This courtyard is the office location of Zhuang Xiaofei's company.
It's also a functioning agritourism restaurant.
When Jiang Tao and Liu Zhiyuan arrived, several canopies had already been set up in the courtyard.
Three tables of guests were chatting and laughing while dining, creating a lively atmosphere.
Jiang Tao took a quick glance and noticed that each of the three tables had stainless steel trays filled with plenty of grilled meat.
The tender lamb was roasted to a crispy, reddish-brown hue.
A gentle breeze carried the mouthwatering aroma of the meat from a distance, making one's mouth water.
To be honest, the grilling technique at Zhuang Xiaofei's company was truly exceptional.
At least until yesterday, Jiang Tao had never tasted such delicious naan pit-roasted meat.
Even without Brother System's analysis and optimization, this technique was already outstanding.
"Hey, Mr. Chen, I'm free, I'm free! Whenever you call, I'm always available!"
"Two lambs again, right? Where to this time?"
"Qingfeng Gorge Scenic Area, got it, got it! I'll arrange for someone to head over within an hour to grill on-site for you."
"Thank you for your business. Alright, bye."
On the way to the reception room with Jiang Tao and Liu Zhiyuan, Zhuang Xiaofei took two calls in just one minute, booking five whole roasted lambs.
The business was undeniably booming.
After ushering Jiang Tao and Liu Zhiyuan into the reception room, Zhuang Xiaofei had an employee serve tea, pour water, and wash some fruit.
He also brought out a plate of freshly grilled naan pit-roasted meat.
Zhuang Xiaofei smiled and invited them, saying, "Mr. Jiang, Zhiyuan, try something fresh."
"This is meat from a black pig we roasted today. It tastes amazing—give it a try."
"Black pig meat? No wonder it smells so good the moment it came in!"
"Brother Jiang, you go first. No need to be polite with Xiaofei. Coming here is like visiting my own home—we're tight bros!"
Liu Zhiyuan truly felt at home at Zhuang Xiaofei's place, showing no hesitation as he spoke.
While talking, he picked up a skewer loaded with black pig meat and handed it to Jiang Tao.
"The color and aroma are fantastic—it's gotta taste great too."
Jiang Tao smiled, complimented the dish, then took the skewer from Liu Zhiyuan, tore off a piece, and started chewing.
"Crispy, fragrant, almost overwhelmingly delicious—this taste is incredible! No wonder Xiaofei's business is so hot."
After finishing a piece of black pig meat, Jiang Tao gave Zhuang Xiaofei a thumbs-up in praise.
"If Brother Jiang likes it, I'll pack some for you to take home later."
"If it gets cold at home, just wrap it in foil and heat it in the microwave for a bit. The flavor won't change much."
Zhuang Xiaofei politely offered with a smile.
He also wanted to build connections with capable people like Jiang Tao.
As the saying goes, the more friends you have, the easier the path ahead.
When Zhuang Xiaofei's naan pit-roasted lamb business first started, it wasn't as thriving as it is now.
The booming success today came not only from their excellent grilling technique but also from the network of relationships he had cultivated.
Zhuang Xiaofei's naan pit-roasted lamb gained popularity through word-of-mouth among customers.
The three of them chatted and laughed, quickly polishing off the plate of grilled meat.
When Zhuang Xiaofei asked an employee to bring another plate, Jiang Tao stopped him.
He wasn't here today just to eat grilled meat—he had serious business to discuss.
"Xiaofei, we've been brothers for so many years, so I'll cut to the chase and speak plainly."
"Brother Jiang is planning to open a chain of self-service barbecue restaurants in the capital."
"After eating your naan pit-roasted lamb yesterday, he couldn't stop praising your technique."
"He wants to use your naan pit-roasted lamb as a draw for his barbecue restaurant."
"So we came today to ask if you're willing to sell this technique."
"Of course, we're not trying to take your technique for free. If you're willing to sell, just name a price."
After some casual chatting, Liu Zhiyuan got straight to the point, revealing the purpose of his and Jiang Tao's visit.
Zhuang Xiaofei wasn't particularly surprised by Liu Zhiyuan's words.
Clearly, he had already guessed the reason behind Jiang Tao and Liu Zhiyuan's sudden visit.
While listening to Liu Zhiyuan explain their purpose, Zhuang Xiaofei was also making his own calculations.
The naan pit-roasting technique, to put it simply, boils down to a recipe.
The ingredients and the control of the fire during grilling are easy to learn.
