Fat Chef looked anxious, Mu Shuangshuang noticed and had another layer of plan in her heart.
She naturally wanted to make money, but if she had to come every day, she couldn’t handle it. After all, making cold noodles once nearly took her an hour.
The next day, she would have to rush over more than ten miles of mountain road, she couldn’t handle it for now.
Plus, this thing, cold noodles, if eaten too often, would surely become tiresome. Once it became tiresome, the card she held would be useless.
"Fat uncle, actually for you now, guests’ demand not being met isn’t necessarily a bad thing."
"Think about it, everyone wanting it certainly proves this thing is precious. If you easily brought it out, wouldn’t everyone think it’s just a common thing, easy to get."
"Over time, they wouldn’t love to eat it anymore, the business of cold noodles would break down. To maintain longevity, first, let them have less contact, and secondly, change the flavors constantly."
Fat Chef listened and realized it made sense.
No matter how good a chef is, if the dish is made too often, others will find it tiresome. Cold noodles are just a single item.
The harder something is to get, the more cherished it is. Those easy-to-get items, in others’ hands, they would just throw away.
"Little girl, tell me what to do, if your method works, I’ll give you extra money."
The previous price for cold noodles set by Fat Chef was twenty coins per bowl, but now it’s sold for thirty-five, and it sells immediately. It’s not excessive to pay Mu Shuangshuang extra money.
Upon hearing this, Mu Shuangshuang became spirited.
"You need to act contrary to expectations and continue supplying cold noodles in limited quantities. Moreover, let others know that making cold noodles in Jiu Si Xuan isn’t an easy task.
This way, the value of cold noodles will increase, and eating at Jiu Si Xuan will become a very prestigious thing to do."
The psychology of comparison, everyone has it, especially the wealthy folks in town who own large fields but have nothing to do, they may care more about their face.
"What you said makes sense, eating is just for fun and for face."
The dishes at Jiu Si Xuan aren’t cheap. A cold noodle costs dozens of coins, which is a few days’ wages for poor people. But for those who are wealthy, it becomes something trivial, like a bamboo strip used for wiping in a latrine, dispensable.
"Speaking of which, I’ve been scared silly by them, but we at Jiu Si Xuan often have regular customers wanting this thing, and we can’t turn them down.
So, later when you send cold noodles every three days, send more. It used to be thirty portions, now send me sixty."
The remaining thirty portions, he would reserve them for more prestigious regulars.
"Alright, no problem." Mu Shuangshuang nodded in agreement.
Thirty more portions meant she could earn a few hundred coins in one round.
"Then, let’s count cold noodles with juice together, and I’ll give you five extra coins per portion. Our contract needs to extend, originally three months, now extend for another three months, how’s that?"
Cold noodles paired with juice, such a fresh and popular thing, couldn’t just stop being made quickly, even if the weather indeed cools down, the popularity of cold noodles wouldn’t decrease.
"Sure, then shall we draft a new contract?" Mu Shuangshuang raised an eyebrow. She was someone who clearly distinguished between love and hate, public and private, didn’t leave trouble for herself, responsible for herself, and for others.
"Alright, I’ll start calculating the extra money from today."
Fat Chef was generous. In this way, Mu Shuangshuang earned over a hundred more coins from this trip, with thirty portions totaling four hundred fifty coins, it was indeed a profitable business method.
After signing the new contract and stamping it, Mu Shuangshuang and Lu Yuanfeng hurried to Zhwei Xuan to sell frogs and when they truly had free time to sell lotus seeds in town, half an hour had already passed.
On the road to the market, Lu Yuanfeng kept smiling shyly at Mu Shuangshuang. He had experienced Shuangshuang’s money-making skills before, yet each time there was something new to learn.
For instance, this time when they went to Zhwei Xuan to sell frogs, originally the chef there set six coins per pound, but Shuangshuang managed to negotiate eight coins.
Earning just two more coins per pound, plus making the head chef so happy his mouth couldn’t close.
Lu Yuanfeng didn’t know that Mu Shuangshuang had refined herself to the point of seeing people as people and ghosts as ghosts. Most importantly, she knew what those people truly wanted and liked to hear.
"Silly boy, why are you grinning at me like that?" Mu Shuangshuang used her previous nickname again. She really wanted to pat Lu Yuanfeng’s head if he weren’t so tall and strong now.
This boy was a typical loyal dog. Whatever she said was right, whenever there was danger, he habitually protected her from it.
Mu Shuangshuang didn’t know what this meant, compared to those complex emotions, she preferred partnering with Lu Yuanfeng now to make money. He had a certain level of dependency on her.
"Nothing." Lu Yuanfeng shook his head like a rattle, without showing any sign of guilt.
"Alright, let’s go sell lotus seeds then. With so many lotus seeds, we should be able to make quite a bit of money."
Mu Shuangshuang cheerfully gave Lu Yuanfeng’s wheelbarrow a hand, but Lu Yuanfeng didn’t stop her. As for the actual strength, he bore it all alone.
Old Mrs. Xue had been searching for Mu Shuangshuang and Lu Yuanfeng for days but found no trace. Now, she stopped searching and thought of checking her herbal tea stall.
Instead, her son Xue Yi stopped her.
"Mom, where are you going? It’s so hot, the tea stall is very hot, you might get heatstroke."
"You don’t need to worry about me, go tend to your business. I’m good now, your dad is by my side protecting me."
The words from Mu Shuangshuang, saying that her old man must be beside her, successfully fooled Old Mrs. Xue.
Old Mrs. Xue now allowed herself to be happy every day, as a kind of explanation to her old man.
"Good? You say that, but you didn’t eat dinner last night, didn’t have breakfast today. If my dad knew, he’d be sad." Xue Yi was clever. He understood the things Mu Shuangshuang used.
"You’re talking nonsense, the old man wouldn’t blame me. If there’s someone to blame, blame you. You’re the one who sent Gui Sao away, now I can’t get used to the cook’s food. I want something special."
The "special" mentioned by Old Mrs. Xue made Xue Yi’s eyes light up. "Mom, are you talking about Jiu Si Xuan’s cold noodles? I’ve pre-ordered it for you. It’ll surely be delivered by noon. How about you drink some porridge now?"
"No, I don’t want it. I don’t like the cook’s food at home, the flavor is off. Also, I want to eat lotus seeds, fresh ones, right now."