Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 93 - 0 Recipe

These past few days, many wealthy people have come to town to eat their tofu and bean cakes. Seeing well-dressed customers no longer surprises them, and they quickly serve tofu and bean cakes.

The guest with an affluent appearance ate very carefully, savoring each bite. He even opened the bag of seasoning spices, dipped a finger in it, and tasted it meticulously.

After a while, he told the shrewd-looking guest, "The flavor is fresh and aromatic, not overwhelming; this is the taste."

These two men were Manager Zeng and Chef Li from the Fugui Building in town. They knew about the business boom at the Gu Family’s tofu stall on the Lantern Festival day, but they dismissed it initially, thinking it was just cheap countryside goods unfit for refined circles.

However, after the Lantern Festival, the tofu stall’s business remained good, and many customers even bought their Fried Five-Spice Tofu and bean cakes to eat at their Fugui Building.

The scent was so strong; they could smell it from a great distance.

Manager Zeng had the Fugui Building staff buy several servings of Fried Five-Spice Tofu, bean cakes, and a few bags of seasoning spices. He and Chef Li both sampled them and even attempted to replicate the spices.

Strangely, though Chef Li tried for over ten days, he could never replicate the taste of the Gu Family’s seasoning spices.

Aunt Tian, seeing the two men eating carefully and whispering, grew worried, thinking they were dissatisfied with the taste of the tofu and bean cakes and might cause trouble?

Worrying, the shrewd-looking middle-aged man raised his head, scanned them, and finally gestured for Third Grandpa to come over.

Third Grandpa approached him, smiling, and asked, "What can I do for you, sir?"

Manager Zeng didn’t beat around the bush. He stated directly, "Your tofu and bean cakes, along with the spices, are quite good. We’re willing to offer thirty taels of silver to buy the recipes. What do you think?"

"Not a chance," Gu Jinli responded. "These are our family’s secret recipes, absolutely not for sale. If we sold them, our ancestors would blame us, their unworthy descendants."

Thirty taels of silver to buy her three recipes, what a joke?

They had been running the stall for half a month, earning at least three taels of silver per day, and even up to six at peak times. Now, the tofu stall made well over thirty taels; selling the recipes for just thirty taels would be foolish.

Hearing Gu Jinli’s response, Manager Zeng’s face fell, and he retorted with a sneer, "Are children running your household?" Are all the adults dead?

Third Grandpa bluntly replied, "Xiao Yu is indeed capable of managing this tofu stall."

The tofu, bean cakes, and spices were all Xiao Yu’s doing, so naturally, she had the final say.

Manager Zeng choked, not expecting Third Grandpa to respond that way, his face turning steely with rage.

Chef Li, fearing Manager Zeng might ruin the negotiations, quickly interjected with a smile, "Please don’t mind him, the old man is just hot-tempered like that."

He continued, "We genuinely want to buy your recipes. If the price isn’t right, we can discuss it further."

This tofu was unlike anything he had ever seen, and acquiring the recipes could mean a huge profit for Fugui Building.

Yet, Third Grandpa still said, "This is our family’s livelihood; we won’t sell."

Hearing this, Chef Li frowned, but he was more even-tempered than Manager Zeng and didn’t lose his temper. Instead, he nudged Manager Zeng, signaling him to raise the offer.

Manager Zeng then proposed, "Forty taels of silver, how about forty taels for your three recipes? This price is already quite high. You are refugees here in Da Feng Village, with no land; with these forty taels, you could buy some land."

He glared at Third Grandpa, his tone neutral but chilling, "This business isn’t easy to manage, peasants should stick to farming."

Third Grandpa and Gu Jinli frowned upon hearing this; the implication was that Manager Zeng had been looking into them.

Gu Jinli bluntly said, "Even if you offer a hundred taels, we won’t sell."

She pointed at the frying plate for tofu, "The method is simple, evident at a glance. If you want to sell this dish, you can buy plain tofu and spices from us and make it yourselves; it would be easier."

This was indeed a solution, but Fugui Building wanted exclusive rights to this new delicacy; they were not going to listen to Gu Jinli.

Seeing the negotiation fail, Manager Zeng stood up with an ugly expression and said, "Well then, keep your worthless recipe, but..." he sneered, "whether you can continue this business, will be up to God’s favor!"

After dropping this harsh line, Manager Zeng left with Chef Li, even sweeping the remaining tofu and bean cakes from the table to the floor, frightening Ms. Chu and Aunt Tian. They were clearly not going to let this go.

Father Luo was furious, yet he couldn’t chase after them and beat them up.

Third Grandpa’s eyebrows knitted tightly; after Manager Zeng and Chef Li left, he immediately took Gu Jinli to Xuanhu Fang, to inquire about Manager Zeng.

Upon hearing this, Elder Wu frowned and asked, "Did Zeng Da come to you?"

Third Grandpa nodded, "Yes, he wanted to buy our recipe, we refused, so he threatened us, probably wants to force our stand to close."

Elder Wu sighed, "This is troublesome, Zeng Da is a house slave of the County Magistrate Zou’s family, helping manage the affairs of Fugui Building in Qingfu Town, and holds quite some influence there."

Gu Jinli frowned, another mention of the County Magistrate, "What’s with this County Magistrate’s family, why are they involved in everything?"

The daughter of Old Master Lu from Da Feng Village was a concubine to the County Magistrate, and the owner of Fugui Building also belonged to the County Magistrate’s family; did their influence pervade the entire Tianfu County?

Elder Wu said, "The Zou family of the County Magistrate is a major clan in Tianfu County, residing there generation after generation, akin to local tyrants. Even the County Magistrate has to give face to them."

After all, the term of a County Magistrate is three years, but the County Magistrate is an Assistant Officer, who, if well connected, could serve a lifetime, practically dominating Tianfu County.

Hearing this, Third Grandpa got even more frightened and anxiously asked, "What do we do then? The County Magistrate’s family won’t really come to snatch our recipe, will they?"

If they really came to snatch it, they wouldn’t be able to protect it, and it might even cost lives from several families.

Damn it!

Gu Jinli inwardly cursed, invoking curses upon generations of the County Magistrate’s family, a murderous glint shining in her eyes. They better not target her tofu recipe, otherwise, she wouldn’t mind chopping them down.

In her past life, she had seen plenty of blood; she wouldn’t miss a drop from County Magistrate Zou.

And that Old Master Lu, if pushed too far, she wouldn’t hesitate to poison him and send his entire family to the afterlife!

Facing the worried face of Third Grandpa, Elder Wu had no immediate solution but to advise, "Don’t worry too much for now, people in this town know your connection with us at Xuanhu Fang, Zeng Da wouldn’t dare be too blatant. Relax and go back first."

Knowing they had already troubled Elder Wu enough, Third Grandpa felt embarrassed to bother him further and could only take Gu Jinli and leave.