Chapter 21 – Sauce Business
The price was too cheap. It was the first time Steward Wang bought such cheap food, and he was very surprised. He reported this to the old man of the Cao family.
Old Man Cao laughed loudly, “He is an interesting person.”
“Old man, why do you say that?” Isn’t he just a countryman, what’s so interesting? Is he worthy of the old man’s praise?
“Originally, he could raise the price of raw materials and sell them to my Cao family, but he didn’t. He sold as much as the base price. Not only does this person not value money, but he is also an honest person in business.”
“If Wei Cheng doesn’t raise the price, he should want to curry favour with our Cao Mansion.” He has inquired about Wei Cheng’s family background, and the house he lives in is still a mud-tiled house. If he doesn’t take the opportunity to make more money, there must be another angle, but it doesn’t look like it, he couldn’t understand Wei Cheng even a little bit.
“Steward Wang, you have been shrewd all your life, but you have forgotten one thing. Whether it is a person or a business, one should have a set of principles in their life. That person named Wei Cheng, he is far-sighted. Those who have far-sightedness are those who have ambitions, are honest and good people.”
“From this point of view, the cost of this raw material should be very low, but I still don’t know what it is made of.”
“If the old man wants to know, this old slave will order his servants to investigate.”
Old Man Cao shook his head and waved his hands, “No need, my Cao family doesn’t like this little thing. If the family likes to eat them, they can just buy it as usual.” The housekeeper of his house is a veteran in the matters of the house. He had been used to people’s flattering, and he had stood on high ground for a long time, while he has a hard-to-change temper of looking down on others, he is not a bad person.
Steward Wang asked humbly, “According to what you said, old man, does this old slave want to make friends with Wei Cheng?”
“For the time being, there is no need to communicate too much. With Wei Cheng’s current status, the difference between him and Cao’s mansion is too big. But if we see each other, we can treat each other with common courtesy.”
“Of course.”
After Steward Wang left, Old Man Cao sat alone in the study.
The Cao family has had a great career, but there are no decent heirs. The son can not be counted on, and the grandson has yet to be tempered.
Wei Cheng’s stall is still very popular. With the help of Wei Lei, the stall can make more sauces and knead more dough. If he were alone, the daily sales would not increase, and there is still a limit to what one person can make. Now with the help of Wei Lei, the number of foods they can produce can be increased appropriately.
He also had extra energy to find a stall.
Wei Lei worked at the stall in Wei Cheng for a few days. He knew how good Wei Cheng’s business was, and he could estimate how much was sold. As for the profit, he couldn’t guess it, but it was definitely considerable.
The flatbread stall of Wei Cheng, in just a few days, has sold its reputation in the wharf circle.
The business district in the wharf is very large, with restaurants, commercial shops, and gathering places for eating and snacks.
Wei Cheng’s stall was located in the gathering place for food and snacks, and most of the ordinary people came and went. Rich businessmen with status and wealth all come and go on the high-end street of restaurants.
Wei Cheng’s stall has many wealthy merchants who come to buy flatbreads, a few of them will buy it by themselves, and some will have their servants buy it.
Some businessmen ate the bread and saw the business opportunities from it.
The merchants who took the boat also saw the business opportunities.
They also fell in love with Wei Cheng’s sauce and wanted to buy it.
The person who brought the merchant here was an acquaintance, Lu Dashan. This merchant was in the selling business, but he was also the owner of the ship.
Lu Dashan asked if Wei Cheng, who was making flatbreads, was free. His boss wanted to buy sauces and needed to discuss things with Wei Cheng alone.
Wei Cheng glanced at the nobleman brought by Lu Dashan, and politely said to Lu Dashan, “Sorry, I’m busy, I have free time after I sell the flatbreads, but I can’t do it now.”
Lu Dashan is also generous and honest, and he acts as a spokesperson for communicating smoothly.
The ship steward who accompanied the owner glared at Lu Dashan with hatred.
Lu Dashan is also a person who knows how to read other people’s faces. The look of the supervisor let him know that he did something wrong but he didn’t know what he did wrong in his heart.
Ship owner: “Steward, you go.”
The ship steward took the order to invite Wei Cheng, and the ship steward began to ask politely. After Wei Cheng refused, the ship steward was immediately displeased, and used his identity.
