Chapter 79 of Volume One: Collaborating with Mingyue Hua

  Su Xiaofan raised her head with a frown, "Old man?"

  In memory, I should not have provoked any elderly people, and even if I did, at such an old age, it's impossible to come up with such a childish prank.

  "Ah, probably around 60 or 70 years old, with a very long white beard." Yuan Qing also let it go, at most the old man would come to her door next time and she would just return the silver to him.

  Xiao Yi Mo's eyes narrowed slightly, as black as a deep pool.

  "It seems that there is no such person in our village." Su Xiaofan thought for a moment, although there were still some people in the village who had not been seen after she came over, but most of them had been seen by the previous Su Xiaofan.

  "Uh, not someone from the village." Yuan Qing nodded slightly and carefully took a glance at Su Feiyun, seeing that his expression had eased up a bit, before she felt relieved. It was rare to see Father get angry, and she didn't know what it would be like if he really got furious, but judging by Mother's fearful appearance, it could be guessed that it would be absolutely terrifying.

  Yu Xiaoxi looked at her suspiciously, not quite believing what she was saying. This unfamiliar old man came to find someone to frame Xiao Fan, no matter if it was the past Xiao Fan or the present Xiao Fan, neither of them had offended anyone.

  "Alright, let's go, someone should be here to pick us up." Xiao Yimiao stood up, pulled up Su Xiaofan's hand, and walked outside.

  Su Xiaofan also felt that there was nothing good to ask about anymore. If it were like that, where would they go to find the old man?

  At least find him and ask him why he did that.

  "I'm going out with you all today." Yu Xiaoxi ignored the gaze that Yuan Zhen had been casting at her, walked over to Su Xiaofan's side, linked arms with her and they strolled out together.

  "Bingzi, don't spoil Xiao Xi too much, she'll climb over your head in the future. I've told her not to associate with Su Xiaofan, but she won't listen." Yuan Zhen complained, staring at Su Bing.

  "Mother, you should stop interfering with Xiaoxi's affairs too. They've been playing together since they were young, there's no need to suddenly not let them interact. Moreover, Xiaofan is not as bad as you think, just the other day she kindly shared some new dishes she developed with us for free." Su Bing felt that the key was still in changing Mother's attitude towards Xiaofan, so that she might stop speaking ill of Xiaoxi.

  I thought about Xiaofan's proposal before, and it might be possible to save up enough money to buy a house in the city after a few years. However, if my mother and others can get along well with Xiaoxi, I still don't want to move out, after all, Father may not agree.

  "Hmph!" Yuan Zhen snorted and sat down with Su Gang in her arms.

  It's all because of Su Xiaofan, last month they did get a bit more money than expected, but not as much as they had imagined. And previously, Biaozi came back and said that in the future, he would keep the money he earned for himself after getting married. I don't know if this was Xiao Xi's idea, but just because of this, I started to feel distant from her. Why did I think Xiao Xi was a good person before?

  "Alright, never mind your mother, you go ahead and busy yourself." Su Feiyun looked at him with a face full of difficulty, and then remembered what he had told her in private the day before. After thinking for a moment, she said to his back: "Bingzi, from next month on, don't give us the money you earn, keep it for yourself. In two years, when there's a suitable house, you can buy it and move out."

  Su Bing's footsteps paused for a moment, then he smiled and turned around: "Good, thank you Dad."

  Yuan Qing's face fell in dissatisfaction: "Dad, how can you take charge without discussing it with us? Our family's Su Rui has always been helping out at home and hasn't secretly kept money for himself. It's always been you and the second elder who managed the finances. These two younger brothers aren't even married yet, so why do they need to start keeping their own money now? If that's the case, we should also manage our own finances. Moreover, didn't we already build a courtyard for them?"

  Su Feiyun tapped his pipe and glanced at her sideways: "Whether or not you secretly put in money, you know that yourself. And if Ruizi comes to discuss it with me, I'll agree to it too. You two can handle your own affairs, but the premise is that neither I nor your mother will help you in the future. At most, we might occasionally help take care of the children. Even if they move out later, that house won't be given to you."

