Chapter 102 Bargaining
"Aunt Tong, you didn't set up your stall, and many people at the entrance of Sushiyuan were asking about you." Ma Huateng took a sip of tea, calmed himself down, and greeted Tong Huaqiong.
"I'm too tired from running the stall recently. I plan to take a break these days," said Tong Huaqiong.
Tong Huaqiong didn't find it strange that customers who were used to eating Taohua desserts and pastries didn't see her at the stall and asked about her.
Ma Huateng nodded and did not mention the shop. Instead, he brought Tong Huaqiong some exciting news.
"Aunt Tong, a big thing happened at Sushiyuan today. In the two days when you were not at the stall, Sushiyuan started selling the same taro paste cakes and pork floss cakes as Taohua Dessert. They looked the same as yours, but they tasted completely different. A customer was dissatisfied and wanted a refund. Sushiyuan said that it was unreasonable to refund the cakes that had been sold, so an argument broke out. When I came, Sushiyuan was so annoyed that its business was affected by the quarrel."
Shopkeeper Feng wanted the recipe for peach blossom dessert, and Tong Huaqiong gave it to him without hesitation, but it was simply impossible to replicate the same taste.
Let’s not talk about other things, especially crispy pastries and meat floss pastries. Even if there is a baking master in Sushiyuan and they use the same recipe and baking time, they still can’t make the same taste as Peach Blossom dessert.
There is no other reason, it is simply because of the different raw materials.
Chinese crispy pastries with meat floss naturally use lard and pork as the main ingredients, but pigs in this era always have a vague smell of fishiness that cannot be concealed even if it is melted into the pastries.
In the past, when there was only Sushiyuan, everyone was used to it and didn’t care. It was not authentic if it didn’t have a fishy smell.
But Tong Huaqiong cheated and used the modern and unsavory lard and pork floss to make snacks, which had nothing but fragrance. After eating the Peach Blossom dessert, everyone compared it with the Sushiyuan dessert and knew which one was better.
Sushiyuan must have been working day and night these past two days to make pastries according to Tong Huaqiong's recipe, but so what?
The fact that they don’t sell the same pastries as Taohua Dessert doesn’t really highlight their disadvantages.
Now Manager Feng can only say that he has shot himself in the foot.
Gu Taohua, Chen Sufen and Liu Yue'e learned from Ma Huateng that Sushiyuan had messed up the taro paste and pork floss Xiaobei, and they were so happy that they wanted to high-five to celebrate.
Deserve it.
In fact, Sushiyuan has its own signature products, such as mung beans and Chinese-style pastries. Those traditional pastries are delicious and beautiful, but they just want to abandon their own signature products and grab Taohua Dessert’s signature products.
Not only did they lose their flagship product, but they also damaged their reputation.
The mistake of Sushiyuan is that it cannot tolerate any competitors.
"When doing business, there are all kinds of risks," Tong Huaqiong said with a smile.
Ma Huateng expressed his admiration for this. He thought that maybe the reason why Aunt Tong didn't set up her stall was because Sushiyuan didn't allow her to continue setting up a stall nearby. Otherwise, why would Sushiyuan start selling pastries that were the same as Taohua Desserts?
If it were someone else, they would have slapped their thighs and cursed Sushiyuan long ago, but Aunt Tong still treated Sushiyuan with a nonchalant attitude.
You can tell at first glance that he has a kingly temperament.
It is very consistent with the style of his father running a wine shop back then.
Could it be God's will that the shop be transferred to Aunt Tong?
Ma Huateng did some mental work and said to Tong Huaqiong, "I didn't come here today to talk nonsense with Aunt Tong. I went back and discussed it with my mother, and she agreed to sell the shop to you. I will also make a living in your shop."
Tong Huaqiong smiled and didn't say anything. She had expected this result.
If Ma Huateng wants to find a job, he must sell the shop to her.
The reason why she didn't respond was that she wanted Ma Huateng to take the initiative to negotiate the price.
In the business battlefield, whoever talks about price first loses, right?
Seeing that Tong Huaqiong didn't say anything, Ma Huateng said, "Aunt Tong, how much are you willing to pay for my shop?"
He added, "That's a popular shop. In the past two days, some people heard that my shop was for sale and several people came to inquire about it."
Wangpu emphasized that several companies came to inquire, and it was all taught by his mother, with the intention of putting pressure on Tong Huaqiong that "if you miss this opportunity, you will miss it forever."
In fact, this shop is a prosperous shop and it is in the hands of his father.
Ever since they saw the business going downhill after he took over, a few people came to ask about it, but they all treated him like the stupid son of a landlord and wanted to run his shop for free.
Although he is not good at business, he can still see what those people are thinking.
Tong Huaqiong ate a cookie calmly and said with a smile: "Since there are several people asking, why don't you sell it to them, Xiao Ma? Instead, you came all the way to Qinghe Bay to find me."
Trying to trick her? No way.
Ma Huateng thought that Tong Huaqiong would take the initiative to negotiate when she heard him talking about price, but he didn't expect her to fight back.
Who said that rural aunties are ignorant and easy to fool?
It’s good enough that Aunt Tong didn’t fool him.
Ma Huateng added, "Because I promised Aunt Tong that I would think about it for two days and give you an answer. As a person, you should be trustworthy, so I declined other people's offers. The reason I came to your house is that I sincerely want to sell the shop to you, so that I can tell other people that I have sold the shop to you."
Tong Huaqiong calmly passed the ball to Ma Huateng and asked, "Since you are so sincere, let me ask you how much do you plan to sell the shop for?"
Ma Huateng was prepared for the price of the shop. He discussed it with his mother and decided to ask for two hundred taels of silver.
"Two hundred taels, the lowest." Ma Huateng said.
The price is neither high nor low in Yanzhi Lane. Plus, there is a yard behind the shop and a storage room inside, so it is already very fair.
If Aunt Tong had a normal brain, she would know that he was not asking for too much.
Tong Huaqiong pondered and felt that Ma Huateng’s asking price was indeed reasonable.
But people like to bargain whenever they buy something. If they don’t bargain down based on the original price, they will feel they are at a disadvantage even if the price is cheaper.
Tong Huaqiong, who has lived two lives, is no exception.
"It's too expensive." Tong Huaqiong said.
"Expensive?" Ma Huateng spat out the water in his mouth.
Ma Huateng couldn't help but shouted, "Aunt Tong, I didn't charge you a penny more. If you ask around about the prices at other shops around here, you'll know how good the price I'm giving you is."
Tong Huaqiong said unyieldingly, "I bought the shop to sell pastries. Your shop is not as popular as Sushiyuan in terms of traffic. The surrounding area is mostly filled with rouge and cloth sellers, and there is also a brothel not far away. My shop won't attract people there, and at most I can only do regular business. If I open a rouge shop, your price won't be expensive, but if I open a pastry shop, it will be expensive."
Ma Huateng was simply amazed. Widow Tong's bargaining ideas were unconventional and he couldn't refute them even if he wanted to.
He was not familiar with business, and he didn't know whether it was appropriate to open a pastry shop in Yanzhi Lane.
In the end, he could only flatter Tong Huaqiong and said, "With your skills, you will have no problem opening a shop anywhere."
This is true.
Tong Huaqiong felt very comfortable being praised.
"Aunt Tong, how much do you want to pay?"
Tong Huaqiong said: "One hundred and seventy taels."
Ma Huateng took a step back: "One hundred and ninety taels."
Tong Huaqiong took a step forward and said, "One hundred and eighty taels. We can make the deal today."