The night gradually deepened. The moon climbed up the treetops, and the croaking of frogs and chirping of insects filled the air.
Wei Dongling stirred slightly, as if trying to turn over.
Cui Huan, who was under the tree, quickly called out, "Miss Wei, are you hungry? I still have two steamed buns here."
Wei Dongling waved her hand impatiently, turned to her side, and continued to sleep.
Cui Huan wondered to herself: Did the miss get up too early and get too tired today? That's why she slept all the way until evening and still didn't want to eat?
How could this be acceptable? She hadn't fully recovered from being so thin some time ago!
Cui Huan rolled up her sleeves, hugged the tree, and climbed up. She poked her head out to look at Wei Dongling's face and softly asked, "Miss, I'm a bit hungry! Shall we go back and have some... barbecue? Anyway, He Yao gave us silver notes today. I saw them! Finders keepers. You have to treat me to something delicious!"
Wei Dongling sighed and said, "I have no appetite. How about we go tomorrow?"
Sure enough, she had something on her mind!
Cui Huan added, "I'm so craving! I can't stop thinking about the streaky pork and chicken feet you grilled last time..."
"Fine, fine!" Wei Dongling's voice was clearly perfunctory.
Cui Huan raised her eyebrows and asked, "You have something on your mind? Tell me about it?"
Wei Dongling snorted and said, "Humph! The one - month deadline is up. Your family's scoundrel still hasn't come back. Do you think he's gone whoring around in the northwest?" Pfft! He might be having so much fun that he doesn't even think about coming back! It's been a month, and he hasn't even sent a single letter! The more Wei Dongling thought about it, the angrier she got.
Cui Huan laughed and said, "So you're lovesick and missing our young master!"
Wei Dongling pursed her lips and said aggrievedly, "If you've raised a dog for so long, you'd feel sad if it got lost!"
Hearing her analogy, Cui Huan couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Wei Dongling angrily climbed down the tree and said dejectedly, "I'm not waiting anymore! Let's go back!"
Only then did Cui Huan realize that Miss Wei had been waiting for Yu Zixi all afternoon!
The two returned to the city. They ordered a few small dishes in a restaurant. After they were full, they returned to the Su Mansion.
Everyone had already listed the amount of ingredients needed for tomorrow, and what needed to be prepared in advance had been taken care of.
Seeing Wei Dongling come back, A Cheng stepped forward to report, "Miss! The people from the paper mill came just now and said they can no longer provide us with the customized paper cups!"
Wei Dongling asked in surprise, "Why? I've already paid the deposit!"
A Cheng shook his head and said, "I don't know. They refunded the full deposit and claimed that the last batch they sent was a free gift. They won't cooperate with us anymore in the future."
"Outrageous!" Wei Dongling was secretly annoyed. Because of her trust, she hadn't signed a contract with the Zhou Family Paper Mill and had just paid the deposit directly. But now, just as the Lanshan Temple had opened today and the business was booming with a high demand, they actually quit the cooperation? Where could she find another paper mill to make new molds and produce them at such short notice? It would take several days just for the experimental production!
Cui Huan said speechlessly, "How about we use bamboo tubes for now? And then try to find other manufacturers to customize a batch?"
Bamboo tubes were not only costly but also wasteful. They were far less practical than paper milk tea cups! Wei Dongling asked A Cheng, "How many days' worth of paper cups do we have left?"
A Cheng replied, "There's less than a three - day supply in the main store, and very little left in the branch stores."
Wei Dongling sighed and ordered, "Uncle Luo and Uncle Hai Ming, go to the outskirts overnight and buy a batch of bamboo tubes in case of emergency. Uncle Lin, Aunt Ruan, and Uncle Qin, take the paper cup samples and go to major manufacturers overnight to place orders and see if they can replicate them exactly."
"Okay." Everyone responded in unison and got up to go.
Wei Dongling pulled Cui Huan to lead out Xiaohong from the backyard and said angrily, "I'd like to see what that Zhou Family manufacturer means! I didn't even charge them a copyright fee, and they still want to ditch me and sell to others? Do they think I'm easy to bully?"
Cui Huan weakly asked behind her, "What's a copyright fee?"
Wei Dongling:...
Xiaohong was tall and strong. It had no problem carrying two delicate girls on its back. In less than an hour, Wei Dongling and Cui Huan arrived at the gate of the Zhou Family Paper Mill.
The gate was tightly closed, and it was pitch - black all around.
"Is anyone there?" Cui Huan stepped forward and knocked for a long time, but there was no response.
Without saying a word, Wei Dongling stepped forward and kicked the door. Kick after kick, the door banged loudly.
Then they heard a strong voice inside angrily say, "It's so late at night! Who's kicking the door outside?"
The door opened, and a middle - aged man on night watch came out. He had a furious look on his face at first, but when he looked up and saw two delicate girls standing outside, he thought he was seeing things.
Wei Dongling clasped her fists and said, "Excuse me. We need to see Steward Zhou urgently."
The man looked embarrassed and said, "It's so late. Steward Zhou has gone home to rest!"
Wei Dongling nodded and said, "We urgently need to place a large order. Since it's urgent, we've come here at night to bother you! Please help us, big brother, and show us the way. Don't let both of our families miss out on this big business!"
The man sized them up. Seeing that they had proper manners and indeed looked like girls from wealthy families, and hearing Wei Dongling's sincere words, he was also afraid of delaying things. He nodded and replied, "Don't worry, girls. Steward Zhou lives nearby. I'll take you there." With that, he went back into the house, picked up a lantern, locked the gate, and led them away.
"Thank you, big brother!" The two quickly followed.
The man led them to knock on the gate of Steward Zhou's mansion of the paper mill. When Steward Zhou opened the door and saw Wei Dongling, his face looked a bit ugly, but he didn't dare to be negligent. He quickly invited them in and asked someone to serve tea. He clasped his fists and said, "Miss Wei, you've come so late. I didn't greet you from afar. I'm sorry!"
Wei Dongling didn't bother with small talk. She got straight to the point and asked, "I heard that Steward Zhou refunded the deposit and claimed that you won't cooperate with us anymore. I'm quite shocked by this and couldn't help but come here to find out the truth. Does Steward Zhou think I paid too little silver?"
Steward Zhou quickly clasped his fists and said, "Miss Wei, you're being too serious! Our factory spent several days and nights to produce satisfactory paper cups. In terms of price, you've been very generous. We're also deeply regretful that we can't continue the cooperation!"
Wei Dongling raised her eyebrows and asked, "So Steward Zhou has some hidden difficulties? You might as well tell me in detail. Let's not beat around the bush. Just lay it all out!"
Steward Zhou kept wiping the sweat sliding down his forehead with his sleeve and said awkwardly, "To be honest, our factory was working day and night according to your order. But early this morning, a Mr. Liu came and offered ten times the price of your order to buy it."
Wei Dongling's face darkened. Didn't Steward Zhou mean to raise the price on the spot by saying this? After a moment's thought, Wei Dongling said coldly, "Doing business also pays attention to first - come, first - served. Is Steward Zhou trying to break his promise and make me give up?"
Steward Zhou waved his hands repeatedly and said, "No! Mr. Liu also paid an additional 100,000 taels of silver and asked us not to cooperate with your Tingfeng Tower. To be honest, it's really not right of us to agree to this, but our factory had been running poorly and owed a large amount of debt some time ago. Master Zhou was so worried that he got sick! If we sign this order with Mr. Liu, it can really bring in several years' worth of profit for our factory!"
Hearing this, Wei Dongling was almost furious. Damn it! Someone was deliberately causing trouble again!