Chapter Bonanza (7/10)

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“Rent a shop? Why bring this up all of a sudden?”

Yan Qi handed the wrung-out cloth in his hand to Huo Ling, who took it and wiped his face.

“I came into town today, and Dayang came looking for me to talk about this.”

Huo Ling glanced back at the kang and instinctively lowered his voice. “Is he asleep yet?”

“Not yet. His little eyes are darting around.”

Though he’d only been gone a few hours, the father was already missing his child terribly.

He changed into a clean set of clothes he wore at home, lay face-down on the kang, and played with the child for quite a while before finally stopping.

Babies in the postpartum period sleep a lot—out of twelve hours a day, they sleep nearly ten. When awake, they don’t react much to an adult’s playfulness; after all, they’re still so small.

As Ye Suping put it, it was nowhere near the point where they needed to worry.

“My sister-in-law said I shouldn’t hold him all the time. Once he gets used to being held, he’ll cry as soon as I put him down, and then we adults won’t be able to get anything done.”

Yan Qi’s back ached from lying on his stomach for so long, so he sat up with some difficulty and stretched his back from side to side.

Huo Ling instinctively reached around to the young man’s lower back and began massaging it for him. Yan Qi closed his eyes in relief, and the two picked up where they’d left off.

After briefly summarizing what had happened earlier, Huo Ling said, “You must remember that shop—it’s about a hundred paces west of where we set up our stall. It’s a small storefront right at the corner; on the left is a soy sauce vendor, and a few paces to the right is a shoe vendor.”

In Baojia Town, Miaotian Street was arguably the street Yan Qi knew best. He spent his days sitting there running his stall; when he was bored, he could even count the tassels hanging from people’s cloth banners—let alone spot a conspicuous vacant storefront.

“I remember. Since no one’s been doing business there for a long time, we even mentioned it when we passed by.”

Yan Qi scratched his hair through the headband that protected him from the wind. Not being able to wash his hair during the postpartum confinement period was driving him crazy; he spent all day counting the days on his fingers.

“The door’s always been shut there, so we couldn’t see what it looked like inside. Did you get a good look when you went over today?”

“I didn’t have a key, but the window paper was torn, so I peeked inside for a couple of seconds. It’s a long, narrow room—not very spacious, but quite high-ceilinged. There’s a window on the side, so it wouldn’t feel too cramped inside. I was thinking we could partition off the middle, put a table and chairs in the back for meals, and maybe even set up a small cot—it should be plenty of space.”

Yan Qi thought about Huo Ling’s description and felt that if such a place were available, it wouldn’t be a bad option. However, there were some concerns—ones the two of them had already discussed earlier.

First was the rent, and second was the tax—neither of these could be avoided. No matter how much they earned each year, they’d have to shell out the money whether they liked it or not.

“How much is the rent? Will we still make a profit?”

“Yes.”

Huo Ling replied with certainty.

He’d already done a rough calculation in his head on the way back, and now he explained to Yan Qi, “First, the rent. Dayang said it’s five hundred wen a month, or six taels a year. Last winter, I was thinking of renting a shop and asked Sun Dazhi about it. He said business on Temple Front Street is booming, so rents are higher than elsewhere—and the closer you get to the City God Temple, the more expensive it gets. Do you remember the steamed bun shop diagonally across from us?”

Seeing Yan Qi nod, he continued, “That place isn’t as big as the one Dayang showed me, but it still costs five hundred wen a month. I heard it used to be four hundred wen, though—it’s gone up over the last two or three years, costing over one tael more a year. That shop is still in business and hasn’t moved, so they definitely aren’t losing money.”

“Brother Yang wouldn’t rip us off. The rent does seem like a good deal.”

Huo Ling agreed, “If we calculate it at six taels a year, just from the net profit of selling stuffed buns, we’ll recoup our investment in less than two months. Even with the market tax and business tax—which take up about twenty percent—it’s worth it to have a place where we’re sheltered from the wind and rain.”

Yan Qi still had reservations: “But we can only do business every day during the snow season. For most of the time, won’t the shop just sit empty?”

Huo Ling glanced at Xiaoqi, who was lying nearby, still awake, and said with a hint of hesitation, “That’s exactly what Dayang reminded me of today. Xiaoqi is still too young, and the mountain trails are treacherous. Taking him up the mountain won’t be easy. At least until he’s two, it’ll be hard for the three of us to go live in the mountains together.”

