Top Scholar

Chapter 44 Getting on the bus and blocking the door

"So how many coins do you plan to sell it for?" the proprietress asked. Actually, this was a pointless question. Since it was a low-priced product, and it couldn't possibly be priced the same as a large bowl of tea, of course, it would be two coins.

"Two coins." Su Lu replied as expected.

"If it's two coins, with all the miscellaneous fees added up, we barely make any money..." the proprietress said, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“We can’t work for nothing,” the uncle said hurriedly.

"Whether this drink makes money or not is irrelevant; the important thing is to dominate the market and block others from entering." But Su Lu said in a deep voice, "Everyone's selling it for two coins. I'm not afraid if I don't make money; I still have mid-to-high-end products to make money. You, on the other hand, will lose everything if you don't make money. Let's see how you compete!"

“That makes sense.” The proprietress’s eyes lit up. “If others see that there’s no profit to be made, they won’t get involved.”

He couldn't help but secretly admire Qiu Ge'er's decisiveness at such a young age; it must be due to Su Erge's excellent teaching.

“That’s right, people’s stomachs are limited, so the sales of drinks at the temple fair are naturally limited as well.” Now Uncle and Su Youcai understood.

Su Lu slammed his fist on the table and said in a deep voice, "The purpose of this checkpoint is to make our competitors back down. We'll price it at two coins a tube, and see who dares to follow suit!"

"Okay, let's do it this way!" the proprietress agreed.

"What about Master Cheng?" After making a decision, Su Youcai asked again, "Keeping an eye on the stall all day puts a lot of pressure on your younger brother and sister-in-law."

"Don't worry, Second Brother, I'm fine," the landlady said softly. "I can handle so many debt collectors, let alone my own father?"

"Ahem..." Su Youcai couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. If we're talking about debt collectors, he's definitely number one.

"Don't misunderstand, you don't count," the proprietress quickly said.

Su Lu coughed and said, "As long as the proprietress can stand it, then let him be. With a husband standing guard, who would dare to cause trouble?"

~~
With the release of hawthorn juice costing only two coins, many people who had been secretly hoping to get a piece of the pie were discouraged.

Just as the proprietress calculated, any sweet soup costs one coin just for the ingredients, not to mention labor costs, stall fees... The most crucial thing is the stall fees. Sweet Soup Shop gives the Qianhu Office one-tenth of the turnover, which is the highest in the entire temple fair.

If the commission rate is lower than this, the Qianhu Office will not allow a second store to open, lest it steal Sweet Water Kee's business.

So if they set the price at two coins, they wouldn't make any profit at all, and might even lose money.

As for higher prices, they dared not even think about it. Two coins were their moat, keeping competitors firmly out of the temple fair.

Thus, Sweet Water Kee firmly monopolized the beverage market at the temple fair by combining high and low-end products, and no competitors emerged until all the sour oranges were consumed.

As for Scholar Cheng, after two days of being ignored, he stopped showing up altogether...

On the afternoon of the tenth day, after selling the last tub of sweet honey, Su Lu said to the proprietress, "Now we really have to go back."

My uncle and father were both relieved to hear this; the past ten days or so of non-stop work had exhausted them. But they were still in a good mood…

"We'll definitely be busy during the Lantern Festival, can't we stay a few more days?" The proprietress was reluctant to let them go.

"There's only one thing left to do—continue selling sweet water for two coins and firmly establish ourselves in the temple fair market." Su Lu shook his head and said, "I'm not even looking to make a profit; just breaking even is enough."

“We’ll do the same for the temple fairs on the first and fifteenth of every month from now on. We can’t let others take advantage of the situation. When the fresh fruit comes in March and April, we’ll make new drinks and make another profit.” Su Lu finished speaking and laughed, “Look, there’s no point in us staying any longer. Please let us go, madam.”

“Yes, Qiu Ge’er Academy is about to start, he needs to settle down,” Su Youcai added.

"Well, alright then." The proprietress sighed softly, her smile returning. "But tonight, I must cook you a proper meal. Please do me the honor of coming."

He then gave a deep bow.

Su Youcai and his uncle laughed and said, "Then we shall respectfully accept your offer."

~~
There is a kitchen in the inn's courtyard.

To save money, people have long since started buying groceries and cooking for themselves.

The proprietress did some shopping at the temple fair, and her wife helped her prepare a sumptuous meal in no time.

Steamed pork with fermented rice, hand-shredded spicy rabbit, stir-fried river shrimp with ginger and scallions, and a steamed mandarin fish.

Finally, she personally served a pot of mutton offal soup sprinkled with a thick layer of pepper. With a humble expression, she said, "It's all from the temple fair, I just cooked it a little, please don't mind."

"Not at all, not at all! It's a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate!" Su Youcai exclaimed, holding a hand-shredded rabbit leg in his hand.

Of course, the proprietress was telling the truth. Half of her dinner was made up of 'pre-prepared dishes'... For example, the hand-shredded spicy rabbit was made by buying wild rabbits that had been marinated and dried with Sichuan peppercorns and well salt, steaming them, shredding them, and then drizzling them with soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic sauce before serving. Her culinary skills weren't as good as her aunt's, but she was much more resourceful, knowing how to play to her strengths and avoid her weaknesses, making good use of readily available resources, and was able to prepare a delicious meal just as well.

