Siheyuan: A master brewer starts with a jar of bone-strengthening wine!

"Sister Huizhen, please come back!" Kong Yuqin cried, her eyes brimming with tears. "We haven't had a single customer while you were gone! Everyone only recognizes you, they don't recognize us at all!"

"What are you shouting for!" Xu Huizhen sneered. "Who are the customers? Only a fool would believe you! You're diluting your own wine and selling it, and you expect customers to buy it? Dream on!"

"However, since the director has spoken, I will follow the organization's arrangements and take over the tavern again."

"Ah!" Aunt Zhang breathed a sigh of relief. "That's more like it! Oh, right, there's one more thing!"

She turned to Chen Xueru with a smile: "I stayed up all night yesterday trying to find a reliable general manager for the tavern, but I couldn't think of anyone."

"So you just stand here, hey! Aren't you the perfect candidate?"

"From today onwards, you are the company manager!"

"You're close to Xu Huizhen; one handles official business, the other handles personal matters, so your cooperation will definitely be smooth!"

Chen Xueru blinked: "What's in it for me if I agree?"

"How could we possibly mistreat you? Of course, we'll treat you like a company manager!"

"Okay, I'll do it!" Chen Xueru slapped her thigh with joy.

She was just looking for something to do!

Now that I'm in power and have taken office, I have something to look forward to.

"Let's give them a round of applause!"

slam-la-

The crowd applauded enthusiastically.

Only Fan Jinyou kept his head down, his face flushed with embarrassment, and dared not utter a single word.

"Director Zhang, I have another question." Chen Xueru stood up. "Huizhen and I are very close, but we keep our personal and professional lives separate. Friendship is one thing, work is another."

"From now on, I'll be the public sector manager, and she'll be the private sector manager. When important matters arise, who makes the decisions? Whose advice will we follow?"

"Uh..." Aunt Zhang took a deep breath; this was a difficult question to answer.

Xu Huizhen readily agreed: "I'll listen to you! You're the official representative, the official business comes first, so you make the decisions on important matters, okay?"

Chen Xueru immediately beamed: "That's more like it!"

After Aunt Zhang left, Chen Xueru stood up on the stool and cleared her throat:

"I have two things to say!" "Listen carefully!"

Chen Xueru's presence alone commanded the entire room.

Those who have run businesses and managed people are different; they speak calmly and deliberately, yet with an undeniable air of authority.

No one can talk back.

"First rule—from now on, not a single bottle of water can be added to the liquor sold in our tavern! Only the finest ingredients will be served, no fancy mixing!"

"Secondly—I'm cutting that cooking and stir-frying routine in the kitchen!"

Everyone was stunned when they heard this. They looked at each other with question marks in their eyes.

Old Ma Liansheng grinned bitterly, "Boss, if you kick the stove, how am I supposed to eat for the rest of my life? Are you suggesting I pack my bags and leave?"

"It's not that bad!" Chen Xueru waved her hand and turned to Xu Huizhen. "Manager Xu, and all you uncles and aunts, I have an idea. It's not fully developed, but it could really save our business."

Xu Huizhen raised an eyebrow and smiled: "Oh? Tell me about it."

Chen Xueru cleared her throat: "Our little tavern will remain open as usual, but those two government-allocated storefronts next door are just sitting there empty, a waste of space. Why don't we set up a separate breakfast stall?"

"Breakfast?" Xu Huizhen was taken aback. "Wait... please explain more clearly."

Chen Xueru continued, "I'm not afraid of offending people. To be honest, this little tavern can't support so many people."

But you're all familiar faces, and we've all gathered together by chance. Even if I, Chen Xueru, am stingy, I can't just lay you all off to save money, can I?

"So I figured I'd clear out the space next door and make it my dedicated breakfast spot! I'd get up early and work for two hours, steaming buns and frying dough sticks, and then close up shop when they were sold out! At noon, the tavern would open as usual, and the other side would close down."

"It's like having one team running two businesses! Money comes from both sides, and the accounts are settled together!"

Xu Huizhen's eyes lit up instantly: "Wow... this idea is brilliant! Xueru, you're a genius!"

"Hmm~" Chen Xueru raised her chin, winked at Liu Dong triumphantly, and a hint of playfulness was hidden at the corner of her mouth.

"Alright, meeting adjourned!" She clapped her hands. "Fan Jinyou! You take Ma Liansheng, He Yumei, and Kong Yuqin, and go measure the walls and build the partitions right now. Hurry up!"

The four men immediately jumped up, grabbed a ladder, and searched for a hammer, creating a chaotic scene.

Just as things calmed down, Chen Xueru strolled over to Liu Dong and whispered, "Honey... about the alcohol..."

"Don't worry." Liu Dong flicked her forehead lightly with his finger and whispered, "I'm your man, how could I not support you? But we have an agreement, the liquor has to be genuine. You can't sell pure brew directly, you can only mix a little bit of the real stuff into the liquor from Shunyi Distillery—just enough to get the point across."

With the current climate tightening and strict enforcement in the market, anyone who dares to openly sell raw liquor isn't making money; they're courting disaster.

Could one secretly pour a few mouthfuls of their own hidden good wine into the large vat?

This isn't a business transaction; it's a favor.

"Besides..." he chuckled, "I'll give you the wine for free, and I won't take a penny."

He wasn't being generous; he genuinely didn't dare accept it.

This matter is tied to our ancestors' roots—the family recipe, which is only used about twenty catties a year. It's mixed into a hundred-catty wine vat, and the flavor is just right, so no one can detect the trick.

The small tavern sells only a dozen or twenty jin a day, and one jar lasts for ten days. At most, it can sell forty jars a year.

Forty jars, totaling less than twenty catties of raw liquor.

Twenty pounds is nothing to the Liu family; it's more like a "rocket" to support his daughter-in-law.

What's wrong with being the top influencer? It's not illegal.

Besides, while private transactions will be strictly prohibited in the future, is it against the law to "give" a little something to relatives?

That's how it's settled.

Liu Dong turned and left the tavern, heading straight back to the courtyard house.

It was the weekend, and the courtyard was bustling with activity.

Everyone is here.

The only missing one is He Daqing.

The old men squatted under the shade of the trees playing chess, while the women gathered around the pool to wash clothes and chat; the younger generation sat around the stone table throwing cards, each one louder than the last.

Yan Jiecheng, He Yuzhu, Xu Damao, Liu Guangqi and the others were shouting like they were fighting.

"Brother Liu Dong! Want to play a round? Winning or losing is no big deal!"

Xu Damao waved to him.

Liu Dong waved his hand: "No, no, I don't know how to play this game. You guys have fun."

He really didn't know—those long, rectangular playing cards, which looked like mahjong tiles but not like playing cards, he couldn't even name them.

However... ever since Xu Huizhen mentioned it a few days ago, he's been finding He Yuzhu and Jia Dongxu increasingly strange.

Goodness gracious... could it be? Could it be that Jia Zhangshi and He Daqing had a past relationship?

Just as she was pondering this, Qin Huairu looked up and smiled while wringing out her clothes: "Brother Liu Dong, aren't you at work today?"

He had a smile on his face and spoke very politely, but there was a hint of something in his eyes that was hard to describe.

"Yeah, it's the weekend, so I went out for a stroll." Liu Dong nodded in response. "You've been busy lately?"