He opened his eyes blankly, meeting Gu Tangjin’s concerned gaze.

“What’s wrong? You look unhappy.”

Ji Rongxia said gloomily, “I didn’t complete the mission today. The cucumber was too difficult to cut!”

He pulled the quilt over his face.

It was a bit embarrassing. He couldn’t even cut a cucumber well.

Gu Tangjin: “…”

He chuckled, put down the book in his hand, and pulled at Ji Rongxia’s quilt: “I didn’t quite understand. Can you tell me in detail?”

Ji Rongxia exposed his eyes and glared at Gu Tangjin weakly.

He was so smart; how could he not understand? Gu Tangjin was just teasing him. Thinking this, Ji Rongxia stretched out his leg and nudged Gu Tangjin’s right leg.

Gu Tangjin suppressed his smile and apologised: “I truly didn’t understand. Please tell me in detail, Xia-ger.”

Ji Rongxia closed his eyes and mumbled to him, telling him how many cucumbers he had cut today.

“It can give me a catty of cucumber seeds! How many cucumbers can be grown from that? We won’t need to find other land. We can just plant some in the courtyard and set up bamboo frames. Maybe we can eat fresh cucumbers in the autumn.” Ji Rongxia felt highly motivated thinking this. “Next time, I must complete the mission perfectly. That way, we’ll have fresh cucumbers to eat in the autumn. You wouldn’t believe there are several kinds of cucumbers there that taste more like fruit. They smell sweet and have a lot of juice. Although I haven’t eaten them, I can guess the flavour must be good.”

“Good. I’ll help you plant them then. You will definitely complete the mission next time,” Gu Tangjin encouraged Ji Rongxia.

Ji Rongxia was no longer angry. Instead, he became happy, hugging Gu Tangjin’s arm and beginning to chatter about how refreshing it would be to bite into those fruit-like cucumbers, chilled with well water, when the ‘autumn tiger’ heatwave was still around in early autumn.

Gu Tangjin listened to him quietly.

The two were secretly happy for a while, then quickly went to sleep.

They were starting the breakfast business tomorrow. If they didn’t sleep now, they might not be able to handle it tomorrow.

The night was quiet. The next day, the two woke up before dawn.

They fetched water to wash up. Yesterday, they bought a lot of spring water from Fulang Li, which they would use to make fruit drinks today.

They boiled the spring water, added sugar, and set it aside to cool. They washed the fruits, peeled them, and cut them into chunks. While the stove was still hot, they added a piece of firewood and used the residual heat to cook a small pot of rice porridge.

Spring water, plus a little bit of rice, was carefully simmered. The rice porridge cooked this way was especially nourishing.

Fruit drinks were delicious, but they couldn’t be drunk all the time. They still needed variety so that breakfast was comfortable to eat, giving them energy for the day.

Gu Tangjin found four large porcelain basins and, as Ji Rongxia instructed, used a pestle to mash the fruit pulp.

One basin was peaches, one apricots, one plums, and one was a mix of the three fruits.

After mashing the fruit, he went to knead the dough. Gu Tangjin wasn’t good at cooking, but he was quite good at doing strenuous tasks as long as he wasn’t directly at the stove.

While the sugar water was cooling, Ji Rongxia began to make chive flatbreads.

He cut one flatbread into four pieces. One piece of flatbread costs one wen.

This flatbread used lard and flour, so even though the chives were free and the tofu was cheap, the flatbread really couldn’t be sold too cheaply. One whole flatbread was too big, and the price would be too high, which wasn’t suitable. Ji Rongxia thought it would be better to cut it into smaller pieces so that more people would buy it.

He didn’t dare to make too much for fear of not selling them, so he ultimately made forty pieces of flatbread, keeping ten pieces for his own family to eat.

After making the flatbreads, Ji Rongxia prepared the fruit drinks. Gu Tangjin was busy receiving the vegetables, meat, fish, and other ingredients delivered by the vendors today, and he also bought several more buckets of spring water.

When Ji Rongxia finished preparing the fruit drinks, the two went to the front to open the door and set up a table outside the eatery.

