Top Scholar

Chapter 42 Victory in the first battle!

People usually buy their drinks at the same stall and finish them all at once. The market is so crowded that it's impossible to carry a bowl around.

But the 'Sweet Honey' in the bamboo straw doesn't have to be finished at once. Children can hold it in their hands without interfering with shopping or getting it knocked over. They can take a sip whenever they want, and one straw can last for half a day.

So gradually, more and more children appeared on the streets, holding bamboo tubes and drinking sweet water through straws. And the more people drank it, the more customers were attracted to buy it, thus forming a positive cycle.

As the temperature gradually rose, more and more people came to buy 'Sweet Honey', some of whom were repeat customers. By noon, the 300 tubes prepared in advance had been sold out.

This is nothing surprising; after all, the only competitor for the sweet water stall at the entire temple fair was the large bowl of tea. And what child would want to drink large bowls of tea?
"I'm going down to restock!" Su Lu said, then left the sweet water stall and rushed to the dock, jumping onto the crooked boat.

The crooked boat had been transformed into a production workshop. Su Youcai and his wife were peeling tangerines with small knives, and once they were peeled, they would place them on the juicer table for their uncle and Su Tai to juice.

Two juicers work simultaneously, and the orange-yellow juice flows continuously from the eagle's beak into the wooden barrel.

When the wooden bucket was about three-tenths full of orange juice, Su Tai stopped juicing temporarily, poured the sweet wine he had brought into the bucket, and then added water and stirred it well.

The water was also brought from Erlangtan, firstly because it was sweeter than the local well water, and secondly to ensure food safety.

Thirdly, it's also for brand value. Water is a strange thing; local water is worthless, but water from other places is really expensive. If you could transport snow water from Changbai Mountain, people would want to try it even for ten cents a bowl.

After Su Tai finished mixing the ingredients, he went back to juicing, leaving the bottling work to He Tiantian. Despite her small stature, she worked incredibly efficiently, spilling almost no drop.

"How many tubes are there?" Su Lu asked.

“A little over three hundred,” Su Youcai replied. “Is that enough?”

"It can hold out for a while, but we still need to work harder," Su Lu said. "The temperature is higher than usual today, so sales will definitely be better this afternoon."

"Want to push harder? My arms are aching." The uncle stretched his shoulders and wiped his sweat, saying, "They said they wanted me to come and set up the show, but I've already fallen for their trap."

“Then let’s switch, Uncle,” Su Lu said.

"Forget it, with your skinny arms, you'll be crippled in no time." The uncle waved his hand and said, "Just don't talk badly about me behind my back."

"How could that be?" Su Lu quickly replied with a smile, "Your nephew has only deep respect and love for your uncle."

"Hahaha, I don't believe you! You're a sly little devil!" The uncle laughed heartily, his fatigue seemingly vanishing. He asked, "Business is good?"

"Great, all three hundred bamboo tubes are sold out. I need to restock quickly." Su Lu said, picking up the carrying pole. In the bamboo baskets at both ends of the pole, there were thirty bamboo tubes on each side, weighing nearly seventy jin in total.

Actually, if we put another layer on top, there would be no problem carrying eighty more, but my second brother was afraid of tiring him out, so he didn't fill the basket to the brim.

However, these many trips back and forth exhausted Su Lu.

Seeing this, the proprietress offered, "I'll pick out the rest."

"No need, no need. You, my 'Sweet Water Beauty,' have to stay here and keep an eye on things. This place can't do without you, no matter who's gone." Su Lu waved his hand, picked up his carrying pole, and rushed back to the dock.

The proprietress naturally understood Su Lu's meaning, feeling a little embarrassed yet also a bit smug. She couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "Such a precocious child! I wonder how Second Brother Su taught him."

Fortunately, Su Lu was very hardworking and persevered. He gritted his teeth and finished restocking the goods. He then rubbed his shoulders and continued to work at the cash register.

