Chapter Forty-Three: Blocking the Door to the Car

“How much do you plan to sell it for?” the proprietress asked. In truth, her question was rhetorical. Since it was described as a low-priced offering, it could not possibly be priced the same as the large bowl of tea; naturally, it would be set at two coins.

“Two coins,” Su Lu replied, just as expected.

“With two coins, after tallying up all the miscellaneous expenses, we’re hardly making any profit…” The proprietress frowned slightly.

“Well, we can’t work for nothing,” the uncle chimed in hurriedly.

“It doesn’t matter whether we profit from this drink,” Su Lu said in a low, resolute voice. “The important thing is to secure the market and block others from joining. If everyone sells at two coins, I’m not afraid of earning nothing—our mid- and high-end products bring in the profits. You, on the other hand, won’t just earn nothing; you’ll lose everything. Let’s see how you keep up!”

“That makes sense.” The proprietress’s eyes brightened. “Once others see there’s no profit to be made, they’ll give up and stay out.”

She couldn’t help but silently admire him. For one so young, Qiu was decisive and sharp; clearly Second Brother Su had taught him well.

“That’s right. There’s a limit to how much people can eat and drink. The sales of beverages at the temple fair are finite.” Now the uncle and Su Youcai understood.

Su Lu struck the table and declared, “The key is to make competitors retreat in the face of difficulty. We’ll set the price at two coins per cup—let’s see who dares to challenge us!”

“Very well, let’s do it!” The proprietress agreed.

“What about Master Cheng?” Su Youcai asked after the plan was set. “He’s been keeping watch over the stall, making things tough for our sister-in-law.”

“Don’t worry, Second Brother, I’m fine,” the proprietress replied softly. “I’ve faced plenty of debt collectors before—why should my own father be any different?”

Su Youcai coughed, feeling awkward. If debt collectors were mentioned, he’d surely be the first in line.

“Don’t misunderstand, you don’t count,” the proprietress hurriedly reassured him.

Su Lu coughed as well and said, “As long as the proprietress can handle it, let him be. Having a scholar standing guard—who would dare cause trouble?”

~~

Once the hawthorn water at two coins was introduced, many who had been secretly gearing up to join the fray lost their momentum.

Just as the proprietress had calculated, any sweet drink’s raw materials alone cost a coin, not to mention labor and stall fees—the latter being the most deadly. Sweetwater Records paid a tithe of ten percent of revenue to the Thousand House, the highest rate in the entire temple fair.

If the commission were any lower, the Thousand House would never allow a second shop to open and compete with Sweetwater Records.

Thus, if they set the price at two coins as well, there would be no profit, perhaps even a loss.

As for higher prices—they dared not even consider it. Two coins became the moat, firmly blocking competitors from entering the temple fair.

With this clever mix of high and low pricing, Sweetwater Records monopolized the beverage market all through the fair until every single sour orange was used up, and not a single rival appeared.

As for Scholar Cheng, after two days of being ignored, he simply stopped showing up.

On the afternoon of the tenth day, after selling the last batch of Sweet Honey, Su Lu said to the proprietress, “Now we really must return home.”

The uncle and his father sighed in relief; grinding through ten days straight had exhausted them, but their spirits were lifted nonetheless.

“The Lantern Festival will be another busy spell—can’t you stay just a few days longer?” The proprietress was reluctant to let them go.

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“There’s only one thing left to do—keep selling sweetwater at two coins and hold the market,” Su Lu shook his head. “We don’t need to make a profit, just break even.”

“And every temple fair on the first and fifteenth will be the same. We can’t let others sneak in when there’s an opening. When fresh fruit comes in March or April, we can mix up new drinks and make another wave of profits.” Su Lu finished with a smile. “So you see, staying longer serves no purpose—please let us go, proprietress.”

“Yes, Qiu’s academy is about to start; he needs to refocus,” Su Youcai added.

“Well, all right then.” The proprietress sighed softly, then smiled anew. “But tonight, you must let me cook you a proper meal, and I ask you to honor me by accepting.”

She bowed deeply.

Su Youcai and the uncle laughed, “Then we’ll happily accept.”

~~

The inn had a small courtyard with a kitchen.

To save money, they had long since begun buying groceries and cooking for themselves.

The proprietress shopped at the temple fair, with the old woman helping her, and soon produced a sumptuous meal:

Steamed pork with rice wine, hand-torn spicy rabbit, ginger and scallion river shrimp, and a steamed osmanthus fish.

Finally, she brought out a pot of lamb offal soup, thickly topped with pepper. “It was all bought ready-made at the fair, just a bit of processing—please don’t mind.”

“Not at all, it looks, smells, and tastes wonderful!” Su Youcai said, savoring the rabbit leg.

The proprietress spoke truthfully. Half the dishes were “pre-prepared”—for example, the hand-torn spicy rabbit was wild rabbit cured with peppercorns and well salt, steamed and shredded, then topped with a sauce of vinegar and garlic.

