Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 302 Xiao Wen

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, as long as you learn it well, I'll open a shop for you, okay?"

Li Wen laughed heartily and said, "Okay, you're right, you're a puppy if you try to fool me."

Xiao Wei laughed and said, "I'm not kidding you. The cake shop will definitely open a lot of branches, and it will need a lot of store managers. Just focus on mastering the skills."

As soon as the shop door opened, the three people turned to look and saw the cake maker from Jiangsu and Zhejiang walk in with a smile. He was very thin, with single eyelids, and his eyes narrowed when he smiled, giving off a very shrewd vibe.

Xiao Wei asked, "Is something wrong?"

The people from Jiangsu and Zhejiang were taken aback when they saw Xiao Wei and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Xiao Wei said, "It's my shop, where else would I be if not here?"

Li Wen asked, "Who's the boss?"

Xiao Wei said, "It's the cake shop across the street, didn't you go check it out?"

Li Wen pouted and said, "I didn't go in, so who knows what kind of person he is?" She had a rather sarcastic tone.

The man from Jiangsu and Zhejiang looked around and said, "Not bad." Then he squatted down to look at the samples on the counter and said, "Very well made. Where is the craftsman from?" His eyes scanned the price tags one by one. Xiao Wei didn't pay attention, knowing that he was there to check the market price and see how much everything was selling for.

Xiao Wei said, "I do it myself. I learned from a master craftsman in Guangdong. I'm still learning as I go. I'm just practicing as I go."

The man from Jiangsu and Zhejiang nodded, stood up, and walked directly to the back, saying, "My surname is Wen, call me Xiao Wen. I know you didn't know anything when you bought from me last time; it was the first time I'd ever met you. Now that you've opened a shop, impressive."

Xiao Wei tidied up the work surface, scraping off the fruit peels and flowers and wiping them clean. He said, "That's right. Buying a cake from you last time was an accident. I just saw that you were making them and bought one to eat. My wife and I both like them. I started working on this before you did it. I'm preparing to open my shop."

Xiao Wen clearly didn't believe him. He smiled and said, "Aren't you from Fengtian? What are you doing in Longcheng?"

Xiao Wei said, "My home is over there, but my business is here. Why are you in Longcheng? Isn't business doing quite well in Fengtian?"

Xiao Wen said, "It's okay, my sister is making it over there. I came over here. Aren't you baking your cake here?" He looked around but didn't see the oven.

Xiao Wei packed his things and said, "Let's talk outside." He half-pushed, half-reluctantly led Xiao Wen to the outer room. "I don't know how to bake cakes yet. Mine are delivered here every morning. Are you opening tomorrow?"

Xiao Wen nodded: "We're opening tomorrow, come over for a drink. You really have to bake this yourself; it's much more expensive to bake it outside, and it's more likely to have problems. Food factories don't bake this stuff well either. If you want to learn, come over, I'll teach you."

Xiao Wei smiled, a little annoyed by this pretentious act of wandering around and looking around aimlessly. He said, "No need, this is fine, it's more relaxing. Did you come alone?"

Xiao Wen said, "With my wife. Who did your makeup? It was pretty good, did you pay them?"

Xiao Wei said, "Yes, I paid someone to stay for two days, which cost me more than 10,000 yuan. A friend helped me find them."

Xiao Wen shook her head and said, "You've spent too much and don't need it. If you want me to print it for you, it'll cost a maximum of five thousand yuan. Besides, many of your designs are old; we don't do those anymore. Do you want me to print them for you again?"

Li Wenhe stood to the side, his face twitching, and glanced at Xiao Wen with disdain.

Xiao Wei said, "No need, it's fine as it is. I couldn't make it if it were too complicated."

Xiao Wen said, "From now on, we're neighbors. If you need anything, just let me know. Don't be shy with me; we're all friends. Are you busy? I'll treat you to a drink."

Xiao Wei shook his head and said, "No, I don't drink. You have a lot of things to do for your opening, so go back and get busy. Thank you."

Xiao Wen smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll head back now. I'll definitely come over for drinks tomorrow. If you need any preforms, just come get them from me, I'll give you a discount." He left with his eyes fixed on the samples.

Xiao Wei handed it out, saying, "Okay, sure, I'll look you up later."

Li Wen came out from behind and spat, saying, "He's obviously not a good person."

Li Wenhe said, "People from Jiangsu and Zhejiang are very hardworking and capable. Once they come out into the world, they're like family. They open shops one after another as soon as they get a foothold. They're very united and help each other out. However, they don't have any bottom line when it comes to business. They'll do anything as long as it makes money, without any regard for business rules. You have to be careful."

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "I can tell. He just came over to look at the samples and prices, saying this is good and that is good. If you really beg him, who knows what will happen? Li Wen, do you believe me? If I go to him to get the base cake, he'll dare to bake an old-fashioned cake with ammonium bicarbonate and charge me the price of a chiffon cake."

Li Wen blinked and said, "Why don't we try asking him?"

Xiao Wei smiled and shook his head, glancing at the samples in the display case. He said, "And he really knows how to brag. I've seen those cakes he makes before; they use honeycomb cake bases, the patterns are really old-fashioned and ugly. After seeing our samples, he can probably just copy them when he gets back. If you don't believe me, go check it out when he opens tomorrow."

Li Wen said, "Okay, I'll go take a look tomorrow. If it's really like ours, I'll give him a piece of my mind."

Xiao Wei said, "Why are you cursing? Just do it. This stuff needs to be cooked well and taste good. The people who buy it aren't stupid."

Li Wenhe said, "We should still be careful. After all, they all look the same. People who haven't tried ours won't know how good it is. I reckon he'll try to negotiate the price with you. Tomorrow, have Sister Shang bake some chiffon cakes in a baking pan and bring them over. We can cut them up and sell them individually so that people who don't buy birthday cakes can also enjoy them. That way, others will know that our cakes are better."

Xiao Wei opened his eyes wide and said, "Hey, this is a good idea. Okay, let Sister Shang do it tomorrow."

Li Wenhe said, "We need to bring out some new things. I'll talk to Li He tonight and ask him to teach us sometime tomorrow. We'll bring out some tiger-skin rolls, cocoa cake, cream mousse, mini mooncakes, and the like. You can set up a few tables in the middle of here and buy some fruit juice powder so we can sit here and eat some cake and drink some hot drinks."

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "Okay, you guys figure this out, I'll just follow along and learn." He checked the time and said, "Let's eat. It's lunchtime. Are Li Wen and Li Bing's lunch ready yet?"

Li Wen said, "We've already seen enough. Let's go. We're hungry. What if we starve and don't grow taller? You heartless boss."

Xiao Wei glanced at Li Wen and said, "Okay, eat more. Let me see if you can grow to be over 1.5 meters tall."

Li Wen rushed over and started punching and kicking him: "You're only 1.5 meters tall, you're only 1.5 meters tall, you big bad guy, you heartless boss." Li Wenhe just laughed on the side.

(End of this chapter)