The secret recipe is like a thin layer of window paper—once pierced, it's revealed.
But without someone to pierce that layer, replicating the exact flavor through experimentation is incredibly difficult.
Zhuang Xiaofei's family recipe for the dry rub requires over 20 types of spices.
Each spice is measured with precise proportions, down to the gram.
If even one spice is off in its ratio, the flavor will have subtle differences.
If two or three ingredients are mismeasured, the resulting naan pit-roasted lamb will taste completely different.
"Our technique isn't exactly off-limits. Last year, my dad sold it once, but as for the price…"
Zhuang Xiaofei looked at Jiang Tao and Liu Zhiyuan, showing no intention of hoarding the family's barbecue recipe.
With such a vast market across the country, managing just the Ping County area was already keeping him busy.
Jiang Tao wanted to buy the recipe to open a barbecue restaurant in the capital, hundreds of kilometers away.
Selling the recipe to Jiang Tao wouldn't affect his business in the slightest.
Plus, he'd earn a technology transfer fee and gain a valuable connection.
So, transferring the technique was also highly beneficial for Zhuang Xiaofei.
Jiang Tao looked at Zhuang Xiaofei and asked with a smile, "What's the price?"
"Fifty thousand."
Zhuang Xiaofei looked at Jiang Tao, thought for a moment, and said, "With Zhiyuan's connection, I can knock off ten thousand for Brother Jiang."
"Hahaha, my face is worth quite a bit!"
Liu Zhiyuan laughed, making a small joke to lighten the mood.
"No need for a discount—fifty thousand it is! Your technique is worth that price!"
Hearing that the technology transfer fee was only fifty thousand, Jiang Tao agreed to pay without hesitation.
In his opinion, the price Zhuang Xiaofei quoted was not high at all.
On the way here, Jiang Tao's mental expectation had been as high as five hundred thousand!
Even if Zhuang Xiaofei had asked for five hundred thousand, he would have bought it without blinking.
After all, this recipe could be analyzed and optimized by Brother System, resulting in an even better formula that would produce tastier grilled meat.
In the future, this barbecue recipe was bound to become a "killer move" to drive massive traffic to his barbecue restaurant.
Now, getting the recipe for just fifty thousand felt like a bargain to Jiang Tao.
"Then I'll draft a technology transfer contract for Brother Jiang."
Seeing how readily Jiang Tao agreed, Zhuang Xiaofei's impression of him improved even more.
"Great."
Jiang Tao nodded with a smile, pleased that acquiring the recipe had gone so smoothly.
"Brother Jiang, Zhiyuan, wait a moment. I'll go to the office to print the contract and grab the recipe."
As Zhuang Xiaofei spoke, he stood up from his seat to leave.
Liu Zhiyuan waved with a smile, saying, "Go ahead, we'll hang out here for a bit."
"I'll have someone bring over more meat skewers. Brother Jiang, you guys can eat while you wait."
With that, Zhuang Xiaofei left the room.
Soon after, a server brought in a tray piled high with meat skewers.
Jiang Tao and Liu Zhiyuan munched on the skewers while waiting for Zhuang Xiaofei to prepare the contract.
After about half an hour, Zhuang Xiaofei returned to the reception room with two copies of the contract and a kraft paper envelope.
"Brother Jiang, here's the technology transfer contract. Take a look to see if there's anything that needs revising."
Zhuang Xiaofei sat across from Jiang Tao, handing him the contract to review.
"Alright."
Following the principle of being thorough, Jiang Tao spent five minutes skimming through the contract Zhuang Xiaofei had prepared.
"No issues."
After reviewing the contract, Jiang Tao nodded to Zhuang Xiaofei.
Then, he picked up a pen from the table and quickly signed his name in the designated spots for Party B.
Zhuang Xiaofei signed as Party A, added his fingerprint, and stamped the contract.
Once the contract was signed, Jiang Tao transferred fifty thousand yuan to Zhuang Xiaofei's phone on the spot.
Zhuang Xiaofei handed the kraft paper envelope to Jiang Tao.
"Brother Jiang, the recipe is in here."
"If you have any questions when you start working with it, feel free to call me."
"I'll answer everything I know without holding back."
"Our after-sales service has no time limit—we'll make sure you're completely trained."
"Great, Xiaozhuang. Here's to a successful partnership."
Jiang Tao took the envelope and shook hands with Zhuang Xiaofei with a smile.
"Happy cooperation."
