Chapter 626: Hot Pot Acquisition of the Century-old Cake Shop (4)_1
Lin Yuan was speechless for a moment; Old Iron Head truly was born in the wrong era—if he were in the Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi would’ve treasured him to death!
Xia Zheng’s Potato Garden was no small venture and the potato harvest was plentiful. In addition to supplying the various shops, there were still many left over, perfect for making potato flour. The process of making potato flour was not complicated; after a series of extraction and starching steps, the starch was scented and dough was mixed. Then, using a strainer, the dough was shaped into strips in boiling water, and finally, it was cooled and dried in cold water.
After cooking, potato flour had a bright color, it was soft and elastic, and delightfully smooth and tasty. Especially when eaten in a hot pot setting, along with other side dishes, it could easily serve as a staple food.
Besides hot pot, potato flour could also be made into a snack on its own by adding finely shredded tofu skin and vegetables with marinated eggs, resulting in an authentic bowl of sour and spicy potato flour. However, Lin Yuan didn’t want to introduce sour and spicy potato flour just yet; great things shouldn’t be put on the market all at once, as they would lose their appeal. It was better to introduce them one by one to captivate people’s attention.
Once the tofu skin from the tofu workshop and the potato flour from the Potato Garden were ready, Old Iron Head had also produced the first batch of hot pot pots and stoves. Lin Yuan’s heart surged with excitement at the sight of the brand-new pots; this hot pot was her next innovation after tofu and pastries. Since the pots and stoves haven’t been completed in full, Lin Yuan planned to first introduce hot pot at Fuman Building before gradually rolling it out to the other branches.
In the midst of the busy preparations for the hot pot, news came from the Century-old Cake Shop: just as Lady Jin had said, Shopkeeper Chen, for harming the health of the citizens, was thrown into prison for five years by Li Chang. Though five years wasn’t long, for Chen Shopkeeper, who was approaching fifty, whether he could endure these five years was indeed a big concern.
Many people in town had already learned about Shopkeeper Chen’s imprisonment in advance. And just like Lin Yuan had found out, everyone must have realized that Chen Shopkeeper’s wife was not someone who could hold the fort. Thus, by the time Lin Yuan approached Lady Chen, many had already knocked on their door. Even Meng Family Wine House had set their sights on the shop, wanting to buy the Century-old Cake Shop.
However, Lady Chen was clearly no pushover; she set a high asking price. As she saw more people come knocking, she became greedy, or so it seemed, raising the price again and again, making it hard for many potential buyers to accept.