Chapter 24: Deceiving the Public

Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Deceiving the Public

Very soon, Qiao Suluo arrived at the county town with Que Hongjin and Bai Qianluo.

When they reached the main street, they saw that people were already waiting at the spot where they had set up their stall yesterday.

"Little female beast, you’re finally here! You’re later than yesterday. By this time yesterday, I had already bought my Konjac."

"You’re finally here, little girl! Your Konjac is absolutely delicious. I bought some for my wife yesterday, and she ate an extra bowl of rice with it. She kept urging me to buy more, but by the time I came back yesterday, you were already gone. So, here I am, bright and early today."

"Little girl, your Konjac is indeed tasty. I’m going to buy a lot more this time."

"The spicy flavor and the texture are so incredibly good. That little bit I bought yesterday was gone in a flash. Once you eat one, you just want more..."

"I’m going to buy more this time too. I want six bowls."

"I have a big family, so I’m buying ten bowls."

Everyone talked over one another, showering the Konjac with praise.

Hearing the crowd express their love for the food she made, Qiao Suluo felt very pleased.

Most of the Beastmen on the Beast World Continent were quite straightforward. They didn’t beat around the bush when they spoke. Qiao Suluo quite liked this kind of frank praise.

She explained with a smile, "Don’t worry, everyone. I made some extra Konjac today."

The people in line were ready to make their purchases, but they suddenly caught a whiff of a unique fragrance. It was rich and incredibly pleasant to smell.

"What’s that rich scent?"

"Little girl, did you bring some other food as well?"

"It smells so good. I wonder what it is?"

Que Hongjin set down the pushcart. Inside the wooden boxes on top of it lay the tofu. They had borrowed this cart from a neighbor.

Qiao Suluo stepped forward and lifted the cloth covering the boxes, explaining to the crowd, "This is tofu. It has a soft, tender, and mellow taste.

"You can take it home to cook. It’s delicious stewed in soup with cabbage and fish, and it tastes great eaten directly like this, too."

Someone asked hesitantly, "Can we have a taste?"

They were allowed to taste the Konjac yesterday, so surely they could taste this tofu too, right?

Qiao Suluo readily used a knife to cut a few small pieces for everyone to try.

Those who tasted it were amazed by the flavor and praised it endlessly. "It’s delicious! Even though it isn’t spicy and has a mild flavor, it’s just so fragrant. The aroma is incredible! How much is this tofu?"

Qiao Suluo answered, "A piece of tofu like this costs five cents."

Tofu was a rarity right now, completely absent from the market, so she priced it at ten cents per pound. Before coming, she had already cut the tofu into individual blocks. Each block weighed about half a pound, making it five cents. Since they hadn’t bought a scale yet, this was the easiest way to handle it for now.

This price was something everyone could easily accept.

"All right, give me two pieces of tofu and five bowls of Konjac."

"Little girl, I’ll buy one piece of tofu and two bowls of Konjac..."

Everyone chimed in with their orders. These were all returning customers who had happily spent money on Konjac yesterday. They came from fairly well-off households, so they were generous with their purchases.

"Don’t rush, please line up and go one by one."

Qiao Suluo collected the money, while Que Hongjin and Bai Qianluo helped pack the food for the customers.

Business was as booming as ever. The tofu, in particular, was a massive hit; everyone who tasted it wanted to buy some. Some people also wanted to buy the cloth dolls, but those all had to be delivered to Jinxiu Cloth Shop.

After selling out of food, they delivered the dolls to the cloth shop. Feng Wanqin was waiting there personally and settled her wages on the spot.

For four consecutive days, Qiao Suluo brought Que Hongjin and Bai Qianluo to the county town to run their stall, sell Konjac and tofu, and deliver cloth dolls.

She thought, "After selling out today, I’ll go buy some glutinous rice."

Over the past few days, she hadn’t been willing to splurge on anything other than soybeans. Buying glutinous rice meant she could make Peach Blossom Brew and malt sugar.

