“We can draw up a contract. My bookkeeper handles these matters regularly. If you don’t mind, I’ll have him draft it for us. How does that sound?” Wei Liangce said, gesturing toward Mi Kangping beside him.

Ji Rongxia replied somewhat listlessly, “All right.”

“Come by at the hour of the rooster, and I’ll show you how to make these crumbly pancakes. But you’ll have to pay first before watching, and you’ll need to give me one tael of silver as a deposit. If you don’t show up by the hour of the monkey, I won’t refund the money. These crumbly pancakes require both flour and minced meat—if you don’t come, I’ll lose money baking so many of them.” As he spoke, Ji Rongxia began to cheer up again; after all, he was still making a profit.

“That’s only fair,” Wei Liangce agreed immediately. “I’ll give you five taels of silver as a deposit.”

To show his sincerity, Wei Liangce raised the amount of the deposit.

Ji Rongxia had no reason to refuse.

With that, the two sides reached an agreement. Gu Tangjin brought out paper and ink, and Mi Kangping skillfully drafted the contract. Ji Rongxia nudged Gu Tangjin’s arm; Gu Tangjin smiled, took the contract, read it over once, and then handed it over to Ji Rongxia with confidence.

Ji Rongxia immediately understood that Tangjin was implying the contract was in order.

So he pretended to read through the contract with great care.

Hmm, his recent literacy lessons had paid off; he recognized most of the characters.

“It’s fine,” Ji Rongxia said without giving anything away.

Wei Liangce and Ji Rongxia signed their names and pressed their palm prints onto the document.

Each party received a copy of the contract.

Wei Liangce first handed over five taels of silver to Ji Rongxia.

After confirming there were no further issues, Gu Tangjin and Ji Rongxia stood up to see Wei Liangce and Mi Kangping out.

Once they had left, Ji Rongxia closed the door and only then revealed an expression of excitement and joy.

“Look! Tangjin, come quickly and look at this contract. Isn’t it beautiful!” Ji Rongxia exclaimed excitedly, patting Gu Tangjin’s arm rapidly.

Gu Tangjin nodded. “Yes, it’s beautiful.”

“Mom and Dad, isn’t it beautiful?” Ji Rongxia asked Yao Tianlan and Gu Chuncai.

Yao Tianlan smiled so widely that her eyes were almost hidden. “Yes, it’s wonderful.”

Gu Chuncai opened his mouth to speak. Recipes were meant to be kept within the family; they shouldn’t be sold to outsiders. Once or twice is fine, but this can’t become a habit. He’d never heard of a chef making a living by selling recipes—only a spendthrift would do such a thing. But this recipe belonged to Xia-ger himself, and since Xia-ger and Tangjin were so delighted, how could he possibly bring himself to pour cold water on their enthusiasm?

Yao Tianlan didn’t even need to look at him to know what he was thinking. She gave Gu Chuncai a quick pinch on the lower back, signaling him to keep quiet.

Gu Chuncai: “Ouch!”

Gu Chuncai: “……”

He hadn’t planned on speaking anyway.

Gu Tangjin was such a perceptive person; of course, he noticed something was off between his parents.

But he believed that Xia-ger was only thinking about finally being able to buy land—he certainly wasn’t overthinking it.

Father’s worries were completely unfounded.

Sure enough, soon after the initial excitement subsided, Ji Rongxia folded the deed a few times and casually handed it to Gu Tangjin for safekeeping. With both hands now free, he patted his slightly flushed cheeks.

“We can buy land now!” After saying this, Ji Rongxia suddenly remembered he hadn’t mentioned the plan to his parents, so he quickly turned to Gu Tangjin for help.

Gu Tangjin smiled and interjected, “Father and Mother, Xia-ger and I want to buy some fields outside the county town.”

As for what they would grow, he didn’t go into detail.

Does buying land require a reason? No, because Yao Tianlan and Gu Chuncai wanted to buy some too!

Yao Tianlan felt reassured the moment she heard this. Xia-ger was still level-headed; he knew that to feel at ease with such a windfall, he had to convert it into farmland and shops.

