After the prefectural examination, Jiang Ji rested for only one night. The very next day, following the advice of Old Servant Han, he hurried out to take on odd jobs.

This time, with ample cash in hand, he returned from the examination hall to the Han family’s ancestral home. He slept soundly for a night, and the next day, feeling light and carefree, he went out for a stroll with Shi Yi.

He and Shi Yi attended different lecture halls and had different instructors; previously, they had merely been acquaintances.

Shi Yi’s family was slightly better off than his own, though that “slightly” was extremely limited—the Shi family owned about fifty acres of land, which would normally classify them as wealthy farmers, but once Shi Yi began his studies, the Shi household became an ordinary farming family.

As a result, they had found they had quite a bit in common along the way, and the two had become much closer.

Neither of them had any connections in the Prefectural City, nor were they particularly sociable; as soon as they arrived, they buried themselves in their studies. Now that the prefectural examinations were finally over, they were ready to go out and explore.

As for the results of the provincial examination…

They had done their best; now it was simply a matter of leaving it to fate.

The Prefectural City was quite bustling, but its customs and way of life were similar to those of Beiyang County. Moreover, because Beiyang County enjoyed a strategic geographical advantage, it actually surpassed the Prefectural City in terms of the abundance of its produce.

Some goods from the south travel directly north to the capital.

Similarly, some goods from the north travel directly south by water. The Prefectural City is not a mandatory stop for goods traveling north or south.

This made Ye Li’s request rather difficult to fulfill.

Whatever the Prefectural City has, Beiyang County has as well; and whatever the Prefectural City lacks, Beiyang County still possesses. Jiang Ji was at a loss—what small gifts should he buy?

Moreover, having been so focused on his studies, he hadn’t yet filled the thirty pages Ye Li had assigned him for his diary. How could he possibly make Ye Li feel as if he were right there with him this time?

With no ideas, Jiang Ji could only walk around and look. By noon, both he and Shi Yi were famished. The two decided to find a small food stall for lunch.

They randomly chose an alleyway connected to the main street—food in the alleys was bound to be cheaper than on the main street.

As soon as they stepped into the alley, a clear, ringing voice called out from nearby: “Cold-served century eggs! A specialty of Beiyang County—don’t miss out if you’re passing by!”

The cry instantly caught Jiang Ji’s attention.

Shi Yi was also intrigued: “It’s a century egg? That brings back memories.”

He looked closer and saw that the vendor was standing outside a small restaurant. The establishment looked rather old, and a sign hanging above the door bore a large character for “noodles.”

He suggested, “Why don’t we go eat at that restaurant? It doesn’t look fancy, so it probably won’t be expensive.”

“Sure,” Jiang Ji replied with a twinkle in his eye.

To come across century eggs while traveling felt particularly comforting to him as well.

The two approached the noodle shop and peered inside. To their surprise, all ten or so tables were already occupied. They hesitated slightly.

Just then, the waiter standing at the door called out, “Gentlemen, please come in. A table will be free shortly—just a moment.”    

“We offer a variety of soup noodles and dry noodles, as well as vegetarian noodles for five wen a bowl. What would you like to order?”

Hearing this, Jiang Ji looked at Shi Yi.

Shi Yi pointed at the noodle shop: “Let’s go in and wait.” It really wasn’t expensive.

Jiang Ji nodded.

The waiter immediately smiled and led the two men inside, listing the menu items as he went.

Jiang Ji still had over twenty taels of silver in his possession. After setting aside cash for food for the next ten days or so and travel expenses back to Beiyang County, he still had nearly ten taels at his disposal.

So he ordered a bowl of egg noodle soup for ten cash. Shi Yi ordered a bowl of vegetarian tossed noodles for eight wen.

Before the noodles arrived, some diners who had finished their meals left, so the two took their seats at the empty table.

Jiang Ji looked around and noticed that half the tables in the shop had cold century egg salad on them.

Just then, more people entered the shop.

They specifically asked for the cold-dressed century eggs. He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself.

Once he’d finished grinning to himself, he pursed his lips and lowered his gaze to the slightly greasy table in front of him. Ye Li must have finished his lunch by now and was probably preparing to fry the fried tofu puffs.

Once he had the cash and time, he really should go out and travel with Ye Li. Ye Li shouldn’t be stuck in this tiny village.

It was time to get that workshop making fried tofu puffs up and running. Once the autumn harvest was over and the villagers had planted their wheat, there would be no work in the fields, and they’d have time to work at the workshop.

His thoughts had wandered a bit too far. Shi Yi glanced around and, seeing him staring blankly at the table, waved his hand in front of his face. “Brother Jiang, what are you thinking about?”

He was a few years older than Jiang Ji, and his two children were about the same age as Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya. Jiang Ji snapped back to reality and replied casually, “Just figuring out where to go this afternoon.”

