Chapter 84: Chapter 084: Take It Quick
Translator: 549690339
He gagged the three of them and tied them up again to prevent them from breaking free or escaping. Not wasting any time, Gong Qingsheng ordered a carriage to be prepared to take their heartless selves to the County Government Office, accompanied by a few men.
She had slept soundly, only waking up when it was completely dark.
Zhuang Qingsui was nowhere in sight, but a prepared meal was waiting in the kitchen.
There were steamed bread, millet porridge, and cold tofu strips mixed with celery.
From the looks of it, Zhuang Qingsui must have gotten up in the evening to prepare the meal, eaten, and then left some for her before going to the tofu workshop.
Zhuang Qingning got up very late and was extremely hungry.
After devouring the food in the kitchen and cleaning up afterwards, she picked up the lantern and headed for the tofu workshop.
The tofu workshop was brightly lit with several oil lamps, and despite the moon not having completely set, the light from the bright lunar glow made the workshop even brighter.
Zhuang Qingsui was adding beans to the mill, and Zhuang Mingliang was constantly spinning the stone mill. Milky white soy milk slowly seeped from the stone mill, flowed through the groove of the stone, and into a bucket.
“Sister Ning,” Zhuang Mingliang spotted Zhuang Qingning first and greeted her with a smile, but his hands didn’t pause their motion.
“Sister, you’re awake?” Zhuang Qingsui chuckled, “I didn’t wake you up in the evening when I saw you still sleeping, I thought I’d let you sleep a bit more.”
“Hmm… I don’t know why, but I was so tired today, I slept for so long.”
Zhuang Qingning thought about revealing the morning’s events but eventually decided against it.
The incident was indeed dangerous, and while reminding others to be vigilant in the future is necessary, she herself had not yet fully recovered from the panic. Speaking about it now would only spread fear.
So, it would be better to talk about it after a few days and make the precautionary measures sound more thorough.
“You must be tired from the recent work,” Zhuang Qingsui frowned. “The amount of tofu produced has been increasing daily, and with sister busying herself both inside and outside of the workshop, you must be really worn out.”
“If Uncle Zhang brings good news tomorrow, we may need to double the amount of tofu we make. If that is the case, we’ll most likely be overwhelmed.”
“Yeah.” Zhuang Qingning lifted her eyebrow a little.
If that’s the case, maybe the other stone mill and tofu hot pot would have to be put to use. We’d have to cook tofu in two large pots and point tofu in several jars simultaneously to ensure the quantity.
But then, those grinding the beans might not be able to keep up with the work, and we might have to hire more people.
This is indeed a very important issue, and once Zhang Yongchang gives the go-ahead, it’s worth thinking carefully about how to arrange the work.
The next morning, everything was set up perfectly. As soon as the stall was set up, Zhang Yongchang rushed over, beaming brightly.
“Miss Ning, Miss Ning.”
Zhang Yongchang shoved a bag of money into Zhuang Qingning’s hands without saying a word: “Take it!”
The bag of money was heavy, and you could clearly hear the crisp sound of silver ingots clinking together. Zhuang Qingning chuckled and responded, “It seems that Uncle Zhang got his wish, right?”
“You bet!” Zhang Yongchang was so excited that his nose was turning a bit red. “Yesterday, I really outdid myself. Those old suppliers were astonished, almost dropping their eyes, and the money they gave was quite generous. And they kept asking me where I found such flavorful tofu.”
“Didn’t I tell you? With the flavor of your tofu, there’s no doubt that it will beat all the tofu workshops in the county town. See if that isn’t true?”
“There’s a total of twelve taels of silver in this bag, you take it. In addition, those people want to order two hundred jin of tofu from us daily. You won’t need to deliver it, they will send someone to pick it up. They’ll pay daily, without any delay. The price will be the same as the tofu’s regular price, not a single coin less.”
“They wanted more, but I didn’t readily agree. I merely said that our tofu workshop only produces a certain quantity of tofu per day. We couldn’t make so much all at once, but once we discuss with the tofu workshop and ensure we are capable of that amount, we’ll get back to them. And for paying for the tofu, we need to receive a deposit of half the total amount the day before.”
“Ning, you really won’t have to worry about selling your tofu any more.”
Chapter Yongchang spoke with a grin, then reconsidered, “That’s not right, you have never had to worry about selling your tofu. What I meant was, your tofu business will be even more prosperous in the future.”
“Isn’t this all thanks to you, Uncle Zhang?” Zhuang Qingning smiled, “Judging by the looks of it, this process didn’t go as smoothly as you mentioned, right?”
Chapter Yongchang blinked and unconsciously touched his ear.
Zhuang Qingning had guessed right.
Originally, four of the old suppliers each wanted to try fifty jin of tofu daily to see its quality, and wanted Zhuang Qingning to deliver to them every morning.
Hearing this, Chapter Yongchang scowled. He almost spilled his tea and bluntly accused them of being disrespectful. To expect someone to deliver their orders while assuming they were entitled to buy the tofu was a dream. He even warned that if they continued to behave arrogantly, it would be better for them to stick with their insipid tofu.
In the end, these four houses decided to hire a carriage together and come to Zhuang Qingning to get the collective two hundred jin of tofu. This solution seemed mutually beneficial.
Zhang Yongchang didn’t bother with the details, as long as he could convince people to buy the delicious tofu, he was happy.
The key point was, he had won the bet. It made him proud, and that was more important than anything else.
“Thank you so much, Uncle Zhang, for your hard work and consideration,” Zhuang Qingning bowed to Zhang Yongchang.
“Why arc you being so polite?” Zhang Yongchang was a little flustered and quickly helped Zhuang Qingning up, “I just couldn’t stand seeing substandard food on the table. If I find anything that is tastier and reasonably priced, I will without a doubt, immediately replace the previous ones.”
This was Zhang Yongchang’s principle in cooking and his obsession. It was unchangeable.
It was just like his immediate rejection of the tofu from Changji tofu workshop.
“All this, to cut a long story short, was just an easy task for me,” Zhang Yongchang chuckled.
Zhuang Qingning pursed her lips and kept smiling.
Zhang Yongchang might say this was an easy task, but the details of receiving the deposit upfront and customers coming to pick up the goods themselves were only accomplished because he stood her ground, considering her inconvenience.. How would there be such a satisfactory outcome otherwise?
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