OFTLHFRO C52

Chapter 52: Milk Tea Goes Viral

A new day began with delivering tofu and brewing milk tea.

Luo Mingchen also prepared a cheaper soy milk, served hot or cold.

In addition, he made some spicy shredded pork and fragrant spicy shredded pork—pricey, but great as snacks.

If feedback was good, he planned to add spiced peanuts and similar nibbles.

Though he’d sent Huo Xiang to spread the word in advance, Luo kept expectations modest on day one: one large bucket of milk tea, and only a bowl each of the add-ins.

By late morning, rows of cups—large, medium, and small—were neatly lined up on the counter.

Some tofu customers eyed the cups curiously, unable to tell what they were made of, only feeling they must be expensive.

At school dismissal, three study servants and Ming Yuanjing arrived with the brothers.

They explained they didn’t want to trouble Luo to cook extra dishes but still wanted to buy milk tea, so they sent the servants.

As for Ming Yuanjing, who had no servant, Huo Xiang dragged him along, proposing to split his lunch half and half with him.

Since they showed such consideration, Luo didn’t shortchange them—he piled on the add-ins and filled their cups to the brim.

The young girl who often bought bowl cakes noticed the cups by the wall and asked curiously, “What are those?”

Smiling, Luo said, “Cups—for our new milk tea. You can add pearls, taro balls, and more. There’s shredded pork too. Would you like some? Guaranteed delicious.”

“Give me one of everything,” she said, lavishly.

Luo showed the price board. “Three sizes: large, medium, small. Which one would you like?”

“Large.”

She wanted the big cup—no other reason. Crystal-clear with faint golden veins, dazzling in sunlight, yet not expensive, and she couldn’t tell what it was made of.

A few regulars came by too; after Luo’s pitch and the cups’ unique appeal, they skeptically took a few home.

Soon the girl returned with eight friends to buy milk tea. Most came for the milk tea; some liked the shredded pork.

The big bucket sold out quickly. Luo glanced at the tray of copper coins in front of Huo Yan and closed up, well satisfied.

Top add-in was grass jelly, then pearls; the colorful taro balls were slightly less popular.

“Looks like we should make more large cups.”

These students were richer than he’d expected—almost everyone chose large, hardly any medium, and practically no small cups.

And though they could’ve reused previous cups, they insisted on buying new ones.

Huo looked at the dwindling stack of cups and agreed. “Alright.”

In the days that followed, who knew how the word spread—students from other academies showed up, and many young ladies came in groups, buying milk tea by the dozens.

Counting until his hands ached, Luo grumbled to Huo, “If I’d known milk tea was this profitable, we should’ve gone straight to it from the start. Why bother with tofu and cakes?”

In the heat of summer, milk tea would’ve sold even better—yet now it was already the twentieth day of the eighth month and cooling.

Helping tally coins, Huo laughed. “It’s not too late now.”

“True.”

Beaming, Luo set aside strings of copper coins and kept threading loose ones.

Little Yueyue was also counting diligently—ten to a stack—and surprisingly quick.

Knock, knock.

Busy counting, Luo absentmindedly told Huo, “Get the door.”

Huo opened it to find the couple from the small eatery. “What can we do for you?”

The proprietress smiled. “We’re here to discuss something.”

Luo glanced up, set the coins aside, said a few words to Yueyue, put down the tray, and waved them in. “Come in and tell us.”

“Thanks.”

After they entered and exchanged a look, the lady said, “We know each other already, so we won’t beat around the bush.”

Luo nodded attentively.

“We’d like to buy some soy milk and milk tea from you. Students say yours are excellent. We’re not that far away, but not exactly close either. Some folks don’t want to walk over, and with those cups being pricey, they can only afford a small bowl, and students don’t carry bowls.”

Luo understood. “You want to take a large bucket or a couple of big jugs from us, right?”

They both nodded rapidly. “Exactly.”

“That’s doable. But we’ll sell only milk tea and soy milk—no add-ins.”

“Understood,” the husband said. “We’ll come tomorrow with two big jugs—like our big herbal tea urns—about thirty bowls each. One milk tea, one soy milk. How much?”

“Thirty bowls each… Milk tea at twenty wen, soy milk fifteen. You can sell them at two wen per bowl for milk tea, one wen per bowl for soy milk.”

They stared, stunned.

“That cheap?” the proprietress asked, confused.

Given the students’ rave reviews—and their own taste test—they’d expected higher wholesale pricing. They hadn’t anticipated such a low quote.

Tea was grown and roasted by Luo himself; soybeans, too, were his. Milk and sugar were the costly parts, but a large pail of fresh milk cost only ten wen and filled three big tea urns; sugar got cheaper in bulk.

And Luo was currently malting barley to make his own maltose.

He’d originally fixated on white and brown sugar until he’d seen a sugar-figure vendor during Mid-Autumn, tasted it, and remembered maltose.

Once he nailed the maltose, costs would drop further.

Naturally, none of that was said aloud. Luo simply smiled. “Friends’ price. If it sells well, take more.”

They settled on pickup time, and the couple left delighted.

At their shop, a large milk tea was five wen, medium four, small three; add-ins were one wen per portion, and soy milk was quite cheap by comparison.

Some tofu customers brought small teapots to buy soy milk for their grandkids. What began as humoring a child ended with the whole family hooked—the small pot became a big one.

Each night, Luo would shake out a big bag of copper coins from his space to hear the clink before happily falling asleep in Huo’s arms.

Word of their milk tea spread quickly; folks even came from neighboring towns and the county.

Only then did Luo truly understand “Good wine fears no deep alley.”

But before he could enjoy it for long, they arrived at the shop one morning to find the lock pried open and the inside turned upside down.