Shi Yi chuckled at this. “You’re just fobbing me off. You’re definitely missing your fulang.”

He’d seen it that day—when they set off, the way the two of them looked at each other was so tender it was almost embarrassing to watch. They’d only been married for half a year; it was the perfect time for them to be all over each other.

Jiang Ji admitted, “I suppose so. After all, we still haven’t settled on the gifts.”

“If you really have no idea, just buy a box of rouge. You can’t go wrong with that.”

Shi Yi offered the suggestion. Rouge?

A flicker of hesitation crossed Jiang Ji’s face. Ye Li didn’t care much for makeup; he’d never seen him use the rouge and powder he’d bought before their wedding.

As he pondered this, their noodles were ready.

The waiter brought the noodles to the table. The two men, who had been famished for some time, stopped talking and picked up their chopsticks to eat. The noodles tasted good; the restaurant looked like an old establishment, and it certainly knew its stuff.

Just as they were slurping away, a middle-aged man who looked like the owner emerged from the kitchen and said to the waiter standing at the door, “Liuzi, stop hollering—that’s enough for today.”

Upon hearing this, the waiter named Liuzi immediately turned and stepped back into the restaurant.

A diner behind Jiang Ji heard this and complained, “Boss, couldn’t you buy more century eggs? They’re only available for half an hour at noon—if you come late, you miss out. That’s no way to run a business.”

This struck a chord with the other diners who had ordered the cold-served century eggs: “You’re right. Having to time our meal just to get a century egg is such a hassle.” 

“Boss, Beiyang County isn’t that far away. If you really wanted to buy more, you could still get them, couldn’t you?”

Jiang Ji was somewhat taken aback.

This noodle shop owner actually have a time limit on sales?

The owner smiled apologetically: “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s not that I don’t want to buy more—it’s just that I really can’t get any. The century eggs we have now were bought by my brother-in-law, who happened to come across them by chance.”

“They don’t even have enough to sell in Beiyang County itself.”

He really had no choice.

Since the century eggs arrived, he hadn’t made a big deal out of them. Every day, he’d just stand at the entrance of his shop and hawk them for a short while. Once the hour was up, he’d pack up.

He hoped to use that small stock to attract more customers to his noodle shop. It was a strategy for long-term, steady growth.

After hearing the owner’s explanation, the customers were still dissatisfied, but they had no other recourse. If Beiyang County couldn’t even meet its own demand, there certainly wasn’t any surplus to supply the Prefectural City.

Besides, merchants were taking some to other places.

Sigh, why can’t the people of Beiyang County just make more century eggs? Jiang Ji listened to the crowd’s chatter while continuing to eat his noodles at a leisurely pace.

Shi Yi looked as if he were sharing in the glory: “Our county’s century eggs have really made a name for themselves.” He still didn’t know that the century eggs came from Yezaopo.

Previously, he hadn’t been close with Jiang Ji, and the small restaurant owners selling the century eggs hadn’t made a fuss about their origin. In any case, there was no shortage of buyers for the century eggs.

If they made too much of a fuss, more people would find their way to Yezaopo and compete with them.

Jiang Ji hummed in acknowledgment, beckoned Liuzi over, and said, “Two more bowls of egg noodle soup.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Liuzi immediately relayed the order to the kitchen.

But Shi Yi was surprised and whispered, “You have such a big appetite? Let’s just go back and eat some flatbread.” For men of their age and build, a single bowl of noodles was indeed not enough to fill them up.

But if he ate three bowls at once, that would cost thirty wen!

His classmate’s family had been doing a bit better over the past six months—Jiang Ji had passed the Tongsheng exam at a young age and was quite handsome, making him quite famous at the private school. As a result, he’d heard a thing or two about Jiang Ji and had even seen him eating in the dining hall a few times.

The food there was indeed good.

But even so, that’s no excuse for such waste. Jiang Ji shook his head upon hearing this: “One bowl is for you.”

“For me?” Shi Yi was taken aback, then scratched his head in confusion. “We left the house together this morning, and I didn’t see you secretly picking up any cash.”

Jiang Ji was amused by his remark and explained, “I didn’t pick up any cash this morning, but a deal is coming up soon. To celebrate, let’s have an extra bowl of noodles today.”

“…What kind of business?” Shi Yi asked, puzzled.

Jiang Ji didn’t answer, merely saying, “We’ll talk after we finish eating.”

Now Shi Yi was extremely curious.

Even when the waiter brought the noodles, he couldn’t really enjoy his meal.

By the time the two of them had finished their second bowl of noodles, half the customers in the restaurant had left.

Jiang Ji looked at Liuzi, who was wiping tables nearby, and said, “Go get your boss. I have a business deal regarding century eggs to discuss with him. I’m from Beiyang County, and these century eggs were actually made by my Fulang.”

At those words, Liuzi gasped and froze in place.

