After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

Chapter 518 Opening another shop? 2

Jiang Xiaoqi didn't understand how the conversation had gone from dessert recipes to stir-fried cured pork with smoked bamboo shoots, and then from stir-fried cured pork with smoked bamboo shoots to hot pot with two broths.

Jiang Xiaoqi was running low on his own hot pot base, and looking into the Second Prince's clear, puppy-dog eyes, he swallowed his words of refusal.

Sigh~ Who could bear to refuse a "Golden Retriever"?

"Your Highness, I'm running low on the base for my spicy hot pot. I can spare ten pieces for you."

After all, tallow isn't easy to come by. This was only a few dozen kilograms of tallow that Editor Liu gave us last time, and we didn't make much of it in total.

The Second Prince didn't think Jiang Xiaoqi was stingy; how could he complain about the food being spoiled when he was just asking for it?

What's more, it's not spoiled rice; it's a spicy hot pot that sounds incredibly delicious.

"Sir, is only butter acceptable? Other oils won't do?"

Great, they asked Xiao Ming and the others the same question. It seems foodies all think alike.

Jiang Xiaoqi shook her head, "No, the taste is much worse."

The second prince expressed his understanding, saying that he hadn't eaten so many failed attempts at making snowflake crisps for nothing; he knew that even a slight difference in the ingredients could lead to vastly different results.

"I'll think of a way. It would be a great loss if we couldn't eat such delicious food often."

Jiang Xiaoqi naturally didn't take it to heart; the only place the Second Prince could find butter was the Imperial Kitchen.

However, the imperial kitchen wouldn't prepare too much butter, and sometimes they wouldn't even need it, so they wouldn't prepare it.

The Imperial Household Department procures goods in fixed quantities and through fixed channels, and rarely changes the quantity or type of goods unless there is a major event, a grand banquet, or a foreign envoy visiting the capital.

"If we have enough broth, we could open a hot pot or a yin-yang hot pot restaurant together. We don't have to limit ourselves to just opening a dim sum shop."

Jiang Xiaoqi was helpless. Did the person in front of her even know that she was preparing to seize the throne?

How come you're so obsessed with opening a shop?

"Well, the problem is we can't even guarantee the supply of raw materials, so opening a shop is just a pipe dream."

Opening a hot pot restaurant is actually very simple. You don't even need a chef. All you need to do is cut the meat, wash the vegetables, and prepare the broth and dipping sauces.

But the most crucial thing is the broth. We have plenty of sesame paste, but where can we find so many "fallen to their deaths" cows?

The second prince nodded, "Then let's open the pastry shop first?"

Jiang Xiaoqi closed his eyes. Was this shop absolutely necessary to open? Second Prince, are you short of money?

"Your Highness is unable to leave the palace, and I am also preoccupied with many other matters. I am afraid I will not have the time or energy to open a pastry shop."

Opening a shop? Who's going to manage that? We can't expect Jiang Xiaoqi to keep holding multiple jobs, can we? No way! Let whoever wants to do it do it!

“Let Brother Lin take care of it. I can’t leave the palace, but Brother Lin can. From childhood to adulthood, Brother Lin has brought back a lot of good things for me.”

Eunuch Chen? That's feasible!

My limit is just a few suggestions and some advice on shop decoration; I can't help with anything else.

The main reason is that Jiang Xiaoqi prefers to do business on his own and doesn't like to partner with others, except for his mother, of course.

Making a profit is fine, but losing money inevitably hurts relationships.

Especially between friends, it's best to avoid any conflicts of interest. A superior-subordinate relationship like his with the Second Prince makes cooperation difficult.

Profit distribution is secondary; it's easy for one party to simply wash their hands of the matter.

"Your Majesty, I think Eunuch Chen is a good candidate. He is not only literate and intelligent, but he can also frequently go out of the palace to inspect and check accounts. He is very suitable."

"Once we hire a reliable manager, a few clever assistants, and an experienced pastry chef, the shop will be up and running."

Anyone can do it as long as you don't have to manage it yourself.

"Sir, you can use the formula as an investment, and we'll split the profits fifty-fifty!"

"No, no, the future operation of the store, the store decoration, and the initial investment will all be major expenses. I am only providing some recipes, and it is absolutely not appropriate for them to account for such a large share."

"Let's go with 20/80. Taking 20% ​​is already a lot. Actually, Your Highness could just buy out the formula; that way, there's no need to share profits, and it'll save us trouble later."

"That won't do. These formulas are very valuable. I'm afraid I won't have enough money to buy them out."

How about a 40/60 split?

"Sigh~ I'll stick with 28."

"30/70?"

"Twenty-eight!"

Jiang Xiaoqi insisted that the Second Prince rarely saw an official who wasn't greedy for money, which puzzled him greatly.

"Does having too much money make you want to bite?"

"No, a gentleman loves wealth but acquires it in a proper way. I will only take what I am entitled to."

Besides... my family is not short of money.

The second prince realized that the person beside him was actually a hidden tycoon.

Without the knowledge of the future shop's main person in charge, the Second Prince and Jiang Xiaoqi finalized the matter of opening a pastry shop in just a few words.

It wasn't until Chen Lin had instructed people to arrange dinner that he realized he had taken on an additional task—foreign affairs work.

Chen Lin was unsure of the Second Prince's intentions. Was he really going to open a shop? Or was he setting up some kind of intelligence organization in the capital?

If you want intelligence, don't you have a large number of shadow guards available? Why do you have to open a shop?

Or is it that His Highness simply likes these dessert recipes and doesn't want them to go to waste?

Sigh~ Oh well, I'll just do whatever they tell me to do.

Whether it's gathering intelligence or actually selling food, why not just take care of it for His Highness?

Chen Lin's thinking was simple: he would do things that his prince couldn't do, and he would do things that his prince wanted to do.

Jiang Xiaoqi was impressed by Chen Lin's seemingly foolish wisdom and unwavering loyalty.

However, he wasn't envious. He also had Wenbin and Li Mo, as well as A Niu and Wang Chuan, who were also performing well.

To Jiang Xiaoqi's surprise, Chen Lin was also quite skilled at choosing locations.

This all started when he was inspecting his own shop and saw Chen's Dim Sum Shop next door.

What kind of shops used to be next to Liuxiang Pavilion? A silk shop? Or a jewelry shop?

It's no wonder Jiang Xiaoqi didn't remember it; that shop used to be very low-key, or in other words, "almost deserted," and business was really not good.

Especially when compared to Liuxiang Pavilion, it seemed even more deserted.

The person next door is quite something; despite having such a large flow of customers at Liuxiang Pavilion, they can't seem to get a single penny off of it.

I don't know if the goods are too bad or if there's something wrong with the feng shui of this store.

However, it has now become "Chen's Dim Sum Shop" because the original owner couldn't continue and transferred the business.

Without exchanging many pleasantries with Chen Lin to avoid gossip, the two nodded to each other and then tacitly looked away.