The saintess is pregnant, what does that have to do with me, a spoiled brat?

After Xu Nuo left the kitchen.

Fatty Li, sporting dark circles under his eyes, rolled into the backyard of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion like a ball of flesh.

"Xu Nuo! You scoundrel!"

Green Willow had just brought out the basin of water when she was startled and quickly curtsied.

"Greetings, Young Master Li."

Fatty Li didn't even glance at her, heading straight for Xu Nuo on the recliner.

"You robbed me of several hundred taels of silver yesterday, saying there was a big surprise! Where's the surprise? I'd like to see what's worth so much money!"

Yesterday, he had been swindled out of several hundred taels of silver by Xu Nuo, which kept him up all night.

If his own father found out about this, he'd probably break his legs.

Xu Nuo slowly opened his eyes and yawned. He kicked the low table beside his feet.

"Try it."

On the table was a glass bowl emitting a chilling aura.

Fatty Li was stunned for a moment, then leaned closer to take a look, and his eyes widened instantly.

cold drink?

He picked up the bowl and tentatively took a big gulp.

The next second, all of Fatty Li's fat trembled.

Holy crap!

He suddenly widened his eyes, gulped down the rest of the bowl, and even licked the ice shards off the bottom of the bowl clean.

"Refreshingly cool! Sweet and fragrant! Young Master, what kind of divine treat is this?"

Xu Nuo shifted to a more comfortable position and leaned back.

"Didn't you always say you wanted to start a business and impress your father?"

"Do you think we could make money selling this thing?"

Fatty Li slapped his thigh, causing his fat to jiggle.

"Absolutely! In this sweltering heat, those high-ranking officials and nobles would fight tooth and nail for a sip of cool water!"

"How did you get it?"

Xu Nuo chuckled and said, "Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough."

Fatty Li didn't press the matter, but he immediately frowned, his small eyes revealing a shrewd glint.

"However, Your Highness, this ice is a rare commodity, and the cost is too high. How much should we sell it for?"

"If we don't sell enough, we might lose money."

Xu Nuo extended two fingers.

"Twenty taels."

The courtyard fell silent instantly.

Green Willow silently lowered her head beside her; she had the same reaction last night.

Fatty Li stood there, stunned, for a full three seconds.

He reached out his chubby hand and touched Xu Nuo's forehead.

"You don't have a fever? Why are you talking nonsense?"

"Get lost!" Xu Nuo slapped his hand away.

"I still think twenty taels is too little."

Fatty Li shook his head repeatedly with a bitter face.

"It's too risky, too risky."

"Those fancy restaurants in the capital do have cold drinks, the most expensive one only costs ten taels of silver. You've doubled the price, who's going to buy it?"

Xu Nuo scoffed.

He stood up and patted Fatty Li on the shoulder.

"Fatty Li, you still don't understand how lethal this thing is to women."

"And this is just an appetizer; what will really make us rich is yet to come."

Fatty Li was stunned: "What else?"

Xu Nuo smiled without saying a word, waiting for the chilled beer to be served, that would be the real game-changer!

"Stop talking nonsense, follow me, and I guarantee you'll live the high life."

……

The sun was blazing overhead.

The streets outside the capital were bustling with noise.

Fatty Li was sweating profusely, wiping his brow with his sleeve as he complained breathlessly.

"Young Master, we've been wandering around this outer city for most of the day, what are we doing?"

Xu Nuo walked ahead, fanning himself with a folding fan.

"Looking for a shop."

The capital city was divided into three areas: the imperial palace, the inner city, and the outer city.

The inner city was inhabited by high-ranking officials, nobles, and imperial relatives.

He promised that his face was so distinctive in the inner city that he could be targeted no matter what he did.

The outer city is different.

It's a melting pot of all sorts of people, from all walks of life.

He usually only indulged in drinking, gambling, and whoring within the inner city; almost no one in the outer city knew him.

It's more convenient to do business here.

They won't be easily targeted.

"Looking for a shop?" Fatty Li was taken aback.

"Young Master, are you really going to learn from those merchants and do business? If word gets out, where will we spoiled brats put our faces?"

"We have money and power, why should we do something so thankless and exhausting?"

Xu Nuo ignored him.

The three of them strolled along the street for a long time.

Most of the shops in the outer city were dilapidated, either too small or too remote.

After wandering around for most of the hour, I couldn't find a suitable shop for sale.

