CHAPTER 666: [660] QING CHUAN CHENG WANGFEI 29 (3 MORE UPDATES)

Considering the feedback from customers over the past few months, the restaurant and teahouse had thrived like never before through her transformation, and now, all the shopkeepers were thoroughly convinced.

As for the original iron shop, she turned it into a pancake shop. It might seem simple selling pancakes, but if done right, they could be surprisingly victorious.

The location of the iron shop wasn’t exactly prime, and most of the residents nearby were commoners, with a predominance of food shops in the vicinity. Opening a shop in this area, where clustering was common, was even more imperative where there were an abundance of restaurants and food vendors.

Especially since these pancakes were delicious, they could attract everyone on the street.

She designed two types of stoves. One was for hanging stove pancakes, round-shaped. The top held the pancakes, and beneath was a charcoal fire. After baking, you’d cut into them, spread some sweet bean sauce, chili sauce, and add some tofu skin and egg. Oh, the flavor was heavenly.

Besides using vegetables, it could also contain crispy, crunchy snacks, particularly characteristic of Kaifeng.

The other stove was a pull-out iron stove, larger compared to the hanging stove, with five or six levels. First, the pancakes were par-baked on the iron plate, then pulled open a drawer to bake them with fire. These pancakes were crispy outside and tender inside, incredibly fragrant, and while hot, it was hard to stop eating.

Moreover, it was also possible to stir-fry some vegetables on the iron plate—shredded potatoes, shredded carrots, and bean sprouts. Just mix them slightly, sprinkled with some spices, and stuffed into the pancakes, they were delicious.

She arranged for Yun Mi’s trusted family retainers to learn and teach these two methods. Since the iron shop was quite large, she also specifically prepared a variety of cold dishes for stuffing in the pancakes. The two types of pancakes and their respective ways of eating had already attracted enough people to come and taste. One copper coin for a pancake, and with two copper coins, you could add vegetables and be full—a great bargain!

The iron shop still had space, but she wasn’t in a rush to do anything else. She let them carry on, and after the summer passed, when business improved and a good reputation was built, she would have them try making a thousand-layer pancake, hand-grasped pancake, egg pancake, etc. In essence, as long as there were ideas in mind, implementation was not difficult.

Pharmacy, cloth shop, grain shop, and gambling house didn’t need transformation; their success depended solely on Yun Mi’s own connections.

Restaurant, teahouse, pancake shop were her points of focus, and the rouge shop and embroidery shop had already garnered a specific clientele, so they didn’t need much of her attention.

However, she had learned some beauty and health Medicine Pills previously, and it was quite appropriate to sell these in the rouge shop.

At the embroidery shop, she showed her designed bellybands to the embroidery ladies, which resulted in a design combining covers and bellybands. However, this was rather difficult to make and therefore expensive, so not many people inquired about it, but anyone who bought one usually came back for a second, especially since her embroidery ladies had improved them to include support functions, ensuring they wouldn’t be unsold.

In just six months, she had gained considerable admiration from all the shopkeepers through her cleverness and intelligence, and they followed her more devotedly than ever.

After stabilizing the business, she began focusing more on the farm’s cultivation and even had the shopkeepers seek out some rare and exotic seeds.

In fact, by the Qing Dynasty, all necessary seeds were available; what mattered was how you planted them and made use of them properly.

"For example, who would eat these wild vegetables under normal conditions? Would those nobles eat them?"

But the shepherd’s purse stuffed dumplings at her restaurant sold like hotcakes.

Watermelons were rare due to their low production. Why was the production low? Because they didn’t know that watermelons should be planted in sandy soil, so her family’s first watermelon harvest was a huge success.

Moreover, when planting sweet potatoes, she instructed that the roots should be planted horizontally, not vertically, and trenches needed to be dug. It was also necessary not to water too frequently. At first, the long-term workers at the farm were skeptical of her methods; she said little, simply dividing the fields into two parts--one planted their way, and the other planted her way. At harvest, her field yielded over five hundred more pounds of sweet potatoes than the other, leaving the workers astounded.

Afterward, she made dried sweet potatoes, sweet potato starch, and glass noodles from sweet potatoes, providing a variety of ingredients to the restaurant in creative ways.

Under her competent management, by the end of the twelfth year of Yong Zheng, they had earned nearly five thousand taels more silver than under Yun Mi’s management.

While amazed at her business genius, Yun Mi trusted her even more, almost giving her full control of the internal affairs and the middle treasury.

Usually, Xiyuan was very busy—except for essential social gatherings, she gracefully declined general ones, which she dared do only under Yun Mi’s affection.

He didn’t need her to solidify any power; merely the favoritism shown to him by Yong Zheng and Hongli was enough to make others curry favor with them, eliminating any need for them to seek others’ favor. So, the couple was busy with their own work, spending evenings together exercising to keep fit.

Generally, Yun Mi went out to handle affairs with Hongli while she dedicated herself to making money, devising ideas, and discovering new things and new foods.

Since adding cakes, various flavored milk teas, and Spicy Hot Pot to the menu at the teahouse, its popularity soared, becoming a sensation. Many maids from wealthy families lined up daily to buy these for their masters. Later on, she also introduced various nutritious medicated porridges, which were very popular as well.

Therefore, whenever she attended gatherings hosted by noblewomen, someone would always mention her teahouse. She, however, kept a low profile and never revealed that it belonged to Prince Cheng’s Mansion; Yun Mi, too, protected this information well. However, there are no impenetrable walls under heaven; there were plenty with more power and influence than Yun Mi, so uncovering the teahouse’s secret owner was not difficult.

Since then, more people started sending visiting cards to their home, and she became the highlight of every gathering she attended.

Xiyuan, no matter when, always carried herself calmly and politely with everyone, not offending anyone, but also not actively agreeing to anything. Thus, she gained a reputation as being difficult to deal with.

However, she didn’t care—as long as her man knew what kind of person she was.

Yun Mi never reproached her for it either, as she had once said,

"Why should I expend energy dealing with people who have nothing to do with me? You say, if I take the time from these social interactions to focus on researching food and drinks for my Prince to enjoy, wouldn’t that be delightful?"

Yun Mi seemed very satisfied with her reasoning. Moreover, due to her capabilities, everyone in Prince Manor had gained weight, and those who performed well and had siblings of good character could secure good jobs. The cohesion within Prince Manor had improved, elevating her status as Princess Consort even further.