The Lucky Heiress

Wei Ruo did not forget any of the workers who helped her.

Inside Xu’s Delicatessen shop, Chen Aqing quickly finished off a bowl of porridge.

Seeing her eating so hurriedly, Wei Ruo couldn’t help but say, “The way you eat makes me wonder if I’ve been withholding rations from you and not letting you eat enough.”

“No, Miss, this porridge is delicious! You and Sister Xiumei are great at cooking!” Chen Aqing explained.

“It’s not necessarily the cooking skill, but the ingredients. This bowl of porridge contains yellow rice, white rice, river rice, millet, water caltrop rice, chestnuts, red kidney beans, de-skinned jujube paste, it is boiled together with water, the topping is made by coloring almond, apricot kernel, sunflower seeds, peanuts, hazelnut, pine nuts, white sugar, brown sugar and small-size grapes.”

Making porridge seems simple, but it is a deep art. However, this particular bowl of porridge, which was prepared with such a lavish amount of ingredients, might be hard to find anywhere else.

“So…so many ingredients? It must be expensive then…” Chen Aqing looked at her empty bowl blankly, regretting that she had eaten so fast.

“Don’t worry, I can afford to treat you guys once in a while. Plus, I’m not just making it for you, I’m going to sell it too. Tomorrow is Laba Festival, an appropriate time to sell this porridge.”

Wei Ruo then instructed Chen Aqing, “Later on, make an eye-catching space in the shop to sell this porridge. A bowl costs one tael of silver.”

“One tael of silver?” Chen Aqing was startled, unable to believe her ears.

“Yes, one tael of silver,” Wei Ruo confirmed firmly.

Chen Aqing swallowed hard, and looked again at her now empty bowl. Had she just gulped down a whole tael’s worth of silver? Even though she felt the price was very high, she did not question it. She had unconditional faith in Wei Ruo, believing that she must have a good reason for setting such a price.

Wei Ruo had decided when making the porridge that she would sell it at a high price, specifically targeting affluent families.

Since the opening of Xu’s Delicatessen Shop, Madam Yuan’s promotion had attracted many wealthy patricians from the city to try the goods, thereby accumulating a group of wealthy and influential loyal customers for the shop. The previous incident with Zuixian Residence did cause some loss to the shop, but it also effectively promoted Xu’s Delicatessen Shop in another way.

Now the shop doesn’t lack rich customers, and everyone recognizes the good taste of the food at the shop. Therefore, Wei Ruo was certain that if she put this Laba porridge in a conspicuous position in the shop, people would be willing to buy it at a high price.

Sure enough, several portions of the Laba porridge had been sold by noon.

By the afternoon, even more people were buying it. Some tasted it on the spot and then bought several bowls to take away.

Wei Ruo had only prepared one bucket for sale, and by the afternoon (two to three o’clock) it had sold out, a total of thirty servings, which amounted to thirty taels of silver.

Even now, Chen Aqing could hardly believe that she had just sold thirty taels’ worth of porridge. It was just like magic!

While Wei Ruo was not surprised, she was still taken aback by the speed of sale.

From the beginning, Wei Ruo knew that even if this porridge was priced at five coins, ordinary and poor families would not buy it.

What they need are food and warmth, not some delicacy.

But nobles and the rich are different, they pursue quality, and the more expensive things are, the more they feel they are worthy of their status.

Relying on this rationale, Wei Ruo could price her porridge so high.

Counting the thirty taels of silver in her hand, Xiumei couldn’t be happier. “Miss, this Laba porridge is so profitable! The profit we make here far exceeds that of selling vegetables, sweet potatoes, and our deli food!”

“Don’t be happy too soon, we still have to prepare the ingredients tonight for sale tomorrow,” warned Wei Ruo.

“Earning so much silver, I don’t mind not sleeping tonight!” Xiumei said excitedly.

“That won’t do, your health is worth more than silver!” Wei Ruo said.

“Miss, you’re the one to talk, you often do the same! You always say you’re tired when it comes to other tasks, but as long as it has anything to do with money, you can stay awake all night!” Xiumei refuted.

In fact, Wei Ruo would also forget about sleep and food when it came to saving people.

Uh… can’t argue with that.

“Alright, alright.” Wei Ruo quickly changed the subject. “Hurry up and get to work on the other things. There’s a lot of ingredients to prepare. If we’re slow, we might not catch the good fortune of the Laba Festival tomorrow.”

Then Wei Ruo didn’t give Xiumei a chance to nag further, she pulled her onto the carriage.

###

Early the next morning, as soon as Xu’s Delicatessen Shop opened, a small stall selling Laba porridge was set up at the entrance.

Yesterday it was only placed inside the shop in a visible location, but today it was directly placed at the shop entrance. Next to it was a sign that read: “Laba porridge, one tael per bowl.”

At first, the passersby felt like the owner of Xu’s Delicatessen Shop must have gone crazy for money, as he was daring enough to sell a bowl of ordinary porridge at such an exorbitant price.

But soon, those who thought so found they were wrong. Not only was the expensive porridge being sold, but it was selling in considerable quantities!

The high-ranking officials, rich merchants, and nobles in the city were the buyers of this expensive Laba porridge.

On the same street, Zuixian Residence also started selling Laba porridge today, but clearly, its business was not as good as Xu’s Delicatessen Shop.

After sale for an hour, the shopkeeper from Zuixian Residence, Shen, came to Xu’s Delicatessen Shop to find Wei Ruo.

“Is Mr. Xu available?” Shopkeeper Shen inquired from Chen Aqing, who was busy at the counter.

“I don’t know, I’m too busy with business,” Chen Aqing replied.

In fact, Wei Ruo was in the backyard of the shop, but Chen Aqing still said she didn’t know because she wasn’t sure if her mistress wanted others to know she was there. Xiumei had taught her to say she didn’t know in such situations.

At that moment, the curtain to the backyard was lifted, and Wei Ruo came out from the back.

“A pleasure to see you, Mr. Xu. My master would like to invite you to Zuixian Residence for a chat. Is it convenient for you now?” With a smile on his face, Shopkeeper Shen courteously inquired from Wei Ruo.

“I’m free, I can go with you now.” Wei Ruo responded straightforwardly.

“Very well, Mr. Xu, please follow me!” Shopkeeper Shen quickly led the way for Wei Ruo.

Upon reaching Zuixian Residence, Shopkeeper Shen still took Wei Ruo to that same box in the comer, the one with the sign “Crane Pavilion”.

Just like last time, Fan Chengxu was sitting inside alone, with tea and some pastries in front of him.

“Mr. Fan, what brings me here today?” Wei Ruo asked directly, getting straight to the point.

“I wanted to ask you when you could start supplying me with the five spice powder and oyster sauce we agreed upon last time. You said you needed some time, and I think enough time has passed.”