Jiang Liu left with the copper coins, and Ye Li entered the kitchen to prepare fried tofu puffs and large skewers.

Before frying the large skewers, he first had to score diamond patterns into the tofu blocks with a knife.

This wasn’t difficult. By securing the block with two chopsticks, even a novice could avoid cutting through it entirely.

As he swiftly made the cuts, a voice called from outside the door: “Li-ger!”

Hearing the shout, he immediately set down the cleaver and stepped out of the kitchen.

Sure enough, standing at the courtyard gate was his second elder brother: Ye Wen.

His second brother was twenty-one this year. Compared to Ye Liang, Ye Wen didn’t carry as much world-weariness.

Moreover, while Ye Liang had become taciturn from life’s hardships, Ye Wen was naturally shy, quiet, and gentle, just as his name suggested.

“Second Brother, what brings you here? Have you eaten? Where’s First Brother? Come inside quickly, I saved you some food.”

Ye Li greeted him warmly while asking Ye Wen.

Ye Wen entered the courtyard, scratching his head. He didn’t look at Ye Li, only staring at the path beneath his feet. “Well… yesterday afternoon, Uncle Zhang from next door came to propose a match. The ger is from Xiaowang Village. Father sent me over to carry the tofu puffs.”

Xiaowang Village lay between Baxian Town and Beiyang County, so it was conveniently on his way.

“Oh my! This is wonderful news!”

Ye Li never imagined this was why Ye Liang hadn’t arrived!

Wonderful, truly wonderful.

His second brother was a confirmed bachelor, and his father had been worrying himself to sleep every night.

And now, after selling tofu puffs for barely half a month, a matchmaker had already appeared!

“Second Brother, what’s the gern like? Do you like him? Does he like you?”

Ignoring Ye Wen’s embarrassment, he pressed for details relentlessly.

Ye Wen, grilled by his questions, wished he could crawl along the wall.

He could only stammer, “He’s… he’s okay.”

The ger was indeed quite handsome, but he was young, only seventeen.

Ye Wen was older and poor.

Sigh.

Scratching his head, he stepped into the kitchen, a shadow of melancholy crossing his face.

Just then, Ye Li spoke from behind him, “Second Brother, speaking of your marriage… I have something to tell you.”

“Now that I can earn money too, I’ll take over funding Jiang Ji’s studies. The three taels of silver we agreed on each year—our Ye family won’t need to contribute anymore.”

“From now on, you, Father and Eldest Brother, just focus on saving money. Let’s aim to arrange your marriage this year.”

This came completely out of the blue, leaving Ye Wen utterly astonished. He turned to face Ye Li.

“You’ll support Xiao Ji’s education?”

“Yes. I spoke with him this morning, and he agreed.”

Though they hadn’t mentioned the Ye family at the time, mainly because he wasn’t the original host. The original host harbored deep resentment toward those three taels of silver, believing his cheap husband had bankrupted the Ye family.

But for him, having neither paid the silver nor taken on the Ye family’s responsibilities, his feelings about the matter could be summed up in three words: weightless.

Therefore, he hadn’t even considered the matter at the time.

But now that it had crossed his mind, he absolutely could not let the Ye family pay again.

“Schooling costs too much silver. Relying solely on you is too much to ask. Besides, we have a small business now, and money comes more easily than before. Our family should support Xiao Ji for a few more years.”

Ye Wen shook his head, rejecting Ye Li’s suggestion.

Ye Li also shook his head, speaking earnestly: “Second Brother, every coin I earn is mine. What you and First Brother earn must be split into two portions. If we fund Jiang Ji’s studies too, when will you ever be able to marry?”

The Ye family’s old rule was that everyone’s earnings went to Father Ye, who managed the household’s daily expenses.

Later, Ye Liang and Liu Yi married and started their own little family, so naturally, they prioritized their own household.

They only needed to contribute half of their earnings.

The tofu puff business was primarily managed by Ye Liang and Liu Yi, though Father Ye assisted. Ye Wen and Father Ye handled all farmwork.