“Don’t be ignorant. My boss sincerely invited you, but you refused again and again. You have offended my boss, don’t you want to set up a stall here?”
Wei Cheng: “…”
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Wei Lei?
Wei Cheng didn’t stop Wei Lei from learning from him. He taught him but Wei Lei couldn’t learn it. He was always in a hurry when he made the flatbread. He either burned the flatbread or smeared it with miso sauce. None of them could be eaten.
Wei Cheng had no choice but to apologise to the customers, and directly passed the ship steward who thought Wei Cheng had compromised and smiled smugly.
“Hello, I am Wei Cheng and I am here to say sorry. I am the only one who can make flatbreads at my stall, and the customers are waiting in a long line. Although my stall is only a small business, I cannot lose my integrity in front of the customers, I cannot leave the customers alone and leave without permission, please forgive me.”
The ship’s owner looked at the man in front of him who spoke in a way that was neither humble nor overbearing, even his coarse clothes couldn’t hide his demeanour.
The owner of the ship has seen many people in his travels, and in his opinion, given time, this person will definitely achieve something.
The boat owner said, “It’s my subordinate who was rude. Boss Wei, we can talk after you finish your work. We won’t bother you.”
“Thank you!”
Wei Cheng went back to the stall and continued to work.
After closing the stall, it was not the ship steward who came to invite him, but Lu Dashan.
Wei Cheng asked Wei Lei to push the cart back, and asked him to go back and tell Zhou Yuan that he would not go back for lunch.
Wei Lei is a man, and it is impossible to have lunch with Zhou Yuan alone so Wei Cheng gave him ten wen to eat noodles, but Wei Lei didn’t accept saying he was good.
Wei Cheng didn’t say anything else, he knew Wei Lei’s temper so he agreed.
Wei Cheng went to see the boat owner alone.
After crossing two streets, they arrived at the shopping street lined with restaurants and shops. The two of them went up to the second floor and pushed open the private box on the second floor. The owner of the boat sat inside and waited alone, with a table of food in front of him.
The boat owner said, “Boss Wei, didn’t you have lunch, I ordered some dishes, let’s talk while eating.”
Wei Cheng, “Thank you, Boss Gu, then I’ll gladly accept your welcome.”
The two ate and talked.
The boat owner also directly explained that he wanted to buy sauces, “Boss Wei, how do you sell your sauces?”
When they were on the road, the two had chatted casually, and Wei Cheng learned from Lu Dashan why the boat owner came to see him- it was to buy his sauce.
The reason is that when Lu Dashan and the others dipped the dry food with miso and cooked vegetables with miso- several people ate together with relish. The smell of miso was so fragrant that it attracted the ship owner and steward who were eating in the cabin. Lu Dashan took a small bottle of miso and chilli oil to stir-fry vegetables, and the stir-fried dishes were even more delicious, and the rice with sauce alone was delicious.
The owner of the ship was in business, he travelled all over the world to collect a lot of rare goods, and only then did he build his current family fortune, and he had an idea after eating it.
The owner of the boat should have asked Lu Dashan for the price of miso and chilli sauce.
Wei Cheng quoted the price, “Miso soy sauce is 16 wen a catty, chilli oil is 30 wen.”
The owner of the boat knew the price, which was the same as what Lu Dashan and the others bought. He wanted to order a large quantity, so it was impossible for him to buy at this price.
“Boss Wei, to be honest, I am in business, and buying sauces is also a form of business. If you are in business, you will not only buy ten catties or eight catties, but hundreds of catties or thousands of catties. The price you gave me is the retail one. I can’t buy a hundred catties at retail price.”
Wei Cheng said directly, “Boss Gu should also know the price from Lu Dashan. The low price he sold to Lu Dashan was because they were the first customers.”
“It’s different if we treat the sauce as a business. It will cost manpower and material resources to make a large batch of sauce. I can’t let myself work for nothing. And for me, it doesn’t matter whether I sell the sauce or not.”
The boat owner pondered for a moment, and said, “If Boss Wei doesn’t want to do a sauce business…if I want to buy the sauce’s recipes, I wonder if Boss Wei can sell them?”
Wei Cheng chuckled and said, “Boss Gu should see that the business of my stall is good, and the sauce is the most important reason. If I were to sell the formula, that is letting me cut off my own business. It is a matter of self-destruction , presumably Boss Gu won’t do it either, right?”
