Chapter 59

After Li Qi and Wu Furong came out of the Qin residence, they hurried to the northern city without a moment's rest. The situation there was even more severe than Li Qi had imagined. The branch of Feicui轩 (Feicui轩 is a name, so I'll keep it as is) was located less than a mile from Yanglou, clearly aiming to compete with it. Moreover, the business at Feicui轩 was exceptionally booming, while Yanglou seemed relatively quiet in comparison.

Furthermore, the stinky tofu at Feicui轩's branch was sold for 250 coins per plate, which was 50 coins cheaper than the price at the main store.

After some investigation, Li Qi and Wu Furong returned to the Qin residence.

When Lady Qin saw them back, she hurriedly asked, "How is the situation at Yanglou?"

Wu Furong shook his head and recounted the information they had gathered to Lady Qin.

After hearing this, Lady Qin frowned and said, "No wonder Mr. Zhang looked so panicked yesterday." She paused, then glanced at Li Qi, who had been silent, and said, "It seems we should stay out of this to avoid getting burned. I'll tell Mr. Zhang the truth tomorrow."

"No, we can't just stand by. We must do everything we can to help Yanglou," Li Qi shook his head and said.

Lady Qin was surprised and asked, "Why? We can't afford to offend either of them."

" precisely because of that, we must help Yanglou," Li Qi said seriously. "By helping Yanglou now, we are actually helping ourselves. From the recent expansion of Feicui轩, it's clear that Cai Minded wants to dominate the restaurant industry in Bianjing. If we just sit back and watch, once Mr. Cai defeats Yanglou, he will turn his attention to us. After all, we are too close to Feicui轩, and we are still in the early stages. We can't possibly be a match for Feicui轩. Therefore, we must join forces with Yanglou to counterbalance Feicui轩 and prevent it from becoming too powerful."

"What you say makes some sense," Wu Furong nodded, frowning.

Lady Qin frowned and said, "But you have already signed an agreement with Mr. Cai, promising not to sell the stinky tofu recipe to anyone else. How can we help Mr. Zhang?"

Li Qi smiled slightly and asked instead, "Lady, how did you respond to Mr. Zhang yesterday?"

Lady Qin said, "I just said I would discuss it with Uncle Wu and give him an answer later."

"Good! We'll take this business for sure," Li Qi smiled, his lips curling up.

Lady Qin looked at Li Qi with surprise.

Wu Furong excitedly asked, "What's your plan?"

Li Qi smiled and said, "Although we can't sell the stinky tofu recipe to Mr. Zhang, we can sell him the stinky tofu directly. The four jars of brine in the wine cellar are just sitting there, so we might as well put them to use. This way, I won't violate my agreement with Mr. Cai, and we can still make a good profit."

Wu Furong's eyes lit up, and he nodded quickly, "That's a good idea, I think it will work."

Lady Qin nodded slightly, but with concern, "Your plan is good, but Mr. Zhang might not agree."

"He will definitely agree. Just tell him about the agreement we have with Mr. Cai," Li Qi smiled.

Lady Qin was surprised, "Aren't you going to talk to him?"

Li Qi smiled, "Of course, you should be the one to talk to him. I don't have the authority. Don't forget, I'm just a chef at Zuixianju. Even Uncle Wu might not have the qualifications."

Wu Furong understood Li Qi's intentions and nodded, "Yes, yes."

Lady Qin, still worried, said, "But I'm concerned—"

Before she could finish, Li Qi interrupted, "Don't worry, Lady. Tomorrow, we only need to discuss three points: the quantity of stinky tofu, the price, and the delivery time. For quantity, as long as he can pay, it's not a problem. For price, a pound of stinky tofu has about 15-16 pieces. Feicui轩 sells a plate of 10 pieces for 250 coins, so we'll sell it to him for 200 coins per pound, and we'll still make a good profit. As for the delivery time, we need to check with Uncle Zhang San, but no matter what, we need to make Mr. Zhang wait a few days. After all, Mr. Cai just gave us a lot of money, so we need to let him taste some sweetness. Once he's firmly established in the northern city, we can sell stinky tofu to Yanglou. After being suppressed by Feicui轩 for so many days, Yanglou will surely launch a strong counterattack once they have stinky tofu. Then, when the two tigers fight, we can sit back and reap the benefits."

What a vicious plan!

Wu Furong, listening to this, was sweating profusely but also secretly glad that they had taken Li Qi in. If not, things might have turned out very differently.

Lady Qin felt this plan was a bit unscrupulous and looked at Wu Furong with a questioning gaze. He nodded slightly, and with his approval, Lady Qin said, "Alright, we'll do it your way."

Just then, Xiaotao's voice came from outside the door, "Lady, Wu Xiaoliu is here to see you. He says it's urgent to find Master Li."

"Find me?" Li Qi frowned, puzzled, and said to Lady Qin, "Lady, I'll go out and see what it is."

