Transmigrating with a Five Million Dollar Retirement Life

Chapter 51 The Arrogant Shopkeeper 2

Song Jiaojiao paused here, took a sip of tea, and waited for Manager Wang's reaction.

"It might be as you say, but 180 coins is really too high." Manager Wang frowned, no matter how he calculated it, it wasn't worth it.

“Manager Wang saw me cooking just now. I brought a pound of sweet potato starch with me. You see, there are at least eight ounces left. You only need two spoonfuls for the pork broth, and you’ll need a little more for the sweet and sour pork, but a pound is enough for you to fry ten plates. Ten slices per plate is a lot. You’re a businesswoman, you know much better about pricing than I do.” Song Jiaojiao paused to think.

"How about this, we've been working together for a long time, 160 wen per jin, any lower and I won't be able to pay my workers' wages."

When Manager Wang heard what Song Jiaojiao said, and seeing that the amount of sweet potato flour she brought wasn't much less, plus Song Jiaojiao's discount, he said, "Alright, it'll be 160 coins per jin. But we agreed beforehand that this sweet potato flour can only be supplied to Sifanglou. I wonder how much Madam Song can provide?"

Song Jiaojiao thought that there wasn't much dried food at home, and they had used some recently, so they estimated that they wouldn't be able to provide more until the rain stopped.

"That's natural. As you can see, shopkeeper, it's been raining all day, so we haven't been able to dry them properly. That's why we don't have many at home right now. After the rain stops, in two or three days, we should have about 30 jin (15 catties) left. We can keep having more, but I don't know if Sifanglou can handle it all."

"Don't worry, Madam Song, our Sifanglou is a chain restaurant, we can never have enough, just make as much as you want." Manager Wang waved his hand and bought up all the sweet potato noodles behind Song Jiaojiao.

"With Manager Wang's words, I feel relieved. Let's go sign the contract first." Song Jiaojiao thought that she would have to visit a few more villages, otherwise the sweet potato flour would not keep up with demand, not to mention that she wanted to make sweet potato noodles later.

After discussing the good deal, Song Jiaojiao bid farewell to Manager Wang. She had only been in the carriage for a hundred meters when she was stopped.

"Is that Madam Song sitting inside? Our manager invites you in." A haughty waiter stopped Song Jiaojiao's carriage on the street.

"Sorry, I'm busy." Song Jiaojiao looked at the waiter in front of her and said without hesitation.

"You...do you know who my boss is? If I told you, I'd scare you to death." The waiter threatened Song Jiaojiao when he heard her refuse.

"Who's your boss? Tell me, and see if it kills me!" Song Jiaojiao chuckled and said.

"Listen up, my boss is none other than Manager Yuan of the renowned Yuan Family Restaurant in town. I advise you to be sensible; it's an honor for you to have Manager Yuan meet you." The waiter said proudly, thinking to himself, "Now you're scared, aren't you?"

"Manager Yuan? Who's that? Xu Da, do you know him?"

"Madam, I do not recognize him."

"Go back and tell your renowned manager that I don't know him and have no interest in seeing him. Xu Da, let's go." After saying this, Song Jiaojiao told Xu Da to drive the carriage to Huichuntang.

The waiter saw Xu Da really start the carriage and, startled, quickly ran to the side, shouting at the carriage, "You, you wait!!!"

Seeing the waiter return alone, Yuan's Restaurant said unhappily, "Where's the person I asked you to invite?"

The waiter dared not reveal what he had done, so he embellished the story, saying, "Sir, that young lady is completely impervious to reason. I even mentioned our establishment, but she remained unmoved, saying..."

"What did you say?" Manager Yuan shouted.

"She also said that Sifanglou would surpass Yuan's Restaurant sooner or later, and that she would rather die than cooperate with Yuan's, leaving Yuan's only waiting to go bankrupt. Her attitude was extremely arrogant."

Manager Yuan slammed the teacup down in his hand and said through gritted teeth, "Very good, very good indeed, what a fine Sifanglou, what a fine young lady."

......

Song Jiaojiao was completely unaware of what the waiter had said, and of course, even if she had known, she wouldn't have cared.

Upon arriving at Huichuntang, Song Jiaojiao went directly to the backyard with Manager Liu and took out the ginseng that had been dug up from the mountain.

Manager Liu looked at the ginseng, which was still covered in soil, and his hands trembled with excitement. It took him a while to calm down before he picked up the ginseng and examined it carefully.

Song Jiaojiao carefully dug out the ginseng, leaving no root intact. She drank tea and ate snacks, waiting for Manager Liu to speak.

After about fifteen minutes, Manager Liu finally put down the ginseng in his hand. He said, "Madam Song, if I'm not mistaken, this ginseng has been boiled for about fifty years. So, I'll offer 200 taels."

Song Jiaojiao didn't know the exact value of ginseng, but considering she had cooperated with Huichuntang many times, she figured it was about the same. "Alright, Manager Liu, to be honest, I don't know either, but I trust you won't cheat me."

"Of course, given the relationship between Huichuntang and Madam Song, we would never do something that would be detrimental to ourselves. How about we exchange it for money this time?" Manager Liu said with a smile that made his eyes disappear. Although he hadn't been transferred to other places the first two times, his boss had given him a lot of rewards and increased his monthly salary.

"Well, I'll still exchange it for silver. But I have something to trouble you with, shopkeeper. I hope Huichuntang can help me buy some medicinal seeds, any kind will do." Song Jiaojiao thought that she had searched through all the seeds in town but hadn't found anything good. Huichuntang was a large and powerful company, and it must have its own channels. It would be convenient for her to hitch a ride with them.

"Okay, I'll definitely keep this in mind. I'll let you know when there's a result." Manager Liu thought it wasn't a big deal, so he agreed.

"Then I'll have to trouble Manager Liu."

"Of course, Madam Song, please wait a moment." After saying that, Manager Liu instructed someone to exchange the money for Madam Song.

After receiving the money, Song Jiaojiao first went to the ceramics shop and bought large jars. She not only bought all the large jars in the shop, but also ordered many more.

I went to the blacksmith shop to pick up the special tools I had used last time to make sweet potato starch, bought some grains, pastries, and daily necessities, and then went home.

After arriving home, it was past noon. After Song Jiaojiao and Xu Da carried the large vat they had bought inside, Xu Fang immediately began cleaning it and poured in the sweet potato starch water she had prepared that day.

When everyone saw Song Jiaojiao return, they all greeted her with smiles, "Jiaojiao, do you think I cut it too big like this?"

Song Jiaojiao glanced at it and said, "Auntie, it's a bit small. It could be a little bigger."

Another uncle pounding sweet potatoes said, "Boss Song, do you think it's okay to pound it like this?"

Song Jiaojiao looked at the residue in the bucket; most of the starch paste had been pounded out. "Brother Wang, that's fine. Keep it like this."

Hearing Song Jiaojiao's answer, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. After all, there were very few jobs that were close to home and paid well. If the village chief hadn't found them, they wouldn't have had this opportunity. They would all be rushing to work in town. Working here was much easier than working in town, and they could even do some chores after finishing their work.

Song Jiaojiao didn't know what the villagers were thinking. Seeing that a third of the sweet potatoes in the yard were gone, she realized that more people could work faster.