Chapter 143: The Provincial Examination Results Are Announced

Shopkeeper Xu’s suggestion coincided with Su Wan’s idea, but she had another plan in mind.

“I’m planning to open a medical hall in the prefectural city and will need to hire people to manage it since I don’t have much free time to oversee it myself. If we were to open a branch of the restaurant, we’d be short-handed and would have to handle everything personally. You’re already managing this restaurant and are constantly busy. I have another idea.”

Su Wan tilted her chin toward the stairs and said, “Let’s go upstairs to discuss in detail.”

Shopkeeper Xu immediately led Su Wan to the third floor, which was not open to guests.

The two sat by the table, and Shopkeeper Xu poured a cup of tea for Su Wan. “What’s your idea?”

“We can allow others to join us as franchisees.” Su Wan took out a brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone, and wrote the words “Zuixiang Pavilion” at the top. “I will do my best to develop some new recipes, dishes, and snacks that other restaurants don’t have. The flavors and service should be the best, with prices affordable for ordinary people, which will attract a larger customer base.”

“If others want to join us as franchisees, they must provide at least 60% or more of the funds. All personnel required for the branch will be the responsibility of the franchisee, and the operational rights will belong to them. However, they must accept our unified management.”

“For example, procurement, pricing strategies, menu configuration, shop decoration, and personnel management will all be executed according to the standards we set.”

“They will send the employees they hire to us for training, and only after passing the training will they be allowed to operate.”

As Su Wan explained the franchise rules in detail, she also taught Shopkeeper Xu how to develop potential franchisees.

“I just came up with this idea recently, and many aspects are still not perfect. We need to carefully refine it and plan out the details properly.

You should hire more chefs and managers, train them specifically, so that in the future, they can go to the branches to pass on their experience.”

Su Wan had never dealt with franchises before, but she had been influenced by what she had seen and heard, so she needed to figure many things out on her own, step by step.

“So how will the money be calculated?” Shopkeeper Xu was most concerned about this.

“We’ll take a commission based on their total revenue.”

Shopkeeper Xu nodded, half-understanding, but he realized that if they managed well, this would be much less of a headache than directly opening branches themselves.

If he wanted to expand the restaurant chain across the entire Great Zhou on his own, it would be nearly impossible in this lifetime. But with Su Wan’s approach, it could be achieved within ten years!

Just the thought of their Zuixiang Pavilion being able to spread across the entire Great Zhou made Shopkeeper Xu feel as if he were on a high.

“We get many merchants passing through here. Next time someone asks about buying rice noodles, I’ll ask them if they’re interested in joining as a franchise!”

“Keep up the good work!” Su Wan patted Shopkeeper Xu on the shoulder. “Start by hiring people, preferably those with excellent character.”

Shopkeeper Xu’s expression stiffened. Recalling how Fengwei Pavilion had poached all their chefs, he pouted and said, “I’m not good at judging people. When I hire someone, you’ll need to take a look.”

“Alright,” Su Wan agreed.

Shopkeeper Xu took out the account book and handed it to Su Wan. “This is last month’s revenue. We’re just over halfway through this month, and it’s already exceeded last month’s.”

Su Wan glanced at the figures, and her heartbeat quickened. This… this was way too much, wasn’t it?

In the first month, the net profit reached six thousand taels.

This month, it had already surpassed ten thousand.

Su Wan felt that her business was making some progress—she was becoming a little rich lady.

“I’ll come up with two new dishes later.”

Feeling invigorated as if on a high, Su Wan was full of energy.

She originally planned to go to the medical hall early, but the money on the account books ignited her enthusiasm. She stayed at the restaurant to teach Jiang Baiwei and the others new dishes, and spent the whole morning in the kitchen.

It wasn’t until the hour of Wei (around 1-3 p.m.) that the restaurant quieted down. The morning shift workers were all resting, while another group continued to be busy, preparing ingredients for the evening.

Su Wan took the draft she had made during her discussion with Shopkeeper Xu about franchising, intending to refine it at home that evening. She quickly made her way to the medical hall.

