CHAPTER 69: CHAPTER 69: WOMEN’S TEA GARDEN

Good news doesn’t leave the house, but bad news travels a thousand miles.

There was an incident at the pier, and every household knew about it.

"At the Xiao Family Pier, these porters are all under the management of the Xiao family, specifically handled by Sixth Master Xiao."

Zhao Minghua had come to urge the delivery of pastries, unaware of when his tea house would finally have pastries to accompany the tea.

Naturally, they talked about the current hot topic: the big incident at the pier.

"Can these porters get any compensation?"

Losing the breadwinner of the family is truly a disaster.

Chun Nuan, having experienced hardships due to her grandfather’s incident and her father’s exile, deeply understood the difficulty of such a situation.

"Because of the compensation issue, Third Master Xiao and Sixth Master Xiao got into an argument."

There was compensation, after all, it was a matter of life and death.

However, there was no fixed amount for how much it should be.

"Third Master Xiao said it was those porters’ own improper operations, so one tael of silver per person as a funeral expense suffices," Zhao Minghua said. "Third Master Xiao is like an iron rooster, only taking in, never giving out."

"So how much did Sixth Master Xiao say to compensate?"

"I didn’t hear a specific amount, but the two of them started arguing, even to the point of banging tables and kicking chairs, and eventually, they went to find their father to resolve it."

"Did these porters sign a contract with the Xiao family?"

"The Xiao family wouldn’t be so foolish. How could they sign a contract with the porters? Signing a contract means they have to pay monthly wages," Zhao Minghua said. "The Xiao family is just managing, like those who sell things at Xiao Family Pier, they pay a management fee, a certain amount per ship, take away a portion, and the rest is for the porters to divide among themselves."

"What do they manage?"

"They manage the money, the shipowners only deal with them."

In fact, it’s basically daylight robbery!

"When the incident happened, Third Master Xiao thought that offering two taels of silver as funeral expenses was already generous," Zhao Minghua said. "He even said that since the porters’ bodies couldn’t be found, they saved on burial expenses, so the two taels of silver were purely a gift."

Chun Nuan felt that the Xiao family was truly a local tyrant, dominating the area like bandits.

Taking everything they can, scraping oil from a chicken’s foot.

When her great-grandfather and grandfather worked hard to support this family, they couldn’t have imagined that they were raising a tiger that would bring trouble one day, right?

"Let’s not talk about others, let’s talk about the matter of pastries for my tea house," Zhao Minghua said. "When can we officially start supplying?"

"Didn’t I say before that I would provide the technology and manpower, and you would be responsible for the funds?"

"That’s what we agreed on, so whatever you need to buy or however much it costs, just let me know."

Zhao Minghua was now not afraid of Chun Nuan speaking up, but afraid that she wouldn’t. One must be willing to risk it to see results. Seeing how prosperous the business at the Origin Tea House across the street was, he deeply understood the remarkable talents of the young lady in front of him.

"Then I’ll write down all the raw materials needed for you, and then I’ll prepare the formulas and teach two people how to make the pastries at your tea house."

The most important thing is that these two people should ideally be from your own family, to ensure the formulas remain confidential.

But who would be suitable to send?

Chun Nuan hadn’t discussed this with her family yet.

"Missy, hurry up," Zhao Minghua said anxiously, a slip of the tongue revealing his street expressions.

He immediately wanted to slap his own mouth.

Talking like this in front of an unmarried lady is indeed a bit frivolous!

"Your grandaunt is old, naturally she’s slower," Chun Nuan said with a smile. "As the saying goes, ’Haste makes waste,’ why the rush?"

"How can I not be anxious? Haven’t you seen how the Origin Tea House across the street is raking in money?" Xiao Minghua finally dropped his pretense of being refined. "Missy, although you earn dividends from the Origin Tea House, you need to do the math. You get a twenty percent profit here with me, earning twice as much as there. Why aren’t you in a hurry? Didn’t you say you were in urgent need of money? You should hurry up and earn it."

"Got it, I’ll go and earn it." Suddenly a bright idea popped into Chun Nuan’s mind: "I just thought of a way to make money."

"What way?"

"Will you still give me twenty percent?"

"Twenty percent, twenty percent, it won’t change at all."

"Okay, is the second floor of your tea house still vacant in some rooms?"

"That’s the case."

"Let me tell you..." Chun Nuan explained her idea, but Zhao Minghua wasn’t very excited, feeling rather puzzled.

"Can women really drink tea?" Zhao Minghua asked. "I’ve never heard of such a thing."

Even if women wanted to drink tea, they would do so in their own gardens, not at a tea house.

"Aren’t you, Mr. Zhao, a particularly independent and bold young man? You had the guts to open such a big tea house behind your parents’ backs at such a young age. Don’t you want to make money? As long as it makes money, why worry about being the first to open a Women’s Tea Garden?"

"I’m not afraid of opening it, I’m afraid that after opening it, no one will come."

Then wouldn’t that be a complete waste?

"Even the best wine fears isolation," Chun Nuan said. "Opening a tea house requires advertising. The most important point is that our tea can beautify the skin, cure insomnia, cure..."

Oops, she nearly mentioned regulating menstruation, well, there’s a difference between men and women, after all, the person in front is a young man, better keep that to herself.

"Miss Xiao, you might as well claim it cures all ailments."

Well, he didn’t believe anything she said at all.

"Do you know why the herbal tea across the street sells so well?"

Yes, he went to try it, it was refreshing, and very satisfying to drink.

"Do you know how many varieties of herbal tea there are across the street and their effects?"

Zhao Minghua... he had done his homework, indeed different herbal teas had different effects and contraindications.

"The tea for women is different from the herbal tea recipes," Chun Nuan said. "Moreover, as the weather turns cooler, the business for herbal tea across the street will decline."

Indeed, who would want to drink a belly full of cold stuff in the dead of winter.

"Mr. Zhao, you only need to remember that I am someone who knows how to process medicinal materials and understands pharmacology. What kind of formula I come up with and its effects, I know crystal clear, and whether we can make money or not will all depend on your management skills."

Zhao Minghua blinked, feeling that what she said made a lot of sense.

"Alright, I’ll go back and get those rooms on the second floor ready tomorrow to open a Women’s Tea Garden."

"Also, you need to find some capable girls to work as servers."

This... is yet another pioneering task.

"Since the women who come to drink tea are ladies, madams, young mistresses and brides, do you think it’s appropriate to have a male server there?"

Zhao Minghua nodded, he understood!

Leaving Chun Nuan’s courtyard, Zhao Minghua gazed at the sunset, feeling like he was seeing gold scattered all over the ground: yes, he was truly energized!

He knew it, Zhao Minghua was a business genius, out of so many people, only he realized the uniqueness of this young lady, and casual talks truly turned into business opportunities, bringing a chance for fortune.

Yes, Chun Nuan said to find some pretty and capable girls as servers, this matter still needed to be discussed with his mother.

"What did you say?" Mrs. Zhou widened her eyes. Her playful and unrestrained son had truly become sensible and wanted beautiful young girls?

That wasn’t right, so young, how could he be so greedy, wanting one is understandable, but five, this... no, no, this body can’t handle it.