Help! The Frosty Noble's Son Is in Love With Me!-Chapter 393: Friendship and Career Can Easily Replace That Insignificant Love
When Li Hua saw Qu Fulan, she pursed her lips and smiled gently, "Would the Young Madam like some tofu skin buns?"
The feeling in Qu Fulan’s heart intensified, wondering how Li Hua seemed to have changed her demeanor after a fall.
There was a sense of gentle elegance about her.
Previously, Li Hua wasn’t an overly brash person, but she did speak and act quite directly, with a kind of innocent naivety. Now, it seemed as if Li Hua had suddenly matured.
Qu Fulan didn’t think much of it, after all, people grow up, and perhaps during these few days of recovery, Li Hua had realized many truths.
"I’ll take a basket of tofu skin buns. I heard your skills are now on par with Li Niang’s," Qu Fulan said with a smile.
Li Hua smiled slightly, "It’s only the customers overpraising, it’s not that amazing."
But after tasting them, Qu Fulan found they weren’t just overpraised; there had indeed been a real improvement.
"Now that Li Niang is pregnant, the store relies on just you. This is not a long-term solution. Why not break the process of making tofu skin buns into several steps and have the workers handle them? This way, you won’t be as tired and can accomplish more. Isn’t that better?" Qu Fulan suggested.
She saw that after Li Hua’s fall and Li Niang’s pregnancy, they still had to come to the store to work, which wasn’t easy. Although the secret recipe shouldn’t be divulged, if divided into several steps with each person responsible for one, even if someone wanted to betray them, they wouldn’t know the entire process.
When the tofu skin bun shop was smaller, and had to consider rental costs and so on, this couldn’t be done. Now that it had expanded, they naturally had to think for the long term.
After hearing this, Li Hua’s eyes lit up, "You have a point. Later, I’ll discuss it with Li Niang. Thank you so much for the suggestion. It’s really thanks to you for coming up with such a brilliant idea."
Li Hua had always had this idea, she just didn’t know how to implement it.
After all, she was just a manager at Li Niang’s shop, not truly her own business, and couldn’t do it forever.
She wanted to do things she was interested in, and she needed enough time for that.
"It’s nothing much, I’m just observing from the outside." Qu Fulan didn’t dare take credit as the originator of this brilliant method. She’s just seen more in modern times, with a bit more experience.
It’s like people making phones, with a dozen people on an assembly line, each responsible for a part, producing only a semi-finished product. If they went out to buy parts themselves to make it, they wouldn’t be able to.
After going back, Li Hua mentioned the Young Madam Pei’s suggestion to Li Niang, who only thought briefly and agreed.
It was indeed a good idea, just adding a few workers. Although there would be more labor cost, overall it would still be profitable.
"Then that’s what we’ll do, otherwise having you work hard in the shop all the time, I wouldn’t feel right. Besides, you’re young, you should try other ventures."
Although she paid Li Hua a salary, she was still a County Princess, with a monthly stipend, not needing her salary, just staying to help out of goodwill.
Now, this idea solved both their problems, no need to worry about no one making tofu skin buns in the shop, and she could do what she wanted, a win-win.
Once all aspects of the tofu skin bun shop’s processes were in place, Li Hua wouldn’t be in the tofu skin bun business.
When Xiao Shiqing had finished his work and went to the tofu skin bun shop to buy buns, he couldn’t find Li Hua.
Upon asking, he found out that Li Hua probably wouldn’t be coming anymore, as she was going to do what she wanted.
When asked what it was, the workers didn’t know. They were just workers, not Miss Li’s family.
Xiao Shiqing felt an empty space in his heart, as if a large piece was missing.
When he came to his senses, he realized he was unknowingly walking towards their residence.
He intended to try his luck, and it turned out unfortunately, Li Hua wasn’t home.
Where had Li Hua gone?
She had of course gone to find a business that suited her.
Considering her character and circumstances, she could offer two skills, one was embroidery, and the other was fragrance blending.
Although her embroidery was somewhat good, embroidery was tiring and didn’t really earn much.
As for fragrance blending, she could create unique fragrances, but... she couldn’t do this like embroidery, as not making money was one thing, but it was too conspicuous.
Aside from these two skills, she could only make tofu skin buns.
Li Niang had taught her how to make tofu skin buns, but it wouldn’t be right to start her own shop using her skills, as she understood the adage that peers are enemies.
After thinking it over, she couldn’t figure out what she should do, so she wandered daily and unknowingly wandered into a department store. Seeing all kinds of shops, she suddenly had the thought of opening one herself.
When Qu Fulan saw Li Hua, she was a bit surprised, "It’s rare to see you out shopping, what do you want to buy? I’ll accompany you."
The two sat down for milk tea, and Li Hua shared her thoughts.
After learning this, Qu Fulan was somewhat surprised, "It’s a good idea, and coincidentally, I have some shops available. Take a look at which one you want."
Li Hua said she wanted to open an underwear store and source from her.
That sounded great, although there were already underwear stores in the department store, adding another wouldn’t matter.
The key to running a shop is understanding operations, which depends on one’s ability. No one is born knowing everything; it takes time to learn.
Back then Li Hua received a reward from the emperor, enough for her to gain experience, and persistence wouldn’t lead to poor results.
That day they settled on a shop at a very reasonable price. Qu Fulan, being in business, couldn’t just give the shop away for free. But due to their special relationship, she offered a very fair price, which made both parties happy, otherwise, if she gave it for free, Li Hua would have felt uncomfortable accepting.
"You need to hire a manager to help you run the shop, and recruit two more staff. This way, you’ll grasp things faster. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me. Although I may not solve all issues, having someone to discuss with is always good," Qu Fulan said.
This is the benefit of having money, you can spend it, and someone else takes care of other matters, allowing you to learn many things in the process.
Li Hua thanked Qu Fulan, then left to go home first without disturbing her. Once on the carriage, Li Hua’s eyes turned red.
Apart from her family, this was the first time she encountered someone so warm-hearted, teaching her many business principles, telling her there’s no need to rush and to take her time, and to just ask if there’s anything she doesn’t know.
She suddenly realized how insignificant her past persistence and determination seemed.
Those who truly care for you will look after your emotions in every way, rather than making you cautiously adapt and please them.
She discovered that friendship and career could entirely replace that insignificant romance, making life richer and more colorful.
On the way, Li Hua thought a lot about the future, each thought filled with hope. Then she saw Xiao Shiqing not far from her doorstep.
Li Hua clenched her fingers.
