Chapter 49 - Signing the Contract

“Uh, I want to buy your recipe.”

“Pfft!” Xiaoguo spluttered. What was wrong with this person? Why was she so straightforward?

“It’s like this. Don’t get too excited. Listen to me… ” Xu Ruyi slowly recounted her experience.

Though she found it absurd, Xiaoguo listened to what the woman had to say. When she finished, Xiaoguo nodded. She understood now.

The situation was like this. The noodle shop was named after Xu Ruyi by her father. When Xu Ruyi was born, her mother passed away. Ever since, the father and daughter only had each other to rely on. They made a living by running the noodle shop. Business was good but about half a year ago, Father Xu passed away. After which, the family business began to decline.

Even until today, when people passed by the place, they would not stop to take a look. Xu Ruyi tried her best to replicate the noodle making process using her father’s techniques, But the noodles just didn’t turn out well. If she were to continue the business in this manner, she was afraid that they would close down very soon.

However, Xu Ruyi didn’t want to wind up the business that her father had worked so hard to build. Without money in her account, she couldn’t pay the employees. All the employees in the shop had left, with the exception of one who had been around since the shop was set up. However, the two of them now have problems filling their stomachs.

One day, when Xu Ruyi was feeling disheartened, she saw Xiaoguo selling potato starch noodles. Attracted by the aroma, Xu Ruyi spent all the ten copper coins she had left to buy a bowl. Once she started eating, she could not stop. Hence, she toyed with the idea of buying the recipe from Xiaoguo, in order to revive the Ruyi Noodle Restaurant.

Xu Ruyi had secretly observed her stall operations from the side. Xiaoguo charged ten copper coins for a bowl of noodles. Every customer ordered at least two bowls each time. She should have made at least a few taels of silver from that one trip.

After listening to her story, Xiaoguo’s expression remained unchanged, but she was quietly thinking it through. Then, she asked a question unhurriedly, “If you don’t have any money left, how are you going to buy my recipe?” As she spoke, Xiaoguo looked straight into Xu Ruyi’s eyes.

When Xu Ruyi heard this, her eyes flickered. Then, she suddenly had a decided look on her face. “I’ll give you the deed!”

She took out the deed and handed it to Xiaoguo. Xiaoguo took it and looked at it before putting it down on the table. “I don’t need your deed.”

Xu Ruyi’s heart skipped a beat, and her face was filled with disappointment. This was the most valuable thing she could offer, but… was it still not enough?

Xiaoguo spoke again. “I can give you the recipe.” Xu Ruyi was instantly revived when she heard this. She looked at Xiaoguo with hope in her eyes. After a while, Xiaoguo said again, “But I want to be a shareholder.”

“A shareholder?” Xu Ruyi didn’t understand and looked at Xiaoguo in confusion.

Xiaoguo put down the cup and said to her, “To put it simply, I’ll give you the recipe. You can give me a share of the money you make from the potato noodles each month.”

Xu Ruyi understood what she was saying. She swallowed and asked cautiously, “How much do you want for the shares?”

Xiaoguo was silent. After a while, she said, “Forty percent.” After all, she didn’t have to come up with anything. The other party had more liabilities. Forty percent is just about right.

Xu Ruyi did not speak and worked the sums with an abacus for a while. In the end, she put down the abacus and said, “Deal!”

“There’s no hurry. Let’s sign the contract first.” Xiaoguo stopped Xu Ruyi, who was eager to learn the recipe. One had to be careful when doing business.

Xiaoguo finished writing two contracts and handed them to the other party to check. Xu Ruyi looked over them carefully and signed her name. Seeing that Xu Ruyi was about to hand over the signed contracts, Xiaoguo reminded her. “Your personal stamp hasn’t been stamped yet.”

Xu Ruyi blushed and remembered that she still had a personal seal. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I forgot about it. I only need to stamp with the seal for the monthly accounts. But I haven’t had any accounts to clear yet…” With that, she quickly went to the cashier and took out her seal. She stamped firmly on the two contracts.

Xiaoguo assured her that it was okay. She took the contracts from Xu Ruyi and gave them a final check. When she was sure that there were no problems, she signed her name and used Xu Ruyi’s ink pad to make a handprint.

One contract for each of them. Xiaoguo kept hers away, and borrowed a brush and paper to write out every step of the recipe in detail. She wrote down the preparation of the potato starch and the fish balls. The things to take note of were also written down clearly. On a separate piece of paper, she wrote down the recipes for the soup bases. Just by listing out the spices and the quantity required for each of them, she had already filled up half a piece of paper.

She handed the few pieces of paper to Xu Ruyi. “Study them first and prepare the ingredients needed. I’ll come over tomorrow morning to teach you how to make fish balls and potato starch.”

Xu Ruyi held the paper carefully as if she was holding a gold bar. She nodded repeatedly at Xiaoguo’s words. “Okay, okay. I’ll prepare it immediately. When you come tomorrow, I promise that everything will be ready.”

Xiaoguo nodded and turned to leave. Zhuang Zhuang must have been waiting anxiously for her. As she thought about her son, Xiaoguo hurried towards Peach Blossom Village without further delay.