Two dried chrysanthemums with ten wolfberries and two small golden dates were in the wooden box, filling the small squares in the box. After he finished setting it up, Shao Yunan turned to shopkeeper Xu with the wooden box.

“How about checking out the chrysanthemum tea in this box?” Shopkeeper Xu looked at it with starry eyes. “Very beautiful! Much more pleasing to the eye than that handful of chrysanthemum tea.”

“These are Chrysanthemum, wolfberry, and red dates that are ‘carefully selected’, so they are good materials. After mixing them with the Chrysanthemum, the wolfberry and red dates would stop the slightly bitter taste with a sweet taste. Also, putting it so neatly together in a wooden box also has another effect besides extraordinary taste. Shopkeeper Xu, how much do you think a box of such healthy tea should cost?” Shopkeeper Xu’s eyes become round. “Wonderful, wonderful!”

“Since the proprietor of the restaurant has a background in the capital, why not make more use of it? The most important people in the capital are officials, while the most important thing for the officials is money. Do you think they would like this high-end and elegant chrysanthemum tea box, or would they prefer a bigger quantity of chrysanthemum tea from the pharmacy?”

“Naturally it is the former!”

“The items placed with the chrysanthemum tea can also be varied. So  shopkeeper Xu should ask a doctor how it should be changed. As long as the medicinal properties complement each other and the effect is mild it will be good. The chrysanthemum tea I gave to shopkeeper Xu is also special and the chrysanthemums are much bigger than normal, which gives a better appearance of the flower.” 

“Everyone can drink a cup of chrysanthemum tea, but this golden silk imperial chrysanthemum is different and has a different price. It also should not be mixed with other things. Anyway it’s necessary to look for the upper class to sell it to and make them feel that only such a chrysanthemum tea can be worthy of their status. What shopkeeper Xu should do is to promote the limited chrysanthemum tea in his hand as high end as possible and take the upper class route.”

“Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful!” Shopkeeper Xu could repeat himself in wonder. “Shijin, I will now make a cup of this high-end chrysanthemum tea for Shopkeeper Xu.” Wang Shijing went to bring some hot water.

Shao Yunan took two white porcelain tea cups again, while Wang Shijing returned with a pot of hot water. Shao Yunan put a portion of chrysanthemum, wolfberry, and red dates into the tea bowl before pouring in some hot water. As the dried chrysanthemum slowly unfolded, shopkeeper Xu’s breath slowly caught.

“Beautiful! Beautiful!”

“This is not even the prettiest one yet.”

Shao Yunan smiled mysteriously, picked up the white porcelain tea jar he just carried in, and took out a dried chrysanthemum flower from inside. As soon as he saw the chrysanthemum, Wang Shijing’s one eye quickly flashed a hint of doubt. This dried chrysanthemum was very large, but Shao Yunan put it into another tea cup and poured some water. When the dried chrysanthemum spread out, shopkeeper Xu exclaimed, “This is it!”

Wang Shijing restrained his face. He was also very surprised. Shao Yunan glanced at Wang Shijing and said with a smile, “This is a wild chrysanthemum carefully selected by Shijing and I. It’s of a different variety. The main difference is that this wild chrysanthemum is large and has a different flower compared to other wild chrysanthemums. Shopkeeper Xu, as you can see, as long as you pour water on it, its petals extend like a golden sun. Shopkeeper Xu should try these two cups of chrysanthemum tea again.”

Shopkeeper Xu’s hands trembled a little, what was in front of him was not chrysanthemum tea, but pure money! After tasting two kinds of chrysanthemum tea, shopkeeper Xu’s voice trembled. “Little Brother Shao, just be merciful and sell them all to me.”

“Haha.” Shao Yunan put the jar of chrysanthemum tea away. “I only have two jars of it, so I can only give one jar to shopkeeper Xu for now. But it can’t be bought by the kilo.”

“Naturally, how about three taels of silver for one flower? As for the small flower 5 silver a kilo. While the idea that Little Brother Shao came up with is worth at least another 200 taels of silver.”

Shao Yunan said, “This ‘Golden Silk Chrysanthemum’ is really rare and I didn’t intend to sell it. So I will not be modest with my price. The price of 3 taels of silver for one flower is very ordinary. But shopkeeper Xu doesn’t need to accept the price of 5 taels of silver per kilo. Patriarch Sun only sells it for 3 taels of silver per kilo, so shopkeeper Xu accepts this price. As for the idea, shopkeeper Xu should only pay for it after it succeeds.”

“For sure!” Shopkeeper Xu became excited. “This ‘golden silk royal chrysanthemum,’ how much can Little Brother Shao supply in a year?”

“It’s not easy to say, Shijing and I need to try planting some, so in the future when I produce good golden chrysanthemum, at least fifty percent of the supply would go to shopkeeper Xu. I want to keep some for myself and to give others as gifts.”

“Alright!”

“I guarantee 50 kilo for ordinary chrysanthemum tea.”

“Alright!”

The two of them didn’t write a deed for this transaction, because Shao Yunan was not able to provide much. To sell at a high price, they had to rely on shopkeeper Xu’s big boss’s operation in the capital. Anyway, the focus was on the high-end crowd. There were also 103 golden chrysanthemums in Shao Yunan’s jar, which added to a total of 309 taels of silver. Shopkeeper Xu directly gave him 310 taels. As for ordinary chrysanthemum tea, Shao Yunan could only give 40 kilos, which added another 120 taels of silver. Shopkeeper Xu also added the idea fee, which added up to 630 taels of silver.