The business at the medical hall was also quite good, with a long line of patients waiting, and the apprentice pharmacists were busy beyond measure.

Su Wan washed her hands thoroughly and joined in to help diagnose patients.

Once she sat down, Su Wan didn’t get up again, not even having time for a sip of water. She drank less water on purpose, only taking small sips to moisten her throat when she was thirsty to avoid having to run to the toilet.

It wasn’t until nightfall that Su Wan finished seeing the last patient. Her neck was stiff, and her back and hips were sore. “This stool is too hard. We should get a cushion.”

Doctor Zhou also looked weary. “Alright, tomorrow I’ll have someone go to the embroidery shop to take a look.”

While supporting her lower back with both hands, Su Wan stood up, washed her hands, and drank a big cup of water. “Are there this many people at the medical hall every day?”

“Yes, ever since your reputation spread, we’ve been busy every day, barely touching the ground. I’ve hired two more doctors and divided them into two shifts. One group works for six hours, and we keep someone on duty at night to handle emergency cases.”

Doctor Zhou massaged his old, aching back. “The Xinglin Workshop has already gotten on track; everyone naturally goes there to place orders, saving me quite a bit of trouble.”

“Guangren Hall tried to imitate our wound medicine and sold counterfeit drugs to the public, which caused problems. I’ve taken over Guangren Hall, and it will be converted into a Xinglin Medical Hall. You should continue hiring doctors and pharmacy apprentices. If they are willing to stay permanently in the prefectural city, we will offer generous treatment and not shortchange them.”

Su Wan sighed, “The emergence of counterfeit drugs ultimately stems from our low output. The workshop in the prefectural city still needs to start operating as soon as possible. If our products can be widely available so that every medical hall and pharmacy can buy them, no one would bother spending the effort to create fakes.”

“The medical hall in the prefectural city, are you planning to hire someone to manage it?” Doctor Zhou furrowed his brow tightly. “You’ll need to find someone reliable.”

Su Wan had someone in mind—Wang Dong, the one who stood up for her when the Guangren Hall incident occurred. He was a person with a strong sense of justice who despised evil, and definitely not someone with ill intentions.

“I’ve got it covered,” Su Wan said as she rubbed her throbbing temples. In the end, the foundation was still too thin. Unlike those aristocratic families who have their own trusted people, with the stewards of each shop being either family servants or disciples, she had to recruit people on the fly whenever she wanted to get something done.

However, with enough funds circulating, she wasn’t worried about not being able to hire people.

Doctor Zhou showed Su Wan the account book; the profits were even better than the restaurant’s. They no longer had to worry about a lack of funds.

Even so, Su Wan dared not slack off. In this business, like rowing against the current, not advancing means retreating.

While waiting for the examination results to be announced, Su Wan made a trip to Yan Zhi Pavilion, then immersed herself in the workshop, working on developing special remedies for typhoid, as well as skincare products and all-natural, additive-free face powders and lip balms.

The day before the examination results were announced, Su Wan tested the efficacy of the typhoid medicine, and it met her expectations. To make it easier to take, she specifically made it into pill form.

She arranged for the workshop to produce a small batch of ten bottles, which she placed in Xinglin Medical Hall for use. If no side effects appeared, they could be produced in large quantities.

Su Wan took the skincare products and face powder back to Xinghua Village, intending to test them on herself. If there were no issues, she would then hand them over to Shopkeeper Jiang.

By the time Su Wan returned to Xinghua Village, it was already very late. She washed her face thoroughly, mixed some of the powder in a bowl, and applied it to her face. After fifteen minutes, she washed it off, and applied the skincare product. After that, she felt drowsy, collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep.

Half-asleep, her nose felt very itchy. Su Wan sneezed, “Achoo!” and woke up with a start.

Two little ones were squatting by the bedside with gloomy faces, holding a strand of hair in their hands—the tool of their mischief.

“What’s wrong?” Su Wan asked, rubbing her nose as she sat up. Outside, the sun was shining brightly, and it was already late in the morning. “Aren’t you going to the academy today?”

Gu Jingyun pouted, “Sister-in-law, the exam results are being announced today.”