  Yuan Qing hastily opened her mouth, then swallowed back what she wanted to say.

  Su Rui had mentioned before that in the past few years, their family's harvest was not very good and they didn't have much land to farm. When Su Heng got married, it was said that he used some silver coins that Su Handle had saved up from working outside for many years. Because of this, Su Rui listened to his younger brother's words with great attention.

  Nowadays, no matter what Su Rui wants to do, Hanzi will always agree.

  Su Xiaofan's courtyard gate, Su Bing got down from the flatbed cart and looked at her horse-drawn carriage for a few moments: "Why don't you put those chickens and ducks on the flatbed cart instead? If you move them all into the carriage, it will get dirty inside and be hard to clean."

  "Ah, indeed." Su Xiao Fan jumped down from the carriage and said to the driver: "You go help Su Bing together to move those chickens and ducks up."

  Yu Xiaoxi leaned in close to Su Bing's side and looked at him with a puzzled expression, asking: "What's going on? You're so happy all of a sudden?"

  "Uh, Dad just told me that starting next month, we won't have to give the money we earn to the family anymore. We can keep it for ourselves and save up. Once we've saved enough, we can buy a house in Mochen City." Su Bing picked up the tied-up chickens and ducks, looked at her still slightly dazed expression, and smiled as he walked away.

  Yu Xiaoxi was stunned for a moment before regaining her composure, hastily following after him: "Really? You said that in front of your mother and sister?"

  Su Bing nodded and pursed his lips without speaking.

  "Wow, that's great! Now I don't have to worry all day. From now on, I won't have any more conflicts with your mother and sister." Yu Xiaoxi excitedly jumped up and down in place, then turned around and pounced on Su Xiaofan's back, wrapping her arms around her neck: "Xiaofan, how about we buy a house in Mo City too? That way we can live together!"

  "I'm already living in Mochen, aren't I? That wine house is my second home." Su Xiaofan looked at Su Bing with a smile, and from now on, he didn't have to worry about Xiao Xi's future life at all.

  "That's right, there is a courtyard behind your wine house." Yu Xiaoxi thought for a moment and continued to say: "I don't know how many years it will take to save enough money to buy a house."

  Su Xiaofan smiled and shook her head, she wasn't clear about this aspect either. However, judging from Su Bing's diligence, it shouldn't take a few years.

  Back at the wine house, as soon as I walked in, I felt that the atmosphere was strange. Hua Fei Chen, who usually had a gentle smile on his face, was frowning today and sat silently by the counter. Xiao Yuan Feng also had a rare serious expression, staring at the teacup in front of him with a complex look, as if it owed him a grudge.

  "What's wrong with you two?" Su Xiaofan leaned on the counter and tapped her hand on the surface.

  Xiao Yuanfeng came back to himself, listlessly looked at her for a moment, then hung his head: "You're back, that... sorry."

  Su Xiaofan furrowed his brow, what was he getting at this time?

  "I lost your cousin." Xiao Yuanfeng said with a scowl, rubbing his head in frustration.

  "Lost? My cousin is such a big person, how can she get lost?" Su Xiaofan's brow furrowed even deeper. Yesterday he had indeed gone out with his cousin, but it was impossible to lose her after just playing outside for a while, and she wasn't a child either.

  "It's gone, yesterday I went to the market with her, she seemed very curious about everything around there, kept looking left and right, later a group of black-clad men came chasing after her, she grabbed my hand and we ran wildly through the crowd, before I knew it, I was the only one running. Xiao Yuanfeng sighed, why did he follow her and run together at that time? But just a few black-clad men, couldn't they have been knocked down directly?"

  Su Xiaofan's face also sank, what about the man in black?

  Xiao Fu didn't sleep much last night either, watching Peak Young Master return alone without bringing back Zi Yun young lady, and kept guessing where that girl went, even thinking it was the Young Master who made her angry and that's why she didn't come back.

