Cute Wife Gourmet

Chapter 108 Three to Seven Open
After returning from the palace, Ye Jiayao went to see Shopkeeper Li.

Ice cream mooncakes were successfully included in the birthday banquet menu and will usher in a sales boom. Although she is the head chef of the restaurant, it is her responsibility and obligation to develop new dishes and new foods. She has already regarded the ice drinks as her contribution. The profit margin of mooncakes is so huge, so naturally she has to get a piece of the pie. She can't just do it for nothing, right?

For some reason, Shopkeeper Li has been in a daze and out of state today.

Ye Jiayao told him about the matter. Manager Li did not make a decision as readily as before, but said that he would think about it and give her an answer every day.

Ye Jiayao was confused. Could it be that Shopkeeper Li wanted to monopolize the mooncakes because he saw that they were making money? Of course, it was reasonable for the restaurant not to give her a share, but it would be a dampener.

If that's true, I'll have to keep all the good things for myself in the future.

It seems that the ice jars are not enough, so Ye Jiayao sent Cui Dongpeng to Datie Lane to customize another hundred of them and sell them together with mooncakes. This kind of portable ice jar may become a trend, and she can make some money from it.

Xia Chunyu handed in his letter of reflection today. The emperor gave him a few more lectures and asked him to go back on duty tomorrow. At the same time, he gave him a task. The third day of August is the anniversary of the death of the Seventh Prince, and it is also the tenth anniversary. The Queen Mother decided to hold a ritual in Puji Temple. After the ritual is completed, he will escort the Queen Mother and Liuli to Puji Temple.

Xia Chunyu really didn't want to take this job, but Huang Ming made it difficult for him to do it.

When he returned home, his elder brother Chunli came to see him.

"Second brother, there is something I want to discuss with you."

Xia Chunyu asked him to sit down: "Brother, please speak."

Chunli seemed to find it difficult to speak: "Second brother, this is the case. Your sister-in-law wants to open an embroidery shop of her own. I am a little short of money, and I am embarrassed to ask my mother. Second brother, can you lend me some money first?"

Xia Chunyu frowned and said, "Doesn't the Qiao family have an embroidery shop in Jinling?"

"Yes, I heard that the business there is very good and they are often too busy to handle it, so your sister-in-law wants to open one, and mother-in-law also said it is feasible."

Isn't that stealing business from one's own people? However, since Mrs. Qiao has no objection, it doesn't matter.

"Originally, the Qiao family wanted to open a branch store and asked your sister-in-law to manage it, but your sister-in-law thought it would be better to open it yourself."

Xia Chunyu thought about the remaining money he had on hand. He was already very tight on stocking up for the voyage, but since his elder brother rarely spoke, he was embarrassed to refuse, so he asked, "How much will it cost?"

"The shop is our own. It's in Jinxiufang, with three rooms. Moreover, the previous tenant's lease has just expired. However, it's a public shop, and we can't say we're using it for free. We still have to pay the rent, and mother has agreed to pay it monthly. We can save some money here temporarily. The budget for renovation is about 800 taels, and 6,300 taels for purchasing furnishings and tools. We want to do the best, so it's a bit more expensive. We'll need more than 4,000 taels to purchase goods. The gap is about 8,000 taels now, but just in case, it would be best to borrow 10,000 taels. Second brother, I know you have your own business outside, so you should have this money!" Chunli said.

Uh, eight thousand taels, so they only have more than three thousand taels? So poor? No way, doesn't my eldest brother have his own business outside... Eight thousand taels, it can be easily distributed from my sister-in-law's dowry.

Xia Chunyu had a headache. To be honest, he didn't want to lend. If they were really in trouble, he would give them even if he had to pawn his things. But they had their own money and didn't need to borrow from him, which made him feel uncomfortable. Moreover, he was really short of money now. He bought a piece of land last year and just bought a restaurant. Sweat...

"Then I'll ask my subordinates first to see if they can spare ten thousand taels." Xia Chunyu was embarrassed to refuse.

"Thank you, second brother." Xia Chunli said happily.

During dinner, Xia Chunyu discovered that his sister-in-law was particularly attentive to him, which made him feel embarrassed.

After dinner, Xia Chunfeng stealthily pulled him away and whispered, "Second brother, did the eldest brother ask you to borrow some money?"

Xia Chunyu raised his eyebrows: "How do you know?"

Xia Chunfeng sneered, "You asked me to borrow it. I have more than 30,000 in my personal possession. Everyone in the mansion knows it, but I didn't borrow it."

"It's our duty to help our brothers in an emergency."

"Forget it, it's an emergency. I know that my brother spent 20,000 taels to buy a set of Tianhuang stone last month, but when he opened the store he said he had no money. Who would believe it?" Xia Chunfeng curled his lips.

"Besides, my sister-in-law has so much dowry. When she married, mother didn't let her give a penny. She even kept the red envelopes. She only made money and never lost money. Now she opened her own shop and asked others to borrow money. Let me tell you, she has complained to mother several times in the past few days, wanting to pay for it from the public. Mother said that it is not impossible for the public to pay, and the profits will also be counted as public in the future. She didn't agree again. What's more, doesn't Aunt Wei have a lot of private money? Why doesn't she give it to her daughter-in-law to open a shop?" Xia Chunfeng couldn't stand their behavior. He was straightforward and didn't lend if he said he wouldn't lend.

Xia Chunyu sighed secretly: "Forget it, we are brothers, it's not good to be unhappy over such a small matter."

