This time, Mr. Yue hired one horse-drawn carriage and seven ox-drawn carts. As always, his brother-in-law accompanied him.

Although he didn’t need to follow Ye Li to learn how to make congee this time, he still brought along a pork hind leg and several packages of pastries.

This prompted Ye Li to exchange a few polite words.

“It’s not like this is your first time here—why are you buying all this?”

Upon hearing this, Boss Yue just smiled and said, “It’s only natural, it’s only natural.”

After exchanging pleasantries, Ye Li asked Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya—who were busy memorizing their lessons—to go fetch Jiang Fuzheng.

He dug an old tree root out of the firewood pile, lit it with a piece of wheat straw, and then Boss Yue and his group sat down around the fire. Although there was no strong wind today, it was the middle of winter, and even the slightest breeze was enough to make one’s cheeks turn bright red.

They certainly needed to huddle close to the fire to ward off the cold.

Ye Fulang had been doing needlework in the west room, but when this group of guests suddenly arrived, he put down his needlework, brought out a small stove, and boiled water to make tea for Mr. Yue and the others.

Ye Li also sat down by the fire. Pointing to the carriages at the door, he said, “Mr. Yue, your business is booming! Not only are there so many carriages this time, but you’ve even upgraded to a new one.”

Mr. Yue quickly shook his head: “It’s just a small business, a small business—and it’s all thanks to you, Mr. Ye.”

“It’s cold out—you can’t manage without a carriage. We even ran into snow on the way. Luckily, it was just a light snow; otherwise, we’d have been stranded on the road. It’s just hard-earned money.” 

Hearing this, Ye Li followed up on his remark: “Going out in this kind of weather is indeed a hardship. Mr. Yue, how’s the porridge selling in Prefectural City?”

Upon hearing this, Mr. Yue first raised his hand to rub his nose, so as not to laugh too wildly: “Well, it’s mainly because the congee you make, Mr. Fulang, is so good. Everyone who tries it wants more—they’re really supporting the business.”

“These days, my noodle shop is practically turning into a congee shop—we sell a thousand bowls of congee a day.” “…A thousand bowls?”

Ye Li was astonished.

Gong Lisheng and his wife Chen Cuihua cook three large pots of congee for each meal, totaling 120 bowls.

Add to that the small pot of congee Chen Cuihua made specifically for the afternoon customers, and even that only totaled about 270 bowls a day. Yet Boss Yue’s noodle shop was actually selling a thousand bowls a day?

Does that mean he’s switched to selling only congee?!

Seeing Ye Li’s astonishment, Mr. Yue explained with a smile, “It wasn’t always this much. The first time I made it, I only prepared a hundred bowls.”

Although he was bold, once the century eggs at his noodle shop sold out, most of the customers who had come specifically for the cold century egg salad quickly disappeared. Business at his shop returned to normal—selling fewer than a hundred bowls of noodles a day.

Under normal circumstances, the noodle shop would sell fifty or sixty bowls at lunch. In the evening, it was around thirty bowls.

In other words, only fifty or sixty customers came in for lunch. Yet he had prepared a hundred bowls of congee.

Even if every single one of those customers ordered congee, there would still be dozens of bowls left over. And that’s assuming the best-case scenario.

In reality, he’d be lucky if even half of the customers were willing to order congee.

So, after the congee was ready, he had his two shop assistants each take a bowl and head out to the busy main street to hawk it. He had to attract new customers!

The century eggs and lean pork congee looked quite appetizing—the thick, white congee was dotted with amber-colored century eggs and slices of pork, and it smelled delicious. To attract customers, he sold each bowl for seven wen on the first day, one wen cheaper than the original price.

Plus, his noodles were pretty good, too.

To encourage diners to eat in, he also came up with a creative combo deal: noodles plus congee, each discounted by one wen from the original price.

A bowl of noodles paired with a bowl of congee is sure to leave you both full and satisfied!