  "Should we go ask that Bailiff Wei?" Xiao Yimeng looked up at the sky, glanced at Hua Feichen and Xiao Yuanfeng, and frowned as he spoke.

  "Ah, how could I have forgotten? Where does Pei Yuan Wai live?" Xiao Yuan Feng heard this and excitedly stood up, his hands on the counter, his body lightly jumping over to Xiao Yi Mo's side.

  "Others are also the richest in Mo City, can't you just ask around on the street to find out where she lives?" Su Xiaofan raised an eyebrow and asked him several times about her cousin's identity, but she refused to say anything. Was there something unspeakable that she was afraid would implicate herself? If she didn't know what had happened to her, it was necessary to go back and ask her mother, who must have known her identity.

  And don't mention his mother, it's unclear whether Pei Yuan Wai is aware of this or not.

  Su Xiaofan had just finished speaking when Xiao Yuanfeng ran out in a flash.

  "Master, don't worry, didn't you sleep well last night? You should go rest for a while?" Xiao Yimeng walked into the counter and looked at Hua Feichen's slightly pale face. Recently, his body had actually improved somewhat.

  "Alright, come and tell me when there's news." Huā Fēi Chén rubbed her brow and got up to go inside.

  "Little treasure, is your master's body very weak?" Su Xiao Fan looked at his back as he walked in, and when they first met, his face was indeed pale, but recently, she hadn't paid much attention to his complexion, it seemed not as pale as today.

  Xiao Yimao nodded slightly: "Yes, it's said that Master was a premature baby and had been weak since childhood. After going to learn martial arts with my father, his body became better than before."

  Su Xiaofan said: "Then I'll pay a little attention to his diet in the future and adjust it for him."

  Xiao Yi Mo's eyes were fixed on her, his gaze piercing.

  "Isn't he your master?" Su Xiaofan smiled and patted his head, then turned to go to the kitchen. The little treasure was indeed too mature, even if he treated the people around him well, would he still get jealous? Wouldn't that be too tiring? It seemed like he needed to control himself a bit more in the future, treating everyone equally would be enough, so he wouldn't have to worry about every single person.

  "The young lady is really good, it's really hard to understand why the elders in the valley have different opinions." Xiao Fu shook his head regretfully.

  "That old man has been staying in the valley for too long and has already become rotten. Let's get them all out to help us manage the wine tower another day." Xiaoyi thought of the old man that Yuanqing mentioned earlier, maybe he was one of them, wait until Autumn returns and ask if anyone has left the valley recently.

  If she is found, she must be severely punished, otherwise, if this woman goes to the valley in the future, she will definitely be bullied by them.

  "The young master is joking, but if that's really the case, it seems the young mistress will have to open many wine houses." Xiao Fu smiled and curved his eyebrows. He was worried that the young master would not get married in the future, but now it seems he was overthinking.

  "Hmm, she has plans to open many homes." Xiao Yimiao responded and went to the kitchen. As soon as he entered, a plate of pastries was placed in front of him. He furrowed his brow, took it, and said with feigned displeasure: "Woman, if you make me fat in the future, don't despise me."

  Su Xiaofan smiled and scanned him from head to toe: "Speaking of which, I've been carefully preparing your meals for you every day recently. Why haven't you grown taller or stronger?"

  Xiao Yimo gave her a silent glance and walked out of the kitchen with the plate.

  Su Xiaofan furrowed her brow in distress and turned around to continue with her work.

  Pei Yuan's expression turned solemn as he fell into deep thought after Xiao Yuafeng explained his intentions. After a long while, he slowly said: "I only met Zi Yun by chance, and I never asked about her identity, nor did she ever mention it voluntarily. Judging from what you've said, perhaps she has encountered some danger."

  "I'll go back and ask around about her whereabouts." Xiao Yuanfeng stood up and was about to bid farewell.