Gu Chuncai’s face also softened into a smile: “Alright, buying some farmland can’t be wrong. When the time comes, I’ll ask around to see which families are selling land.”

As for buying land, it wasn’t that Gu Chuncai hadn’t thought about it. Not owning any land himself always left him feeling a bit uneasy. But in the past, he’d had to support Gu Tangjin’s education and his preparations for the imperial examinations—everything required money. In recent years, the Gu family has also renovated their house and restaurant and built several new rooms. With money flowing out like water, Gu Chuncai had put the idea of buying land on hold.

Gurgle, gurgle.

Ji Rongxia’s stomach growled.

He clapped his hand over his stomach. “I forgot—we haven’t even finished breakfast yet.”

Ji Rongxia laughed at his own remark, and the courtyard was instantly filled with laughter.

Gu Tangjin went into the kitchen to fetch the food. Ji Rongxia hopped along to follow him, but was stopped by Yao Tianlan: “Finish your meal first. Then the two of you go buy flour and meat. Since they’ve given us the money, we have to bake the buns for them. If you two can’t handle it all, your father and I can lend a hand.”

“If this works out, you two should head over to your in-laws’ place before dark today and tell your parents about it. Once you have your own fields, your in-laws will have more leverage when dealing with the Qian family.” Yao Tianlan held Ji Rongxia’s hand and gave him careful instructions.

Ji Rongxia nodded repeatedly: “I understand, Mother.”

Millet porridge with fish-flavored shredded pork is still so delicious!

Perhaps because he was in a good mood, it tasted even better than usual.

After eating, Gu Tangjin and Ji Rongxia went out first to buy flour and pork. These ingredients were available at the local shops, but their stock was limited. Since they needed to make so many pancakes today, they had to go buy more flour and meat.

By the hour of the rooster, Wei Liangce, and Mi Kangping arrived right on time.

Having accepted their payment, Ji Rongxia took his responsibilities seriously. Not only did he have Gu Tangjin write out a detailed recipe for them, but he also explained how to bake the cakes while he was baking them himself.

He had watched quite a few demonstration videos provided by the system, so imitating the instructions was quite simple.

Ji Rongxia also enthusiastically had Gu Tangjin teach Wei Liangce and Mi Kangping how to knead the dough step by step, while he himself taught them how to bake the pancake.

When it came to kneading dough, Gu Tangjin’s skills were truly impressive!

Wei Liangce and Mi Kangping hadn’t expected Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin to be so dedicated.

They hadn’t originally planned to learn how to make these pancakes themselves, but ended up picking up the basics.

When they left, they not only took fifty pancakes with them but also a whole handful of baking tips.

“Those forty taels of silver were well spent—they practically taught both of us how to do it,” Mi Kangping said, giving Wei Liangce a hearty pat on the shoulder.

Wei Liangce nodded in full agreement.

Both sides were satisfied, feeling they’d gotten the better of the deal.

After finishing their work, Ji Rongxia hummed a tune as he linked arms with Gu Tangjin, walking toward the Ji family residence in the orange-red glow of the evening.

As they passed by the Liang family’s steamed bun shop, Liang Laoniang shot them several fierce glares.

Ji Rongxia, in high spirits, didn’t notice, but Gu Tangjin did.

“What’s wrong?” Ji Rongxia sensed he had slowed his pace and asked with concern, “Are you too tired today? Do your legs hurt?”

“No.” Gu Tangjin shook his head and continued walking, still linked arm-in-arm with him.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

“Why are you here? Didn’t you just come yesterday?” Hong Yuelian had been wondering when she heard the knock. It was getting late, and the sky was nearly dark—who on earth would be visiting at this hour?

Seeing that it was Gu Tangjin and Ji Rongxia, Hong Yuelian warmly ushered them inside.

Ji Rongxia: “Mother, the courtyard is so clean and tidy. Did Xiao He and Cao-ger help tidy it up?”

He looked around and barely recognized his own courtyard.

Their courtyard was small; they’d dug a well and built a shed to help his father and older brother with their carpentry work, which made the already cramped space feel even more cramped.