"Business was even better this afternoon." The proprietress had been working like two people, and was extremely busy. Now she could finally catch her breath and said, "I thought everyone would just try it out for the first time and then stop."

"If it doesn't taste good, of course we'll pass," Su Lu said with a smile. "But our Sweet Honey is delicious and inexpensive, so customers will definitely buy it again!"

He then predicted, "Just you wait and see, business will be even more booming tomorrow, and we'll need to add more manpower."

The proprietress then said, "When I get back today, I'll look for the original employees and see if they're willing to come back and work."

“That’s great.” Su Lu naturally had no objections.

~~
That afternoon, Su Lu restocked the goods.

By nightfall, another six hundred tubes of sweet honey and fifty tubes of kumquat honey drink had been sold, and the entire stock was finally gone.

This is just the limit of production, not the limit of the market. It's almost dark, and there are still many customers gathered around the sweet drink stall, wanting to buy a few more cans to take home for their families to try.

"Please go home now, we'll prepare more stock tomorrow!" The proprietress, though her voice was hoarse from exhaustion, still smiled and reassured the customers who had been waiting for a long time but hadn't been able to buy anything.

"Moreover, the main ingredient of our sweet drink is freshly made oranges, which must be drunk while they are fresh. They might not taste as good if you take them home. So everyone should come and try it with their families tomorrow!" Su Lu said loudly.

After saying that, he gave out numbers to the customers so they could buy tickets the next day without waiting. Only then did the crowd gradually disperse...

The two breathed a sigh of relief and began to happily pack up their stall.

~~
At this moment, the people on the boat arrived and helped to gather up the bamboo tubes that had piled up like a small mountain, preparing to carry them back to the boat.

Seeing everyone's exhausted faces, the proprietress said, "If we go back now, it will be midnight, and we'll have to set off again before dawn tomorrow. It's too much of a hassle."

She gritted her teeth and said, "You should go to the inn, get a room, and rest well so you'll have the energy to work tomorrow."

"That's great!" Uncle was delighted to hear this, as he had been worried about the long and tiring journey. "The landlady is such a generous person!"

"Isn't it because business is good today?" the proprietress said with a smile.

“You guys stay here, I still have to go back to make sweet rice wine.” Su Tai said with a strong sense of responsibility, “We’re almost out of tangerines here, we need to replenish them.” “Then we won’t stay either, there are so many tangerines, Xia Ge’er can’t carry them all by himself.” Su Youcai immediately said.

"Don't worry about things at home," the landlady said. "I'll go back and find two employees to help, and they'll take care of everything."

"Do they also make sweet wine?" Sutai asked.

"Don't worry, we're a winery too!" The proprietress waved her hand, taking full responsibility.

“Actually, we don’t need to stay at an inn.” Su Lu patted the money box and said softly, “Today we sold a total of 952 tubes of sweet honey and 50 tubes of kumquat honey syrup, earning 3,109 coins. After deducting the boat fare, meal expenses, and 300 coins for the stall fee, we still have 2,600 coins left.”

The Qianhu Office was the largest community organization in the area, and the stall fees were essentially protection money. The official rate was one-tenth, but most stall owners weren't so honest and tried to pay as little as possible.

But with Sweet Water Kee's business so good, it would be incredibly inconsiderate of them to pull this stunt again...

"Wow, our money came out in just one day?" Su Youcai's eyes lit up when he heard the number.

According to the agreement, profits should be used to repay their debts first. The He family still owed them two taels and five cents, equivalent to two thousand five hundred cash...

"I quit, I'm going home right now!" Uncle immediately lost interest in staying at the hotel, shouting, "It's the New Year, I don't want to be a slave anymore!"

The landlady was actually worried about this very thing when she wanted them to stay at the inn. She looked at the four members of the Su family with a pitiful expression, her thin figure appearing so lonely and helpless in the twilight.

"My two elder brothers and my two nephews, please continue to help me. I still have many debts to pay off."