  "Wait, you don't have to do that. Zi Yun had told me before that if she were to leave suddenly one day, not to look for her. You just need to stay in the wine tower and wait, and if she's safe, she'll send a letter to let you know." Pei Quanyuan also stood up at this time.

  "Really?" Xiao Yuanfeng still had a few doubts, the black-clothed men at that time didn't seem to want to harm her, but they kept following behind him and her, were they tracking and monitoring?

  Could it be that those people were sent by Zi Yun's family to protect her?

  "Naturally, I have no need to deceive you." Pei Qinyuan smiled reassuringly and saw that his emotions were no longer as anxious as before. He probably wouldn't send someone to look for her whereabouts anymore. Since she didn't tell him before leaving like that, there must be a reason for it. In two days, he should receive news from her.

  "Alright, I'll take my leave first. If she contacts you, please send someone to our wine house to inform us." Xiao Yuanfeng cupped his hands together and quickly left. As he went out, he took a glance around and sighed, "This is indeed the private residence of the richest man in Mochen City. Whether it's the decorations or the servants and maids in the mansion, everything exudes luxury."

  However, for a small and remote city's richest man to be so luxurious, it makes people feel that something is off.

  He returned to the wine building and told Su Xiaofan about what Pei Qinyuan had said. After that, Xiao Yuafeng sat down on one side, propping up his head and waiting for their reaction.

  "Why don't you ask your mother when you go back another day?" Xiao Yimeng felt that Jia Shi was deliberately hiding her own identity, which was a bit strange. What secret could there be that couldn't be told?

  "Uh, right. Let's wait a few more days and see if there's still no letter from her. If not, I'll try going back to ask around." Su Xiaofan shook the small bowl in front of him, which contained the fruit juice he had just made. Autumn was the season with the most fruits, so if he could make some good fruit juice, he might as well try selling it.

  "What's that? Give me a cup." Xiao Yuanfeng picked up the teacup in front of him, drank it empty, and handed the cup over.

  Su Xiaofan hesitated for a moment before filling his cup: "Actually, I was planning to sell it specifically to female customers after the pairing."

  Xiao Yuanfeng raised the cup to his mouth and paused for a moment: "Can't men drink?"

  "Not really, you see, when people generally go out to eat, the men drink wine and the women either drink wine too, but if they can't handle much, they can only drink tea. Wouldn't it be great to make some drinks and sell them?" Su Xiao Fan poured herself a cup as well, took a sip, smacked her lips a few times and said: "Seems like something's still missing."

  "Not bad...it seems..." Xiao Yuanfeng furrowed his brow.

  "Your expression doesn't look like you're saying it's okay." Su Xiaofan put down the cup and stared at him.

  Xiao Yuanfeng also curled up his lips: "Don't you think it's a bit too sour?"

  Su Xiaofan heard this and suddenly jumped up: "That's right, I forgot to add the honey, wait a moment." After finishing speaking, she hugged the basin and rushed out, and when she came back again, she quickly poured a cup for Xiao Yuanchen and handed it to his mouth: "Come on, try it again."

  Xiao Yuanfeng had originally planned to drink directly from the cup, after all, it was right in front of him. However, feeling the dangerous gaze cast by Xiao Yimòu, he decided to take the cup himself and drank from it. After finishing, he nodded and said: "Hmm, much better than before, should be quite suitable for a girl's taste, I reckon men won't like it that much, but there are other...".

  "Hmm, that's what I had in mind. For now, let's just make some orange juice and try selling it. If someone orders it, then we can come up with a few more flavors." Su Xiaofan said as he turned his head to glance at Xiao Yimiao, pouring a cup and handing it over.

  Xiao Yimeng stared at the quilt in front of her with a frown, and after a while, she faintly spat out a sentence: "I don't like sour-tasting food."

  "It's not sour anymore, let me try some. Who knows, maybe a lack of vitamins will prevent me from growing taller." Su Xiaofan thought that although she was good at balancing nutrition, she didn't know what to eat to grow taller either, and had never paid attention to this kind of information before.

