Chapter 44: Chapter 43 Selling the Son Chapter 44: Chapter 43 Selling the Son “Alright then.” The waiter took the money and left.
Upon seeing how much his mother had spent, Chen Dabao felt a sting in his heart. He objected, “Mother, we’re here to earn money by selling meat, yet we’re spending so much.”
Chen Afu whispered, “First, we have to try the food at the wine-shop. If their five-spiced Luwei isn’t as good as ours, then we can sell our recipe.”
“Then ordering the Luwei would be enough. Why order Kung Pao Chicken too?” Chen Dabao argued.
Such a miser. Chen Afu explained, “Mother wants to scrutinize the culinary skills of this… ahem, this wine shop.”
The dishes arrived. The five-spiced Luwei still resembled braised pork and lacked a distinct marinated flavor. The Kung Pao Chicken was decent; Chen Afu found it on par with her own cooking. Kung Pao Chicken was one of Liu Xudong’s favorite dishes in her previous life, so Chen Yanyan had spent a good deal of time learning to make it.
This wine-shop wasn’t even the best one in the county, and Chen Afu now respected the ancient culinary culture more. It seemed that, besides Luwei, selling recipes was pretty much a dead end.
The two of them, needing oil and water in their bellies, ate all the dishes except the vegetarian soup.
After they finished eating, Chen Afu told the waiter, “I’d like to speak with your manager.”
The waiter’s keen nose had long detected the unique aroma wafting from their basket and guessed their intentions.
He asked them to wait and went upstairs. Moments later, he returned to escort them into a room on the third floor. As Chen Afu walked in, she pinched her left palm to summon Jin Yanzi. It wasn’t polite to converse with people while wearing a straw hat.
The room decor resembled an office, complete with a writing desk and cabinets. A man in his twenties, dressed in silken robes, sat behind the desk, while another man, overweight and in his forties, stood to one side. Both men were taken aback on seeing Chen Afu, not expecting to find such a remarkable young woman in the county town. Dressed unassumingly, she was nonetheless a sight to behold.
The middle-aged man introduced himself, “I’m Mr. Xu, the manager. What can I assist you with, Miss?”
“We have a family secret recipe for Luwei,” Chen Afu replied. “Due to financial troubles at home, and some urgent need, we’d like to sell this secret recipe.” She then uncovered the basket.
Mr. Xu and the young man had already been enticed by the unique fragrance. They tasted a piece of the Luwei and praised, “Mmm, very good. This has a special flavor that’s different from regular five-spiced Luwei. Even the pig’s large intestines taste better prepared this way.”
The young man asked, “How much do you want for it?”
Mr. Xu introduced him, “This is Uncle Yang, the owner of our wine-shop.”
“Uncle Yang,” Chen Afu greeted, then continued, “Currently, my father is ill and my little brother is limping. We’re in desperate need of money, which is why we wanted to sell this secret recipe. Heard that Xile Restaurant is fair and reputable, so we decided to come here. Uncle Yang, please make your offer; we’ll sell if the price is right.”
In her mind, the price was fifty taels of silver. If the offer exceeded it, she’d sell; if it fell short, she wouldn’t. This item could stay secret, unlike the disk button which was easy to copy once demonstrated.
Uncle Yang pondered for a moment, then made a sign to Mr. Xu. Mr. Xu said, “Although this Luwei is excellent, its taste differs very little from our five-spiced Luwei. How about a fair offer of forty taels of silver, would that be acceptable?”
Chen Afu’s expected price hadn’t been met, but the shortfall wasn’t considerable, suggesting they weren’t exploiting their customers. That created a possibility for future business.
Internally, Chen Afu considered this but shook her head and said, “I apologize, but I can’t sell at that price. Sorry for the disturbance.” With that, she took Dabao’s hand and headed for the exit.
Uncle Yang instantly burst into laughter, fanning himself as he said, “You young lady, you’re too impatient. Bargaining is the art of doing business. If you disagree with the price, counteroffer instead of rushing to leave. I’ll add ten taels, making it fifty taels, how about that?” Seeing Chen Afu stop but remain silent, he added, “Add another five taels. That’s really the most we can offer.”
Mr. Xu blinked in surprise, thinking: Uncle Yang is usually very steady. Why is he suddenly raising the price so much?
At a total of fifty-five taels, Chen Afu was satisfied as it was a bit over her expectation. She beamed, “Deal.”
It seemed as if even the birds outside the window were celebrating Chen Afu’s big deal, chirping away. Among them was Jin Yanzi, perched on a tree branch outside the window, with a group of other birds.
It was getting impatient, chirping, “Always relying on me for everything, I should find you another bodyguard.”
Mr. Xu first drew up an agreement, which included the standard clause that the recipe couldn’t be sold to anyone else. Chen Afu raised no objections and signed the agreement, pressing her handprint alongside Mr. Xu’s.
Chen Afu wanted to take Dabao with her to the kitchen, but Yang Mingyuan quipped, “Let the child stay here; the kitchen is too chaotic.”
Seeing that Uncle Yang’s eyes were clear, not like a bad person, and knowing that Jin Yanzi was watching from the window, Chen Afu agreed to let Dabao stay and play. She quietly told him, “Behave and stay put. Don’t wander around or play mischief. Mom will be back for you shortly.”
Chen Dabao nodded, “Don’t worry, Mom, I know.”
Chen Afu inspected the kitchen spices and quietly told Mr. Xu about several additional medicinal herbs. Mr. Xu was surprised, but nevertheless went out to buy them personally.
The process of stir-frying the Luwei spices was similar to how the kitchen chef did it, just with a few added medicinal ingredients. Chen Afu watched the chef prepare the Luwei; it tasted the same. She felt that she had successfully trained an apprentice.
Upon her return to the small room, Chen Afu was surprised to see Chen Dabao happily playing with Hui Hui and two other children, while Uncle Yang watched them with amusement.
Without Qi Qi and Jin Yanzi, Hui Hui naturally became the star. It gabbled away, laughing and yelling, “Grandpa, Mama, Dabao, pee!”, causing everyone to burst into laughter.
Upon seeing Chen Afu, Chen Dabao came over and said, “Mama, this is Brother Yang Chao, this is Sister Yang Qian, they both like Hui Hui.”
The two children, a boy about five years old and a girl around four, were well-dressed and attractive, bearing a resemblance to Uncle Yang. They looked up at Chen Afu and politely greeted, “Aunty.”
Chen Afu blushed; she wasn’t even married yet. She quickly responded with a smile, “You can just call me Aunt Chen.”
Again, the two children said, “Aunt Chen.”
Mr. Xu brought in a plate of freshly prepared Luwei for Uncle Yang to taste. Uncle Yang tasted it, nodded his approval, and asked the children to have some. The boy loved it so much that he gave up playing with Hui Hui to stand at the table and eat.
Yang Mingyuan got up, retrieved five silver ingots, each worth ten taels, and another ingot worth five taels from a cabinet and handed them to Chen Afu. He smiled, saying, “If you come up with more great recipes in the future, Miss Chen, please come back and see us at our wine-shop.”