Lady Qin nodded, "Go ahead."

As soon as Li Qi reached the front hall, Wu Xiaoliu rushed over and said urgently, "Brother Li, something big has happened."

Li Qi was startled, "What happened?"

Wu Xiaoliu stammered, "T-the—the White Lady is here."

The White Lady?

Li Qi was momentarily stunned, then remembered he had promised to go to the eastern suburbs with Bai Qianruo to help the disaster victims. He looked around nervously and asked, "She—she came to the Qin residence?"

Wu Xiaoliu shook his head, "No, but she's at the shop now, specifically looking for you, and she looks very angry."

Being stood up, how could she not be angry?

Li Qi swallowed hard, looked at the setting sun, and felt a wave of anxiety. How could he have forgotten about this girl?

He thought it wouldn't take long to visit the Qin residence and then meet up with Bai Qianruo, but he had been so busy that he forgot everything.

Wu Xiaoliu, seeing Li Qi sweating, swallowed hard and asked, "Brother Li, did you offend the White Lady? You don't know, last time in the southern city, a tavern owner—"

"Enough!"

Li Qi shouted, interrupting Wu Xiaoliu, "I'm already in enough trouble. Can you shut up for a bit? Wait here, I'll be right back—damn, no cell phone is really inconvenient."

Li Qi returned to the inner hall, and Wu Furong, seeing his troubled expression, asked curiously, "Master Li, is something wrong?"

Li Qi shook his head, "Nothing serious, just a small matter. But I need to take care of it now. Uncle Wu, could you please go to Uncle Zhang San for me?"

Wu Furong, seeing he didn't want to talk more, nodded, "Don't worry, I'll go."

Li Qi nodded, said goodbye to Lady Qin, and left with Wu Xiaoliu for the shop.

On the way back, Li Qi thought about how to deal with Bai Qianruo, but couldn't come up with a good plan. The key was that Bai Qianruo was too smart to be easily fooled.

In no time, they arrived at the entrance of Zuixianju.

Wu Xiaoliu pointed upstairs, "The White Lady is up there."

"By the way, did she bring any bodyguards or thugs?" Li Qi asked nervously.

Wu Xiaoliu shook his head, "No, just her. Brother Li, why would she bring thugs?"

Li Qi felt relieved. As long as Bai Qianruo didn't use force, everything would be fine. He glared at Wu Xiaoliu, "You ask me, how should I know?"

Just as he was about to step in, he stopped, frowned, and said to Wu Xiaoliu, "Xiaoliu, go get Dazhu and Xiaozhu, and buy some nashi pears, tangerines, honey pears, longans, and honey."

Wu Xiaoliu counted on his fingers and scratched his head, "Brother Li, can you repeat that? There are too many, I can't remember them all."

Li Qi barely restrained himself from hitting him and repeated it slowly, then asked, "Got it?"

Wu Xiaoliu nodded, "Got it, got it."

"Alright! Go quickly, the faster, the better!"

Wu Xiaoliu responded and ran to the back yard. Even without Li Qi's instruction, he would have taken Dazhu and Xiaozhu with him.

Li Qi stood at the door, tidied his messy hair, took a few deep breaths, and then went in.

Inside, Li Qi closed the door gently, then tiptoed to the second floor, peeking around the stairwell. He saw a woman in white sitting at a table by the window.

Even her back was so alluring.

Li Qi sighed inwardly. Although he only saw Bai Qianruo's back, he could already feel the intense anger radiating from her.

It seemed he couldn't avoid this.

Li Qi sighed, cleared his throat a few times, and walked up.

Bai Qianruo immediately turned her head, and upon seeing Li Qi, a flash of anger crossed her eyes, and she coldly huffed.

Sweat! It seemed that being stood up was a very sensitive issue for women, no matter the era.

Li Qi laughed, "I knew it! Why is Zuixianju so radiant today? It must be because the White Lady has graced us with her presence. I apologize for not greeting you properly, it's my fault, my fault!"

Bai Qianruo's lips curled into a cold smile, "What virtue or ability do I have to deserve such an honor from Master Li?"

"Ha ha, the White Lady is really good at joking. I'm just a small chef, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning," Li Qi laughed awkwardly and sat down opposite Bai Qianruo.

Bai Qianruo glanced at him coldly, took out several silver ingots from her sleeve, and placed them on the table, "Here are 78 taels. The other 22 taels were used to help the disaster victims today."

This silver was what Li Qi had given her yesterday to prepare food for the disaster relief, a total of 100 taels. Seeing Bai Qianruo return the silver, Li Qi was puzzled, "White Lady, what are you doing?"

Bai Qianruo sneered, "I, Bai Qianruo, will not do business with someone as untrustworthy and fickle as you. Here's your silver. Find someone else. Goodbye." She stood up to leave.