February 18th.

With Lin Miao financing and Liu Li as the chief shopkeeper, the pastry shop Furong Garden officially opened its doors for business.

Not only did Lin Miao take charge of creating various exquisite paintings for the pastries’ interior decoration, but he also wrote the shop name himself, and had a signboard made to hang above the main entrance.

This pastry shop had no men; all pastry chefs and clerks were women, and most were former courtesans from "Huaye Tower" seeking a fresh start.

Such a pastry shop, in Dongshan City, is unique!

The huge workspace is connected to the sales point, allowing customers at the entrance to witness the entire pastry production process with their own eyes.

Of course, what you see is what they’re willing to show you; the truly confidential pastry recipes are only known to Liu Li, Shi Yin, and other core members.

Uniform outfits, exuding endless charm!

This kind of unique and novel pastry shop is absolutely unprecedented.

The moment it opened, it attracted many people’s attention. Whether or not they bought anything, just watching the busy figures of beautiful women inside was an enjoyment in itself.

The era of visual economy has begun.

Grand opening, promotional offer!

A simple and straightforward promotional strategy: buy three, get one free!

Just like the previous tofu sales, this method effectively grasped the "thrill of a bargain" aspect of human nature.

Lin Miao personally took the stage, openly announcing that he was the investor behind the pastry shop, first, to provide Liu Li with a means of livelihood in the future, and second, to expand his business and earn money to support his family.

With the appeal of beautiful women, delicious pastries, and Lin Miao’s popularity threefold, once Furong Garden opened, all freshly made pastries sold out within just an hour.

Additionally, as soon as the pastries were freshly made, they were sold out just as quickly, and some people, after tasting them, couldn’t wait at the shop and placed orders directly instead.

On the first day of opening, customers came in swarms, causing a chaotic frenzy.

Even the freshly baked pastries were snatched up instantly, and the originally spacious sales hall unexpectedly had such long queues that they extended all the way to the street outside.

There weren’t enough staff.

Lin Miao had to bring Sun Youwei and Xia Zhu directly to the front to assist with sales, even Lien Yurou and Lianxin, and Xu Qixi joined in to help.

The attention drawn was like the moon surrounded by stars, causing many to envy.

Given the first day’s overwhelming success, they would likely need to hire more people.

At least two to three people for front desk sales: one for weighing, one for payment processing, and one for retrieving pastries; and in the back pastry production room, they’d need at least six people if work is divided among them.

Currently, even with temporarily assigning Shi Yin, they only had six people in total.

Of course, business couldn’t be this good every day, but they still needed at least four more people because what happens if someone takes a break or falls sick and needs to take leave?

In the afternoon, while the peak died down a bit, customers still arrived in an endless stream. Among the eight premiere pastries launched, the almond walnut crisps and green bean cake were most popular, followed by Furong Cake; the rest were enjoyed almost equally, ensuring that at least one of the eight had something to suit everyone’s taste.

"These aren’t made with miscellaneous sugar; they’re made with crystal sugar (white sugar)..." Ordinary diners might only differentiate between tasty and not tasty, but for some seasoned diners, their tongues are much more sensitive, discerning the difference with one bite.

"Mama, I just want to eat the pastries from Furong Garden..."

"These pastries are much more expensive than other shops! Why are so many people still buying them?" A passerby exclaimed at the prices listed on the board.

"This store is opened by Mr. Lin, who usually charges only ten coins for a doctor’s visit! We, as local residents, must support our own!"

"Delicious, I’ve never tasted such good pastries!"

"I want to buy ten pounds, ten pounds of each..."

The buying frenzy continues!

All the pastries from Furong Garden not only use the best ingredients, from the flour to the different dried fruits and honey, all are of the highest market quality.

Their baking techniques also differ from those of many other pastry shops, especially the sweetness; completely lacking that "bitterness" from colored sugar.

But, considering how expensive crystal sugar is, even if Furong Garden priced their pastries thirty percent higher than other shops, the opening promotions essentially offset the price difference.

Based on their sales volume, for that day, not only did they not earn a tael of silver, they even potentially incurred a loss.

Moreover, the more they sell, the bigger the loss.

With this cost calculation, many pastry shops in the city finally eased their worries; the pastries are delicious, sure, but the real question is: how long can you keep this up?

As long as you can’t continue, the business will eventually return.

Will things really go as they hope?

...

"Mr. Dong, have a taste of the pastries from Lin Miao’s newly opened shop, Furong Garden." Zhuo Qingfeng arrived at the back courtyard of Dongshan Prefecture’s office carrying a box of pastries.

"Oh, I’d heard that he funded a woman named Liu Li to open a pastry shop, and it opened today?"

"Yes, business is booming," Zhuo Qingfeng replied. "He even took half a day off from the clinic to promote at the scene."

"Looks like our Mr. Lin is quite the charming and romantic sort," Pei Jian chuckled, putting down the scroll in his hands.

Zhuo Qingfeng set the pastry box on the table and took out each pastry one by one: "Mr. Dong, I’m not sure which you might prefer, so I bought a pound of each."

"One pound, who can eat that much?" Pei Jian reached out for a piece of Furong Cake, took a bite, his expression slightly changed, then he directly put it all in, closed his eyes, and began to chew, the "contented joy" expression on his face betrayed his current mood.

"Mr. Dong, how is it?" Zhuo Qingfeng leaned forward and asked.

"Haven’t you tried it?" Pei Jian swallowed, opened his eyes, and asked back.

"I just brought it back, didn’t have time to taste it!" Zhuo Qingfeng smiled sheepishly, as soon as his subordinates bought it, he brought the pastry box over.

"How much is this per pound?"