They brought out the four large porcelain basins of fruit drinks and placed them on the table. Then, they placed the bamboo sieve with the chive flatbreads on it. The makeshift stall was ready.

One bamboo sieve held ten chive flatbreads. Ji Rongxia didn’t bring out all four sieves, only placing one outside. When it was sold out, he would go get the rest.

“Oh my, you two are here!” Ge Fulang embraced his little grandson and opened the pastry shop door with one hand, squeezing out.

“The other day I told Huzai I’d buy him some sugar water today, and his little head remembered it. He woke up early, insisted I dress him, and as soon as your front door opened, he dragged me out. Why does he have such a good memory for such a small person?”

“Uncle Ge, Huzai is really clever, and his hearing is good too. We haven’t even started calling out, and Huzai can already hear us.” Ji Rongxia saw that the little child was wearing only a thin jacket because of the heat. He was husky, with big, round, black eyes, making him very endearing.

“Uncle Gu, Uncle Ji, hello,” Huzai, who was three years old, understood that Ji Rongxia was praising him. He hugged Ge Fulang’s neck and greeted them with a slight blush.

“Hey, Huzai, come quickly and see which one you want to drink,” Ji Rongxia beamed. It was hard not to be happy around such a little child.

Gu Tangjin brought out the clean bamboo cups and spoons he had washed from the courtyard.

“Uncle Ge, our fruit drinks are sold by the scoop, one wen per scoop. If you return the bamboo cup, it’s free. If you don’t return it, it costs one wen. If you use your own bowl to hold the fruit drink, there’s no charge for the bamboo cup. The flatbread is one wen per piece,” Gu Tangjin explained carefully.

“Oh my, then I’ll use a cup and return it to you later. I’ll also take eight pieces of the flatbread. I won’t light a fire and cook today. It’s too hot, and I’m lazy.” Uncle Ge said with a laugh. Since their family could open a pastry shop, they were relatively well-off. Since he was out buying things today, he bought breakfast as well.

“Alright!” Ji Rongxia’s eyes lit up. Starting a business and having the first customer right away was truly exciting.

“Huzai, look, this is peach, this is apricot, this is plum, and this one is a mix of all three fruits. Which one do you want to drink?” Ji Rongxia asked with a smile.

Huzai hugged Ger Ge’s neck and whispered, “Grandpa, can I have all of them?”

Uncle Ge burst into laughter: “Good, good, good. Then take one scoop of each, served in four bamboo cups. Sorry for the trouble.”

“No trouble at all,” Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin worked together, one packing the flatbreads, the other serving the sugar water.

The flatbreads were wrapped in clean, dry lotus leaves. Dry lotus leaves were cheap in the summer, and wrapping food in them added a fragrance. The eatery always bought many to store for use in the shop.

The scoop Gu Tangjin used was the large type used for serving porridge. One scoop filled most of the bamboo cup, a generous serving. Uncle Ge watched from the side and thought to himself that these two kids were quite honest in their business dealings.

There were too many things. Uncle Ge put Huzai down on the ground, let him hold the flatbread, and carried the four cups of fruit drink home himself.

Huzai held the chive flatbread wrapped in the large lotus leaf, his short little legs trotting happily behind Uncle Ge. He looked absolutely adorable.

Uncle Ge and his grandson bought so many things, which attracted a few people who were passing by.

The sugar water was only one wen per scoop, and the scoop was large. Many people saw that Gu Tangjin was generous when serving it just now; one scoop was full.

“One scoop of apricot fruit drink. I’ll drink it here and return the cup,” said a young man holding an oil-paper package.

“Good,” Gu Tangjin responded and served him a scoop of apricot-flavoured fruit drink.

The man took it and, too lazy to move, stepped aside and took a gulp of the fruit drink right by the stall.

The sweet and sour apricot flavour carried a hint of coolness, clean and refreshing. Taking a sip opened up his appetite.

The weather was so hot that the man didn’t have much of an appetite initially, but now he felt hungry.

Finishing it in one breath was incredibly refreshing.

When he wanted to buy another serving, he saw that a line had already formed in front of the stall.

