In the private room, the zither sound was faint, and Qing Dance was playing a pipa while humming a little tune, quite immersed.

Li Xian and Lin Qingsheng tried this novel thing for the first time and were somewhat inattentive, eating with flushed faces, especially Lin Qingsheng, whose lips seemed like he couldn't handle spicy food, swelling like sausages.

However, after eating for about half an hour, both Li Xian and Lin Qingsheng understood how to eat hot pot without Qing Dance bustling about.

Among them, the lamb slices were consumed the fastest, and Li Xian proactively suggested ordering another portion.

Listening to the little tune and eating hot pot, Li Xian and Lin Qingsheng felt they had never enjoyed eating outside so merrily, particularly feeling full, taking a break, and then their eyes involuntarily glanced at Qing Dance, admiring her lovely face and enchanting figure, feeling pleasant and delighted.

This hot pot meal, Li Xian and Lin Qingsheng ate for almost half an hour, ordering additional portions of their favorite lamb slices twice, and under Qing Dance's promotion, they even ordered a pot of fine tea and a pot of clear wine.

In the end, the total bill for the private room fee + Qing Dance's service fee + hot pot fee was five thousand coins.

This amount is equivalent to a Xianzhen Guard soldier's five months' salary, which was a bit much for Li Xian and Lin Qingsheng but still affordable.

Upon hearing that Li Xian was going to pay the bill, Qing Dance said to him in her melodious voice like clear spring water, "Young Master Li, would you like to apply for a General Token?"

"General Token?" Li Xian was taken aback, and Lin Qingsheng hurriedly asked, "What is a General Token?"

A General Token is a membership card launched by Chen Mo, but since the concept of a membership card doesn't sound nice in this world, Chen Mo changed it to General Token, which sounds like a symbol of status.

Qing Dance had been trained and immediately explained the meaning of General Token to Li Xian and Lin Qingsheng, "The General Token is the welfare we prepared for our distinguished guests at Fu Ze Hot Pot Restaurant; today's grand opening special offers as much as you apply for, and Young Master, as long as you hold the General Token, you can consume at any Fu Ze Hot Pot Restaurant in Qing, Yu, and Lin Three States with a twenty percent discount on the total bill."

After finishing, Qing Dance was a bit nervous because she had memorized these words many times, afraid to make mistakes.

Li Xian was dumbfounded after hearing this and said, "Miss Qing Dance, you mean there are Fu Ze Hot Pot Restaurants in Qing and Lin States too."

Qing Dance nodded and said, "That's correct, although currently, Qing and Lin States do not have them, Fu Ze Hot Pot Restaurants will soon be opened throughout Qing, Yu, and Lin Three States; this is the industry of Marquis of Pingting County, and if anyone has any doubts or feels their interests are harmed, they can report to government offices in each of the Three States."

Upon hearing this, Li Xian and Lin Qingsheng gasped, no wonder the menu even included tiger meat and venison; turns out it's the industry of Marquis of Pingting County.

The Marquis of Pingting County is now practically the local emperor of the Three States; who dares to question his power.

Lin Qingsheng's gaze slightly focused and asked, "Miss Qing Dance, do we need to pay additional money to apply for this General Token?"

Qing Dance replied, "The General Token starts from ten taels of silver, and applying for the General Token means you can enjoy twenty taels' worth of dishes at our restaurant."

Li Xian, a scholar, somewhat understood and said, "Miss Qing Dance means once we apply for the General Token, we can use the money inside the General Token to pay the current bill.

That is, after paying the current bill, there remain fifteen taels of silver inside the card?"

Qing Dance thought for a moment and said, "The General Token also enjoys a twenty percent discount on the total; you consumed five thousand coins, can deduct one thousand, meaning if you two apply for the General Token, there will be sixteen taels leftover after paying the bill."

Lin Qingsheng was stunned; applying for a General Token which costs ten thousand coins or ten taels of silver, then after paying the bill, there are sixteen taels left; isn't this basically a free gain...

Too complicated, Lin Qingsheng suddenly couldn't calculate this.

But from a business perspective, isn't Fu Ze Hot Pot Restaurant losing money?

Where is the business in this, it's clearly charity.

Li Xian couldn't help asking, "Is Marquis doing charity?"

Qing Dance also couldn't understand this calculation, yet from her knowledge, the restaurant is definitely losing money, she smiled and said, "This offer is only available at today's grand opening; the bonus money applied is not refundable, can only be spent at Fu Ze Hot Pot Restaurant."

Upon hearing this, Li Xian and Lin Qingsheng pondered for a while and eventually both applied for a General Token.

The General Token is a copper medal with the Divine Brave Guard Flag engraved, then the shopkeeper gave Li Xian and Lin Qingsheng each eighteen silver notes labeled with "Fu Ze Hot Pot" embossed, with the Prefect of Yuzhou's Great Seal on.

That is, if Li Xian goes to Fu Ze Hot Pot Restaurant again to eat hot pot and spends another five thousand coins, he just needs to show the General Token and pay four silver notes labeled "Fu Ze Hot Pot".

These exclusive silver notes use the anti-counterfeit technology from money shops, hence there's no worry about forgery.

The opening day of Fu Ze Hot Pot was quite lively; by nightfall, it was already overcrowded requiring customers to queue up.

Some people came at noon then again at night.

They ate in the lobby on the first floor at noon and went straight to the private rooms on the third floor at night.

...

Longmen County Government Office.

During dinner in the backyard, Xia Zhining couldn't figure out the amounts applied/bonus offer and couldn't help but ask, "Doesn't this mean the restaurant is losing money?"

"Yes, guests eating the hot pot made a fortune." Han Anniang also agreed.

If applying for a General Token spending ten thousand coins, considering the bonus offer, then the hot pot eaters practically got twelve thousand extra for free.

Chen Mo ate and laughed, "You may profit tremendously, but I never lose."

Han Anniang: "???"

Xia Zhining: "???"

It was Ning Wan who clarified their doubts, saying, "In our restaurant, dishes like beef slices, selling for one hundred cents a pound outside, costs close to one hundred eighty cents here.

Dishes like pig's blood have extremely high profit margins, and we also charge seat fees and certain service fees on second and third floors."

The so-called wool comes from the sheep; the twenty thousand coins spent at Fu Ze Restaurant is worth only seven thousand outside for the equivalent dishes.

After hearing Ning Wan's explanation, they finally understood that the restaurant earns from the dishes, and the bonus applied/amount given is essentially just the cost guests paid for those dishes.

...

The next day, the shopkeeper calculated the earnings with Chen Mo, and the total revenue yesterday, including people applying for General Tokens, was five thousand three hundred twenty thousand coins, with profits over seventy percent.

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