  Xiao Yi Mo silently let out a soft sigh and picked up his cup, draining it in one gulp.

  "Drink your juice slowly, you know? You're drinking it like you're drinking liquor. Okay, let's start again." Su Xiaofan said as she refilled his cup once more.

  Xiao Yi Mo had originally intended to refuse, but facing her curved eyebrows and smiling face, she swallowed back the words that were about to come out of her mouth, silently picked up the cup, and slowly drank it all.

  "That's right, that's right, it's like this, little treasure is really clever, okay, I'm going to go busy now." Su Xiao Fan picked up the basin and left, still having to go out and do some more, then if someone buys, she would have to go find people to wholesale a bunch of oranges back.

  A few days later, Xiao Yuanfeng returned from a trip and excitedly handed a letter to Su Xiaofan: "Your cousin sent this over, saying that she has arrived home safely. She asked me to temporarily leave her things with you, and she'll come back for them when she has the chance."

  Su Xiaofan glanced at it lightly and directly threw it into a nearby stove.

  "...How could you just burn it?" Xiao Yuanfeng stared at the letter that had turned to ashes in an instant.

  "What's the point of not burning it and leaving it? Are you going to secretly take it away and keep it?" Su Xiaofan rubbed her eyes, feeling extremely annoyed. She had just heard a customer in the store say something that made her feel very depressed.

  Xiao Yuanfeng saw that she seemed to be in a bad mood and turned around awkwardly and slipped away.

  At noon, Xiao Yuanfeng finally couldn't help but ask aloud: "Xiao Fan, what's wrong today? You've been gloomy all the time."

  Xiao Yimeng raised an eyebrow and looked at her: "Indeed, it's a bit strange. You're still concerned about what you heard before?"

  "Hmm, I'm a bit worried." Su Xiaofan replied casually.

  "Why don't we go and take a look? The chefs in our restaurant and the helpers in the kitchen are all carefully selected, there won't be any problems. If something like this happens, the problem must be on Su Bing's side. Do you want to consider it, not telling them all the recipes every time?" Xiao Yi Mo asked tentatively. She considered Su Bing and Meng Jie as good friends, so she wanted to tell them everything they came up with, but if that was the case, they might always face such problems in the future.

  "No need to investigate, I'll just go over to Su Bing's place at some point and take a look." Su Xiaofan was clearer than anyone else that the problem this time wasn't on their end. Even when she occasionally went back home, she would first prepare the ingredients and leave them for others to use, without telling the chefs in the restaurant the recipe. Even if they took those ingredients out and gave them to someone else, it was impossible for them to make something exactly the same. So this time, just like last time, the problem lay with Su Bing.

  Last time was fine, but now I'm not a member of that wine shop anymore, can't directly deal with this matter, can only indirectly mention it to Su Bing.

  Then...

  As for the Star Moon Building that was looking for trouble, this time I won't let it off easily. Last time, I simply had Mingyue Building fight with him and he didn't gain any benefits. This time, I'll take care of it myself.

  "Are we going now?" Xiao Yimiao stood up, deciding to go with her, lest she slip away again when he wasn't paying attention.

  "Not for now, aren't you going home tomorrow? I'll go over to their place after I'm done with my busy schedule tomorrow afternoon and we can head back together then." Su Xiaofan finished dinner and went into the kitchen, finding a few people who didn't often go to the wine hall, asking them to bring some silver to buy a few roasted chickens and ducks from Xingyue Tower.

  In the evening, Su Xiaofan cut up the roasted chicken and duck they had bought back, put them on the table and said: "Come on, try it, will it taste exactly the same as what we made?"

  Xiao Yuanfeng quickly solved a few dishes and said, "Compared to what you do, it's still slightly inferior, but compared to the other chefs when you're not in the wine tower, it's almost identical."

  "Alright, I'm going to Mingyuelou for a bit. Little treasure, are you coming with me?" Su Xiaofan stood up and looked at the sky, this time slot shouldn't be too late, going to talk to them and coming back just in time to rest.

