It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

Song Zhi led her younger brother into the teahouse, and the owner of the teahouse recognized Song Zhi at a glance.

He greeted her with a smile, "Miss Song, it's been a long time since we last met. Are you here to meet a friend today?"

Song Zhi smiled and shook her head. "I came here today to do business with the shopkeeper. I wonder if you're interested."

After that, he placed the pottery jar on the counter and continued to introduce: "This is the apricot jam I made. It is best used to soak in water in the summer to cool down and stimulate the appetite. The shopkeeper may want to make a bowl and try it."

The shopkeeper smelled the apricot jam with a special aroma and swallowed unconsciously. He immediately asked the waiter to pour a bowl of water and scooped a spoonful to taste it.

It tastes sour and sweet, and is very refreshing and appetizing.

The owner of the teahouse is also a connoisseur. His teahouse is a place for traveling merchants to exchange goods and take a rest.

These traveling merchants have an advantage: as long as the products are good, the customers who come into their shops to chat will be willing to order good tea and snacks.

He has tasted this apricot jam water and it tastes quite good. He should have no trouble selling it here.

After weighing the pros and cons in his mind, the shopkeeper asked, "How much is this jar of apricot jam?"

"Thirty coins for a pottery jar!"

The shopkeeper nodded. The price of this thing was not expensive considering the sugar it consumed.

He took another look at the pottery jar and asked, "If I don't need this pottery jar, can you give me a discount?"

"If the shopkeeper provides the pottery jars, I can give you a discount of two cents per pound!"

The shopkeeper immediately made the decision, "Okay, I happen to have two large pottery jars weighing five pounds. Miss Song, why don't you take one home today? I'll pre-order five pounds."

"Also, I'll buy you three jars today, and you can take this pot back with you tomorrow."

Song Zhi had no objection and immediately took out three more cans of apricot jam from her younger brother's backpack and placed them on the counter.

The shopkeeper took out a bunch of coins, counted out some of them, and pushed the rest to Song Zhi. "It's eighty-four coins in total. Miss Song, please check the amount."

Song Zhi didn't count the money, but wrapped it in a handkerchief and stuffed it directly into the basket. "Since we have chosen to cooperate, there is still some trust in this."

The shopkeeper felt relieved and said happily, "Then Miss Song, please wait a moment. I'll ask someone to get the clay pot." After that, he turned around and gave instructions to the waiter.

After everyone left, Song An whispered his concerns to Song Zhi: "Sister, we've ordered so many pottery jars. What if no one wants them?"

Song Zhi patted the younger brother's shoulder and patiently taught him, "Our main goal is to sell apricots. Even if we can't sell any of the pottery jars, we will still make money, but we will bear some additional losses."

"That's how business works. It's impossible for everything to go your way."

"Other people have their own considerations. As long as we can grasp the most critical core issue, which is selling the apricots, we can ignore the other minor issues."

"You only need to consider the worst-case scenario and whether you can handle it. If you can, then there's no need to dwell on it. Do you understand?"

Song An nodded thoughtfully. Although he didn't understand it, he believed in his sister!

What my sister said must be right!

Soon the shopkeeper brought a large clay pot. Song Zhi put a jar of apricot jam from her brother's backpack into the basket at hand, and put the large clay pot into the backpack.

Song Zhi said goodbye to the shopkeeper and led her younger brother out of the teahouse.

There was only one jar of apricot jam left, so Song Zhi didn't plan to continue looking for a buyer. She had to go back early today to become his apprentice.

Song Zhi led his younger brother straight to the county government office, ready to give the last can to Zhou Yu.

On the one hand, she wanted to get close to someone powerful. After all, Zhou Yu was the highest-ranking official in the county. If she could make friends with him, things would go much more smoothly in the county in the future. It could be said that there were only benefits and no harm.

On the other hand, he also wanted to use Zhou Yu to promote Apricot Jam.

After all, people tend to follow the crowd blindly, otherwise how could there be the idiom "what goes around comes around"?

Coincidentally, Song Zhi had not taken a few steps when she met Liang Tian at the entrance of Cao Ji.

Song Zhi came forward in surprise, "Brother Liangtian, what a coincidence?"

When Liangtian saw that it was Song Zhi, he was stunned for a moment, then greeted her with a smile.

The person in front of me is quite good at talking. He has left the other person speechless several times with his retorts.

Liangtian had seen this several times, and she and the young master were also cooperating, so he didn't dare to offend her.

"I was originally thinking of going to the county government office to look for you, but now that I've met you here, it's just right. This is the apricot jam I made. It can be used to make a sweet and sour drink. I'll give it to you, my Lord, to try."

After saying that, he stuffed the pottery jar in his hand into Liangtian's hand without saying anything.

Without the young master's approval, Liangtian didn't dare to take it. He held the hot pottery jar and wanted to put it back.

Little did he know that Song Zhi had already dragged Song An back several steps, and said with a smile: "I am not bribing you, sir. If you like it, can you help promote this apricot jam to the people around you?"

After saying that, Liangtian, who was stunned, ran away with his little brother without even looking or listening.

It's really hard to take something that was given to me for no reason.

But he was very frank. Liangtian returned to the county government office with the pottery jar in distress.

Zhou Yu, who was in the public housing, had just finished reading the letter from the capital. When he looked up, he saw the servant standing by the door and peeking out.

Zhou Yu put down the document and called out, "What are you doing? Why are you so sneaky?"

Liangtian walked into the public housing with a jar of apricot jam and told Zhou Yu everything that had just happened outside the county government office.

"Master, I didn't mean to accept it. Miss Song stuffed the apricot jam into my hands and ran away, and even asked you to recommend it to her if you liked it."

Zhou Yu thought of that sharp-tongued girl, and it seemed like something she could do.

He couldn't help but shake his head and laugh, "Go make a bowl and try it to see if what she said is true."

Liangtian breathed a sigh of relief and immediately took the order and left.

Soon, a bowl of bright yellow apricot juice was placed on Zhou Yu's desk.

Zhou Yu picked up the bowl and took a small sip. It tasted sweet and had a strong apricot aroma.

Liangtian stood by and saw the young master take a sip and then another, thinking, 'It seems the young master likes it!'

Sure enough, just as Liangtian finished sighing, Zhou Yu put down his bowl and said, "Well, there will be guests coming to the capital in a couple of days. If you see her selling apricot jam in the city tomorrow, order a few more jars from her!"

"By the way, I'll send a bowl to each of the clerks handling official business in the public housing so they can cool down too."

Liangtian didn't expect that his young master would not only buy it himself, but would also be willing to help sell it.

He sighed in his heart, 'His young master is really easy to talk to. How could a county magistrate be bribed by a jar of sauce!'

However, he only dared to complain about this in his heart, but never dared to say it out loud.

Liangtian bowed and accepted the order, then retreated with the pottery jar in his arms.

As a result, apricot jam quickly became popular among officials' families, but that's a story for later.