The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Business Prodigy

The round-faced youth downed three bowls in a row, only stopping when his stomach was taut and round.

As he handed fifteen cents to Hu Liang, he declared that he would be back again tomorrow.

With a finally successful start, both Hu Liang and Widow Xie were beaming. Hu Liang, his earlier despondency gone, returned to the front of the stall to solicit more customers.

The vendors at the neighboring stalls saw them as newcomers and didn’t pay them much mind at first.

But they couldn’t ignore his clever pitch. "An ancestral secret recipe!" "A delicacy you’ve never tried before!" Plus, every time he lifted the pot lid, a fragrant aroma would waft over from a great distance, making even them want to have a taste.

For a moment, many eyes drifted their way, both intentionally and unintentionally.

Hu Liang and Ji Huan were too busy to notice any of this; things were already starting to get hectic at their stall.

After the round-faced youth, several more students followed. Their reactions were much the same, and they even enthusiastically called over other classmates from the street.

Between those students and the customers drawn in by Hu Liang’s shouts, their few tables were nearly full in no time at all.

Hu Liang greeted the customers, Ji Huan filled the bowls, Widow Xie served them, Hu Dacheng wiped tables and cleared away used bowls and chopsticks, while Dabao sat on a low stool watching the fire, hugging his little lion, Simba.

They were busy, but with their tasks clearly divided, everything ran smoothly without a single mistake.

The rush lasted for about an hour. Once the students began trickling back to their academy, the street grew quiet again.

A few other customers, drawn in by Hu Liang’s earlier shouts, decided to take advantage of the lull to come and give it a try.

Ji Huan held up the empty pot for them to see. "Sorry, we’re all sold out. Please come early tomorrow. We’ll be right here."

Hearing that it had sold out so early only made them more convinced that the hot and spicy soup must be delicious. The less they could have it, the more they wanted it. They all vowed to come earlier the next day, begging them to save a portion.

Hu Liang, of course, agreed with a wide smile.

The group quickly packed up their things and prepared to head back.

As they passed the memorial arch at the town’s entrance, the woman who sold baskets was about to taunt them. But when she saw their pot was packed away and they were all beaming with joy, she held her tongue.

An old man selling straw mats asked Hu Liang, "You sold out this early?"

"That’s right, sir. We’re heading home now."

"Excellent, excellent! Business is really booming..."

On the way back, Hu Liang was both excited and regretful.

He was excited because they had a good start, which proved the hot and spicy soup was genuinely popular.

As for regret, it was because they had been too conservative. Fearing they wouldn’t sell anything on the first day, they hadn’t dared to prepare much, which meant they ran out before the demand was met.

"Looks like we’ll have to prepare twice as much tomorrow!" He was now full of energy and had gained boundless confidence.

But Ji Huan shook her head. "No. Tomorrow, we’ll make the same amount."

Hu Liang was stunned and didn’t quite understand. "When we left, none of the other stalls had packed up. Those students will need to eat lunch too. It’s such a shame to turn down business..."

Ji Huan had him look at Widow Xie and Dacheng. Although their faces were full of happiness, they couldn’t hide their exhaustion.

Dabao rode in the cart, but Widow Xie and the others had to walk both ways on their own two feet. They had woken up before dawn and hadn’t rested well at all.

If they had to wake up early and work late into the night, who knew how long they could last?

"Liangzi, you can’t get fat from one bite. And you can’t earn all the money in the world in a single day. Our health is what’s most important. What if someone collapses from exhaustion...?"

Hu Liang realized he had overlooked his family’s endurance. No matter how desperate he was to make money, he couldn’t let his mother and younger brother risk their health for it.

"You’re right. I..."

"And another thing..." Ji Huan cut him off. "No matter how delicious something is, you’ll get sick of it if you eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Selling out when we did this morning was just about perfect. After a few days, once business is truly established, we can increase the amount a bit at most, but not by too much. This serves two purposes: first, it keeps our customers hooked, and second, it prevents us from burning out the appeal of the hot and spicy soup."

