Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 15 Successful Collaboration The Mysterious Man is Named Xiao Chen

The man in red remained composed and elegant, sipping his tea. Feng Xuxu let out a sigh in her heart, knowing that if she did not speak up, the opportunity might no longer be hers. Although she knew how to cultivate and had the advantage of her special space, she could not ignore that someone might purposely research and eventually succeed in growing chilies themselves. Feng Xuxu never underestimated the wisdom of ancient people. Why not take the chance now and create an opportunity for herself?

Feng Xuxu put down her teacup and spoke leisurely, "I can do it, but I don’t have the capital to buy land or hire people to cultivate it,"

"Capital? You mean silver? If that’s the case, then it’s not a problem," the man in red said, frowning in confusion.

Feng Xuxu nodded and added, "There’s also the matter of revenue sharing."

The man in red raised an eyebrow in surprise, "How much of a share do you want?"

"I want three tenths," Feng Xuxu looked at the man across from her.

"Three tenths, is it? That’s acceptable," the man in red did not argue.

Feng Xuxu shook her finger, "No no no, it’s not what you’re thinking."

The man became more interested, propping up his body with one hand and resting his chin in the other and asked, "Not what I’m thinking, then what is it?" His eyes shining with curiosity.

Feng Xuxu avoided the enthralling gaze of the man across from her, "You give or lend me the silver, and I’ll grow the chilies myself. Once the chilies are ripe, I will first supply your restaurant under the prior conditions, then I will supply the market. That’s the first point,"

The man in red gestured for her to continue, and Feng Xuxu spoke again, "Even if your restaurant buys the chilies, you won’t know other ways to cook them. I can sell you recipes for dishes that use chilies, but I want three tenths of the earnings from every chili dish, not just from this one restaurant, but from all the restaurants you own. That’s the second point. Lastly, I require assurance of my own and my family’s personal safety. After all, there’s no crime in being an ordinary man, but there can be in having talent. I still understand this principle."

The man in red straightened up, looking at Feng Xuxu. From the initial mockery, to surprise at her cooking knowledge, to shock at her current proposal—all within the short span of an hour. This farm girl had an indescribable quality about her. To ask for three tenths from all his restaurants that serve chili dishes might seem like a lion’s mouth wide open, yet she didn’t come across as an ignorant farm girl. Furthermore, knowing the peril of being talented showed her meticulous thinking. Could this really be a girl not yet thirteen?

The man in red lowered his head in silence, while Feng Xuxu anxiously waited, "I can satisfy the other demands, but three tenths is too much. I can only give you one tenth at most. Furthermore, for all the chilies my restaurants purchase from you, I want them to be ten percent cheaper than the market price."

Damn, it went from three tenths to one tenth, and on top of that, he wants to buy the chilies at ten percent below market rate. Taking both into account, there’s not much profit left. Businessmen are truly shrewd. This experience has been enlightening, Feng Xuxu thought, grinding her teeth and rolling her eyes, but nodded in agreement.

"Are you going to come in or not? You think you can eat by standing outside the door?" the man in red shouted toward the door.

The door creaked open as the cool attendant and shopkeeper entered, "Master," they said, standing to the side, waiting for their master to speak. "Alright, Uncle Ma, go prepare the contract," the man in red said to the shopkeeper.

"Yes, Master," the shopkeeper, hearing himself addressed as Uncle Ma, knew his master had forgiven his earlier blabber—or rather, his few too many "coughs."

"Tian Yi, you prepare five thousand taels of silver," the man in red said while wiping his hands with a handkerchief as if there was sweat to wipe away. Tian Yi, who had returned, placed a stack of silver notes on the desk. At the same moment, the shopkeeper laid a freshly drafted contract on the desk and stood beside it with due propriety.

The man in red picked up the contract and turned to the last page, where he wrote "Xiao Chen" with a brush. He then handed it to Feng Xuxu across from him, who wrote her given name beneath Xiao Chen’s.