He looked up at Yan Qi. “Until then, it’ll be just like these past half a year while you were pregnant—I’ll go into the mountains regularly to gather wild produce and sell it for money…”

But before he could finish, Yan Qi exclaimed with delight, “Doesn’t that mean I can take Xiaoqi into town to do business? Once we have a shop, I won’t have to worry about the inconvenience of bringing the child along. We also have an oxcart, so traveling between town and the village won’t take much time.”

Huo Ling hadn’t expected Yan Qi to be so delighted by this idea. He smiled faintly and said, “That’s exactly what I meant. I was just going to ask if you’d be up for it—after all, the bumpy ride back and forth will certainly be tiring.”

“I’m not afraid of hard work. These past few months have nearly suffocated me. Haven’t you noticed how my sister-in-law is now? Whenever she has a moment to spare, she hands Lin’er over to my older brother. She’d rather feed the chickens and tend the garden than look after the child.”

But compared to Yan Qi, Ye Suping had it even harder—she was still breastfeeding. No matter how sleepy she was at night, she had to get up. She looked much more haggard than she did when she was pregnant.

“With a child, there’ll only be more and more expenses. How can we get by on just your income?”

Yan Qi reached behind his back, signaling to Huo Ling that he didn’t need to massage his lower back anymore.

“Besides, don’t Brother Lin and Ming-ger have to go into town every day to sell buns? We can have Brother Lin drive the cart and give me a ride. When the two of them get tired from walking, they can stop by the shop to rest.”

Thinking it through, everything seemed to fall into place—he simply had to rent the shop.

With that in mind, Yan Qi paused for a moment to compose himself before saying, “But six taels a year isn’t exactly a small sum.”

“We can pay monthly, but I was thinking—given our relationship with Dayang—it’d be better to pay a bit more upfront. That way, it’s less hassle for us, and they’ll have peace of mind.”

Yan Qi considered it for a moment. “How about paying for half a year in advance? Three taels—we can afford that, and the remaining money will be enough to cover any unexpected expenses without leaving us short. By the way, how much did you sell in town today?”

“I was so preoccupied with the kids and this whole situation when I walked in that I completely forgot my money pouch.”

Huo Ling slapped his forehead, rolled off the kang, and fetched the small bag he carried with him.

“Tianma went for thirty wen per jin, just like last year. Mushrooms were a bit more expensive, but I didn’t have much left. All told, I sold it for one tael and eight hundred wen, of which two hundred wen and a half was from the tianma. I harvested the mushrooms during my last trip to the mountains, and the tianma was essentially Yingsheng and Chensheng’s—I only took a bit of profit.”

He emptied out the copper coins and said, “I rounded it up to a round number for them and brought back one tael and six hundred wen.”

The two men counted out a thousand wen in copper coins, stringing them into neat strings. When they finished and turned around, they discovered that amid the clinking of the coins, Xiaoqi had long since fallen into a deep sleep.

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One day at the end of the seventh month, Huo Ling accompanied Huo Feng into town to buy a birthday gift for Ye Suping.

Huo Feng carefully selected a silver ring at the silversmith’s shop, then went to a cosmetics shop to pick out a box of fragrant bath beans.

Earlier, during their first visit to Hou Li’s home, Hou Li’s wife had given Yan Qi a box of bath beans. After returning home, he and Ye Suping had shared them—it had been around this time last year.

A box of bath beans didn’t contain much; even if they’d used them sparingly, they would have run out long ago. After that, neither of them had been willing to buy more—after all, they were a luxury one could do without.

But Huo Feng had kept it in mind, waiting for Ye Suping’s birthday to give her a surprise.

After all, if he’d bought them on any other day, he would certainly have been scolded for wasting money.

Huo Ling bought a box as well, though it had a different scent than Huo Feng’s.

Since they were in town, the two had other business to attend to. After tucking the gifts into their coats, they changed course and headed to Yang’s Umbrella Shop.

Yang Qingsheng had already agreed with the shop’s owner to buy the shop; they were just waiting for the current tenant to move out in August.

The shop on Temple Front Street was indeed vacant, but it was in such poor condition that, according to Yang Qingsheng, when he went inside to take a look after opening the door, he ended up with a mouthful of dust. He insisted that the previous owner fix it up before handing it over, saying it would be too much of a loss if he had to cover all the renovation costs himself.

“As we’ve agreed, the roof needs to be repaired, the doors and windows replaced, and the walls repainted. Once it’s in my hands, I’ll take a closer look.”

There’s plenty of time for second thoughts, but since the matter was already settled, Huo Ling didn’t want to drag it out any longer. He had Yang Qingsheng summon the real estate agent handling the transaction to draw up the lease on the spot. They each pressed their thumbprints on the document and agreed that the rent would be paid when the keys were handed over.