The Prefectural City was also a city where noodles were the staple, and some diners who hadn’t decided where to have lunch stepped into his noodle shop, drawn in by the enthusiastic shouts of his two assistants.

Some of these new customers ordered only congee, having brought their own flatbreads, steamed buns, or mantou. Others ordered a bowl of noodles and a bowl of congee.

As for the regulars who had originally come for the noodles, upon seeing the new way the century eggs were prepared, many of them, out of curiosity, also ordered a bowl of congee.

The set meal was two wen cheaper than the regular price, making it a great deal. As a result, a large number of bowls of congee were sold in no time.

And among the diners who ordered the congee, nine out of ten praised it. It received even higher praise than the cold century egg salad!

As a result, this century egg and lean pork congee left a deep impression on diners thanks to its outstanding flavor. That afternoon, all 100 bowls of congee were successfully sold out.

And that very evening, many repeat customers returned.

These repeat customers even invited their friends and relatives to come and taste the delicious congee. There were so many people coming that the next day, he restored the original price.

But this did nothing to dampen the diners’ enthusiasm.

The original price of eight wen per bowl was right at the psychological threshold for many; given the cost of living in the Prefectural City, quite a few people were willing to pay that much.

His cold-tossed century eggs had already been selling very well.

If you were really short on cash and wanted to have congee but were worried it wouldn’t be filling enough, you could bring your own flatbreads or steamed buns. In short, as soon as the congee went on sale, it took off and became increasingly popular.

The number of bowls sold each day has been increasing by the hundreds.

Although the congee was selling so well, he couldn’t neglect the noodles. Initially, he offered a congee-and-noodles combo to promote the congee. As it turned out, quite a few people actually fell in love with this combination.

With so many orders, he had to keep making all kinds of noodles. As a result, he ran short on staff.

So he hired two more assistants to handle general tasks.

Meanwhile, his husband, parents, and children were also making congee at home, including his brother and his husband, who came back home to help.

With more than ten family members pitching in, and since making congee is simple—unlike making noodles, which requires kneading and rolling the dough, or even stir-frying—all they had to do was rinse the rice and marinate the meat before putting it in the pot.

As a result, the family was able to produce a thousand bowls of congee every day.

Looking back on those hectic days, he couldn’t help but sigh, “Honestly, it’s just hard-earned money.” They were so busy every day they barely had a moment to catch their breath.

After listening to his long explanation and that final, half-hearted remark, Ye Li couldn’t help but smile.

“Earning money is never easy. The way you’re making a living, Mr. Yue, I wonder how many people would love to work hard but have nowhere to do so.”

Hearing this, Mr. Yue could no longer maintain his solemn expression. He grinned from ear to ear, unable to stop laughing.

As for hard work—it really is hard work.

But this hard work was absolutely worth it!

Although his noodle shop was a long-established business, under normal circumstances, he couldn’t sell more than a hundred bowls of noodles a day, and his monthly profit was only seven or eight taels. The last time he visited, Ye Li had given him an example: if he sold five hundred bowls a day, he could earn thirteen taels a month.

That figure had really caught his attention at the time. Compared to his original income, it was nearly double.

But who could have known that once he returned to the Prefectural City and actually started selling, sales would skyrocket from 500 bowls a day straight to 1,000! Thirty thousand century eggs, used to make thirty thousand bowls of congee, would be used up in a single month.

He earned less than two wen per bowl of congee; at one wen and five li per bowl, he could make a total of forty-five taels of silver. Of course, this figure was based on an ideal scenario—in reality, he couldn’t reach that amount.

He had to hire new helpers, which meant paying more in wages. His own family loved this congee, too.

On top of that, he had to give some away to friends and relatives.

Each of these items is an expense and part of his capital.

But even if these expenses totaled five taels, he’d still earn forty taels.

Earning forty taels a month—he’d never even dreamed of such good fortune before!

