Transmigrated into the role of the matriarch, I ensured my family had enough to eat and wear during

Manager Liu of Zuiyuefang stared at Tang Susu, already having figured it out in his mind: This woman must have regretted not selling her daughter and had come to him on her own initiative.

This time, I'll give her three taels of silver at most. As for me to give her another five taels, forget it!

But to his utter surprise, Tang Susu didn't head towards Zuiyuefang at all. Instead, she turned around and headed straight for the neighboring restaurant, which was the second-best in Jiangtou Town, right across from Zuiyuefang.

Manager Liu was shocked and his heart skipped a beat when he saw this.

His biggest worry was that Tang Susu would sell the recipe to a competitor, so he quickly called a waiter in the shop and told him to stop Tang Susu.

But as soon as the waiter ran out, Tang Susu had already led the four boys into the neighboring restaurant, giving him no chance to stop her.

It was past noon, and there were very few customers in the neighboring restaurant. A few waiters and kitchen staff were chatting idly in a corner.

When they saw Tang Susu and her family enter, they all stopped and looked them up and down.

Seeing that Tang Susu and the children were all dressed in faded coarse cloth clothes and covered in dust, the waiter's eyes flashed with disdain.

The waiter sent by Manager Liu didn't dare to follow them into the restaurant; he just peeked around at the entrance.

He thought Tang Susu's family had come to ask for water or leftovers, so he quickly ran back to Zuiyuefang to report.

But Tang Susu completely ignored the stares of others and walked straight to the waiter, saying calmly, "Give us five bowls of noodle soup."

The waiter was stunned for a moment, his face full of surprise.

He looked Tang Susu up and down again, and was really surprised that this seemingly poor family could afford to eat soup noodles.

You should know that before the famine, a bowl of soup noodles cost only five copper coins. Now, with the soaring price of grain, it has risen to ten copper coins a bowl. Five servings would cost fifty copper coins, which is no small amount.

Tang Susu naturally noticed the waiter's unusual behavior and thought to herself: This famine has really made life too difficult.

In the past, dockworkers who carried heavy loads could earn forty copper coins a day, enough to feed their families.

Now the daily wage has been drastically reduced to twenty dollars, which is only enough to buy two bowls of noodles.

Most ordinary people at the bottom of society can only fill their stomachs with wild vegetable porridge and coarse grain dumplings, so they can't bear to eat such expensive soup noodles.

Before long, five bowls of steaming hot soup noodles were served.

The family of five had only taken a few bites when a group of distinguished guests dressed in fine silk arrived at the restaurant entrance.

The shopkeeper, Luo Wenbing, immediately put down his work, greeted the guests with a beaming smile, and eagerly led them to a private room on the second floor. He then loudly called out to the kitchen, "Distinguished guests have arrived! Quickly prepare the dishes! Four Happiness Meatballs, Drunken Chicken with Shaoxing Wine, Steamed Sea Bass, Braised Pork Knuckle, and warm a pot of ten-year-old aged wine!"

Tang Susu couldn't help but swallow hard as she listened to the list of dishes.

She mentally estimated that this meal would cost at least three or four taels of silver, equivalent to several days' worth of her income.

She touched the copper coins in her pocket and secretly made up her mind: she must do business well, earn more money, and achieve financial freedom as soon as possible, so that she can eat whatever she wants.

The four boys were also attracted by these expensive dishes they had never heard of before, and they slurped up their vegetarian noodles while discussing them in hushed tones.

Yang Xiaobao frowned and asked curiously, "Mom, what are Four Happiness Meatballs? Can 'happiness' be made into a dish?" This made Tang Susu burst out laughing.

The family quickly finished lunch, and Tang Susu got up and went to the counter to pay the bill.

Manager Luo was busy working on his abacus when he saw her coming. He took the fifty copper coins and said with a smile, "Take care."

But Tang Susu didn't move. Instead, she smiled and asked, "Manager Luo, have you heard of the cold noodles that's become so popular in Jiangtou Town lately?"

