“Yeah right! You really think I’m so easy to fool ah! There’s no correlation between the customers who come to our Medicinal Cuisine House and your Zhenxiu Restaurant. Most of the people who come to Medicinal Cuisine House are focused on regulating their bodies. Who would be such a squanderer to frequently eat dishes that cost hundreds of taels for the sake of satisfying their appetite? Therefore, there are very few who come to Medicinal Cuisine House for the sole purpose of eating! There’s no impact to the business of Zhenxiu Restaurant at all, okay?” Yu Xiaocao stated the facts and rejected Third Young Master Zhou’s grievances.
Third Young Master Zhou had wanted to act pitiful and get some new recipes from Xiaocao, but his plan had been terminated by Xiaocao. With his relationship with Xiaocao, he didn’t have to beat around the bush. He directly stated his intention, and Xiaocao also generously gave him some recipes. No matter what, she was also considered a shareholder of Zhenxiu Restaurant. She invested with her recipes and received a rather impressive annual dividend!
The business of Medicinal Cuisine House was becoming increasingly prosperous, and there was exceeding demand for both in-store dining and takeout. Which one of those old generals and old ministers who had fought along the emperor emeritus didn’t have old injuries? Not only were the medications prescribed by the doctors in the past were too bitter to swallow, but they also weren’t very effective and couldn’t cure the root of the problem.
Since the opening of The Yu’s Medicinal Cuisine House, those filial sons and grandsons who had initially just wanted to let the elders in the family try out the medicinal meals noticed that the health of their grandfathers and fathers were becoming better day by day. Even their old injuries didn’t act up before the winter. They felt happy and were also willing to help advertise the medicinal cuisine restaurant for free.
The good reviews were spread far and wide. This was a period when filial piety was very important. As long as their family conditions permitted it, they didn’t mind spending a lot of money on ordering medicinal meals for the elders in the family to regulate their bodies. The women of this era would, more or less, suffer from some childbirth complications such as puerperal fever, blood deficiency, or menstruation problems. Therefore, there was excessive demand for Xiaocao’s medicinal meals, which could regulate women’s constitutions.
In response to the request made by the vast majority of the customers, the business of Medicinal Cuisine House expanded significantly after the New Year. The takeout service was separated, and the business was even better than the restaurant. The manpower that Xiaocao had initially reserved were now put to use, but they were still shorthanded. Thus, Yangliu began to train another group of medicinal chefs as stand-by.
The salary was related to the sales and quality of the medicinal meals, and Medicinal Cuisine House was blooming with business. Thus, although the medicinal chefs were tired, they beamed with smiles when they received their salaries. Some had even received up to nearly eight hundred taels in a month. One wouldn’t be able to find another place that offered a higher wage in the capital. Allegedly, Head Chef Wang, who had devoted himself to Zhenxiu Restaurant for nearly ten years, only received a monthly salary of five hundred taels.
The medicinal chefs of Medicinal Cuisine House had worked for half a year at most, yet they were already receiving such good benefits. Their enthusiasm for work increased even more, and they tried their best to show a good performance in front of Manager Yangliu, for fear that they would be replaced by the backup medicinal chefs if they didn’t work hard enough.
There would naturally be a lot of people envious of such a blooming business, but they could only be envious and make some sour remarks in private. ‘The Yu’s’ had a strong backing that others couldn’t afford to easily offend. Disregarding the fact that the boss of ‘The Yu’s’ was a royal princess personally conferred by the emperor, with her identity as the future wife of Royal Prince Yang, no one dared to offend her no matter how powerful and impudent they were in the capital. They were afraid that Royal Prince Yang would settle accounts with them when he returned!
Not to mention the backing of Royal Prince Yang, but from time to time, the emperor emeritus would visit Medicinal Cuisine House to eat ‘Buddha Jumps Over the Wall’. Imperial Prince Duan even specially reserved a private room at Medicinal Cuisine House and regarded the restaurant as his own kitchen. The emperor and empress would also occasionally travel incognito to dine at Medicinal Cuisine House…
Yu Xiaocao had finally experienced the feeling of ‘counting money until one’s hands got cramps’. Xiaocao was truly a rich little lady in the capital. She didn’t dare to call herself wealthy, but if there was a ranking for the richest people in the capital, she would definitely be in the top ten. Other tycoons had accumulated their wealth for generations, but she relied on her own efforts to create a legend in the capital’s business industry. Yu Xiaocao’s reputation had spread far and wide. From an old man in his eighties to a five-year-old child, there wasn’t anyone who didn’t know her name.
A year had unconsciously passed by in a hurry. The war in the northwest borders was also coming to an end. Royal Prince Yang had led the Great Ming Army to drive out the tribe in the western borders all the way to present-day Kazakhstan, and they no longer had the ability to confront the Great Ming Empire. There wouldn’t be a major war in the northwest borders for at least thirty years.
Since the war was coming to an end, it wasn’t too far from the date when Royal Prince Yang would return to the court. In the past year or so, the Yu Family had many happy events. First, the youngest son of the Yu Family placed first in the provincial exam. This youth, who was only fifteen years old, had become the first provincial official in Dongshan Village. This wasn’t just a happy occasion for the Yu Family, but it was a major event for the entire village.
Next was the marriage of Xiaocao’s eldest brother. In the spring of the year that Yu Hang turned nineteen, he married his long-time fiancée, Liu Huifang. The wedding ceremony was held at the Yu Family’s ancestral home in Dongshan Village. This was the first wedding of the Yu Family’s younger generation, so it was held in a grand manner. All of the officials, gentry, and merchants in the Tanggu area, as well as customers who had business relations with the Yu Family, had come to congratulate the happy occasion.
