The Daily Life of a Down-on-Hard-Life Medicine Girl Supporting Her Family

Chapter 69 Women's Tea Garden
Good things don't go out, bad things pass thousands of miles.

The accident at the dock was known to every household.

"At Xiao Family Wharf, these boatmen are all under the management of the Xiao family, which means that Sixth Master Xiao is in charge of them."

Zhao Minghua came to urge the delivery of pastries, wondering when his teahouse would finally have pastries to go with it.

Naturally, the conversation turned to a hot topic: major events at the docks.

"Will these boatmen receive compensation?"

If the roof beams of a house are gone, it's truly a catastrophe.

Because of her grandfather's misfortune and her father's exile, Chunnuan deeply understands the difficulties that came with it.

"Third Master Xiao and Sixth Master Xiao got into a dispute over compensation."

There will be compensation, after all, it was a human life lost.

However, there's no fixed amount to supplement.

"Master Xiao said that those boatmen violated regulations themselves, and each of them only needs to pay one tael of silver for funeral expenses," Zhao Minghua said. "Master Xiao is in charge of money, and he's as stingy as a miser, only taking in and never giving out."

"So, how much does Master Xiao say he'll compensate?"

"I didn't hear the exact amount, but the two of them got into a fight, banged on the table and grabbed chairs, and eventually went to their father to resolve the issue."

"Did these boatmen sign a contract with the Xiao family?"

“The Xiao family wouldn’t be that stupid. How could they sign a contract with the boatmen? If they did, they would have to pay them a monthly wage.” Zhao Minghua said, “The Xiao family is in charge, just like selling things at the Xiao family’s dock. They pay a management fee, a certain amount for each boat, and then take away a certain amount. The boatmen then divide the rest among themselves.”

"What did they manage?"

"As for managing the money, the boatmen only deal with them."

In fact, it was nothing but extortion and plunder!
“When the accident happened, Master Xiao felt that paying two taels of silver for funeral expenses was already merciful,” Zhao Minghua said. “He even said that since these boatmen couldn’t even find the bodies, the funeral expenses were unnecessary, and the two taels of silver were a complete waste of money.”

Chunnuan felt that the Xiao family was truly a group of bandits who dominated the area.

Plucking feathers from a passing goose, scraping oil from a chicken's foot.

When our great-grandfather and grandfather were doing their best to support this family, they probably never imagined that one day they would raise a tiger that would turn out to be their own worst enemy.
"Let's not talk about others, let's talk about the pastries at my teahouse," Zhao Minghua said. "When can we officially start serving them?"

"Didn't I say before that I would provide the technology and manpower, and you would be responsible for the funding?"

"That's what we said. Just tell us what you want to buy and how much you need."

Zhao Minghua wasn't afraid of Chunnuan speaking up, but rather of her remaining silent. He knew he couldn't catch a wolf without risking his cub; seeing how thriving the Yuanqi Teahouse across the street was, he was well aware of the formidable nature of this girl.

“Then I’ll write down all the raw materials I need for you, and I’ll prepare the proportions here. I’ll also teach two people to make pastries at your teahouse.”

Most importantly, these two people should ideally be family members to ensure that the proportions are not leaked.

But who should we send?
I haven't discussed the warmer weather with my family yet.

"Grandma, hurry up!" Zhao Minghua blurted out in his anxiety, using a slang term from the martial arts world.

As soon as he finished speaking, he wanted to slap himself.

It's really frivolous of you to say something like that in front of a young woman!

"Your great-aunt is getting old, so naturally she moves a bit slower." Chun Nuan smiled and said, "There's a saying that you can't rush things, so why are you in such a hurry?"

"How can I not be anxious? Haven't you seen how much money Yuanqi Teahouse across the street is making?" Xiao Minghua simply stopped pretending to be polite: "Grandma, although you get a share of the profits from Yuanqi, you need to do the math. You get 20% of the profits from me, which is double what they make. Why aren't you in a hurry? Didn't you say you urgently need money? Then hurry up and go earn some."

"Okay, I'll go earn it." Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed in Chunnuan's mind: "That's right, I've thought of a way to make money."

"What's the plan?" "Or will you give me 20%?"

"Twenty percent, twenty percent, it will absolutely not change to one percent."

"Okay, do you have a few empty rooms on the second floor of your teahouse?"

Yes, that's true.

“Let me tell you…” Chunnuan explained her idea, but Zhao Minghua was not very excited; he was quite puzzled.

"Can women drink tea?" Zhao Minghua asked. "I've never heard of that before."

Even if they wanted to drink tea, it would be in their own garden; why would they go to a teahouse?

"Aren't you, Young Master Zhao, supposed to be a particularly independent and unconventional young man? At such a young age, you dare to open such a large teahouse behind your parents' backs. Don't you want to make money? As long as you can make money, why worry about being the first person to open a women's teahouse?"

"I'm not afraid to open it, I'm afraid no one will come."

Wouldn't that be a complete disaster?

"Even the best wine needs advertising," Chunnuan said. "Opening a teahouse also requires promotion. The most important point is that our tea can beautify the skin, cure insomnia, and so on..."

Oops, I almost blurted out "menstrual irregularity." Well, men and women are different, and the person in front of me is, after all, a young man. I shouldn't have said that.

"Miss Xiao, you might as well just say you can cure all diseases."

Well, he doesn't believe anything I say anymore.

Do you know why the herbal tea shop across the street sells so well?

Yes, I've tried it. It's cool and refreshing, and very pleasant to drink.

Do you know what flavors of the herbal tea across the street come in and what their health benefits are?

Zhao Minghua... He had done his research; indeed, different herbal teas have different effects and contraindications.

“The tea the woman drinks is made with a different recipe than the herbal tea,” Chun Nuan said. “Besides, you should know that as the weather gets colder, the herbal tea business across the street will become sluggish.”

Indeed, who wants to drink a bellyful of cold stuff in the dead of winter?

"Young Master Zhao, all you need to remember is that I am someone who can process medicinal herbs and understands pharmacology. I know exactly what the prescriptions I come up with and what their effects are. As for whether you can make money, that depends entirely on your business acumen."

Zhao Minghua blinked, thinking that what she said made a lot of sense.

“Okay, I’ll go back tomorrow and clean up those rooms to open a women’s tea garden.”

"Also, you need to find a few capable maids to work as waitresses."

This... is another groundbreaking thing.

"The women who come to drink tea are all ladies, mistresses, young ladies, and wives. Do you think it's appropriate to have a male waiter there?"

Zhao Minghua nodded, understanding!

Stepping out of the warm courtyard, Zhao Minghua looked at the afterglow of the setting sun and felt as if he were seeing a field of gold: Yes, he was truly full of energy!

He always said that Zhao Minghua was a business genius. Among so many people, he was the only one who saw the girl's uniqueness. A casual remark actually led to a business deal and gave him the opportunity to make a fortune.

Yes, Chunnuan said she wanted to find a few pretty and capable girls to be waitresses. We'll have to ask Mother about this.

"What did you say?" Zhou's eyes widened. Had her carefree son really come to his senses and wanted a pretty girl?
That's not right either. How could someone so young be so greedy? One is one thing, but five? No, no, his body can't handle it.

(End of this chapter)