Transmigrating with a Five Million Dollar Retirement Life

Chapter 102 The Sweet Potato Starch Recipe Leaked

Aunt Li didn't know what Song Jiaojiao was planning, but thinking she must have her reasons, she smiled and agreed, "Okay, I'll go after work. There will definitely be a lot of people coming. Jiaojiao, how many people do you plan to need?"

Song Jiaojiao thought that she didn't have many eggs at home. Although the chickens had started laying eggs now, and there were more than two hundred chickens, she could collect nearly two hundred chicken eggs. However, she had less than fifty duck eggs. It seemed that she still needed to collect some eggs from the village.

"Okay, Auntie, let's find five people first, two aunties. The old man will get 17 coins a day, and the aunties will get 20 coins a day. We'll decide on the number of people later depending on the situation. Let's tentatively agree on these numbers for now."

There's one more thing. I plan to buy chicken and duck eggs. The price is the same for both: one wen each. I need eggs that are within seven days of their production date.

"Okay, I'll go and inform them together. Jiaojiao, did you make something delicious again?" Aunt Li saw that Song Jiaojiao needed so many eggs. In the whole village, there are hundreds of households, and most of them raise chickens. This must be quite a lot of work.

"Your aunt will find out when you get home tonight. I had Xu Fang send you some," Song Jiaojiao said to Aunt Li, blinking.

"Okay, if there's nothing else, I'll go take care of my work first." Although Aunt Li was curious, she had no choice but to wait until after work to talk about it.

Song Jiaojiao smiled and nodded, then left the workshop. She was wondering whether to give the salted egg to Sifanglou or Huichuntang.

Actually, there are other ways to cook eggs, especially in pastries. Unfortunately, the cow is pregnant and will give birth in several months. There is no milk available right now. This place is too backward. I wonder if there is a place in the county town that provides milk. I guess I'll have to ask around.

The next day.

Song Jiaojiao brought the salted egg to town and, after thinking about it, decided to go to Sifanglou. Sifanglou has its own sales channels and many partners, so it is better than Huichuntang.

"Manager Wang, business is booming!" As soon as Song Jiaojiao entered, she saw Manager Wang talking to someone, his face showing a solemn expression.

Upon seeing Song Jiaojiao arrive, he waved for the person to leave.

"Madam Song is here, that's good. Saves me the trouble of sending someone looking for you. Come with me; I have important news that concerns you," Manager Wang said seriously, leading Song Jiaojiao to a private room on the third floor.

This was a place Song Jiaojiao had never been before. The private room not only had a place for eating and entertaining guests, but also a door that was half-open, through which one could vaguely see a place to rest.

"This is the private room where the owner usually rests when he comes here. It's not open to the public. Today's matter is very important, and it's safer to talk here. I hope Madam Song understands," Manager Wang explained, his face showing worry.

"Manager Wang, just tell me straight, what is it?" Song Jiaojiao looked at Manager Wang and couldn't help but feel nervous. She wondered what was wrong with him lately.

"Then I'll get straight to the point. Does Madam Song know of Huairou County?"

"Huairou County? I don't know, has something happened?" Song Jiaojiao has been here for more than half a year, and the farthest place she has been is Tongan County. She has never even heard of Huairou County.

"Isn't the escort agency buying up sweet potatoes and mung beans everywhere? Huairou County has many mountains and little farmland, and most people grow a lot of sweet potatoes. This time, when the escort agency went there, they didn't get a single pound. After inquiring, they found out that someone had already bought up all the sweet potatoes before them."

After making inquiries from various sources, the escort team leader learned that there was also a sweet potato workshop in Huanshan Village, Huairou County. This is the sweet potato flour they brought back, which is no different from yours, but the price is lower there.” Manager Wang showed Song Jiaojiao the sweet potato flour he had just brought back.

Song Jiaojiao looked at it, then dabbed some powder on her hand and pinched it; it was indeed the same.

"It is indeed the same. It seems that someone leaked the production process. Does that workshop only produce powder? No fans?" Song Jiaojiao asked doubtfully. Logically speaking, everything should have been leaked.

"Our people have only seen the sweet potato noodles being sold so far. We also went to check out the workshop, but there were guards outside, so our people couldn't get close. We can't guarantee that there will be any noodles available. I've also sent people to inquire if there are any other places selling sweet potato noodles, but it will take some time."

“I’ll look into what happened when I get back. Actually, this is a good thing. Making sweet potato starch is complicated, but the process is simple. Anyway, I can’t make it all in one place. You can send someone to learn and open a workshop in another place. Ultimately, it was my management that caused the problem, so consider it compensation. But I have one more request: Sifanglou still needs to buy the sweet potato starch I make, but at a reduced price of 10 wen per jin.”

Song Jiaojiao figured that since the recipe had already been leaked, she might as well just tell Sifanglou. The soybeans would be ready soon, and she had other things to do.

Shopkeeper Wang hadn't expected Song Jiaojiao to be so generous as to give up the recipe; truly, every cloud has a silver lining. He asked excitedly,

"Is this for real? You're really going to hand over the recipe to us? Sweet potato starch may not make a lot of money each time, but it's a long-term business. You won't regret giving it away like this?"

Manager Wang, his face flushed with excitement, asked repeatedly, his tone uncertain.

"Yes, this is a good thing. My strength is ultimately limited, and I believe that Sifanglou will not let the people suffer losses." Song Jiaojiao's original intention was to increase the income of the villagers so that they would not be envious of her family's wealth. If it could help the people of Dajin Kingdom, it would be a good thing.

"Don't worry, anyone can exploit the people, but the Wang family will not. Our boss's father is the Great General Zhenbei, who protects our country," Manager Wang assured, patting his chest.

"The General Who Guards the North?" This was something Song Jiaojiao didn't know.

In his excitement, Manager Wang revealed what the Wang family had been hiding. The reason his master had been opening shops everywhere all these years was to subsidize the military's expenses. It wasn't that the emperor didn't want to provide funds, but the national treasury was empty, and the Vice Minister of Revenue was stingy. Every time military funds were issued, it would take several months, and the amounts would never match. The General was in the Northern Wilderness and couldn't go there in person, so he could only submit memorials. However, the memorials submitted in the past few years had gone unanswered, so someone must have been secretly tampering with them.

“We’ve known each other for a long time, so it’s alright for me to tell you these things. But I can’t reveal more than that. Just know that the Wang family won’t cheat the people.”

Song Jiaojiao nodded understandingly and continued, "I understand. You can send two people over to learn later. I brought some good things with me today."

Song Jiaojiao took out the salted eggs from the basket and said, "These are from chickens I raised myself. They've just started laying eggs, so they're a bit small. Don't worry, the later ones won't be like that. This is a new dish I've been experimenting with lately. Manager Wang, please try it."

Shopkeeper Wang looked at the egg in front of him, which was not much bigger than a pigeon egg. He wondered what other ways there were to cook this egg. Besides boiling and frying, only tea eggs and braised eggs sold well. He wondered what kind of flavor Song Jiaojiao had brought this time.