Chapter 735: 735 Don’t hang around with uncles
Su Qingyue looked at it and put it in her sleeve pocket.
“Qingyue, I really don’t know what great fortune has befallen me to be able to call you a friend!” said Tao Meijiao enthusiastically as she held her hand. Setting aside the fact that Qingyue once saved the owner of the world’s number one estate, just by virtue of her medical skill and intelligence, being friends with her was truly a tremendous honor.
“Well, let’s talk about today’s business.” Su Qingyue opened the large cloth bag on the side of the chair, took out a strip of maroon-colored dried vegetables, and handed it to her, “The dish that will save your Tao family’s restaurant is here.”
Tao Meijiao looked at the dried vegetables, “Is this dried fern? I heard you’ve brought in tens of thousands of jin of fresh ferns some time ago.”
“To be precise, it’s fifty thousand jin of fresh ferns, and there are ten thousand jin when dried.”
“Fresh ferns naturally have a bitter taste, and it’s really a feat that you’ve found a way to remove the bitterness. Pig offal is so smelly, yet you could stir-fry it deliciously. If someone else were to bring me cheap dried ferns…I might not give them a second glance, but you…” Tao Meijiao said, “You might actually be able to ‘innovate’ with them.”
“Now, let’s show you how tasty little dried ferns can be.” said Su Qingyue, “You prepare the pork skin, cleaned black chicken, cured meat…”
She mentioned a good number of ingredients.
When Tao Meijiao heard this, she glanced quickly at the maid Du Juan, “Did you get all that?”
“I have it, Mistress.”
“Prepare it as Qingyue described.”
Su Qingyue asked Tao Meijiao again, “May I invite two guests over?”
Tao Meijiao readily replied, “Of course. I wonder who you want to invite?”
Qingyue then said to Xiao Yuchuan, “Jin Xun, the owner of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, and Manager Duan of the Rich Source Tavern.”
Tao Meijiao’s facial expression stiffened a bit, “Qingyue, inviting them… Those two are my competitors. If Jin Xun is interested in your dried ferns, wouldn’t I be bound to lose?”
“If I were to sell these vegetables to you at a low price, wouldn’t I be at a great loss?” Su Qingyue gently smiled back, “Friendship is one thing and business is another. We are all businessmen pursuing maximized profits. I also want to see what kind of market reaction my exclusive dried ferns can elicit. It’s not my responsibility to ‘save’ the Tao family. Moreover, the Tao family is a wealthy family. Asking me, a mere village girl to ‘save’ you, Meijiao, you’re too serious. I’m much poorer than you.”
“Qingyue, you’re too modest with your intelligence, ability, and money-making techniques…” Tao Meijiao was almost certain, “It won’t be long before you’re richer than I am. When I said you would ‘save’ the Tao family, it was just a little joke between us.”
Su Qingyue laughed sheepishly, “I, Su Qingyue, am making money through my own abilities that are perfectly fine. Because I consider you a friend, I came to your residence first to inform you in advance to give you an advantage and mental preparation. Otherwise, I could have gone straight to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, the Rich Source Tavern, or any other competitive restaurants. It doesn’t have to be in little Longwan Town, it could be in any big town or even at the foot of the emperor, at any restaurant or inn.”
Though she says so, going to the restaurants at the foot of the emperor could be impractical, there are too many powers in the capital, and she has no great influence to back her up. Should there be any power struggles, enforced robberies, they’d only bring trouble. She’s always enjoyed planning and strategizing, keeping everything under control.
Moreover, she doesn’t even bother to curry favor with the world’s number one estate, the wealth she, Su Qingyue, desires, she can earn it herself!