It was a rare moment of indulgence, so the next morning, Ye Li naturally lingered in bed. He didn’t get up until Jiang Ji had finished making breakfast.

Just then, the three members of the Ye family arrived.

Jiang Liu had also finished grinding the beans with their mule—after Ye Li’s persistent persuasion, Jiang Liu had finally agreed to use their own mule to turn the mill. In fact, Ye Li had suggested this the moment the mule was brought home.

But Jiang Liu had refused.

If the mule did the grinding, it would be as if she hadn’t done any work at all—how could she possibly accept ten wen a day for her labor?

Given the relationship between the two families, Ye Li could easily have kept the mule tied up at his own home and led the mule cart to grind the beans himself every morning; Jiang Dahu would never have refused such a request from Ye Li.

Therefore, even though Ye Li repeatedly emphasized that she had a mule and he didn’t want her to do this work, Jiang Liu still wouldn’t agree.

She was used to refusing.

Besides, their family’s circumstances had improved. While they didn’t eat meat often, tael Erxiang used plenty of soybean oil and lard when cooking, and they had eggs every day.

She was full of energy! She wasn’t afraid of hard work!

She wanted to earn this cash!

Given Jiang Liu’s insistence, Ye Li couldn’t force the issue and had no choice but to let her have her way.

It wasn’t until a few days ago, when Jiang Liu had finished sewing her own padded jacket and wanted to make a new one for Ye Li, that Ye Li offered to pay her for her trouble. Jiang Liu refused to accept the money, so only then was she willing to switch to using the mule to grind the beans.

The mule ground the beans much faster than a person could. By the time Ye Li’s breakfast was ready, she had just finished. Everyone was gathered, so they set the table. Today, Jiang Liu was still eating here.

Breakfast was simple: sweet potato rice porridge, pickles, corn cakes, and a steamed egg for each person. They ate too much greasy food yesterday, so they needed something light today.

At the table, Ye Li brought up the idea of starting a workshop for making fried tofu puffs.

“A workshop for fried tofu puffs?” Jiang Liu was taken aback and was the first to ask. “Right, a small workshop.”

Ye Li nodded.

“What kind of workshop?” Jiang Liu pressed.

This would determine whether she could keep her job grinding grain.

Actually, she’d recently been thinking about quitting that job. Now that her family had a mule, and since it was the off-season, the mule was just sitting around with nothing to do every day.

Under normal circumstances, she should have lent the mule to Ye Li so Ye Li could use it to grind grain. By grinding for all these extra days, she’d essentially been getting cash for nothing.

So she decided to quit the job.

If Ye Li were to set up a workshop for making fried tofu puffs, that would be absolutely perfect—she could take on other work.

She could do any kind of work!

“Li-ger, what kind of workshop are you planning to build?” Ye Liang also asked eagerly.

Ye Li swallowed the soup in his mouth and explained, “Just a shed on the west side…” He pointed toward the western part of the courtyard and began to explain in detail.

His initial idea was to get the whole village involved, with everyone chipping in to build a separate courtyard in the village dedicated to processing fried tofu puffs.

He couldn’t afford such a large workshop on his own. If he wanted the whole village to share in the profits, they’d all have to chip in. But after hearing Jiang Ji’s words last night, it all clicked.

There was no need to set up such a large operation right away. He would start with a trial run, focusing first on getting the business selling fried tofu puffs off the ground. With a smaller operation, everything would be much easier to manage.

Once the new house is finished, he’ll expand westward and build two large sheds.

Building the sheds would be quite simple: one side would lean against the courtyard wall, and the left and right sides would be built with mud-brick. As for the front, there was no need for a door—after all, sheds don’t have doors to begin with.

The roof is easy to handle too: chop down a few logs from the mountain, build a large wooden frame for the roof, and once that’s in place, lay thatch mats over the frame—and that’s pretty much it.

In those days, the thatched roofs of poor families were all covered with straw mats.

