The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

“That’s more like it.”

Since Mrs. Wen who always had the superior demeanor finally backed down, Zhuang Qingning didn’t hold any grudge, merely agreeing with her, and kept on talking. Seeing that it was getting late, she decided to go home.

She had dinner with Zhuang Qingsui and, anticipating she needed to travel to the county town the next day, she turned in early.

The following day, she got up early and, after breakfast, she traveled to the town with Bai San’s bullock cart and from there would find another ride to the county town.

After the sisters had their fill of egg pancakes, pickles, and rice porridge, they headed to the tofu shop.

“Big Sister Ning,” Zhuang Mingliang walked towards her rapidly, wiped his sweat with a smile when he saw Zhuang Qingning and said, “I was just about to go find you at home, but I ran into you midway.”

“Someone came to the tofu shop just now looking to buy tofu on a long-term basis. When I asked where he wants so much tofu for, he didn’t say anything. I figured he perhaps thought I wasn’t the person in charge, so I decided to ask Big Sister Ning over to see if this business is viable.”

“Okay,” Zhuang Qingning nodded.

Having a buyer coming in early in the morning was a good sign indeed.

Zhuang Qingning, smiling, went to the tofu shop with Zhuang Mingliang, and found a short young man standing in the courtyard.

Upon recognizing who the man was, Zhuang Qingning’s smile disappeared. She squinted and asked, “This is the one you said wanted to buy tofu?”

“Yeah,” Zhuang Mingliang nodded, “he looks bad-tempered and tough to talk to.”

“Indeed he is hard to talk to,” Zhuang Qingning’s smile returned. She walked up to the man, her eyebrows raised slightly, “So it’s you who wants to buy tofu?”

“It…how… why is it you?”

The sudden sight of Zhuang Qingning startled Tong Fei. He stepped back, shook his head and glared at Zhuang Qingning, “What’s wrong? Isn’t this Mrs. Wen’s tofu shop? What are you doing here?”

“This is Mrs. Wen’s tofu shop, but I rented it to make tofu here,” Zhuang Qingning replied, a languid smile appearing on her face and a hint of mockery in her words. “Going by your look, it seems like business at Fushun Tower hasn’t been great lately, so Feng Yongkang asked your kitchen to figure out a solution. Due to the torn relationship we have, you were unwilling to swallow your pride and come to me, thus you found out about the high-quality tofu here and came by.”

“It seems like I heard that the current Chef Qi at Fushun Tower was specially invited back by Feng Yongkang from the county town. Am I correct to say that you got this information from a restaurant located there?”

Tong Fei blushed and paled alternately, finally turning the color of a pork liver.

Zhuang Qingning’s guess was almost certainly correct.

Qi Changfu had asked Tong Fei to visit Old Li at Hanfeng Tower to find out where they got their tofu from. After several drinks, Old Li gave him a rough idea, mentioning that it was from a Mrs. Wen’s tofu shop in Enji Village, and that they made the tofu in small quantities daily – if one wanted more, they had to place the order in advance and it was not always guaranteed.

The tofu was not even available at any shops in the county town, only delivered there by Dong Dazhu once in the morning and once in the afternoon for use by the four restaurants. The whole operation seemed low-key.

Tong Fei, receiving this piece of news, was overjoyed.

There really was this delicious tofu, better than Zhuang’s Tofu Shop probably, and the shop seemed to be not too far from the town either.

He never expected such a small village to hide such a treasure. This would surely help Qi Changfu gain Feng Yongkang’s trust and give Zhuang Qingning a hard blow, turning all her past words into harsh slaps landing back on her face.

With this in mind, Tong Fei quickly reported back to Qi Changfu. On Qi Changfu’s instruction, he got up early the next day, checked the route, and hurriedly set off to Mrs. Wen’s tofu shop.

After arriving, fearing that others would find out about this place and Feng Yongkang would put it under his own control if the news were to spread, thus costing him and Qi Changfu their bargaining power and their chance to manipulate the price, he did not disclose that he was from Fushun Tower and intended to quietly do business and skim some extra profit off it.

What he didn’t think of, was that the so-called Mrs. Wen’s tofu shop was opened by Zhuang Qingning, and the delicious tofu used by Hanfeng Tower was being transported all the way from here to the county town.

What was he even doing here then?

Embarrassing himself, delivering himself to be slapped in the face?

Tong Fei felt as if the arrogant words he had said earlier to Zhuang Qingning had transformed into slaps, landing harshly on his face, making his cheeks feel hot and his head feel swollen. He wished he could find a hole to crawl into.

Tong Fei was extremely embarrassed, but he still tried to keep a stiff upper lip, “I was just passing by. Is it really that I have to buy tofu from your shop? Are you daydreaming in broad daylight, Manager Zhuang?”

Just now, he had claimed that he wanted tofu and even declared an amount; but now, when he realized things weren’t going the way he wanted, he changed his story to ‘just passing by’, in a very ungracious manor.

Zhuang Mingliang would not stand for it, “Hey, you…”

“Since you’re just passing by, you may leave,” Zhuang Qingning cut off Zhuang Mingliang, sneering at Tong Fei, “No need to see you off.”

“Humph!” Tong Fei flounced away in anger, “I heard that the tofu here was good, but who would have known it’s linked with the town’s tofu shop. I wouldn’t have wasted half a day here if I knew the praise was excessive…”

“Such a place, I won’t come even if I’m invited in the future.”

“Tsk, I wonder who it is that knocked on the door himself,” Zhuang Qingning said, “I’ve heard that sometimes people can lose their way, knock on the wrong doors, but I never thought dogs could do that too.”

“Indeed, dogs always follow the smell. Since the tofu shop is good, it’s natural that all the cats and dogs will show their faces.”

“You!” Hearing himself being cursed as a dog, Tong Fei’s fury rose to the top of his head. He rolled up his sleeves, clenched his fist and marched towards Zhuang Qingning, “What did you just call me, you harlot!”

“What did you just say!” Zhuang Mingliang picked up a shoulder pole from the side and stood in front of Zhuang Qingning.

Even though Tong Fei was an adult, he was short and skinny, while Zhuang Mingliang, who inherited Zhuang Yonghe’s tall and sturdy physique, appeared even taller than Tong Fei and his arm was much thicker. Now that he was angered and his temples throbbing, if he gave Tong Fei a strike with the pole in hand, it was certain to leave him severely injured.