Chapter 32

The woman was one who doted on her child and immediately took out another ten wen to hand to Jiang Wei.

"Give me two more."

She would bring one back for the child's father to taste as well.

Jiang Wei took two more snow cakes out of the ice cabinet and handed them over, instructing as she did so: "These snow cakes melt easily, eat them as soon as possible."

"Alright, alright." The woman nodded with a smile.

The weather had been too hot recently, and the child had been unable to eat for several days due to the heat; these snow cakes had solved her urgent problem.

Several other pedestrians, wilted from the heat, passed by. Seeing the snow cakes in the woman's hand emitting wisps of cold air and seeing the child eating with such joy, they couldn't help but gather around.

"Young lady, how are you selling these snow cakes?"

"Give me one too!"

Jiang Wei took several more snow cakes out of the ice cabinet in succession, "Five wen each!"

The few people took a bite and let out sounds of surprise.

"Wow! Your snow cakes are milky and delicious!"

"Whew, it's quite freezing to the mouth, is it made of ice?"

"It probably isn't made of ice, but it tastes just as cool as ice!"

The group began to chatter. They had been sweating profusely from the heat, but after a few bites of the snow cake, they were instantly no longer hot, and they felt much more energetic!

Following the discussion, more and more passersby gathered around. Hearing that the snow cakes were delicious and heat-relieving, and as cool as ice, they all took out money to buy them.

Jiang Wei opened the lid of the ice cabinet and handed them out one by one.

Jiang Xiaoxiao was responsible for collecting the money on the side.

Soon, the snow cakes in the ice cabinet were at the bottom.

"Sorry, we've sold out, please come back tomorrow," Jiang Wei said.

Because she was afraid they wouldn't sell, she had only prepared about fifty snow cakes this time.

There were still many people waiting in line to buy, and upon hearing this, they felt somewhat discouraged.

"Hey, how are they gone? I haven't eaten one yet!"

"Sigh, forget it, forget it, let's come back tomorrow."

The crowd then dispersed one after another.

Jiang Wei packed up the ice cabinet and took Jiang Xiaoxiao by the hand, preparing to leave.

"Mother, are you going to find Shopkeeper Zhou?" Jiang Xiaoxiao glanced at the ice cabinet; she had just seen that there were two snow cakes left inside.

"Yes," Jiang Wei's lips curled into an arc, "to ask how the marriage between the Huang family and the Li family is going."

However, upon arriving at the restaurant, as soon as they met, Shopkeeper Zhou looked as if he had seen his own parents, his face full of excitement.

"Oh my, Little Lady Jiang, you've finally appeared! You've been hard to find these past two days!"

"What, what's wrong?" The mother and daughter were startled by this display.

"You haven't been to town these past two days. I went to the original place to look for you but couldn't find you; I was worried to death!"

Shopkeeper Zhou wiped the sweat of excitement from his forehead, caught his breath, and continued: "Do you remember the ice cream you sold me two days ago? It sold like crazy! So many people were fighting to buy it! In the two days you weren't in town, how many people came to the restaurant every day asking for this ice cream!"

At first, he only sold it for ten wen a bowl, and only two people came to buy it.

But after tasting it, those two were amazed, praising it as a cooling treat for heat relief that was unique in the world!

Later, more and more people bought it, and he even raised the price to fifteen wen a bowl, but it was still snatched up within a day!

Those who had eaten it couldn't stop thinking about it, and those who hadn't were hooked and itching with desire, coming to his restaurant every day to ask when the ice cream would be sold again...

He hadn't been able to find anyone for two days, and his lips were almost blistered from anxiety!

After listening to Shopkeeper Zhou's rambling, Jiang Xiaoxiao couldn't help but laugh: "Mother, I didn't expect our ice cream to be quite popular!"

That made their hard work over the past few days worthwhile.

Shopkeeper Zhou wiped his sweat: "More than just popular! If you hadn't come, I was afraid those ancestors who couldn't buy ice cream would have smashed my restaurant!"

Jiang Wei, however, was not moved by Shopkeeper Zhou's exaggerated rhetoric, but instead crossed her arms and said: "What does Shopkeeper Zhou want with me? Could it be that you want to buy the ice cream from me at a low price and then sell it at a high price in your restaurant?"

"Th-that's certainly not it!" Shopkeeper Zhou waved his hands repeatedly.

He looked at Jiang Wei's expression, confirmed she wasn't angry, and then said: "Our boss does indeed want to stock up from you. Of course, we won't let you suffer a loss; we will cooperate with you!"

"Oh?" Jiang Wei tilted her head with interest, "What kind of cooperation?"

"We are prepared to purchase your ice cream at a price of ten wen per bowl. You only need to provide our restaurant with fifty bowls a day, how about that?" Shopkeeper Zhou immediately laid out the conditions.

"This..." Jiang Wei feigned deep thought, then revealed an expression of reluctant agreement: "Alright then, fifty bowls a day, but I want daily settlement."

"Good, good, that's only natural!"

Seeing that Jiang Wei had agreed, Shopkeeper Zhou was so happy he said "good" repeatedly, as if he would agree to any condition.

Seeing this, Jiang Xiaoxiao couldn't help but sneer in her heart.

She had thought Shopkeeper Zhou would use his influence to pressure them and buy their formula directly.

She didn't expect him to be quite upright; he was someone worth associating with.

However, their formula would be useless to buy anyway; without ice, ice cream couldn't be made.

Having negotiated the cooperation, Jiang Wei took the remaining two snow cakes out of the ice cabinet and handed them to Shopkeeper Zhou: "Shopkeeper Zhou, this is a new snow cake I made, it's similar to ice cream, you try it."

"Th-this is for me?" Shopkeeper Zhou was somewhat surprised and hurriedly took it with both hands.

It was a small piece, half the size of a palm, with a long, thin bamboo stick inserted at the bottom; the appearance was quite novel.

He took a bite, and his eyes lit up immediately: "This is also delicious!"

The taste was refreshing and icy; although the texture wasn't as soft and delicate as ice cream, he preferred this crunchy texture like shaved ice!

"Little Lady Jiang, can you sell us some of these things called snow cakes too?" Shopkeeper Zhou asked with a smile.

"Yes," Jiang Wei agreed quite readily this time, "five wen each."

"Only five wen each?" Shopkeeper Zhou seemed not to have expected it to be so cheap, and looked at the two snow cakes in his hand with some surprise.

Clearly, the taste was not inferior to ice cream, so how could the price be directly half as cheap?!

Seeing Shopkeeper Zhou's surprised expression, Jiang Xiaoxiao felt that this price arrangement was very reasonable.

With a more accessible price for snow cakes, more people would buy them.

And the price of ice cream was expensive, so fewer people would buy it, and only those wealthy people who came to the restaurant to eat every day could afford it.

"In that case... then sell ten of these snow cakes to our restaurant first," Shopkeeper Zhou said, deliberating.

He wasn't sure if that group of people would buy it.

"Fine, I'll have them delivered to you tomorrow."

Jiang Wei agreed in one breath, then turned to speak of her own purpose: "Shopkeeper Zhou, I came to find you today because I still want to inquire about the Huang family."

"The Huang family again?"

Shopkeeper Zhou subconsciously glanced at Jiang Xiaoxiao on the side, thinking to himself, could it be that this Little Lady Jiang still hasn't given up the idea of marrying her daughter into the Huang family?

(End of chapter)