The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

“Manager Cheng has expressed an interest in this business, already. I am interested in hearing how Manager Cheng plans to make a success out of it.” Zhuang Qingning’s query interrupted Cheng Ruize’s thoughts.

Cheng Ruize pictures himself back into reality, clearing his throat, he said, “The shop certainly has to be opened. I have already chosen the location, it’s on West Street.”

“West Street?”

Zhuang Qingning recalled that East Street was the most vibrant place in the county town.

“Yes, West Street,” Cheng Ruize nodded. “East Street is indeed the most bustling area, with rows of shops, mostly cloth shops, tea shops, wineries and tea houses, rouge shops, gold and silver jewelers, and so on. Grocery stores selling food, vegetables, meat and grain though are on West Street.”

Even most of the local food in many county towns can be found on West

Street. Even though they seem to be unimpressive, ordinary, and even shabby on the surface, they still enjoy a thriving business and have a steady stream of regular customers.”

“Anyone who has lived in the county town for a long time knows that they can find delicious food on West Street. Therefore, it is very appropriate to sell things like century eggs, tofu skin, and tofu skin on West Street.”

“Moreover, the price of shops with similar size on West Street is much lower than that on East Street.”

Zhuang Qingning listened very carefully. She felt that Cheng Ruize did have a lot of original ideas and perspectives, and she had a bit more appreciation for him.”

Seeing Zhuang Qingning listening attentively, Cheng Ruize continued.

When the time comes, I plan to have taste tests at the entrance of the shop, have some people try some dishes for customers to sample, and use these to attract customers. In addition, I will hire some salesmen, set up a few temporary stalls in other places in the county town, to make it convenient for people from all over to buy century eggs, and also to help build a reputation for these century eggs.”

In other words, he intended to open a main store, and then set up simple experience stores.

It was a good idea.

Hearing this, Zhuang Qingning couldn’t help but nod her head.

Noticing Zhuang Qingning’s appreciative expressions, Cheng Ruize stood up a little straighter, “After the business of century eggs in the county town gets off the ground, I plan to use the Cheng family’s business network to sell these century eggs to the prefecture city, nearby counties, and even Jiangnan, Lingnan and the capital city.”

“Of course, these are just plans for the future. What’s most important now is to first establish this shop in the county town and get the business started.”

“The ideas of Manager Cheng are excellent. Manager Cheng has a clear thought process in business planning and is very creative,” said Zhuang Qingning. “If Manager Cheng handles the business of century eggs in this way, it should yield considerable returns.”

“Earlier, Manager Cheng mentioned the idea of selling other things. We just happen to be discussing this, so let’s talk about how to supply these items like tofu and tofu skin, along with century eggs, how to set prices, and how to handle delivery, etc.”

Since this was discussed, a good portion of their joint venture was already well underway.

At least she was very much in agreement with him and his ideas.

“Yes.” Cheng Ruize responded with a smile, discussing some other follow-up matters with Zhuang Qingning.

After their discussion was over, they both went to look around the tofu and tofu skin workshops, as well as the century egg workshop.

They only took a quick glance.

“If the tofu workshop needs to be expanded again in a short period of time, it might take a little while. However, bean sprouts, tofu skin, salted duck eggs, and century eggs can all be increased in production with a few days notice.” Zhuang Qingning said.

Cheng Ruize took note of everything the workshop could produce, how much inventory there was, and how many days in advance he would need to place his order, given the current production.

“Also, there’s a place called Miao village near the county town. I plan to collaborate with the villagers there to start a sweet potato glass noodle workshop. This sweet potato glass noodle is not only suitable for cooking, but also as a staple food when made into hot and sour noodles, which is pretty good. I wonder if Manager Cheng would be interested in selling these sweet potato glass noodles?”

Zhuang Qingning felt that there should not be a big problem establishing a workshop in Miao Village, given their experience setting up several other workshops, and the management abilities of Village Chief Miao. The tricky part was selling these sweet potato glass noodles.

Although Zhang Xiangrong had planned to open a hot and sour noodle stall in the town, no matter how successful the business was, there were limits to the volume. If they left this to the people of Miao Village, they might not be able to find suitable people to sell the noodles.

In addition, it would be a lot of trouble to rent a shop and manage it in the county town, not to mention maintaining a balance between the workshop and the shop. Zhuang Qingning’s energy was limited, so it might not be feasible.

If Cheng Ruize, an experienced entrepreneur, took charge of the sales, while she and the villagers could focus on running the workshop, it would be a win-win situation and increase efficiency.

“As long as a workshop organized by Manager Zhuang is involved, it’s bound to be good. Let’s discuss this further after the sweet potato glass noodles come out,” Cheng Ruize readily agreed.

He then jokingly asked, “I wonder if I could take some of these products with me today? Everything here tastes excellent. On one hand, I was hoping to bring some of these tantalizing products back home for my mother to try, and on the other hand, I also wanted to plan how to display these products in the shop.”

“Of course you can,” Zhuang Qingning readily gave her consent. She packaged some samples of every product in the workshop for Cheng Juize to take home.

The two of them discussed a few more things about the shop in the county town. It was agreed that Zhuang Qingning would go to the county town in two days to check the shop, and they would soon sign an agreement to officially open the shop.

After seeing off Cheng Ruize, it was almost noon.

Fan Wenxuan had finished giving lessons to Zhuang Qingsui and Zhuang Mingli.

Seeing that Fan Wenxuan did not intend to leave immediately, Zhuang Qingning invited him to stay for lunch and asked him what he would like to eat.

“Just now, I heard you talking to that Cheng boy about sweet potato glass noodles, and something about hot and sour noodles.”

Fan Wenxuan chuckled, “That hot and sour noodle sounds like a dish that would be sour, spicy and refreshing. Miss Zhuang, would you be able to prepare a bowl of hot and sour noodles for me to try?”

It was from the mention of the hot and sour noodles earlier that got the taste buds in Fan Wenxuan’s stomach excited, so he decided to stay and eat lunch.

“We have ready-made sweet potato noodles at home, so making hot and sour noodles is no problem. However, because people in the north are accustomed to eating staple foods, hot and sour noodles might not be filling. If we only eat hot and sour noodles, we might still feel hungry.”

Zhuang Qingning said, “How about I make you a few pancakes to go with it, how does that sound?”

“It’s up to you, Miss Zhuang.”

As long as he could enjoy the presumably appetizing hot and sour noodles, Fan Wenxuan did not care much about the other dishes..