A Maid's Survival Story in a Noble Family Mansion? Rich Landlords Are More Appealing.

"It's done! It's really done!"

Even though Chen Wanxing had some expectations in mind, seeing the idea presented in such a concrete way still stirred her emotions.

She carefully picked up the rough rabbit-shaped pancake, looking at it from left to right, and the more she looked, the happier she became. One could imagine the novelty and attention it would attract when she added two red beans for eyes and displayed it in the shop.

She immediately wrote two letters. One was to the carpenter, praising his craftsmanship and expressing great satisfaction with the rabbit mold. She asked him to start making these shapes after completing the concave mold, and attached more detailed dimensions and polishing requirements.

Another letter was addressed to Lin Wei, detailing the trial results of the concave mold and the success of the rabbit mold, allowing her to begin experimenting with and adjusting the recipes for new desserts based on these molds, especially those suitable for rabbit and fish-shaped pastries.

Two days after the letter was sent out, Lin Wei came in person, her face filled with barely suppressed excitement and curiosity.

"Sister, the craftsman sent me the rough draft of the rabbit model to take a look. My goodness, it's so much fun!"

As soon as she entered, she grabbed Chen Wanxing, saying, "Our master saw it and said it was amazing. He's already figuring out what kind of dough and filling to use so that it looks good and doesn't collapse."

And those recessed molds—he tried making two batches of shortbread with the character "福" (fortune) and lotus patterns on them. The baking time still needs adjusting, but they looked really presentable. Sister, it seems our relationship is about to be successful.

Seeing that she was happy, Chen Wanxing couldn't help but smile as well. He then took out the rabbit-shaped pancake he had made to show her. Lin Wei held it in her hands and couldn't put it down. She looked at it over and over again, and even held it up to the light, praising it repeatedly.

"Sister, that master craftsman's skills are truly unparalleled. The rabbit mold is so interesting. With these new molds, the pastries can impress people just by their appearance."

With the master chef currently working on new flavors, it's hard to imagine our shop not becoming a hit.

Chen Wanxing listened with a smile, feeling much more relaxed. The difficulty of the mold was about to be overcome, the innovation of the flavor was being steadily tested, and the store's reorganization was also proceeding in an orderly manner.

Right now, everything is ready except for the final push. That final push is how to make this newly renovated, ingeniously designed shop an instant success and quickly establish a foothold in Ruyang County.

As she was thinking, Lin Wei brought up another matter: "Sister, there's something else important, the name of the shop. It used to be called Lin's Dim Sum Shop, which sounds old-fashioned."

This shop is the culmination of our hard work, and I think it deserves a unique and memorable new name.

Upon hearing this, Chen Wanxing agreed that it made sense. A reputation is like the face of a shop; it is indeed important.

She pondered for a moment and said, "It's time to change the name. It should be pleasant to hear and easy to remember, and it should also highlight the characteristics of our shop. Our pastries are known for their ingenuity and dedication. How about we call it Qiaoxinzhai?"

"Qiaoxinzhai...Qiaoxinzhai..." Lin Wei savored the three words several times, her eyes gradually brightening. She clapped her hands and laughed, "It sounds nice, elegant, and relevant to the theme. Let's call it that."

I went back and immediately had someone make a new signboard. It needs to be exquisite; it needs to look impressive when it's up.

With the name settled, the two felt a greater sense of belonging and anticipation, as if the shop, still under renovation, had been given a completely new soul. The conversation naturally returned to how to make Qiaoxinzhai a resounding success.

"Wei'er, good products are fundamental, but getting people to know they're good and be willing to come in and try them is also crucial. Have you and the shopkeeper discussed how to proceed when the shop reopens? We can't just open quietly, can we?"

Lin Wei was lost in her fantasy that the pastries would soon sell like hotcakes when she heard this, and she blinked in surprise:

"Open for business? We'll just pick a good day, hang up a big string of firecrackers, and set them off with a bang. Then the neighbors will know we've opened for business again, right?"

If you think that's not enough, we'll offer a discount of a few coins to everyone who buys pastries for the first three days of opening. Even people from around here who are looking for a bargain will come and try it, right?

She spoke as if it were the usual practice when most shops in the county town opened or reopened.

After hearing this, Chen Wanxing gently shook her head. "Firecrackers are allowed, and a discount is possible."

But our shop sells novelty and ingenuity. If we just passively wait for customers and rely on discounts to attract them, it's too slow and won't show our uniqueness.

Lin Wei became interested and leaned closer to ask, "So, what does my sister mean?"

"We need to invite customers over." A sly glint flashed in Chen Wanxing's eyes. "Not actually, but we need to find a way to make customers curious and expectant about our shop and our pastries before we even open."

"You're making people curious before you even open the door?" Lin Wei listened intently, and now she was even more puzzled. "How are people supposed to know what we have if the door isn't even open? We can't exactly hire people to go around banging drums and gongs all over the street, can we? That would be too tacky."

"Of course not, that's why we need someone to speak for us," Chen Wanxing advised. "We need to find some mouthpieces, the kind that people are willing to listen to, believe, and then spread the word."

She paused and asked, "Wei'er, in your opinion, which places in the county town have a lot of people, where news travels quickly, and are not too noisy, making them suitable for talking about interesting things?"

Furthermore, this requires a certain level of spending power; those who can't afford pastries are unlikely to frequent these places.

Lin Wei frowned upon hearing Chen Wanxing's words. Such specific requirements? She thought for a moment and said uncertainly, "Sister, are you talking about a teahouse with a storyteller, where you can sit for half a day, chatting about everything under the sun?"

A pot of tea isn't too expensive, but it's certainly not a place where poor people would spend money to sit and chat idly.

"Yes, that's the kind of place," Chen Wanxing affirmed. "Especially those teahouses with good reputations and good locations, where servants from various households or women from ordinary families often stop by for a rest. Let's go talk to their managers."

"Talk to them?" Lin Wei hesitated. "Talk about what? Get them to help us promote our products? But would they even agree?"

"That depends on your methods. But we're not letting them promote for free; we're having them promote for us while they're at it. We want them to benefit as well."

Chen Wanxing patiently explained, "There are many ways. For example, we can discuss with the manager that during the period before Qiaoxinzhai officially opens, we can provide a small batch of our newest and most exquisite pastries every day for free."

For example, the pastries printed with auspicious words are placed in their tea shop, not sold separately, but only as an add-on for tea drinkers.

For example, if a customer buys more than a certain amount of tea at once, or if they are a regular customer who has been coming for several days in a row, the shopkeeper can give them a small plate of our snacks as a special treat.

They say it's a new product specially offered by the newly opened Qiaoxinzhai on East Street, and they want their regular customers to be the first to try it.

We could supply them directly at a lower price so they can make a profit, or we could pay them a stall fee, or even rent their stall for a while to sell pastries.