Shi Yi’s eyes widened so much his eyeballs nearly popped out: “Your fulang is the one who makes century eggs?!” 

Jiang Ji smiled: “That’s right.”

Shi Yi：“……”

He turned to Liuzi and said, “Bring me another bowl of egg noodle soup. He’s treating.” He pointed at Jiang Ji.

Hearing this, Jiang Ji’s smile widened. He said to Liuzi, “Go on, bring another bowl of egg noodle soup.” Liuzi had come to his senses by then. He dashed into the kitchen, overjoyed!

Jiang Ji watched his retreating figure, feeling just as delighted.

Previously, Ye Li had always said that once winter set in, sales of century eggs would drop. But if they had this channel in the Prefectural City, wouldn’t sales of century eggs be able to hold steady?

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

An autumn rain had halved the intensity of the late-summer heatwave. The drop in temperature hadn’t yet affected the business of fried tofu puffs and century eggs. But herbal tea and beverages were a different story.

Century eggs can be eaten with hot rice, but if people swallow half a pound of cold, clammy herbal tea and beverages, many stomachs simply can’t handle it. It’s time to sell hot herbal tea and beverages.

For Bao Beiyuan, this was a bit of a hassle. He had to set up two stoves and buy charcoal, which cost more than buying ice in the summer. When pushing his cart to deliver herbal tea and beverages to customers or going door-to-door, he had to be extra careful to avoid accidentally knocking the clay pots off the stoves.

Ye Li took the opportunity when Gong Lisheng came to the village to buy century eggs and asked him to pass a message to Bao Beiyuan: he wanted Bao Beiyuan to rent a shop.

Bao Beiyuan hadn’t replied yet, and before long, it was the end of the month.

That afternoon, Bao Beiyuan came to give Ye Li this month’s share of the profits. When he arrived, Ye Li was deep-frying fried tofu puffs.

Ye Liang sat by the stove, tending the fire while shucking corn kernels.

This time, the corn Ye Li had collected wasn’t sent to Jiang Dahu’s house as it had been in the past. Since he wanted to make cornmeal, he had to shell the corn first.

Without a machine, it was all manual labor. Ye Liang knew what kind of temperament his third younger brother had, so he took the opportunity to help shell a little while tending the fire. Just then, the two brothers saw Bao Beiyuan walk in, and both smiled as they greeted him.

“Have a seat. Are you thirsty? Big Brother, go boil some hot water on the stove,” Ye Li said. In this kind of weather, he didn’t drink cold water either.

He was afraid of the cold.

But without a thermos, if he wanted hot water, he’d have to boil it on the spot.

Ye Liang got up to fetch the stove, but Bao Beiyuan waved him off: “Brother Liang, I’m not thirsty. No need to trouble yourself.”   

“It’s no trouble. The fire’s already going in the stove anyway; it’ll be quick.”

Ye Liang glanced at Bao Beiyuan’s pale, chapped lips and got up to fetch the stove. And he said he wasn’t thirsty.

Seeing this, Bao Beiyuan had no choice but to set down the back basket. He bent down, took a packet of dim sum from the back basket, and placed it on the stove. Ye Li immediately said, “Why did you buy dim sum again? We’ve got plenty to eat at home.”

Bao Beiyuan replied with a smile, “I bought them for Xiao Mai and Ya-ger. They both like them.”

Upon hearing this, Ye Li could only reiterate, “They don’t need any more of those. Don’t buy any next time.” However, noticing the look on Bao Beiyuan’s face, he frowned and asked, “Why is your face a little red?”

“It’s probably just the wind,” Bao Beiyuan explained casually.

He bent down again to pick up the cash at the bottom of the back basket.

Due to the rain this month, business had been shut down for three days, so his earnings weren’t as high as last month. He was holding a string of cash in each hand and was just about to lift it onto the stove when the two strings of cash felt as heavy as stones. The weight made his vision go dark, and his body swayed a few times uncontrollably.

Ye Li was startled and was about to rush over to support him.

Just then, Ye Liang, who had moved the stove to the side of the shed, rushed forward to support him first: “You…” 

The moment the word “you” left his lips, Ye Liang cried out in alarm: “You’re running a fever?!”

Bao Beiyuan’s hands were burning hot.

He hurriedly reached out to touch Bao Beiyuan’s forehead, but the heat was so intense that he immediately pulled his hand back.

He furrowed his brow. “You have a high fever. Have you seen a doctor yet? Come on, come on, I’ll take you to see a doctor.” He had come by oxcart today, so he could take him to the county seat.

Ye Li was at a loss for words, but before he could speak, Bao Beiyuan shook his head with a smile: “It’s fine. I saw a doctor a few days ago and got some medicine. I just need to take a dose when I get back.”

“…You’ve been sick for the past few days?” Ye Li frowned.