So when Ye Li pointed this out, he simply couldn’t keep a straight face. Who could, in a situation like this?

Of course, one shouldn’t flaunt one’s wealth.

This wasn’t a topic to dwell on.

So, with a cheerful smile, he changed the subject.

He said, “After all, this money wasn’t easy to earn. Just look at this—in the middle of winter, I still have to make the trip all the way from the Prefectural City.”

“Fulang, I live far away, and there might be heavy snow along the way. It’s not easy for me to make this trip, so could you give me a little extra this time?” 

“Hmm… I’ll ask around among the villagers and see if I can set aside as much as possible for you.”

Ye Li nodded.

When Boss Yue left last time, he specifically instructed them to set aside another 30,000 worth of goods for him. As for the villagers, they had indeed been doing their best to make century eggs over the past twenty days or so.

In the county town, the small shop owners’ consumption of century eggs had dropped by nearly a third.

Since there was no rush to supply the small shop owners, the villagers could indeed prioritize supplying Mr. Yue with the stock they had on hand.

Just then, Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya returned.

As soon as the two stepped through the courtyard gate, Jiang Mai explained, “Brother Li, there are officials at Uncle Jiang’s house discussing the corvée labor. Uncle Jiang is too busy to deal with it, so he sent Cousin Mantang to notify the others.”

“I see. That’s fine.”

Ye Li said with a smile, “Come warm yourselves by the fire. It’s pretty cold out there after that trip.”

Mr. Yue hurriedly pointed to the pastries he’d just bought and said, “Have some pastries—come, have some. I bought several kinds.”

Hearing this, Ye Li didn’t stand on ceremony. He had the two little ones thank him, then opened one of the packages and let them eat. Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya happily thanked Mr. Yue again, but they weren’t interested in warming themselves by the fire.

They’d much rather go back inside. It was warm on the kang, and there were no strangers there. So the two of them went back inside.

Just then, Zhang Shi and his husband pushed a handcart into the courtyard.

Zhang Shi had just been at Jiang Fuzheng’s house; after hearing what Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya had to say, he immediately went home to count the century eggs. That’s why he was the first to arrive.

He had always been enthusiastic about making century eggs; even in this kind of weather, he went into town almost every day to buy eggs.

After Boss Yue left last time, realizing that century eggs would sell well even in winter, he went all out—not only investing all his savings but also the money he’d earned over the past few months.

As a result, he had quite a stockpile on hand.

Now that Boss Yue had returned to Yezaopo after only about twenty days, he was truly delighted. The money he’d invested was coming back right away!

He and his husband loaded up the century eggs and motioned for Mr. Yue to start counting. This time, he planned to sell Mr. Yue six thousand worth of goods!

That would take quite a while to count.

So Mr. Yue got up from the fire and began counting with his brother-in-law. The weather could change at any moment, and they wanted to set out for the Prefectural City that very day.

Zhang Shi’s batch of century eggs hadn’t even been counted yet when other families began pulling their handcarts loaded with century eggs into the yard. Before long, the courtyard was packed with people.

During the off-season, everyone had free time.

Upon learning that Mr. Yue intended to buy more, those who had stock set aside as much as they could for him.

The Prefectural City was so far away; it was certainly no easy feat for Mr. Yue to make the trip.

On Mr. Yue’s side, only he and his brother-in-law were counting the century eggs, so the process was moving rather slowly. The villagers who weren’t yet up took turns standing by the bonfire to warm themselves and chat about everyday matters.

They already knew that officials had come to notify them of the corvée duties, so that was the topic on everyone’s mind. In previous years, every household had to send one person to perform corvée labor.

Beiyang County borders the South-North Canal, which sees a lot of out-of-town merchants and travelers, so the corvée work here consists of either canal maintenance or road repair. Road repair is manageable, but canal maintenance—clearing silt in the dead of winter—is not only grueling but also dangerous.