Although she earned nearly one tael of silver every day, which added up to four taels over four days, Qiao Suluo felt that if the shopkeeper of Drunken Immortal Tower looked down on her modest offerings, she would still have to rely on her daily savings to redeem Tushan Feishang first.

Over these four days, she often heard people gossiping about Young Master Tushan from Nanfeng Building. She just hoped he wouldn’t suddenly turn into a villain because of having to perform on stage. Of course, she also needed to set aside one tael of silver for her mother to quickly repay the Lü family’s one tael, thereby cutting all ties with that kind of family.

Just as Qiao Suluo and her husbands were packing up the stall, the shopkeeper of Drunken Immortal Tower came out.

"Little girl, please wait a moment."

The shopkeeper of Drunken Immortal Tower was a scrawny, middle-aged male beastman. He was dressed neatly, but a hint of anxiety lingered between his brows.

Qiao Suluo felt a surge of confidence. It looked like she would be able to sell her recipes after all.

Seeing their calm expressions, the shopkeeper smiled amiably and said, "Hello there. Let me introduce myself. I am Manager Zhao of Drunken Immortal Tower. Little girl, I see that the food you make is quite excellent. I wonder if you would be open to discussing a business deal with my restaurant?

"Basically, Drunken Immortal Tower wants to buy the food you make."

In truth, he had previously sent a waiter to buy some Konjac and tofu to taste. It was genuinely delicious. After observing their stall for a few days, he finally made his decision. Drunken Immortal Tower desperately needed fresh, high-quality dishes to attract their old customers back and revive the restaurant’s business.

"Of course," Qiao Suluo said with a smile.

Manager Zhao led them inside the restaurant to discuss the business deal.

By the time Qiao Suluo emerged from Drunken Immortal Tower, she had thirty taels of silver in her hands. This was the money from selling the Konjac recipe, and she only managed to get thirty taels after some hard bargaining. Otherwise, the manager had wanted to pay a mere twenty taels.

Thirty taels was the price for buying out the secret Konjac recipe entirely, which meant she could no longer sell Konjac herself. However, she could continue running her tofu business.

Que Hongjin and Bai Qianluo still felt as if they were dreaming. The secret Konjac recipe was sold just like that, and something like that had actually fetched thirty taels of silver. Their minds were reeling with shock.

Most importantly, they had seen with their own eyes how eloquently and logically Qiao Suluo negotiated with Manager Zhao, completely taking the initiative and dominating the conversation. Otherwise, she would never have been able to secure thirty taels of silver.

"All right," she said. "Now we can go to Nanfeng Building to redeem Tushan Feishang."

Inside Private Room Number One on the second floor of Nanfeng Building.

A servant knocked and entered the room, only to see his noble, peerless young master sitting at the table, wiping a sword in his hands. The entire room was filled with a chilling, murderous aura.

The servant didn’t dare to move a muscle.

Tushan Feishang said indifferently, "Speak. What is it?"

The servant finally spoke, "To answer the young master, that Miss Qiao has brought thirty taels of silver and wants to redeem you.

"This... how should your subordinate handle it?"

Tushan Feishang paused his movements. "Qiao Suluo?"

"Yes, Young Master. It’s her!"

Tushan Feishang let out a low chuckle. His voice was deep, mellow, and soft, like fragrant silk brushing against the heart. However, his tone was lazy and cold, seemingly laced with a dangerous murderous intent. It made the servant instinctively shudder.

Back then, Miss Qiao had tried to humiliate the young master as much as possible by selling him to Nanfeng Building. However, Miss Qiao probably didn’t know that Nanfeng Building was actually a property under the young master’s name. On the surface, it was an art house, but in reality, it was an intelligence-gathering hub for him.

The young master’s on-stage performances were just a smokescreen. Because even though the young master’s tail had been broken, there were still people who wanted to harm him.

Who would have thought that Miss Qiao would actually want to redeem him again?