"Uncle, don't worry, wait for me to catch my breath, it's so hot!" Sitting on the edge of the bamboo bed, he received a sweat towel from Da Huang and wiped off the sweat on his face. "Grandma Liu, do you have any water? Give me a cup, like the one I drank last time I was here."
"Sure, let me pour it for you," Grandma Liu said cheerfully. This child, he drank the water from home only once and he missed it.
"Grandma, I'll do it!" Liu Yusheng crawled out of the bed, looking at her family who walked into the hall behind him, and glared at Qian Wanjin. This young master's affliction – he has the nerve to order her grandma about! She would add him to her black list!
Qian Wanguin was baffled. How did he offend her? He was just asking for a drink. Why was she glaring at him?
Little devil!
After the little girl handed him the cup water, he was struck with a mean thought and raised a hand to pull her pigtails, but Liu Yusheng slapped his hand away.
Immediately, the mood under Liu Yusheng's eyes changed imperceptibly. With his hands hanging on his sides, she twisted her fingertips lightly and retreated to the side, looking thoughtfully at Qian Wanjin.
After drinking a cup of water and feeling comfortable all over, Qian Wanyin then looked at the Liu family gathered around with a smile.
"Grandpa Liu, Grandma Liu, Uncle, the fruit wine we shipped out from you sold so well in the market that we're in short supply. It shows that your family's craftsmanship is really good! But my Qian family's business covers the whole of Nanling, even if everyone in your family works together, you won't be able to keep up with the demand. I was thinking, why don't you sell me this secret recipe for making fruit wine? I'll not treat you badly in terms of price, enough to make your family a rich landlord in the entire Xiangshan County. What do you think?"
"You want to buy the secret recipe?" Grandma Liu was appalled and exchanged looks with her family.
"Yes, Grandmother Liu, I'll pay 50,000 taels. You can sell fruit wine for 20 years with this amount of money. Now, you just have to give me the secret recipe, I'll give you the silver bills right away. You'll also save yourself from fatigue. In the future, take this money to buy houses and lands in Xiangshan County, and live the life of the rich!"
50,000 taels was an astronomical sum of money to rural folks who have never seen the world, and even to the rich country households.
How could they not be impressed?
After their initial surprise, however, the Liu family wasn't overjoyed as Qian Wanjin had expected.
Grandpa Liu pondered for a moment, and said, "Uhm… Young Boss, it's not that we refuse to sell you the recipe, but this wine is actually something my granddaughter fiddled with. Forget about Nannan's young age, she's got great ideas. Whether she wants to sell it to you, it's her final say."
Qian Wanjin was secretly shocked. This little girl came up with it? Is she still capable of that? She's only three, isn't she?
Seeing the suspicion in the second generation ancestor's eyes, Liu Yusheng smiled: "Your Boss, I can give you the secret recipe without charging you a cent, but even if you have it, you won't be able to brew the same taste as my Liu family would. Are you sure you want it?"
"Are you kidding me, little girl?" Qian Wanjin sneered, "Unless I got a fake secret recipe, there's no wine that my Qian Family Winery can't make!"
"And does the water from your Qian Winery taste the same as our water?"
"…"
"Do the vegetables that your Qian family grow taste the same as ours?"
"…"
"Believe it or not, you can't find any food that tastes as good as ours even if you search from house to house in the entire Xinghua. How much more in your land?"
Unable to refute the little girl's three consecutive questions, Qian Wanjin's smile slowly dimmed and he narrowed his small eyes. "What do you mean by that? Are you saying that only your family can make fruit wine?"
"No, everyone can make fruit wine, but the best flavor would be my Liu's."
"The reason?"
"There's no reason. What goes out of my house is good. If you really want to know why, you've probably heard the rumors in the village. Everyone says that I'm a blessed baby."
"…"
During the conversation, not only Qian Wanjin was dumbfounded, even the Liu family were shocked.
This Nannan was completely different from her usual self. Her childishness and cuteness seemed to have suddenly faded away, blurring her age with an eloquence that surpassed that of an adult.
Furthermore, what she said was entirely reasonable and logical. Even if she was swindling, she was so convincing…
After looking fixedly at Liu Yusheng for a long time, Qian Wanjin changed his posture, and the superiority that he had deliberately restrained before suddenly flowed out, giving a heavy sense of oppression.
"What if I am set to ask for the secret recipe?"
"I can tell you right now." Liu Yusheng tilted her head, smiling, seemingly unable to feel that pressure. "If you suspect that it's a fake recipe, you can find some fruits that are still in season and I'll brew a jar of fruit wine each with your Qian Family Winery; seal it in front of you and let you take it away. When you open the jars, taste it, and you'll know which is the genuine and fake right away."
Qian Wanjin was paralyzed, and suddenly felt deflated: "There's no such thing in this world. Alright, little devil, I'll believe you. It seems that my Qian family can't fish up this piece of cake."
"You can partner with my family," Liu Yusheng said again.
"Partner? How can we partner? Tell me."
"Build a winery in our Xinghua Village. You provide the silver, our family contributes the craft. As for the workers, we can hire our Xinghua villagers to help."
Everyone in the Liu family looked at each other again, no longer knowing what to say. Was this really their Nannan? How come she was so crafty?
She's simply… awesome!
"Gee, what the hell did you grow up eating, little girl? Why are you so smart?" Qian Wanjin shook his head in amazement. "It's not impossible to build a winery in your village, but a year of operation plus hiring labor will cost a lot of silver. I can't even earn my capital back if grape wine is only made once a year.
"In addition to grape wine, it's also possible to brew other wines like peach wine, hawthorn wine, plum wine, citrus wine, lychee wine, mulberry wine, as well as a variety of medicinal wine. My Aunt Wanrong is proficient in the preparation of various medicinal herbs. We can ask her to help in this aspect. In this way, it will last all year round. Do you still think that you'll lose money?"
"What about profit sharing?"
"2/8, two for you, eight for me."
"5/5! I pay the silver, and after the wine is produced, I still have to utilize our channels to sell it!"
"7/3! The moment the wine produced by Xinghua Village hits the market, it will surely win unprecedented prestige for the Qian family. You'll be making money out of your money. But if the quality of the wine isn't good, no matter how many channels you have, it will be useless."
"6/4!" Qian Wanjin gritted his teeth.
"Fine, but you have to promise me one condition."
"What condition?"
"I don't want anyone else to come to my Liu Family to force the secret recipe."
"…" Qian Wanjin suddenly felt that he had fallen into a big pit.
Not only did he have to contribute money and effort, he also had to shield them from knives, while they would just mope around in the back and get rich!
"Deal or no deal!" Liu Yusheng kept smiling.
"Deal!" Whoever didn't take this opportunity to earn money was a bastard! He wasn't that kind of person!
Whenever he caught sight of a coin on the ground, he would be unwell all over if he didn't pick it up!