Ye Li pushed his doubts aside and continued eating.

Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya, eager for their little gifts, ate much faster.

Once they were full, the two put down their chopsticks and rushed out of the kitchen to move Jiang Ji’s luggage. There was a lot of luggage, but it wasn’t heavy; with the two of them working together, they could easily manage it.

They quickly carried the burlap sack containing the small gifts into the kitchen.

Then they stood beside the sack, staring at Jiang Ji with eager eyes: “Big Brother, Big Brother.” 

“Big Brother, Big Brother.”

Jiang Ji was amused by their antics and nodded toward the sack: “Go ahead and open it.” The two little ones let out a cheer and hurriedly untied the sack’s opening. Inside, on top, lay a square wooden box about a foot on each side.

Jiang Ji said, “This is for Xiao Mai.”

Jiang Mai’s eyes lit up instantly, and he hurriedly pulled the wooden box out. Lifting the lid, he found a branch-style slingshot inside. “Wow!” Jiang Mai exclaimed in surprise, quickly taking the slingshot out. Ye Li also looked over.

The handle of the slingshot was a deep reddish-brown, smooth and rounded all over, varnished, and quite exquisite. Looking at the elastic band, it wasn’t made of silk thread, but of ox tendon.

In ancient times, there were no rubber bands, so animal tendons were used as substitutes for making elastic devices like bows and slingshots.

Among these, ox tendon offered the best elasticity and was also strong and durable.

However, since oxen were valuable and ox tendons were scarce, slings like the one the peddler held were typically made with plant fibers instead of tendons. They weren’t very practical and served mainly as toys.

Now that Jiang Ji had bought Jiang Mai a slingshot that could actually shoot birds, the little guy—who usually had few toys—quickly became so excited his face flushed red. He clutched the slingshot, examining it over and over, and even Jiang Ya felt a bit reluctant to take it away.

Ye Li leaned in and whispered to Jiang Ji, “How much is this slingshot?” 

“A little over thirty wen,” Jiang Ji replied in a low voice, leaning closer as well. Ye Li clicked his tongue. Anything related to cattle is expensive, as expected!

Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya were so absorbed in the joy of their new toy that they didn’t hear the conversation between their older brother and their brother-in-law.

However, Jiang Ya wasn’t very interested in the slingshot. He grabbed it with his little hands and fiddled with it a couple of times, but Jiang Mai was afraid he’d snap the string. Not only did he watch him anxiously, but he also repeatedly warned him not to pull too hard.

So he immediately lost interest.

Returning the slingshot to his second-oldest brother, he reached into the burlap sack again, ready to find his own little gift. Soon, he pulled a wooden box out of the sack.

Upon learning the box was for him, he eagerly opened it to find a large pouch inside. He quickly pulled it out.

The pouch was about half a foot tall, lake green in color, with several lotus leaves embroidered on it. What’s more, it could be worn either over the shoulder or carried by hand.

Jiang Ji explained with a smile, “From now on, you can wear it on your back when you go out. It can hold a few fried dough snacks, so you can eat them whenever you’re hungry. If you take good care of it, it’ll last for years.”

Jiang Ya was already completely smitten with this large pouch, and upon hearing this, he was overjoyed. That’s right—he could fill it with pastries!

He could take it with him wherever he went!

“Thank you, big brother!”

He loved this big pouch!

Jiang Ji smiled. “Then let’s carry this big bag back to the main hall.” Jiang Ya was already over the moon, so he immediately agreed.

He slung the large pouch over his shoulder, called out to Jiang Mai, and the two of them tied the sack shut before working together to carry it to the main hall. Afterward, they ran to the courtyard gate and carried all the remaining luggage back to the main hall.

The two kept passing by the kitchen door, popping in from time to time, so Jiang Ji and Ye Li ate their meal and tidied up the kitchen properly. It was getting cold, so they had to heat water for a bath.

Jiang Ji went to fetch water, poured it into a large iron pot, and stuffed a big log into the stove to let it simmer slowly. He and Ye Li went to the main hall and took out the assorted small gifts from the burlap sack.

Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya were so excited they didn’t want to go wash up, so they stood to the side to watch. He had bought a rabbit fur coat for both Jiang Dahu and Ye Daji.

The coats were brown and heavy, costing several hundred wen each.