However, since those thatched huts were meant for actual living, they used not only a large amount of thatch but also laid it thickly, often in several layers.

But since their own shed was just a trial run, it only needed to be passable—after all, in winter there’s only snow, no rain. Even if it snowed, all they’d have to do is stand on the wall and sweep it off with a big broom.

So everything was kept simple.

Of these two sheds, one housed a stone mill.

The other houses the cooking stove.

The shed for the stone mills needs to be large, because he plans to use draft animals to turn the mills, and he wants three stone mills operating simultaneously.

The shed for the cooking stoves can be slightly smaller, with five stoves set up for boiling soy milk, making tofu, and frying fried tofu puffs. All told, he just needs to buy some more bricks, five iron pots, and two stone mills, and that’s it.

With his current savings, he could easily afford it. As soon as Ye Li finished speaking, Jiang Liu breathed a sigh of relief. Perfect—that would save her from having to quit the job herself. Besides, her Brother Li was setting up five stoves!

He’d definitely need help.

So she quickly asked, “Brother Li, since we’ll be using draft animals to turn the millstones, what kind of work can I do?”

“Exactly, exactly. You’re building five stoves—can you handle it all by yourself? What are you planning to do about the tofu-making step?”

Ye Liang also asked quickly.

That’s the most crucial part!

“Hire someone, of course. If you lived closer, I’d definitely ask you, but this work has to be done early in the morning, and you wouldn’t be able to make it over. So I plan to ask Xiao Liu.”

Ye Li pointed at Jiang Liu.

“Me?” Jiang Liu froze, almost thinking she’d heard wrong.

“That’s right. I trust you, so I want to hire you to do this job for me. Thirty wen a day, just for this one job. Are you in?” Ye Li asked with a smile.

“I—I…”

Looking at Ye Li’s smiling face, Jiang Liu felt a lump in her throat, and her eyes suddenly filled with tears. She was like water that had been poured out, yet her Brother Li had never once treated her with suspicion because of it. Whether it was century eggs or fried tofu puffs, he always trusted her!

Thirty wen a day—that’s nine hundred wen a month!

She was just an ordinary country girl—what did she have to deserve this?

Overwhelmed by both emotion and joy, she hurriedly nodded. “I’ll do it; I’m willing to do it. Brother Li, rest assured—I’ll never tell anyone the recipe. I won’t marry anyone! I…”

Suddenly remembering that the Ye family father and son were also present, she stopped herself just in time.

But then she realized the Ye family might not agree to this—now that winter had set in, the number of visitors in Baxian Town had dropped significantly. If the Ye family were willing, they could easily move here and do this work themselves!

With that in mind, she pushed aside her embarrassment, wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, and explained, “Brother Li, I won’t marry anyone. I’ve been planning to take in a son-in-law for quite some time now. Rest assured, I’ll keep your secret for the rest of my life—I’ll never let it slip!”

But upon hearing these words, Ye Li froze in place.

He had originally intended to offer a few words of comfort upon seeing Jiang Liu moved to tears, but he never expected her to blurt out such a statement. The moment the words left her mouth, the entire table was stunned!

The Ye family—father and son—both stopped chewing and stared at her in shock. Jiang Ji furrowed his brow and asked, “Has Second Uncle arranged another marriage for you?”

“No.” Jiang Liu lowered her head, looking a little embarrassed.

She explained, “It’s just that I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Father keeps saying there’s no one to take care of him in his old age. If I take a son-in-law, then there’ll be someone to look after him.” 

Ye Li: “……”

Jiang Ji：“……”

Both of them couldn’t help but think: before the century egg business, given Jiang Liu’s circumstances, the bar for finding a son-in-law would have to be set very low—after all, if there were no other options, what ordinary man would be willing to become a son-in-law?

A girl of only sixteen—sigh!

Ye Li suppressed her sigh and put on a smile. “Xiao Liu, that’s an ambitious idea! I support it.”

