Chapter 47 – Wei Liang Discovers That Wei Cheng Opened A Shop
Wei Cheng came to the grocery store in the suburbs from Xian Manju, today was the day they made an appointment to meet with Boss Gu.
The grocery store has a name, it is called Yuanji Grocery Store, and people who hear it will not understand what it means. The dried seafood in the workshop is placed on the shelves of the grocery store. Wei Hu, Wei Yi, and Wei Jin all help out in Xian Manju while Wei Shi looks after the grocery store.
“Master.”
Wei Shi saw Wei Cheng coming in and greeted him respectfully.
“There are guests coming today, tell Wei Shu to prepare some refreshments for the guests.”
Wei Shu is Wei Jin’s husband, the ger with a scar disfiguring his face, he chose to stay in the grocery store to help out since he knew his disfigurement. Although the scars on his face can be covered up, ancient makeup techniques still leave traces, and there are obvious traces in the covered places.
Wei Shu is careful and organized in his work. There is not much to do in the grocery store, but there are too many things to prepare in advance so Wei Shu is very suitable for this job.
Wei Cheng set up a study room in the grocery store, where Uncle Mao, who would walk around, was in charge of teaching. Apart from Wei Shu, there were also Wei Cheng’s three brothers-in-law.
The two long-term workers recruited by Wei Cheng for the workshop are currently out of work so they were put into Xian Manju to help. Xian Manju’s business is booming, and they will put back into the grocery shop later on.
The steward of the sauce workshop arranged for someone to deliver the sauce, one to the kitchen for backup, and one to the private room. The chef is arranged by Tai Fu Lou, and the ingredients to be used have been purchased in advance.
*
Wei Cheng made an appointment for noon.
Before the lunch market started, Boss Gu drove to the door of the grocery store.
Yun Chengfeng didn’t come until the both of them had already entered the private room. He didn’t have to come in this situation, because his identity was too high but Yun Chengfeng came anyway since he felt that there might be something to gain from coming.
There are more than a dozen kinds of sauces on the table in the private room, some are fresh, some are made by stewing, some are stir-fried, some are used for soup, and some are used for steaming… Those sauces are suitable for sale in restaurants and inns as well as for the kitchens of big families.
Some were those commonly used by ordinary people wherein the grade is inferior, so he did not recommend it to Boss Gu.
When Wei Cheng saw that everyone had arrived, he ordered Wei Shi to let the kitchen serve the dishes, and the dishes were put on the table one after another, with several special dishes made with different sauces.
“Young Master, Boss Gu, please try!”
Boss Gu tried them one by one.
Yun Chengfeng took his time to taste each dish properly.
“The sauces this time are a lot different from the ones I bought last time, and the taste of each sauce with the right ingredients is even better.” Boss Gu smiled, “Boss Wei, are you doing this to help me approve of each of the sauces?”
Yun Chengfeng raised his eyebrows: Is that so?
Wei Cheng’s intention is not just what Boss Gu said.
Wei Cheng said, “Young Master, Boss Gu, let’s talk while eating.”
The two parties agreed as they continued consuming their food.
“Boss Gu’s merchant ships travel all over the world, so you should have a lot of goods on hand.” Wei Cheng cut to the chase. “My intention today is not only to sell the sauces but also to talk to Boss Gu with sincerity and discuss cooperation.”
Yun Chengfeng glanced at him: I thought so!
Boss Gu was stunned, he didn’t understand what Wei Cheng wanted from “cooperation”, and he wondered what kind of cooperation could there be in the sauce business.
“Boss Wei, what do you mean by cooperation…?”
“I have already discussed with the young master’s family on how to sell the sauce in the sauce shop.” Wei Cheng said, “We don’t plan to unilaterally sell the goods in the sauce shop, but directly cooperate with the merchants to sell. To other local areas, the authority is directly handed over to the cooperative merchants and the price we’ll offer would still be the wholesale price.”
“Of course, you may be wondering why we don’t sell it ourselves. It would be fine for us to sell them ourselves however, at present, we have not set up stores in other places. It would be easier to open up the sauce market by cooperating with merchants in the early stages. To obtain the right to sell, there must also be certain conditions met by the merchants, we will provide the goods in our hands to the cooperative merchants, and the cooperative merchants will also provide us with some of their goods, this is the cooperation condition.”