Green Willow followed behind, her little face flushed from the heat, her clothes soaked with sweat and becoming tight-fitting.

"Young master, shall we go back? There don't seem to be any good shops in this outer city."

Xu Nuo frowned, just as he was preparing to come back tomorrow, when he caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye.

His gaze fell on a shop on the street corner.

The location is superb, right at the intersection with extremely high pedestrian traffic.

But strangely, the shop was deserted.

A gaunt old man was sighing and dismantling a door panel, looking like he was about to close the shop down.

Xu Nuo looked up.

Across from the shop stood the largest and most luxurious restaurant in the capital, Zuixianlou.

Xu Nuo was delighted.

Why open a food stall directly opposite Zuixianlou?

Isn't that just asking for death?

High-ranking officials and nobles go straight to Zuixianlou to enjoy fine food and drink; who would come to your shabby shop to eat at a roadside stall?

The typical business logic is fragmented.

However, this place was a perfect feng shui location for him.

"Let's go." Xu Nuo closed his folding fan and strode over.

The old man was holding a door panel. When he saw someone coming, he waved his hand listlessly.

"Sir, our shop is closed today and we don't sell food."

Xu Nuo looked around the inside of the shop.

The space is quite large, and the tables, chairs, and benches are all ready-made; it can be used after a little tidying up.

"I'm not eating." Xu Nuo knocked on the doorframe. "Are you renting this shop?"

The old man paused for a moment, then looked Xu Nuo up and down a few times.

"Young man, you want to rent this shop?"

The old man sighed and pointed to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion across the street.

"Take my advice, stop messing around here. The Drunken Immortal Restaurant is right across the street. You can't compete with them no matter what you sell here. I've lost so much money in the past six months that I don't even have enough for my coffin."

Xu Nuo smiled.

"You don't need to worry about that. Just name your price."

Seeing that Xu Nuo's attitude was firm, the old man did not try to persuade him any further.

It's better to recover some losses than to lose everything.

"This location is what it is. If you are serious about renting it, it will cost two hundred taels of silver per month."

Two hundred taels?

Fatty Li listened from behind, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Two hundred taels a month for this run-down place? That's highway robbery!

He was about to start cursing when Xu Nuo readily nodded.

"make a deal."

Xu Nuo pulled out the money pouch he had just borrowed from Fatty Li yesterday from his pocket, counted out two hundred taels of silver notes, and slapped them on the table.

Fatty Li looked at that familiar silver note, his heart bleeding.

That's my money, fucking!

Pay the money, sign, and put your fingerprint on the document.

The process was completed smoothly, and in less than half an incense stick's time, the shop's land deed was in Xu Nuo's hands.

The old man took the silver notes, thanked them profusely, packed his bedding, and left.

Xu Nuo turned to look at the green willow.

"Go, have someone bring all the prepared items over here."

Green Willow gave a crisp reply and turned to run back.

Fatty Li stepped forward, looking at the Drunken Immortal Restaurant across the street with a worried expression.

"Brother Xu, are you really planning to do business here?"

"That's the Drunken Immortal Pavilion right across the street! They have all sorts of delicacies there, why would anyone come here to buy anything?"

Xu Nuo found a reasonably clean chair, sat down, and crossed her legs.

"You don't know anything."

"The Drunken Immortal Pavilion serves lavish feasts of fish and meat; don't you get tired of it after a while?"

"On a hot day, after a heavy, oily meal, wouldn't you want a sip of ice-cold, sweet water?"

Fatty Li was stunned.

He swallowed hard, and the image of the iced milk tea he had been promised to taste yesterday involuntarily flashed through his mind.

Refreshingly cool and sweet.

If you finish the roast duck and then have a bite...

Fatty Li's eyes lit up instantly.

"Drink! We'll sell everything we own to drink!"

Xu Nuo scoffed.

"That settles it then."

Not long after, the sound of car wheels rolling came from the street corner.

Lvliu, accompanied by a dozen servants, arrived in a grand procession pushing several large carts.

The truck was loaded with huge wooden barrels, wrapped in thick cotton quilts, filled with ice made from saltpeter and freshly brewed milk tea.

"Move in."

Xu Nuo stood up and directed the servants to arrange the items in the shop.

A row of glass cups were laid out.

Ice cubes were smashed and laid at the bottom, then caramel-colored milk tea was poured in, instantly creating a layer of white, cold air.

The first-ever milk tea shop in the history of Dali Dynasty has opened.