“Now that our circumstances have improved—ever since we started selling century eggs, matchmakers have been flocking to our village. Plus, you have a cousin who’s a Xiucai. Take your time choosing; you’ll have no trouble finding someone.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Jiang Ji chimed in: “Your Brother Li is right. While you’re still young, take your time choosing—you’re sure to find a good match.”    

“You haven’t told Second Uncle yet, have you?”

“…No. I haven’t told anyone yet.”

Jiang Liu shook her head gently, feeling even more touched. Both Li and Ji supported her without hesitation! As for her father…

She’d never dared to mention it before.

With her circumstances, she actually wanted to find a son-in-law? If word got out, people would laugh her to death.

“Then I’ll talk to him later. Now we really have the confidence to be selective—it’s not just wishful thinking. He’ll definitely support it too.”

Jiang Ji said.

“Right, better to seize the moment than wait for the perfect day. Let’s talk to him today. We can also bring up the matter of building the workshop—it’s in Uncle Er’s best interest, so he’ll definitely agree.”

Ye Li added.

Jiang Dahu had always worried that no one would take care of him in his old age. Now that Jiang Liu wanted to take a son-in-law, it instantly resolved Jiang Dahu’s greatest fear. Jiang Dahu was certainly delighted.

Jiang Liu：“……”

She mustered her courage, lifted her head, and looked at Ye Li and Jiang Ji.

Seeing the two of them looking at her with either smiles or words of encouragement, tears welled up in her eyes once more. She nodded gently: “All right.”

“Then let’s eat. Once you’re done, go home—Second Uncle will be here soon.”

Ye Li said with a smile.

Jiang Liu hurriedly nodded and picked up another bun.

The three members of the Ye family standing nearby stared blankly at the scene, wanting to say something but unsure of what to say.

When it came to Jiang Liu’s marriage, they had no say in the matter.

As for having Jiang Liu make tofu…

Over the past year or so, Ye Liang had mostly come by in the afternoons, missing the times when Jiang Liu was grinding the beans, so he hadn’t seen her do it very often. But he knew how exhausting the work was. The fact that a young girl like Jiang Liu had quietly persevered for over half a year was proof enough that she could endure hardship.

Admittedly, being able to endure hardship and being able to keep a secret aren’t directly related. But seeing how hard the young girl had worked—and since the business wasn’t the Ye family’s to begin with—Ye Liang decided to keep his mouth shut.

Ye Li had already made up his mind; what else could he say? No matter what he said, Ye Li wouldn’t listen. Since that was the case, he might as well not make himself a nuisance.

But clearly, relying solely on Ye Li and Jiang Liu wouldn’t be enough to handle the workload.

He cleared his throat and asked, “Li-ger, with five stoves to tend, just you and Xiao Liu—you can’t possibly manage it all, can you? Your father has nothing to do at home. Why don’t you let him come over?”

“Father?” Ye Li asked in surprise.

“Right. Now that winter’s here, there’s no work in the fields. Dad and Xiao Wen are both at home, so Dad suddenly has plenty of free time.”

“Besides, once the warm pavilion is finished, you’ll move in there. Won’t the main hall be empty then? There’ll be plenty of room for me to stay.”

Ye Li: “……” That’s true, actually.

If Ye Fulang came, then the three of them—him, Jiang Liu, and Ye Fulang—would be more than enough.

And knowing Ye Fulang’s temperament, he’d probably even take over the task of frying the fried tofu puffs.

As for Jiang Tong, he could handle the job of grinding beans; after all, his original plan had been to rent Jiang Tong’s ox to pull the mill.

“I hope Brother Yi and Brother Yu don’t mind,” he asked.

Upon hearing this, Ye Liang and Ye Wen shook their heads in unison: “No objections.”  

“They won’t have any objections.”

After winter set in, the number of diners in town dwindled, and business slowed down.

Liu Yi and Tang Yu now had more free time and could handle the household chores.

Ye Daji also said, “Just have your father come—he can handle this work.”

