Chapter 334: Open a Few More Shops

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation               Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Su Binglan waited anxiously for Luo Jin’an to continue, but he did not say a thing. She pouted. “You always speak halfway. But what?”

Luo Jin’an sighed. “I don’t want you to wear it for others to seeo I only want you to wear it for me.”

These were his most genuine thoughts, and he ruffled Su Binglan’s hair as he spoke.

Su Binglan’s heart skipped a beat when she heard this. It was a simple sentence, but it was more moving than sweet words to her. Her lips instinctively curled upward, her eves forming crescent moons.

She leaned into Luo Jin’an’s arms and asked softly, “You don’t want me to wear it for others to see?” Her voice was soft and sweet when she spoke.

Luo Jin’an ruffled Su Binglan’s hair again and said lowly, “Yes, I don’t want that.”

“Why?” Su Binglan blinked her bright eyes. She wanted to hear Luo Jin’an say this. There was a sweet feeling in her heart when she heard it. She did not even realize how brightly she smiled.

Luo Jin’an let go of his wife slightly and lowered his head to look at her.

“What do you think?”

“If you don’t tell me, how would I know?” Su Binglan pretended not to know. She felt like she was not being unreasonable, but she was embarrassed. She just wanted to hear it from her husband.

Luo Jin’an did not answer her question but said, ‘You’ll find out in the future.” ‘That’s it?!’ Su Binglan thought Luo Jin’an would say something more than that, but he did not.

Just as Luo Jin’an let go of Su Binglan, Su Wenwu returned from outside. “Little Sister.”

Su Binglan’s hand, tugging at Luo Jin’an’s sleeve, quickly dropped, and she pretended to be kneading dough.

When Su Wenwu entered, he saw Su Binglan kneading dough and said, “Little Sister, you’re making desserts?”

“Yes, I’m making some desserts. Why are you home so early today?”

Usually, Su Wenwu would be busy until late at night. Sometimes, he would even eat in town. After all, Su Binglan had handed the hotpot restaurant over to him.

He poured a cup of water on the table and took a few sips before saying, “I’ll go back to the other village and tell Dazhuang to get more ingredients.”

Su Binglan frowned. “Are there not enough ingredients?”

“A group of merchants came to the pier this afternoon,” Su Wenwu said, “They’re not from around here, and they went to Teng He Town to try our hotpot. There were many people there, but the ingredients we prepared weren’t enough. I came back to tell you personally.”

Su Binglan was a little confused, “Were they foreigners?

Su Wenwu gulped a few more mouthfuls of water. He was busy and only drank a little water the entire day. Since he was returning to the village, he thought he might as well go home to drink water.

He didn’t know if it was just a psychological effect, but he felt the water at home was delicious and tasted sweet. It was excellent.

After drinking the water at home, he felt the fatigue in his body instantly disappear. No matter how much water he drank elsewhere, he would never feel that way.

Su Wenwu took a few sips of water and said, “Yes, they heard about our hotpot restaurant in Teng He Town and went there to try it. They ordered a lot of things, and it’s only been an afternoon, but there aren’t enough ingredients.”

“Our hotpot restaurant is famous now, Little Sister. The customers asked me several questions about our restaurant, but I didn’t say much.”

Su Wenwu had been through a lot in the outside world and learned to be more careful since he returned home. Nonetheless, if others asked him about things, especially about his sister, he would not say much.

After some thought, Su Binglan said, “Yes, we should treat them well, but there’s no need to say too much.”

Su Wenwu seemed to have thought of something and said sternly, “Little sister, do you think they’re here to learn how to make hotpot?”

“Don’t worry,” Su Binglan said, “They won’t be able to learn it even if you said anything. The cost of charcoal is high, and only we know the recipe for the seasonings.

“Even if others opened a hotpot restaurant, the taste of their hotpot will differ from ours. However, you’ve also reminded me that we can open a chain of hotpot restaurants in the future. Then everyone will know that it’s Su’s Hotpot.”

Su Wenwu needed help understanding what his sister meant. He looked at Su Binglan seriously and asked, “Sister, what’s a chain?”

“It means we’ll have many hotpot restaurants and name all of them Su l s Hotpot,” Su Binglan patiently explained.

“So that’s what you mean,” Su Wenwu said as he suddenly realized. “But our hotpot restaurant’s business is exceptional. We’re so busy that many people from far away places come to try our food.

“Many merchants came to our restaurant and said they would rest in town just for our hotpot. Otherwise, they would leave as soon as they finished their work. Sometimes, their ships won’t even stop at the dock.

“Many people from the surrounding villages have set up stalls by the dock to sell things because it’s easier to sell things with more people around. Our town feels much livelier than before.”

Su Wenwu could not help but laugh at this. He liked this lively feeling because it meant their town was better than before.

Su Binglan knew this was an economic effect.

“Our hotpot restaurant’s business is so good. It’ll be better if we open a few more.”

“It’s good to open more hotpot restaurants,” Su Binglan said, “But you have to arrange for trustworthy people to manage them. This way, we can just inspect them at any time?’

That suddenly lifted Su Wenwu’s spirit, and he began to think. “Sister, are you planning to open a hotpot restaurant in another city? If that’s the case, we don’t have enough staffing. We also need ingredients. We can’t transport them from here since it’s too troublesome.”

Su Binglan shook her head. “We won’t be transporting it from here. We’ll just buy the ingredients locally. But I’ll be swamped this way.

“Our town is quite extensive, so it’s better to develop in our town first. The weather is getting cold, and more people will eat hotpot. We can start preparing to open another hotpot restaurant east of the town.”

Su Wenwu laughed. “Then the people at the town’s east end will be delighted. A few of our regular customers are from the east. They said they must walk from the east to the west for our hotpot, which takes a long time.

“I can’t even go to the hot pot restaurant to eat when I’m busy. Sister, I think the east side of our town has more people, too.”

Su Binglan explained, “When I first opened the hotpot restaurant in the west, I was considering the rent. On the other hand, it was close to the village, so it was more convenient.

“But now that we’ve made a lot of money from the hotpot restaurant, we have more money on hand. We can rent a shop in the east because we can afford it now.”

Su Wenwu calculated inwardly and said, “That’s right. The shops on the east side are so expensive that they cost ten silver taels a month to rent. It was too expensive..”

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