Who understands? He traveled through time with a high-spec spatial ability.

Qiao Jingjing wasn't in a hurry to look at the ingredients; instead, she sat opposite the shopkeeper.

He said, "Manager Lu, you must already know that I asked Brother Li to prepare the ingredients. To make a long story short, I have a way to bring Yilixiang back to life."

A glimmer of hope flashed in Manager Lu's eyes, but then dimmed again. "Young lady, this shop has been open for decades. If there were a way, it wouldn't be in this state now. But thank you for your kindness nonetheless."

Qiao Jingjing smiled. "Manager Lu, if I have the confidence to restore Yilixiang to its original state, or even better than before, would you be willing to give it a try?"

Upon hearing this, Manager Lu immediately perked up. "Really? If you truly have a solution, I'd be happy to! But I wonder what your brilliant idea is?"

Qiao Jingjing said confidently, "Of course there is a way. But I have conditions: if Yilixiang's business can return to normal within a month, I want the exclusive cooperation rights for Yilixiang's vegetables, poultry and eggs for the next two years, as well as 2% of the profits."

Manager Lu, would you dare to give it a try?

Manager Lu was astonished. He was amazed that this young girl could speak so boldly and without batting an eye.

But seeing her calm and composed demeanor, which made her seem very confident, I couldn't help but feel hopeful again.

He's worked at this restaurant for twenty years, and his former employer has treated him well. He genuinely doesn't want to close down.

Perhaps this girl really does have some special talents? Why not give it a try? After all, the situation can't be any worse than it is now.

“Miss Qiao, exclusive cooperation is no problem, I can finalize it. But I can’t make the decision on the profit sharing you mentioned, I need to consult with the client. Why don’t you tell me a little bit about the method first, so I can communicate with the client?”

"Alright. Let's see who's the real deal. We need to know each other's strength to have any hope, right? Take me to the kitchen."

Li Wang led the way, taking her to the kitchen. There were only three people there, and because business was slow, they were all dozing off out of boredom.

Qiao Jingjing glanced around; the cleanliness was alright, and the stove was quite shiny. The ingredients prepared for her had already been washed and placed on the cutting board.

Please leave for now.

The collaboration hasn't been finalized yet, so of course the cooking recipe has to be kept secret.

Once everyone was cleared out, we started cooking.

First, she made braised pork belly. She used a pressure cooker to cook 2 pounds of chopped pork belly. Then, she heated the pan with cold oil to caramelize sugar, added the pork belly, poured in dark soy sauce, and stir-fried it until the oil was rendered. After that, she added ginger, garlic, and star anise, and turned down the heat in the stove to simmer it slowly.

I started cooking the fish in a separate pot, and then I stewed the white cabbage and tofu.

She left home to live on her own at the age of 14, and stopped accepting Qiao Zhanjun's support after starting university.

To save money but still want to eat well, she cooked for herself. Qiao Zhanjun withheld the share dividends, claiming she was still young, but actually he wanted her to back down.

In no time, all three dishes were ready. She used chopsticks to pick out the seasonings from the dishes and threw them into her spatial storage. She then placed the three dishes on a tray and went to the living room.

The people waiting in the hall were agonizingly impatient. They had been smelling the delicious aroma for a while now; the ingredients were clearly the same, so why did this one smell so good?

Manager Lu had worked in the restaurant for so many years and had tasted all sorts of delicacies, but he rarely had such a strong craving for food. Just smelling the aroma made his mouth water.

As soon as Qiao Jingjing brought it out, I couldn't wait to pick up my chopsticks.

He had a gut feeling that the shop could be saved!

He first picked up a piece of braised pork. It was sweet but not greasy, the skin was chewy, and the lean meat was slightly charred. After finishing it, he unconsciously picked up a second piece.

Li Wang watched the shopkeeper's blissful expression and kept swallowing, the food smelled so delicious.

It's not that they're ignorant; it's just that they don't have all the ingredients for cooking, and they never thought of using sugar to enhance the flavor.

Manager Lu reached for the braised fish again with his chopsticks. Oh my god, finally I can eat fish that doesn't taste fishy!

After eating a few bites of fish, I scooped up a piece of tofu with a spoon. It was tender and smooth, and the sweetness of the white cabbage was perfectly absorbed into the flavor.

The acting chef standing nearby couldn't resist trying it too. He'd been forced into this role and was quite frustrated by his inability to cook anything decent every day. Now, after tasting such delicious food, he was practically begging the young woman to be his apprentice.

Everyone felt they hadn't eaten much yet, but the plate was already empty, and they smacked their lips with a lingering sense of satisfaction.

Manager Lu looked at Qiao Jingjing, his tone respectful yet excited: "Young lady, your cooking is superb. I've lived in Nanlin County for so many years and have never tasted such delicious food. Please give me a little time to consult my former employer. I'll go find my employer right away."

"I have something to attend to later, Manager Lu, there's no need to rush. I'll come back in about two hours."

I went out the back door and headed north of the city. There were several grain shops there.

I chose a rice and grain store in Xinchang. The business was good, and the customers were coming and going in a constant stream.

Qiao Jingjing pretended to be a customer to learn about all the products and prices available in the store.

Inside the hall, two rows of burlap sacks were stacked side by side, their openings open. They contained rice, millet, foxtail millet, wheat flour, sorghum, and some beans.

Rice was 25 coins per liter, millet 15 coins, and foxtail millet 12 coins. Qiao Jingjing guessed that millet was slightly more expensive because it was more filling and in greater supply. Dark wheat flour was 10 coins, white wheat flour 15 coins, and sorghum 8 coins.

One stone here weighs approximately 120 jin (about 60 kg), and 120 jin is about 80 liters. We need to understand the price conversion first before we can discuss anything.

After weighing out 2 liters of dark flour for the customer in front of him, the waiter came over to Qiao Jingjing's side. The girl had been staring blankly at the grain for quite a while.

"Miss, what would you like to order? I'll weigh it for you. Our weights are accurate, so you can choose with confidence."

"Brother, is your shopkeeper here? I'd like to sell some things, or if you can make the decision, we can talk." Qiao Jingjing said with a smile, knowing that you can't refuse a smiling face.

The waiter was slightly surprised; it was the first time he had encountered someone who came to his door wanting to sell something but not buy anything.

The store sells grain from long-term cooperative grain merchants and generally does not accept grain from individual farmers.

After a moment's thought, he replied, "Miss, we generally don't buy from individual sellers. If you're not selling much, you might as well sell it in small quantities on the street."

Qiao Jingjing understood that he meant well, and patiently said, "Brother Er, thank you for telling me, but I need to sell at least several thousand catties of grain. Just go and call the shopkeeper, I won't make things difficult for you."

The waiter was even more astonished; this girl really didn't seem like someone who had that much grain. However, he still went to call the manager, thinking that perhaps appearances can be deceiving, and she was deliberately keeping a low profile to avoid attracting attention.

A moment later, the grain shop manager arrived. He looked Qiao Jingjing over and still found it hard to believe. This girl looked like she had been starving for a long time, yet she still had grain to sell?