Thus, Liu Yi still handed over half the profits from the stuffed pancakes.

Ye Li felt half the profit was too little, but Ye Wen was perfectly satisfied.

He smiled: “Business is booming. Even splitting the earnings with my elder brother, it still covers Xiao Ji’s needs and doesn’t hold me back from getting married.”

“Tofu puffs and big skewers are such money-makers.”

These past two days, with Jiang Ji at home grinding more tofu, Ye Li produced more tofu puffs and skewers—up to twenty-five catties a day.

For every catty sold, the Ye family earned five wen.

Twenty-five catties meant one hundred twenty-five wen.

Add in tofu, eggs, and vegetables, and the daily profit reached one hundred sixty or seventy wen.

Split that evenly, and that’s about eighty wen.

Even if we just go with eighty wen, it would only take him over thirty days to earn the three taels for his tuition.

Of course, that’s the ideal scenario.

If it’s windy or rainy, he can’t set up his stall.

But such weather is rare after all.

So, it’s possible to manage both.

As long as that young ger didn’t demand too much, he could certainly manage both his studies and his marriage.

But what if…

Suppressing his worries, he added, “Xiao Ji spends all day at the private school. You’re holding up this business and this household all by yourself. It’s too much. You and Xiao Ji just need to live well together.”

“Our family weathered hardships before. Now that money comes easier, how could we stop supporting him?”

Seeing Ye Li about to plead further, he hurriedly added, “Right—competition’s heating up. Other bakeries have started selling vegetable-stuffed sesame oil pancakes, too.”

“Other bakeries are selling stuffed pancakes now?!”

Ye Li gasped, his attention snatched away. He pressed urgently, “When did this happen?!”

“Just yesterday. That oven-baked pancake place in town started selling vegetable-stuffed pancakes too.”

“But don’t worry, they won’t take much business. Before I left today, my brother came back and said business is still booming.”

Because no one else has tofu puffs or big skewers!

The reason people are willing to spend four or five wen on a vegetable-stuffed pancake is mostly for these two novelty items.

Otherwise, how many would shell out that extra money for eggs, tofu, and greens?

They’re not hard to come by on a regular day!

He chuckled again, “Don’t worry, our place hasn’t been affected much.”

But Ye Li still frowned.

Not too badly affected meant they were still affected.

Still, having competitors was good—it could help divert attention from the Ye and Liu stalls.

The Liu family’s pancake stall was thriving, raking in several taels of profit a month. For a small, unattached stall, that was quite conspicuous.

Now that there was competition, from that perspective, it could be considered a good thing.

Ah, he still had to rely on his cheap husband.

Since ancient times, the wealthy have never been as powerful as the influential.

He chatted with Ye Wen for a few more moments, then brought out the noodles he’d saved for Ye Liang, telling Ye Wen to fill his stomach.

Ye Wen was genuinely hungry. Like Ye Liang, even when passing through the county town with copper coins in his pocket, he’d never spend a single coin.

After Ye Wen finished his noodles, Ye Li had also finished slicing the large skewers.

Time to fry.

Jiang Liu returned in the middle, bringing back forty-six eggs.

Not long after Jiang Liu left, Jiang Ji also came back.

Ye Li instructed Jiang Ji to grind the sun-dried wheat into flour. He planned to fry some sesame leaves as snacks.

When Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya returned after a while, they could only enter the kitchen to drink water—not a single snack in sight!

How pitiful.

He hadn’t thought of it before, but now that he did, he would definitely prepare some small treats.

Jiang Ji had no objections. He carried the wheat to the mill.

He ground the wheat over and over. Only after Ye Li sent Ye Wen off did he finally stop.

Using a clean sieve, he sifted out the bran. The remaining flour held a faint yellow hue—fine, smooth, and rich with the aroma of wheat.

He bagged the flour and carried it to the kitchen for Ye Li to knead and fry sesame-leaf pastries. Returning to the mill, he swept the sifted bran clean with a broom, gathered it in a winnowing basket, and carried it to the backyard to feed the chickens.