He grimaced. This was his fault. Drinking it with such enjoyment immediately let those who came to check out the novel stall know that the things sold at the stall were good, and they naturally wanted to spend one or two wen to try the new thing. One wen for a scoop of sugar water; no matter how you calculated it, they wouldn’t lose out.

The few people who came bought the sugar water, even if it only gave them a little sweetness, it was worth it. Only one person bought two pieces of chive flatbread.

Anyone who tasted the fruit drink by the stall ended up buying more.

It was so cheap and fragrant and sweet, more economical than buying candy and fruits. In the hot summer, drinking a cup of this made the whole person feel refreshed.

Those who were more frugal turned to go home to get their bowls to hold the sugar water. Those who weren’t just bought the bamboo cups at the stall. They weren’t expensive at one wen each.

Seeing so many people gathered around their stall, more people came to buy breakfast from them. In turn, more people bought chive flatbreads.

Ji Rongxia smiled broadly as he wrapped the chive flatbreads for people.

At the Liu family pastry shop.

Liu Dalang woke up today and saw hot chive flatbreads on the dining room table. His little nephew was slowly drinking a fruit drink from a bamboo cup.

“Uncle,” Huzai sat on a long bench, his short little legs dangling, and he called out obediently.

“You finally got to drink sugar water. My ears hurt from hearing you cry the other day,” Liu Dalang said casually. He was married and had a little ger, but he still seemed like he hadn’t grown up. Fortunately, he was quite obedient, and his pastry-making skills were good. His frivolous personality wasn’t annoying either.

Huzai pouted and said, “Qian-ger also wants to drink, but he’s not good at crying.”

“Oh, you’re young, so you can cry,” Liu Dalang continued to tease his little nephew.

Huzai turned his head and drank the fruit drink in small sips, refusing to look at him anymore.

“Enough, you shouldn’t be so glib this early in the morning. If you have the energy, go soak the rice earlier. Also, there are only eight pieces of this flatbread. Just eat one, and if that’s not enough, I’ve heated up the steamed cornbread,” Ger Ge said, placing the cornbread on the table.

“Flatbread again,” Liu Dalang yawned, picked up a piece of chive flatbread, and took a bite.

“Mhm! This flatbread tastes good, very fragrant! Dad, where did you buy this chive flatbread?” Liu Dalang asked vaguely while eating the flatbread.

“Didn’t I tell you the other day? Xia-ger and Tangjin are going to start a food business. I went to buy fruit drinks today and just picked up some flatbreads. One wen a piece,” Ger Ge said.

“Is that so? It’s quite tasty. I’ll go buy some more then,” Liu Dalang quickly stood up and walked out while eating the flatbread.

Ger Ge knew he had some money in his hand, and eating a flatbread wasn’t a big deal, so he didn’t stop him.

Who knew that when Liu Dalang went out, he saw Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin packing up the stall.

“You’re sold out?!” Liu Dalang asked in surprise.

“Yes, today’s flatbreads and fruit drinks are all sold out. Brother Liu, please come again tomorrow,” Gu Tangjin said with a smile.

“Will you still sell this flatbread tomorrow?” Liu Dalang asked.

“Yes, we’ll still sell this tomorrow,” Ji Rongxia said with a smile. “We’ll change to a new item in a few days.”

Hearing this, Liu Dalang was relieved: “Tangjin, save two pieces of flatbread for me tomorrow. I’ll come and buy them.”

“Will do,” Gu Tangjin agreed.

Ji Rongxia happily packed up the stall. He calculated that the thirty pieces of flatbread sold for one hundred twenty wen, and the four basins of fruit drinks sold for sixty wen. After deducting the capital, they could earn over one hundred wen.

One hundred wen a day means three diao of money in a month!

That’s three taels of silver!

“It won’t be that much. The chives this time were free, and the fruit drinks can’t be sold all the time,” Gu Tangjin reminded him in a low voice.

“If we don’t have chives, we have something else. If we don’t have fruit drinks, we have something else. It won’t be much different. Even if we earn two taels a month, that’s fine,” Ji Rongxia was already very satisfied. Once they saved enough money, they could renovate the eatery and buy some farmland near the county town!

Seeing his husband’s proud and satisfied little expression, Gu Tangjin’s gaze softened slightly.