Chapter 12: She Secretly Makes Money

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Xia Xiaoyu furrowed her brow. “Boss, actually, methods for making money aren’t meant to be shared. If I weren’t so poor and forced to open a shop, I’d rather open one in town myself.”

“No, no, no, we can discuss this properly,” the boss replied with a flattering smile, though beads of sweat had already started forming in his mind. If she opened a noodle soup shop in town, he wouldn’t have to do business anymore; all the customers would flock to her place!

Xia Xiaoyu’s expression remained cold and indifferent—this was exactly what she wanted to hear.

After the exams ended, she came to town looking for a way to make money quickly and effectively. In reality, such methods were hard to come by.

After a few attempts, she found that the town had only two shops—one doing well, the other struggling.

She made a bet with the owner of the struggling shop: if she cooked noodle soup for three days, the shop would average over 100 bowls sold each day.

At the time, the owner didn’t believe her but accepted the bet and let Xia Xiaoyu take over the cooking.

She succeeded. Each day, he paid her an extra five yuan. After three days, Xia Xiaoyu had indeed revived his business.

But in recent days, she hadn’t come to town, and people, unable to taste the flavor they craved, had started going back to the other shop.

“Boss, everyone wants to make money,” Xia Xiaoyu smiled.

“Then can you come work at my shop every day?”

Xia Xiaoyu shook her head. “No can do.”

The boss frowned but then thought for a moment and said, “How about you teach me your soup recipe? If I can make the noodle soup taste like yours, I’ll pay you, and you won’t have to come and cook here. What do you say?”

Xia Xiaoyu shook her head. “No way. If I teach you this secret recipe, you’ll open several shops, and I won’t even be able to run one.”

She sighed dramatically.

In her past life, she was nothing more than a free servant in the Xu family. To care for her family and make sure everyone ate happily, she spent every day experimenting with delicious recipes.

Naturally, she had reached a high level of culinary skill.

She understood which ingredients to combine and how to prepare dishes to make them taste better.

Opening a noodle soup shop wasn’t even her real goal.

“I know opening a shop takes capital—you have to rent a place, buy equipment, and eventually hire people,” the shop owner tried to persuade her.

“That’s true,” Xia Xiaoyu agreed.

The boss quickly added, “How about you sell me the recipe outright? One-time payment.”

Xia Xiaoyu asked, “How much will you pay?”

The boss twirled his fingers.

“Five hundred?” she guessed.

The boss was stunned. “Fifty.”

Xia Xiaoyu laughed. “Boss, you want to buy a never-failing recipe for only fifty yuan? Who’s making the profit here, you or me?”

Her eyes drifted toward the other shop not far away.

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Xia smiled and said, “Tell me, if I sold the noodle soup recipe to the other shop, do you think they’d buy it?”

The noodle soup shop owner’s face stiffened instantly.

That would be disastrous—his business would be completely ruined.

“Miss, that kind of joke isn’t funny.”

Xia Xiaoyu smiled faintly. “So, what do you suggest?”

“My method was developed over decades by my ancestors. You want me to give you fifty yuan and then watch you thrive while I lose out?”

The owner frowned. “What do you plan to do then?”

Before Xia Xiaoyu could answer, he added, “How about I pay you a bit more?”

Xia Xiaoyu replied with a smile, “Boss, if you keep bargaining, this won’t be interesting.”

She smiled softly. “So, you’d better make me an offer I can accept outright, or I’ll find someone else.”

“Can you guarantee that if I learn your technique, I’ll get that same flow of customers?”

Xia Xiaoyu smiled. “Boss, you know business better than I do. Investments have risks; no one can guarantee profits. I’ve already shown you what I can do. If you don’t want it, I’m leaving.”

She turned to leave.

The boss, afraid Xia Xiaoyu might really sell the recipe to the rival shop and thus ruin his business, gritted his teeth and said, “One hundred yuan.”

Xia Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up.

She didn’t ask for more and held up two fingers.

The boss’s forehead veins bulged. “That’s too much!”

Xia Xiaoyu shook her head. “Not at all. Boss, think about it: two hundred yuan buys you a golden hen that lays eggs. You can open two more shops, then another one in another town. Maybe even start a nationwide chain.”

“If I sell you the recipe, I guarantee I won’t open any shops within ten miles of yours.”

The boss’s mental calculator started clicking rapidly.

That made sense.

One profitable shop could turn into multiple shops; he could hire staff and just wait to collect the profits.

Thinking this over, he felt two hundred yuan wasn’t a loss.

Still, he tried to bargain. “One hundred fifty then.”

Seeing the boss already wavering yet still dithering over fifty yuan, Xia Xiaoyu smiled lightly. “Sorry, boss, I have other things to do.”

She walked toward the other noodle soup shop.

The boss’s face turned green.

“Deal. But I have one condition.”

Xia Xiaoyu turned back silently, simply watching him.

The boss said, “We must sign a contract.”

Xia Xiaoyu didn’t mind.

Just like that, two hundred yuan was soon in her pocket.

She wrote down the recipe clearly.

After this, she went to the supply and marketing cooperative.

She needed to prepare some clothes and supplies for school.

During the years she would spend at home, doing chores and farming while studying, time and opportunities to earn money were rare.

But now, she was free.

Everything was different.

She bought fabric, planning to make herself two sets of clothes.

She entered the tailor’s shop.

Just as Xia Xiaoyu stepped inside, she saw a girl wearing a houndstooth qipao with short hair, spinning in front of the mirror and asking the tailor, “How do I look in this dress?”

The tailor praised her endlessly.

“This dress really suits you. I also have two other outfits that would look amazing on you. If you’re going to the capital, I have two very fashionable styles that won’t look outdated there.”

“Show me,” the girl said softly.

Xia Xiaoyu, seeing the tailor busy attending the customer, sat quietly on a bamboo chair.

Chen Lijuan glanced back and saw a girl in dull gray clothing. Although her features were quite pretty, she clearly looked like a poor girl.

She didn’t even look at Xia Xiaoyu.

The tailor brought out two winter outfits.

“Look at these two styles; they use the finest cotton and mink velvet, so they don’t feel bulky at all.”

Chen Lijuan liked them and asked, “How much?”