Manager Luo looked up and nodded: "I've heard of it, I've heard of it. Recently, some customers have been coming to the shop asking if we sell jelly. I've been busy taking stock of the accounts these past few days and haven't had time to find out yet."

Tang Susu scooped out a portion of broken jelly from her small bucket and handed it to Manager Luo: "This is the jelly I made. Please try it. If you think it's feasible, we can talk about cooperation; if you don't like it, I'll go talk to Manager Liu of Zuiyuefang across the street."

"Drunken Moon Pavilion?" Manager Luo's expression changed instantly, his eyes filled with vigilance.

Zuiyuefang is the leading restaurant in Jiangtou Town, and it has been suppressing its neighboring restaurants for many years.

Surpassing Zuiyuefang was Luo Wenbing's lifelong goal.

Ke Zui Yue Fang has a rich history and is a chain restaurant that has expanded from Fuzhou, with strong capabilities;

The neighboring restaurant is an ancestral business, and its scale and financial resources are far inferior to the other party's.

Luo Wenbing knew he was powerless to surpass them in the short term, but he was also unwilling to let the gap between the two companies widen further.

Tang Susu's words pinpointed his concerns.

He took the jelly and carefully took a small sip.

The delicate and smooth texture spread across the tongue, and a cool sensation instantly dispelled the heat throughout the body. Luo Wenbing's eyes lit up, and he was immediately captivated by the taste, which strengthened his resolve to cooperate.

He put down his bowl and said directly, "This jelly is indeed excellent! I'll offer nine taels of silver to buy out your recipe!"

Seeing that Tang Susu only smiled and didn't respond, Luo Wenbing assumed she thought the price was too low and quickly raised the price: "Eleven taels! I can only offer fifteen taels at most! That's the highest price I can offer!"

Seeing this, Tang Susu couldn't help but laugh and cry: "Manager Luo, why are you also thinking of buying out the recipe? I'd like to change our cooperation approach—I won't sell the recipe, I'll just supply you with the goods."

Luo Wenbing paused for a moment, then fell into deep thought.

He followed Tang Susu's line of thought and began to plan: buy the ingredients at two copper coins per serving, and sell them at the restaurant for five copper coins per bowl. There is no need to spend a huge sum of money to buy out the recipe, nor is there any need to find a cook who can make jelly.

All you need to do is prepare the sweet soup, peanuts, and other ingredients in advance, and you can sell this popular jelly directly.

With a daily customer flow of about a hundred people, the restaurant could conservatively sell a hundred bowls, thus earning a net profit of three hundred copper coins a day, and nearly ten taels of silver in extra income over a month.

Moreover, this business is almost risk-free, and it can attract more customers with its novel food, making it a sure-fire way to make money.

Having weighed the pros and cons, Luo Wenbing immediately nodded: "Okay! Let's do it your way, a supply cooperation!"

Seeing that Luo Wenbing agreed, Tang Susu added, "Manager Luo, my supply of jelly isn't exclusive. I can supply any restaurant or eatery that's willing to buy from me for two copper coins a serving."

Upon hearing this, Luo Wenbing immediately became anxious: "Not an exclusive? How can that be! If I cooperate with you, and you continue to supply Zuiyuefang, wouldn't all my work be for nothing?"

He hurriedly tried to set conditions to secure exclusive cooperation rights.

"Don't worry, Manager Luo," Tang Susu explained with a smile. "My family's cold jelly production capacity is huge. Your neighboring restaurant alone can't possibly sell it all. Besides, I've already reached a cooperation agreement with Manager Bu of Chongwentang, and we'll start supplying them tomorrow."

She thought for a moment, then shared her plan: "Based on the number of lantern seeds we collect each day, we can make about a thousand bowls of jelly a day. The market in Jiangtou Town simply can't handle that, so I plan to sell the jelly to surrounding towns like Dongtai Town and Qianjiang Town in the future."