The implication is that it will not be sold.
The boat owner thought about it, and Wei Cheng continued, “The sauce is not only delicious for making flatbread, it can also be used for cooking to make delicious dishes, and it can also be used in restaurants.”
The boat owner smiled, they both understood the meaning behind the other’s words.
He also thought that Wei Cheng didn’t know how to do business, that it was overqualified to use this sauce to simply make flatbreads, and he thought that Wei Cheng didn’t know how to sell sauce to restaurants, but now he realises that it wasn’t that he didn’t understand.
“Since Boss Wei knows the power of the sauce, why didn’t he cooperate with restaurants? Wouldn’t selling sauces be more profitable than selling flatbreads?”
“My house is simple, if it’s too big of an order, there will be no room for it.” Wei Cheng didn’t explain too much.
The owner of the ship is not a troublesome person, “If I order more than 300 catties, can the price be lower?”
Wei Cheng: “That’s the price, no less.”
That’s how he does business.
The boat owner wanted to say something else, but Wei Cheng blocked his words before he could.
“I buy semi-finished sauces for six wen a catty, and then add various spices and cooking oil to the semi-finished products. The additional cost can be imagined. Boss Gu is in business, so he should be able to calculate the cost. Selling it to Boss Gu at this price will definitely not be too high a price.”
In the end, the ship owner ordered 300 catties of miso and 100 catties of chilli oil, and prepared jars of sauces for delivery within three days.
The semi-finished sauce he bought at the beginning cost six wen a catty, and if he wanted to make it himself, the cost would also increase. Selling it for sixteen wen a catty really didn’t make him much money.
Wei Cheng considered buying soybeans and making them himself, but this time he couldn’t do it because there was no place to do it at home.
Wei Cheng went to a shop that sells soybean paste, everyone who sells this knows Wei Cheng, this is a big customer. In the past, only a few catties of sauce could be sold a day to earn more than ten or twenty wen. If there is a big man like Wei Cheng as a customer, one could make more money in the store, they can have a few more good meals at home.
“My soybean paste is not bad, how much would you order this time?”
“It’s three hundred catties this time.” He even forgot to consider whether the store had three hundred catties.
“Three hundred catties?!” Everyone was shocked by the amount.
“Is it available?”
The shopkeeper hurriedly said, “Yes, there are. I just made a batch. If it were two days earlier, there would be none. However, I can only sell you two hundred catties today, and there will be another one hundred catties that will be available tomorrow. I don’t know if you want more.”
“I am buying so much, can the price be lowered? If not, I’ll go to another place to buy.” Wei Cheng didn’t immediately agree and talked about the price first.
The shopkeeper gritted his teeth, “It’s 200 wen less, no more discounts.”
“Okay!” Wei Cheng directly gave the deposit.
The shopkeeper said, “I’ll send it over in a while. Hey, I forgot, you have to prepare the pots for the order. I can’t give you those.”
Wei Cheng: “…”
How the tables turn!
Wei Cheng went to buy a few crock pots that could hold a hundred catties, and also bought ingredients to make several hundred catties of sauce, and asked the store to deliver them to his door, and then went back after buying.
Zhou Yuan learned from Wei Lei that someone wanted to buy his family’s miso, he thought it was the same as before, that they would buy three or two catties, and he didn’t ask Wei Cheng about it when he came back.
When the goods were delivered by the store, looking at the sauces and ingredients piled up in the hall, he asked blankly, “…How many catties would this make?”
“I’m making four hundred catties of sauce.” Wei Cheng looked at the things occupying the hall and felt a little headache.
“So much?!”
“Yeah.” Wei Cheng apologised, “Yuan Yuan, the house is full of sauces, and the smell will be very pungent. If you don’t like it, I won’t sell it next time.”
He wanted to give his wife a comfortable home, but now, he asked him to face the sauce ingredients in the hall, and he was afraid that Yuan Yuan would be angry.
“How could that be?!” What did the husband say, this was all for making money.
Wei Cheng looked at his expression, his bright eyes were shining brightly, and he didn’t dislike him at all, so he breathed a sigh of relief, “Yuan Yuan, you are so kind.”
Zhou Yuan was stunned for a moment after hearing this.
Why did his husband praise him?