“It rained earlier, and I caught a chill. It hasn’t gone away yet, but it’s nothing serious.” Bao Beiyuan steadied himself, fighting off the dizziness, and pointed to the back basket. “Brother Li, count the cash. It’s a total of two guan and thirty-two wen.”

“I’ll count it later. Brother, take him to the county seat to see a doctor.”

Ye Li’s brow furrowed even deeper.

It had been nearly half a month since it last rained!

“I’m really fine. No need to trouble Brother Liang,” Bao Beiyuan insisted.

But Ye Li stared at his flushed face and pale lips—how could he possibly feel at ease? Ye Liang wasn’t at ease either; half-dragging, half-supporting him, he guided him toward the door.

The oxcart was tied to the jujube tree by the gate.

Bao Beiyuan was completely drained from the high fever; his vision was still a bit blurry, and he couldn’t break free from Ye Liang’s grip.

He was forcibly hoisted onto the ox cart.

Ye Li ran out after them, handed Ye Liang some cash, and urged him to visit a couple more clinics.

Bao Beiyuan had actually been ill for over ten days, and now he was running a high fever; given the medical standards of the time, he simply couldn’t rest easy unless he saw several doctors.

Soon, the fried tofu puffs and fried dough snacks were all fried. After waiting a little longer, Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya returned.

The two little ones had returned to their usual routine of gathering firewood and wouldn’t be delayed until evening anymore. However, upon learning that Bao Beiyuan had fallen ill, they were both very worried.

Getting sick is so scary—you have to take medicine that tastes really, really bitter! After waiting like this, Ye Liang didn’t return until evening.

He brought Bao Beiyuan back with him.

Bao Beiyuan lived alone and was running a high fever; after entering the city that afternoon, he had become drowsy and disoriented. Although he had taken medicine at the clinic, he was still not fully lucid.

Under these circumstances, he naturally had to bring him back.

As for Gong Lisheng’s side, the Gong couple was still running around nonstop every day, and besides, there was no place for Bao Beiyuan to stay. However, Ye Liang had to rush back today.

Otherwise, it would not only interfere with tomorrow’s business but also cause the Ye family to worry.

If Ye Liang left—and with Jiang Ji currently away from home, and Ye Li taking care of the two little ones—Bao Beiyuan wouldn’t be able to stay at the Jiang household.

Jiang Tong’s house was finished, and the family had already moved from the shack into their new home. But now, in addition to devoting themselves to making century eggs, they were also doing carpentry work.

Jiang Tong couldn’t bear to give up the income from the wind chimes, so he had Jiang Shun, Jiang Da, and even Jiang Dachuan and Gao Jun get involved. After all, they’re just small items—it’s good practice.

Besides, Gao Jun wasn’t in the best of health.

After giving it some thought, Ye Li decided it would be best to send Bao Beiyuan to live with the Jiang Dahu family.

There isn’t much farm work to do these days, so Liang Erxiang has time to look after him.

Jiang Dahu’s family also had a spare room; he could stay in the room that used to belong to Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya.

Besides, when it came down to it, he, Jiang Ji, and Jiang Dahu’s family were closer; it was better to ask family for help with something like this. Ye Liang had no objections, of course. He hitched the ox cart and went with Ye Li to Jiang Dahu’s house.

When they arrived, all four members of Jiang Dahu’s family were present.

After hearing Ye Li explain the situation, Jiang Dahu and Liang Erxiang agreed without a moment’s hesitation.

Setting aside the fact that Bao Beiyuan and Jiang Ji were close friends, even if he were a complete stranger, given such a pitiful ordeal, they would still be willing to offer some assistance. So Ye Li arranged for Bao Beiyuan to stay at Jiang Dahu’s home.

Bao Beiyuan’s mind was foggy, and his body was weak at that moment. Though he wanted to refuse, he understood his current predicament and could only muster the strength to thank Jiang Dahu and Liang Erxiang.

Seeing how polite and well-behaved he was, Jiang Dahu and Liang Erxiang felt even more sorry for him. Such a good kid—it’s just that he’s had a rough life!

Later, Ye Liang went home, and Ye Li followed suit.

Jiang Mai had already prepared dinner. After Ye Li finished eating, he paid another visit to Jiang Dahu’s home.

Liang Erxiang had cooked some congee and fed Bao Beiyuan half a bowl, then gave him his medicine. Once he was asleep, Ye Li asked Jiang Dahu to check on him in the middle of the night. Just in case he passed out from the fever.

Jiang Dahu readily agreed. Only then did Ye Li return home.

It was completely dark now; the cicadas had fallen silent, and the surroundings were eerily quiet. He glanced up at the moon overhead and couldn’t help but press his lips together. If he’d passed the exam, the messenger would have already arrived to deliver the good news by now.

There was still no word from Jiang Ji.

Could it really be that he didn’t pass?