“Alright, then let Dad come. He’s my own father, so I’ll pay him a higher wage,” Ye Li agreed. “You don’t have to pay him in cash,” Ye Daji said.

He wasn’t asking Ye Fulang to come over for cash; he felt much more at ease knowing the recipe was in the hands of his own family. The more outsiders who knew about it, the greater the risk of it being leaked.

“How can I not give him cash? Even blood brothers keep their accounts clear—Father isn’t just my father.”

Ye Li insisted.

“That’s right, Father. He’s here to help Ye Li and me—we can’t let him work for free.”

Jiang Ji added.

“The money saved will still go to the two of you,” Ye Daji said.

“Once this workshop is built, I won’t be short on cash. If we can make a few hundred pounds of fried tofu puffs a day, won’t I strike it rich?”

Ye Li said with a smile.

Ye Liang, standing nearby, understood the math all too well.

Ye Li could make six wen per pound of fried tofu puffs; if they really managed to produce three hundred pounds, that would mean earning eighteen thousand wen a day! However, to make that many fried tofu puffs, relying solely on the few people here wouldn’t be enough.

Especially since Ye Li had just emphasized that Jiang Liu only needed to make the tofu.

So he said, “Go ahead and give it to them if you want. But besides Xiao Liu and Father, do you plan to hire anyone else?”

Ye Li nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Of course. With five stoves, I’ll just make the tofu myself and leave the rest to others.” 

Ye Liang: “…So who else do you plan to hire?”

“Let Datong and Second Uncle operate the mill. Xiao Liu and Dad will make the tofu, and for frying the fried tofu puffs, well…”

Before Ye Li could finish, Ye Liang couldn’t bear to listen any longer and immediately cut him off: “You want to hire more people? Datong and Second Uncle can fry fried tofu puffs too. Add me in—isn’t that enough?”

Jiang Liu had calmed down a bit by then. After hearing Ye Liang’s words, he immediately chimed in: “Brother Li, I can fry fried tofu puffs too. The cash you’re offering is so high, I’d feel too ashamed to just work that short shift in the morning.”

“You still have to make century eggs. Second Uncle also has to drive the mule cart into town to buy eggs from time to time.” 

Ye Li said. “With Mother and Yu-ger here, I don’t need to worry about the century eggs.”

“Besides, even though Uncle Jun isn’t in the best of health, frying fried tofu puffs shouldn’t be a problem for him.”

Jiang Liu said.

“Exactly. We have enough people in our own household; don’t even think about looking for anyone else.”

Ye Daji made sure to emphasize this point. If it really comes down to it, he’ll come over too.

After all, winter is a quiet time, and even with his old bones, he could still get quite a bit of work done.

Ye Daji’s words struck a chord with Jiang Liu. She quickly reached out to help Ye Li count the people: her family, the Jiang Tong family, and the Ye family—that made nearly twenty people. Surely they could manage a small workshop?

Even so, they’d be so busy they wouldn’t have a moment to spare. But being busy is better—idleness just makes you restless!

It’s better to be making cash.

The three Ye men and Jiang Liu all insisted on hiring only family members. However, considering they’d also be making century eggs, and since frying fried tofu puffs required sitting for an entire afternoon, Old Ye was getting on in years—there was no need for him to suffer through that just to save on labor costs.

Besides, since we’re setting up a workshop, they really ought to let Jiang Fuzheng be involved, don’t they? It’s important to maintain good relations with Jiang Fuzheng, who serves as both clan chief and village chief.

As they spoke, they finished a simple breakfast, and Jiang Dahu, Jiang Tong, along with the hired bricklayers and laborers, all arrived. By then, it was just beginning to get light out.

The three men of the Ye family asked Ye Li to think it over.

Ye Li nodded in agreement, but in his heart, he had no intention of changing his mind. The task of frying fried tofu puffs was best left to outsiders. After tidying up the kitchen, he joined Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya in straining the soybean pulp.