But the exemption fee was a hefty five hundred wen—and aside from Jiang Ji, no one was willing to shell out that much. They had no choice but to go and do the work.

But this year is different! This year, they have the money!

They could earn the 500 wen needed to buy their way out of labor simply by selling 500 century eggs!

As a result, there was no trace of gloom on the villagers’ faces; their expressions and tones were both relaxed. It’s just that…

Zhang Shi counted his family’s 6,000 century eggs, completed the cash-and-carry transaction with Boss Yue, and then, with a heavy pouch of copper coins tucked away, went to find Ye Li to split the profits.

The price was the same as last time: for every thousand eggs, he gave Boss Yue a discount of one hundred wen. That meant he’d earn one thousand wen per thousand eggs.

Six thousand eggs meant six thousand wen.

Ye Li took a ten percent cut, which came to six hundred wen. Of course, this was just the profit.

If Mr. Yue wants to take these 6,000 century eggs, he’ll have to pay him 15 taels and 300 wen.

He asked for two silver bills worth five guan each, and for the remaining five taels and three hundred wen, he wanted copper coins.

He had his husband take the two silver bills and most of the copper coins home, while he carried one guan’s worth of copper coins into Ye Li’s small parlor. He broke up the guan and counted out six hundred wen to give to Ye Li.

Afterward, he re-tied the hemp string holding the copper coins together. Once he was done, however, he didn’t leave.

He stood by the table watching Ye Li, his face full of hesitation.

Ye Li swept the six hundred wen into a winnowing basket, then carried it over to empty the copper coins into the bottom drawer of the five-drawer chest. Turning around and noticing Zhang Shi’s expression, he smiled and said, “Uncle Shi, is something the matter?”

“Um… well, about your family’s workshop—are you still hiring?”

Zhang Shi looked a little embarrassed.

Thanks to Ye Li, the whole village had made a good bit of money. His family was no exception.

But today he’d set his sights on the fried tofu puffs workshop too! It made him look like a bottomless pit of greed.

But during the off-season, there really was nothing to do at home!

Besides, it’s hard to find work in town, and the fried tofu puffs workshop pays well. So, he had no choice but to swallow his pride and ask Ye Li about it. What if they really were hiring again?

Ye Li hadn’t expected him to bring this up. Although orders for fried tofu puffs were steadily increasing, for now, the family could handle the workload on their own.

Besides, they couldn’t blindly expand production. This matter required careful consideration.

So he said, “Uncle Shi, we have enough staff at the workshop right now. Let’s wait and see. If we really do need to hire more people, we’ll definitely hire from our village.”

Hearing this, Zhang Shi felt a little disappointed.

But he didn’t let it show; he just smiled and said, “Li-ger, you’ll have to keep me in mind when the time comes. I work really fast and never slack off.”    

“Don’t worry. I’ll definitely consider you first, Uncle Shi.”

Ye Li nodded with a smile.

After all, the other families were all the same to him—apart from Aunt Qiumei’s, he wasn’t particularly close to any of them, nor were they particularly distant. If he really did need to hire more people, since Zhang Shi was the first to approach him, he’d give Zhang Shi priority.

Zhang Shi didn’t know Ye Li’s true thoughts; upon hearing his words, he felt reassured.

He didn’t take up too much of Ye Li’s time; he grabbed the remaining four hundred wen and happily headed home. He spent the entire morning selling century eggs.

Before long, it was noon.

The handover of the century eggs wasn’t quite finished yet.

But Zhang Shi and Zhao Feng brought over steaming hot corn cakes, inviting Boss Yue and his party to have a light snack first.

Meanwhile, Ye Fulang cut off a third of the pork hind leg that Boss Yue had brought and stewed it with tofu and Chinese cabbage in a large pot. The stew, served with the corn cakes, warmed Boss Yue from the inside out.

The people of Yezaopo are truly down-to-earth!

After lunch, the workshop for making fried tofu puffs got to work.