Her culinary skills were no match for the uncle’s wife, but she was resourceful, knowing how to play to her strengths and make the best use of what was available, creating an excellent spread nonetheless.

“Come, sister, sit down.” The uncle invited the proprietress to take the host’s seat.

She sat down with her daughter, poured a cup of sweet rice wine, and raised it with both hands. “This cup is to thank my two elder brothers and two virtuous nephews for their great help—I will never forget it.”

“Think nothing of it!” Su Youcai and the uncle drank their sorghum wine heartily, while the brothers Su Lu drank the sweet rice wine.

In fact, Xia had secretly tasted wine before, but dared not do so before his father.

“The second cup is to celebrate the success of our plan,” the proprietress poured another cup, her beautiful eyes full of excitement. “No, it was more successful than I ever imagined.”

“Yes, I thought it would be a one-off deal, but it turned into a lasting business,” the uncle grinned broadly.

“It means our sister-in-law’s fortunes have turned,” Su Youcai smiled. “As the saying goes, ‘After endless hills and rivers, a village emerges amidst willows and flowers.’”

After everyone drank the second cup, the proprietress beckoned, and the old woman brought forth a heavy bundle, dropping it onto the table with a thud.

The proprietress opened the bundle to reveal neat strings of copper coins.

At that moment, to the Su family, she seemed to glow with gold. She declared, “From the fifth to today, we’ve earned twenty strings and one hundred coins. As agreed, half for each party—here are ten strings and fifty coins, please count for yourselves.”

The Su family exchanged looks; Su Lu shook his head with a smile. “Proprietress, the account isn’t quite right.”

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The old woman’s face darkened, as if she thought him greedy.

The proprietress, however, kept her gentle smile. “Qiu, then tell me how it should be calculated—I’ll follow your lead.”

“You forgot your initial investment,” Su Lu replied, counting on his fingers. “Three thousand pounds of sour oranges cost five taels of silver, two thousand bamboo cups two taels, and a thousand pounds of sorghum another five taels. If you gave us ten taels, you’d actually be losing money.”

Truthfully, Su Lu was tempted to keep the ten taels for himself. Yet he understood, just as he had tested the other party, this was her test of them in return.

He didn’t believe, given her shrewdness and debt-ridden situation, that she would overlook the twelve taels in costs. She just wanted to see what they would do.

If they took all ten taels, she would not say a word, but the partnership would end there, and Sweetwater Records would have nothing to do with the Su family—a result Su Lu did not desire.

Ten taels wouldn’t even cover three years of tuition, and for the long road ahead, it was a drop in the bucket. He believed in the future of the proprietress and Sweetwater Records and would not act shortsightedly.

Su Youcai spoke seriously, “After deducting costs, our net profit is eight thousand and one hundred coins, so you only need to give us four strings and fifty coins.”

“So this business isn’t as lucrative as we imagined,” the uncle said with a bitter smile.

“With such a high margin, and still not profitable?” Su Lu was speechless.

“Well, yes—only the temple fair brings returns,” the uncle corrected himself.

“That’s true,” Su Lu nodded, smiling.

The proprietress saw their attitude and realized they had already considered everything.

She had judged them by her own small-mindedness.

She was deeply moved and said quickly, “That calculation isn’t right. Those leftover sorghum, sour oranges, and bamboo cups were useless to me, destined to rot in the warehouse. So all this money is pure profit.”

The old woman was speechless—she had seen those who quibbled over every coin for fear of being cheated, but never anyone who refused to take advantage of others.

“That’s enough, sister, don’t say more,” Su Youcai gestured, making his position clear. “Earlier we took two taels and five, now four, making six taels and five total—no more!”

“Yes, you don’t know our old man’s temperament. He won’t let himself suffer, but neither will he let us take advantage of others,” the uncle added with a wry smile. “If we took all ten strings home, the three of them would be fine, but I’d be in trouble—I'd have to sneak it back to you.”

“Well…” The proprietress saw their resolve and thought for a moment. “Then, let the rest count as your investment—I’ll give you a twenty percent share in Sweetwater Records, and you must not refuse.”

She paused, then added, “Don’t worry, He’s debts all stay with He’s business—they don’t concern you.”

Su Youcai and the uncle were tempted. Sweetwater Records was now running smoothly; even if profits only came during holidays and fruit season, it was still a substantial annual income.

Of course, they were accustomed to trusting Su Lu’s judgment in such matters.

“Twenty percent is too much; ten percent is more than enough,” Su Lu said slowly. Shares are given generously at the start, but as the business grows, partners regret it—many have fallen out over such things.

“Let’s settle on twenty percent, because I have one more condition,” the proprietress said, pouring a third cup and raising it to Su Youcai. “Second Brother Su, I adore your two sons—may I have the honor of being their godmother?”

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