bullyxtreme Chapter 127 Cool Grass
Chapter 127 Cool Grass
"It's delicious! You're planning to sell this, aren't you?" Aunt Li said confidently. It would be a shame not to sell such delicious water.
"That's right, Auntie, I'm planning to go to the county in a couple of days. This plum juice is a new product for us," Song Jiaojiao replied upon hearing her aunt's words, then seemed to remember something else.
"Auntie, is there a kind of grass by the Qingshui River that smells pungent but has a cool feeling when you rub the leaves?" Song Jiaojiao thought of mint; drinking a bowl of mint water in this season would be a good choice.
"You mean cool grass, right? There's plenty of it by the river and in the ditches, but nobody picks it. It doesn't taste good; it's bitter and pungent," Aunt Li said, wrinkling her nose.
"Auntie, those aren't for eating. The leaves are dried and used to make tea. It's very refreshing and has a cooling effect," Song Jiaojiao explained with a smile.
Aunt Li touched her nose and replied, "So that's how it is. It turns out we used the wrong method all along."
It's not entirely Aunt Li's fault. In this day and age, things are simply used for eating or using. If nothing else is mentioned, it's hard to imagine any other use for them.
Having gotten the answer they wanted, and after everyone had drunk their water, Song Jiaojiao took Xu Fang to the Qingshui River. Sure enough, there were large patches of mint growing there. Song Jiaojiao took a stick and tapped the mint bushes, knowing that snakes generally couldn't be in the mint, but she still wanted to be on the safe side.
After confirming it was safe, Song Jiaojiao and Xu Fang began picking mint. The two of them filled two large baskets, but they had only picked about a third of the mint plant, which showed how lush it was. Song Jiaojiao picked a few mint plants to plant by the pond. Mint is very resilient; it will grow a lot as long as it is near water.
On the way back, many people asked Song Jiaojiao why she picked this cool grass. Song Jiaojiao didn't hide anything and told everyone that it could be steeped in water to make a drink. Then, thinking that she could launch a new product later, she added that if they had time, they could pick more. She would buy dried mint for three coins per pound. She then told everyone to wash the mint before drying it.
Upon hearing that Song Jiaojiao was going to collect this cooling herb, many villagers began to pick it. Originally, there was a lot of mint by the river, but in just two or three days, it was almost all picked by the villagers.
After returning home, Song Jiaojiao handed the mint to Xu Fang to wash and dry, while she took the few mint plants she had just picked up and went to the barren mountain.
Two days later, Song Jiaojiao brought two hundred catties of sweet potato candy and all the jam she had cooked, along with the mint she had dried in the sun over the past two days, and a basket of fresh grapes, filling the carriage to the brim. There was almost no room for Song Jiaojiao to sit down.
First, she went to the town to meet up with Liu Xuewen. During this time, he had found many people to come and learn the skills. Once they had learned enough, they could start working in the nearby counties. With half of summer already gone, Liu Xuewen had been asking and urging Song Jiaojiao to go to the county. If it weren't for Song Jiaojiao's strong insistence on going with her to work in the county, Liu Xuewen would have set off on his own long ago.
In the afternoon, everyone arrived in the county and headed straight for Banrixian. Along the way, they saw many newly opened beverage shops, and even the layout of the shops was exactly the same as Banrixian. Several of them were even larger than Banrixian. Unsuspecting customers might have thought that these were the original ones.
The business at Banrixian was indeed affected, especially since the newly opened beverage shop across the street opened today and even had the same opening event, which stole a lot of Banrixian's business.
Mu Qing and the shop's employees looked at the worried faces across the street. Just then, Wang Shui saw Song Jiaojiao arrive and quickly called out, "Madam, you've arrived."
Mu Qing then looked up from the ledger and saw Song Jiaojiao's arrival, which brought tears to her eyes. No one knew how she had gotten through the past few days.
"Mother," Mu Qing called out to Song Jiaojiao with red eyes and a wronged expression.
"It's alright, Mom knows. There's not much business at the shop today, so let's just close down. We'll put up a notice that we'll be closed tomorrow, and we'll launch new products the day after tomorrow. When the new products are launched, all drinks and desserts will be 20% off," Song Jiaojiao comforted Mu Qing, holding her hand.
"But there are still so many milk teas left unsold today!" Mu Qing said worriedly. Because of the opening of the store across the street, many customers went there. Recently, more and more new beverage shops have opened in the county, so they didn't make much to begin with, and today they didn't even sell half of their stock.
“It’s alright. We’ve been making milk tea for so long, but we haven’t had a chance to taste it properly ourselves. We’ll just have some to drink today.” Song Jiaojiao waved her hand and said with a smile, “There’s something else I need to tell you. This is Liu Xuewen, the owner of Huichuntang. You can call him Uncle Liu. We’ll be partnering with him at Banrixian from now on, and he’ll be the owner of Banrixian.”
Song Jiaojiao introduced the man behind her to Mu Qing. Only then did Mu Qing notice that there were outsiders. Thinking of her appearance just now, she felt her blood rush to her head and blushed with embarrassment.
"Young Master Liu, this is my eldest daughter, Mu Qing. She's the one who runs Ban Ri Xian (Half-Day Leisure)." Song Jiaojiao introduced the two to each other.
Liu Xuewen looked at Mu Qing in front of him and felt that she looked very familiar, but he just couldn't remember where he had seen her before.
"Uncle Liu, I hope you will give me more guidance in the future." Mu Qing said generously after adjusting her emotions. Although she did not know her mother's intentions for the time being, she was sure that her mother would not waste half a day of her time.
Coming to his senses, Liu Xuewen quickly replied, "I dare not accept such praise. I will have to ask my niece Mu Qing to tell me everything she knows."
Mu Qing and Song Jiaojiao only share two similarities, but she looks remarkably like Wang Chi, as if they were cut from the same mold. If it weren't for the fact that her gender makes Mu Qing's face look more delicate, if she were dressed as a man, one would really think that Wang Chi had become younger.
"These people behind are the ones Young Master Liu brought to learn from. You should pass on everything you know to them. They will be in charge of running the other shops. From now on, you just need to research new recipes and then pass them on to them," Song Jiaojiao said to Mu Qing, pointing to the people behind Liu Xuewen.
"I understand, Mother." Mu Qing nodded to indicate that she understood.
"Alright, everyone, please sit down for a while. Muqing, bring out all the milk tea and let everyone try it first. We can't let our own people not know what our own products taste like."
Song Jiaojiao said with a smile, "Boss Liu, please have a seat too."
“Mrs. Song, we’ve started working together, we’re practically family now, so let’s not be so formal with each other. Mrs. Song is a few years older than me, so I’ll call you ‘sister,’ and you can just call me ‘brother,’” Liu Xuewen suggested with a smile.
Song Jiaojiao: ...Although I am older than you here, I am actually a few years younger than you according to the age I came from.