Jiang Dahu and Ye Daji were the elders he respected most; they had treated him like their own son all these years. Therefore, gritting his teeth, he used the cash Ye Li had worked so hard to earn to buy a coat for each of them.

After taking the coats out, he carefully studied Ye Li’s expression by the dim light.

Hmm… The small gifts he’d bought for Ye Li weren’t nearly as valuable as these jackets.

Besides, Ye Li had originally only asked him to buy small gifts for Jiang Mai, Jiang Ya, and himself.

Of course, he didn’t think Ye Li was being unfilial; he would certainly have agreed to him buying gifts for Jiang Dahu and Ye Daji. It was just that he’d spent nearly all the cash Ye Li had given him, yet the gift he’d bought for him wasn’t the most expensive one… No matter how he looked at it, this didn’t feel quite right…

Ye Li, unaware of his inner thoughts, held up a rabbit fur coat and examined it. The outer layer was smooth, and the stitching was fine and tight. He nodded and said, “This coat is nice. Second Uncle’s and Father’s cotton coats are both worn out and old. Now they’ll be able to have a warm winter.”

“Not bad. You thought of that—saves me the trouble.”

Hearing this, the lingering unease in Jiang Ji’s heart did not disappear.

He said, “Let’s put it away for now. I’ll give it to Uncle tomorrow morning, and when Father comes over the day after tomorrow, I’ll give it to him then.”

Earlier, he had discussed it with Ye Liang and Ye Wen: he would take the day off tomorrow, and the Ye family would come over the day after to celebrate. Ye Li agreed, rewrapped the two jackets in cloth, and carried them back to the west room.

In addition, Jiang Ji had purchased gifts for Liang Erxiang, Ye Fulang, Jiang Liu, Jiang Yu, Ye Liang, Liu Yi, Ye Wen, and Tang Yu: bolts of cloth.

He didn’t know much about such things, so he chose three patterns he’d never seen before and bought a total of three bolts of cotton cloth; he’d let them decide among themselves how to divide it.

Over the past six months, his family had grown much closer to the Jiang Dachuan family, and Ye Li often asked Jiang Tong for favors; therefore, he bought a rabbit fur hat each for Jiang Dachuan and Gao Jun.

After displaying all these items, only a small, rather elegant wooden box remained at the bottom of the sack.

Just as Jiang Mai was about to bend down to pick it up, Jiang Ji said, “Xiao Mai, you and Ya-ger should go wash up. It’s getting late.” Upon hearing this, Jiang Mai immediately asked, “What about Li-ge’s gift?”

“It’s that box at the bottom; it contains bath beans,” Jiang Ji explained. Upon hearing this, Ye Li tilted his head, a spark of interest flashing in his eyes.

Not bad—he’s quite good at making excuses.

“Bath beans?” Jiang Mai went, “Oh.”

They were quite expensive; ever since his Li-ge had married into the family, they’d always had a steady supply. Each one cost several wen, and since they bathed every day in the summer, neither he nor Ya-ger could bring themselves to use them. Now that his brother had bought such a large box, it must have cost him a pretty penny.

This gift was far more valuable than anything he or Ya-ger had ever received.

Perfect—that was exactly what he’d told his older brother to do: buy Li-ge something expensive. So, he happily dragged Jiang Ya off to wash up.

Jiang Ji reminded him, “Throw a few more pieces of firewood into the stove.”

“Got it!” Jiang Mai had already run out of the main room and called back from a distance.

Jiang Ji bent down, picked up the wooden box at the very bottom, and handed it to Ye Li: “Take a look.” Ye Li took the box and glanced outside, looking as if he were a thief.

Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya were both in the kitchen.

But he still felt uneasy and said, “Let’s go back to the room and bring the oil lamp.”

Jiang Ji assumed he wanted to sit at the table and examine it closely, so he brought the oil lamp and followed him to the west room. As soon as Ye Li entered the west room, he couldn’t wait a moment longer and immediately opened the box.

What met his eyes were row upon row of pills.

He froze, glancing at Jiang Ji beside him: “Are these really bath beans?” 

This time, Jiang Ji froze too: “I just told you they were bath beans.” 

Ye Li: “……”

Jiang Ji：“……”

The two stared at each other.

Seeing the look of utter speechlessness gradually spreading across Ye Li’s face, Jiang Ji hurriedly explained, “This box of bath beans is very expensive. There are thirty in total, and each one has a different scent. A single box costs two hundred and twenty wen.”

