It must be said that it was a good choice to set up the fried bun stall near the academy. This Hongle Academy was the one Jiang Miao had inquired about before. When he learned that the children there all came from well-off families and were raised like little tyrants, he gave up the idea of letting Xiao Shitou study there.
The uncle selling sweet cakes said earlier that they seldom buy food from roadside stalls. Actually, that is not true. It can only be said that sweet cakes are too common and can be found in every street and alley, so they do not arouse their interest.
When Jiang Miao's fried buns were put out, the first people to be attracted were the servants of the young masters. When the young masters were attending classes, these people were free. Occasionally, they would invite each other to stroll around the streets, and all they had to do was come back to serve the young masters before they got out of school.
This group of children, who seemed to be only twelve or thirteen years old, seemed to be more sophisticated and experienced than modern children of the same age due to the hardships of life. However, they gathered in front of Jiang Miao's stall, waiting for the buns in the pot to be cooked, which seemed to be in line with their status as teenagers.
Jiang Miao handed the fried buns to them and saw how they eagerly ate them. They grimaced because of the heat and refused to take a bite slowly. He couldn't help but smile. He had such moments too.
These people were growing up, so they were very good at eating. A bun was nothing to them. It went into their mouths but could not reach their stomachs. But each of them only had two or three copper coins, which was barely enough to buy one.
What should they do if they still want to eat? Of course, they should tell their young master. If the young master wants it, they will have their share. So after school, a bunch of people came out of the academy again, surrounded Jiang Miao's cart, and quickly bought the fried buns that Jiang Miao had just prepared.
In order to win over long-term customers, Jiang Miao told every servant who came over to go back and ask the mansion to prepare some chrysanthemum tea to relieve internal heat. He thought that these young masters might not like to drink herbal tea made from thatch roots, but chrysanthemum tea sounded quite elegant, so they might drink more.
So when they returned home at night, the servants went to the teahouse and asked them to make some chrysanthemum tea. The people in the teahouse were a little puzzled. Didn't they usually drink those famous teas? Why did they want chrysanthemum tea now
The mansion did have some dried chrysanthemums, which were left over from brewing chrysanthemum wine during the Double Ninth Festival last year. This time, the boss asked for it, so I brewed a cup and sent it over. The dried chrysanthemums, after being washed by hot water, first sank to the bottom, and then slowly bloomed in the cup. The appearance alone was pleasing to the eye. After appreciating it, I took a sip. It was slightly bitter at first, but then it was full of sweetness. When I swallowed it, my throat seemed to be gently brushed by something, which was a very comfortable feeling.
After the young master of the Wang family drank a cup of tea, he suddenly turned around and asked his servant, "Qingfeng, did the bun seller really say that this chrysanthemum tea can reduce internal heat and relieve dryness?"
"Master, is there anything wrong after drinking it?" Qingfeng immediately became nervous.
"No, I just had a slight sore throat before, and I really feel better after drinking it. Hasn't my father been complaining about sore throat these past two days? Ask the waiter to bring him some too."
"I'll go right away." Qingfeng hurriedly ran towards the tea room.
So, when Mr. Wang saw the cup of chrysanthemum tea on the table, he immediately wondered, "Did Hong'er ask you to bring this over?"
"Yes, master. The young master has been thinking about your sore throat these days. Today, he learned that drinking chrysanthemum tea can reduce internal heat and relieve dryness, so he immediately asked me to bring it to you for you to try." Qingfeng knew how to please his young master. It was clearly a coincidence, but in his mouth it became something he had specially found.
Sure enough, when Mr. Wang heard this, he immediately smiled and said, "It's amazing that he still thinks of me. I'll try it." He waved away the servant boy, thinking that whether it worked or not, it was the child's kindness, which was better than taking medicine, so he drank the whole cup of tea.
The next morning, he found that his throat was indeed no longer painful, and he was very happy. After noon, he asked the waiter for a bag of dried chrysanthemums, and then went to the teahouse happily. The old friends in the teahouse had been a little irritated by their greedy appetite a few days ago, so he gave them this thing to cool down their heat, so they could continue to eat in the afternoon.
When they arrived at the teahouse, he gave the dried chrysanthemums he brought to his waiter and asked him to make tea. Then he sat in his old seat and waited for others to arrive.
Not long after, those people came one after another. They were a little surprised to see that Mr. Wang, who was frowning and looked uncomfortable yesterday, was full of energy today. After asking, everyone drank the chrysanthemum tea with a skeptical attitude. I don't know if it's a psychological effect or it's really effective, but when I drank it, I really felt that my throat was moistened and comfortable.
"Why hasn't that guy selling buns come yet?" Mr. Wang stood at the railing and looked down. The familiar cart diagonally opposite the teahouse had not arrived yet.
"He didn't come yesterday," said another person, but they had a sore throat yesterday and didn't think about it.
"Is it possible that it won't be displayed here?" someone asked.
"You don't know yet," one person lowered his voice and spoke mysteriously, "Didn't the waiters in the building say they couldn't leave the building a few days ago? In fact, it was the big shopkeeper who felt that the fried buns affected the business of the building, so he didn't let the waiters go down to help buy. I guess the young man heard about it and didn't want to confront him head-on, so he avoided it and set up his stall somewhere else."
