Chapter 7: Settling Accounts—Cash or Silver Notes?
Ah-miao asked curiously, “Understand what?”
Yihuan smiled. “Because they all do physical labor. Look at these buns—they’re big and thick. For just one wen, you can buy one, and two of them are enough to fill you up.”
She continued, “And these poor people don’t have many choices. So… they buy them every day. It’s a business model of small profits but high sales volume.”
These buns were essential for the working class, so the repurchase rate was naturally very high.
Ah-miao nodded thoughtfully. “There are so many poor people. Should we do this kind of business too?”
Yihuan shook her head. “This kind of business is hard work with little reward. I suspect Hu’s Bakery is facing the same dilemma. If they stop selling these buns, their daily income will drop significantly. But if they continue, they won’t earn much profit either. It’s tasteless to eat yet a pity to discard.”
Ah-miao looked confused. “Then what should they do?”
With a sly smile, Yihuan said, “What Hu’s Bakery needs to do is increase their per-customer spending. Simply put, make each customer spend more money.”
Though young, Lin Yiran was listening intently. “How do you make them spend more?”
Yihuan replied, “That requires careful analysis…”
While they were engrossed in their discussion, a loud and rough knocking sounded at the door. “Open up! Open the door!”
Yihuan’s heart skipped a beat. Hearing the fierce tone, Ah-miao instinctively pulled Lin Yiran closer, ready for trouble.
Yihuan called out coldly, “The shop is closed for the day. Please come back tomorrow.”
The person outside shouted rudely, “Who wants to buy anything from your shop? I’m a servant from Jinxiu Restaurant across the street. Our wine stock is running low, and we still have some osmanthus wine stored here. I’m here to retrieve it! Open the door!”
Yihuan and Ah-miao exchanged glances. In a low voice, Yihuan said, “If he causes trouble, you run to the Street Administration Bureau to get help.”
Ah-miao nodded nervously.
Adjusting her expression, Yihuan opened the door.
The visitor was indeed dressed like a restaurant servant. Despite his loud, rough voice, he was short and unimpressive in appearance. Standing with his hands on his hips, he looked arrogant and overbearing.
Seeing a young woman in plain clothes open the door, he snorted dismissively. But as he looked closer, he noticed her star-like eyes, rosy lips, and delicate features—she resembled a fairy from a painting.
He thought to himself, She looks just like a goddess from a painting!
Quickly regaining his composure, he remembered his purpose and snapped, “Where’s our wine? You didn’t sneak a drink, did you?”
Yihuan forced a sweet smile and replied, “Little brother, how could we dare?”
Her voice was sweet but not cloying—perfect for disarming someone.
The servant froze for a moment. Little… brother?
In all his life, no girl this beautiful had ever called him “brother.” His heart fluttered, but he tried to hide it.
His tone softened a bit. “Good… good. Then let me in. I need to get the wine!”
Yihuan smiled slightly and said, “But the wine isn’t here anymore.”
The servant froze. “What? Where did it go? That was over a dozen jars of osmanthus wine!”
With an innocent smile, Yihuan said, “We saw no one coming to claim it, so we gave it to the Street Administration Bureau!”
The servant’s face turned pale as if he’d heard something unbelievable. “What?! That was our wine! How could you give it to the Street Administration Bureau?”
Feigning surprise, Yihuan replied, “We invited you to collect it earlier, but you didn’t come. We thought you didn’t want it. We’re just a group of girls—what would we do with wine? It’s better to give it to the Street Administration officers than let it go to waste.”
The servant was so angry he nearly fainted. “Do you know how much that osmanthus wine costs per jar?! It’s Jinxiu Restaurant’s signature wine! You… you… just wait!”
Too flustered to argue further, he stormed back to Jinxiu Restaurant to get reinforcements.
Taking advantage of the moment, Yihuan turned to Ah-miao and said, “Go to the Street Administration Bureau quickly. Tell the officers we’re about to open our shop and invite them to inspect it for guidance.”
Ah-miao nodded and dashed out.
—
Moments later, the servant returned with the manager of Jinxiu Restaurant, both looking furious.
Pointing at Yihuan, the servant shouted, “Manager Luo, it’s her! She gave our osmanthus wine to the Street Administration Bureau! Tell me, isn’t that outrageous?”
Before he could say more, Manager Luo raised a hand to silence him.
Manager Luo, a man in his forties with meticulously groomed mustache tips, exuded shrewdness and was clearly not someone to be trifled with.
With a faint smile, he asked, “Miss, is what my servant said true?”
Yihuan replied calmly, “Yes.”
Narrowing his eyes, Manager Luo said, “Taking someone else’s property requires compensation. That osmanthus wine was stored here—how could you use it for free?”
Yihuan remained composed. “So, Manager Luo, you’re saying the osmanthus wine was stored here by Jinxiu Restaurant?”
Manager Luo confidently replied, “Of course!”
Yihuan continued, “How many jars in total?”
Exchanging a glance with the servant, Manager Luo estimated the number—at least fifteen jars. But he boldly declared, “Twenty jars!”
From the side, Lin Yiran piped up indignantly, “That’s a lie! There were only fifteen!”
Yihuan gave Lin Yiran a reassuring look and said, “Yiran, it’s fine. If Manager Luo says twenty jars, then it’s twenty jars.”
Lin Yiran looked confused, unsure of what his sister meant.
Yihuan then asked, “How much does each jar of osmanthus wine cost?”
The servant blurted out, “Very expensive! One tael per jar!”
Manager Luo glared at him, annoyed at his failure to inflate the price.
Hearing this, Yihuan smiled and turned toward her counter. She reached under it and pulled out a large abacus.
The sound of the abacus beads clacking filled the room as she began calculating.
Manager Luo and the servant exchanged confused glances, unsure of what she was up to.
Finally, Yihuan spoke. “The fair market rent for this shop is five taels of silver per month. That’s sixty taels per year. I heard from the neighbors that Jinxiu Restaurant has been storing osmanthus wine here for three years. By warehouse rental standards, the total rent comes to 180 taels.”
Manager Luo and the servant paled at the figure.
Before they could protest, Yihuan continued, her fingers flying over the abacus. “Manager Luo claims there are twenty jars of wine, which means they occupied my shop’s entire first floor. The rent for this floor alone is ninety taels. If I deduct twenty taels for the wine, Jinxiu Restaurant still owes me seventy taels. So, will you pay in cash or silver notes?”
T/N :- Hey guys, sorry about the zero updates till now in this week. I had so much work piled up that I couldn’t update the chapters. So I am updating all the 3 chapters today!! And I think I will try to schedule the chapters of next week, i.e. on Mon, Wed, Fri.
Please do comment and let me know your thoughts about the chapters or the novel. I like to read all your comments. <3
I was waiting for the new chapters so much, it’s me Emmanuel801😜
You know, the novel is so good and so cute!🥰