The two little ones no longer had to go out to cut grass, but since Jiang Ji was busy working and had no time to teach them to read, he sent them up the mountain to gather firewood, telling them they could play in the afternoon.

Once the two little ones had left, Ye Li pressed the tofu and then returned to the west room. He needed to calculate exactly how many people he would need to hire.

First, the three stone mills would require three draft animals. However, only two people would be needed to tend to the animals.

The animals will circle the millstone on their own; there’s no need to keep holding the reins. Leave this job to Jiang Tong and Jiang Dahu.

Both of them had their own animals.

The third animal would be rented from a villager.

The step of curdling the soy milk would be handled by him, Jiang Liu, and his little father. For frying the fried tofu puffs, with five stoves to tend, they’d need five people.

Jiang Dachuan, tael Erxiang, Jiang Yu, Ye Liang, and one more person from Jiang Fuzheng’s family—that should cover it.

Moreover, with so many fried tofu puffs, they’ll certainly have to take them into town first—just like with the century eggs—to sell them to small restaurants, and then make daily deliveries. That task will likely fall to Jiang Tong.

When he thought it through, it really did seem that they could get this workshop up and running relying solely on their own people. Excellent!

To be honest, he was inclined to use his own people whenever possible.

With his mind made up, the next step was to gather the three families together for a family meeting. It would be held tonight!

Meanwhile, Jiang Ji and the others had been busy until nearly noon. Seeing Ye Li enter the kitchen to prepare lunch, Jiang Ji turned to Jiang Dahu, who was standing nearby stacking green bricks to build a wall, and said, “Second Uncle, we’re raising the ridgepole tomorrow. Could you go buy some fruits and dim sum for the ritual offerings this afternoon?”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Dahu immediately agreed, “Alright.”

“Then let’s go talk to Ye Li to figure out exactly what to buy. We’re young and don’t know much about these things.”

Jiang Ji pointed toward the kitchen.

Jiang Dahu was pleased to hear this; he loved feeling needed. He nodded. “Sure!”

Now that they’d settled the matter, he could head into town during lunchtime, so it wouldn’t interfere with the afternoon’s work.

So the two climbed down from the wooden scaffolding—the walls of the main structure were now taller than Jiang Ji himself, and building any higher would require scaffolding.

The two headed toward the kitchen.

Once inside the kitchen, Jiang Ji began by discussing the offerings required for the beam-raising ceremony.

According to custom, when the main beam is raised, a beam-raising ceremony must be performed to ensure smooth progress and good fortune.

This beam-raising ceremony was of the utmost importance and could not be taken lightly; even poor families had to prepare offerings, and since his family was now well-off, the offerings had to be especially plentiful.

A pig’s head, for instance, was a must.

In addition, there must be plenty of pastries, candies, peanuts, and the like, as the entire village would come to witness the ceremony, and these were to be distributed to the villagers. Jiang Ji understood this in his heart, but he pretended not to, listening as Jiang Dahu spoke enthusiastically about these matters.

The pig’s head must be fresh. The main purpose of going today is to speak with the butcher so we can go into town first thing tomorrow morning to pick it up. Today, we’ll mainly be buying some candies and dim sum.

After listening to Jiang Dahu, Ye Li smiled and asked, “Second Uncle, will those two strings of cash be enough?” 

“More than enough, definitely more than enough.”

One string should be plenty.

“Alright, I’ll go get the cash from the house.” Ye Li said, turning to leave the kitchen. “Have Xiao Ji go instead; the copper coins are too heavy.” Jiang Dahu gestured toward Jiang Ji.

Jiang Ji chuckled softly, “Uncle, I have something else I need to discuss with you.”

“What is it?” Jiang Dahu asked curiously.

Meanwhile, Ye Li took the opportunity to slip out of the kitchen.

Although taking a son-in-law was beneficial to Jiang Dahu and a cause for celebration, he had always hoped that Jiang Ji would take care of him in his old age.

