Chapter 412: Come Clean

Chapter 412: Chapter 412: Come Clean

When Manager Liu saw Xu Laifu come with an invitation, he knew Ji Huan had made her decision.

After both parties signed the contract and affixed their thumbprints, Ji Huan handed him several sheets of paper.

Manager Liu cradled the papers in his hands as if they were a treasure, flipping through them one by one.

Sweet and Sour Fish, Sweet and Sour Shrimp, Sweet and Sour Pork, Sweet and Sour Tenderloin, Sweet and Sour Ribs, Sweet and Sour Meatballs, Sweet and Sour...

’This is an entire sweet and sour feast!’

Not only that, but Ji Huan had also tailored the recipes to Liuxian Building’s culinary style and included two additional main courses worthy of being signature dishes.

One was Longjing Tea-Scented Chicken, and the other was Steamed Duck with Fermented Rice Wine.

Even someone as seasoned as Manager Liu couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

He clasped his hands in a gesture of respect. "Mr. Ji, you are most gracious. I will remember this."

"My pleasure," Ji Huan replied, returning the gesture.

After seeing Manager Liu off, Xu Laifu felt it was a bit of a shame.

"Really, teaching them two or three dishes should have been enough..."

"Liuxian Building isn’t Hongfu Restaurant; they’re not so easily satisfied. Rather than getting into a drawn-out negotiation, it’s better to give them a little extra goodwill upfront. We need to think long-term. You have to risk the bait to catch the fish, after all.

Besides, with sweet and sour dishes, the method is basically the same for all of them. Once you master one, the rest are easy. There are some I didn’t even have to teach them; they would have figured them out on their own soon enough.

Besides, the better their business does, the more of our seasonings they’ll use. At the end of the day, we’re the ones who benefit."

Manager Quan had just gotten back to Quanju Xuan. His seat wasn’t even warm before he heard that Liu had gone to Ji’s Flavor Industry again.

He’d gone once before, and now he was back again... ’He’s most likely sealed a deal.’

’If Liuxian Building starts using products from Ji’s Flavor Industry and Quanju Xuan doesn’t... Customers are fickle. Even our regulars won’t be able to resist the novelty...’

’No way. Quanju Xuan absolutely cannot be left behind!’

’But I just had a falling out with her...’

Manager Quan grew even more furious. He paced around the room for what felt like an eternity before flinging open the door and randomly calling over a young apprentice.

"You. Go to Ji’s Flavor Industry for me."

’What’s the harm in compromising just this once? Once we get our hands on the goods, I’ll have the kitchen staff study them. I refuse to believe they can’t crack the formula.’

When the man from Quanju Xuan arrived, he didn’t mention anything about a long-term partnership. He just said he was there to buy their products.

The apprentice was quite liberal with his spending, buying a large quantity of every item.

But for some reason, Xu Laifu felt that something wasn’t right.

Ji Huan shook her head as she flipped through her ledger. "The customer is a Buddha. And even if the Buddha has impure motives, he’s still a Buddha."

Xu Laifu asked in alarm, "You’re saying they... they’re trying to copy us?!"

"Let them try," Ji Huan said, closing the ledger and stretching. "Even if we could stop one restaurant, we can’t stop all the others."

’This kind of thing is all too common in the future.’

’Some companies and individuals are unwilling to invest money and energy into research and development. Instead, they have plenty of energy to watch their competitors like hungry tigers, and plenty of money to hire corporate spies. The moment a competitor makes a major breakthrough, they swarm like flies to blood, using any means necessary to steal the results and slap on a new label. They seize the market first and claim their own team developed it. Some are even shameless enough to turn around and sue the original creators, driving them into bankruptcy.’

’It goes beyond shamelessness.’

’And that’s in a world with laws to constrain them. You can’t stop some unscrupulous people from finding loopholes.’

’In ancient times like these, without any relevant laws, how can you possibly stop anyone?’

’If I refuse to sell to Quanju Xuan today, I’d be going back on my own word. I’ve been telling everyone that any customer who walks through the door is welcome. There’s no sense in turning them away.’

’Even if I risked a complete falling out and turned them away, they could just hire some random person off the street to buy the products for them. They’d still get what they want.’

"B-but what if they crack the formula..."

"Let me ask you something. How long did you spend improving the soy sauce and vinegar?"