The heir of Imperial Prince Jing had even personally come to Tanggu for the occasion, giving face to his future in-laws. There were also a lot of people who had a good relationship with Yu Xiaocao, who had sent people to deliver valuable gifts to congratulate the marriage of the future head of the Yu Family.
The wedding banquet was held at the Zhenxiu Restaurant in Tanggu Town. Zhenxiu Restaurant was now the most popular restaurant in Tanggu, and its scale had expanded significantly. Many guests had come to the celebration, and it was just able to accommodate all of them.
Yu Hang’s wedding banquet had caused quite a stir in Tanggu. No one dared to look down on the Yu Family, who had come from a farmer’s background. No matter if it was their connections, financial resources, or material resources, the Yu Family was very outstanding in Tanggu. Many old noble households, who originally looked down on the Yu Family and just viewed them as nouveau riche, gradually made friends with the Yu Family and regarded them as people worthy of being friends with.
The relatives of the Yu Family had also come to Dongshan Village early to help prepare the first wedding for the younger generation of the Yu Family. After consuming the nourishing medicinal meals that Xiaocao sent over, Xiaocao’s maternal grandparents, who were almost seventy years old, had even healthier bodies than their fellow villagers, who were in their fifties. They didn’t have any health problems and were able to directly travel from home to Dongshan Village without any need to rest.
The three brothers of the Liu Family traveled between the prefectural city and the neighboring counties to deliver goods to various fruit and vegetable shops. There were the early-maturing vegetables in early spring, melons in late spring and early summer, various fruits in the fall, and out-of-season fruits and vegetables in the winter… They rarely had free time throughout the year.
At the beginning, the oldest son of the Liu Family was responsible for transporting the goods, the second son, who took care of the farmlands at home, occasionally helped out, and the third son worked on port construction at the harbor. As the work got busier, Second Maternal Uncle realized that transporting goods made much more money than farming at home. After helping out a few times, he opened up a new route and also started doing this business with a few horse carriages.
Later, when the port construction was completed, Third Maternal Uncle could only take on some casual jobs and became the person who earned the least in the family. Hence, Eldest Maternal Uncle invited him to help transport goods between the prefectural city and neighboring counties. In actuality, the business that they were doing was similar to the fruits and vegetable wholesale in later generations.
The Yu Family’s out-of-season vegetables were of high quality and had excellent taste, so they were naturally very popular! It wasn’t something that could be brought by just anyone! The three brothers of the Liu Family had the advantage of being able to obtain an unlimited supply of goods, so for the sake of convenience, the fruit and vegetable shops within the vicinity all got them to deliver the goods. Although it cost 20% more than getting the goods from the Yu Family directly, there were still some profits.
In order to attend her oldest nephew’s wedding, Xiaocao’s oldest paternal aunt handed the braised food shop and pickled vegetables shop to the steward working under her and arrived early in Dongshan Village to help out. Although the braised food shops still used the name ‘The Yu’s’, it had long become the property of Xiaocao’s oldest paternal aunt. The business of the braised food shop and pickled vegetables shop was so good that they opened several more branches in the prefectural city, and the business was thriving.
On the day of the wedding, an unexpected guest had appeared, which was Yu Hang’s younger paternal uncle, Yu Bo. After moving to the prefectural city, Yu Bo had changed his impetuous temperament. He had studied hard for three years and finally passed the county-level examinations. Madam Zhang relied on selling the braised food that she got from The Yu’s to support the whole family. They even had extra money to buy ten or so mu of farmland in the outskirts of the prefectural city, which they rented out to farmers who had no land.
Yu Bo clearly realized that with his skills, passing the county-level examinations was the most he could accomplish. He didn’t even need to think about passing the provincial examination. Thus, he opened a small private school in the south side of the city to teach young children and earn a small income.
It had been a long time since Yu Bo and Madam Zhang had appeared in front of the Yu Family. At this time, he had come to Yu Hang’s wedding with a gift. While it surprised the Yu Family, they also warmly welcomed him. Yu Bo was quite selfish in the past, but he had never done anything to harm Yu Hai’s family. His biggest mistake was to have Madam Zhang as his mother.
Not long after Yu Hang’s wedding, Zhuang Xiaomo prepared a grand gift and solemnly asked the Yu Family for Yu Xiaolian’s hand in marriage. Yu Xiaolian and Zhuang Xiaomo’s wedding was scheduled to be held in early winter. At this time, Zhuang Xiaomo no longer sold greenhouse fruits and vegetables. Instead, he had taken over the business of supplying seafood to the major restaurants in the capital.
At the beginning, it was because of the hot sale of ‘The Yu’s Medicinal Cuisine House’s’ signature dish, ‘Buddha Jumps Over the Wall’, which required a large supply of seafood. Since they had to find a supplier, they might as well hand it to Zhuang Xiaomo, who was the future son-in-law of the Yu Family.
Zhuang Xiaomo, who had been doing business in Tanggu for several years, knew quite a lot of people and had accumulated a decent amount of personal connections. In addition, when he used to gather seafood in the sea, he had made many friends in the seafood market and had many resources. Therefore, the seafood he purchased was the freshest and best quality in the market.
Third Young Master Zhou, who had inadvertently learned about this, also let him be in charge of supplying seafood to Zhenxiu Restaurant. Gradually, the reputation of Zhuang Xiaomo’s seafood supplying business had spread out. Many restaurants in the capital contacted him and were willing to work with him. A year and a half later, Zhuang Xiaomo, who was in his early twenties, had become the biggest seafood supplier in the capital.
