The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 301: Paving the Way for the Eldest Grandson’s Exam (2)_1

Chapter 301: Chapter 301: Paving the Way for the Eldest Grandson’s Exam (2)_1

Pei Qin was discussing the matter of spicy pickled cabbage with the Store Manager of Moon Restaurant when she received another letter from him.

Earlier, he had thought it was just pickled cabbage, but who knew that the spicy pickled cabbage from Drunken Immortal Tavern sold so well? It was not only great with rice, but also had a delicious taste. Even though he knew that whatever Pei Qin made had her own secret recipe, he still couldn’t resist having the picklers at the tavern give it a try. But the spicy pickled cabbage they made was clearly different from the one sold by Pei Qin. After several attempts and ruining several jars of cabbage, they realized it wasn’t so easy. Despite the fact that the cabbage itself wasn’t worth much, the Drunken Immortal Tavern’s business had picked up, and while they were the first to sell winter bamboo shoots, they didn’t have spicy pickled cabbage, which affected their business as well.

But the Store Manager didn’t want to be swindled by Pei Qin again with such a cheap vegetable as cabbage, which is why he asked for a large quantity and was currently negotiating the price with her.

Cabbage was cheap, but making spicy pickled cabbage wasn’t just about smearing chili powder on it and letting it marinate for a few days; it required carefully prepared and applied chili sauce. Pei Qin had been amenable before, but after they tried and failed to make it themselves and came back to her, she insisted on setting her price—take it or leave it.

After reading Shen Songming’s letter, Pei Qin said to the Store Manager with a smile, "I’m really sorry, but there’s not much spicy pickled cabbage left at home, and the remaining jars have already been reserved!"

The Store Manager’s face darkened, "Ms. Pei! We do business together often, and we have a deep relationship..."

Pei Qin sighed, "We’ve planted on someone else’s land, and they’ve asked for the spicy pickled cabbage. This letter isn’t from today; it was sent from Capital Jingcheng over ten days ago. If I give the rest to you, I wouldn’t be able to explain myself on their side!"

Seeing that Drunken Immortal Tavern couldn’t figure out the recipe, they ordered a large amount all at once to prevent Moon Restaurant from buying any. In winter there were few vegetables; Pei Qin wanted to keep some for her own family to eat and to give away as New Year gifts, so she really didn’t have many jars left.

The Store Manager was very annoyed inside. Drunken Immortal Tavern had bought so much spicy pickled cabbage and would rather not sell any leftovers than let Moon Restaurant have any. This was to compete against them and take away business! And Pei Qin, growing sweet potatoes, wasn’t in need of silver money, and yet she had set such a steep price. Drunkard’s Peanuts had scammed them until now, and this spicy pickled cabbage was set to do the same. Who knew what else she would come up with in the future! They couldn’t always be outsmarted by her, could they?

Looking at her cheerful demeanor, the Store Manager felt somewhat helpless. Young Master Shen, a personage of Capital Jingcheng, also carrying a reputation for his achievements and seemingly well-acquainted with the County Magistrate, wanted so many jars of spicy pickled cabbage to be sent to the capital, and certainly couldn’t eat it all himself. He had negotiated with Pei Qin, hoping she could send fewer jars to Capital Jingcheng and leave a few for Moon Restaurant, and he asked her to rush another batch of spicy pickled cabbage for Moon Restaurant.

Pei Qin didn’t really want to do it. Although the process was simple, it was time-consuming, and going around collecting more cabbage now would keep her busy until the New Year. She had to monitor the temperature of the soy sauce she was preparing in advance, not to mention the workshop, where people were bringing in beans to extract oil. She had said she would pay for the bean cakes instead of oil extraction fees, so those not paying for oil had their bean cakes left behind.

Poor households, realizing that soybeans could also be pressed for oil, took the opportunity of pressing oil for free without the need for the bean cakes. Most of the people left their bean cakes behind in the workshop, which she was going to use to make fermented bean sauce.

She really didn’t have any spare time for making more spicy pickled cabbage. Since Shen Songming wanted two jars, she sold the remaining six large jars to Moon Restaurant and kept the other three smaller ones for her own family.

The Store Manager paid the Silver money and went back to arrange for someone to pick up the spicy pickled cabbage. He got no discount, and if there was none for sale later, he would still be grateful. He couldn’t help but think, if Pei Qin came up with something new in the future, should he secure it with a high bid first?

Pei Qin welcomed them to reserve soy sauce, since she produced plenty—more than any single household could use. She intended to run the soy sauce workshop for the long term.