The night passed without incident, and early the next morning, Li Yi got up at the crack of dawn.
He’d already decided yesterday that he needed to make extra liangpi today. Besides setting up his own stall at the sugar factory gate, he planned to set aside a portion for the state-run restaurant to test the waters.
So, he worked from five in the morning until 8:30 a.m. to finish making over four hundred sheets of liangpi.
Fortunately, Third Sister was there to help; otherwise, if he’d been on his own, he would have been busy until at least ten o’clock.
After loading all the prepared liangpi and sliced toppings onto the cart, Li Yi set off with his third older sister.
They first drove the bright red mule cart to the educated youth commune. By the time they arrived, Tang Xue had already finished packing up.
She hadn’t even needed Li Yi or Captain Zhang to ask for time off for her; Tang Xue had already taken care of everything herself.
Then, the three of them set off for the county seat together!
This was the first time Li Yi had taken Tang Xue out. Although it was just a trip to the county seat, he was still very happy.
In contrast, Tang Xue was a bit shy.
Whenever they encountered other commune members on the road, she would lower her head as much as possible, afraid that others might notice her.
But with only the three of them in the car, there was no way anyone could miss her.
It wasn’t until they left the village that Tang Xue finally snapped out of her “head-in-the-sand” state and began chatting quietly with Li Na.
“Sister Na, didn’t you go to the county seat with him to sell liangpi before? How was it?” Tang Xue asked quietly.
“It was great. You should’ve seen the scene—hundreds of people surrounding us, shoving money into our hands nonstop. It was amazing!” Li Na replied honestly.
“Are there really that many people who like his liangpi?” Tang Xue asked, a bit surprised.
“You bet. Xiao Yi’s cold noodles are chewy, generous in portion, and made with quality ingredients—there are definitely a lot of people who love them!” Li Na said with pride.
“If the police really don’t interfere, this business could actually keep going!” Tang Xue remarked.
“You bet. If we can really keep this business going, you’ll be living the good life from now on!”
Tang Xue’s face flushed instantly, and she said, “Sister Na, and Uncle and Auntie too—let’s all enjoy the good life together!”
“Hmm…”
Although the two of them were speaking very quietly—under normal circumstances, Li Yi wouldn’t have been able to make them out—since his rebirth, Li Yi felt as though some of his sensory functions had been enhanced.
So he had heard every word they’d just said perfectly clear!
Feeling that Tang Xue had begun to accept and was trying to integrate into his family, Li Yi couldn’t have been happier!
And so, listening to Tang Xue and Third Sister whispering to each other, Li Yi drove the mule cart into the county town.
Once in town, Li Yi headed to the state-run restaurant as usual to deliver the mushrooms!
He unloaded the mushrooms from the cart and had his third sister hand them over to the staff to be weighed, while he took Tang Xue to Liu Jingshan’s office.
“Ding-ding-ding!!!”
“Come in!”
Pushing the door open, Li Yi saw Liu Jingshan sitting at his desk, fiddling with an abacus, seemingly doing some calculations.
Seeing Li Yi arrive with a beautiful woman, Liu Jingshan hurriedly stood up and said, “It’s Brother Li Yi! And this is…?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “This is my wife-to-be, Tang Xue!”
Seeing Tang Xue’s face flush again, Li Yi quickly added, “But we haven’t officially moved in yet—the wedding is set for two weeks from now!”
Liu Jingshan paused for a moment, then said warmly, “Hahaha, so she’s my future sister-in-law! Please, have a seat!”
After the two sat down on the small sofa across from Liu Jingshan’s desk, Li Yi immediately said, “Brother Liu, I came over today because there’s something I’d like to discuss with you. Do you have a moment?”
“Of course, of course! What’s on your mind, Brother Li Yi?” Liu Jingshan replied immediately.
“Brother, I have a business venture I’d like to discuss with Brother Liu… no… actually, I’d like to collaborate with the State-Owned Restaurant. I wonder if that’s possible?” Li Yi cut straight to the chase.
“Oh, what kind of business is it?”
“Liangpi!”
“Liangpi?”
“That’s right. It’s a famous delicacy in Qin Province. Lately, besides delivering mushrooms to your place, I’ve been setting up a stall outside the sugar factory on the outskirts of town to sell liangpi. Business has been booming—I can sell several hundred servings in just an hour or two…”
Before he could finish, Liu Jingshan exclaimed in surprise, “So that young man running the stall outside the sugar factory is actually you, Brother Li Yi!”
“What? You know about that too, Brother Liu?”
“Yeah, a few days ago, some executives from the sugar factory came to my place for a meal and specifically mentioned it. They couldn’t stop raving about your liangpi!”
Liu Jingshan continued, “I’ve been wondering these past few days and was planning to take some time to check out this divine delicacy that’s got those fat cats from the sugar factory so hooked! I never imagined it was you, Brother Li Yi!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “I really didn’t know about this, but since you’ve heard about it, Brother Liu, I’ll just come right out and say it: I want to partner with your state-run restaurant to sell liangpi!”
“So, Brother Li Yi, how do you propose we collaborate?”
“I’d deliver a batch of liangpi to your state-run restaurant every day at wholesale prices. As for how much you charge your customers, that’s entirely up to you!” Li Yi said.
“Brother Li Yi, how much do you sell your liangpi for on the market, and what’s the wholesale price you’re offering us?”
Since this was a business matter, Liu Jingshan had to take it seriously. After all, the state-run restaurant currently had monthly sales quotas to meet, and the pressure on them was considerable.
“At my street stall, I sell them for 20 cents a serving, plus 2 liang of flour coupons! As for the wholesale price, I can offer you 15 cents a serving, and no flour coupons required!”
Hearing Li Yi’s offer, Liu Jingshan was genuinely tempted.
If you did the math, that price was effectively a 40% discount.
Even if they sold it to the public for 20 cents a serving, they’d still make a decent profit!
Not to mention, the state-run restaurant’s retail price certainly couldn’t be the same as Li Yi’s street stall price—it would have to be at least double that. Selling them for 40 to 50 cents wouldn’t be unreasonable, would it?
With that in mind, Liu Jingshan immediately said, “Sounds good to me. Brother Li Yi, why don’t you set aside a portion today so we can give it a try!”
Liu Jingshan then added, “If people really like this dish, we’ll make this a long-term partnership. But if it doesn’t sell well, we’ll just have to see what happens later!”
“Alright, I’ll set aside a hundred portions for you first!”
“Deal!”
After the deal was sealed, Li Yi immediately carried the hundred pre-portioned servings of liangpi from the mule cart into the kitchen of the state-run restaurant.
He then brought in various side dishes and condiments as well!
Knowing that the head chefs at the state-run restaurant had likely never seen this dish before, Li Yi immediately gave them a hands-on demonstration, teaching them step-by-step how to prepare the liangpi.
These head chefs were all professionals, so they caught on quickly. They realized this dish was actually quite similar to the cold noodles they served at their own restaurant, and they mastered it in no time.
After tasting the cold noodles prepared by the chefs on the spot and finding them nearly identical to his own, Li Yi finally felt at ease and left the state-run restaurant with the two women.