Lian Manman and her group quickly arrived at the entrance of the Yue Lai Tavern. Because it was a rainy day, there were far fewer customers than usual. Lian Manman went in first and told the tavern’s server that she was looking for Shopkeeper Wu.

"Little girl, you’ve arrived quite early." The first person to come out was the middle-aged man who had served at Elder Woo’s side that day.

"Shopkeeper Wu, we’ve brought the peanuts. Is that Mr. Woo here?" Lian Manman said.

"Oh!" The middle-aged man was startled when Lian Manman called him Shopkeeper Wu but then returned to his normal state. He was indeed the shopkeeper of the Yue Lai Tavern, surnamed Wu. That day he had not revealed his identity to Lian Manman, but it wasn’t particularly strange for her to recognize him, after all, this tavern was quite famous in town. Lian Manman, being a child, did not recognize him when they first met, but after going home and discussing it with the adults, it was very likely that someone in her family recognized him as the shopkeeper.

"The owner has been waiting for you." Only then did Shopkeeper Wu tell Lian Manman that Elder Woo that day was the owner of the tavern, who lived in the county and was named Woo Zhonglian. Shopkeeper Wu then led Lian Manman into a private room, where Woo Zhonglian was indeed sitting inside.

"We’ve come according to our agreement to deliver the goods. Let’s first have a look at the peanuts, weigh them to see if the amount is correct." After exchanging pleasantries, Lian Manman immediately brought up the main subject.

The tavern’s servers helped Lian Shouxin carry several bags of peanuts inside, and Woo Zhonglian opened each bag to look and tasted some before nodding, then he allowed the servers to weigh the peanuts. Four sacks of peanuts weighed out to be a little over two hundred pounds. Lian Manman, fearing that there might not be enough peanuts in the end, had deliberately prepared a few extra pounds, and had already weighed them before leaving home.

"Good, very good," said Shopkeeper Wu, nodding. "It’s raining today, and it’s rare that you still managed to produce two hundred pounds of peanuts on time."

As Shopkeeper Wu spoke, he glanced outside. The rain wasn’t heavy but hadn’t stopped.

"We have delivered the peanuts as agreed, and Elder Woo has already given us One String of Coins. As for the rest of the money..." Lian Manman smiled, not finishing Shopkeeper Wu’s sentence.

Shopkeeper Wu laughed heartily and told the shopkeeper to fetch the money. Two hundred pounds of peanuts at twenty Wen Money per pound came to a total of four Strings of Coins. Having already given Lian Manman One String of Coins, Shopkeeper Wu took out another three Strings of Coins and handed them to Lian Manman.

"It’s still raining outside, no rush to head back. Sit down and have a cup of tea, enjoy some pastries." Shopkeeper Wu then invited Lian Shouxin, Lian Manman, and the others.

Lian Manman agreed, as she could see that Woo Zhonglian had more to say.

Woo Zhonglian was quite talkative, first chatting with Lian Shouxin, asking about their crops that year, what kind of business they did every day, and so on. Lian Shouxin answered cautiously.

"Why haven’t you sold these garlic-flavored peanuts before?" Big Boss Woo finally asked.

"It was just a few children playing around, trying to earn some pocket money," Lian Shouxin said.

"What does Elder Woo think of our garlic-flavored peanuts?" Lian Manman, having eaten a small piece of pastry, suddenly asked.

"Naturally, they are good, otherwise why would I buy two hundred pounds at once?" Woo Zhonglian said.

"Elder Woo is not buying these peanuts just for personal consumption, right?" Lian Manman asked again.

"Besides this tavern, our owner has some teahouses in the county city and other towns, as well as general stores, snack shops, and dried goods shops," replied Shopkeeper Wu on behalf of Big Boss Woo.

In teahouses and taverns, the garlic-flavored peanuts could be used as a snack to accompany drinks, and in general, snack, and dried goods shops, where roasted peanuts were sold, garlic-flavored peanuts could also be offered.

"Elder Woo’s business is flourishing, these two hundred pounds of peanuts should be enough for a few days of sales. You’ve also seen that we can produce two hundred pounds of garlic-flavored peanuts in two days. If Elder Woo needs more, you can confidently leave the job to us," said Lian Manman.

It was very urgent for Woo Zhonglian to buy the garlic-flavored peanuts, as he had even set a time limit, which naturally had its reasons. He wanted to see if they had the capacity to produce a sufficient amount of garlic-flavored peanuts in a short time, with the taste remaining exactly the same without any deviations. Big Boss Woo tasting every single bag of peanuts himself was likely to ensure this.

Now that Lian Manman had delivered on time, and the production capacity and quality of the garlic-flavored peanuts were assured, it was time to establish a long-term supply relationship.