Chapter 360: Opening Up A Market
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Come, Lord Marquis. Please drink up this cup.” The brothel madame enthusiastically raised her wine cup and toasted Qin Xiaoyao.
Qin Xiaoyao looked at Yun Niang instead.
When she saw this, Yun Niang smiled and raised her wine cup as well.
“Your humble servant also offers a toast to Lord Marquis.”
Only then did Qin Xiaoyao raise the wine cup in front of her and toasted the two women. Then, she drank the wine in the cup.
The brothel madame looked at Yun Niang gratefully, smiled apologetically, and drank the wine too.
“Lord Marquis, regarding Liu Ling’s matter… 1 have already explained everything to the Empress’s brother.
“The Empress’s brother knows that Lord Marquis redeemed Liu Ling. After 1 explained and mediated, he has already let this matter rest.
“In the future, even if Young Master Liu appears in front of others, no one will make things difficult for him.” The brothel madame looked like she was asking for credit.
Qin Xiaoyao glanced at the brothel madame and nodded.
Due to Yun Niang’s reminder, she was indeed a little worried about Liu Ling.
For this reason, every time Liu Ling went out, even though the road to the workshop was not far, she arranged for someone to follow him.
She was afraid that something would happen to him on the way.
Now that the brother of Empress Jia had decided to let the matter rest, it would save her some trouble.
After all, she wasn’t prepared to let Liu Ling manage only that small workshop for her.
After all, the most capable people were the ones who did the most work. Liu Ling could still do many things.
“Then 1 must thank you, Madame.” Qin Xiaoyao cupped her hands at the brothel madame as she spoke.
“Hehe! It’s only right, it’s only right. Lord Marquis, you’re too polite,” the brothel madame hurriedly replied.
Then, her eyes flickered.
“Lord Marquis, regarding those century eggs…” She finally cut to the chase.
Qin Xiaoyao pretended not to understand and asked, “Oh, what’s wrong?” “Hehe! It’s like this. The century eggs that you gave to Yun Niang yesterday were added to the menu of our Cloud Scent Court. In the end, all the customers liked it very much.
“I was thinking of asking Lord Marquis where you got those century eggs. I want to see… see if I can buy some for the dishes,” the brothel madame said.
Qin Xiaoyao pretended to be mildly surprised.
“Oh, 1 didn’t buy them. It was made by my workshop,” she replied.
Even though she already knew the answer, the eyes of the brothel madame lit up.
“Then can Lord Marquis sell some century eggs to our Cloud Scent Court? 1 want 500… Er, no! 1000 eggs!” the brothel madame quickly said.
Although one dish didn’t use many century eggs, the stock might not last if the customers ordered more.
In addition, some customers wanted to order take-outs. This way, the amount used would increase.
Anyway, the eggs wouldn’t go bad within a short period of time after she bought them. It didn’t matter if she bought more to stock up.
Qin Xiaoyao’s eyes flickered.
“Er… Madame, you didn’t even ask about the price first?” she said.
The madame’s expression froze.
It was as if she had just remembered this.
“Ahem! May I know what price Lord Marquis is prepared to sell the century egg at?” she asked solemnly.
Qin Xiaoyao’s lips curled up.
“It’s not expensive either. The big ones cost io copper coins, and the small ones cost 5 copper coins,” she said.
This price was much higher than the price she had set in Mountain Spring Town. In terms of profits, it was massively profitable for her.
However, she was not just randomly stating a price.
After all, the rarer something was, the more valuable it was. Other than her porridge shops, she was only going to supply these century eggs to high-end restaurants in the capital for the time being.
The eyes of the brothel madame flickered.
The big ones cost io copper coins, while the small ones cost 5 copper coins. In terms of ingredients, they were slightly expensive. However, the century egg was clearly worth the price.
After pondering in her heart, the brothel madame quickly said, “Deal! Then I’ll order 600 big ones and 400 small ones.”
This gave a total of 1000 eggs, which was only eight taels of silver. It was not considered expensive.
She could buy more century eggs after she finished using up this batch.
As she spoke, the brothel madame straightaway took out a silver ingot worth ten taels and handed it to Qin Xiaoyao.