"The price varies, but none are cheap. However, today is our grand opening special offer, buy three get one free, by pound." Zhuo Qingfeng said.

"What was the name of what I just liked?"

"What you just ate is called Furong Cake, fifty coins per pound, one of the store’s signature items!"

"Fifty coins, so expensive!" Pei Jian exclaimed, "Even pastries in Li Jing aren’t this pricey, right?"

"Indeed it’s expensive, double the price of Xiangfa," Zhuo Qingfeng said, "This Furong Cake is their flagship pastry, a higher price is reasonable."

Pei Jian nodded, reached out for a piece of Dragon Beard Cake, and put it in his mouth. The taste that melts in the mouth, crisp and flavorful to the bone, instantly conquered his taste buds...

He had never tasted such delicious pastries, so delicious, he couldn’t help reaching out for another piece, one piece after another...

"Mr. Dong, don’t just keep eating, how’s the taste?" Zhuo Qingfeng was anxious, afraid that if he didn’t interrupt, he wouldn’t get any.

"How much is this?"

"Eighty!"

"More expensive than the Furong Cake?"

"This one has more complex craftsmanship, naturally priced higher..."

"Hmm, makes sense, there’s a reason for it being expensive." Pei Jian nodded, "In the future, all pastries for the mansion will be bought from Furong Garden."

"Mr. Dong, is it really that good?"

"Mr. Zhuo, why don’t you try it yourself?" Pei Jian gave him a sidelong glance.

"Thank you, Mr. Dong." Zhuo Qingfeng eagerly picked up a piece of Dragon Beard Cake and took a small bite. The melt-in-the-mouth sensation almost made him bite his tongue. It was simply delicious.

"The pastries from Furong Garden use extremely exquisite ingredients, especially the use of crystal sugar. I can taste the flavor of crystal sugar, unlike brown sugar, even the best brown sugar can’t match the taste made with crystal sugar. Of course, there’s also the craftsmanship and technique, who would have thought a Qin Tower lady would have such superb skills, no wonder Mr. Lin is willing to invest in her to open such a pastry shop!"

"Mr. Dong, using crystal sugar has its costs, but where do they find so much crystal sugar to use in the market, if they maintain such quality, the daily consumption of crystal sugar will be substantial..."

"How much crystal sugar does Dongshan Prefecture consume in a year?"

"Crystal sugar is a specialty of Yue Country, only a small amount is imported every year. Those who can afford it in Dongshan Prefecture are few. Adding a bit of crystal sugar while cooking makes a huge difference in taste, but the exact number is unknown, further investigation is needed." Zhuo Qingfeng said.

"Then go investigate quickly!"

"Yes, Mr. Dong."

...

"Patriarch, the market’s crystal sugar supply is limited, and extremely costly. If Furong Garden uses crystal sugar entirely for pastry making, think of how much would be needed daily, where does all this crystal sugar come from?" Ye Mi Yuan’s excited face turned somewhat grim.

"Do you mean they are suspected of smuggling crystal sugar and evading taxes?"

A large amount of crystal sugar entering the city, the gate tax officers not collecting taxes, what does this imply? Ye Shengyuan naturally understood Ye Mi Yuan’s meaning.

However, to catch a thief with stolen goods, you can’t accuse someone of smuggling and tax evasion without evidence. It’s not like your mere suspicion allows you to search homes and arrest people.

Do you think the court’s agencies are yours to command?

"Relax, if we truly catch Furong Garden smuggling crystal sugar, have evidence, then we can deal a heavy blow, smuggling and tax evasion are serious crimes. Especially for a woman recently redeemed from slavery, she could be harshly sentenced, then let’s see if they will save her or not..."

Ye Shengyuan’s face also showed a hint of twisted excitement.

...

"Sir, by closing time at the end of the hour, our opening day revenue exceeded a hundred taels of silver, we sold over three thousand pounds of various pastries, initially we only prepared over eight hundred pounds, later we kept making more, used all baking ovens, constantly processing, just to meet the customer demand today, and there are some orders not completed yet for tomorrow..." Before dinner, Luli and Shi Yin excitedly reported the day’s achievements.

"The cost?" Lin Miao asked.

"Due to the opening special offers, buy three get one free and sample giveaways, the cost is somewhat high. However, even accounting for labor, we still have a seven to eight percent profit margin." Shi Yin, proficient in math, primarily assists Luli in managing accounts now.

"Do we have enough raw materials?"

"We have enough for now, we stocked up on three large warehouses of raw materials, especially crystal sugar, we currently have about three thousand pounds in the warehouse, enough for two months based on current usage." Luli nodded.

"Signed raw material supply contracts?"

"As per your request, all suppliers have signed strict supply and quality contracts." Luli nodded.

"Alright, today is the first day of opening, business might be better, can’t say later. Nonetheless, pastries have a certain storage time, longer in autumn and winter, shorter in spring and summer. Once half of the shelf life is exceeded, sell discounted or buy three get one free, as long as we don’t lose money..."

"This is our first store, if successful, it will be our flagship store. Later on, we’ll open branches in Lanzhou, Yingzhou, and even Li Jing. Today’s veteran employees can split off as store managers, to hold their ground!"

"Luli, first build up our reputation, then diversify operations, we shouldn’t overlook ordinary customers who are willing to slightly compromise on taste, we can adjust ingredients accordingly, that’s feasible, but quality and craftsmanship should remain unchanged."

"What you say, I remember, I will execute it without deviation." Luli said earnestly.

The first day’s success made Luli feel the joy of achievement, her heartstrings plucked, but soon calmed down. Her own background and age made it a pipe dream, but Shi Yin still had a chance, just this little girl, sigh...