Seeing Gu Nian’s shocked expression, Zheng Shaochen couldn’t help but feel more smug, "How about it? As a partner, I didn’t disappoint you, did I?"
Gu Nian smiled, put down the ledger in her hand, and said, "This profit is not bad."
However, after thinking it through carefully, it wasn’t that shocking.
Although the profit can’t be matched by Hundred Flavors Inn in Qingshan Town, Qingshan Town is just a small town with not much foot traffic. Apart from the initially booming situation of Hundred Flavors Inn, it has now stabilized, and naturally, the profits have decreased somewhat.
However, outside Qingshan Town, there are plenty of larger towns with more traffic, so achieving such a revenue is quite reasonable.
Gu Nian’s casual remark left Zheng Shaochen unsatisfied, "Young girl, do you know how much twenty thousand taels of silver is?"
And it’s only just "not bad"?
Does she even know that their Qinglin Restaurant doesn’t have such a monthly income locally!
Gu Nian didn’t answer but asked in return, "Is your purpose of coming here today just to show off to me and let me know how much dividend I can receive?"
"You’re dreaming!" Zheng Shaochen retrieved the ledger and put it back in the wooden box one by one before saying, "Hey, but seriously, I did come today with an important matter to discuss with you."
Gu Nian raised an eyebrow, indicating for him to continue.
However, this action which seemed beyond her age had a bit of a comical effect in Zheng Shaochen’s eyes.
"It’s like this, the hotpot has a wide audience. If we join forces to expand Hundred Flavors Inn well, we can definitely earn a lot of silver in the future and open Hundred Flavors Inn all across Yunyao..."
"Get to the point!"
Just as Zheng Shaochen was getting excited, Gu Nian interrupted him.
Only then did Zheng Shaochen get to the main point, "Here’s the thing, I think we shouldn’t share the profits now. Instead, we should work together and use all the silver to expand Hundred Flavors Inn."
"I suppose you just want to save on franchise fees?" Gu Nian sneered, "Little Master Zheng, have you forgotten that expanding Hundred Flavors Inn isn’t something you can just do freely? Each new franchise requires a certain franchise fee."
His plan was a good one, with grandiose reasoning but no real benefit, just to save some silver.
Unfortunately, things are never that easy!
"Gu Nian, how can you be so unambitious?" Zheng Shaochen looked at her, disappointed, and started analyzing, "Silver is easy to make, but opening a shop all over Yunyao is not an easy task. Take our Qinglin Restaurant, for example; it took several generations of effort to achieve what it has now. We clearly have such a good opportunity now, with hotpot being so popular, why are you focusing all your thoughts on silver? Once we open the hotpot stores all over Yunyao, are we still going to be afraid of not making money?"
Gu Nian chuckled, "I’m really sorry, but I’m just a mundane person. I don’t have such grand ideals as you do, Little Master Zheng. My purpose for opening Hundred Flavors Inn is just to earn silver."
"What will it take for you to agree to my suggestion?" This time, Zheng Shaochen truly wasn’t trying to take advantage without giving anything in return, but no matter how much he said, Gu Nian remained unconvinced, "How about this, I’ll consider the silver for the franchise fees as a loan from me to you. Once I get the shops up and running and have some financial freedom, I’ll repay all the franchise fees to you at once!"