"Just wait and see. If you lend this money out, it will be like throwing meat buns at a dog and it will never come back." Xia Chunfeng said firmly.

Xia Chunyu was helpless. He had already agreed. Could he say he would not lend it to her? If he didn't want to return it, then he didn't have to! After all, they were family.

Song Qi came to report that Manager Zhao had arrived.

Xia Chunyu hurried to the outer study.

Manager Zhao is now in charge of the restaurant's affairs. He told Xia Chunyu about Tianshangju's plan to launch snow skin ice cream mooncakes and the chef's proposal to split the profits, and asked him what he thought.

Xia Chunyu had already tasted the ice cream last night and was sure that this ice cream mooncake would be very popular once it was launched.

Selling one for five taels of silver, Yaoyao is really heartless. This is not the way to rob people, but rich people still fall for it. The more expensive the things, the more they are eager to buy them.

"How much commission does she want?" Xia Chunyu asked.

Manager Zhao said, "The chef only said this, but didn't mention any specific plans, and Shopkeeper Li didn't agree to it either." Xia Chunyu thought about it and said, "Let's split it 70% and 30%!"

"He's seven, and we're three?" asked Manager Zhao.

Xia Chunyu glanced at him: "When did you become so kind?"

Manager Zhao chuckled and said, "I understand. He is three and we are seven."

The 70-30 split was already an exception, and it was only for Yaoyao. If it were anyone else, it would be impossible to give a share. It was not that he was stingy and unwilling to give more, it was the industry rule. If the rule was broken, other chefs would follow suit and Tianshangju would become the target of public criticism.

"By the way, tell Shopkeeper Li to order a hundred of the portable ice jars that Li Yao uses." Xia Chunyu said. That thing is very useful. After buying snow skin mooncakes, you naturally need to use an ice jar. Most people will buy it. It is not a big deal to make a few taels of silver from an ice jar.

Xia Chunyu didn't know that Ye Jiayao was also thinking about the same thing, and they both thought of the same thing.

"Yes, I will tell Manager Li right away. But, My Lord, can those ice skin mooncakes be sold? Last year, Beijing-style mooncakes were popular in Jinling City." Manager Zhao asked doubtfully.

"Just do as I say." Xia Chunyu didn't have time to tell him how delicious the ice cream was.

"Yes." Manager Zhao was about to leave.

Xia Chunyu remembered his elder brother's loan and called him again: "How much money do you have left in the account?"

Manager Zhao replied, "There are still more than 30,000 taels."

"Tomorrow go to Datong to exchange 10,000 taels of silver and give it to me."

Manager Zhao was surprised: "My Lord, you said that we should take a break before going out to sea, but our ship must go out to sea in early October, and the goods are not ready yet. If we take out another ten thousand taels, it will not be enough for us."

"There are still more than two months until October. We'll talk about it then." Xia Chunyu said. He was worried.

After taking a shower, Xia Chunyu wanted to go find Yaoyao, but was told that Helian Xuan was there, so he had to give up.

The next day, Manager Li called Ye Jiayao over and agreed on a 30-70 split, with the restaurant being responsible for both materials and labor, 70% for the restaurant and 30% for her.

"This is already an exception. No restaurant would offer such a generous share."

The corners of Ye Jiayao's mouth twitched, but there was nothing she could do. She had signed a three-year contract and her wings were not strong enough, so she could only be exploited by the capitalists. When she thought about those modern artists who worked so hard but could only get 10% or 20% of the salary, and the rest was exploited by the entertainment company, she felt a little more balanced in her heart and comforted herself that when she opened a restaurant in the future, everything would be hers.

"By the way, I heard that you have a portable ice jar. Let me see it. I'll order a hundred of them. Maybe they can be used when selling mooncakes." Shopkeeper Li said.

Ye Jiayao was in tears. Damn it, 70% of the mooncakes have been exploited, and now even the ice jars are going to be exploited. Are they going to let people survive?

Capitalists are evil-hearted, evil capitalists.

Ye Jiayao returned to the kitchen dejectedly and called Cui Dongpeng: "Go ask the manager Qian to return the money you paid for the ice cream."

"Ah? Didn't you say Brother Yao would pay for it himself?" Cui Dongpeng was puzzled.

Ye Jiayao said angrily: "I wanted to make some money here so that the brothers could have a drink, but now the restaurant has to book it by itself."

Cui Dongpengye was speechless. They were all employed by others and there was nothing they could do if they couldn't get hard.

"Brother Yao, someone outside is looking for you." Ah Xing came in and delivered the message.

"Who is it?" Ye Jiayao asked.

"I don't know him, he looks like a servant." A Xing said.

Ye Jiayao went out to meet the person, and sure enough, it turned out to be a servant, a housekeeper or something like that, but she was wearing silk and should have come from a wealthy family.

"Are you Chef Li Yao?" the woman asked.

"Yes, it's me. May I ask what you want from me?"

The woman looked around and asked in a low voice, "My master heard that you have snowy ice cream mooncakes and wants to buy a few. What's the price? We can negotiate."

Uh... the ice cream mooncakes were just released yesterday and only a few were sent to Prince Helian’s palace, but someone unexpectedly came to buy them today.

Seeing that she didn't say anything, the woman said, "We will keep it a secret and will never tell anyone. It will only be eaten by our family."

Ye Jiayao understood that it must be one of the four ladies who tasted the mooncakes yesterday.

(End of this chapter)