There were two copies of the lease, one for each party. As he left the umbrella shop, Huo Ling patted his chest, suddenly feeling that all his hard work over the years had not been in vain.

Even if it was just a rented space, once he’d paid the rent, it would still be his territory.

As a mountain porter who also sold pastries, he didn’t share Yang Qingsheng’s grand ambition to buy a shopfront. Yang Qingsheng felt that way because his family was already considered city dwellers, and Yang Jun was currently studying at the town’s private school.

The Yang family had worked tirelessly for three generations just to gain a foothold and put down roots in the city.

Unlike Huo Ling, who was set on taking Yan Qi to the mountains to live out his days once the child grew up.

For him, the only thing left on his mind these days was building a new house.

Besides, renting a storefront would also benefit the family.

Huo Feng and Ye Suping had bought quite a few more chicks and ducklings this year; several months had passed, and they’d grown up. It was clear that the first batch of hens and ducks were already ready to lay eggs. When the time came, they could sell them all together at the stall and even put up an extra sign stating that live poultry and game were available—and that anyone interested could place an order in advance.

“Second Brother, do you think this is the cart dealership Dayang was talking about?”

Huo Feng led the ox ahead, walked around a few corners, then stopped and turned to ask Huo Ling.

“There are two big willow trees in front of the gate… that’s the one.”

Huo Ling was the first to step into the courtyard through the open gate, saying he wanted to buy an ox-drawn covered wagon.

The family’s old flatbed cart could carry people, but since Yan Qi would need to take the child back and forth in the future, the flatbed cart had many drawbacks, so it would be better to switch to a covered wagon.

The old flatbed cart was taken out of service and left at home, where it could still be put to good use in many ways.

Since Huo Ling had originally purchased the flatbed cart for business purposes, and it was now being repurposed for household use—and it was obvious that the main household would use it the most—Huo Feng had already agreed with Huo Ling that they would cover the cost of the purchase. He didn’t want Huo Feng and Yan Qi to bear the expense alone, as that would be an unfair advantage for them.

The flatbed cart had been in use for over half a year and had worn out considerably, so Huo Ling halved the original purchase price and accepted five hundred wen from Huo Feng.

Today, when buying the covered wagon, he’ll have to add another three taels on top of those five hundred wen.

And that was only after he brought up Yang Qingsheng’s name; otherwise, they would have asked for several hundred wen more.

The shop assistant helped hitch the covered wagon to the ox cart, then had Huo Feng and Huo Ling drive it around a couple of times before getting inside to try it out.

So Huo Ling drove the cart while Huo Feng sat inside. After getting out, Huo Feng remarked, “It’s certainly expensive, but sitting inside really is something else. I feel just like one of those gentlemen in the city who ride in palanquins—to look outside, I have to lift the curtain first. It’s quite a novel experience.”

Huo Ling tapped the sides of the carriage with his fingers to confirm that the wood was solid and free of wormholes.

After inspecting it inside and out and finding no flaws, the two paid the bill with cash.

They’d brought back quite a lot from their trip into town. Yingzi was the first to climb into the cart to check it out; Ye Suping, holding Lin-ger, also peered in from the front. The two dogs, Heidou and Mantou, jumped up, darting in and out to sniff around.

As for the bath beans Huo Feng had bought—intended as a birthday gift—he asked Huo Ling to keep them hidden for him for the time being, just as he had with the silver ring.

After bringing the items inside and closing the door, Huo Ling took out the box of bath beans he’d bought and handed it to Yan Qi.

“Big Brother wanted to give Big Sister a box, and since I thought this one looked nice, I bought one for you too. Take a whiff and see if you like it. I originally intended to buy the same kind that Lady Hou gave us last year, but I honestly can’t remember what that scent was.”

“Why waste money on this? It’s just like soapberries—it does nothing more than add a bit of fragrance to a good wash.”

“That’s exactly what it’s all about—that hint of fragrance. Once you’re out of your postpartum confinement, give yourself a good wash with this. Doesn’t the thought of it make you happy?”

Yan Qi couldn’t help but smile. He opened the box, leaned in, and took a light sniff. Sure enough, it was exactly the kind of scent he’d like—a delicate fragrance with just a hint of perfume.

“I’ll put it away for now, then.”

The ger lowered his eyes, appearing calm, and said, “I’ll take it out and use it in a little while.”

Huo Ling gave a half-smile and replied, “All right.”