997 Dirty trick But that did not mean that Song Yixu was not speaking the truth when she said that those vegetable vendors were trying to cheat money out of her. Song Yixu's temper was considered quite gentle and thus, she did not mind small acts of greed.
After all, trying to support one's family by earning an extra coin was something that she understood as well. However, it seemed that her actions of turning a blind eye to the small actions of those vegetable vendors had emboldened them.
Ever since the weather had started to get hotter with no signs of temperature dropping, the ones who were suffering the most were the farmers which was why when they started to bring half-wilted vegetables to her restaurant, Song Yixu did not say anything.
Her mother taught her to be kind to those who were not privileged and thus despite using only the good stock, Song Yixu paid for the wilted vegetables as well. She thought that the vegetable vendors were having a tough time as well but that was until Chef Chen went to her town.
After Chef Chen returned, she told Song Yixu that the vegetable vendors who were contracted to their restaurant were now selling their good vegetables to other restaurants.
They seemed to have gotten bold after seeing that Song Yixu treated them kindly. They knew that Song Yan would not make a fuss, as she was a kind woman even after selling her a batch of wilted vegetables. Thus, they decisively signed another contract with various other restaurants despite having an exclusive contract with Song Yixu's restaurant.
According to Chef Chen, those vegetable vendors wanted to impress the other restaurants and thus they were sending the freshest batch of their vegetables while they brought the leftover vegetables to their restaurant.
At first Song Yixu wanted to confront the vegetable vendors but upon seeing the batch of vegetables that they had sent this morning, she no longer wished to hold any conversation with them as they sent the entire rotten stock to her restaurant and were shameless enough to ask for money.
Only then did Song Yixu realise that those women had long lost their conscience, even if she was to confront them——- they would straighten up their attitude but only for a few days before turning back to their old ways.
If anything they might be sneakier in the future, in that case, it was better to pull out the rotten roots than treat them.
" Are you saying that they sold you these vegetables?" Yu Dong looked at the rotten leaves of the lettuce which were turning yellow and was shocked to her core.
" Thats right! They are really unscrupulous!" Chef Chen chimed in with an angry expression. " They all took Madam Song as someone who is too kind and decided to take advantage of her benevolence. She kindly turned a blind eye to their petty actions as they are poor but they signed an agreement with others and started supplying us with these rotten vegetables! They are truly ridiculous if they think that they can continue the cooperation even after doing something like this."
" Indeed they are quite heartless!" The disciple of Chef Chen added with a frown on her face. " They know that our customers like to eat our vegetable dishes when it's spring. As the new crops of vegetables arrive in the market as soon as spring comes but they are acting like such, because of them we have to reduce the number of vegetable dishes to bare minimum and that not all, we also received many complaints where the customers said that the vegetables were not fresh!"
The dishes served by their restaurant were indeed excellent as Chef Chen was highly skilled but in case the raw material provided to her by the restaurant wasn't good, there was nothing she could do. Chef Chen was not a magician nor did she have any superpowers, how can she create delicious dishes without proper ingredients? She could hide their smell but in the end, a bad thing was still bad in essence nothing could change it.
Just like how masons couldn't create a palace from bricks and mud, she couldn't create tasty dishes without fresh ingredients!
" Which is why I have turned my attention to you," Song Yixu spoke after Chef Chen and her disciple finished speaking. " I know that you are selling vegetables and I also know that you have limited stock but as long as you sell us twenty catties of vegetables of each kind, I am willing to pay double the amount to you."
" You mean to say that you will buy half a catty of tomatoes at six taels?" Chen Mi couldn't help but blurt out causing the women in the room to turn and look at him.
Seeing that the women were looking at him, he lowered his head and muttered, " Sorry."
" There is no need for you to apologize," Song Yixu waved her hand with a smile on her face. " What you said is indeed right, my restaurant's customers are dwindling, I guess the other restaurants in the city and on the outskirts want to snatch my business as they can't snatch my restaurant's position which is why they deliberately approached the vegetable vendors who signed contract with my restaurant."
" If it was one or two, I would have thought that it was coincidence and nothing more but since every single one had been snatched away I think some of the restaurants came up with this dirty trick to make my business fall."
With a gentle expression on her face, Song Yixu added, " I mean if it means saving the legacy of my mother and grandmother then I have no problem buying your vegetables at twice the amount."
Yu Dong pursed her lips and then stated, " There is no need, I will sell you the vegetables at the same price as the customers. Though we have a limited amount of stock at the moment, once the villagers start growing their vegetables, the stock will surely increase and in that case this contract you want to sign with me would become unjust."
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