Shao Yunan thought that shopkeeper Xu would need to go to town to get the money, but to his surprise he directly took a box from the carriage with 630 silver ingots.

Shao Yunan did not intend to rely on the chrysanthemum tea to earn money, but he still easily earned 630 taels of silver. At noon, shopkeeper Xu, who stayed for a meal, ate the mapo tofu prepared by Shao Yunan, together with sliced boiled pork, shredded potatoes in vinegar (the two children’s favorite), fish eggplant, and pork balls with radish soup.

Shopkeeper Xu sat at the dining table observing the dishes, while doubting his identity as the shopkeeper of Yizhang Xuan. Yizhang Xuan was a restaurant, but he had never eaten such dishes before! Shopkeeper Xu looked at Shao Yunan and wished to steal him and take him away. Shao Yunan also did not talk much, letting Wang Shijing pick up the chopsticks.

“Let’s eat!” Wang Qing and Nizi reached out their chopsticks towards the shredded potatoes first. Then they tried the uneaten, yet boiled pork and mabo tofu. Chili pepper was a necessary thing for people living in cold areas of the great state of Yan. Yongxiu province was between the north and the south, so their tastes were mixed. Wang Shijing  fought for three years in a cold land in the north, so he favored spicy dishes. While shopkeeper Xu moved his chopstick non stop, Wang Shijing also buried his head and ate. The two children were so happy that they wanted to cry. The food prepared by their little father was really delicious!

Finally everything was eaten, including the pot of pork balls and radish soup. Shopkeeper Xu let out a burp in embarrassment, but Shao Yunan just smiled and said, “Which dish did Mr. Xu like? I’ll write the recipe for you.” Shopkeeper Xu said embarrassingly, “I liked it all.”

“Haha…” As expected, shopkeeper Xu asked for the recipes for all five dishes, so Shao Yunan gave them to him. While shopkeeper Xu said nothing, he just strongly asked Shao Yunan to sign a contract with him. He could no longer give these recipes to others and he would pay 500 taels of silver for them. Shao Yunan signed a contract with him, but only for 100 taels of silver, shredded potatoes in vinegar and pork balls with radish soup would be completely non-technical, so he considered it a free gift. The shopkeeper Xu did not refuse and just took out a suet jade pendant on his waist and gave it to Wang Qing, while Shao Yunan let Wang Qing accept it.

Shopkeeper Xu left after bringing a large amount of money-making business to his boss. Shopkeeper Xu had a hunch that in the future, his boss might need to rely on this mysterious Little Brother Shao to become the richest businessman in the great state of Yan. Shopkeeper Xu, still didn’t know that in the future, there might be another powerful person who would compete with his boss for the title of the number one merchant in the great state of Yan.

Shopkeeper Xu left contentedly, while two husbands went back to rest after cleaning up after the meal. As soon as their door closed, Shao Yunan asked, “Shijing, why don’t you ask?” The jar of golden silk chrysanthemum and wooden box had never appeared in their house before. Even the wolfberries and golden red dates had never been found in their house before.

“I won’t ask.” Wang Shijing said in a muffled voice as he hugged Shao Yunan. Shao Yunan asked again, “You don’t want to know?”

“Yes, but I won’t ask you until you are willing to tell me.”

“Then what if I refuse to tell you?”

“Then I still won’t ask.” Wang Shijing said, his voice becoming duller. “Whether you tell me or not, you are my wife.” How could this person not want to know? But not wanting to force it, Shao Yunan rubbed Wang Shijing’s chest and hugged his waist. “Give me some more time.”

“I’ll wait.”

“Shijing, do you like me?” Shao Yunan raised his head. Wang Shijing’s jaw muscles tightened for a moment and he pressed Shao Yunan’s head back to his chest, preventing him from seeing his expression. “I like you. But if you are my match…” His next words were stopped by Shao Yunan’s hand.

“Don’t say such things in the future, whether you are worthy or not. I don’t want to have children, since I hate to have the appearance of a big belly and bear the pain of having children. It’s better that you already have children, since I have this baggage… you gave me absolute freedom. If it was someone else, my wishes might have been dismissed long ago. I also don’t like women by nature, so it’s just right for me to get married. In this way you and I are a very good match.”

Wang Shijing lowered his head, his lips landing on Shao Yunan’s forehead, while the muscles in his whole body tensed. “Give me some more time. I promise you, it won’t take long.”

“Hmmm.”

“I’m actually glad Wang Zhisong backed out of the marriage and let you marry me.”

“Don’t mention him! You are supposed to be mine.”

“So… if one day your ex-wife comes back to you, what will you do?”

“I have already divorced her. I can’t live with her and she can’t live with me either. When she abandoned Wang Qing and Wang Nizi, she also took all the money I left with her. She didn’t leave anything to Wang Qing and Wang Nizi at all. She and I are already done.” After a pause he added, “I like you.”

“If you dare to show affection to anyone else in the future, I will definitely cut off your five taels of meat and make wine from it. It’s no joke.” Wang Shijing only felt pain in that place. “I won’t give you this opportunity.”

“Well, since there is money, go to Zhao Lizheng house and buy the mountain.”

“I am going.”

 

Edited by: Jaisland

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