“Brother Zhao, have a seat!” Li Menglan placed a wooden chair beside Zhao Qingyun. She had asked her youngest maternal uncle, Zhang Wenli, to model it after the bamboo chairs of later generations.
Zhao Qingyun curiously examined the wooden chair in his hands. “Lan’er, this chair looks quite unique. Was this idea yours?”
After spending time with her, Zhao Qingyun had discovered many strange-looking little things around Li Menglan’s home. Learning from the Li family that all of these were the handiwork of this little girl, the shock in his heart was imaginable. By now, he had gradually grown accustomed to the surprises Li Menglan brought him from time to time.
“Um… Brother Zhao, actually…” Li Menglan hesitated, unsure how to broach the subject with Zhao Qingyun.
Zhao Qingyun smiled slightly and said, “Lan’er, do you want to discuss something with Brother Zhao regarding the snails?” Zhao Qingyun had some skill in reading people and situations, and he estimated that whatever Li Menglan wanted to say was likely related to the snails.
Since Zhao Qingyun had already brought it up, Li Menglan no longer hesitated. She smiled generously and said, “Brother Zhao, you tasted these snails today. What do you think of the flavor?”
“The taste is truly quite excellent.” Zhao Qingyun nodded, raised an eyebrow, and smiled. “Oh… Lan’er, are you planning to sell the recipe for these snails to Brother Zhao?”
“Not just that.” Li Menglan did not hide her thoughts, instead admitting generously, “Besides the recipe for these spicy snails, there is also a recipe for snail noodles. I wonder if Brother Zhao might be interested?”
“Snail noodles? Are these the snail noodles you said you would make for us later?” Zhao Qingyun was quite interested in this.
Li Menglan nodded. “Brother Zhao, rest assured, the flavor of these snail noodles is also extremely delicious. You’ll know I wasn’t lying to you once you taste them later.”
“Naturally, Brother Zhao believes Lan’er would not deceive me.” Zhao Qingyun nodded and said, “How about this! Brother Zhao will buy the recipes for both the spicy snails and the snail noodles, but there is one condition…”
Li Menglan was startled. “A condition? What condition?”
Zhao Qingyun smiled slightly. “Lan’er, Brother Zhao hopes that all the snails required by our Zhao Ji Restaurant in the future, along with the related ingredients—for example, chopped chili peppers, chili sauce, Sichuan peppercorns… and the like—will be supplied entirely by your Li family. What do you think, Lan’er?”
Li Menglan was stunned… What did she think? What else could she think? This was essentially an intent to sign a long-term cooperation agreement with her! This was a huge pie falling from the sky. Anyone who didn’t agree would be a fool.
Li Menglan hesitated for a moment and said, “Brother Zhao, we can provide the snails right away, but… as for the chopped chili peppers and chili sauce… I’m afraid it won’t work this year. We don’t have many chili peppers ourselves this year; just barely enough for our own consumption. If you want them, you’ll probably have to wait until next year.”
“I see…” Li Menglan’s words caused Zhao Qingyun to fall into contemplation.
Seeing Zhao Qingyun’s expression, Li Menglan quickly said, “Brother Zhao, don’t worry… I guarantee I will plant more chili peppers next year, enough to supply Zhao Ji Restaurant’s needs.”
Zhao Qingyun frowned and said, “Lan’er, that’s not what I’m worried about… I’m thinking, if the snails aren’t prepared with chili sauce, chopped chili peppers, and such… won’t the flavor suffer greatly? Would people still enjoy eating them that way?” Zhao Qingyun voiced the concern in his heart.
“So that’s what Brother Zhao was worried about!” Li Menglan set down the heavy stone in her heart and let out a soft sigh of relief. “Brother Zhao, actually this isn’t very important. Originally, there weren’t many people in Qingshui Town who liked spicy food. Although the snails without chili peppers taste a bit milder, the fresh umami flavor is actually much richer than when chili is added. I believe many people will still enjoy eating them.”
