SPMT : Chapter 76: Envious Business

Sun Miaoyin turned her head to look at the beverage shop behind her, her eyes darkening.

Sun Miaoyin thought to herself: Ever since Xiao Jinfeng chose Mu Shuyu, he’s been living the high life! Although this shop belongs to Xiao Jingting, I heard that Xiao Jinfeng gets a good share of the profits. Except for those two little brats, all the employees in the shop are hired by Xiao Jinfeng. If Xiao Jinfeng wanted, he could easily pocket some money without anyone noticing. Even if Xiao Jinfeng did nothing, after some time, he would probably become quite wealthy.

Most of the young generation of the four major families are still asking their families for money, unlike Xiao Jinfeng, who earns a lot of silver.

“Sister, shall we go? Miss Miaomiao is probably getting impatient,” said the maid to Sun Miaoyin.

Sun Miaoyin nodded and said, “Okay.”

“Sister, you came to see me,” Sun Miaomiao said, looking somewhat happy to see Sun Miaoyin.

Sun Miaoyin nodded and asked, “Yeah! How have you and Xiao Muhong been recently?”

Sun Miaomiao’s expression changed slightly, and she replied, “It’s okay, but he’s not as affectionate towards me as he used to be.” It takes two hands to clap; (Like they both are distant thinking avout other things so naturally can’t see each other I guess ) Xiao Muhong is cold to her, and she no longer looks forward to him like before. In marriage, there always seems to be something missing.

The old master went into seclusion for a while and then went into seclusion again. Now Wang Lu is in charge at home. Wang Lu always targets their main branch, and her higher status oppresses people. Previously, Mother Liu, who was full of spirit, now dares not even breathe heavily in front of Wang Lu. The previous glory is gone, and Sun Miaomiao always feels like the servants at home are mocking her.

“When I came, I visited Xiao Jingting’s beverage shop,” Sun Miaomiao said.

Sun Miaomiao heard Sun Miaoyin’s words and her expression suddenly became complex. Recently, many children from the Sun family have been drinking beverages from that shop. Xiao Jinfeng also sent some beverages to their home, which were not enough to share.

“I heard that they make a profit of five thousand taels of silver per day,” Sun Miaomiao clenched her fists.

It is said that the ingredients for the beverages are mostly provided by Xiao Jingting himself, and the cost is only a small amount of labor. Considering this, the beverage shop should make over a hundred thousand taels of silver a month. With this income, Xiao Jingting and his brother will soon rise in strength.

Sun Miaoyin nodded and said, “It shouldn’t be much different. When I was there, the business of the beverage shop was very good.”

Sun Miaomiao gritted her teeth and said, “I never expected that Xiao Jingting would be able to achieve this level.” She had underestimated this second-generation member before. If she had known that Xiao Jingting would be so successful, she would have… Unfortunately, it’s too late now…

“I bought a few bottles of fruit wine there,” Sun Miaoyin said.

Sun Miaoyin opened a bottle of fruit wine and shared it with Sun Miaomiao.

“The taste is good, and it’s full of spiritual energy,” Sun Miaomiao commented objectively.

Sun Miaoyin nodded and said, “The shop sells out of the six bottles of spirit wine every day. If the product wasn’t good, it wouldn’t sell out.”

Sun Miaomiao clenched her fists and said, “Indeed.” Xiao Jingting’s beverage shop has become a hot topic in their family. The younger generation of their family, especially Xiao Jingting and Xiao Jinfeng, have made great strides forward.

“However, I heard that many families are planning to open beverage shops too. If those shops open, it might have a significant impact on Xiao Jingting’s shop,” Sun Miaomiao said.

Sun Miaomiao nodded and said, “Yes! Business is never that easy! If there’s a profitable business, everyone will be eyeing it.”

Xiao Family.

“Lin Feng, it seems like Jingting’s shop is doing really well!” Wang Lu said.

Xiao Linfeng nodded and said, “I’ve noticed lately that many kids from our family seem to be patronizing it.”

