"What else do you want, manager?"

Gu Yunxi smiled as she saw the light in Manager Jiao's eyes as if he had wanted to say something but stopped. After exchanging a quick look with Leng Qingtang, she got clear about the following business negotiation.

Manager Jiao bowed again as his features got squeezed together on his face so much that nobody could recognize him,

"Well, please wait up. I've ordered the servants to prepare selected fragrant tea for you two in the private room. I've got a huge good deal to discuss with you."

Gu Yunxi and Leng Qingtang were both observant as they had experienced big scenes.

Seeing the manager's hospitality, Gu Yunxi didn't reject as she smilingly swiveled to Leng Qingtang, saying,

"Darling, anyway, we've sold out all our goods. I don't think we could get through the border controls today. So, why not go to enjoy the selected tea with the manager?"

Seeing a trace of slyness hiding on her pretty smiling face, Leng Qingtang couldn't help getting horny as he was dying to instantly lock up the smart girl into his arms, making love with her to his heart's content.

So he nodded and said,

"It's all up to you, darling."

Led by Manager Jiao who walked ahead, the couple got escorted into a luxuriously decorated meeting room.

The meeting room served to seat distinguished guests invited by the manager from his business world, as well as to discuss important issues.

After getting seated, Manager Jiao smilingly glanced over the couple carefully again,

"May I ask you where you come from and live? I just hope to make friends with you two."

Gu Yunxi answered effortlessly,

"We used to live on the inside of the border controls. My husband's family name is Hua. Since his sister had married her husband in western tribes and lived a fancy life, we moved here, too."

Leng Qingtang was drinking his tea when he got surprised at Gu Yunxi's words after a sip of the scented tea. He cocked his eyes to look at her, laughing on the inside.

His wife could lie without blushing.

She just casually made up a fake family name of Hua.

It was common to see a marriage between the people of western tribes and people of the Central Plains.

Manager Jiao's eyes instantly shone, and he said delightfully,

"My ancestors also came from the Central Plains. After their business on the border got well-developed several years ago, they moved here with the whole family."

Sipping the tea, Manager Jiao's shining eyes casually shot to the full money pocket near Leng Qingtang's hands. The smile on his lips seemed envious with a trace of greed,

"It's my honor to meet you two here. Given that we're straightforward businessmen, frankly speaking, I want to order your flavors for my restaurant. How about giving me a proper price?"

He was a real businessman, so shrewd and sophisticated.

Gu Yunxi purposely attracted people's attention, driving them to fight to buy it. That was because she wanted to make the manager realize that ten spicy flavors would have a good prospect for sales.

Now it made a better effect that he willingly asked for the flavors like this than Gu Yunxi went to find him to introduce the advantages of the flavors.

But it seemed that the middle-aged man wanted to bargain with her.

Gu Yunxi surely wouldn't let the manager take advantage of her.

Although there were hundreds of small packs of flavors in a bag, the whole bag of flavors wasn't worth two taels, despite the processing cost and capital. However, no businessmen didn't want maximized benefits.

Not to mention it was a small test today to sell it at five taels for each pack. After all, she was ambitious enough to earn more in the future.

Thinking of it, Gu Yunxi gently smiled as she cocked her brows, saying,

"I wonder what would Manager Jiao think is a proper price."

Manager Jiao smiled with his arched brows and squinted eyes as evil was hidden inside. He made a fist-and-palm salute to Gu Yunxi,

"I see you're such a straightforward lady, so I will be straightforward, too. You've seen the scale of my restaurant. Even if we conservatively calculate as I'll purchase fifty packs a day in the beginning, I'll purchase a total of 1,500 packs a month, which isn't a small number. So, I think it would be better if you could give me a price lower than five taels for each pack."

Listening carefully, Leng Qingtang slowly pushed aside several tea leaves along the edge of the cup-lid while he was busy calculating in his mind.

If they supplied the restaurant with 1,500 packs of flavors a month at the price of five taels for each pack, he and Yunxi would get a monthly income of 7,500 taels.

Despite all the costs of purchasing spices and beef tallow, they would still get lots of benefits.

They're lucky that what Manager Jiao purchased wasn't little, and the offering price was quite proper and reasonable.

His requiring eyes shifted to Yunxi as she calmly rose to her feet, saying to Manager Jiao with smiling dimples,

"Sorry, but the price of five taels is the lowest price we can offer and it can't be bargained. A pack of flavors matches a hotpot. If you pour water into the hotpot from time to time, the fragrance of the flavors won't be reduced much, which was a huge perk that outshone other ordinary white-hotpot flavors."