Qin Xiaoyao smiled and accepted it.
Immediately, she even gave the brothel madame two taels of silver in change.
However, the brothel madame didn’t want to accept it.
“Haha! Business is business. Madame, you should keep it.
“However, if you want to buy century eggs in the future, you can directly ask the purchasing manager of Cloud Scent Court to contact the workshop in the Marquis’s residence.
“Oh, yes. Young Master Liu is helping me manage the workshop. Afterward, Madame, you can get your manager to contact him directly.”
The brothel madame was stunned.
It never occurred to her that Qin Xiaoyao did not redeem Liu Ling to be her kept man.
However, she did not think too much about it.
Liu Ling had already left Cloud Scent Court, so his affairs had nothing to do with her.
“All, great!” Thus, the brothel madame agreed to the arrangement.
Qin Xiaoyao then continued eating and drinking.
Cloud Scent Court’s wine and dishes were expensive, so she couldn’t waste them.
After the meal, the brothel madame and Yun Niang personally sent Qin Xiaoyao off from Cloud Scent Court.
Only then did Qin Xiaoyao return to her residence.
Thereafter, she went to the workshop to look for Liu Ling and asked him to arrange for someone to deliver the goods to Cloud Scent Court.
A total of 1000 century eggs only sold for 8 taels of silver. It was not considered a big order.
However, it was the first order since the workshop started, so Qin Xiaoyao and Liu Ling attached great importance to it.
“It’s better to arrange for the addition of workers to the workshop in advance.
“In addition to the workers who buy chicken and duck eggs mentioned earlier, we still have to arrange for two delivery workers. As well as staff for the sales department.”
Liu Ling was astonished.
“Sales staff?” he asked.
He knew about purchasing and goods delivery, but what did the sales staff do?
“It’s the people who go to various big restaurants or grocery stores to promote our goods.
“As they say, no matter how good the product is, without promotion and marketing, it’s still difficult for customers to locate our product. It’s not a good idea to sit idly and wait for business to come to our doorstep.”
Liu Ling’s heart skipped a beat.
“Yes, Ma’am!” he immediately answered. He looked as if he had been enlightened.
“Of course, we don’t take on every order.
“In the future, the century eggs from our workshop will be sold at 10 copper coins for the big ones and 5 copper coins for the small ones. If the order is less than 5 taels, we won’t accept the order.”
Qin Xiaoyao looked at Liu Ling and continued, “This is only the early stages. When the workshop’s business is in full swing, we will continue to raise the threshold and turn away orders below 10 taels.”
A trace of hesitation flashed across Liu Ling’s face.
“Yes, Ma’am!” he answered again.
Qin Xiaoyao nodded.
Then she told Liu Ling what the brothel madame had told her regarding the fact that she had already settled the matter with the brother of Empress Jia.
“Next, you can consider training an assistant in the workshop.”
“When the porridge shop is open, I will have an urgent need for management talent. At that point, I’ll have to rely on you.” Qin Xiaoyao looked at Liu Ling.
Liu Ling’s eyes lit up.
“Yes! Thank you for thinking highly of me, Lord Marquis!”
Qin Xiaoyao smiled.
“Work hard! If you do well, 1 won’t mistreat you!” she encouraged him.
“Mm-hmm!” Liu Ling’s eyes were filled with determination.
The next day, Princess Xiangyang returned to the palace.
Before Qin Xiaoyao could give any instructions, Princess Xiangyang had already ordered the kitchen of the Marquis’s residence to prepare a big batch of century egg dishes and century egg porridge.
Then, she went to the workshop and bought 500 century eggs.
Following that, she packed the stuff and brought them into the palace.
A day later, the porridge with lean meat and century egg became wildly popular in the concubines’ palace.
The noble ladies in the concubines’ palace were all obsessed with the taste of century egg and lean meat porridge.
Everyone was scrambling to find out where they could buy century eggs.
Princess Xiangyang took the opportunity to help Qin Xiaoyao open up a market in the palace and sold many century eggs.
She even became the spokesperson for the sale of century eggs in the palace..