’Limited supply—a marketing strategy countless modern businesses love to use.’

Hu Liang grasped her meaning. "You’re saying we should just focus on being a breakfast spot. Is this an example of ’what is rare is precious’?"

"You could put it that way."

’Hot and spicy soup is better as a breakfast food anyway,’ she thought. ’It’s definitely not filling enough for lunch.’

"Alright, we’ll do as you say."

’This was something Ji Huan admired about Hu Liang.’

’He didn’t follow others blindly and had his own ideas, yet he was still willing to listen to advice and correct his mistakes.’

’Everyone yearns for success, but even in his desperation, he wouldn’t sacrifice his family to get ahead. That alone made him someone worth helping.’

Returning home, they quickly ate the meal Ximei had left for them, then collapsed onto the kang and fell asleep, not waking until noon.

And the first thing they did after getting up was count the money.

A box full of copper coins, with a few small pieces of broken silver mixed in.

Widow Xie was bad at counting, Hu Dacheng couldn’t even count to a hundred, and Ji Huan found it tiring, so this thankless task naturally fell to Hu Liang.

But Hu Liang didn’t see it as a thankless task at all. To him, it was the best job in the world.

He gently ran his hand through the coins in the box for a moment before he finally started counting.

"One, two... ten, thirty... one hundred and fifty..." By the end of his counting, his mouth was agape.

"How much?" Widow Xie’s eyes went wide as she asked again.

"Two hundred and ten cents!" Forty-two bowls at five cents each—that was exactly two hundred and ten cents.

Hu Liang added joyfully, "At this rate, we can earn two taels in ten days, five or six taels in a month, maybe even close to ten taels! Besides, Wan said business will steadily improve, so we’ll only earn more."

"My heavens!" Widow Xie clapped her hands. "This is so much better than doing odd jobs!"

The room was filled with joyous celebration, so Ji Huan didn’t choose this moment to spoil the mood.

’She did a quick calculation in her head. Even though Hu Liang hadn’t factored in the cost of labor and daily ingredients, at this rate, they would break even in a month and a half at the latest. After that, it would be pure profit.’

’All in all, it was a surefire win.’

At the lunch table, Hu Liang was not too proud to ask for more advice.

He had been wondering all day why his initial calls of "hot and spicy soup" had little effect, while Ji Huan’s suggestion had managed to attract such a crowd.

Ji Huan swallowed the food in her mouth and asked him, "Just repeating the name ’hot and spicy soup’ over and over again... don’t you think that’s a bit bland?"

Hu Dacheng, gnawing on a steamed bun, took a jab at his brother. "Exactly. The guy selling buns next to us at least knows to shout about how his have ’thin wrappers and juicy fillings.’ All you do is yell ’hot and spicy soup, it’s good!’"

Hu Liang’s face flushed, and he made a move to hit him, but Dacheng dodged out of the way.

"When we’re selling snacks, especially something people don’t even know, your advertisement needs to include a few key pieces of information. First, you have to let customers know why they should eat our product. Second, you have to prove that our product is delicious. Third, if possible, try to include an extra benefit, because who doesn’t like a good deal?"

Hu Liang listened carefully, looking thoughtful.

"’Ancestral secret recipe’ and ’never tasted before’—those two points let the customer know why they should try our food: because it’s novel. And ’everyone who’s tried it loves it’ and ’money back if you don’t like it’ prove that our food is delicious, because it shows confidence."

Ji Huan nodded. ’He’s teachable.’

"So, what about the third point?"

"We’ll talk about that tomorrow. We can’t use all our tricks in one day."

Hu Liang was thoroughly impressed. "Wan, you’re a genius!"

Ji Huan put on an innocent face. "In business, if you don’t rely on being clever, what do you rely on? Being cute?"

"Cute?"

Ji Huan waved her chopsticks, changing the subject. "Just eat. We have more work to do later."

Everyone at the table stared at her in unison, their expressions filled with a hint of horror. "Do what?"

’Didn’t she say we could rest early...?’

Ji Huan calmly finished her soup and uttered two words: "Frying breadsticks."

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