bookcurios Chapter 50
Chapter 50
Mrs. Zhong also followed into the kitchen and asked her younger sister, "Little sister, what if Manager Ding and we can't reach an agreement? Our business..." She was a little worried.
"Second sister-in-law, if Shopkeeper Ding directly offers a price to buy out all our braised food recipes in one go, would you be willing?" Zhong Ruyi asked.
Seeing her deep in thought, Zhong Ruyi continued, "I have an idea. Instead of selling the recipe to them all at once, we provide the recipe and sign an agreement. We can get a share of the profits from the monthly sales of braised food at Manxiang Restaurant."
Liu Yu Niang's eyes lit up when she heard this idea, but then she felt that Man Xiang Restaurant would not do what they said, "What if they don't agree? This agreement is obviously more beneficial to us, and they are not stupid, so how could they agree to it?"
"Don't agree? If you don't agree, forget it. I heard from Boss Zhang who comes here every day to buy braised goods that our braised goods are bought by their staff and sold directly to customers on the table in the restaurant. Sister-in-law, do you know how much they sell them for?"
Liu Yu Niang shook her head.
Zhong Ruyi said, "The most they buy back is to put it on a plate, and sell it for dozens of coins for half a spoonful. Think about it, sister-in-law, we spent a total of 20 coins to buy the pig offal, and after deducting the cost, we can still make 100 to 200 coins a day. Manxiang Restaurant can make 200 taels just by buying two spoonfuls from us and selling them to customers. They don't have to bring the offal back before the 11th hour like we do, and then stew it in a pot. The pig offal is so smelly."
"We worked so hard to make food, but in the end, others sold it at a high price and made a fortune."
Liu Yu Niang was stunned. One spoonful was sold for a hundred coins? She couldn't even imagine it!
"So, if we sell this recipe to them at a fixed price, even if we sell ten pots a day, we won't make a fraction of what they make in a day. We might as well cooperate with them. If they don't want to, then forget it."
Zhong Ruyi went out with the teacup. The second sister-in-law was a little dazed by what her sister-in-law had just said, so she followed her out.
At the table in the store, Manager Ding and his second brother sat face to face, with Mother Zhong also sitting beside them.
Zhong Ruyi handed over the teacup, and Shopkeeper Ding thanked him and took it. Then Zhong Ruyi and the other man sat down.
The second brother's face didn't look very good, he frowned, and when he saw his younger sister and his wife coming out, his brows didn't relax.
Shopkeeper Ding smiled and said, "I just had a chat with Boss Zhong, but he was not very satisfied with my proposal."
The second brother met the younger sister's gaze and repeated what Manager Ding had just said.
Sure enough, Shopkeeper Ding wanted to buy the prescription from them for three hundred taels of silver.
From now on, the two companies will not interfere with each other. The prices of the restaurant and Zhongji will be based on their own, and there will be no malicious situation of attracting customers and lowering prices. After all, any dish in Manxianglou starts at a few dozen cents, and Zhongji cannot compare with them.
"Manager Ding, we cannot agree to what you said." Zhong Ruyi saw that the smile on Manager Ding's face faded a little, and then continued: "But I have an idea. I'll tell you first, and you can go back and think about it carefully."
"Mr. Ding is willing to listen." Shopkeeper Ding pretended to listen attentively.
"We can't sell it for three hundred taels, but we can share it."
"Share the profits?" Shopkeeper Ding was a little surprised. He had been prepared to be rejected when he first came here, but he never expected to be rejected as soon as he opened his mouth. Now that Miss Zhong, who had the recipe in her hand, proposed a share of the profits, he was a little curious about what kind of plan this girl could come up with.
"Yes, we can provide the recipe. For every portion of braised food sold by the restaurant, we will split the profits in a ratio of 60% to 40%. We will sign an agreement and no one can go back on their word."
Shopkeeper Ding didn't expect this to be the split, and he was a little unhappy, but he didn't show it on the surface. He just smiled and said, "If you don't agree, then our cooperation can't be concluded, right?"
Zhong Ruyi smiled and shook her head, "If you don't want to use this method, I have another one."
Seeing that Manager Ding was looking at her and motioning her to continue, she continued, "You order the daily amount of marinated goods from us, and we'll make it and you can send someone to pick it up. Of course, you have to pay us for the materials and labor, but you can only order it, and others can't."
If he had to choose between letting Zhongji make the food or having the recipe for the braised food himself, he would undoubtedly prefer the second option.
However, he still needs to go back and discuss the restaurant's affairs with the boss. He is only a shopkeeper, which sounds like a nice title but in reality he is just a worker and he still needs to ask the boss's opinion on everything.
Thinking of this, Manager Ding smiled apologetically at Zhong Ruyi and said, "Miss Zhong, I have no say in the restaurant's affairs. I must go back and discuss what you said with the boss. When we have a conclusion, I will come back and talk to you."
Zhong Ruyi nodded to show her understanding, then stood up and saw off Manager Ding to the store door. She watched him walk away before returning to the store.
Seeing that everyone in the store had gloomy faces, she couldn't help but laugh and said, "What's wrong? You all look so gloomy. They just came to buy a house from us, not to rob it."
"Manxiang Restaurant is a wealthy and powerful family. What will they do if the cooperation fails and they target us?" Mother Zhong was very worried, fearing that they would suffer losses.
"But you see, their restaurant sent the shopkeeper to talk to us, which means they are sincere about cooperation. And even if they can't buy the recipe, didn't I give them another way? It all depends on what they choose."
In the Manxiang Restaurant.
"That's right. Miss Zhong said that we can either sign an agreement with them to share the profits, or make a reservation with them." Shopkeeper Ding stood respectfully beside the boss and waited quietly for him to speak.
After a while, the boss of Manxianglou said, "Old Ding, if you were me, which of the two options mentioned by Miss Zhong would you choose?"
Shopkeeper Ding hesitated for a moment and said, "I will choose the first option, but I will lower the profit margin to 70% and 30%."
The boss nodded and agreed with him. "But when you go to talk to them, you still have to say we account for 80% and they account for 20%. If they disagree, you can say 70% and 30%."
"Okay, then I'll go there tomorrow." Shopkeeper Ding respectfully watched his boss leave, thinking to himself, this Miss Zhong is quite capable, to be able to come up with such a good food recipe that is both profitable and delicious.
It's not that they haven't thought about using tricks, but there are many people in this town who have eaten Zhongji's braised food, and everyone knows that the braised food belongs to Zhongji. If they snatch it away, even though they have the recipe, they won't have to worry about losing business, but Manxianglou's reputation will be ruined.
So the boss said that when doing business, of course you should cooperate if you can, but if you can't cooperate, then you can only send a few more guys to queue up early to buy braised goods.