Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 191 - 189: Winery takeover

Chapter 191: Chapter 189: Winery takeover

By the time Shen Chengyao returned with a big parcel of spiced donkey meat wrapped in oil paper, the dishes had just been served.

"This donkey meat is so delicious, even better than the one I had in the Imperial Capital! If only I could eat a piece every day!" Yun’er was enjoying her food.

Xiao’er tried a piece of the donkey meat and found it to be really good, no wonder so many people lined up to buy it!

"You’re the one who loves this stuff the most! You wish you could eat it every day! I think the pork jerky and beef jerky at home are even more delicious!" Mrs. Liu tried a piece and it was pretty good, but she preferred the dried meat at home.

"Of course, the dried meat at home is delicious; I eat several pieces every day. But sometimes I also want to try other things!"

"If you love it that much, should I go and buy the recipe? That couple wants to sell the recipe to pay for their son’s medical treatment, but they’re asking too much, and no one is buying."

"I say, you’re getting more and more indulgent towards the children, yet you deny it! Just because a child says she wants to eat it every day, you think about buying the recipe! Even if we had mountains of gold and silver at home, it’s not to be squandered like this, let alone the fact that we don’t have such wealth!"

Seeing her mother get angry, Yun’er stuck out her tongue and quickly lowered her head to eat.

"No, it’s not that. I just think this spiced donkey meat is very tasty. Our restaurant could do very well by adding this snack to the menu."

Hearing this, Xiao’er thought it would also be good to buy the recipe. Her family’s teahouse was planning to expand into major cities across the country, and no matter how expensive, it would eventually pay for itself.

Besides, this donkey meat is absolutely top-notch as a side dish with wine! When placed in a bar for sale, it would certainly sell well.

"How much silver are they asking for the recipe? Besides purchasing New Year goods, we came to the prefecture city this time also to see if there are suitable shops to buy for our supermarket and teahouse. Adding another dish to the teahouse menu would be a good thing!"

Hearing this, Mrs. Liu didn’t say anything else, this was indeed a serious matter.

"One piece of ginseng that is over five hundred years old."

Mrs. Tan took a breath when she heard this, "Ginseng that’s over five hundred years old! It’s worth at least a few thousand taels of silver. No wonder they say the asking price is high!"

"I don’t know if they could earn back the cost even if they sold this spiced beef for a lifetime." Liu Jingshu shook her head.

On hearing this, Mrs. Liu didn’t feel anything, as for those people’s hundred-year-old ginseng, and thousand-year-old ginseng, she didn’t know if they had any, but her family certainly had quite a few!

Her family has a special affinity with ginseng!

Xiao’er and her dad would stumble upon it from time to time, and then dig up one or two pieces to take home.

"It seems like they really want to sell the recipe to treat their son." Xiao’er said after hearing this.

"So, are we buying or not?" Mrs. Liu looked at Shen Chengyao and Xiao’er.

"Let’s buy it. I heard that the couple’s son is also a student at Juxian Academy, a classmate of our sons! This recipe for spiced beef, although not worth a piece of ginseng over five hundred years old, if this matter has come to our family, it may be fate."

Xiao’er gave no answer, ginseng over five hundred years old was, as a matter of fact, not really a big deal for her.

"If dad feels that we should buy it, then let’s buy it. We can bring a piece of ginseng from home later. I just heard someone mention a winery for sale, dad, let’s buy that winery!"

"A winery? Brewing good wine is not so easy." Although they make fruit wine and apple vinegar at home, which have been well received in the restaurant, good wine is not so easy to brew without a recipe, even with care a lot of grain can be wasted.

"I know, I have a recipe." Xiao’er could only say this.

Anyway, she would first learn it in her space, then take it out.

Hearing this, Shen Chengyao didn’t say anything more. Moreover, Xiao’er’s work has always been very steady.

After lunch, Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Tan went to buy New Year goods, and Xiao’er and Shen Chengyao went to buy the winery.