"Please sit down, young lady." The uncle invited the proprietress to take a seat, even reserving the host's seat for her.

The proprietress sat down with her daughter in her arms, poured a cup of sweet rice wine, and raised the cup with both hands, saying, "This cup of wine is to thank my two elder brothers and two virtuous nephews for their great help. I will never forget it."

"No problem, no problem." Su Youcai and his uncle readily downed a cup of sorghum liquor, while Su Lu and his brother drank sweet wine...

In fact, Xia Ge'er had already been drinking secretly, but he didn't dare to in front of his father.

"This second glass is to celebrate the complete success of our plan." The proprietress poured another glass of wine, her beautiful eyes filled with excitement. "No, it's even more successful than I imagined."

"Yes, I thought it was just a one-off deal, but it's turned into a long-term business." The uncle was beaming with joy.

"This means your luck has turned around, sister-in-law." Su Youcai laughed. "This is what they call 'after all the mountains and rivers seem to have no way out, a new village appears amidst the willows and flowers.'"

After everyone drank their second cup, the proprietress beckoned, and the old woman came forward carrying a heavy bundle, slamming it down on the table.

The proprietress opened the bundle, inside which were neatly stacked strings of copper coins.

At that moment, in the eyes of the Su family, the proprietress was radiating golden light. Then they heard her say loudly, "From the fifth day of the month to today, we have earned a total of twenty strings and one hundred coins. As agreed, we will split it in half—here is ten strings and fifty coins, you can count them."

The members of the Su family looked at each other, and Su Lu shook his head and smiled, "Boss lady, the accounts can't be calculated like this."

The old woman's expression changed upon hearing this, as if she thought he was greedy.

The proprietress smiled and said, "Brother Qiu, then you tell me how to calculate it, and I'll do as you say."

“You underestimated your own costs.” Su Lu then counted on his fingers and said, “Three thousand catties of sour oranges cost five taels of silver, two thousand bamboo tubes cost two taels of silver, and we also used one thousand catties of sorghum, which cost another five taels. If you give us ten taels, you will still lose money.”

In truth, Su Lu really wanted to keep all ten taels of silver for himself. But he knew very well that, just as he had tested the other party, this was also the proprietress testing him in return.

He didn't believe that the proprietress, with her shrewdness and heavy debt, would overlook the cost of twelve taels. So she just wanted to see what they would do.
If they took all ten taels, the proprietress wouldn't say anything, but their cooperation would end there, and they would go their separate ways. The business of Sweet Water Shop would then have nothing to do with the Su family, which was clearly not what Su Lu wanted.

Ten taels of silver isn't even enough for three years' tuition, let alone the long road to the imperial examinations. Since he sees potential in the proprietress and Sweet Water Restaurant, he certainly wouldn't do something so short-sighted.

Su Youcai also said seriously, "After deducting costs, we will make a net profit of 8,010 wen, so you only need to give us 4 guan and 50 wen."

"So our business isn't as profitable as we thought," the uncle said with a wry smile.

"With such a high profit margin, how can you not make money?" Su Lu said speechlessly.

“That’s true. It’s only at temple fairs that you can make money,” the uncle said, changing his tune.

"That's true," Su Lu nodded with a smile.

The proprietress could tell from the way the men were behaving that they had already planned this out.

I judged him by my own petty standards.

Deeply moved, she quickly said, "That's not the right way to calculate it. I had long considered those broken sorghum stalks, sour oranges, and bamboo tubes as useless things and was prepared to let them rot in the warehouse. So all this money is pure profit."

"..." The old woman was speechless. She had only ever seen people who were meticulous and afraid of being taken advantage of, but she had never seen people like them who didn't want to take advantage of each other.

"Alright, girl, stop talking." Su Youcai waved his hand, making his stance clear: "We already took two and a half ounces, and if we take another four ounces, that's a full six and a half ounces. We can't take any more!"

“Yes, you don’t know the temper of my old man. He can’t stand to suffer a loss himself, nor can he allow others to take advantage of him.” Even the eldest uncle said with a wry smile, “If I take all ten strings of cash back, the three of them will be fine, but I’ll definitely get kicked. I’ll have to slink back to you.”

"This..." Seeing their resolute attitude, the proprietress thought for a moment and said, "Then how about this, consider the remaining money as your investment, and I will give you 20% of Sweet Water Restaurant's shares. Please don't refuse."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Don't worry, Heji's debts will remain with Heji and have nothing to do with you."

Su Youcai and his uncle were both somewhat interested, as the business of Sweet Water Shop was already running smoothly. Even if they only made a profit during holidays and when the fruit was in season, the annual income would still be substantial.

Of course, they had become accustomed to trusting Su Lu's judgment in these matters...

"Twenty percent is too much, ten percent is much better," Su Lu said slowly. Shares are something that are given generously at the beginning, but become painful as the business grows. Countless partners have turned against each other because of this.

"Let's settle on 20%, because I have one more condition." The proprietress smiled as she poured the third glass of wine, raising it to toast Su Youcai, saying, "Second Brother Su, I adore your two sons. I wonder if I'd be fortunate enough to be their godmother?"

(End of this chapter)