Previously, because he feared Sun Beiwei, he dared not buy from her. But now Sun Beiwei is about to be beheaded; he doesn’t have anything to fear and will naturally buy her fermented bean curd again, continue to offer it at his restaurant in dishes to make a profit.
An Jingxin understood and said with a smile, "Yes, there are still forty kilos left."
Wang Youbao immediately said, "Then I’ll take them all."
An Jing didn’t agree right away but looked at Xiao Changyi, who nodded at her; then she replied, "Okay."
Wang Youbao asked again, "Does your family have any more fermented bean curd in the making?"
"Then, has anyone pre-ordered the fermented bean curd with you?"
An Jing couldn’t help but laugh, "That man Sun didn’t allow you to buy our family’s fermented bean curd, did he? Who would come to pre-order with us after that? Alright, stop asking. I know what you mean; you want to pre-order fermented bean curd with me, have us make it for you first, and while the other restaurants temporarily have no fermented bean curd, you can take advantage of the situation where only your restaurant has it and make a big profit, right?"
Wang Youbao wasn’t embarrassed that An Jing saw through him, but smiled and said, "You can’t hide anything from you. That is indeed what I mean; I run a restaurant precisely to make money."
An Jing nodded, pleased with Wang Youbao’s honesty, "Alright, tell me, how many kilos do you want to pre-order?"
Wang Youbao said, "One thousand kilos."
An Jing was speechless for a moment and then said, "There are only so many people in town; if you always sell dishes flavored with fermented bean curd, everyone will get tired of it someday. You should order less."
Wang Youbao felt comforted by his friend An Jing’s consideration for him, but he also had his own plans.
Wang Youbao smiled and said, "It’s alright. I’ve made a lot from the dishes flavored with fermented bean curd before, and now one thousand kilos of fermented bean curd costs only ten taels of silver. Even if I can’t sell it, I won’t lose much."
He paused, then added more honestly, "Aren’t you only supplying fermented bean curd to my restaurant without a binding agreement? On my way here today, I thought it through and came up with this great method. I pre-order more to have you make mine first, leaving no time to make it for anyone else, just as you said; that way, when I’m the only one selling dishes with fermented bean curd, I can make another fortune."
"And by the time you start making it for others, I reckon people in Sixteen Town will have grown tired of such dishes, and the novelty will have worn off. There will definitely be fewer people coming especially to the restaurant for dishes flavored with fermented bean curd than there are now." He paused again and then added, "By then, I won’t buy as much fermented bean curd from you as I am now."
Seeing that Wang Youbao had his own ideas and wasn’t just following others, An Jing thought even better of her friend and didn’t try to dissuade him any further. Instead, she said, "If you want to order one thousand kilos, then one thousand it is. However, we can’t make that much for you all at once. I’ll divide it into several batches for you, a hundred kilos each time. We’ll try to get all one thousand kilos of fermented bean curd to you within a month. Does that work for you?"
Wang Youbao said, "Okay."
Then, Xiao Changyi and An Jing went back to their thatched cottage and gave Wang Youbao the forty kilos of fermented bean curd they had at home.
Wang Youbao first paid for the forty kilos of fermented bean curd, then took out the money for the one thousand kilos of fermented bean curd he had pre-ordered: two five-tael silver ingots, totaling ten taels.
An Jing only accepted one silver ingot, "For a deposit, only half is needed. Five taels will do."
But Wang Youbao insisted on giving ten taels, "I trust you."
He really trusted their character and didn’t believe they would default on the agreement, which is why he paid the full amount at once.