Chapter 17: Tempting Treats

◎ Fixed Price and Fixed Quantity ◎

“My wife and I are both here, and Brother Wu came along too.”

There were guests at home, so Wei Xuan couldn’t just stay out of sight. She quickly sealed the dumpling in her hands, patted off the flour sticking to her fingers, and walked to the kitchen door. “Brother Wu, you’re here! It’s cold outside. Jiang Che, take Brother Wu to the main hall to sit for a while. I’ll add two more dishes, and we’ll be ready to eat soon.”

Wu Yun came today for the sauce—eating was secondary.

And since the sauce was made by Wei Xuan, it wouldn’t be appropriate to discuss it without her present. Seeing the flour on her hands, he directly asked, “Sister-in-law, are you making dumplings or buns? There’s no need to go through the trouble of adding dishes for me—I’m not an outsider. Whatever you’re having is fine for me too.”

“This…?” Wei Xuan hesitated, wondering if that would be too neglectful of their guest. She turned to Jiang Che for his opinion.

Jiang Che knew that Wu Yun had come for business and probably wasn’t in the mood for food until the matter was settled. So he simply said, “Let’s do as Brother Wu says.”

“Alright, if Brother Wu doesn’t mind, we’ll have dumplings for dinner tonight.”

Wu Yun responded, “Dumplings are great! Just be sure to have some chili sauce to go with them—that’d be even better.”

At those words, Wei Xuan suddenly realized the real reason Wu Yun had come today. She smiled and said, “No problem, that’s easy enough. I’ll make sure there’s plenty.”

With that, Jiang Che led Wu Yun to the neighboring room.

Wu Yun looked around and felt that something seemed different from his last visit.

After a closer look, he noticed that every chair now had thick cushions on them. Not only that, but a large calendar was hanging on the white wall.

Wu Yun found the calendar quite interesting. It wasn’t like the thick ones sold at the supply and marketing cooperatives, where you had to tear off a page each day.

The one hanging on Jiang Che’s wall was much thinner, with only a few pages. Each page had colorful drawings made with colored pens, giving it a childlike charm.

He paused for a moment, then turned around and pointed at the calendar, asking Jiang Che, “Where did you buy this calendar? It looks pretty nice. I might go get one to hang at home too.”

Jiang Che smirked proudly. “You won’t find this anywhere. My wife drew it herself—one of a kind in the whole world.”

Wu Yun’s interest was piqued. “Sister-in-law knows how to draw?”

“She says she just does it for fun. Women like to mess around with these fancy, decorative things. It does look nice hanging there, though—otherwise, it’d just be a waste of effort.”

“Heh, listen to you, acting all humble while secretly showing off. Look at that smug face of yours—you’re just asking for a beating.”

“Hehe, see through it if you must, but don’t call me out on it.”

Jiang Che was indeed feeling smug—his wife had definitely earned him some bragging rights.

But when he thought back to the fancy drawing supplies Wei Xuan had bought from the department store a while ago, he still felt a little heartache. Just a few colored pens had cost more than ten yuan! You couldn’t eat or drink them, so how many braised pig trotters would he have to sell to make up for that?

Still, if it made his wife happy, it was worth it.

As they talked, Wei Xuan walked in carrying bowls and chopsticks. “Jiang Che, go bring the pot over from the kitchen. No point in walking back and forth and letting the dumplings get cold.”

“Got it, on it.”

Wu Yun watched as Jiang Che obediently went off without a word of complaint, feeling amused. One thing always restrains another—the old saying was true after all. The little troublemaker from before had finally met someone who could keep him in check. Not bad.

“Sister-in-law, I was just telling Xiao Che how well you painted that calendar. And I can see you’ve put a lot of thought into even the chairs. Jiang Che is really lucky to have married you.”

Wei Xuan felt a little embarrassed by the praise. “I just tinker around when I have nothing else to do at home. Brother Wu, please don’t flatter me. The chair cushions aren’t even worth mentioning—they’re just repurposed old cotton quilts. I just wanted to make sure it’s warm to sit on during winter meals.”

Wu Yun knew well enough how good it was, but he didn’t continue the topic. Still, deep down, he couldn’t help but feel a little envious of Jiang Che’s good fortune—marrying such a capable wife.

It even made him start thinking about settling down. His grandmother had been urging him for years, but he had never been in a rush. With his family’s financial situation back then, what good girl would be willing to marry him? Even if there were, he wouldn’t have wanted to burden her.

But now that he had built up some savings, it was probably time to start considering it seriously. After all, he was a few years older than Jiang Che—he couldn’t let things drag on until Jiang Che had kids running around while he was still single.

Wei Xuan had cooked plenty of dumplings. She herself could only eat about ten, while Jiang Che and Wu Yun split the rest between them.

After setting down her chopsticks, Wei Xuan didn’t rush to clean up. She knew Wu Yun had come for a reason, so she simply sat there without moving.

Wu Yun didn’t see the need to beat around the bush with these two. He got straight to the point. “Xiao Che, sister-in-law, just give me a straight answer—is this sauce the new food product you mentioned or not?”

Jiang Che glanced at Wei Xuan, and she subtly shook her head.

Wu Yun’s eyes widened. “So you just brought it out to tease me, huh?”

Seeing him get anxious, Wei Xuan couldn’t help but laugh. “Brother Wu, we’re really not messing with you. This isn’t the new food product I mentioned earlier. I wasn’t planning on making that one so soon. As for this sauce, it was originally made for our own use, and we’re giving you the extra. But if you think this sauce could be sold, well, we’re not going to shy away from turning it into a business opportunity.”

“Oh, sister-in-law, you talk so fast! I’m telling you, this sauce will definitely sell well, just like I said.”

Jiang Che chimed in from the side, “But just to make it clear, even if we sell it, there won’t be a lot. It’ll be like braised meat—we’ll only make as much as we can, and we’ll give you that amount.”

“Well, you’ll need to give me a specific number, or I won’t be able to explain things to the regular customers.”

Jiang Che exchanged a glance with Wei Xuan and said, “Like the jar today, we can make twenty jars a month.” That way, they would only need two days a month to make enough.

“Is that all?” Wu Yun sighed, “That’s not enough to go around. Add a little more.”

After some back-and-forth bargaining, they settled on a minimum of twenty-five jars a month, and no more than thirty.

The price would be set at twice the cost: four and a half yuan per jar for the meat sauce, and two and a half yuan each for the chili sauce and mushroom sauce.

Jiang Che secretly chuckled to himself—this way, their household income would double by the end of the month.

That evening, the two of them agreed that the next day, they would head straight home after work and not make a trip back to the office.

So, the next day, Jiang Che brought three jars of sauce to the office in a mesh bag.

Since the sauce was intended to be sold, they had been very careful about sealing the jars properly.

But the smell of the sauce was just too strong. With the office door kept shut for warmth in the winter, the enclosed space made any unusual scent easy to detect.

The first to notice the smell was Sister Wang , who sat next to Jiang Che. As a middle-aged woman who had spent years around the stove, she easily recognized the scent of sauce. She couldn’t tell exactly what kind of sauce it was, but it didn’t seem like the usual bean paste they used at home.

At first, she didn’t pay much attention to it, but as her stomach grew emptier, the smell became more intense. Eventually, she couldn’t resist anymore and asked, “Did one of you bring sauce into the office? It’s been distracting me all morning, and I can’t focus on work.”