Wei Cheng liked his blank expression the most. Before Zhou Yuan could react, he kissed him on the lips, and he only let him go after a long time. He still hugged him, “Yuan Yuan, these two days will be very busy.”
Zhou Yuan leaned into his arms with a blushing face, and said softly, “I will help.”
“Ok.”
They made the sauces while continuing the operations of the stall, and the three of them worked for more than two days in a row to make the sauces Boss Gu asked for.
When Boss Gu came to pick up the goods, he was quite surprised to see Wei Cheng’s house, but he didn’t say anything, that is, when he picked up the goods, he took away the crock pot, and paid for it.
After getting the money, Wei Cheng gave Wei Lei a bonus- and Wei Lei accepted it because he couldn’t find a reason to refuse.
Wei Cheng smelled the smell of sauce in the house, and it seemed that he had to consider building a separate house and an operation room. The room smelled like sauce while he slept for the past two days, and he didn’t want to try it again in the future.
He didn’t expect to have to make hundreds of catties of sauce in just two days.
After two days of busy work, he didn’t get much rest, so Wei Cheng took his wife back to their room to rest.
Once down, Zhou Yuan got even more tired.
While Wei Cheng made dinner, Zhou Yuan glared at him angrily.
Wei Cheng was very pleased to feed his wife.
*
Zhou Muzi’s wedding day is coming, Zhou Yuan is going back to Qinghe Village and will stay in Qinghe Village for one night.
Wei Cheng didn’t want to be separated from his wife, not even for one night, he liked to sleep with his wife in his arms.
Even if he didn’t want to, he had to agree.
“I want to use one tael of silver to add to the gift for Muzi, is that okay?” Zhou Yuan asked in a low voice, then lowered his head after speaking, his small eyes were still secretly looking at Wei Cheng, fearing that Wei Cheng would be angry.
One tael of silver is quite a lot, and he was giving it to others as a gift, but when he thought of Muzi’s family situation, he wanted to help.
Zhou Yuan was a little worried, whether he was being too arrogant because Wei Cheng was too fond of him, Wei Cheng was so kind to him, and he still wanted to use money to supplement his friends, what would he do if Wei Cheng got angry.
Seeing Zhou Yuan’s reaction, Wei Cheng sighed inwardly, if his wife lowered his head again, he would be compressed into a tortoise shell.
Sitting beside Zhou Yuan, Wei Cheng hugged him in his arms, “Yuan Yuan, didn’t I say I gave you the money already. The money in the family is yours and mine. What you want to do, as long as it doesn’t affect you badly, the money in the family is yours to use. You can use it, even if you spend it all, your husband will earn it back.”
Zhou Yuan reached out and hugged Wei Cheng tightly, and buried himself in his arms, joy bubbling in his heart.
He has seen too many families, all arguing because of money. Even if the relationship between those couples before and after marriage is very sweet, as long as it is related to money, no matter how good the relationship is, they will quarrel.
He loves Wei Cheng very much, and he doesn’t want to quarrel with him, otherwise, he will be very sad.
Wei Cheng was really kind to him, and he wanted it to be like this for the rest of his life. But Wei Cheng is so capable and outstanding, he is afraid that Wei Cheng is too good that he would be snatched away by others.
Because he is a ger, he is not worthy of Wei Cheng.
Even when he has time to study hard, he still gets restless.
Now, with Wei Cheng’s words, the uneasiness in his heart seemed to be wiped away all at once.
Zhou Yuan’s sensitivity comes from external factors, and his identity as a ger. In this world, gers are always inferior to women, and the world is too harsh on them.
Wei Cheng hugged Zhou Yuan, but he didn’t know Zhou Yuan’s thoughts. If he knew, he would definitely feel distressed, and he would also know that he ignored ancient thoughts and ideals.
In fact, even if Wei Cheng doesn’t know it now, if he encounters various problems in the future, he will be the first to protect his wife.
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Thanks for the update
Wei Cheng needs to hire more people, I can’t imagine kneading and rolling dough for hours!!
Thanks for the update!!
Manifesting for a new storage and factory house for their business 🤞🏻 I can’t imagine living in a sauce-smelling house 😭
Thanks for the chapter!
Thanks for the chapter 🥰
Thanks for the chapter! He needs a separate place for food preparation, who can live with that smell!
Thank You for the new chapter ♡(˃͈ દ ˂͈ ༶ )