Transmigration: A Farm Girl’s Brocade
Chapter 120 Cooperation_1

Chapter 120: Chapter 120 Cooperation_1

Qian Yixiu could only say, "We still have Monkey Brother, it might just bring back some treasures again." Her voice then lowered, speaking with little confidence, "Isn’t there also Dashan’s husband, White Wolf?"

Qian Sangui said, "That is something that cannot be sought. Perhaps there will never be such good fortune again. Didn’t your brother just teach you about ’waiting for a rabbit by a stump’ yesterday, and you’ve already forgotten?"

Ever since the little boy started school, he often taught his sister how to read and told her stories.

Just as Qian Yixiu was feeling defeated, Cheng Yue spoke up, "Yueyue agrees with Yixiu’s method."

Cheng Yue’s words deeply moved the isolated Qian Yixiu.

Lady Wu said angrily, "Do you even know what method Yixiu is talking about?"

Pouting, Cheng Yue said, "As long as it’s something Yixiu says, no matter what the method is, it’s a good one."

Despite her little mother firmly taking her side, with three votes against two, Qian Yixiu was temporarily defeated. She thought about winning over her little brother when he came back.

However, when Qian Yijin returned and heard about the matter, he stood on the same front as Qian Sangui and the others.

He said, "Sister, you are overthinking, which just hinders you. The pastry shop isn’t big, and our foundation isn’t there; not only can it make money to solve our immediate difficulties, but it can also test people’s hearts. How good is that?"

Right, if everyone is of one mind, there could be more cooperation in the future. If everyone has their own ulterior motives, then there will be less cooperation.

Oh my god, this little rascal is even thinking further ahead than auntie, a true child prodigy.

Qian Yixiu felt somewhat ashamed, for ever since she came to this world, she had been timid in everything she did, not nearly as thoughtful as this little kid.

However, having so many ideas at the age of six seemed a bit too precocious.

Not only was Qian Yixiu openly staring at him, but Qian Sangui and Lady Wu also nodded in approval.

After reaching an agreement, they began to take action.

This era also had ovens; in fact, they were braziers. Wealthy families used copper braziers, while ordinary pastry shops used iron or clay braziers. They spent three taels of silver to buy a simple brazier in the county town and installed it in an empty room in the large courtyard.

Qian Yixiu, along with Lady Wu and Lady Wei and her daughter, went to the pastry room every day to fiddle with making pastries, and Qian Manxia would occasionally go help and learn a bit in passing.

As a ghost, Qian Yixiu had sneaked into Guisheng Garden’s pastry workshop for a month straight, diligently learning the craft each night.

Guisheng Garden was the best pastry shop in all of Ji’an Province, with their peach crisps, mung bean cakes, copper gong pastries, almond crisps, and tiger skin peanut candies greatly loved by all. Their branches not only covered Ji’an Province but had also expanded to Capital City.

Qian Yixiu borrowed a tactic from some pharmaceutical companies in her previous life, repackaging and renaming an old drug to turn it into a new product. She took the pastries she had learned to make and changed their appearance and names to become her family’s signature products.

For instance, she turned round peach crisps into square-shaped ones, called Golden Crisps. She added patterns to mung bean cakes and renamed them Emerald Flower Cakes. She mixed some rose water into white crystal cakes and renamed them Glazed Jelly...

Qian Yixiu guiltily thought, was she a corporate spy? Taking advantage of her unique form, she had stolen Guisheng Garden’s core techniques. If this were her previous life, she might have faced a lawsuit. But in this era, there was no such thing as patents.

In her previous life, Qian Yixiu also enjoyed making pastries in her spare time, but many ingredients in this world were not available.

She made use of whatever resources she could and came up with a mix of old and new desserts, like a biscuit series, sweet rings, wife cakes (akin to the wife cakes of her previous life), and lollipops, which became the distinctive new products of her shop.

The cake wouldn’t be prepared at this time anyway, as she considered it a secret weapon for later, planning to astonish Ji’an Province and even Capital City with a cream cake. In such a rural area, these dozen or so varieties were already more than enough.

She didn’t want her family involved initially and had casually come up with a few recipes, but now that her family was to participate, she devoted her full attention to research and trial baking.

Lady Wei had worked in her grandmother-in-law’s small kitchen when she was young and only left the manor after marrying Qian Hua. A clever woman, she also had quite a few ideas of her own and offered numerous constructive suggestions.

Half a month later, in the afternoon, when Qian Yijin returned home, Qian Yixiu called everyone in the household, including several servants, into the main room and laid out a dozen or so desserts and candies on the table for everyone to taste.

The desserts were a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate and received praise from everyone.

Qian Yixiu asked Qian Hua, who was not very talkative, "Uncle Hua, what do you think?"

Qian Hua nodded and said, "Good, some of these can’t even be found in Capital City. They will surely sell well."

She then turned to her little mother and asked, "Mom, do you think they taste good?"

"Mmm, delicious," Cheng Yue also nodded and said.

These two were the most authoritative in their opinions. Since they both found the desserts delicious, it seemed they were a success.

Qian Yixiu then announced the name of each dessert.

Qian Manxia exclaimed happily, "Yixiu is really creative; these names sound so nice!"

When Qian Yixiu said the words "Wife’s Cake," everyone burst into laughter. Lady Wu complained, "What kind of name is that? It sounds awful, change it, change it."

Qian Yixiu had no choice but to change Wife’s Cake to Five-Nut Crisp. She thought to herself, fortunately, she hadn’t called it Wife’s Crisp, or she would surely be beaten.

After dinner, Qian Sangui had someone call over all members of the big and second rooms to their home, had them taste the plateful of desserts and candies, and asked, "How about it, do they taste good?"

Of course, all of them said the treats were delicious; after all, they had never tasted such fine desserts before.

Old woman Qian said, "They’re even better than the desserts sent over from Old Master Zhang’s house in the county town. Plus, the little shapes are quite appealing."

Lady Tang in particular swallowed an Emerald Flower Cake in one bite and ended up with her face turning red from choking.

Qian Sangui then announced that the desserts were all made by Lady Wei and that they didn’t want her skill to go unrecognized. Therefore, the family was thinking of opening a dessert shop and asked if they would like to join.

"Do you even need to ask? Of course, we’ll join," Lady Tang spoke first, finding Qian Sangui’s question almost unnecessary.

Then, everyone expressed their willingness one after another, especially Qian Manchuan and Qian Manhe, who rubbed their hands together in anticipation of a big venture.

Qian Sangui proposed that the third branch provides the location, equipment, and technology, taking a 40% share. The big room, the second room, and the fourth room would each contribute three taels of silver for working capital and provide two laborers each, thereby each holding a 20% share.

Qian Sangui had already sent Huang Tie to Ji’an Province by ox cart two days earlier to deliver a letter to Qian Sigui. Upon reading the letter, Qian Sigui immediately expressed his willingness to join and mentioned that he could take charge of sales in Ji’an Province in the future. He also sent five taels of silver back with Huang Tie, reasoning that since his family was in Ji’an Province and they were contributing one less laborer, they would provide an additional two taels of silver for Qian Sangui to hire someone else to work.

When Lady Wang and Lady Tang heard they would hold half the shares compared to the third branch and still need to contribute three taels of silver and two laborers, they were reluctant.