Watching Second Song and his wife slink away, Elder Aunt Song bit her lip, her heart a turmoil of mixed feelings.
It seemed picking mushrooms was truly out of the question now.
With the stall on Middle Street becoming vacant in just ten days, Song Jinzhao was reluctant to give up her business at the canal dock.
After much thought, she decided to hire Old Lady Song to mind the stall for her.
"Have me go set up a stall at the canal dock?!"
Old Lady Song was stunned, pointing at her own nose in disbelief.
Song Jinzhao nodded. "I've rented a stall on Middle Street, moving there in July. After that, no one will be managing the dock spot."
"I'll pay you forty coppers a day. Prepare the ingredients in the morning, sell at the dock around noon, and once it's sold out, Granny, you can head home."
Old Man Song quickly waved his hands. "It's only right for your granny and me to help you when you're swamped. No need for wages."
Song Jinzhao looked at them, her gaze firm. "Running a stall isn't a one- or two-day affair; it'll be for months on end. I can't have Granny working for free."
Old Man Song frowned. "Even so, forty coppers is too much. You don't need to pay that much."
Song Jinzhao turned to Old Lady Song. "Then thirty coppers. Granny, are you willing?"
Old Lady Song nervously wrung her hands, feeling hesitant.
"I've never done it before. I'm afraid I'll mess up and hurt your business."
"I'll have all the seasonings prepared. It's very simple, just mix everything together. You'll get the hang of it after a day."
So, the very next day, Old Lady Song went to Song Jinzhao's house early in the morning to help.
Elder Aunt Song thought she would return soon, but by noon, she still hadn't come back.
Thinking it was just a one-day favor, Elder Aunt Song then found Old Lady Song going every single day afterward.
Upon asking, she learned Song Jinzhao was paying Old Lady Song thirty coppers a day to help mind the stall at the dock.
"So, Jinzhao has two stalls in the city?" Oldest Song asked Old Man Song in astonishment.
Old Man Song sat under the eaves, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan, a smile on his face.
"The dock stall doesn't charge a fee, but the Middle Street stall does."
Elder Aunt Song instinctively asked, "Does Jinzhao still need help?"
Old Man Song stopped fanning, looking up at the couple. "With just two stalls, what do you think? Still short-handed?"
Elder Aunt Song shut her mouth tightly, not daring to say more.
Oldest Song quickly pulled his wife away.
Back in their room, Elder Aunt Song whispered, "I was just asking casually. If Jinzhao did need more people, hiring family is surely more reliable than outsiders."
Oldest Song looked down at her belly. "You're pregnant now. Even if she needed help, Jinzhao wouldn't ask you."
Elder Aunt Song fell silent.
When Second Song and his wife found out Song Jinzhao had hired Old Lady Song to watch the stall, they also wanted to help.
But the stall wasn't short-handed, and after being scolded so severely by Old Man Song last time, they had no choice but to keep quiet.
By the end of June, the stall on Middle Street was vacant, and Song Jinzhao completely handed over the dock stall to Old Lady Song.
On a sweltering morning, her beverage stall on Middle Street opened for business.
The cold mist rising from the ice blocks made passersby instinctively pause for a couple of seconds under their parasols.
Seizing that moment, Song Jinzhao began promoting her cold skin noodles, cold noodles, dark plum and rock sugar tea, and mint licorice tea.
A few days later, she started selling pearl milk tea, and business boomed.
As the stall wasn't far from the Tingyun Pavilion, young masters from wealthy families even specifically sent their servants to the stall to take away cold skin noodles and drinks.
After running into this scene several times, Ma Baichuan, the manager of Tingyun Pavilion, began to feel restless.
"Miss Song, can you really make a profit selling pearl milk tea for twenty coppers a cup?"
Song Jinzhao smiled faintly. "Manager Ma, my business thrives on small profits but quick turnover."
The ice didn't cost her anything. She made eighteen coppers profit per cup sold, a markup of nine hundred percent. How could she not be making money?
Ma Baichuan sat down and bought a cup of pearl milk tea. It was sweet and icy, the black pearls chewy and springy. No wonder it was so popular with the ladies.
"Let's speak plainly. I came today to ask if Miss Song would be willing to sell me the recipes for the cold skin noodles and the pearl milk tea?"
The chefs at the restaurant had figured out the cold noodles, but no matter how they tried, the texture of the cold skin noodles was never right—neither thin as cicada wings nor smooth and slippery.
And that wheat gluten and the black pearls in the milk tea? They had no idea where to even begin.
Song Jinzhao looked at him. "If I sell the recipes to you, Manager Ma, can I still run my stall here?"
Ma Baichuan said, "If I buy the recipes, I'll naturally have to raise the prices. Your stall is too close to Tingyun Pavilion, and you sell so cheaply. If I bought them, it would be a waste."
"However, I promise you, as long as you don't set up on Middle Street, anywhere else is fine."
Song Jinzhao sat down and shook her head. "Then let's forget it. These recipes were hard to figure out. A one-time sale isn't worthwhile for me."
Ma Baichuan grew anxious. "You can make money setting up elsewhere too!"
Song Jinzhao countered, "Aside from Middle Street, where else in Xining City can one set up a stall?"
Ma Baichuan waved a finger. "You could go to the dock. It's crowded there and doesn't charge stall fees."
Song Jinzhao rolled her eyes at him and gave a dry "Hmph."
"Manager Ma, you're trying to fool me. How could anyone at the dock afford a twenty-copper cup of tea?"
They wouldn't even buy it for five coppers.
Ma Baichuan awkwardly turned his head away. His attempt at deception had failed.
"I can offer more. One hundred taels for both recipes."
"Manager Ma is so stingy, even I can't bear to listen."
Li Zien walked over, fanning himself, with Manager Li holding a parasol to shade him.
Seeing it was Li Zien, Ma Baichuan's heart sank to the depths.
Manager Li put away the parasol and said to Song Jinzhao with a smile, "Miss Song, when you said you were selling mung bean porridge, I actually believed you."
Li Zien closed his folding fan and sat down. "I am willing to offer two hundred taels of silver to buy the recipes for the cold skin noodles and pearl milk tea, and Miss Song may continue to run her stall here."
At that moment, Ma Baichuan felt nothing but bitterness in his mouth.
He stood up and addressed the three of them. "Matters await at the restaurant. I shall take my leave."
If Li Zien hadn't come, he might have dared to compete with Manager Li.
Now, he couldn't compete, and he didn't dare to.
Watching the other man's dejected retreating figure, Song Jinzhao grew even more curious about the Li family's standing in the prefecture.
"Is Young Master Li planning to sell cold skin noodles and pearl milk tea in Anyang Prefecture?"
Although Shi You Ji wasn't on Middle Street, it was only a block away.
Li Zien waved his fan. "Miss Song is indeed clever. Not just the pearl milk tea—add another hundred taels, and I'll take all the beverage recipes from your stall."
Song Jinzhao smiled without speaking. The Li family's business reached Dianyun. They probably weren't planning to sell only in Anyang Prefecture.
Seeing her silence, Li Zien spoke up. "Does Miss Song find the price too low?"
Song Jinzhao shook her head. "The price Young Master Li offers is very fair, but I have one condition."
"What condition?"
Song Jinzhao said, "If I open a shop elsewhere in the future, I must still be able to use the recipes I sell to you."
Li Zien closed his fan, his gaze fixed intently on her. "Is Miss Song planning to leave Xining City?"
Song Jinzhao shook her head. "Not for now, but who can guarantee the future?"
Even if they did end up competing, her ice cost nothing, so the other side couldn't beat her on price.
