Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

While waiting, Xia Lanyue entered the shop. She looked around and saw that the shop sold fruit, with all kinds of exquisite and beautiful fruit neatly arranged on the counter.

"They probably don't want to buy rice cakes, do they?" Xia Lanyue thought to herself.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, young lady," a portly man walked out from the backyard, followed by the young waiter from before.

"Hello, shopkeeper," Xia Lanyue said.

"This is our Manager Song," the shop assistant introduced to Xia Lanyue.

Xia Lanyue nodded, "Manager Song."

When Manager Song saw Dai You at the door, he asked, "Brother, why don't you come in and sit for a while?"

Upon hearing this, Dai You looked towards the pharmacy, his face showing reluctance.

Xia Lanyue understood what he meant, walked over, took out two packets of rice cakes from the basket, and said to Dai You, "Go to the pharmacy first, I'll come find you in a bit."

Dai You nodded and walked forward with the rice cake.

"Wait a minute before you go," Manager Song called out to Dai You in time, then said to Xia Lanyue, "Don't let your shop assistant leave first, I want to buy rice cakes."

"How much do you want, shopkeeper?" Xia Lanyue asked.

"I want it all."

Xia Lanyue thought she had misheard and widened her eyes. Only after Manager Song repeated it did she realize that she had heard correctly.

Xia Lanyue gave Dai You a look. Dai You went into the shop, put down his load, whispered a few words to Xia Lanyue, and then left.

"If I buy them all, can you give me a discount, young lady?" Shopkeeper Song asked.

"of course can."

"I'm not only going to buy it today, but I'll also buy this rice cake in the future," said Manager Song.

"That's great!" Xia Lanyue said happily.

"Please sit here, young lady. Let's sit down and talk," Manager Song said, pointing to the chair by the door.

Xia Lanyue followed Manager Song over, and after they sat down, Manager Song poured Xia Lanyue a bowl of tea.

"Please have some tea, young lady," then Manager Song said softly, "Your rice cakes are famous far and wide."

"Hehe, I'm grateful that the neighbors don't mind."

"As you can see, my shop sells fruit," said Manager Song, pointing to the counter. "We have a wide variety, but we lack this kind that you have."

Xia Lanyue seemed to understand his meaning, but still asked, "What does the shopkeeper mean?"

"What I mean is, would you like to partner with me, young lady?" Shopkeeper Song didn't beat around the bush and directly stated his thoughts. "My shop is the only fruit shop in town. I can find a way to get anything that people want. But this fruit of yours is something I've never heard of before, and it's only available here. To be honest, I've bought some and tried it, and it's really good. I was hoping to have the opportunity to cooperate with you."

Xia Lanyue hadn't figured out how to cooperate yet. "How?"

“The young lady can deliver the goods every day, and I will sell them. The price will naturally be lower than what the young lady can sell herself,” said Manager Song.

“That works,” Xia Lanyue readily agreed.

“Don’t worry, young lady, there’s another option. You can make them in my kitchen, and we’ll split the profits,” Manager Song said, glancing at Xia Lanyue. “I heard you’re from Hegu Village, and it takes you two hours to travel back and forth every day, which is very inconvenient, especially on a rainy day like today. Not only is it a wasted trip, but all these rice cakes are also wasted. But if you have a shop to sell them, you can make them according to the number of customers, which will be much more convenient. When the weather is nice, you can buy more.”

Xia Lanyue understood his meaning and thought his idea was good. However, she remembered that she had just suffered a loss at the hands of Li Si a few days ago and did not understand the ins and outs of business. She did not dare to agree easily, so she said, "I will go back and discuss it with my brother before giving Manager Song an answer."

Seeing that she didn't agree, Manager Song was a little disappointed, but continued, "Alright, I hope you can give me an answer soon." Then he asked, "Who did you learn this skill from? Where did you learn it? I've never heard of it before."

"Created by myself."

"Oh? This young lady has such a talent?! If we can cooperate, wouldn't we be able to continuously produce new fruits?!"

Xia Lanyue smiled; she was indeed tempted. After all, she was skilled in many things, and if they were to collaborate, they could certainly make a lot of new pastries.

As she spoke, she caught sight of the two baskets of rice cakes out of the corner of her eye and asked Manager Song, "Manager Song, do you want all of these rice cakes? I'll give you a discount."

"No rush. The weather doesn't look good. We haven't had a single customer all day. If we buy them all, I won't be able to sell them all, and it won't be easy to sell them tomorrow either," said Manager Song.

"Then...didn't you just say you wanted them all?" Xia Lanyue asked softly.

"I was just thinking about partnering with you, young lady, so of course I'd offer my support. But it seems you're not really interested, so..."

"So you're not going to buy it?" Xia Lanyue asked again, unwilling to give up.

Whether I buy it or not depends on the girl's feelings.

Xia Lanyue was also unhappy upon hearing this. Was he trying to use this to control her? She was afraid he wouldn't succeed! "So Manager Song is definitely not selling it, right?" Xia Lanyue didn't mince words.

"Hmm..." Manager Song hesitated without giving an answer, as if testing her attitude.

Xia Lanyue also lost her patience. "If you don't want it, that's fine. I'll take it. Just pretend I was never here today, and I won't come again." After saying that, Xia Lanyue stood up.

"Oh, this little girl is so young, but she has quite a temper."

"I only came because someone said they wanted to buy all the rice cakes. Now that I'm here, I'm not buying anything. I don't know if they're playing games with me or if they can't afford it," Xia Lanyue said irritably. "Besides, who said I can't sell these rice cakes tomorrow? I'm just so busy that I never keep them overnight."

"Young lady, you've got quite the big mouth. I advise you, when you're out doing business, don't be too sharp-tongued. Harmony brings wealth," Manager Song deliberately dragged out the last few words.

"Yes, I have learned a lot today. Thank you, Manager Song." After saying that, Xia Lanyue carried the rice cakes out of the shop and headed towards the pharmacy.

Dai You was puzzled when he saw that the bag of rice cakes was still there, but when he saw Xia Lanyue's gloomy face, he understood.

“When you were sick before, Doctor Zhang took good care of us and even let us owe him consultation and medicine fees. Shouldn’t we send him some rice cakes to express our gratitude?” Dai You said, standing behind Xia Lanyue.

"Take whatever you like, or how about we give a basket to Doctor Zhang?" Xia Lanyue said, pointing to the basket.

Her generous demeanor left Dai You unsure of her true nature; he couldn't tell if she was genuinely generous or just saying it out of anger.

Seeing that Dai You was hesitant to act, Xia Lanyue said, "Have you paid off the debt? I have money now," and she took out her purse and waved it.

"The payment has been made," Dai You said cautiously.

"Then you should take it to Doctor Zhang," Xia Lanyue urged, pointing at the rice cake.

"Oh my, isn't this the girl who sells rice cakes at the end of the street?" A patient who came to pick up medicine said, standing in front of Xia Lanyue.

“Yes, it’s me,” Xia Lanyue said.

“I can’t set up a stall on the street today, so you’ve set up here? I’ll get the medicine later, buy two packets, and save some for me,” he said before going into the front hall to find Doctor Zhang.

Xia Lanyue handed two packets to the man, then squatted down at the door and muttered to herself, "I don't need to ask you, I can still sell them well."