Upon hearing this, Boss Gu frowned and thought.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Wei Cheng continued to put in front of him the temptation of profit, “Boss Gu has tasted the dishes made with my sauce, and over time, the sauce will enter restaurants and inns, and the household of rich and powerful people using these sauces are guaranteed.”
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“That’s another way of saying it. Let’s put it this way, suppose that we don’t already have a partner in the place where you plan to sell sauces, and we haven’t opened a store then it would be okay for Boss Gu to sell the goods from me. If we already have a partner in that area, then we won’t cooperate with them.”
Boss Gu still had more questions, “I still don’t know what kind of goods Boss Wei wants?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t covet your important goods. What I want is the goods you can provide me, and I will choose the right ones before discussing cooperation with you.”
Boss Gu is a ship merchant so he has a wide network of resources. He relies on his merchant ships to resell commercial goods.
However, his source of goods is not fixed, he always goes to the local area to trade and buy with other merchants and then sells the goods to people who need them or sell them in other places.
The pier market in the county is a good trading place.
The sauce he bought from Wei Cheng before was sold to a restaurant he has a cooperative relationship with. If that restaurant does not buy it, he will transport the sauce back to the store in his hometown, and then sell it there.
The sauce is surprisingly good for selling. The cooperative restaurant ordered a batch, and the rest of the sauces were sold to other restaurants. Regardless of which one of the cooperative restaurants or the other restaurants book another next batch, he will come to Wei Cheng again to buy.
It is risky for Boss Gu to come to Wei Cheng to order sauces. The risk is that he will be able to rob him of the source of sauces by letting other businessmen who are interested in the source of sauces trade with him.
Whoever has the capital would be able to buy and sell and there was the risk that Boss Gu would be robbed of his business by those with more capital. At that time, he was afraid that the cooperative restaurant would not cooperate with him and he would lose a source of income.
The cooperation condition that Wei Cheng mentioned made him very excited as it meant that he didn’t have to worry about others robbing the market from him. According to Wei Cheng’s condition, after the cooperation contract was signed, the local independent sales rights belonged to him.
Boss Gu was only hesitating because he didn’t know what goods Wei Cheng needed from him. He doesn’t have enough important goods on hand to sell by himself, so how could he give them away? He wanted to get this cooperation contract as he was also very sure that there would be very willing buyers in the market.
“Boss Wei, the quantity of goods in my merchant ship is not large, but I have a wide array of variety. At present, in addition to the merchants who have established regular cooperation transactions with me, I can also use such goods to cooperate with Boss Wei. Is Boss Wei willing?”
When Boss Gu said this, he cast a dark glance at Yun Chengfeng. He was afraid that Yun Chengfeng would be dissatisfied if he kept his goods private. Boss Gu didn’t know that the exchange of resources was what Wei Cheng needed.
Yun Chengfeng still wasn’t sure whether he liked this resource of goods.
Wei Cheng asked, “Boss Gu, can you tell me, what kind of goods you have that you can provide?”
“My merchant ships have a lot of goods from the south, and some of them are not widely distributed. I buy scattered tea, local products, medicinal materials, and fruits from the villagers. There is also a small amount of white sugar and brown sugar. The northern purchases are grain, fur, and medicinal materials. The goods from the north have already fixed buyers so they cannot be provided to Boss Wei, please forgive me.”
“Boss Gu, don’t worry too much.” Wei Cheng pondered for a moment, “I won’t be able to use the goods in Boss Gu’s hands for the time being. Instead, I need Boss Gu to help me purchase some goods for a long time.”
“I don’t know what goods you have in mind?”
“Local mountain products, several kinds of fruits, fresh flowers…” Wei Cheng said, “Because they are fresh products, we can’t wait too long. If Boss Gu can’t deliver the goods, he can ask other merchant ships to deliver them. I will also teach Boss Gu how to prolong their lifespan.”
Boss Gu breathed a sigh of relief, “Yes! Under this condition, I certainly agree to cooperate with Boss Wei.”
The two parties reached a cooperation agreement.
The cooperation contract between the two parties requires the supply of goods.
