CHAPTER 168: CHAPTER 167: NO PROGRESS AT ALL

Yu Xiaolian and Mrs. Sun’s worries came true.

Little Tiger’s classmate’s family came looking.

However, they weren’t here to cause trouble; they came to buy braised meat.

It was that Xudong Zhao’s grandmother who came.

Yesterday, her little grandson brought home some braised meat that was so delicious, the grandson didn’t have enough, nor did she and her husband, hence they came to buy more today.

Speaking of which, the Zhao Family owns a restaurant, and it’s a big one in the west of the city. What hasn’t her grandson tried that’s good?

What haven’t she and her husband tasted? They’ve eaten everything—those that fly in the sky, those that run on the ground, and those that swim in the river.

But this was the first time she’d eaten such delicious braised meat.

She could taste several herbs in it. Their restaurant also uses some herbs to remove gaminess when cooking meat, but she couldn’t identify some of the others.

After buying the braised meat, Mrs. Zhao was about to leave when she saw Sun Fengshou bring out a large pot of duck.

The enticing aroma went straight into the old lady’s nose. She stopped in her tracks and bought a spicy duck.

Mrs. Zhao took a good look at the small braised meat shop and thought to herself that this little shop has something.

She planned to talk to her husband about possibly buying the recipe for the braised meat.

Remembering her grandson’s reminders to buy some sweets and snacks to bring back, Mrs. Zhao handed her purchases to the servant behind her and walked into the Taotao Residence.

Wow, this general store also has some goodies.

Mrs. Zhao caught a strong whiff of fragrant incense and headed straight to the personal care section.

She picked up each bar of soap to sniff.

Seeing a customer enter, Yu Xiaolian put down her book and went over to introduce the products to the old lady.

"Is this soap?"

It smelled lovely, and Mrs. Zhao took a deep breath.

The Taotao Residence had been open for a few days without selling a single bar of soap. A few people had asked, but they all thought it too expensive and hadn’t bought any.

Since the old lady looked well-dressed, Yu Xiaolian provided a detailed introduction.

"This is called soap. It can be used for washing your face or your body. We have many varieties: pomegranate, rose, lemon, honey, sandalwood, and sulfur soap."

Mrs. Zhao didn’t even ask the price. She pointed with her finger, "This one, this one, and that one, I’ll take them all."

The old lady was pointing to the rose essential oil soap, pomegranate soap, and lemon-scented soap.

Seeing the old lady buy three bars at once, Yu Xiaolian quickly mentioned the price, as these weren’t the cheap soaps.

Ordinary soap sold for three taels of Silver each when she sold them in Yangcheng, while the essential oil soap was five taels each.

Now in Yu State, she had raised the price by one tael.

Ordinary soap cost four taels of Silver each, and essential oil soap cost six taels each.

Mrs. Zhao listened to Yu Xiaolian’s pricing without batting an eye, and she didn’t think Yu Xiaolian’s prices were high. She continued to browse around the shop at her own pace.

The superior soap she’d used before cost two taels per piece, and the bars weren’t as big or as fragrant as these.

Mrs. Zhao felt like she’d stumbled upon a treasure trove and was thrilled, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

Yu Xiaolian followed Mrs. Zhao step by step, introducing the products.

Mrs. Zhao didn’t disappoint and ended up buying nearly all the personal care products.

Yu Xiaolian tallied the bill, and with the candies and snacks Mrs. Zhao bought for her grandson, it added up to 155 taels and 40 Copper Coins of Silver.

Mrs. Zhao was straightforward, and Yu Xiaolian wasn’t outdone either, immediately shaving off the 40 Copper Coins, accepting just 155 taels.

Yu Xiaolian and Zhao Erya helped Mrs. Zhao carry her purchases to the carriage.

Mrs. Zhao returned home fully loaded and in excellent spirits.

As soon as she got home, she couldn’t wait to open a bar of soap and washed her hands.

The foam was rich, fine, with excellent cleaning power, leaving her hands feeling fresh, fragrant, and not sticky afterward.

This soap was simply superb.

Mrs. Zhao asked a servant to heat water for a bath.

After using all the products over a day, she felt the money was well-spent.

When chatting with her old friends, Mrs. Zhao couldn’t help but mention that a new Taotao Residence had opened in the east of the city, with products that were exceptionally good.

Not only were they good, but they smelled wonderful, and the fragrance lingered long after use.

With Mrs. Zhao’s promotion, the Taotao Residence welcomed several more old ladies.

These old ladies tried the products and then told their daughters-in-law at home.

Thus, in just half a month, the Taotao Residence gained a bit of fame in the east of the city.

The braised meat shop’s business became more bustling due to the addition of spicy duck.

That day, Yu Xiaolian was introducing a snow cream to a young lady when she heard her father shout from outside, "Two jin and three liang of braised meat, two jin and eight liang of ribs."

Yu Xiaolian rushed to the door and shouted back, "A straight 200 Copper Coins."

She couldn’t believe her father; she had been teaching them to do the math every night for this half month, and there was no improvement at all.

It seemed she needed to adopt a primary school approach, giving them oral math problems and homework every night for more practice. Otherwise, it seemed their brains couldn’t turn the corner.

"Your father can’t do the math?" the girl asked with a smile, holding the snow cream.

Yu Xiaolian nodded helplessly. Her father sometimes had mental blocks, being shrewd one moment and confused the next.

Though Mrs. Sun had a quicker mind than Yu Changhe, she had a hurdle, being clueless about money and numbers.

She could only count Copper Coins in tens and got confused beyond that, doing worse than Yu Changhe.

At least Yu Changhe had some education for a couple of years, whereas Mrs. Sun hadn’t attended school for a day.

The advantage was that the two shops were close. When Yu Changhe couldn’t figure things out, he just needed to shout from outside the weight, and Yu Xiaolian could immediately call out the amount.

"I’ll take this snow cream and toothpaste, and this eyebrow pencil too. Which color do you think I should choose?"

The eyebrow pencils came in dark gray, light gray, dark brown, light brown, gray-black, and dark coffee.

Fu Zihan never realized eyebrow pencils could come in so many colors.

She often visited the biggest cosmetics shop in the Capital, Xiang Garden, where items easily cost hundreds of taels. But now it seemed they weren’t as good as the things in this little convenience store in Luocheng.

Her grandaunt had highly recommended the Taotao Residence, saying its products were affordable and good. Now it seemed the trip was worth it indeed.

Seeing Fu Zihan’s thick, jet-black hair, Yu Xiaolian recommended the gray-black color, which looked more natural.

Upon seeing Fu Zihan’s eyebrows, it seemed they hadn’t been groomed in a long time, already so unruly that the shape was unclear.

Yu Xiaolian asked Fu Zihan what kind of eyebrow shape she preferred, offering to trim them for free.

Fu Zihan scrutinized Yu Xiaolian’s eyebrows and saw they looked naturally shaped but distinct, obviously groomed.

Though they had been enhanced, there weren’t any heavy strokes, making her admire Yu Xiaolian’s eyebrow-drawing skills.