Chapter 264: Sky-high Price Sauce ( 1 )
When Yao Zhi went to the rooms in the backyard, she saw Ling Shiāer was burning firewood on the stove outside. Noticing her footsteps, he stopped what he was doing and took the items in her arms.
She let him carry them and went to the side room. Inside the room, Xi Si was lulling Xi Qi to sleep. Seeing this, she lightened her steps and gestured for Ling Shiāer to place the items on the table.
She gave him a frame-hung mosquito net, one pillow, one bedding set, and one curtain. "These are yours. Put on the mosquito net so you wonāt be bitten during summer."
"Thank you, Master," Ling Shiāer nodded and went to his room.
After Xi Qi fell asleep, Xi Si walked over and started working. Her movements were clumsy since this was the first time she had done this work.
Due to her height, she couldnāt reach the top of the window. Noticing her struggle, Yao Zhi helped her put on the curtain and the mosquito net. When she was done, she said, "You take a rest."
Xi Si shook her head and said, "Master, Iām not tired. I want to help you do some work."
Yao Zhi patted her head lightly and said, "You are still young and need enough sleep to grow up. If I need you, I will call you. Go take a nap."
Xi Si hesitated for a moment before she curtsied to her. "Thank you, Master."
Smiling at her, Yao Zhi left and closed the door. When she came out of Xi Siās room, Ling Shiāer handed the electric blanket to her and said, "Master, with the new bed, I wonāt need this."
She nodded and accepted the blanket. She didnāt have a Kang bed and could use it herself.
In the afternoon, Zhou Boming suddenly visited with his eldest son.
"Miss Yao, are you at home?"
As a martial artist, Ling Shiāer had keen hearing. He came out of his room to check. When he saw them, he asked, "Who are you looking for?"
Zhou Boming and Zhou Zihong were stunned to see a young man living at Yao Zhiās house. They exchanged a glance before Zhou Zihong said, "Greetings, Brother. My father and I are looking for Miss Yao. Is she at home?"
Hearing this, Ling Shiāer observed them for a moment before he said, "Wait for a moment."
After he said this, he closed the gate, leaving them outside. A few minutes later, Yao Zhi opened the door and said, "Boss Zhou, Brother Zhou, please come in."
Since the weather was cold, she invited them to the room. Her room was divided using a screen to create a living room, a bedroom, and an area to bathe.
After they took their seats, Ling Shiāer poured a cup of tea for them and stood behind his Master.
Both Zhou Boming and Zhou Zihong looked at him, but since Yao Zhi said nothing, they swallowed their words back.
Noticing their hesitation, Yao Zhi said with a smile, "Shiāer is my guard. Boss Zhou, you can speak your mind freely. He is not an outsider."
When he heard this, Zhou Boming finally said, "Miss Yao, about our next delivery, can you increase the amount? Itās almost the sacrificial ceremony day, and a lot of people are placing their orders."
Yao Zhi thought about the event to increase sales during the peak season in her previous life and understood that the demand during holidays was the same here.
She nodded and replied, "Boss Zhou, I understand your meaning, but I canāt increase it too much. The process is time-consuming, and even if I want to give you more, Iām helpless."
Seeing that there was a chance, Zhou Boming asked, "Miss Yao, how much can you give us?"
After a moment of silence, Yao Zhi replied, "At most, I can only give you 800 jin of soy sauce and 500 jin of fish sauce."
The moment he heard this, both Zhou Bomingās and Zhou Zihongās eyes lit up. This amount was almost double their usual amount.
"Thatās great!" Zhou Boming exclaimed excitedly. After a moment, he added, "Miss Yao, due to the rarity, I plan to keep 100 jin of soy sauce and 50 jin of fish sauce and auction them off after we sell out our stock."
When she heard this, Yao Zhi thought for a while, shook her head, and said, "That wonāt do. If Boss Zhou wants to get more exposure for your business, I can help you prepare a new type of sauce. You can auction it instead of the soy sauce and fish sauce."
"Miss Yao, there will be a lot of people who are willing to bid on the sauce. This is a good opportunity to earn more money," Zhou Zihong tried to persuade her.
Yao Zhi was firm in her decision and explained, "If we auction the sauce, we might be able to earn a lot of money from that batch. But this will cause us to offend lots of people."
"They might think that we are taking advantage of them by driving up the price. Since we have the stock, we should stick to our usual practice and sell them in the shop. This way, we can keep a good relationship with the customers and avoid offending anyone."
After he heard this, Zhou Zihong nodded and said, "Miss Yao is wise. I have learned."
Waving her hand, Yao Zhi replied, "Brother Zhou is too modest."
They discussed their plan for the next few months for an hour before they took their leave. After they left, Yao Zhi turned to Ling Shiāer and said, "Tomorrow, there will be a group of people coming to pick up the goods at dawn."
Ling Shiāer understood her intentions and said, "I will supervise them."
"Good."
After the brief conversation, Yao Zhi went to her room while Ling Shiāer read a book in his room. As for Xi Si, she was teaching her brother to recognize words in their room.