He wasn’t sure how Jiang Dahu would react, so he decided to return to his room first and let Jiang Ji have a proper talk with Jiang Dahu.

As soon as Ye Li left the kitchen, Jiang Ji didn’t hesitate and got straight to the point: “Uncle, ever since my father passed away, you’ve treated me, Xiao Mai, and Ya-ger just as if we were your own children.”

“Though you are not our father, what you’ve done for us is no less than what a father would do. So, I made up my mind long ago: from now on, I will take care of you in your old age.”

Jiang Ji spoke with complete sincerity; these were his true feelings. Jiang Dahu had sacrificed so much for the three of them, and he was determined to repay him. However, these words came as a complete surprise to Jiang Dahu.

Jiang Dahu was stunned into silence.

Jiang Dahu had always hoped that Jiang Ji would take care of him in his old age, but over the years, he had only dared to think about it in his heart and had never explicitly brought it up with Jiang Ji. Back when his eldest brother passed away, Jiang Ji was thirteen, Jiang Mai was two, and Jiang Ya was only three months old.

If he had bluntly demanded that Jiang Ji provide for him in his old age as a condition for raising Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya, that would have been nothing short of blackmail—taking advantage of a vulnerable situation, showing no compassion, and reducing everything to a cold exchange of interests!

He also loved his eldest nephew, Jiang Ji, from the bottom of his heart. His nephew had just lost both his parents; if he, as his own uncle, were to show a cold, unfeeling face, it would be too hurtful.

Furthermore, even if Jiang Ji refused to provide for him in his old age, he couldn’t stand by and watch Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya die. So, back then, he kept his mouth shut.

Later, as Jiang Ji grew older year by year—not only did he shoot up in height, but he also became steady and quite decisive—every time he looked at Jiang Ji’s somewhat sharp features, he found it even harder to bring himself to speak up.

He wasn’t Jiang Ji’s biological father.

Now that Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya are grown up, if Jiang Ji really refuses to provide for him in his old age, there’s nothing he can do about it.

Fearing that speaking of this might anger Jiang Ji, he had no choice but to bury these thoughts deep within his heart, waiting until the day he truly could no longer work, when he would go before Jiang Ji to play the victim and beg for mercy.

Later, Ye Li married into the family, and he had indeed mentioned that Jiang Ji would provide for him in his old age. But Ye Li wasn’t Jiang Ji himself, so he still felt a bit uneasy.

But who would have thought that right now, Jiang Ji would bring it up on his own!

So, after a moment of stunned silence, overwhelming joy washed over him. He couldn’t stop grinning. He wanted to reach out and pat Jiang Ji on the shoulder, but when his arm was halfway up and he saw his hands were covered in mud, he let it drop again.

Overjoyed, he exclaimed, “Xiao Ji, I knew you were a good one! Uncle didn’t misjudge you!” 

“Didn’t misjudge you! Hahahaha…”

He burst into laughter, truly overjoyed. A long-cherished wish had finally come true!

Seeing this, a smile spread across Jiang Ji’s face as well.

Back when his father was still alive, his second uncle had already been worrying about his future care in old age, often bringing it up.

Later, after his father passed away, his second uncle took on the responsibility of raising Xiao Mai and Ya-ger, and even wanted to support his education. He was deeply moved beyond words. He really wanted to say, “Second Uncle, I’ll take care of you in your old age.”

But if he said it, it would make him seem calculating and scheming, as if he were trying to coax his uncle into taking better care of Xiao Mai and Ya-ger. So, he kept those words to himself.

He intended to prove his sincerity through his actions alone.

Now that the two had finally spoken openly about this, he felt a sense of relief.

Taking a son-in-law would indeed benefit Jiang Dahu, but he wanted Jiang Dahu to know that if the son-in-law turned out to be of poor character, he would certainly take full responsibility. He was genuinely willing to provide for Jiang Dahu in his old age; he would not shirk this duty.