Chapter 53: Chapter 053: Broom Star (10,000 coin reward from Butterfly Pea Flower for extra updates)
Translator: 549690339
Zhuang Qingning said with a smile, “Let’s wait until I can really start selling tofu. Once I have enough money, 1 can rent a storefront. There is no rush.”
“That makes sense.” Bai San felt that Zhuang Qingning’s words were very reasonable and nodded in approval, then burst into laughter again: “It’s amazing that someone so young knows to play it safe and steady. This kind of prudence and carefulness is truly rare.”
He had been working in the town for many years and had seen all sorts of people, especially young people who tried to make big strides forward as soon as they saw some success. All too often, they ended up spreading themselves too thin and failing because they took on too much.
People like Zhuang Qingning, who could take their time and proceed carefully, were indeed rare.
These were the type of people who were capable of building up a large-scale business.
A grin spread across Bai San’s face as he thought about this. He waved his arms in the air and whipped up a spiral with his whip.
When they arrived in town and set up the stall, Zhuang saw off Bai San who took away his tofu, and then took the tofu that Fushun Tower ordered to a backyard designated by Zhang Yongchang.
Lian Rong, who was working under Zhang Yongchang in the kitchen, saw Zhuang Qingning coming over. He ran over and took the bamboo basket from her, “This is the tofu Uncle Zhang asked for, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Chef Zhang’s tofu. A total of forty catties, full weight. If you’re not sure, you can weigh it again.” Zhuang Qingning said with a smile.
“I’ve been at Fushun Tower for several years now, and every morning I have to receive all sorts of vegetables and meat delivered from various places. 1 can tell if the weight is right as soon as I pick it up.” Lian Rong lifted up the tofu in the bamboo basket, laughed, and said, “If I’m not mistaken, this is slightly less than forty-one catties of tofu, right?”
Zhuang Qingning was suddenly surprised.
He was not wrong. When measuring the tofu, Zhuang Qingning had added the pieces one by one until it was a little more than forty catties, not quite an extra catty, and she left it at that.
She never expected him to be able to tell so accurately.
“You’re really amazing, it is indeed forty catties and seven taels, a bit on the high side.” Zhuang Qingning looked the man up and down, smiling and saying, “Your hands are like a scale.”
An extremely accurate scale, that is.
Flattered by Zhuang Qingning’s praise, Lian Rong laughed: “It’s just because I’ve dealt with a lot of it, my hands are used to it. It’s not worth mentioning. But your tofu, my master praised it all day yesterday, and even mentioned it to the shop manager. By all means, Fushun Tower will not use tofu from anywhere else in the future.”
“Here’s some insider info.”
Lian Rong lowered his voice and continued, “In order to use your tofu, my master pushed away Changji’s tofu. He’s actually related by marriage to the shopkeeper of Changji tofu store Uncle Chang. He didn’t give any face to Uncle Chang, that’s how much he has taken a liking to your tofu.”
“In the future, you must keep refining this tofu. As long as the tofu tastes good, you won’t have to worry about making money.”
Zhuang Qingning was surprised again.
Previously, the waiter who cheated her out of some money had told her that Fushun Tower used tofu from Changji tofu store. She thought it was just because Changji Tofu store was very famous and the town’s folks recognized that brand. She never thought there would be such a deep relationship involved.
It seems that Chef Zhang is indeed a true cook and only cares about the quality of the ingredients, regardless of where it comes from or who it’s related to.
Now Zhuang Qingning could understand why people always described Chef Zhang as being stubborn.
“Rest assured my young friend, in the future the tofu supplied to Fushun Tower will be of top quality. I will not let Chef Zhang down.” Zhuang Qingning replied with a laugh.
Seeing that Zhuang Qingning was cordial and had a pleasant appearance, and because of Zhang Yongchang’s fondness for her tofu, Lian Rong began to like Zhuang Qingning more. He followed the manager’s instructions and settled the bill for today’s tofu delivery.
As for the price, Zhuang Qingning offered the same discount as she did for Ruyi Pavilion.
Seeing that she offered a discount spontaneously, and even suggested that if the quantity supplied increased in the future, she could offer an even lower price and refund the previous difference, Lian Rong admired Zhuang’s business sense and praised her even more.
While the two were talking, suddenly there was a loud “bang” as a door in the corner of the courtyard was kicked open. Li Fang, with a gloomy expression on his face, walked towards the door carrying his own bundle.
After last night’s incident, all the workers in Fushun Tower knew the whole story about Li Fang. Everyone looked down on him, partly because Li Fang had a slippery way of doing things, often stepping on others to gain face in front of Feng Yongkang. Many disliked this kind of behavior, thus, when he was leaving, no one seemed to care enough to bid him farewell.
They were all fair-weather friends. Li Fang hadn’t even left yet, and the tea had already gone cold!
Li Fang grumbled and fussed alone in his room for half the day. He wished he could smash everything up, but remembered that Feng Yongkang was a money-minded man, and if he smashed the items, he would probably have to pay for them. So, he had to let it go.
But when he thought about how he had worked at the Fushun Tower for so long, and Feng Yongkang heartlessly threw him out without considering their past relationship, he felt indignant again.
Now, hearing voices outside, he glanced through the crack of the door and saw Zhuang Qingning talking with Lian Rong about tofu money with a satisfied smile on her face. This only fanned the flames of his anger.
It was all this damned girl’s fault. If it weren’t for her showing up that day, how could he be in such a predicament now?
She was a disaster, a broom star!
Whoever got involved with her was bound to be unlucky!
With a furious look on his face, Li Fang glared at Zhuang with rage. His gaze was so intense that it seemed as if he wanted to pierce two bloody holes into Zhuang’s body to vent his anger.
Being so maliciously stared at by someone she had a quarrel with earlier, Zhuang Qingning, of course, wouldn’t back down. She looked back at him defiantly, not yielding an inch.
The intensity of her gaze made Li Fang feel a bit uneasy.
“What are you looking at?”
Li Fang assumed Zhuang Qingning was here to ridicule him. His face turned the color of liver, and he shouted at Zhuang Qingning: “Thanks to you, I’ve been kicked out by the manager. You must be happy now.”
“I’m just curious, isn’t it just two coins for a piece of tofu? If you lose out, you lose out. There’s an old saying that it’s a blessing to suffer loss. You can’t even stand to lose the slightest bit, how can you expect to be blessed in the future? Dream on!”
“I’m the only one who brings in wages in my family. My parents are old, and my elder brother and sister-in-law are not filial. They rely solely on my income. But thanks to you, I lost my job for no reason. You’ve done such a wicked thing, aren’t you afraid of karma in the future?”
Li Fang grumbled and swore. Zhuang Qingning listened with a frown. When she glanced at Zhuang Qingning, she let out a cold laugh.
“I don’t know if I’ll suffer any retribution in the future, but 1 do know someone
is being punished right now. It must be because he did something bad..”
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