This is not an uncommon thing. There are many people who do this in the past. Not to mention driving away those who do small business, there have also been cases where they rely on the size of their store to force people to buy their recipes.
"Alas, I haven't eaten enough! I finally got some fresh food, but they drove me away." Mr. Wang doesn't like sweets, and he always orders peanuts and melon seeds. These things still make you get angry, and they are not as delicious as buns! He finally got some antipyretic tea, but the buns were gone.
Soon, a servant found out that the bun stall had been moved to Hongle Academy.
Mr. Wang immediately ordered someone to buy a pot of steamed buns and then shared the pot of steamed buns with others while drinking chrysanthemum tea. Gradually, other guests who often drank tea here followed suit. If they had eaten something that made them feel hot, they would bring some dried chrysanthemums to ask the waiter to help them make tea. They would drink it happily for the whole afternoon without worrying about sore throats the next day.
That day, the head shopkeeper started to check the accounts again. He found that although the bun seller had left, the teahouse's business had not improved. Not only did the sales of snacks decrease, but even the sales of tea decreased by many pots. The strangest thing was that the restaurant was still full of customers.
He asked around and found out that recently customers like to bring their own chrysanthemum flowers to make tea to reduce internal heat. They pay a table fee and sit there for the entire afternoon.
In the past, some people brought their own rare tea leaves to the teahouse's master to brew and then sit together to taste them. The head shopkeeper welcomed this at that time, thinking that this would increase the popularity of the teahouse. If he now goes back on his word and says that bringing your own tea is not allowed, I guess those old customers will not be able to stay.
I don't know who came up with such a wicked thing as chrysanthemum tea. The head shopkeeper cursed inwardly, but then he added chrysanthemum tea to the teahouse, which gradually reduced the number of customers who brought their own tea.
Jiang Miao didn't expect that his casual reminder to brew chrysanthemum tea would make people hate him, but what he didn't expect was that the first big money he made after starting the fried bun business actually came from the cart.
That day, Jiang Miao was walking home with his little stone in his cart when he heard someone calling him. He looked around and found that the voice came from the carpenter's shop on the side of the road. The person calling him was the carpenter Huang who helped him make the cart.
Mr. Huang was smiling today, not as serious as before. When Jiang Miao pushed the cart past, his eyes became very eager.
"Brother Jiang, is this cart useful?" Before making it, Master Huang was a little impatient. The blueprint was so horrible, how could the finished product be good? Was it just to amuse him because he was full? After making it, Master Huang retracted his prejudice. This cart would definitely be very good if he could use it to set up a small stall.
Jiang Miao thought he was asking about his experience, so he praised him loudly: "Master Huang, your craftsmanship is really good. The wood is shaved very smoothly, and the frame is also made very stable. Especially the four wheels at the bottom, they don't get stuck at all and work very well!"
"No, no, no. If you ask me, your drawing is better. I've been in this business for so many years, why can't I come up with a cart of this style?" Otherwise, it wouldn't be so troublesome.
"I can use this, right?" Jiang Miao smiled, seeing some clues from his expression, "Master Huang, you didn't come to me just to talk about this, did you?"
"Brother Jiang, I want to discuss something with you." Master Huang was a little embarrassed. "It's like this. When you were pushing the cart around these few days, someone took a fancy to it. He found out that it was something made in my shop, so he wanted to make one. If it was something else, I would make it, but you drew the blueprint for this cart, so I can't make the decision, so I want to ask if you can sell the blueprint to me."
After thinking for a while, he added: "That person also said that if I can't fight here, I should go ask somewhere else."
"Can they fight elsewhere without blueprints? Aren't you afraid that I will sue them at the government office?"
"This cart is not complicated to make. People in our industry can probably make it after just a few glances. Besides, if they move to another place at will, who can prove that this is something you came up with? A gentleman won't intervene in such a lawsuit."
“Then wouldn’t you be at a loss if you bought the blueprints?” Since others can do it without spending any money, why buy them? There was no such thing as copyright awareness in ancient times.
"If I buy the blueprints and spread the word, no one else can make a move for at least half a year." Each industry has its own rules. This half year is enough time for their company to launch their products. If others want to get in on the action without worrying about their reputation, no one can stop them. Fortunately, there are these rules. Otherwise, who would think about new things? Wouldn't they wait for others to come up with something before learning? However, these rules only apply to experts, and there is no way for laymen.
Jiang Miao thought about it carefully and decided that it would be better to sell the blueprint. After all, whether he sold it or not, the cart had to be built. Rather than giving it to others cheaply, it would be better to make friends with Master Huang, so that it would be convenient for him to buy other things in the future.
Seeing that Jiang Miao was relieved, Master Huang immediately invited him in to discuss the matter. Although anyone could make this, it would make him feel more at ease if he paid the money and bought the drawings before finishing the work.
There was no such thing as profit sharing here, everything was sold at a fixed price. Jiang Miao took the freshly minted twenty taels of silver home and hid it together with the reward silver he had received before.
(End of this chapter)