Chapter Sixty-Two: A New Hotpot Base

The situation Lin Miaomiao had been worried about finally arose, so she said to Lin Qi, "Keep a close eye on things during this period. We must be extra careful and cautious with the new products we’re launching this quarter."

Lin Qi listened to Lin Miaomiao, his expression growing serious. The hotpot base Lin Miaomiao was introducing this quarter was a modern, health-oriented version.

For the past few days, Lin Miaomiao had been simmering the hotpot base, but the results always fell short of her expectations, and she couldn’t pinpoint what was missing.

As she wandered around in boredom, Lin Miaomiao noticed some small red fruits on a tree in a nearby village. She didn’t know what these fruits were, but suddenly remembered how goji berries always appeared in health hotpots. She recalled how, in her dormitory days, they’d joke about soaking goji berries in their thermos cups.

At last, Lin Miaomiao realized what her recipe had been lacking. She gazed at the tree, examining it closely. As she pondered beneath it, she recalled that goji berries also grew on trees, so she decided to give it a try and picked some of the fruit.

Lin Miaomiao gathered a large number of the little red fruits, took them home, and dried them. Upon drying, she discovered these red berries were indeed goji berries.

Delighted, the next day Lin Miaomiao asked the villagers nearby to help her plant more of these goji trees.

The villagers found Lin Miaomiao’s request quite odd, as nobody knew what the fruit was. Everyone had always assumed the little red berries were poisonous and inedible, and never expected Lin Miaomiao would pay them to plant such trees.

Lin Miaomiao had finally developed a new health hotpot base. To ensure her hotpot business turned a profit, she always tested her latest recipes in her own hotpot restaurant before a wide release.

With the new wave of popularity, she would launch her newly developed hotpot base. Vendors from the capital and beyond, seeing her restaurant’s new advertisements, immediately knew a seasonal innovation was coming.

These vendors would then come to Lin Miaomiao’s factory to purchase the new hotpot base. Once the research was complete, Lin Miaomiao called in Lin Qi, Lin Jiwang, Ruoyu, and Lanzhi.

Every quarter, Lin Miaomiao launched a new dish; this time it was hamburgers. She explained the method to Ruoyu.

After Ruoyu took note of the recipe, Lin Miaomiao instructed, "This needs to be prepared separately: the bakery makes the buns first, then comes the filling and the meat."

"The hardest part is the salad dressing and mayonnaise, Ruoyu, you need to pay extra attention to this."

Ruoyu nodded and set about preparing all the ingredients. Lin Miaomiao handed Lanzhi the new method for making the hotpot base.

She told Lanzhi, "This is the latest hotpot base; I’m entrusting it to you. If any issues arise, everyone is responsible for their own area."

The four of them nodded, and Lin Miaomiao separately handed Lin Jiwang the new colors and clothing styles for the quarter.

Once everything was distributed, Lin Miaomiao privately gave Lin Qi a set of materials related to the headwear and jewelry that would complement the season’s new clothing across the capital’s shops.

She also entrusted Lin Qi with the quarter’s marketing strategy and advertising slogans, most of which were for the hotpot restaurant.

As the restaurant was launching new items, introducing them to customers required skill, which Lin Miaomiao explained to Lin Qi.

Then, with utmost seriousness, she addressed the four of them: "The factory next door has already started operations. They can imitate our products, but they have no idea what new items we’re releasing."

"This gives us a crucial advantage. Everyone must ensure the quality of their own production lines. There can be no shoddy goods."

"Food products must be hygienic—nothing unclean must be found in them. During this period, workers must wear hats and gloves while handling and making food."

After finishing, she turned to Lin Jiwang, "On the clothing side, safety is paramount, and patterns must not be leaked."

She concluded, "We are facing challenges, but also opportunities. I’m confident we can outperform the neighboring factory."

Energized, they all returned to their respective factories and held meetings with their department heads.

After the neighboring factory was built, Lin Miaomiao learned that the southern merchant’s surname was Liu—Liu Qiang.

She wasn’t particularly curious about what kind of person owned the neighboring factory. After her meeting, she rode her carriage back to her courtyard.

