Chapter Bonanza (1/10)

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“Stinky tofu sells like hotcakes!” Yan Shaocheng laughed heartily. “The scholars at the county academy initially complained about its color and smell, but once they tasted it, they knew it was good.”

Yan Shaocheng had set up his stall near the county school today.

The county school sat atop a mountain on the city’s outskirts. There were no markets nearby, and street vending was strictly forbidden. Though the headmaster and the school’s administrators turned a blind eye, allowing some vendors to operate, they all worked in secret. If guards came out on patrol, they’d quickly disappear.

Yan Shaoxuan feared his elder brother would tire himself out, so he’d suggested finding a market stall in the county town instead. That way, Yan Shaocheng wouldn’t have to wander about and could rest during downtime.

But Yan Shaocheng refused. Drawing on his experience, he knew stinky tofu sold best among county school students and insisted on staying put.

Sure enough, today’s results were exhilarating—the entire bucket of stinky tofu he brought sold out.

“I stuck to our agreed price of ten wen per serving. After subtracting samples, we sold fifty servings today.”

Yan Xiaoyu calculated: fifty portions of stinky tofu brought in five hundred wen, with costs around two hundred wen. The remaining three hundred wen would be split—Yan Shaocheng getting one hundred and eighty wen, and he getting one hundred and twenty wen.

It was indeed a decent little business.

“It’s still early after today’s sales. I’ll head to the market closest to the county school. If it’s suitable, I’ll rent a stall—sell at the school in the morning and move there in the afternoon. That market mostly sells vegetables. You’re selling tofu and dried tofu fits well there, but me selling stinky tofu might not be quite right.”

The county town was large, with several distinct markets. Unlike the town, where food vendors, vegetable sellers, and miscellaneous goods merchants all gathered in one market, divided only by sections.

Townspeople went to the appropriate market for what they needed. Snack buyers generally wouldn’t venture into the vegetable market.

Yan Shaocheng found no suitable market nearby and wanted to roam the streets hawking his wares, but Yan Shaoxuan wouldn’t allow it.

He forbade Yan Shaocheng from traveling to sell elsewhere precisely to let him rest and recuperate. If he left before dawn every day, selling stinky tofu at the county school and then venturing into nearby alleys, it would be no different from traveling to trade elsewhere.

Fortunately, even selling only at the county school, at this rate, they could earn over a hundred wen daily. A month would bring in four or five taels of silver.

It was only early September now. Even excluding the month of the Spring Festival, there were still five months left before the provincial exams. They could save at least twenty taels.

As for the provincial exams, the timeframe was even more generous.

Yan Shaocheng felt half his worries lift, so he didn’t argue with his younger brother.

“Our stinky tofu has nicknames now. Magistrate Ji’s son named them by color—the black ones are ‘Black Tofu,’ and the white ones are ‘White Tofu.’”

“…” Yan Xiaoyu found it hard to tell whether to laugh or cry. Ji Wenyan’s talent for naming things wasn’t much better than his own.

After enthusiastically sharing his business updates, Yan Shaocheng turned to Yan Xiaoyu: “How did things go for you today? Everything smooth?”

As he finished speaking, Yan Shaoxuan also looked over.

Yan Xiaoyu recounted both the day’s business and the incident with the Qian family.

Yan Shaoxuan frowned. “They must have figured out you were the one causing trouble.”

“So what?” Yan Xiaoyu arched an eyebrow, unconcerned. “As long as I stay in town, they’ll find me a thorn in their side. The Qian family’s price gouging on tofu will come out sooner or later. But as long as I’m here, they’ll always suspect me. Might as well vent my frustration—I won’t bear this reputation for nothing!”

“Qian Hong—I’ve dealt with him, too. He’s a petty man. You’ve ruined his business today; I fear he’ll seek revenge behind the scenes.” Yan Shaocheng sighed. “You two, a brother and sister, have no relatives or friends in town. If anything happens, there’s no one to help you.”

Yan Shaoxuan shared this worry, but he knew Yan Xiaoyu was the type who wouldn’t take a loss lying down. Asking him to swallow his pride was truly asking the impossible.

Yan Shaocheng earnestly urged the young man not to act on momentary anger. Yan Shaoxuan listened thoughtfully, offering no immediate agreement.

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Today was the first time the two children went to town to sell food. Yan Xingmao and He Qiuhua were both anxious, glancing outside frequently at noon.

As the sun set, they steamed the rice and stir-fried the vegetables that could be prepared ahead of time. The couple sat working in the courtyard, their eyes fixed on the village path.

The moment Yan Xiaoyu and the others arrived, Yan Xingmao and He Qiuhua beamed with joy, rushing to greet them.

“Finally back!” Yan Xingmao hurried to the oxcart, smiling as he called out, “Yan Da, Yan Er, come eat before heading home.”

“Yes!” Yan Xiaoyu nodded repeatedly. “I already told them on the way.”

As they chatted, they unloaded the cart. He Qiuhua took the meat from Yan Xiaoyu’s hands and went to the kitchen to add more dishes, while Yan Xingmao brought out tea and snacks for them to nibble on.

The house, quiet for most of the day, regained its usual liveliness.

During the meal, Yan Xiaoyu declared boldly to the Yan brothers:

“Come over for dinner every night! Just tell me what you want to eat!”

Yan Xingmao and He Qiuhua also warmly invited them over. Yan Shaocheng and Yan Shaoxuan hesitated but eventually agreed.

When the conversation turned to today’s business, Yan Xiaoyu shared only the good news, mentioning that several soy products sold well. The tofu and bean curd pudding hadn’t sold out today,

But since the Qian family’s tofu was raising prices, their own tofu business should also improve going forward.

