The manager of Yingkelai was also a middle-aged man, with a round belly and a smiling face for everyone, but Su Zhen could tell that he was extremely shrewd, his eyes full of calculation.
Dealing with such a person was actually quite straightforward—as long as you could make him money.
Su Zhen smiled politely and got straight to the point: “Manager Qian, I have a method that can take Yingkelai’s business to the next level. I’m just not sure if you’d be willing to give it a try.”
Manager Qian, who had lived nearly forty years and had been in charge of Yingkelai for over a decade, was being told how to make money by a young girl who still had her baby fuzz—a first in his life. After a moment of stunned silence, he burst into laughter.
Steward Lin, who had helped with the introduction, was so frightened his legs trembled. That damned Old Su—how could he have brought such a brazen little girl here? He wanted to help, but he didn’t want to lose his job over it!
Seeing that Manager Qian didn’t believe her, Su Zhen didn’t dwell on it. Instead, she directly took a jar from her basket, fetched a clean empty bowl from the table, and filled it with a dark red liquid.
Before pouring the liquid into the jar, she had filtered the residue twice through fine gauze, making the liquid exceptionally clear. For a moment, it was hard to tell exactly what kind of soup it was.
“Manager Qian, this is a digestive tea I brewed myself. After eating greasy food or drinking alcohol, having a bowl of this can both cut through the greasiness and sober you up.” Su Zhen raised her eyebrows slightly, brimming with confidence. “Don’t you think that if customers drank a bowl of this digestive tea when they were almost full, they might want to eat more dishes or drink more wine?”
Manager Qian looked at the bowl of digestive tea, already calculating in his mind.
He was a man of experience and naturally understood the feasibility of what Su Zhen was saying. But did this digestive tea really have such an effect?
“Young lady, I don’t even know what’s in this digestive tea of yours. How can I let you serve it to customers? What if something happens after they drink it? How could I keep Yingkelai open for business then?”
Even though she was brought by Steward Lin, he couldn’t let his guard down. After all, anything meant for consumption had to be absolutely safe.
Without wasting words, Su Zhen picked up the bowl and drank it all in one go, personally proving that the digestive tea was not poisonous. “Manager Qian, rest assured, my digestive tea is absolutely safe. It’s just that I don’t have the money to buy rock sugar, so the tea is a bit sour right now. Adding some rock sugar would improve the flavor.”
Manager Qian was amused by her straightforward nature and immediately had a waiter fetch rock sugar and an empty bowl from the kitchen.
This meant he was willing to give Su Zhen a chance, but whether she could seize it depended on the effectiveness of the digestive tea.
Su Zhen grabbed a handful of rock sugar and put it into the jar, stirring it with a spoon until the sugar dissolved completely before pouring the digestive tea into the empty bowl.
For something meant for customers, Manager Qian naturally had to taste it himself.
He picked up the bowl, took a small sip, and his slightly narrowed eyes immediately widened.
The digestive tea was slightly cool upon entering the mouth, as refreshing as taking a cold shower on a sweltering summer day. The tea was both sour and sweet, stimulating the taste buds. As it slid down his throat, it seemed to swirl in his stomach, making the food inside feel more active and no longer piled up in one place.
Manager Qian couldn’t wait to finish the remaining tea in the bowl. Smacking his lips, he sighed contentedly, “This digestive tea is truly excellent!”
He hadn’t eaten lunch yet and was already feeling hungry. After drinking the tea, he felt even more eager to quickly down two bowls of rice.
“Quickly, quickly, serve this to the customers right away!”
Manager Qian urgently urged the staff to serve tea to the customers, already anticipating that this digestive tea would definitely have the effect Su Zhen claimed.
However, this time it was Su Zhen who wasn’t in a hurry.
“Manager Qian, serving tea also requires good timing.”
Su Zhen glanced at the customers in the first-floor hall, her ears perked up attentively.
At the table in the southeast corner, there was a noisy child. The adult holding a bowl to feed him had flushed cheeks from frustration: “You don’t like the food at home, and you still won’t eat when we’re out! What exactly do you want to eat?”