“I heard from my eldest daughter-in-law that they make five to six thousand taels of silver in profit every day,” Wang Lu said.

Xiao Linfeng was somewhat surprised and said, “Such high profits? I heard from Qingyan that the third one was just fooling around, and that shop, being so remote and small, wouldn’t have much business! It wouldn’t take off.”

“The business is doing very well. Recently, they sold some high-grade spirit wine at a high price, but many people still bought it,” Wang Lu said.

Xiao Linfeng was somewhat puzzled and said, “Is that so?”

Wang Lu nodded and said, “Yes.”

“If there really is that much profit per day, it would be over a hundred thousand taels in a month,” Xiao Linfeng couldn’t help but say.

Wang Lu nodded and said, “Yes, Xiao Er (Little second aka Jinfeng) and Xiao San (Little third aka Jingting) are only at the fifth stage of Qi Cultivation. They don’t need that much.”

Xiao Linfeng smiled bitterly and said, “Xiao Er is still manageable, but Xiao San, if he wants to spend money, he will definitely spend it all.”

Wang Lu pondered for a moment and said, “That’s true.” Resources suitable for cultivators at the fifth stage of Qi Cultivation, even if they are more precious, as long as they are willing to spend a hefty sum, they can still be obtained.

Seeing Jingting and Jinfeng doing well, Wang Lu naturally felt happy, but amidst the happiness, she couldn’t help but worry about Qingyan. Wang Lu liked Qingyan the most, and seeing her eldest son lagging behind, she always wanted to help him out a bit.

Beverage Shop

“Xiaofan, you’re eating too much,” Xiao Xiaodong looked at Xiao Xiaofan with disdain.

Xiao Xiaofan burped after eating, “There’s not much business right now, so I might as well eat more. When it gets busy later, I won’t have time to eat.”

“Business isn’t good today. It’ll be even slower later. Don’t be so eager,” Xiao Xiaodong advised.

“Those shameless people on the street just know how to bully others, opening shops similar to ours,” Xiao Xiaofan grumbled.

“Our shop is aimed at the high-end market, different from those who only know how to engage in price wars. Over time, customers will naturally come back,” Xiao Xiaodong said proudly.

Xiao Xiaofan nodded and said, “You’re right. Our food is delicious, theirs isn’t. Dad’s food is the best!”

Xiao Xiaodong shrugged indifferently. “The fruit wine in the shop makes money. As long as the fruit wine sells, it doesn’t matter if the fruit juice doesn’t.”

Xiao Jinfeng let out a sigh. The fruit wine was priced a bit high. Now that someone bought it for novelty’s sake, there might be no one else later, but that didn’t matter much. There was still 3,000 taels of silver every day.

“Father said, we’re going to develop new varieties again. I wonder what delicious things we’ll have this time,” Xiao Xiaofan muttered.

“Eat less, you’ve gained weight recently,” Xiao Xiaodong advised.

Xiao Xiaofan patted his stomach and said, “I’ve been doing great lately. Eating a little more won’t hurt. It won’t cause spiritual energy congestion. Everyone says I’m cute like this.”

Xiao Xiaodong rolled his eyes. “They’re just flattering you, and you actually believe them.”

Xiao Xiaofan disagreed. “No way! They’re telling the truth.”

Xiao Xiaodong scoffed. “Kids will be kids. They’ll believe anything people say.”

“Brother, you’re not much older than me!” Xiao Xiaofan argued.

Xiao Jinfeng watched Xiao Xiaofan and Xiao Xiaodong with a faint smile. Suddenly, footsteps approached. Xiao Jinfeng instinctively frowned and looked towards the door. When he saw who it was, his expression became complicated. “Mother, why are you here?”

Wang Lu smiled at Xiao Jinfeng and said, “Your shop is doing well!”

Xiao Jinfeng forced a smile and said, “It’s alright.”

When Xiao Xiaofan saw Wang Lu, he quickly wiped his mouth and stood behind Xiao Xiaodong as if facing a formidable enemy. He peeked out from behind Xiao Xiaodong with his big, grape-like eyes blinking rapidly.