"Almost a year... and that was after I’d already asked around and found out the general method."

"The difficulty with soy sauce and vinegar lies in timing and mastering the details. The ingredients themselves aren’t complex; there are only a handful.

Spices are different. My... A person I once knew tried to crack a formula. He ground dozens of spices into powder, steeped them in boiling water, or boiled them directly in water, tasting each and every sample. He kept this up for nearly half a year. He got to the point where he could grab a handful of a finished spice blend, close his eyes, and identify the ingredients just by smell. But he still couldn’t replicate the original formula. He always felt something was missing, and he almost permanently damaged his sense of taste in the process.

If Quanju Xuan were willing to put in that kind of grueling effort, they wouldn’t always be trailing behind Liuxian Building, eating their leftovers. The most they could possibly figure out is a basic five-spice powder."

’Even a five-spice powder isn’t that easy to replicate.’

’The complex application of spices is an incredibly difficult subject. The processing methods, the timing, the proportions... even the combinations follow a principle of hierarchy and balance, like a king and his court.’

’A miss is as good as a mile.’

’And the formulas in my head are the optimal blends, perfected and passed down through generations. They want to crack them? Let them take their sweet time.’

’Even if they do manage to figure it out one day, by then, Ji’s Flavor Industry will have already established a firm foothold in Yeyang. Every restaurant in the city, big or small, will be my long-term client. What would I have to fear then?’

’A business can’t remain without competitors forever. Having a six-month head start is already a huge stroke of luck.’

’As for Quanju Xuan... pulling all these stunts, do they actually plan on switching to the seasoning business? That’s impossible.’

’So instead of wasting time in a field where they have no expertise, they’d be better off focusing on their own business.’

’That’s why Manager Liu is the truly brilliant one.’

On the way home, Ji Huan vented her frustrations the entire time.

Guan Shan was silent, his expression a little grim.

Only Dabao would nod along from time to time, acting as her one-person audience.

When they got home, Guan Shan carried all the bags into the kitchen, then led Jifeng straight out to the back of the house.

Ji Huan finished putting everything away, clasped her hands behind her back, and moseyed out to the back of the house as well.

Jifeng used to stay in the backyard, where he would stir up a ruckus of neighing and barking. Even the two rabbits became incredibly irritable. The noise was driving Ji Huan mad.

But alas, the other animals were the type to never learn their lesson. As for Jifeng, he would listen when you spoke to him, but he’d go right back to his old ways afterward. The only exception was when Guan Shan was the one speaking.

So Guan Shan had built another stable for Jifeng behind the house, which is where the horse stayed during the day.

When Ji Huan ambled over, Guan Shan was standing by the manger, feeding Jifeng a handful of hay.

Ji Huan put a fist to her lips and coughed lightly. "The hay is right there in the stone trough. Jifeng can eat it himself."

Guan Shan didn’t answer, but Jifeng raised its big eyelids and shot her a glance.

In just over a month, the horse had gone from having a dull coat and a bony frame to being sleek and glossy. With a little more fattening up, he would be the very picture of sturdy and well-fed.

’It just goes to show how well a certain someone takes care of him,’ she thought. ’Of course, Jifeng’s carefree attitude probably helps, too.’

Ji Huan walked over to stand beside Guan Shan at the trough. Copying him, she also grabbed a handful of hay from the stone trough and offered it to Jifeng, patting his broad forehead at the same time.

"There’s a good boy, Jifeng. Eat when you should eat, drink when you should drink, and don’t let things get to you. Whatever you do, don’t be like a certain someone... a grown man, sulking all day for no good reason..."

Jifeng suddenly stopped chewing.

He looked at her offering, then at Guan Shan’s, as if he didn’t know which to choose.

Or perhaps he’d understood that Ji Huan was subtly insulting his master.

Ji Huan shot a sideways glance at Guan Shan.

With his eyes downcast, Guan Shan tossed his handful of hay back into the manger and turned to leave. It looked like he was heading for the mountain behind the house.

Ji Huan hurried to grab his sleeve, pointing to the west. "The sun’s about to set."

Guan Shan’s voice was low and heavy. "Let go."

Instead of letting go, Ji Huan held on even tighter.

Guan Shan seemed to take a deep breath, about to pry her hand away.

Ji Huan used the momentum to swing around in front of him, facing him with a mischievous grin.

"Alright, fess up. Why are you mad?"