The winery is quite famous, and one could easily find the location by asking anyone on the street.

Arriving at the gate of the winery, the fragrance of wine was intoxicating, but the red paint on the door had peeled off, you could still imagine its former glory.

Perhaps after the owner of the winery lost his wife and children, he lost interest in managing the winery, Xiao’er thought.

Shen Chengyao walked over and knocked on the door.

An old voice rang out, "Who is it?"

"My surname is Shen, we are here to buy the winery." Shen Chengyao replied.

After waiting for a while, the door creaked open.

"Please come in, I will go and inform the master." An old man with a slight hunchback led them into a room and served tea.

In a short while, an old man with white hair appeared, he was probably not yet sixty but his hair was already full of silver strands, having been overly sorrowful it seemed.

"Are the two of you here to buy the winery?"

Shen Chengyao and Xiao’er stood up and bowed, "It is."

"Do you know that I’ll start the bidding for everything in this winery at 10,000 taels, but the wine recipe is not for sale?" His family’s wine recipe has been passed down through generations and is not shared outside the family. Now that he is the last of his lineage, he might as well take the recipe into his grave!

"We know."

"So, will you still buy it?"

"Yes, our family has its own wine recipe."

"Very well, let’s go to the Government Office now to handle the deed transfer!"

"Now?" So fast? He hasn’t even had a look at what is inside the winery, is it really worth 10,000 taels? Shen Chengyao was slightly taken aback.

"Yes, if not now then when? Do you still want to buy it or not? If not, then forget it." Either way, he would rather burn it all than cheaply sell it to those people!

Shen Chengyao glanced at Xiao’er, this seller’s attitude was quite a handful.

Xiao’er, on the other hand, could understand. A man ridden with despair wouldn’t bother about the trivialities of human relations.

"We have not even seen the winery yet, how can we know if it’s really worth 10,000 taels?" Xiao’er explained.

How troublesome! The winery owner furrowed his brows.

"The wines in my wine cellar alone are worth more than 10,000 taels. It’s up to you whether you want to buy it or not!"

Shen Chengyao was rendered speechless. What kind of person is this, saying that it’s worth more than 10,000 taels just like that?

He glanced at his daughter, 10,000 taels was no small sum. How could they buy like this? No wonder it hasn’t been sold yet.

Xiao’er nodded to Shen Chengyao. A person with nothing left to lose wouldn’t bother to fool others.

Shen Chengyao was a bit worried, but remembering Xiao’er’s words about investment risks and that business always had its losses and profits, and that the higher the risk, the bigger the returns, he decided to go ahead.

Shen Chengyao, having cleared his mind, nodded and said,"Fine, let’s go to the Government Office to get the deed transfer done."

For the first time, the winery owner raised his head to look at Shen Chengyao. This young man seemed to be lucky indeed.

His winery’s underground cellar held over fifty casks of hundred-year-old wine and well over a hundred casks aged over fifty years. Besides himself and his deceased wife and children, no one knew about this.

However, he said nothing and just walked out.

The three of them reached the Government Office and quickly completed the deed transfer. The Magistrate was even alerted to this matter.

Ordinarily, this matter wouldn’t bother the Magistrate, but a bailiff upon seeing Shen Chengyao’s seal recognized him as Marquis Shengping and immediately went to notify him.

"Marquis Shengping, Lady Rui’an, I hope you will bring your wife and children to my house to appreciate the plum blossoms tomorrow." The Magistrate enthusiastically invited.

Shen Chengyao nodded, "Sure, splendid invitation."

The Magistrate nodded at the door and did not see them out.

After knowing Shen Chengyao was Marquis Shengping, the winery owner didn’t seem surprised at all. He walked out of the county office, handed a bunch of keys to Shen Chengyao, and left after saying "Take care!".

As he was turning around, Xiao’er noticed the jade pendant hanging from his waist and hurriedly called out to him, "Wait!"