At that moment, Liu Qiang was lounging back in his chair, daydreaming about his factory raking in profits, when the steward hurried in and said, "Master, there’s trouble! One of the wooden beams in our factory has fallen!"

Liu Qiang shot the steward a nasty look. "Can’t you even handle such a trivial matter? What are you good for?"

With that, Liu Qiang followed the steward to the factory and, upon seeing a worker crushed to death, glowered and said, "Pay some compensation and get rid of this liability quickly."

The workers, hearing Liu Qiang’s words, dared not protest. After all, he was the boss who paid them.

The unfortunate worker who had been killed was given a mere tael of silver as compensation and was hastily buried. When Lin Miaomiao heard about the fatal accident at the neighboring factory, she simply smiled and shook her head, saying nothing more.

Orders for Lin Miaomiao’s factory remained plentiful. Although a new factory had opened nearby with cheaper goods, the saying that merchants chase profit was not unfounded.

Some vendors did order hotpot base and other foods from Liu Qiang’s factory.

But soon, word spread in the capital that while Liu’s factory sold things cheaply, the taste left much to be desired. Lin’s factory’s products were pricey but reliably delicious, clean, and hygienic.

Low prices are a way to capture market share, so while many complained about the taste and cleanliness of Liu Qiang’s products, the price was tempting enough that people still bought them occasionally. However, after repeatedly finding things like hairs in their food, disgust eventually set in.

This quarter, unsold inventory from Liu Qiang’s factory began to pile up, and Lin Miaomiao’s factory rolled out a new policy.

All of Lin Miaomiao’s food products now bore the factory’s own logo. The cakes and breads she sold were all stamped with their own design.

No one knew which young lady first noticed that all the items she bought from Lin’s factory had specific designs and logos.

She realized that while her friend’s dress looked similar to those she owned, the quality was much poorer, and her friend’s dress lacked the signature patterns.

Once this was pointed out, word spread quickly: if the clothing didn’t have Lin’s factory’s logo, it was a fake.

Very soon, the counterfeit products from Liu Qiang’s factory were shunned by the noble ladies of the capital.

These young women were neither short of money nor silver—why would they spend good money on counterfeits?

Lin Miaomiao’s products quickly gained a prestigious reputation—everyone knew that using goods from Lin’s factory was a sign of a well-off household.

Meanwhile, goods from other factories were not only of lower quality, but the price difference was minimal.

Looking at the steadily increasing orders for the quarter, Lin Miaomiao couldn’t help but smile.

With orders up in the second quarter, Lin Miaomiao, as usual, distributed wages to her workers.

On the white wall of her factory were posted the wages of every employee. It was now late March, almost the Qingming Festival.

Lin Miaomiao issued a new policy: a three-day holiday for Qingming, with each production line taking half a day off in rotation.

Workers could take turns resting and burn paper offerings for their relatives during their break.

The workers were delighted with the new policy, as Qingming was the time to honor one’s ancestors.

They had been fretting about how to find the time, but Lin Miaomiao’s new rule brought them relief and joy.

Thus, every production line would take turns on paid leave. Since the two factories were close, some workers from nearby villages found out about the paid leave for Qingming and were envious.

Workers at Liu Qiang’s factory looked on with jealousy, while Liu Qiang himself, upon hearing about the paid leave, sneered.

He thought Lin Miaomiao was a poor businesswoman, paying workers and even giving them paid holidays—what a fool she was.

Liu Qiang only knew Lin Qi was the manager next door, unaware that Lin Miaomiao owned the factory, so he always criticized Lin Qi’s management.

Lin Miaomiao gave her workers time off for Qingming, even though the orders that season were plentiful, so after the holiday, the factory worked overtime.

But overtime was never excessive, and all workers who participated were paid extra that month.

The workers felt fortunate to have such a considerate boss, who always gave them gifts for holidays and, this year, even gave them time off for Qingming.

Their happiness was matched by Lin Miaomiao’s own. Though she could not be perfect, she always kept her workers’ interests at heart.

When the neighboring factory heard that Lin Miaomiao’s was working overtime, they felt a little better—until they learned the overtime was paid.

Then, their sense of balance was lost once again.