Chapter 121 - 121 Visit
121 Visit
Manager Sun said, “Yes.”
Su Xiaoxiao smiled. “Before the New Year, I have yet to supply Jin Ji. You bought the egg yolk pastry from me for Old Madam Qi to try, right?”
“Ahem!” Manager Sun cleared his throat awkwardly. “I didn’t have any raw materials, okay?”
Manager Sun had the brains and talent to do business. Most importantly, this fellow was bold enough to sell a business that he had not obtained.
Manager Sun had helped her a lot.
“Girl, what are you thinking about?” Manager Sun asked.
Su Xiaoxiao said, “I’m thinking that my egg yolk pastry is not so easy to imitate. If Old Madam Qi finds out that the taste this time is different from the ones she ate before, do you think she will be unhappy?”
“Oh!”
Manager Sun gasped.
He had not thought of this just now. That’s right. Even after obtaining Su Xiaoxiao’s formula, the snacks Jin Ji made still had a slight difference in taste.
It was the same for the wife cake and the chestnut cake.
As for the egg yolk pastry… the salted egg yolk had only arrived this year, and he was no longer the shopkeeper of Jin Ji. He had never tasted how it was done there.
Manager Sun said, “But what if Old Madam Qi can’t taste the difference? The texture is a little different, but there’s not much difference. Moreover, even if you make it yourself, you can’t guarantee that every batch will taste the same! I heard that the chef of Jin Ji doesn’t rest for the New Year and focuses on cultivating at home to master your formulae.”
“Whatever you say is possible.” Su Xiaoxiao was not a person who underestimated herself, but she would not be blindly confident. “Can you still enter the Qi family?”
Manager Sun sighed. “The Qi family does business with Jin Ji, not with me, Sun Quan. It’s probably difficult.”
“Ten taels.”
“Sigh, I really can’t do anything.”
“Twenty taels.”
“I told you…”
“Thirty taels.”
“Hey, girl…”
Su Xiaoxiao said, “Ergou, call that group of people over and say that Manager Sun is giving it to them!”
Manager Sun shuddered. “I suddenly remembered that Nanny Ding of the Qi family is from my hometown!”
….
At dawn, Manager He woke up early under the service of his concubine.
Today was Old Madam Qi’s birthday, and it was also the first cooperation between Jin Ji and the Qi family. The Qi family had a say in the prefecture capital. As long as this business was done, why would Jin Ji worry about not being able to open up in the prefecture capital?
In order to express the importance of this business, Manager He decided to deliver it to the Qi family personally.
He went downstairs to the kitchen.
“Are the snacks ready?” he asked.
The waiter came out of the kitchen and said with a smile, “Don’t worry! I’ve been watching for the entire night! I guarantee that nothing will go wrong!”
The snacks were made on the fifth night. After staring at them for the entire night, they were bragging!
Manager He couldn’t be bothered to argue about such small matters. He got someone to put the snacks into a food box and bring his carriage.
The waiter and an old friend from Jin Ji went with him.
The group arrived at the Qi family.
Although Jin Ji was the largest snack shop in town, it was simply not in the league of a rich family like the Qi family.
Manager He was not qualified to use the main door. His carriage stopped outside the back door.
The person who came out to receive them was a small butler of the Qi family.
“It wasn’t you the last time.” The junior manager frowned.
Manager He said politely, “I’m the new shopkeeper of Jin Ji. My surname is He.”
“Over there! Don’t hang the lantern wrongly!” The junior manager shouted at the servant at the side. After saying that, he looked at Manager He. “What did you say? Alright, come in!”
To think a mere manager actually despised him, the head manager. Manager He was indignant.
However, he also understood that the Qi family was one of the most powerful families in Apricot Flower Town. Jin Ji could not afford to offend them!
“I’ve already said that you don’t have to come personally.” The waiter also felt indignant for his master. He thought that if the shopkeeper came personally, he would more or less be treated well.
Unexpectedly, the servants of the Qi family looked down on them and ignored them!
Manager He said calmly, “He’s just a small fry.”
When he obtained Old Madam Qi’s favor, wouldn’t such an ignorant servant be easily dismissed with a word?
On the other side, a beautiful maidservant came over with a lantern.
“Miss Qing’er, you’re so early?”
The young steward, who ignored Manager He and the others, actually revealed a fawning smile when he met this maidservant.
The maidservant said, “Old Madam is up. Have the snacks from Jin Ji arrived? Old Madam said to give them to her to try first.”
The junior steward smiled and said, “Miss Qing’er can just instruct me on such matters. Why bother making a trip yourself? Miss Qing’er, you can go first. I’ll send you off!”
The maidservant said, “Don’t pick make so much noise with unimportant people and disturb Old Madam’s peace.”
“Ah, yes, yes!” The junior manager turned around with a smile. His expression turned cold as he said to Manager He, “Snacks.”
Manager He gave the waiter and his old companion a look. The two of them carried in food boxes one after another and handed them to the junior steward.
...
The junior steward called over a few smart servants and followed the maidservant to serve the snacks to Old Madam Qi.
The waiter looked at the other party’s graceful back and swallowed. He whispered, “Manager, the Qi family is indeed a big family. Even a maid is much more beautiful than the girls of Yue Hong Pavilion…”
Yue Hong Pavilion is a brothel in Apricot Flower Town. Manager He wished he could kick him. Was he tired of living by comparing the Qi family’s maidservant to the women in the brothel?
Manager He was waiting in the courtyard outside the kitchen. He was not waiting for the bill, but for Old Madam Qi’s feedback.
He was confident that Old Madam Qi would definitely like the pancakes! She might even want to see him!
What he did not expect was that before Madam Qi could summon him, Miss Qing’er would scold him.
“What snacks did you give us? It’s completely different from last time! Old Madam is angry! Who asked you to buy the snacks from another place!”
The junior steward was confused and turned to look at Manager He.
Manager He said, “Miss Qing’er, we’re from Jin Ji.”
Qing’er said angrily, “Then have you changed chefs?”
Shopkeeper He hurriedly said, “No! The snacks today were all made by the chef of Jin Ji! There’s no one else!”
...
The snacks that were usually sold were taught by the main chef and the other chefs shared the responsibility. The Qi family’s birthday banquet was very important, and the main chef did it himself.
Qing’er said coldly, “Why is that taste different?”
Manager He frowned. The chef had not changed. Could it be that the girl had provided them with inferior salted eggs?
At this moment, a servant rushed over. “Manager Zhang! The people from Jin Ji are here! They said that they’re here to deliver birthday snacks!”
Manager He was stunned. “We’re the ones from Jin Ji! Why is there another Jin Ji?”
The servant looked at Shopkeeper He and said to his butler, “That person’s surname is Sun. He came last time.”