When saying goodbye to Boss Gu, Wei Cheng said, “If Boss Gu encounters any rare mountain or sea goods, he can send me samples as I will also buy rare mountain goods.”
“I’ll be sure to pay attention!”
*
After Boss Gu left.
“All you want are mountain products? What would they be used for?” Yun Chengfeng said, “Mountain products are not easy to store, and they have to be sold while they are fresh, so it is easy to lose money on these.”
“Don’t worry, I have my solutions for this.” Wei Cheng walked into the shop, walked a few steps, remembered something, and said to Yun Chengfeng, “By the way, my house is going to be remodeled, I have the blueprint so lend me your construction team in Fucheng. They should be able to do what I ask.”
After Wei Cheng finished speaking, his thoughts turned to other places.
Product packaging is a problem. He doesn’t know the technology of glass but it should be possible for him to make plastic boxes. Plastic boxes and bottles are transparent, so he can show the appearance of his products and sell them more easily.
There are spare workshops at home, which can be used to implement his plans.
To make plastic, it would be convenient if it were his people, but to buy more, it would seem that there is not much money.
He’ll make a small batch first.
Wei Cheng went into the workshops directly.
Yun Chengfeng standing at the door: “……”
This man is really rude.
—
Wei Cheng and Yun Chengfeng were busy selling sauces.
It was discussed before that a sauce shop will be opened in the inner part of the county, named Quan Wei Fang, which is funded by the sauce shop and promoted by Tai Fu Luo.
In the outer part of the county, Wei Cheng recruited peddlers to help sell them, and sold them through the streets and alleys to every household, which made it easy to open up the market.
Wei Cheng was often not in Xian Manju as Xian Manju was managed by Wei Lei.
When his eldest brother Wei Liang invited friends to dinner and came to Xian Manju, he saw Zhou Yuan working as the shopkeeper at the counter.
At first, he thought he saw wrong.
How could his second brother’s husband be the shopkeeper in Xian Manju? It’s not a place where he can afford to be the shopkeeper.
To avoid the mistake of identifying the wrong person, Wei Liang sat down with his companions instead of going to confirm.
The waiter in the store came to record the names of the dishes they ordered and this was the time Wei Liang asked, “Xiao-er, is the shopkeeper at the counter called Zhou Yuan?” He thought for a while before he remembered the name of his brother-in-law.
The shop waiter was also sincere and said with a smile: “My proprietress is indeed called Zhou Yuan. Honored customer, do you know my proprietress?”
Proprietress—
“You… do you mean that Zhou Yuan is your boss’ wife?!” Wei Liang was startled, and his tone became urgent, “Is your boss called Wei Cheng?”
“That’s right, my boss is indeed called Wei Cheng.”
Wei Liang was dumbfounded and shocked!
It wasn’t that the business of his second brother’s stall was not good at all as it seems that it was the opposite since it didn’t take long for him to open such a large restaurant as Xian Manju.
Is there a mistake somewhere?
The people he brought along were inquisitive about Wei Liang’s expression, knowing the owner of Xian Manju must be so shocking, this was also a good thing!
Wei Liang regained his senses, and he decided to go back and find out if the owner of Xian Manju was his second brother, and if it was—
Wei Liang narrowed his eyes and thought, if it were true, his family would be in trouble!
“Wei Liang, why were you so dazed just now? Do you know the boss of Xian Manju?”
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing.” Wei Liang said generously, “Whatever you want to eat, you can order anything except the signature dishes!”
His companions became even happier now, and they ordered a lot of dishes without hesitation.
—
Wei Lei who came down from the second floor also saw Wei Liang who was eating in the lobby.
Wei Lei walked to the counter: “Brother Yuan, Cheng-zi’s eldest brother Wei Liang is eating in the lobby, did you see him?”
“Ah?” Zhou Yuan, who lowered his head to settle accounts just now, didn’t notice the other at all, “I didn’t see him, where is Big Brother sitting?”
Wei Liang sat on the inside, blocked by a partition, so Zhou Yuan couldn’t see where anyone was.
“On Table 17.”
Zhou Yuan pondered for a moment, “Shall I go over to say hello?”
Wei Lei shook his head, “Cheng-zi is not here, Wei Liang didn’t come to ask for you it’s better for you not to go.”
