Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 94 - 0 Strategy

Fugui Building, inside a room upstairs, Lu Laosan watched the gloomy-faced Shopkeeper Zeng and handed him a cup of hot tea, smiling, "Brother Zeng, how is it? What I said wasn’t wrong, was it? Those few families are troublemakers, very difficult to deal with."

Shopkeeper Zeng took the hot tea handed over by Lu Laosan, took a sip, then with a bang, smashed the teacup onto the table and angrily said, "That Gu Family really doesn’t appreciate favors."

He had offered forty taels of Silver, yet they refused to sell. It was just a few recipes, not worth them treasuring so much, it was infuriating indeed.

Lu Laosan gave Chef Li a glance, corners of his mouth curling into a smile, then turned back to Shopkeeper Zeng, saying, "Brother Zeng, don’t be angry. Those people live in Da Feng Village, and Da Feng Village is my Lu Family’s turf. They dared to refuse Brother Zeng’s request, I will go back to the village and find them, to vent for Brother Zeng."

The speaking Lu Laosan was indeed the third son of Old Master Lu. Today, Shopkeeper Zeng couldn’t help but go to the Gu Family’s tofu stall to ask for the recipe, and Lu Laosan had a hand in this.

Lu Laosan exaggeratedly told Shopkeeper Zeng that the tofu stall was very profitable, earning nearly a hundred taels of Silver in just half a month. Fugui Building only made about two hundred taels a month, and that shabby tofu stall made a hundred taels in just half a month, simply unbelievable.

Lu Laosan also said that tofu was a fresh delicacy, absolutely unique in the entire He’an Prefecture. If they could get their hands on the recipe, not only would they make a fortune, but they could also present the recipe to the County Governor and gain merit. Then, Shopkeeper Zeng would get promoted, perhaps moving to a restaurant in the county or Prefecture.

Qingfu Town was not bad, but in the end, it was just a town. How could it compare to the bustling county or Prefecture?

Shopkeeper Zeng was persuaded by Lu Laosan, took the tofu-loving Chef Li to the Gu Family’s tofu stall to buy their recipe, but the Gu Family actually refused to sell, which was ridiculous.

Hearing Lu Laosan’s words, Chef Li, knowing how domineering the Lu Family was in Da Feng Village, hurriedly said, "Lu San, you must not act recklessly. If you tarnish the County Governor’s reputation, he will not let you off."

County Magistrate Zou had been a County Magistrate for many years, possessing great power in Tianfu County, and he did not regard a few famine-stricken migrant families at all. However, Mrs. Zou cared about reputation.

Mrs. Zou’s eldest son had already attained the Scholar official position. As long as the Zou family facilitated some connections, once County Magistrate Zou retired, the position of County Magistrate could fall into Mrs. Zou’s son’s hands.

Chef Li’s family was a dowry brought by Mrs. Zou from her family home, naturally, he had to help Mrs. Zou.

As for this Lu Family, Chef Li did not think highly of them. They were merely a concubine’s family, yet putting on airs like the county Governor Yue Family, where did they get that kind of face?

Lu Laosan knew Chef Li was Mrs. Zou’s person and disliked him in his heart. Hearing these words, he said with dissatisfaction, "Old Li, you are wrong on this. It’s not that we are making things difficult for the Gu Family; the Gu Family is the one refusing favors. It’s only a few worthless recipes. We are willing to pay, yet they don’t sell, obviously, they need to be taught a lesson, lest they think this is the Northwest, where they can act arrogantly."

Those affected by famine should look like they are affected by famine, meek and bending over in servitude. But the Qin, Gu, Luo, and Tian families were too stubborn. Coming to the village for almost a month, they only sent a gift to the Lu Family on the first day of Danian, no other signs of submission, arrogant indeed.

And the Lu Family had not yet broken their pride, yet they dared to make tofu for a living, and even earned money and bought a house. Wasn’t this slapping the Lu Family’s face?

If the Lu Family did not show those families some colors, would all the people in Da Feng Village begin to learn from these families? How would the Lu Family walk arrogantly in the village then?

