Chapter 57.1

At the first light of the dawn the next day, Lin Qingwan was still snuggled under blankets when Yao-shi knocked on the room’s door, saying that Yang Tiegen had returned and had something to tell her.

Elated, Lin Qingwan quickly got down from the kang, dressed herself, and freshened up.

Only when she met Yang Tiegen and heard him brief the matter did Lin Qingwan’s heart return to its place.

As it turned out, Yang Tiegen went back to the town the day before. After laboring to transport a few goods, he went to Man Fu House to see how it was going, his heart still anxious over the huge amount of meat second sao had bought.

Entering the restaurant, no sooner than he stated his purpose of visit, the restaurant manager surnamed Li quickly dragged him to the rear of the restaurant to have a word. There he told him that the Laweixian had been sold out and had him promptly notify the woman surnamed Lin that Manager Li needed another 30 jin of Laweixian, the more, the better, at the earliest.

After listening to this Yang, Tiegen took his leave from Manager Li and hurried back. Usually, Yang Tiegen was frugal and preferred to travel to the town on foot. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be leaving early in the morning and returning late at night. But today, he was anxious to return. However, even when the sun was close to setting, he couldn’t find any ox cart. Thus, he quickly walked back.

Nonetheless, by the time he reached home, night had already fallen. Yao-shi opened the door for him. At first, he wanted to quickly find the second sao at that time itself. But Yao-shi stopped him, saying the second sao might have gone to bed long ago, it would be better to meet her tomorrow. Anyway, this matter couldn’t be rushed.

Yang Tiezhu, with no other choice, suppressed his eagerness and had his dinner before going to bed. Yao-shi had kept some food for him at the side to eat when he returned. The next day, as soon as dawn broke, he got up and had Yao-shi knock on the second branch’s room door.

After hearing Yang Tiegen recount the matter, Lin Qingwan sat on the kang and fell into deep contemplation. Seeing her deeply absorbed in thoughts over the issue, everyone tactically remained silent to not disturb her. Both Yang Tiegen and Yang Tiezhu maintained silence while Yao-shi rolled her sleeves and began making breakfast.

30 jin?

That means, perhaps Yang Teigen was late to go there, and by that time, Man Fu House had long sold out all the Laweixian. Otherwise, Manager Li wouldn’t have dragged Yang Tiegen to the rear of the restaurant as soon as he introduced himself. From Yang Tiegen’s words, although Manager Li said nothing about how Laweixian was selling, Lin Qingwan could safely conclude that it was selling quite well.

Even if it wasn’t a best-seller, it shouldn’t be too bad. And perhaps, Manager Li had only asked for 30 jin because he wasn’t sure of its characteristics and how long the food would remain fresh.

Lin Qingwan had a clear estimation: a lap cheong link could be served in one or two plates, and sometimes, if plated skillfully, they could even be sold in three plates. Thus, 10 jin of lap cheong could be more or less sold in 20 plates. And if the restaurant’s business was pretty good, even if they casually recommended the dish, all of it could be sold in just a day or two.

After pondering it for a while, Lin Qingwan briefed Yang Tiegen on her thoughts.

The general idea was to let him take all the Laweixian at home to Man Fuo House today and tell Manager Li that he would have to wait for a few days for the next batch. And also, observe Manager Li’s facial expressions after listening to this: was he frowning, or was he particularly impatient. If the Manager insists on getting a precise due date, she asked him to tell that they could be delivered after 4-5 days.

While she was at it, Lin Qingwan also explained how Laweixian could be cooked before asking him to explain the same to Manager Li. And also requested Yang Tiegen to let Manager Li know that these could be simply steamed before serving and are safe to eat even the next day.

The last time she went to sell these, as she was skeptical if they would sell or not, she had steamed about 10 jin of Laoweixian at home itself. But from hereon, she will have the restaurant cook it by themselves.

Although Yang Tiegen didn’t understand second sao’s intention in asking him to do so, he still made sure to remember all of her words. After a quick breakfast, he set off to the town.

Yao-shi went to wash the cutleries, while Lin Qingwan remained sitting on the kang, lost in thoughts.

After thinking for a moment, Yang Tiezhu asked with a smile, “What is wifey thinking? Are you pondering making more?”

Lin Qingwan came back to herself and looked at Yang Tiezhu as her eyes narrowed into slits with a smile on her lips.

“Yes, ah!” Apparently, her man seemed to have caught on to her thoughts.

Yang Tiezhu muttered to himself for a moment before saying, “Wait till the third younger brother returns and listen to what he has to say. According to me, if they are selling well in the Man Fu House, they could be sold elsewhere as well.” At first, he had thought his wife was just doing it for fun. But now, when he thought over it again, he had a feeling that she had a concrete plan and knew what she was doing.

Lin Qingwan was on cloud nine as she gave him a peck on his cheeks with a delighted smile.

“Aiya, you actually read my mind.”

Yang Tiezhu dumbly chuckled as he touched his face, “My wife is so smart. After hearing your conversation with the third younger brother, I just presumed you wanted to determine if they could be sold elsewhere as well.”

“You are also not bad, ah! Hehe,” Lin Qingwan simpered; she indeed had such thoughts. There are only two big restaurants in town, among which, surely, there must be an intense rivalry brewing. As for the cost, surely all of their patrons must have enough money to spare, and of course, there shouldn’t be a lack of long-term patrons in all such restaurants. However, as long as few people are patrons of both the restaurants, if Laweixian is sold in one restaurant, it would surely be sold in another one.

But it’s too early to think about all of these now. All of these could wait till Yang Tiegen returns and grasp the overall situation.

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