Chapter 199: Chapter 199: Is Li Jirou Not Li Jirou?
Lv Daopo’s words did not earn Ji Nishang’s trust.
"What do you mean by ’if the compatibility is not off, then the person is wrong’?"
What do you mean by the wrong person?
Is Li Jirou not Li Jirou?
It sounds utterly absurd.
Lv Daopo also found it inexplicable. This business of binding a doll with birth dates is not something that can be done on a whim. After each attempt, she loses some of her virtue and must do good deeds to balance it out. Otherwise, accumulating too much dark virtue can shorten one’s lifespan, and being struck by divine retribution is the real risk.
Aside from these two concerns, each attempt also exhausts her energy considerably.
Though it seems like she earns a lot from ten or twenty taels at a time, there’s always a price to this.
In the past, her efforts always led to success, but now, with her energy depleted and the doll binding failing, she couldn’t make sense of it.
Perhaps she had been engaging in too many unethical activities recently and they lost effect?
It’s possible, especially since she was greedy this time and took on two jobs, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, possibly exhausting her energy too much, rendering it ineffective.
Lv Daopo surely wouldn’t disclose such confidential matters to her employer. In any case, she would never admit to her own inadequacy.
"There must be some issues on your end. I have been in this business for so long and have never failed. If the lady doesn’t believe me, I can’t help it other than to suggest seeking someone more capable."
The implication in her words was also quite clear: even though she didn’t succeed, no refunds would be given.
Ji Nishang gritted her teeth but couldn’t do anything about it. After all, the other party had some reputation in the circles, and many noblewomen regarded her as an esteemed guest. Just based on this, she couldn’t do anything against her.
This loss could only be swallowed and kept inside.
While Ji Nishang had not succeeded, the Third Madam of the Pei Family was still cautiously probing. When she might succeed remained unknown.
The days passed, and as the autumn hunt approached, the Empress Dowager fell ill. The Emperor couldn’t leave the Empress Dowager to indulge and had to cancel that year’s autumn hunt.
This might have been a regret for the noble families, but for Qu Fulan, it had no impact.
Her vermicelli shop’s business had stabilized to selling three hundred bowls a day, with a daily revenue of around four thousand copper coins. Calculating at fifteen hundred per tael, it was a little over two taels, making it about eighty a month. Deducting costs and labor, as well as miscellaneous expenses, she basically profited half.
This naturally couldn’t compare with Heir Pei’s substantial business, but for an ordinary person, Qu Fulan’s income wasn’t low either.
The key was that this money belonged to her, bringing her unparalleled joy.
Moreover, the coffee shop’s marketing had been successful. The opening day had a "celebrity effect," and the foot traffic wasn’t low. Although everyone’s first reaction to drinking coffee was that it didn’t taste good, it had a lingering charm. Plus, the coffee shop’s setting was rather refined, appealing to the affluent.
The busiest time for the coffee shop was in the afternoon. Ministers would wake up early to go to court, and by the end of it, most of the morning was gone. Coming home for lunch and a nap left just the right time to go out for a drink, with coffee being the perfect pick-me-up.
They could discuss matters over coffee, enjoy pork chops, and some pastries.
Every day, the sales of coffee alone reached three hundred cups, with revenue around thirty taels. Including other snacks, the daily revenue was around a hundred taels.
This amounted to about three thousand taels a month. After deducting costs and labor, the remaining profit was split, with Qu Fulan receiving around three hundred taels and Heir Pei receiving about a thousand due to his significant investment.
Adding the revenue from Qu Fulan’s vermicelli shop, plus the coffee shop and her manager wages from managing "Flower Garden Ode" and bookstores, she could easily earn five to six hundred taels a month.
Qu Fulan felt this was an incredibly successful start.
Indeed, with the Pei Mansion as her support, she could accumulate wealth and have the capital to open her shop after leaving the mansion.
Qu Fulan kept her silver in her safe space.
It felt secure and reliable.
In case of any unforeseen events, she would have money to rely on, unafraid of wherever she might go.
Meanwhile, Ji Nishang had closed three out of her four milk tea shops, leaving only one across from "Burning Immortal Grass Milk Tea," barely maintained by loyal customers.
However, some feedback mentioned that her milk tea was too expensive. While her competition sold at fifty copper per cup, she charged a hundred. Even though her varieties included pearl milk tea and watermelon milk tea, which seemed abundant, other businesses had also researched similar flavors, and they tasted more or less the same. People would rather buy from the fifty copper per cup competitor.
Ji Nishang was considering lowering her prices; otherwise, even the last milk tea shop couldn’t be sustained.
She also wanted to imitate the shop across, selling milk tea and adding snacks. Currently, Ji Nishang was researching this aspect.
Though she wanted to mimic the snacks from across, after buying and tasting them, she couldn’t identify many ingredients, hence couldn’t replicate the exact flavors.
Fortunately, she had tasted plenty of local delicacies before. Though everyone had their unique recipe, not even the best palate could decipher every ingredient. Nevertheless, there were certain specialties with common ingredients—they merely varied in sequence and proportion, which she could manage to some extent.
In the end, she came up with five or six featured snacks, roughly resolving the milk tea shop issue.
She then had to consider what to do with the four defunct milk tea shops. Observing the success of Qu Fulan’s vermicelli shop, she thought of opening one as well.
In business, seeing others profit makes you eager to follow suit.
Although one bowl of pig trotter vermicelli only cost a few copper coins, high sales volumes could lead to big profits. The value of running a restaurant lies in persistence; over time, one accumulates clientele and can expand with more stores, turning small earnings into substantial wealth.
She ordered a serving of pig trotter vermicelli to taste, and the flavor was indeed unique, no wonder it attracted customers.
Still, many ingredients inside remained a mystery to Ji Nishang’s palate.
"How could she know so many secret recipes?" Ji Nishang couldn’t fathom.
The servant girl naturally didn’t know either and simply speculated, "Maybe she hired some skilled chef to do it. How could she do it on her own?"
Ji Nishang thought similarly, puzzling over how she couldn’t find such talented chefs herself.
"Check if that vermicelli shop needs more hands. Find someone to work there and report back the ingredients they use, especially those I can’t identify."
"Yes."
...
Qu Fulan immersed herself in her work for two days. When Ren Hua approached her to ask about plans for the Double Ninth Festival, she realized the importance of the day almost slipping by.
Since arriving in ancient times, she hadn’t properly celebrated a festival. During the last Mid-Autumn Festival, she was busy with the aftermath of a stage play, missing the chance to enjoy the festival atmosphere.
Now that her businesses had stabilized, she intended to savor this Double Ninth Festival fully.
However, before she could decide, the Pei Family’s Third Miss sent her an invitation, inviting her and Ren Hua to join an outing for the Double Ninth Festival to climb to enjoy the scenery.
An organized event naturally doubled the fun, and Qu Fulan readily accepted the invitation.
But Qu Fulan didn’t anticipate the event’s immense scale.
Needless to mention the Pei Family, Prince An’s group of four attended, as well as the Wen Family, Tan Family, and Liu Family.
Adding to that, people from Ganhe Town’s Jin Family also came, including her original "good friend."