Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 204 Rejection

After a pause, he continued, "I will only ask my two assistants to come and learn. It will only take ten days or half a month. As for which seasonings to buy, I am afraid I will not remember them, so I asked you to write a list for me."

Seeing that Hua Lei didn't say anything, he continued, "Don't worry, we will also get live ducks, chicken livers, duck livers, and pig intestines from your farm. I know you have a lot of ducks on your farm, and you're worried that you won't be able to sell them all. We've opened our cooked food shop, and if business is good, it's also helping you solve the problem. Don't worry, we'll pay you for these live ducks and internal organs according to the market price."

Hua Lei looked at her and said in a calm voice, "Thank you, Madam Wei, for considering me. However, the chickens, ducks, and geese on my farm are all sold well, and the chicken livers, duck livers, pig intestines, and other braised dishes I make myself are in short supply. So I'm sorry, Madam Wei, I can't provide you with these things."

"Oh, since you can't provide any live ducks or internal organs, it doesn't matter. I'll find another way. Let the people on your farm guide my guys and let them learn how to do it." Mrs. Wei looked sympathetic to Hua Lei.

"Mrs. Wei, I'm sorry, the people on my farm are very busy and don't have time to help you with the servants." Hua Lei refused directly.

"Miss Hua, I asked my assistants to work for you for free for half a month, but you refused. If it really doesn't work, just let them work for you for another half a month. Even the cheapest assistants will cost one and a half taels of silver per month. Two people will cost three taels of silver."

Mrs. Wei's words were indeed somewhat shameless. "Besides, my husband is from the Imperial Court's Department of Animal Husbandry, and he is a colleague of the Metropolitan Herdsman." This meant that she was blackmailing Hua Lei, saying that it would be difficult for her to get things done in the Metropolitan Herdsman in the future.

Hua Lei was really angry. It was a new year, and she was sitting at home, and someone came to her house to ask for her roast duck stew recipe. If she refused, she was threatened. It was really unlucky. She had a good temper, but it was because her family had no power. She thought it was better to have less trouble than more, and she didn't want to alarm Madam Pei and the Marquis' Mansion.

Moreover, she was not sure what Feng's attitude was. If this proposal was made by Feng to her family, she would have to give her some face. Although she was reluctant to give the prescription away, she could not tear her relationship apart before the matter was clarified.

Looking at Madam Wei, Hua Lei asked, "Madam Wei is going to Qingyun Lane today. Does Madam Feng of the Marquis' Mansion know about this?"

"Why do you care whether my sister-in-law knows or not?" Madam Wei was very angry. "You have eaten too much roast duck and stewed food, so you can make it yourself. What's the point of hiding it? In less than three months, everyone in the capital will be able to make it. It's not a difficult thing."

This is true. If someone is interested and good at cooking, and eats roast duck a few more times, he or she may be able to replicate Hua Lei’s roast duck and braised food.

However, there is no way around it. It is better to have an opponent naturally emerge from the market to compete with you than to cultivate an opponent to deal with you. At least you won't feel so depressed psychologically.

Hua Lei knew that the owner of Zuiyuelou had recently asked his chef to try roasting duck, but he hadn't succeeded yet. When he succeeded, he would definitely not ask Hua Lei to place an order. This is an unavoidable market problem, but I can't just give up my position because there will be competitors sooner or later.

"Then Madam Wei, why don't you just let your employees study hard for a month and make roast duck and braised food? Why do you have to come to my farm and work for me for free for a month? I don't need these two jobs." Hua Lei picked up the teacup.

"Miss Hua, it is said that one should leave a way out for others so that they can meet again in the future. We will meet in the Marquis' Mansion in the future. You know that my sister-in-law is in charge of the household affairs of the Marquis' Mansion." Mrs. Wei changed her way of speaking.

"Yeah, I know." Hua Lei replied neither lightly nor seriously.

Yes, I know. What kind of answer is this? Doesn't she understand what she means? Doesn't she know that if she tells her sister-in-law, her treatment in the mansion will plummet? Is there any point in hiding a recipe that can be copied by others at any time?

If she gave it to her family, she could open a delicatessen right away and buy goods from her farm. Why would she be unhappy? Isn't this a win-win situation? Seeing that this family opened a bookstore and bought a farm, I thought they should be sensible people. Why can't they make sense now?

Madam Wei was very angry, but she also mentioned that her husband and Du Mu Cao were colleagues, so the girl should understand what she said. She didn't dare to say anything about other things that were obviously forcing her to give her a prescription. After all, although her husband was a seventh-rank official, if it was reported that he was oppressing the people and forcing her to give him a prescription, it would be a bad thing to hear. If she was not careful, she would be demoted by her superiors, and then it would be a loss.

I also said that my sister-in-law is in charge of the household affairs of the Marquis' Mansion. If she is smart, she should take out the recipe so that she can live a better life in the Marquis' Mansion. It will be easier if she can help me with two servants. It is just a matter of a word from her and she does not need to do it herself.

"Miss Hua, aren't you willing to help with this little favor?" Mrs. Wei said unwillingly.

"Mrs. Wei, I'm sorry I can't help you." Hua Lei said directly.

"Why can't I help you? It's just a matter of your words. Is it that difficult?" Mrs. Wei said angrily. "How about this? If it really doesn't work, I'll buy it, okay? You name a price, and I'll buy the recipes for roast duck and stewed food. That way, you shouldn't have any problems, right?" Mrs. Wei felt that she had taken a step back, and Hua Lei should agree anyway.

"Mrs. Wei, I told you that the owner of the restaurant in front also wanted to buy my roast duck recipe. I didn't sell it, right? I said, this is our Hua family's ancestral recipe, and I won't sell it." Hua Lei still pushed back neither soft nor hard.

"I say, Miss Hua, why are you so inflexible? If you sell the recipe to me, you can still do your roast duck business, and I won't interfere with you. You will get more money from selling the house for nothing. Isn't that good? Are you so stubborn?"

Mrs. Wei was really angry. If her husband hadn't told her that he worked in the Animal Husbandry Bureau, in charge of animal husbandry products, and that he knew many colleagues around him and could get cheap chickens and ducks, she wouldn't have thought of doing the roast duck and stewed food business.

By then, I will learn how to roast duck and stew food, and my husband can get cheap chickens, ducks and internal organs, then my family's cooked food shop will definitely make a lot of money. My father-in-law has worked in the Imperial Observatory for his entire life. Apart from the monthly salary, he has no other income. In addition, he has retired at home in the past few years and does not even have the monthly salary.