  "Nature." Xiao Yimao quickly jumped up, although she wasn't clear what she was going to do.

  "Uh, if you're going, I won't bring Uncle Fu along, he's busy at the moment anyway." Su Xiaofan pulled his hand and swayed out, turning her back to Xiao Yuanfeng and Hua Feichen, waving her hand: "We'll leave it to you two in the wine tower then."

  Xiao Yuanfeng looked at their departing figures and asked seriously, "Master, you said we've been helping out in the wine tower all this time, do we get paid?"

  Her eyes fluttered with a hint of puzzlement, and after thinking for a moment, she replied: "Well, I don't know either. Are you short on silver? Your parents gave you quite a bit when you left the valley last time, didn't they? If you're out of money, just ask Uncle Fu directly."

  "It's not that I don't have the money, but seeing Xiao Fan so motivated makes me feel like a man who hasn't even thought about making something of himself. It's really too embarrassing." Xiao Yuanfeng rubbed his temples, indeed he had only learned martial arts and nothing else. If he had known earlier, he would have gone to learn cooking as well. There were actually several chefs in the valley with quite good culinary skills.

  "It indeed is." Huā Fēi replied with a soft voice, seemingly not too concerned about it.

  Mingyuelou, Su Xiaofan only told Deng Neng that he was looking for Deng Shoucai, and was warmly welcomed to the upper floor of Deng Shoucai.

  Deng Shoucai stood up with a smile: "Sister Su... no, it should be Boss Su nowadays, what brings you here today?"

  "Ah, I wanted to discuss something with you. If Boss Deng is willing to listen, then I won't beat around the bush and will speak directly." Su Xiaofan sat down, smiling as he took the teacup from Deng Neng's hand.

  "Speak quickly and I'll like it, Mr Su, please be straightforward." Deng Shoucai looked at her with a smile.

  "Did you know that Xingyuelou next to Mingyuelou used despicable means to steal the formula I formulated this time? Don't know if it has affected your business?" Su Xiaofan took a sip and put down his teacup, observing his reaction.

  Deng Shoucai's smile froze upon hearing this, as Xing Yue Tower had always been going against him. The specialty dishes in his own wine house were constantly being stolen by them through various means and then sold at a low price. Over time, some old customers had also been lured away by them. Although he had managed to win back some customers with the influence of his previous championship win, these past few days they had again taken away many customers with their low-priced roasted chicken and duck, and every day the number of customers coming to his store was decreasing. He was anxious but couldn't think of a solution.

  After seeing the complex expression on his face, Su Xiaofan hooked her lips and smiled slightly, continuing to say: "That Xing Yue Building has repeatedly come to provoke me, it really makes me angry. If Mr. Deng is willing to cooperate with me, we can work together to bring down that Xing Yue Building, how about it?"

  Deng Shoucai was slightly startled, such words coming from a girl in her early teens would be hard for most people to believe, but looking at the confident smile on her face, he somehow felt a sense of conviction, feeling that if she wanted to do it, she could definitely make it happen.

  "I don't know much about the current management situation of your Mingyuelou, but from some outsiders' mouths, I heard that your business hasn't been doing well lately. If Mr. Deng is willing to cooperate with me, I'll find a way to take down Xingyuelou." Su Xiaofan said, then lowered his head and stared at the tea leaves in the teacup in a daze.

  "I'm not sure what kind of cooperation you're referring to, Mr. Su?" Deng Shoucai narrowed his eyes slightly, a shrewd glint flashing in them. If she proposed conditions that were too harsh, he wouldn't agree, but if he didn't agree, there was no way to improve the business at the wine shop for now. And although her Qi Li Xiang Wine Shop hadn't been open for long, its business was surprisingly good.

  Su Xiaofan raised her head, curved her eyebrows and smiled slightly: "Actually it's very simple, from the time we started cooperating, the income earned by Mingyuelou in the future will be divided equally between us, naturally anything sold at Qili Xiang, I will teach the chefs at Mingyuelou."

