Seeing the girl’s commanding presence, Mrs. Xia assumed her family background must be quite distinguished. She didn’t want to go herself, nor did she want Xia Li to go either. But since Xia Li had already cheerfully agreed, she had no choice but to follow along.
They went upstairs to a private room, elegantly decorated, where a beautiful girl of about twelve or thirteen and a handsome young boy of seven or eight sat at a round table. Several maids and older servants stood behind them.
Zeng Qingqing and Zeng Lizhang had just seen the bowls of Icy Jelly from the second-floor railing. Though they couldn’t see clearly from afar, they heard Xia Li’s explanations and the crowd’s admiration, making them extremely eager. Not wanting to go downstairs to join the commotion, Zeng Qingqing had a maid bring the Icy Jelly upstairs.
When the bowls were placed on the table, the Zeng siblings were equally amazed. Zeng Lizhang pulled the plate of “Three Musketeers” toward himself, picking up a spoon to eat immediately.
Manager He and an older servant quickly advised, “Fourth Young Master, you mustn’t. We don’t know where this came from.”
Zeng Lizhang said unhappily, “If Manager He can eat it, why can’t I?”
Xia Li smiled, “We’re honest commoners here to do business. How would we dare harm anyone?”
Zeng Lizhang started eating recklessly anyway. He quickly finished one bowl and pulled the “All-in-One Icy Jelly” toward himself to eat next. He told Zeng Qingqing, “Second Sister, hurry and eat! It’s truly delicious and really cools you down.”
Seeing this, Zeng Qingqing began eating the most beautiful portion – “Rosy Beauty.” After a few bites, she looked up and said, “It’s indeed refreshing and tender, cool and sweet.”
After finishing the “Rosy Beauty,” she felt too embarrassed to eat more. Seeing her brother about to start a third bowl, she hurriedly advised, “Don’t eat it all!” Save one for Cousin Liu.”
Zeng Lizhang said, “There’s more in the small basin. Cousin Liu won’t miss out.”
Zeng Qingqing said, “Regardless, eating too much of anything isn’t good,” and gave the remaining bowl to a respected older servant.
She then asked Xia Li, “Does this really improve appetite and strengthen the spleen, suitable for all ages?”
Xia Li smiled, “Replying to the young lady: the ingredients used to make Icy Jelly have those medicinal properties, so of course Icy Jelly carries those benefits.”
Zeng Qingqing said, “My grandmother is quite elderly and suffers greatly from summer heat. Since this Icy Jelly relieves heat and quenches thirst, she could have some.” Then she asked, “Since you’re in business, why didn’t you go to the marketplace but came here instead?”
Young ladies from wealthy families didn’t understand farming or commerce and didn’t know about selling recipes.
Xia Li smiled, “We came to the restaurant to see if Manager He might be interested in buying this recipe.”
Before Manager He could speak, Zeng Lizhang cut in, “Manager He, this Icy Jelly has caught my fancy – buy it. We’ll make it for Grandmother back in the provincial capital.” He rather looked down on this country girl – she appeared pretty and clever but lacked perception, failing to see that even Manager He had to listen to him.
Zeng Qingqing also nodded with a smile.
Manager He had wanted to buy it from the start. He originally intended to bargain down the price, but with the two young masters making such a fuss, driving too hard a bargain was now impossible. So he asked Xia Li and Mrs. Xia, “How much do you want for it?”
Xia Li and Mrs. Xia had previously discussed selling it for eighty taels of silver. They set this price based on two considerations.Since the ingredient Lan Deng Long Zi was so cheap and the Icy Jelly was so delicious, this business could be described as highly profitable. Moreover, they were the first to use Lan Deng Long Zi to make Icy Jelly, pioneering this venture. If she and her mother ran this business themselves without interference, even with the hard work, they could earn at least a hundred taels of silver during just the few months of the summer season, even accounting for slow business on rainy days.
Based on this calculation, their recipe should be worth at least a hundred taels of silver.
However, Xia Li was self-aware. They were a vulnerable group, unequal to the wealthy and powerful merchants, so she naturally didn’t dare to ask for too high a price. Thus, she settled on eighty taels of silver.
Now that she had a small ally who seemed to side with her, Xia Li wondered if she could raise the price a bit. Still, she didn’t dare to recklessly increase her asking price. Instead, she smiled and said, “I wonder what price Manager He is willing to offer.”
Manager He thought for a moment and smiled. “Since this item has caught the favor of our young lady and young master, I’ll offer a high price—forty taels of silver. How about that?”
Truly, no merchant is without cunning!
Xia Li neither agreed nor disagreed, smiling as she replied, “Just now, I noticed that your restaurant sells Five-Spice Braised Meat for seventy wen per jin. I suspect the cost of the meat, seasonings, the chef’s skill, and firewood likely account for more than half of that price. Moreover, every restaurant sells braised meat. But for this Original Icy Jelly, if a bowl sells for six wen, the ingredients cost less than one wen. Adding other toppings might increase the cost slightly, and if you raise the price of the Icy Jelly accordingly, the ingredients would still only account for one-tenth to one-fifth of the total price. This Icy Jelly is unique to us and will surely sell well in the summer. Even if you just set up two tables in front of your restaurant to exclusively sell this sweet soup, and even if you only sell two hundred bowls a day, you could still earn at least one and a half to two taels of silver. Selling only during the hot summer months, over three months, you could earn one hundred fifty to two hundred taels of silver. This is the minimum profit I’m estimating. If managed well and sold in provincial capitals, prefectural cities, and even more places, the profit could multiply several times over.”
After speaking, she looked at Manager He with eager eyes.
Manager He asked skeptically, “What ingredients could possibly be so cheap?”
Xia Li smiled mysteriously. “They really are that cheap. I wouldn’t dare to exaggerate.”
Zeng Lizhang grew anxious and wanted to speak, but Zeng Qingqing tugged at him, signaling him to stay calm. Zeng Qingqing found this young girl quite novel and wanted to see more of the fun.
Manager He pondered for a moment and said, “If it’s really that good, then sixty taels of silver.”
Zeng Lizhang couldn’t hold back any longer. “My father is always complaining about greedy merchants chasing profits, and today I’ve finally witnessed it firsthand. This young lady says we could earn so much silver, yet you only offer her sixty taels. I’m going to tell my father that you’re tarnishing his official reputation.”
Manager He’s face flushed red with embarrassment. Bowing, he said, “Fourth Young Master, the daily earnings she mentioned are just her estimates. How much we can actually sell, I truly don’t know yet.”
Xia Li shot a grateful glance at the little boy who was “biting the hand that feeds him” and added, “My mother and I, as a widow and her daughter, can’t easily come to the county town every day to sell Icy Jelly. We’re also afraid that someone might forcibly demand the recipe, so we thought it better to sell it. My mother said that Yixiang Restaurant has a good reputation and doesn’t bully the weak, so we came here. Your restaurant is large and well-established. If you keep the recipe confidential, you could enjoy exclusive sales for a couple of years, set up more selling points, and earn even more than what I’ve estimated.”
Manager He saw the young master staring at him anxiously, clearly worried that he wouldn’t sell the recipe. After another moment’s thought, he gritted his teeth and said, “If the ingredients for making Icy Jelly are truly that inexpensive, I’ll offer one hundred taels. How about it? This is an astronomical price.” He had originally intended to offer eighty taels but, fearing criticism, had to raise it directly to one hundred.