After finishing these tasks, he entered the kitchen.

Ye Li had already kneaded the dough and was preparing to roll it out.

Fried sesame leaves involved rolling the dough into sheets, cutting them into pieces, and deep-frying them.

This snack required no special skill, yet with its flour and deep-frying, it was a treat ordinary farmers only indulged in during festivals.

By the time Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya dragged back the dry firewood, Ye Li had finished frying the sesame leaves and was preparing to make preserved eggs.

“Xiao Mai, Ya-ger, I just fried some sesame leaf crackers. Wash your hands and come eat,” he called to the two youngsters.

“Wow!” Jiang Ya exclaimed with delight, scampering into the kitchen.

The sesame leaf crackers filled a clay basin, a full bowl.

Overjoyed, he hurriedly pulled Jiang Mai to wash their hands.

After washing, he grabbed one in each small hand, taking a bite from the left and then the right.

Freshly fried hemp leaves were not only crispy but also fragrant. He ate with a smile spread across his face, bouncing out of the kitchen on his little legs.

Out in the courtyard, Ye Li and Jiang Ji were squatting by the well, making preserved eggs.

Preserved eggs required baking soda, but Ye Li wasn’t sure if Beiyang County had such a thing—at least, the original host’s memories held no mention of it.

But that didn’t matter.

Wood ash could easily substitute for baking soda.

First, he poured water into the wood ash to make a wood ash solution.

With the solution ready, the next step was adding quicklime.

Since there were fewer eggs this time, he only added a pound of quicklime to the solution.

The quicklime reacted with the water, quickly bubbling up.

Jiang Ya and Jiang Mai were startled, instinctively stepping back.

Once the quicklime turned into a brown paste, it was time to add the eggs.

The eggs became slippery and coated with the lime paste, making them hard to grasp with chopsticks. Ye Li had Jiang Ji weave a hollow-mouthed spoon from willow branches to retrieve the eggs from the paste.

Roll the lime-coated eggs in sawdust until fully covered, then place them into the jar.

Forty-six eggs filled the jar completely.

Finally, Ye Li had Jiang Ji mix some mud to seal the jar’s opening.

That was all. After fifteen days of resting, the preserved eggs would be ready.

“That’s all there is to it?” Jiang Ji was quite surprised.

“I couldn’t manage anything more complicated anyway.” Ye Li motioned for him to carry the jar to the mill.

Jiang Ji: “…”

He swallowed his confusion and placed the jar in the mill.

Ye Li stretched lazily at the mill entrance. “After all that work, I’m going to lie down. Jiang Ji, dinner’s on you—just stir-fry some tofu.”

He still felt a bit off.

Plus, he’d been standing for a whole hour frying earlier—no, he couldn’t even tell how long it was, since he’d also fried hemp leaves.

Jiang Ya and Jiang Mai just assumed he hadn’t slept well, but Jiang Ji knew exactly why.

When Jiang Ji emerged from the mill, he caught sight of Ye Li, hands on his waist, back slightly bent, shuffling slowly into the house.

The sun dipped below the horizon, and night swiftly descended.

After a simple supper, the family of four washed up and retired to their respective rooms.

Jiang Ji lay on the kang, eyes closed, yet the Sandman failed to arrive as he usually did.

The scene from that afternoon in the main hall kept swirling in his mind.

Was it really that painful?

He rolled over, shifting from lying flat to facing away from the door.

Ye Li had changed his ways—he wouldn’t deliberately feign discomfort, would he…

After tossing and turning for a while, he sighed and opened his eyes, resigned.

He slipped on his shoes and stepped lightly out of the east room.

The west room door was closed.

Yet a faint glow seeped through the crack.

Clearly, Ye Li hadn’t slept.

Hesitating for a moment, he took a few steps forward, deliberately making his footsteps louder.

When he reached the west room door, he called softly, “Ye Li?”