Zhuang Xiaofei shook Jiang Tao's hand, his smile equally genuine.
With the deal finalized, Jiang Tao took a quick look at the recipe inside the envelope.
The recipe listed dozens of seasonings in dense detail.
Most were common dry spices, like cinnamon, gardenia, fennel, turmeric, cardamom, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns, and star anise.
The only less common one was saffron, which was pricier.
Each ingredient's proportion was precisely measured in grams.
No more, no less—otherwise, the slightest deviation could lead to a vastly different result.
"By the way, Xiaozhuang, where did you get your naan pit?"
After glancing at the ingredients, Jiang Tao looked at Zhuang Xiaofei and asked casually.
The naan pit is an essential part of naan pit-roasted meat, alongside the recipe.
"I'll send you the boss's WeChat contact. You can reach out to him directly, and he can arrange logistics to ship to the capital."
"For a large commercial naan pit like ours, which uses both gas and charcoal, it's about 12,000 yuan per unit, plus around 2,000 yuan for shipping, so roughly 14,000 yuan total."
Zhuang Xiaofei pulled out his phone, found the contact for the naan pit wholesaler, and sent it to Jiang Tao.
"Alright, I'll contact the boss myself."
Jiang Tao took out his phone, saw the contact Zhuang Xiaofei sent, but didn't rush to reach out.
"It's getting late, so we'll head out now."
Jiang Tao glanced at the watch on his wrist. Unbeknownst to him, it was already around 11 a.m.
Zhuang Xiaofei quickly said, "Brother Jiang, why don't you and Zhiyuan stay for lunch? I'll whip up some more skewers for you."
"Hahaha, no need, no need. We're stuffed from all the meat this morning—we don't even need lunch."
Jiang Tao laughed heartily and stood up from his seat.
"Let's meet up another day, yeah—*burp*."
Liu Zhiyuan started to say something but was interrupted by a loud burp, as most of the skewers had ended up in his stomach.
"Alright then, another day it is."
Seeing that they were set on leaving, Zhuang Xiaofei didn't insist further and cheerfully escorted them to the courtyard.
He watched as they drove out of the courtyard before returning to his work.
That morning, several of the shop's employees had been sent out, and with new orders coming in, he, the boss, would have to step in himself.
…
A Mercedes G-Class sped along the northern outer ring road of Ping County.
Jiang Tao first dropped Liu Zhiyuan off at his home.
He politely declined Liu's parents' invitation to stay for lunch.
Just as Jiang Tao was about to drive to the Qisan Reservoir to check on things, the car's phone rang.
*Ring ring, ring ring—*
Glancing at the center console's large screen, the caller's name displayed was "Mr. Bai."
Seeing the name, Jiang Tao immediately pictured Bai Yulan, drenched from head to toe.
"Hey, Miss. Bai."
Jiang Tao pressed a button to answer the call and greeted Bai Yulan with a smile.
"Call me Sister Bai."
From the other end came Bai Yulan's playful, slightly teasing voice, quite different from the impression she'd left on Jiang Tao the previous night.
Maybe this was her real personality?
"What's up, Sister Bai?"
Jiang Tao went along with it and called her Sister Bai.
With someone of Bai Yulan's status, there were probably countless people in Ping County eager to call her that.
"Come over for lunch. I'm treating you."
"Oh, by the way, are you married?"
"What's with the question, Sister Bai? I'm married with a kid."
"Pfft, where's your mind going, kid? Don't tell me you thought I was planning to marry you or something!"
"Bring your wife and kid along, and your parents too—bring the whole family."
Bai Yulan's voice on the phone was bold and generous.
"Ahem, Sister Bai, I have a small favor to ask."
Hearing that Bai Yulan wanted to treat his entire family to lunch, Jiang Tao hesitated.
He'd snuck out in the middle of the night for a "heroic rescue."
If Xu Li and his parents found out, it'd be tough to explain!
"Oh? What's the favor?"
Bai Yulan's curiosity was piqued by Jiang Tao's words.
"About last night—could you not mention it to my wife or my parents?"
"To be honest, I went fishing last night without telling them."
Jiang Tao's mind raced, coming up with a somewhat plausible excuse to brush it off with Bai Yulan.
"Pfft, hahaha… I thought it was something serious! That's all?"
"Fine! I'll just say we're old friends who've known each other for ages, alright?"
Bai Yulan was understanding and readily agreed to play along with Jiang Tao.
This small request was something she could easily accommodate.