Manager Jiao felt amazed as he shook his head impatiently, saying in the wining tone,

"It's said that businessmen should be good at playing to the score, but if you are so stubborn like this, I'm afraid it may do harm to our cooperation."

Gu Yunxi lowered her head with a gentle smile,

"You don't have to be so vexed. I've got two reasons why I can't change the price. Firstly, I've made it clear at the front hall that my husband's family had made the price with a store on the inside of the border, and they also ordered lots of flavors. If I offer you a lower price than that I offered to them, it'll ruin our reputation."

"Secondly, you can not only add the flavors the condiments of hotspots, but also add them to all kinds of dishes like fried, roasted, and brittle-burnt dishes. At the mere five taels, you'll get quite a few new dishes. Given that the prices of each new dish depend on you, so they're your own income, and in this way, you will earn more instead of suffering losses."

Manager Jiao got confused as he asked with furrowed brows,

"How can your flavors be used in the fried dishes? They're just soup flavors."

Gu Yunxi smiled and said,

"Businessmen are good at playing to the score, so are the cooks. Now that the flavors have been sold out, I can't cook dishes with them right here as a display. However, the next time I deliver my flavors here, I'll borrow your kitchen to cook Stir-fried Meal for you."

"The food materials I need will be quite simple. They're nothing but seasonal vegetables, streaky pork, preserved meat, cattle stripe shreds. Stir-fried with the flavors of Hua's, the dish will have a low cost but high price."

"At that time, you can see how well the fried dishes sell. If nobody wants them, I'll give you a count on our flavors. What do you think of it?"

Manager Jiao suddenly got shocked before his features showed appreciation and respect.

Applauding loudly, Manager Jiao laughed out loud,

"Great. Great. Let's do it! I'll order the flavors in the quantity of half a month in advance with pre-paid one thousand tael silver. Now I'll pay it in banknotes. Could you please give me your address and the date of claiming goods, so that I can send my servants to collect the goods at your place and give you the final payment?"

Gu Yunxi casually waved her hand,

"I trust you. You can't run as large a restaurant as this one if you have bad credit. You don't have to pay the deposit for this time, and my husband will deliver the goods to you by himself in a week."

Manager Jiao got surprised as he promised happily before he respectfully walked Leng Qingtang and Gu Yunxi out.

When the couple slowly paced on horseback in the long street, Gu Yunxi noticed someone selling sticks of sugar-coated haws, and she asked to have some of them.

After Leng Qingtang paid the haws, he carried her onto the back of his horse and fed her the haws by himself.

Seeing she eat to her heart's content as she even chewed up the sugar coat, he also felt he was over the moon, and the doting love oozing from his eyes was as sweet as honey.

The couple got really excited as they just earned a lot with their wisdom and hard work.

"Darling, you were so awesome. You not only earned five hundred tael for each bag of flavors but also helped us have a long-term cooperative relationship with the restaurant."

Lovingly circling his arms around the woman's thin waist, Leng Qingtang didn't forget to whisper sweet complimentary words into her ears.

Gu Yunxi put on a beautiful smile,

"Darling, I've told you we would earn a lot effortlessly? Have I ever bragged?"

Leng Qingtang shook his head and kissed her on her cheek. Suddenly he doubted,

"But don't you worry that Manager Jiao may break his promise after we produced all the flavors he has ordered? Given that he didn't pay the deposit."

After swallowing the last haw, Gu Yunxi looked ahead at the afar as she slightly pressed her sweet lips, saying with a smile,

"And that's why I didn't go to find him to make a self-recommendation. Instead, I made the guests get attracted and come to have a taste of our flavors. Darling, don't you think all the rich people with fame and power want to taste the flavors again after having the hotpot with our flavors?"

After deliberating, Leng Qingtang suddenly figured it out,

"Yep. We don't have to worry if Manager Jiao breaks his promise unless he doesn't fear that his guests may angrily crush down his restaurant into pieces."

"Right. As for the so-called seasoning store on the inside of the border, I just made it up to fool him. If he ever tried to order the flavors from that store instead of us, I'm sure he can never find it on the earth."

"Ha, ha, ha. How clever! Let's go home!"

The more they talked, the happier they got.

Protecting Yunxi with a hand on her body, Leng Qingtang shook out the reins to ride in the wide boulevard...