Two hundred and twenty wen!

Each one has a different scent?

Ye Li raised an eyebrow and looked down at the box in her hand.

He casually picked up a bean and held it to his nose; a faint scent of lotus blossoms immediately wafted up.

He set it down and picked up another; this time, it carried the cool, subtle scent of Yueyuehong—the fragrance of the rose. Picking up yet another, he was surprised to find a faint scent of mandarin orange.

This truly surprised him.

The bath beans he’d bought in the county town before only came in two scents: orchid and osmanthus. Of course, there were other scents as well.

But those were either too expensive or simply not to his liking.

Moreover, there were only about a dozen scents, all stored separately.

How different from this box before him—it contained both floral and fruity scents, and every single bean was unique. It was indeed quite precious.

He looked at Jiang Ji again.

Jiang Ji had caught on by now and was looking at him with a smirk, asking, “What do you think I bought?”

Ye Li lifted her chin and said with righteous indignation, “Back in the kitchen just now, who was the one batting your eyelashes at me? I thought you’d bought some kind of adult toy.”

Jiang Ji: “……”

That wasn’t a flirtatious glance!

As for adult toys, he knew a little about them. Such items were either meant to enhance the mood or for internal use. He was young and vigorous; he didn’t need anything to enhance the mood.

As for the ones that go inside—he certainly didn’t need those either.

Ye Li had him—that was enough; he didn’t need any of that!

He set the oil lamp on the table, raised his arm to wrap it around Ye Li’s shoulder, and said, “Between us, we don’t need any such items. We’ve always been satisfied before.”

“Every single time.”

That single sentence caused a flood of unspeakable images to flash through Ye Li’s mind. He couldn’t hold back any longer and burst into laughter. Jiang Ji laughed too and asked, “Do you like these bath beans?”

Ye Li set the bath beans on the table, reached out, and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I like them.”

“Do you really like it, or are you just pretending?” Jiang Ji wasn’t quite sure.

This clearly didn’t match his expectations…

“I really like it,” Ye Li said with a smile. “When I slipped you the cash back then, I was afraid you wouldn’t take it, so I made up an excuse to buy you a gift. Now that you’ve really put thought into this for me, how could I not like it?”

There was no body wash available at the moment, and he didn’t like using liquid soap either, so these scented bath beans were a necessity for him. Jiang Ji could sense this, and he was quite pleased.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ji felt a surge of sweetness in his heart; of course, he was willing to go out of his way for Ye Li. But he let out a small sigh of relief: “Well… this box of bath beans is a bit cheaper than the coat.”

“It’s still very expensive—a huge markup!”

Ye Li didn’t pick up on his “subtext” and simply retorted indignantly. Greedy merchant!

It’s dozens of wens more expensive than ordinary scented bath beans!

Seeing this, Jiang Ji first let out the rest of that sigh, then felt a pang of guilt. Ye Li was so broad-minded, yet he had worried he might get angry.

It was his own petty suspicion. How shameful.

Fearing Ye Li might catch on and get angry, he’d intended to change the subject, but after a moment’s thought, he said, “Earlier, I was worried you’d get upset because these bath beans weren’t the most expensive ones.”

Ye Li：“？”

He glared at him, his eyebrows furrowed. “Is that really how I come across to you?!”

“Of course not! I was afraid you’d misunderstand and think I didn’t care about you, that I was just fobbing you off.”

Jiang Ji hurried to explain. He hadn’t.

He cared about Ye Li more than anyone.

He had thought long and hard about this gift, spending several days before finally deciding on it.

Seeing the nervous look on his face, Ye Li thought for a moment and slowly began to understand.

Isn’t this just like, “Who in the family gets it? My husband used my cash to go on a trip, but ended up buying super expensive gifts for his second uncle and my father-in-law, and got me the second most expensive one.”

Imagining the tone of that headline, Ye Li chuckled. Well, at the end of the day, he was just being considerate of her feelings.

Besides, Jiang Ji didn’t know that this body had been taken over by someone else, and he’d been tormenting himself over spending cash without earning it. He’d never been able to spend the cash he’d earned with a clear conscience.

So, he raised his hand and gave Jiang Ji a gentle poke in the side: “From now on, you’ll have your own income.”   

“You can hold your head high.”

“So I’ll let this one slide, but if it happens again, I’ll really get angry.”

Seeing this, Jiang Ji quickly promised, “Alright, this is the last time.”