The Lu Family was eyeing the position of the village chief, needing to keep all the villagers in check without any troublemakers.

Chef Li frowned and pointed directly at Lu San, saying, "Lu San, don’t egg on Manager Zeng. Be honest, is it the Lu Family who wants the tofu recipe?" frёeωebɳovel.com

Chef Li had hit the nail on the head regarding Lu San’s thoughts, but Lu San wouldn’t admit it, smiling as he said, "Old Li, what you’re saying isn’t right. My Lu Family intends to present the tofu recipe to the County Governor, not to keep it for ourselves."

The truth was that when he knew the Gu Family’s tofu stall was booming, he indeed thought about monopolizing the recipe. However, his father said since his sister is just a concubine in the Zou Mansion and the Lu Family relies on County Magistrate Zou, they couldn’t hold onto the recipe themselves; they had to present it to the County Governor. He could only suppress the desire to keep the tofu recipe to himself.

And to get his hands on the recipe, he had even sent He Dacai and a few ruffians to trouble Miss Gu, hoping this would pressure the Gu Family into submission. As long as they handed over the recipe and listened to the Lu Family in everything, they would no longer make life difficult for them.

But unexpectedly, those families were fierce. They beat up He Dacai and his men so badly they couldn’t get out of bed, lying in the house for half a month.

His father said those families had guts and knew some martial arts, making them tough nuts to crack. That’s why he came to town to find Manager Zeng and sought to instigate Manager Zeng to covet the tofu recipe.

Chef Li didn’t believe Lu San’s words at all, but before he could speak, Manager Zeng interrupted him, saying, "Old Li, brother Lu San is Concubine Lu’s own little brother. For the sake of Concubine Lu, the Third Young Master, and the Fifth Miss, brother Lu San wouldn’t harbor such thoughts."

Manager Zeng turned to Lu San and said, "In that case, I’ll leave this matter to you. Just handle it gently and don’t make too much of a scene."

What Lu San was waiting for were these words: "Alright, Brother Zeng can rest assured. Our Lu Family won’t bully others by flaunting our power. When I go back, I will have a good talk with those families; considering the bond of being from the same village, they will definitely give the Lu Family this face and hand over the recipe."

With Manager Zeng’s words, the Lu Family could take advantage of the County Governor’s name to pressure the Gu Family. If the Gu Family really took the matter to the government office and the County Governor asked about it, he could pin the blame on Manager Zeng, stating that it was Manager Zeng who sent the Lu Family to seize the tofu recipe.

Lu San left soon to return to the village.

Chef Li was worried what sort of inappropriate actions Lu San might take, and after he left, he said to Manager Zeng, "Old Zeng, how could you leave this matter to him? He says he’ll buy the recipe—do you believe him? When has the Lu Family ever bought something they wanted with money?"

Manager Zeng replied with indifference, "If the Lu Family wants to seize it, that’s their business, not ours. From the start, we said we would buy the recipe with money. If the Lu Family really brings the recipe, we’ll give them forty taels of silver for it. The rest is none of our concern."

Lu San was cunning, but Manager Zeng was even more so; they only wanted the recipe and didn’t care who brought it to them, as long as they paid for it. Once the silver exchanged hands, there would be no further trouble to find with them.

After Manager Zeng finished speaking, he didn’t give Chef Li another chance to speak and sent him to keep busy in the kitchen.

Chef Li was quite worried about this matter and shared the day’s events with his wife that evening.

His wife, Ms. Ge, said, "Don’t worry about it for now; let them stir up trouble first. If something happens, we can then tell Mrs. Zou, and she can take the opportunity to deal with Concubine Lu, which can only benefit us."

Concubine Lu was very crafty, having retained favor in the Zou Mansion for twenty years. Mrs. Zou had long desired to remove her, so if the Lu Family really did something to affect County Magistrate Zou, it couldn’t be better.

Hearing this, Chef Li put the matter of the tofu recipe aside and decided to wait for the Lu Family to make their move.