Zhou Yuan frowned, “Isn’t that bad?”
Wei Liang is his husband’s eldest brother, so he has to go over and say hello.
“It’s okay, Cheng-zi has explained that he knows he will eventually meet his family members when he opens a restaurant in the county. Cheng-zi said that if he is not there, avoid them if you can, and he will deal with it.” Wei Lei said, “I will let Xiao-Liu replace you at the counter, the busiest time in the afternoon menu is over so she can come over here quickly and you go back to the backyard to rest first.”
Zhou Yuan didn’t object, since his husband had explained so then he didn’t have to go over to say hello. He had very little contact with his husband’s family, and even if he did initiate one, he didn’t know what to say.
He left the lobby for Wei Lei to handle.
Zhou Yuan went back to the backyard to take a lunch break.
This is also because his husband insists on letting him rest for half an hour every day. His husband is considerate of him, and he will obey so when he is not busy, he will go back to the backyard to rest.
After Wei Liang finished his meal, he went to the counter to check out, but he didn’t see Zhou Yuan.
Xiao-Liu did not receive any special instructions from Wei Lei so she accepted Wei Liang’s full payment. Wei Liang felt his heartache as he handed over the money.
Wei Liang was annoyed and he was also confused as all of a sudden, the person he was expecting wasn’t there. He thought about eating without having to pay, Zhou Yuan was at the counter cashier, and when he saw him, he would not accept his money. He ordered more as he thought it would not cost him money.
—
Before the evening market started, Wei Cheng returned to Xian Manju and learned from Wei Lei that his elder brother came to Xian Manju for dinner and saw his wife.
“Okay, I got it.”
Sooner or later, the Wei family will find out that he opened a shop.
He doesn’t know what plans the Wei family will have when they find out but some things always have to be faced!
Walking to the door of the private room, Wei Cheng held back his troubled expression slightly, pushed open the door of the private room, and put on a gentle expression.
Zhou Yuan’s eyes lit up when he saw someone, “Husband, are you done?” He got up and was about to walk over, but Wei Cheng walked over to him with big strides, and asked softly, “Did you miss me?”
Zhou Yuan thought about it- he didn’t see him at all today, it seemed he was embarrassed to tell him so Wei Cheng leaned over and said, “I miss you.”
Zhou Yuan smiled sweetly, “I thought about you too.”
Wei Cheng leaned over, bowed his head, kissed him lightly on the lips, took his hand, and sat down, “I’m hungry, join me for afternoon tea.”
Hearing this, Zhou Yuan immediately sat down to eat with him. He was full and was about to go down to help in the shop but when he heard that his husband was hungry, of course, he would take care of his husband first.
Since he was out for most of the day then he must’ve been too busy to eat. Zhou Yuan felt distressed and kept making snacks for him.
Wei Cheng happily accepts his wife’s care.
—
In the Wei family.
Wei Liang asked someone to inquire and confirmed that Xian Manju was opened by Wei Cheng, so he told Father Wei and Mother Wei about it.
From Wei Liang’s mouth, they learned how good the business was at Xian Manju which Wei Cheng owned, and even though the price of dishes was expensive, the business was booming every day. Wei Liang also said that when he had a meal yesterday, he ordered ordinary dishes, which cost him two taels of silver.
Both Father Wei and Mother Wei were shocked, and Wei Cheng’s sister-in-law even stared at her husband in disbelief!
After the shock, their expression became equally excited as their eyes gleamed.
This was Wei Cheng’s shop- Wei Cheng is their son, that is, their family also has a share in this shop.
They were about to become rich!
Rich my ass! 😤
I’m in such disbelief, this people are beyond shameless 🙃
Thanks for the update!
Literally they kicked him out of the family??? Why are they so entitled??
You are dreaming…
Thank You for the chapter (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡
Thanks for the chapter! Those people…
It’s finally coming ! I love this moment with shameless relative !
So many shameless relatives in this novel! I love a good face slap!
I am finding it difficult to understand why they think they have a share in the restaurant given that the family has already separated from Wei Cheng. Cannot wait for the face slapping that will occur. Thank you for the translation.
Hahahahahahaha 😂😂😂
Those shameless people is in for some face slapping!