Next to them, a few middle-aged men were discussing business. Their table was cluttered with dishes, and the men were red-faced from drinking, clearly nearing the end of their meal.
These two tables were the perfect test subjects!
Su Zhen whispered a few words to the young waiter and had him serve the digestive tea to these two tables.
Children love all kinds of sweet and sour drinks. Without any urging from the adult, the child eagerly drank the entire bowl of tea.
As for the other table, the men had just finished drinking and eating meat, and their mouths were feeling greasy. This cool, perfectly balanced sweet and sour drink delighted them all, with two of them even downing two bowls in one go.
After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, there was no special reaction from the two tables.
Manager Qian remained composed, standing nearby with a half-smile as he looked over the account books.
But Steward Lin couldn’t sit still. It wasn’t his first time helping to broker a deal, but he had never felt so anxious before.
“Girl, is your digestive tea really effective? We were introduced by an acquaintance, so don’t let me down!”
Steward Lin was almost sweating, leaning in close to whisper into Su Zhen’s ear.
Su Anyu was also a bit worried, but in front of outsiders, he always followed his sister’s lead. Whatever his sister did was definitely right!
He patted Steward Lin’s shoulder like a little adult: “Don’t worry, don’t worry! My sister is amazing! Just one bowl of yam porridge made Village Chief’s stomachache go away. You have to believe in her!”
One bowl of porridge could cure a stomachache?
Steward Lin broke out in a sweat even more profusely. He felt he must have gone mad to be playing along with two children.
Just then, the noisy child who had refused to eat suddenly picked up his bowl and quickly polished off all the food inside.
Finally, he licked his lips with his little tongue and shouted with lingering satisfaction: “So good! Another bowl!”
Before the food for this table could even be served, the people at the neighboring table also shouted loudly: “Bring another jar of wine!”
Steward Lin was stunned.
Manager Qian also looked up in astonishment, no longer interested in the account books.
The digestive tea actually worked!
Once they regained their composure, they quickly had the young waiter serve a few free bowls to the other customers.
As expected, any customer who drank the digestive tea ended up ordering more food, whether a little or a lot.
With sales increasing, profits naturally rose. Just as Su Zhen had said, it elevated Yingkelai’s business to the next level.
When the jar could no longer pour out any more digestive tea, Manager Qian took the initiative to discuss cooperation with Su Zhen.
“Miss Su, your digestive tea truly has a unique effect. Yingkelai is willing to purchase the recipe. What do you think?”
Manager Qian was a smart man and could tell Su Zhen was clever too. From her bringing the digestive tea to their door, to offering it to customers for free, and even personally overseeing every bowl served—it was all part of her plan.
In truth, Manager Qian had also considered secretly hiding a bowl of digestive tea to have the kitchen chefs replicate it, but Su Zhen was watching too closely, leaving him no opportunity to act.
Su Zhen had come precisely to make quick money, so she immediately extended a finger: “One tael of silver, and I’ll write down the secret recipe right away!”
Su Anyu, who was following behind, was so shocked he could hardly close his mouth! One tael of silver for the secret recipe of a digestive tea? Manager Qian must have been kicked in the head by a donkey!
Manager Qian, who had indeed been “kicked in the head by a donkey,” slapped the table decisively: “Deal! Money for the recipe, right here and now!”
On the street, Su Zhen walked briskly toward the market, a full string of coins jingling in her pocket.
Su Anyu still hadn’t recovered from the earlier shock: “Sis, they… they won’t go back on their word, will they?”
It was just a tangerine peel and hawthorn water—something worth only a few copper coins—and it had sold for a whole tael of silver. It felt like a dream!
But at the same time, why did he feel a sense of guilt, as if they had deceived an honest person?
Su Zhen, however, rubbed his little head and smiled, her eyes crinkling: “They won’t go back on their word, but they will regret it! Just wait—within three days, they’ll come begging for me again! Come on, let’s go spend some money!”
With nothing to eat at home, now that she had money, she needed to quickly buy some essentials.
And, of course, the materials for tomorrow’s stall!