Realizing he was staring too intently, Zhang Liunian quickly averted his gaze, not daring to look again. "Let's walk around some more." Though he said this, his eyes kept flicking towards Jiang Qingqing.
Jiang Qingqing noticed her husband's gaze but, unaware of his thoughts, assumed he was also feeling peckish. She reached for the popsicle in his hand and offered it to his mouth, saying, "It's hard for you to hold. I'll help you."
Seeing the popsicle offered to his mouth, Zhang Liunian could only smile and take a large bite, beginning to chew.
Ah, so cold, so refreshing!
Seeing him eat with relish, Jiang Qingqing raised her other hand and licked her own popsicle.
"Gulp!" Zhang Liunian saw her small tongue again and instantly swallowed the popsicle in his mouth.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Qingqing, holding a popsicle in each hand, looked up to see her husband staring at her fixedly. She raised a popsicle towards him again.
Zhang Liunian took a fierce bite, shaking his head as he said, "Nothing. Let's go buy some things for little sister's wedding!"
"Okay." Jiang Qingqing, suspecting nothing, continued browsing while eating.
When they returned, there was only one customer left in the shop. This customer was the man who had asked how to cook lobster.
"What is this?"
"That's our lobster sauce." Du Ziteng squeezed in front of Liu Sanniu and answered first. After speaking, he winked at Liu Sanniu, signaling that she could go rest and leave this person to him.
Liu Sanniu was also a bit tired. She nodded and turned to leave. But as soon as she turned, she saw Zhang Liunian's family of three returning.
Zhang Qian, who had been waiting outside, also saw them. "Brother Liunian, we need to go back. Otherwise, we won't make it this afternoon."
Zhang Liunian placed his daughter on the tractor, glanced at Du Ziteng, and said, "Ziteng, you stay here first. We're heading back."
Hearing this, Du Ziteng poked his head out and replied, "Okay," then continued to attend to the man. "We're not selling individual bottles for now, but five bottles minimum. If you take five, we can sell them to you for one yuan and fifty-five fen."
Zhang Liunian glanced at the man, wondering why he was still there, but said nothing. He put his wife on the tractor, and then climbed up himself.
"Let's go!" Zhang Liunian checked that his wife and daughter were seated, and then said.
Zhang Qian immediately went back in response.
Inside the shop, the man heard the noise and turned to glance at them with an unreadable expression.
On the road, Zhang Qian proactively reported the shop's business situation to Zhang Liunian.
"In just the past hour or two, we sold sixty-one jin."
Zhang Liunian was a little surprised they could sell this much. "Not bad."
This shop was initially opened to avoid bothering Mu Mingliang to watch his lobsters. Selling lobsters was just a side activity, but given the current situation, selling lobsters could also bring in some money.
Zhang Qian heard the lack of enthusiasm in his voice. Indeed, for someone who earned several thousand a day, what was tens of yuan now?
"We only sold for such a short time and sold sixty-one jin. If we sell for the whole day, it will be at least one to two hundred jin."
If they could sell one to two hundred jin, this place could earn fifty to sixty yuan a day, which would be over a thousand a month!
Zhang Qian didn't think tens of yuan was small because he knew that an income of a thousand yuan a month was beyond the reach of many.
Zhang Liunian smiled, looking at his profile, and understood his meaning. "I'm not disappointed. Earning tens of yuan is also an unexpected joy."
"Later, when everyone knows about our place, many people will come to buy," Zhang Qian said with confidence in the shop's prospects.
Zhang Liunian agreed. "Once the name is famous, people will naturally come." After all, Daming Lake was the supply lake for the entire county, so his business wouldn't be bad.
Upon returning home, Zhang Liunian sent Xiao Si and Xiao Wu into the kitchen to help the mute stir-fry lobsters, while he prepared for his trip to Nancheng.
"How many bottles can we produce now?" Zhang Liunian asked Zhang Ruhua when he arrived at the lobster sauce production room.
Zhang Ruhua, a little excited and shy, fiddled with her clothes as she replied, "We made four hundred bottles this morning. With a bit more effort, we should be able to make nine hundred bottles a day."
Hearing this number, Zhang Liunian nodded. "Strive to produce one thousand bottles a day."
"Okay."
Taking the lobster sauce to be delivered, Zhang Liunian turned to attend to other matters.
Zhang Ruhua watched Zhang Liunian's retreating figure, her small face blushing like a red apple.
Soon it was time to deliver to Nancheng. Zhang Liunian delivered the lobster sauce one by one to ten distribution points.
However, he was unaware that during his deliveries, a shadowy figure was stealthily following him, witnessing firsthand how he settled transactions with the collaborators.
After Zhang Liunian left, this person bought a bottle and presented it to Qian Fei.
"This is the lobster sauce he made, and he's selling it all over Nancheng." This man was hired by Qian Fei to follow Zhang Liunian and was also the one who had asked questions earlier.
If Zhang Liunian were here, he would definitely recognize this person.
Qian Fei took the lobster sauce, looked at it, and then asked, "Do you remember which shops they were?"
"I remember."
"Very good. Come with me to the Tang family's place." Qian Fei then took the lobster sauce to find Brother Tang. They wouldn't allow Zhang Liunian to make money in their territory.
They rushed to the Tang family's home and found Brother Tang, who was drinking cola and watching television. "Brother Tang, I know what Zhang Liunian is doing now."
Upon hearing that there was news so quickly, Brother Tang put down his cola and sat up straight, asking him, "What is he doing?"
"He's operating as a private entrepreneur, and he's found some suckers to cooperate with. We can't just stand by and watch him make money on our turf." Qian Fei truly did not want to see Zhang Liunian prosper.
Brother Tang thought the same. How could someone who had offended them prosper? "Leave this to me. I'll find my uncle and the others to intervene. Let's see if they dare to cooperate with Zhang Liunian then."
With Brother Tang's assurance, Qian Fei's heart finally settled.
"Do you know all the people he's cooperating with in Nancheng?" Brother Tang planned to launch a full-scale blockade against Zhang Liunian to make his life difficult.
When Qian Fei heard this, he looked at his subordinate. "How many shops were there in total? Do you know them all?"
The man replied, "There are ten cooperating shops selling lobster." As for the Nancheng Food Factory, it didn't seem to be for lobster sauce; he didn't know what it was for.
This man had been following Zhang Liunian since he arrived in Nancheng, from the Nancheng Food Factory to these ten distribution points, he had seen it all.
However, he didn't know what Zhang Liunian did at the food factory, so he didn't mention it.
"Ten shops? He's quite capable, managing to find ten resellers just by talking. Tomorrow, I guarantee he won't be able to sell a single bottle."
Brother Tang was even more annoyed upon hearing there were ten shops, but then he thought of something and looked at the lobster sauce in his hand, asking again, "How many bottles did he sell, and how much did one bottle sell for?"