Now, while there were just as many—if not more—items in the courtyard, everything was tidy. Not a single weed remained on the ground; the potholes and uneven patches had been filled in, and the scraps of wood and offcuts that usually lay scattered haphazardly around the shed had all been tidied away.

With everything so clean and orderly, the space seemed much larger.

It’s stifling inside the house in the summer, so spending the evening in the courtyard is much more comfortable. It’s cooled off a bit now; mugwort was burning in the courtyard to ward off mosquitoes. Xiao He and Cao-ger are sitting on the east side of the courtyard winding hemp thread, while Qian Xuecheng is sitting beside them, enjoying the cool breeze.

Ji Rongxia’s father and older brother were still planing wood in the courtyard before it got completely dark.

“That’s right, those two kids are so hardworking.” At the mention of this, a smile spread across Hong Yuelian’s face. Having the two children come to live with them had been a last resort, but since they had such good character, she now actually felt it was for the best.

“Brother Xia, Xiucai Gu,” Xiao He called out in a clear, crisp voice.

Cao-ger looked a bit shy, head bowed, but followed suit: “Brother Xia, Xiucai Gu.”

“Such good boys,” Ji Rongxia said with a smile as he took two sesame candies from his basket and handed them to the children.

These sesame candies were bought from the Liu family’s pastry shop. They didn’t want to arrive empty-handed, but they hadn’t had time to prepare anything in advance today. With baking pancakes and tending to the dry goods shop in the afternoon, they were too busy, so Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin simply bought half a pound of sesame candies from the Liu family’s shop to bring along.

Xiao He accepted them graciously and said sweetly, “Thank you, Brother Xia.”

Cao-ger also whispered, “Thanks, Brother Xia.”

Ji Rongxia: “No problem, go ahead and eat.”

“What’s that smell? It sounds like something’s burning.” Gu Tangjin took a deep breath and suddenly said.

Ji Rongxia, who had been engrossed in talking with Cao-ger and Xiao He, also took a deep breath: “It really does smell like something’s burning!”

“Oh no, the fish on my stove!” Hong Yuelian slapped her thigh and hurried off toward the kitchen.

Qian Xuecheng had been in a terrible mood these past few days because of the Qian family affairs, and his health had taken a bit of a hit. Hong Yuelian had planned to cook a fish for him today to help him recover. She’d traded for this fish at the dock this afternoon—it was fresh, having just been caught.

Ji Rongxia hurried over to take a look. The fish was already burnt. Even if it hadn’t been, the scales hadn’t been scraped clean, so it was inedible anyway.

“Mother, don’t bother with it. Let me handle it.” Ji Rongxia quickly turned off the stove.

Hong Yuelian refused: “I can handle it.”

Qian Xuecheng stood up to help: “Xia-ger, don’t bother. I’ll help Mother.”

“Brother-in-law, rest up. Don’t move,” Ji Rongxia said to Qian Xuecheng first.

Then, he pointed at the huge grass carp and turned to his own mother, speaking earnestly: “Mother, the way you’re cooking this fish, it can’t even rest in peace. Have a heart—let me give it a proper send-off.”

“This fish—one side is burnt to a crisp, and the other is still raw!”

“Its eyes are still flickering with the light of a death that wasn’t worth it.”

“Such a fine, fresh grass carp—born plump and healthy, yet dying such a miserable death.”

Gu Tangjin: “……” Hold it in—I can’t laugh!

Carpenter Ji let out a snort and couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Hong Yuelian: “!!!”

Furious and humiliated, she grabbed her husband by the ear: “What are you laughing at? I worked so hard cooking, and now you’re finding fault with it.”

“I wasn’t laughing, I was just coughing,” Carpenter Ji said sullenly.

“Hey! Don’t lie to me—I heard you!”

Xiao He and Cao-ger exchanged a glance, both their eyes brimming with amusement.

Ji Ronghu looked from his father to his mother, then silently moved his little stool a bit further away.

Meanwhile, Qian Xuecheng, who had just stood up, quietly sat back down.