“That’s good then.” Zhao Qingyun nodded, reached into his robes, and pulled out a stack of silver notes. From it, he selected six notes with a face value of one hundred taels each and placed them in Li Menglan’s hand. “Lan’er, last time the recipe for pork offal was three hundred taels of silver. This time, for the spicy snails and the snail noodles, Brother Zhao will likewise give you three hundred taels per recipe. What do you think, Lan’er?”
Such a grand gesture… The rich truly were different, actually carrying such a thick stack of silver notes on his person. How enviable!
Li Menglan smiled until her brows and eyes curved into crescents. Reaching out to take the silver notes he handed her, she said insincerely, “Brother Zhao, I’m sorry… for taking your silver. So greedy… so greedy…”
Money wasn’t everything, but without money, one could do nothing!
This saying, in any dynasty, whether a thousand years ago or a thousand years hence… could be considered a golden maxim.
At least in Li Menglan’s mind, now that her family had such a sum of wealth, they could live without worry for clothing and food in the future. Her life was secured!
Perhaps because she felt guilty after receiving so much silver from Zhao Qingyun, Li Menglan suddenly said to him, “Brother Zhao, if you trust Lan’er… let me offer you a suggestion.”
“Oh… Let’s hear it?”
“You don’t actually need to wait for a guest to order the snails before having the chef prepare them in the kitchen to be served.” Li Menglan recalled the snails, braised pig trotters, and other such items from the big supermarkets and braised food stalls of later generations…
“What do you mean?”
“Look… Brother Zhao, you could have someone set up a small counter near the main counter. On it, place already-prepared snails, braised pig trotters, braised pork tripe… and other such cooked dishes. This way—even if someone isn’t there to dine—they can still purchase a portion of braised dishes or snails from your Zhao Ji Restaurant to take home to satisfy their cravings or have a little treat?”
Li Menglan explained seriously to Zhao Qingyun, “Brother Zhao, what do you think of the method I just described? Would it suit Zhao Ji Restaurant?”
Zhao Qingyun thought carefully. Well… you really couldn’t deny it; this method was truly worth a try.
“Lan’er, Brother Zhao owes you a favor for this matter. I’ll have the manager set one up and try it out at Zhao Ji Restaurant later.” There was a hint of appreciation in Zhao Qingyun’s eyes as he looked at Li Menglan.
Sometimes Zhao Qingyun would have an illusion: Was Li Menglan really only ten years old? Many of her ideas made even adults feel inferior.
Li Menglan suddenly said to Zhao Qingyun with a bright smile, “By the way, Brother Zhao—how much do you plan to pay me per jin for those snails?”
They were familiar with each other, but some matters still needed to be laid out clearly.
Li Menglan’s question truly stumped Zhao Qingyun. These snails weren’t persimmon cakes or sugar-roasted chestnuts… The price was truly hard to set. Zhao Qingyun’s brows furrowed slightly.
Li Menglan smiled lightly. “Brother Zhao, how about this? You can just count the snails as five wen per jin. How does that sound?”
One must not be too greedy. She had already taken six hundred taels of silver from him for the two recipes; to ask for more… Li Menglan admitted she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Actually, five wen was already quite a lot. After all, snails weren’t anything rare; there were plenty of them in the Yun River. Li Menglan felt this price was very reasonable.
Li Menglan didn’t know that her words caused Zhao Qingyun to regard her even more highly. Just what kind of girl was she?
“Alright, we shall do as Lan’er suggests.” Zhao Qingyun looked at Li Menglan with a meaningful expression.
“Right, Brother Zhao, give me another twenty-four taels of silver!” Li Menglan stretched her hand toward Zhao Qingyun’s chest. “My family roasted another two hundred and ten jin of top-grade sugar-roasted chestnuts last night, and one hundred and twenty jin of second-grade ones. That’s twenty-four taels of silver in total—give it here! When you go home later, you can have them loaded onto your carriage and take them back.”
“You!” Zhao Qingyun listened to Li Menglan settling accounts so crisply while shaking his head. He counted out twenty-four taels of broken silver from his purse and dumped it all into her hand.
“Thank you!” Li Menglan gave him a brilliant, almost dazzling smile.