He made no mention of his conflict with Yan Yongfang and Qian Hong.

The Yan brothers and Yan Xiaoyue saw this and didn’t contradict him.

Before leaving after the meal, Yan Shaoxuan asked to buy three portions of spicy dried tofu to take home as a gift for someone.

“My sister and I rely on Brother Yan for daily rides. In the future, you should get up early…”

Yan Xiaoyu slapped his shoulder. “What’s this talk of buying? Your friend is my friend! Take whatever you need!”

Then, feigning nonchalance, he teased, “Just remember to look out for me when you pass the exams and become a scholar or a juren.”

Yan Shaoxuan froze for a moment at the slap, then snapped back to reality. His shoulder felt warm, and seeing He Qiuhua and Yan Xingmao staring at them with wide eyes made him feel even more uncomfortable.　

Yan Xingmao was startled by his ger’s boldness. Seeing Yan Shaoxuan’s gaze, he forced a smile: “Second Young Master Yan, no need for formalities. You and First Young Master have helped our family so much—a few meals are nothing.”

“Yes, yes!” He Qiuhua had wanted to cover her face earlier, , but now she steeled herself and stammered in agreement, “And, and… if you need other foodstuffs, feel free to take some of those too.”

Yan Xingmao chimed in, “That’s right! We also have sweet potato noodles made by Xiaoyu, dried peach slices, and chrysanthemum tea at home. Would you like to take some of those as well?”

Yan Xiaoyu was baffled, unsure why his parents were being so attentive.

Yan Shaocheng’s gaze swept over Yan Xingmao and his wife. He wondered inwardly—could it be that his younger brother wasn’t self-sufficient? Had Yan Xiaoyu taken a real liking to his brother? Otherwise, why would the Yans be so warm?

Earlier at the dinner table, they’d been urging his younger brother to eat nonstop, practically pouring that bowl of braised pork directly into his bowl.

Truth be told, this was the first time his eccentric younger brother had ever received such treatment. Usually, when visiting others’ homes, Yan Shaoxuan wore a cold expression, and few dared to serve him food.

But now things were different. Yan Shaocheng felt both delighted and troubled.

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By the time the Yan brothers left, dusk had fallen.

Yan Xiaoyu and the others weren’t idle. They prepared the tofu skewers, dried tofu, and tofu puffs for the day’s sales.

This time, they also delivered some of the spicy dried tofu and chicken broth tofu skewers to well-connected families in the village, asking them to help spread the word.

The spicy dried tofu and chicken broth tofu skewers were a bit pricey, but the other items were reasonably priced. That day, they sold two or three pounds each of the dried tofu, tofu skewers, and tofu puffs kept at home, plus ten portions of fermented tofu. However, tofu and tofu pudding still weren’t selling well, barely moving at all.

By afternoon, Yan Xingmao and He Qiuhua had already processed the remaining tofu into dried tofu, but the skewers and puffed tofu still needed some work. Tonight, they would fry the skewers and puffed tofu, and only then would they have time to prepare the chicken soup tofu skewers.

The family worked together—some tending the fire, some holding the ladle, some slicing tofu—busy for about an hour before finally preparing all the ingredients needed for the day.

By the time they finished, darkness had completely fallen.

Yan Xiaoyu closed the courtyard gate, brought two money boxes to the table, and called the family to count the coins together.

Today had been exhausting, but at the sight of the coins in the box, Yan Xiaoyu’s lips curled upward again—and so did He Qiuhua’s and the others’.

Today’s market stalls brought in 720 wen from three food items, 900 wen from three ingredients, and 150 wen from tofu and bean curd. Altogether, the total was 1,770 wen.

The few household items sold brought in over two hundred wen. All told, they earned nearly two taels of silver today.

Though profits were decent, costs were high. Beans were cheap, but marinades, oils, salts, and other seasonings were pricey. Buying and cooking chicken for soup alone costs over a hundred wen. The iron wok and stove for stir-frying spicy tofu, plus the bowls, chopsticks, tables, and stools for customers, were also major expenses. Add to that the monthly stall fee of two hundred wen, and today’s two taels of silver left them with little left over.

The major expenses have already been recouped. There’s still plenty left from the last batch of seasonings purchased. Starting from today, earning two taels daily means a profit of at least twelve hundred wen.

Earning two taels of silver in a single day was something Yan Xingmao never dared to dream of before. Even though he and He Qiuhua knew this business could be profitable, they never imagined it would be this lucrative.

The family was overjoyed. They counted the copper coins in the money chest and strung them together with rope.

One hundred wen per string, fifteen strings in total, with a few dozen coins left over. There were also two small pieces of silver, given by two big customers, totaling four qian.

A new house for the Yan Xiaoyu family was within reach.

Counting the money had brought great joy, but when Yan Xiaoyu rose at the hour of Yin the next morning, he felt utterly miserable.

Having slept only two hours each night for two nights straight, he was utterly exhausted.

He Qiuhua felt sorry for the boy and wanted to take over the early morning preparations so he and Yan Xiaoyue could sleep a little longer.

But the household chores were overwhelming—grinding beans, making tofu, simmering chicken soup with tofu skewers, preparing breakfast, organizing the stall supplies… every task required hands.

If he and Yan Xiaoyue didn’t rise to help, He Qiuhua and Yan Xingmao simply couldn’t manage.

Yan Xiaoyu got up, his eyes still dark and puffy from the chicken soup he’d been boiling. He wondered if they should hire someone to help.

Going on like this, even a god would be worn out!