The Chief Minister’s Ferocious Wife

245 Not Afraid That They Might Betray You?

“Also, some people from the Xia clan arrived in Yuanjiang County yesterday,” Yuan Hui told Zhao Chuchu about another piece of intel.” They are asking around in the city about you right now.”

“Who?”

“The fifth son of the Xia clan, Xia Chengxue. He is lazy and good-for-nothing, and his favorite place is the brothel. The first thing that he did after arriving in Yuanjiang City was to go to the red-light district. I think he didn’t start looking for you until at least three days later.”

“How many children does the Xia clan have other than him?”

“The eldest daughter is Xia Chenglan, the second son is Xia Chengzhu, the third daughter is Xia Chengxuan, the fourth daughter is Xia Chengqian, the fifth son is Xia Chengxue, the sixth son is Xia Chengrong, and the seventh son is Xia Chengfu. However, they are all useless, spoilt brats. I don’t think you need to worry about them.”

“If something actually happens, you have to help me.” Zhao Chuchu pretended to be afraid.

Yuan Hui thought that Zhao Chuchu was actually scared of going against the Xia clan. He said, “Xia Chengxue is a useless coward. He doesn’t stand a chance against you. Never mind; let’s not talk about this. There’s something else that I want to talk to you about.”

“What?”

“The tofu skin that you’re making. Although the Yuan clan primarily runs a salt business, we also do other things. Only the people of Guangqing Province know about tofu skin right now. The dynasty is massive, and there are many other places to sell the tofu skin.”

“So?”

“Since Guangqing is already occupied by the Visitor’s Aroma restaurant chain, why don’t you leave the sales of tofu skin in other areas to the Yuan clan?”

“You want to do business with me regarding tofu skin?”

“Yes, but not in Guangqing Province. What do you think, Chuchu?”

Zhao Chuchu said, “I would like to, but the production from the watermill workshop right now won’t be able to handle large orders like that. So I’m afraid I won’t be able to supply you with enough tofu skin.”

Yuan Hui laughed and said, “Have you not thought about opening watermill workshops elsewhere? Chuchu, the dynasty is vast. There are many places where you can make money. Imagine how many opportunities you miss by limiting yourself to Guangqing Province.”

“I don’t have the energy to operate such a massive business. So instead of being greedy and throwing myself into a spin, I would rather stay here and focus on Guangqing Province. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

“In that case, would you like to consider collaborating with me?”

“In what way? Yuan Hui, you should know that nothing in this world can be more attractive than profit. Even the best of friends can become enemies because of profits. Are you sure you want to do business together with me?” Zhao Chuchu asked.

“I know what you’re worried about. But Chuchu, have you thought about this before? Although you are competent, you don’t have a strong foundation. If you collaborate with the Yuan clan, you will have someone to back you up. I can’t guarantee you much, but I can assure you that if you do business with me, we won’t be hiding anything from each other.”

Yuan Hui smiled, then continued, “Actually, I’m also looking for a backup plan for myself because I’m not absolutely certain that I will be able to beat the other people from the Yuan clan. If I lose, at least I have a way out. Take it that I’m using the Yuan clan’s connections for my own benefit.

“Chuchu, this collaboration is between you and me, not the Yuan clan. Would you like to consider it?”

No one dislikes money, including Zhao Chuchu.

Although the deal with Visitor’s Aroma is still going very well, Visitor’s Aroma is only a restaurant. Therefore, there is a limit to how much goods they can digest. Zhao Chuchu didn’t have the time or energy to expand the business, while Niu Tongsheng and the others were doing something like this for the first time. They needed time to learn and grow.

But Yuan Hui was different. She had the support of the Yuan clan, which was a giant in the business world. She had access to connections and resources that would help grow the business way faster and on a larger scale than Zhao Chuchu.

Guangqing Province was sufficiently large for Lengshui village. The future of this business depended on Niu Tongsheng and the others.

Zhao Chuchu could teach them how to make money, but she wouldn’t do it for them.

“Alright, I agree with your proposal!” Zhao Chuchu said as she looked at Yuan Hui.

Yuan Hui smiled and said, “Chuchu, trust me; I won’t let you down.”

“Yup, I trust you,” Zhao Chuchu said with a smile as well. “But I need to tell the village chief about this to avoid misunderstandings. Yuan Hui, I want to leave the Guangqing Province to them.”

“I understand. I just want to make money, not cut off someone else’s fortune.”

Yuan Hui was well aware of what to avoid.

After Niu Tongsheng heard the proposal, he only asked Zhao Chuchu one thing, “Does that mean that Visitor’s Aroma would be sourcing tofu skin from your new shop?”

“No, the new shop won’t be in Guangqing province and won’t compete with the watermill workshop. So chief, don’t worry about it. Since I gave you the formula for making tofu skin, I won’t rob you of your business,” Zhao Chuchu explained.

Niu Tongsheng felt a little embarrassed. “I didn’t mean that. I was just thinking if you’re going to open a new shop in Guangqing, maybe my sons can follow you to gain more experience and learn from it.”

Yuan Hui said, “Absolutely, it’s just that the new shop won’t be located in Guangqing Province.”

“I see…” Niu Tong was a little hesitant. To be frank, he wanted his sons to go out and see the world. Perhaps they will find the right opportunity and profit from it. At the very least, they would be able to learn new things. But if it’s outside of Guangqing Province, it would be a little too far. Niu Tongsheng wasn’t completely ready to part from his children yet.

“I’ll discuss it with them later on. If they want to do it, would you let them follow you? I’m not trying to take advantage or anything; I just want my sons to see the world out there. I feel more at ease with Miss Yuan leading them.”

“I’m fine with it. What about you, Chuchu?”

“I’m fine as well.”

Niu Tongsheng smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll talk to them when I get home later.”

Niu Tongsheng had made up his mind. If his sons were willing to go, he’d tell Zhao Chuchu to pay them like the other workers that she’s hiring. They’ll do whatever work they need to do. There’s no harm in going out there and experiencing more things.

He didn’t want his sons and descendants to stay in this tiny village forever.

He couldn’t go out, so he wanted his sons and grandsons to go out.

Everyone should have ambitions.

Yuan Hui actually wanted to do more than sell tofu skin. She also wanted to expand the soybean business.

While she was in Lengshui village, Yuan Hui saw how big the market for soybeans could be. Although at the moment, the Wei Dynasty valued soybeans much less than rice and barley, there were very few people farming soybeans.

Yuan Hui was certain that Zhao Chuchu knew many other uses of soybeans; she just hadn’t revealed them yet.

Zhao Chuchu laughed when she said, “Yuan Hui, did you sneak inside my brain and steal all my thoughts?”

“You managed to come up with two foods made from soybeans that we had never seen before like it was nothing, and you planted so many soybeans yourself. If soybeans are really useless, there’s no way you would put so much effort into them. Although I’m not as capable as you, at least I grew up in the Yuan clan. So I have my own judgment of things like this.”

“You are right. I do know many other uses for soybeans. I even thought about renting farmland to plant more of it. But I thought about it and felt that this approach didn’t make sense. It’s much better to let people see the different ways to use and consume soybeans. That way, the number of people planting soybeans would increase naturally, and we wouldn’t be the only ones benefiting from it.”

“If it were other people, they would try their very best to hide it from everyone else. But you decided just to take it out and share it with everyone. Be honest, Chuchu, were you ever worried that they might betray you someday?”

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