As if to boast, he added, “I closed a deal in the Prefectural City. In a few days, the boss will come to buy century eggs—he wants thirty thousand of them.” 

Upon hearing this, Ye Li’s eyes widened in surprise. “You closed a deal?!”

“It’s a small deal—only thirty thousand. Nothing to write home about,” Jiang Ji said with a modest expression. A thousand century eggs earn eleven hundred wen.

Thirty thousand eggs would bring in thirty-three taels.

By the time it reached Ye Li, only a few taels would remain. It was indeed a small deal.

The main issue was that the noodle shop owner lacked the necessary drive.

Thirty-three taels was Yezaopo’s profit, but the owner was required to put up a hundred taels of cash as capital.

To invest that much silver all at once for a single snack—though the owner knew century eggs would sell easily, he hadn’t witnessed the frenzy in Beiyang County firsthand, so his confidence was lacking.

However, this is just the beginning.

Once the owner tastes the profits from the century eggs, he’ll definitely buy more next time he comes.

Just as he was about to explain in detail, Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya finished washing up and ran into the main hall, ready for bed. He told the two to go to sleep, while he and Ye Li went to the kitchen to stoke the fire.

With the two little ones out of the way, they closed the door as soon as they entered the kitchen.

Jiang Ji sat down on a small stool in front of the stove, and Ye Li sat on his lap to listen to his account of what had happened.

After hearing the whole story, Ye Li was both surprised and delighted: “That’s amazing! If this deal goes through, we’ll have a connection in the Prefectural City.”

In winter, hens lay eggs less frequently. The egg supply will decrease.

Even if the villagers continued to make century eggs like crazy, the total output would inevitably drop.

Without outside merchants, if the Prefectural City could consume tens of thousands of them each month, that would completely eliminate any pressure. He gave Jiang Ji a thumbs-up: “You negotiated this deal. I’ll give you half the commission. How does that sound?”

“No need,” Jiang Ji shook his head immediately. His original intention wasn’t to make cash. 

“True, that would make things seem too formal.”

Ye Li stroked his chin, then quickly added, “You’re already making money now, and you’ve even secured me the status of a Xiucai’s fulang. I may have earned a bit more, but our family’s wealth will only grow from here on out. When that happens, we’ll need your official rank to protect it.”

“So, when it comes to this family, we’ve both contributed equally.”

“Don’t be so formal with me from now on. All the cash I’ve earned is in the chest of drawers. If you need any, just help yourself.”

Equal contributions?

No, no, no—they’re not the same.

Jiang Ji shook his head. Over the past six months, if it weren’t for Ye Li earning money, supporting the family, and taking care of him, he never would have been able to pass the county-level examination so easily.

His slender finger tapped Ye Li’s chest. “This Xiucai here owes half of what I am to you. Therefore, you’re the one who’s contributed more.” Those words made Ye Li beam with joy.

He really was easy to please.

As long as Jiang Ji knew how much he’d sacrificed.

He felt delighted inside, but if they kept giving and taking like this, he wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.

So he deliberately put on a stern face: “We’re family—how can we draw such a clear line? Even the most impartial judge finds it hard to settle family matters. Just tell me—do you want to grow distant from me from now on?”

“…Then I’ll put the cash and grain I receive from the government in there too.”

“It’s almost time to collect the rent. It’s not much, but since you handle the cash in our household, you can manage that too.”

Jiang Ji hurriedly replied.

The two mu of prime farmland on their property were cultivated by Jiang Dahu, yielding an annual rent of two taels.

Five mu of medium-quality land were leased to a family in the neighboring village; the annual rent totaled three taels. He didn’t accept grain, only cash, so the family always delivered cash after the autumn harvest.

Added together, that made a total of five taels in rent. However, he still had outstanding debts…

He hadn’t told Ye Li about this before, but now that things had come to this, though it was embarrassing, he knew he’d have to say it sooner or later. So he took a deep breath and began, “Actually, I still owe…”

“I know!” Ye Li interrupted him, smiling. “Second Uncle told me. It’s fine—we’ll just pay it off together.”    

“We’ll have it all paid off by the end of the year.”

Jiang Ji：“……”

So Ye Li had known all along. Ye Li didn’t care at all.

His heart felt warm. Looking at the smile on Ye Li’s face, he couldn’t hold back any longer. He cupped his face and kissed him.

Lili, his Lili!