  Deng Shoucai's face turned solemn: "Isn't 50% too much? After all, this Mingyue Building has been operated by us for a long time and is an old shop. No matter how bad the business is, there will always be some old customers coming to the door."

  "I don't think it's a problem, if the object wasn't Boss Deng, I wouldn't have offered 55% to begin with, at least it should be 37%, whether it's an old or new store, as long as the dishes taste good and can retain customers, they can make a lot of money. If income increases, even if we do 55%, I think Boss Deng's income will not be lower than now." Su Xiaofan spoke out confidently, if he could take down Xingyue Restaurant in this area, Mingyuelou would be the only large restaurant left, and it would be easy to capture all the customers nearby.

  "Alright, I trust you. Let's give it a try. However, I've never collaborated with anyone before, so in terms of details..." Deng Shoucai thought for a moment before readily agreeing. Su Xiaofan was indeed very skilled when it came to food, and he might as well believe her this once.

  Su Xiaofan nodded and said: "I won't let you down, Mr. Deng. When would you like to start?"

  Deng Shoucai raised an eyebrow and glanced at Deng Neng beside him, saying: "You think it's suitable to start with, honestly, our recent business can barely support the operation of the entire store, with almost no profit."

  "Trouble the shopkeeper to prepare the pen and ink." Su Xiaofan raised his head and smiled at Deng Neng, who was standing on one side, then looked at Xiao Yimeng and said: "Help us write a contract."

  "Contract?" Xiao Yimiao slightly raised an eyebrow.

  "Uh, something like a contract, once we've written it out and both signed with our handprints, that's all there is to it." Su Xiaofan wasn't entirely sure either, but presumably this was the kind of procedure they needed to follow. Deng Shoucai seemed somewhat more astute than others, but he also appeared to be quite slippery; however, as a person, he was still very down-to-earth and hadn't resorted to using underhanded tactics like those people from Xing Yue Tower.

  A moment later, Xiao Yimeng handed over two copies of the contract he had written to Su Xiaofan.

  Su Xiaofan took a closer look and handed one over to Deng Shoucai: "Boss Deng, take a look. If there's no problem, just press your fingerprint on it."

  Deng Shoucai quickly finished reading and took the seal from Deng Nai's hand, pressed it, and handed it to Su Xiaofan. At the same time, he took that copy from her hand and also pressed a fingerprint on it.

  After everything was settled, Su Xiaofan stood up and extended his hand to Deng Shoucai: "Let's celebrate our cooperation in advance."

  Deng Shoucai hesitated for a moment and also stood up, extending his own hand.

  "As for the accounts, you can check them tonight and then make a ledger for me tomorrow." Su Xiaofan turned her head to look out the window, the sky was already late, and it wasn't convenient to discuss more details today.

  "Don't you need to send someone over to take charge? Or perhaps..." After Deng Ai finished putting away the items, he asked, voicing the doubts in his mind. As the boss's relative, if she didn't trust him to handle the accounts properly later on, she might just appoint her own manager to come over.

  "Hmm, no such intention. Since I chose to cooperate with Boss Deng, I will believe in his character and naturally also believe in the shopkeeper he trusts." Su Xiaofan smiled slightly, stood up: "Today is not early, I'll go back first, tomorrow morning I will come over again, and then discuss the Xingyuelou matter with you in detail."

  Deng Shoucai also stood up: "Alright, I'll see you two out."

  Su Xiaofan took a few steps back: "No need, we can go down ourselves. After all, I'll have to come over frequently in the future, and it's not possible for you to send me off every day like this."

  "Good." Deng Shoucai smiled and stood still, seeing them off, then turned to Deng Neng and said: "Can you get the accounts in order tonight?"

  Deng Nai saw that his mood had improved a lot and was no longer as depressed as before: "Don't worry, I won't sleep until I come up with a detailed account."

