As soon as the business deal was discussed, Cheng Loanloan was in an excellent mood.
But as she turned around, she saw the four children looking distressed, seemingly very unhappy.
Zhao Dashan hesitated for a moment before asking, "Mother, we can sell it ourselves. It's not a problem to work a little harder. I can manage a stall by myself."
Zhao Ergou also said, "That's like giving money to Shopkeeper Chen for free."
Cheng Loanloan laughed. These foolish children would rather suffer themselves than give money away for free.
But sometimes, cooperating in business can expand the market, and one will also be more at ease.
She asked, "Our family can harvest at least twenty catties of Physalis per day. Who can tell me how many catties it will be after peeling?"
The four children simultaneously bowed their heads and counted on their fingers.
Zhao Ergou was a little better at calculations and quickly had an answer: "Mother, it's about six catties."
"I'll ask another question," Cheng Loanloan continued. "How many catties of jelly flower seeds are needed for these three barrels of ice jelly?"
"I know!" Zhao Dashan quickly said. "A little over two catties."
"If we use six catties of jelly flower seeds a day to make ice jelly, we can make nine barrels of ice jelly. But with just the five of us, can we sell all of it?"
Cheng Loanloan looked at the four children in front of her: "Sometimes we need to borrow the strength of others. This isn't called giving money away for free; it's called business cooperation.
That person can earn money, and we can earn even more money. Do you understand?"
Zhao Sidan blinked: "I think I understand."
Zhao Ergou counted on his fingers, calculating again and again, and after a long while, he spoke: "If we can sell all nine barrels of ice jelly, at a price of two wen per bowl, then we can earn more than one tael a day..."
He couldn't calculate whether it was specifically less or more than one tael.
Cheng Loanloan smiled and said, "If we sell ice jelly this way, our whole family won't have to go to the town to sell goods anymore."
She walked with the children on the road.
In the past two days in Hekou Town, she had thoroughly investigated the situation here. There were about seven or eight large and small taverns, the largest being Zuixian Lou. As soon as she arrived at the entrance of Zuixian Lou, she saw the shopkeeper from earlier, the one who wanted to buy her recipe. When that shopkeeper flicked his sleeves and left, his face was extremely gloomy. If she hadn't been worried about what this shopkeeper might do, she wouldn't have considered this path of business cooperation.
Cheng Loanloan maintained the demeanor of a businesswoman, nodding and smiling at the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper of Zuixian Lou, surnamed Yang, snorted coldly. It hadn't even been an hour, and this older sister-in-law had already regretted it. However, he couldn't pay five taels of silver; at most, it would only be three taels.
Shopkeeper Yang was still thinking about how to force down the price when he saw Cheng Loanloan take a few steps, then turn around and walk towards the second tavern opposite Zuixian Lou, Jixiang Jiulou.
He suddenly stood up.
Could it be that this older sister-in-law wanted to sell the recipe to the shopkeeper of Jixiang Jiulou?
Jixiang Jiulou had always been suppressed by Zuixian Lou. If it obtained that ice jelly recipe, it could then stand shoulder to shoulder with Zuixian Lou as the best.
Shopkeeper Yang jumped up and called for someone to run out, but it was already too late. Cheng Luanluan had already led her four sons into the Jixiang Restaurant.
It was just past lunchtime, so the restaurant was empty. The shopkeeper and the waiter were standing together, chatting. Seeing the patches on the clothes of the old woman leading four children, who were also dressed in patched clothes, the waiter's face revealed a hint of disgust.