Wang Lu glanced at the spatial ring on Xiao Jinfeng’s hand and said, “You’re wearing a spatial ring. Looks like business is really good.”

Xiao Jinfeng forced a smile. When Xiao Qingyan entered the academy, his parents rewarded him with a spatial ring. Xiao Jinfeng had often wished to have one when he was in the mercenary group, as the limited space in the storage bag often forced him to give up on valuable prey. Unfortunately, he never got his wish. The one he was wearing now was given by Xiao Jingting. Xiao Jingting said that having a spatial ring would be convenient for doing business and forcibly gave him one, saying that it was buy one get one free, and buying two would be cheaper.

The shop was indeed making a lot of money, but Xiao Jingting’s spending habits were really hard to compliment.

“Jinfeng, you spend a lot of time running this shop. Wang Lu asked.

Xiao Jinfeng suddenly became alert, not because he wanted to guard against his mother, but because Wang Lu was too biased. He couldn’t afford not to be on guard. With Wang Lu’s questioning, could it be that she wanted to bring in someone else to take care of the shop?

The shop’s profits were indeed high. Although Wang Lu favored Xiao Qingyan, the monthly pocket money she gave him was only a few thousand taels of silver. But now that the shop was on track, it could make over a hundred thousand taels of silver a month.

“I know my own limitations, and I don’t dare to hope for much improvement in my cultivation. I just want to do something practical and earn some money to support the family. The work in the shop isn’t too demanding, and I can practice cultivation while working. Shuyu is busy in the fields every day. As a grown man, if I’m idle at home, it’ll invite gossip,” Xiao Jinfeng explained.

Wang Lu didn’t know what to say for a while. “Is the shop short of staff? Why are they both helping out in the shop? Do you want me to arrange a few people to help you?”

Xiao Jinfeng hastily replied, “We were short of staff at first, but not anymore. However, many shops have sprung up in town recently. Some even intentionally decorated their shops to look like ours. Our shop has a good reputation and many customers, so people from outside also come to buy. Those who don’t know the ropes can’t tell which is ours and just go to the shop that looks like it’s for kids. Xiaodong and Xiaofan are now the living signs of our shop.”

Wang Lu nodded and said, “Is that so?”

Xiao Jinfeng looked at Wang Lu and said, “Mother, since you’re here, take some spirit wine with you.”

“This spirit wine is brewed by yourselves. I heard it brings in money quickly,” Wang Lu asked.

Xiao Jinfeng replied calmly, “It’s not that much money. When brewing spirit wine, you have to add some high-priced spirit medicine formulations bought from outside. Although it sells at a high price, the cost is also high, so there’s not much profit.”

Wang Lu nodded and said, “I see.”

After sitting for a while and chatting with Xiao Jinfeng, Wang Lu left with the spirit wine.

Xiao Xiaodong looked in the direction Wang Lu had left for a long time and said when she saw no one, “Grandmother, did she come this time to ask Father to transfer the shop? Talking about getting someone to help, is she planning to send in some spies?”

Xiao Jinfeng glanced at Xiao Xiaodong and said, “Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Isn’t Uncle’s wife from the Zheng family? I heard that the Zheng family also opened a beverage shop, but it’s done secretly and doesn’t bear the Zheng family’s name. Their business is not doing well at all,” Xiao Xiaodong said disdainfully.

Xiao Jinfeng rubbed Xiao Xiaodong’s forehead. “You! You’re always so curious. But where did you hear this news?”

“I have my sources!”

“Those little rascals?” Xiao Jinfeng asked, noticing that Xiao Xiaodong had a good relationship with a few street children.

Xiao Xiaodong nodded and said, “Second Uncle is really smart.”

“I saw Auntie the other day,” Xiao Xiaofan said.

Xiao Jinfeng looked at Xiao Xiaofan. “You saw Auntie?”

“Yeah! She stood at the intersection looking fierce for a while, then disappeared,” Xiao Xiaofan said.

Xiao Jinfeng: “…”