  "Go ahead and get busy." Deng Shoucai waved his hand, walked back to the desk, sat down, and closed an account book that was originally in front of him. He had been thinking that if things continued like this, he should consider finding someone to take over Mingyue Building, maybe letting others manage it would make it even better. For several days, he repeatedly thought about his management approach, there must be a problem somewhere, which led to such results, but he couldn't figure out the reason.

  At this critical moment, Su Xiaofan came to the door, from a certain perspective, it was undoubtedly a kind of help for herself.

  Su Xiaofan didn't sleep all night and as soon as he returned to the wine building, he rushed into the kitchen.

  Spent a night's time, once again improved the formula, at dawn, pulled Xiao Yimeng together to Mingyuelou.

  "Mr. Su is up so early, didn't you sleep all night?" Deng Nai saw the person coming and went to greet her, noticing the dark circles under her eyes.

  "Uh, thinking about things in my mind, I couldn't sleep either. It's not too late to go back and rest after dealing with it. From now on, you can just call me Little Fan." Su Xiaofan rubbed his eyes, being called "Boss Su" all the time was really getting him unaccustomed.

  "It's okay, Little Fan, the young lady is upstairs, our boss also hasn't slept all night, and has been helping me with the accounts. It's really embarrassing to say, as I've gotten older, I get drowsy when I'm thinking about things." Deng Nai smiled and stepped aside, letting the two go first.

  Su Xiaofan turned back and smiled apologetically: "Sorry about that, I was too impatient, making you all work hard for a whole night."

  Deng Nai shook his head: "No way, this is what we should do, and you can find us to cooperate with Mingyue Hu, it's our honor."

  After entering the room, before Su Xiaofan could speak, Xiao Yimeng took the initiative to pick up the account book on the table and started looking at it. Then he took out his own notebook and made a detailed record.

  Su Xiaofan silently watched him from the side.

  After a long time, Xiao Yimiao had almost finished reading the account book and said in a low voice: "From now on, I will come to check the accounts every ten days. You just need to show me the accounts on the day I come."

  Deng Shoucai and Deng Nai exchanged a glance, originally thinking they would come every day to check the accounts.

  "Take a look." In response to their puzzlement, Xiao Yimeng handed over the book he had organized in front of him.

  Deng Nai looked at it for a moment, then exclaimed: "Could the young master be that legendary genius? The several account books we sorted out were recorded by you in just a few pages, and they look very clear and organized."

  Su Xiaofan proudly raised an eyebrow: "Our little treasure was originally a genius."

  "En, then just follow what he said." Deng Shoucai also smiled along with him.

  "Is Master Ji Yun still working at Mingyue Building?" Su Xiaofan stood up, having settled the account, and was about to go deal with things in the kitchen.

  "Come with me." Deng Shoucai stood up and led the way downstairs.

  The people in the kitchen had heard about this from Deng Nai last night, and now they saw Su Xiaofan walking in. Ji Yun came forward: "Miss Su is here so early."

  Su Xiaofan pulled out a small notebook and handed it over, smiling and saying: "In the future, Master Ji Yun can just call me Xiao Fan. Take a look at this, it's some menu formulas from my wine shop. If you don't understand anything, feel free to ask me."

  "What I write, how could it be that people can't understand." Xiao Yi Mo discontentedly stared at her, seeing who let others call her Little Fan, an unmarried young lady's family also didn't know to pay attention a bit.

  "It's true, young master wrote it very detailed, although I can understand, but each dish has some ingredients that we don't usually use." Ji Yun thought about whether the lack of those few ingredients would make the dishes less delicious.

  "Hmm, those ingredients are indeed very important." Su Xiaofan said, scanning the people in the kitchen, then turned to Deng Shoucai and said: "I want detailed information on everyone in Mingyuelou."

  Deng Shoucai was about to ask a question when Su Xiaofan continued, "For example, the age of these people, their marital status, what they did before coming to Mingyuelou, whether they have any bad habits in their daily lives, and then there's their family situation. Afterwards, I will send someone to verify the information they provide. If there are any discrepancies, I hope you can fire them."