"..." The eldest uncle looked at his second brother, and Su Youcai coughed twice and said, "Well, I'm just idling around anyway."

"Then how do we calculate it?" Su Lu wasn't buying it; the Sweet Water Beauty's special attack was ineffective against someone his age.

"How about we split the profits 50/50?" The proprietress already had a plan in mind.

"We are willing to serve you like dogs and horses." Su Lu immediately smiled brightly.

~~
So the landlady and her two family members went back by boat to fetch reinforcements, and also informed her aunt along the way.

Su Lu and his three companions, carrying various tools, went to town to find an inn to stay overnight. Their task for the night was also heavy; they still had thousands of bamboo tubes to boil and dry for use the next day.

The inns in town were fairly cheap: a large dormitory room cost five coins, a single room twenty coins, and renting a small courtyard was no more than fifty coins. Because he had to work that night, my uncle managed to bargain down to thirty coins and rent a small courtyard.

Of course, he would quote the proprietress seventy coins... that's how my uncle got his tea money.

They put their things down in the courtyard, and the four of them did nothing but lie down and rest for a while. This day, which felt like a battle, had exhausted them.

"No wonder the proprietress is so generous; I never imagined this business would be so profitable," the uncle remarked, gazing at the roof beams.

"It's a pity we only made money for a few days," Su Lu said regretfully. The main problem was that once the tangerines ran out, there was nowhere to restock.

"Is it too much? Not at all." Su Youcai was content with his lot.

“Huff…huff…” Su Tai said.

"Brother Qiu, why did you suddenly say you were quitting?" Uncle asked, puzzled. "This business is so profitable, of course we have to see it through to the end."

“Uncle is right. The family is short of money, so of course I want to see this through to the end,” Su Lu said softly. “But the business belongs to them. If we take back the debt and then default on it, it will only make people look down on the Su family.”

“Yes.” Su Youcai wholeheartedly agreed, “Let the landlady invite us again, and then we’ll accept. That would be more respectable.”

"That's only one aspect." Su Lu said leisurely, "I also want to see if the proprietress is worth cooperating with long-term."

“If she’s only thinking about making money for herself and doesn’t try to keep us, then we’ll part ways. We’ve already achieved our goal anyway.” He said clearly, “But the fact that she’s willing to share the profits with us means she’s worth a long-term partnership.”

"What? You want to cooperate with her long-term?" the uncle asked.

"I'll only study for one year?" Su Lu retorted.

"You child, of all people to imitate, you have to imitate your older brother's way of speaking, which is always so offensive," the uncle said helplessly.

"In short, I have high hopes for her and am willing to cooperate with her," Su Lu said in a deep voice. "At least she can earn the money for her studies and not add to the burden on her family."

"Oh, what a good child," the uncle sighed with shame. "Compared to you, I feel utterly ashamed... I apologize. Actually, before your brother left, I knew we wouldn't get this money back. But I didn't dare say anything, afraid that if he found out, he wouldn't be able to continue his studies at the Wenzhan Hall, thus delaying his chance to pass the imperial examination..."

“I know,” Su Lu said nonchalantly, “Uncle did nothing wrong, both publicly and privately, and I have no resentment. If we were in different places, I would make the same decision—my elder brother taking the imperial examination is the most important thing for our family!”

"Alright, alright, your uncle definitely believes you, but I still apologize to you." The uncle sat up and said solemnly, "This time I understand. You've grown up and understand some things better than we older generations. So from now on, I'll be open and honest with you about anything that happens in the family."

"No need for that. I'm just a kid, why should I worry so much? What if it interferes with my studies?" Su Lu shook his head and smiled, "But thank you for your trust, Uncle."

"Look at my son, he's no worse than yours, is he?" Su Youcai's heart melted.

"More or less," the uncle said, scratching his head.

“But I have two good sons!” Su Youcai said proudly, shaking his head.

“Huff…huff…” Su Tai.

(End of this chapter)