business. If he waited for the market to heat up in two months, it would be even more incredible. He was glad that he had chosen to cooperate with Song Jiaojiao back then, otherwise a lot of money would have slipped through his fingers.
"This is the profit of the pastry shop. Since we started making cream cakes in March, the turnover has skyrocketed, especially during the New Year period. We were almost too busy to keep up with the demand. The total revenue nationwide is 1.8 million taels. 20% is 360,000 taels. The two shops together make 610,000 taels. It's all here. Sister Song, count it."
Liu Xuewen took out a thick stack of silver notes from his pocket and handed them to Song Jiaojiao.
Song Jiaojiao looked at the thick wad of silver notes in her hand, her face beaming with joy.
I never expected it to more than double in just three months. Last time it was only 200,000 taels.
Song Jiaojiao counted the bills one by one, becoming happier with each count. She finally understood the joy of having more money than she could ever spend.
Seeing Song Jiaojiao so happy, Liu Xuewen couldn't help but smile as well. "Sister Song, shouldn't we be bringing in some new products soon?"
Liu Xuewen thought that the New Year was over, and with half a day of free time, he could start working on new things.
Song Jiaojiao smiled and said, "I've already thought about this. I planted a large area of cassava, but it won't be harvested until late autumn. I'll show you the cassava later and see if you can find it. With cassava, we can make sago pudding."
"Cassava? Okay, I'll see if I can find some later. Sago pudding sounds nice. What kind of food is it?"
Liu Xuewen asked, puzzled.
"How about this, I'm going to make some new food tomorrow, you can come along too, we can make sago pudding, the cow at home just gave birth, so we'll have milk."
Song Jiaojiao thought that the cassava she had planted in her space had already been taken out and ground into powder. She happened to have some cassava powder in her space, so she could make sago pearls that night and make new drinks tomorrow. She could give this new product to Mu Qing, since Mu Qing would probably be very busy afterward.
"Alright, I'll come again tomorrow. I don't have anything else to do now, so I'll take my leave." Liu Xuewen said and left. Manager Liu had already left after finishing the barbecue.
After Song Jiaojiao saw the person off, there were basically no customers left in the lobby. It was well past lunchtime, and everyone in the shop finally had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief, even though they had been extremely busy.