The villagers who hadn’t yet completed their handover, just like Zhang Shi, asked if the workshop was still hiring. Mr. Yue also took an interest in the fried tofu puffs.

He even tasted a few—they really were quite good.

It was just a shame that he lived so far away—there was no way for him to buy any.

However, thinking about how busy his whole family had been lately, that slight disappointment quickly faded.

For now, his family couldn’t spare the manpower for anything else, so they’d focus on selling century eggs for the time being! Another hour passed, and the handover was finally complete.

This time, Mr. Yue bought over 40,000 century eggs.

That was considerably more than last time; even the cart was packed to the brim. But before leaving, he still urged Ye Li to make more century eggs.

This quantity of century eggs would only last a little over a month. He was certain he’d have to make another trip before the Twelfth Lunar Month. Ye Li agreed.

With no other work to do, the villagers would certainly throw themselves into making century eggs. After seeing Mr. Yue and his party off, the courtyard fell silent.

The fried tofu puffs were almost done frying.

Ye Li no longer felt like making cookies.

It was already this late; he’d make them tomorrow.

He’d be heading to the county town with Jiang Tong to deliver goods in a little while, and he’d stop by to see Jiang Ji on the way. When they parted ways yesterday evening, he’d seemed quite composed.

But now that he was truly alone in the empty house, the emptiness in his heart couldn’t be filled by just this travelogue. He opened each of the pastries Mr. Yue had brought, one by one.

These pastries were all bought from a pastry shop in the county town; he picked out a box of “Donkey Roll” pastries, intending to take them to Jiang Ji. Soon, the fried tofu puffs were loaded onto the cart.

He put on the rabbit fur coat that Liu Yi had made for him, wrapped a scarf around his neck, and pulled on a rabbit fur hat. Fully bundled up, he climbed onto the oxcart. When the two little ones, Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya, saw this, they started clamoring to come along too.

They both missed their big brother so much.

But he turned them down.

With Jiang Tong around, he and Jiang Ji couldn’t really have any private conversations to begin with; if the two little ones were there too, they’d be unable to say anything at all. Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya should stay home and help Ye Fulang cook.

However, he dangled the carrot—promising that once he’d baked some cookies, they’d all go together to see their older brother. With that promise, the two little ones broke into smiles again.

The oxcart entered the city, heading first to the cold noodle shop, then to the east side of town.

When they arrived at the last restaurant, it just so happened that they were serving buns stuffed with fried tofu puffs.

He bought two of these stuffed buns, wrapped them in oil paper, tucked them into his coat, and then headed for the county academy. Night was slowly falling.

When he and Jiang Tong arrived at the entrance to the county academy, the lanterns on either side of the main gate had already been lit. No sooner had he parked the oxcart than the sound of a bell rang out.

Soon, people emerged from the county academy clutching their books. Classes had ended.

The county academy provided lodging only for scholarship students; other Xiucai had to return home after class. Most of the scholarship students also went home.

At Jiang Ji’s age, most were already married; the scholarship students older than him had not only married but also had children. Having food and drink at home was far better than living at the county academy.

Therefore, most scholarship students also went home to live.

Even those who didn’t go home often found the meager meals in the school kitchen unbearable and went out for a second meal after classes ended. There were poor Xiucai, but no poor scholarship students.

They could afford this extra meal.

As a result, the entrance to the county academy became a bustling scene.

Ye Li approached the gatekeeper and asked him to find Jiang Ji at the county school. Before long, a familiar figure appeared at the school gate. Upon seeing Jiang Ji, Ye Li couldn’t help but smile: “Jiang Ji!”

Jiang Tong, standing nearby and leading the oxcart, silently moved aside.

As a bachelor, he didn’t quite understand why Ye Li had come to deliver a meal today, just one day after Jiang Ji had gone to school yesterday. Hadn’t it only been one night?

But he was perceptive.

He knew to step aside so the couple could have a private conversation.