dognovel Chapter 124 Cooperation
Chapter 124 Cooperation
"Three days from now, we can produce about 300 catties a day. We haven't prepared much glutinous rice these past two days. We're just waiting to finalize the deal with Mr. Liu so that we can start mass production."
“Three hundred catties is indeed not much. Madam Song needs to increase production!” Liu Xuewen said with a smirk. With such a small amount, he had a hundred pastry shops in the entire Great Jin Kingdom, and each shop couldn’t even get three catties. It really wasn’t much.
"Boss Liu, you must understand the principle of scarcity making things valuable better than I do. It's not that I'm unwilling to increase production, it's just that we don't have enough manpower. I still have several workshops to manage," Song Jiaojiao said helplessly.
“That makes sense, but 300 jin is indeed a bit too little. It would be best if we could increase the amount.” After Liu Xuewen finished speaking, he saw that Song Jiaojiao did not speak and her face was expressionless. He knew that this matter would not be easy, so he changed the subject.
"Let's put this matter aside for now. I do have a collaboration I'd like to discuss with Madam Song."
Hearing this, Song Jiaojiao became somewhat interested, wondering what she had to offer that could entice Liu Xuewen.
"Oh? I don't know what kind of collaboration it is?"
"The other day, Madam Song invited me to try something new at Banrixian. I'm very interested. I wonder if I'll have the chance..."
Before Liu Xuewen could finish speaking, Song Jiaojiao's face darkened, and she interrupted him, "Boss Liu, are you perhaps looking for a free day? I'm sorry, we don't sell here, and we don't sell the recipe either."
Hearing Song Jiaojiao's direct refusal, Liu Xuewen knew that Song Jiaojiao had misunderstood his words. "Hey, Madam Song, I don't mean to ask for half a day of leisure, nor can I say that. I do want half a day of leisure, but not in the way you think."
Seeing Song Jiaojiao's face growing increasingly dark, Liu Xuewen became somewhat incoherent, his explanations becoming increasingly unclear.
"Hey, look at my mouth, I'll just say it straight. I want to cooperate with you to expand Banrixian and open branches all over the country. I'll provide the personnel and capital, and you'll provide the recipe. We'll split it 40/60, how about that?"
Song Jiaojiao then realized that she had misunderstood. Hearing Liu Xuewen's words, she couldn't help but ponder. Indeed, if she relied on her own strength to spread Banrixian throughout the entire Great Jin Kingdom, who knew how many years it would take? Now that a ready-made helper had come, it wasn't impossible to cooperate. In addition, Liu Xuewen's background was obviously not simple, probably even more valuable than the owner behind Sifanglou.
"Cooperation isn't out of the question, but who gets 40% and who gets 60% of the 40/60 split?"
Liu Xuewen laughed heartily, opened his fan and slowly waved it, "Of course it's four for you and six for me."
“Boss Liu should know better than anyone that whether a shop can open or not depends mainly on the quality of its products. All the recipes for the shop are provided by me, and I’m afraid I can’t agree to this ratio,” Song Jiaojiao said without any expression on her face.
Liu Xuewen stopped fanning himself and stretched his body towards the table. “Madam Song, you are mistaken. I have also tried all the food at Banri Xian these past two days. Although the milk tea is delicious, it is not impossible for someone with a discerning eye to replicate it. As far as I know, several shops in the county are now under renovation, and the layout inside is quite similar to Banri Xian.”
Hearing this, Song Jiaojiao was startled. It seemed she would have to hurry up and finish making the grape jam in the next couple of days. It was time to launch a new product. However, she remained calm and composed. "Is that all? If someone imitates a good product, it just means that it's selling well. That's a good thing. In that case, Tong'an County will probably become famous soon."
Seeing that Song Jiaojiao remained unhurried, Liu Xuewen raised his voice considerably, "This isn't a big deal. Do you know how many customers you'll lose once their shop opens?"
"Although Tongan County isn't large, it's not small either. My little shop really can't accommodate that many customers. Having someone help me share the burden makes the pressure much less." Song Jiaojiao still appeared nonchalant on the surface, but in her heart, she was thinking that she would have to go back and make the sour plum drink she mentioned last time.
Liu Xuewen said with a hint of disappointment, "Those people dare to bully Banrixian so blatantly because they see that you have no backing. You don't know, the nearest one is right across from Banrixian."
Seeing the furious Liu Xuewen in front of her, Song Jiaojiao thought that Banrixian belonged to him. Thinking of this, Song Jiaojiao laughed out loud, "Alright, I understand. Thank you for letting me know this, Boss Liu. I am not afraid of others imitating me. Banrixian's drinks are indeed simple now, but who says I only have these drinks? I want to see if I can come up with new drinks faster or if they can imitate me faster."
Upon hearing Song Jiaojiao's words, Liu Xuewen didn't say anything more, but instead brought up the previous topic, "Alright, alright, it's good that you know what you're doing. Let's not talk about that anymore. Let's talk about the cooperation. How about this, we both compromise and split it 50/50. I'll provide all the funding and personnel, and you just need to train the people."
Song Jiaojiao thought about it and realized that it wouldn't work, but the agreement needed to be written carefully.
"Okay, but I have one condition: all recipes from Banrixian must not appear in any other unrelated shops without my permission." Song Jiaojiao also planned to add some snacks to Banrixian to sell later.
Liu Xuewen didn't immediately agree, but instead asked with suspicion, "What? You're planning to do something different in your spare time?"
"You'll find out later. You've had milk tea before, but have you ever wondered where the ice in milk tea comes from?" Song Jiaojiao asked rhetorically.
Yes, it's definitely impossible for them to be stored up during the winter like his pastry shop. If you were to buy them, at the price that Banrixian sells milk tea for now, he would lose money.
"Could it be that Madam Song knows how to make ice?" Liu Xuewen asked incredulously.
Song Jiaojiao didn't say anything, but gave him a mysterious look.
No way?
Is it really as he thinks?
Based on the current price of Banrixian, it can be concluded that the cost of the ice-making recipe is definitely not too high.
Thinking of this, Liu Xuewen rubbed his hands together and said with a fawning smile, "Madam Song, look, we're practically family now. We shouldn't stand on ceremony. How about this, I'll give you 10% of the profits from my pastry shop, and you can use the recipes from my half-day off."
Song Jiaojiao's face darkened: Who said we're family...?
"Twenty percent, anything spared during half a day can be used by the pastry shop. Don't worry, Manager Liu, it will definitely give you a big surprise."
Liu Xuewen thought that he always made a lot of money from the things Song Jiaojiao brought. Although a 20% profit was not a small amount, it was not bad. Take the mochi from a while ago, for example. It has now become the store's treasure. People want to buy mochi every day. Later, when it was really difficult, they had to limit the sales every day. Even so, customers who wanted to order mochi were already booked for two months.