Hii readers, sorry for the late upload, there were some issues with the site our account nearly got banned due to five translators logging in simultaneously and uploading all at the same time from different computers for one translator account, thankfully, we managed toresolve it. Enjoy the rest of the bonanza.

Chapter Bonanza (6/10)

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As they passed the village entrance, the villagers gathered there chatting saw the donkey tied behind the oxcart, and their eyes widened in surprise.

The Yan family already owned an ox, and since they had no fields to cultivate, there was really no need to buy a donkey; this donkey most likely belonged to Yan Xiaoyu’s family.

Even though everyone knew Yan Xiaoyu’s family ran a successful food stall—and Yan Shaocheng had even come up with a scheme to make money together—the villagers were still surprised that they had bought a donkey just half a month after opening their stall.

“Brother Yu, did your family buy this donkey? It must have cost quite a bit of silver, right?”

“This donkey’s a fine one—sturdy build, looks strong. With it around, we’ll save some effort plowing the fields!”

“Oh my, come next spring’s planting season, our village will have one more hardworking beast!”

“……”

Everyone chimed in, bombarding Yan Xiaoyu with questions.

A few of the older laborers gathered around the donkey, examining it intently, their eyes glued to its body, reluctant to look away. Some even had the nerve to ask Yan Xiaoyu if they could borrow the donkey in the future.

Even Niu Fugui came out to give it a couple of pats: “That’s quite a donkey, Brother Yan. Your family’s doing better and better these days.”

He glanced at Yan Shaocheng and joked to Yan Xiaoyu, “Your brother’s a capable fellow. Don’t just look out for your neighbors—give us a heads-up if anything comes up in the future.”

Yan Xiaoyu’s mind stirred.

Niu Fugui was the sort of man who liked to get his share. Last time, when he and Yu Chunying led a group up the mountain to look for Yan Xiaoyu, after Yan Xiaoyu returned safely, Yan Xingmao and He Qiuhua sent six eggs and two blocks of tofu the very next day to each of the households that had helped out as a token of gratitude.

As for Niu Fugui’s family, they’d sent all sorts of food—the eggs they’d given as gifts were even bought from their own shop. Back then, Niu Fugui had praised them for their generosity, so why did he seem a bit resentful today, as if they’d neglected him?

Could it be that this village chief is also thinking of doing business?

Although Niu Fugui liked to take advantage of situations, he had indeed helped Yan Xiaoyu’s family quite a bit. His wife, Yu Chunying, and his son, Nian-ger, were both straightforward people, and the other sons and daughters-in-law had good temperaments as well; Yan Xiaoyu actually quite liked this family.

Right now, things at home are getting a bit overwhelming. If he were to hire help or outsource some of the work, Niu Fugui’s family would be an excellent choice.

With so many people around gossiping, Yan Xiaoyu didn’t ask for details, but a vague idea began to form in his mind.

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Over the next few days, he kept mulling it over.

Over the past month or so, the family had earned nearly three taels of silver. They’d more than doubled their investment in the donkey, but the expenses were staggering.

Just buying the donkey cart had cost nearly three taels of silver.

The donkey cart Yan Xiaoyu chose had a covered carriage, somewhat similar to Ji Yan’s horse-drawn carriage, though the materials weren’t quite as fine. Although the donkey cart was a bit more expensive, having it meant they wouldn’t have to endure the sun and rain.

If they had bought a simple wooden cart, it would have been much cheaper, but seeing that the weather was growing colder, Yan Xiaoyu decided not to skimp on this expense.

After all, winter would set in within a month, and by then the cold wind would be bone-chilling.

Once the weather turned cold, the mattresses they’d brought from the Yan household would no longer be suitable. Those three mattresses were worn out and tattered, stuffed with nothing but reed and willow fluff—there was hardly any cotton in them. The land allocated to Old Master Yan and the others wasn’t suitable for growing cotton.

Yan Xiaoyu decided to have He Qiuhua buy three catties of cotton in the village, intending to use it for making mattresses and winter clothes.

Cotton was very expensive—two hundred wen per catty. Three catties of cotton would cost a full six taels of silver, which was enough to buy half a donkey.

But for a family of four to make mattresses, cotton robes, and cotton pants, three catties of cotton were essential. As Yan Xiaoyu explained, they’d need to make two sets of winter clothes—otherwise, they’d have nothing to change into.

At first, Yan Xingmao and his wife flatly refused.

The soil in Xiling Village was barren and the terrain uneven; three catties of cotton was nearly the yield of an entire mu of land—it was simply too much.

The couple spoke in unison, insisting that Yan Xiaoyu and his older sister should make their own clothes—they themselves didn’t need to go out, so they had no use for such mattresses and garments; they’d managed just fine that way in previous years.

If they really had to make them, they could wait until next year and use the cotton they grew themselves.

Yan Xiaoyu wouldn’t hear of it.

Cotton prices were indeed high, but wasn’t he selling tofu and food just to make a living for himself and his family? Since they had enough money, why make things harder on themselves?

If they caught a cold and got sick, it would be even less worth it.

‌‌After much persuasion, he finally convinced his parents.

Actually, since the autumn harvest had just passed, cotton was still relatively cheap now. Yan Shaocheng had said that once winter set in and the weather turned bitterly cold, the price could even soar to three hundred wen per catty, which was why Yan Xiaoyu had urged He Qiuhua to buy three catties all at once.

Some families in the village couldn’t even save six taels of silver in a whole year. Yan Xiaoyu sighed to himself—no wonder the poor in ancient times found winter so hard to endure, and why the young masters in storybooks would end up selling their clothes when they fell on hard times!

The cotton had been bought, but his extravagant spending habits had somewhat alarmed his parents.

Fearing that the house-building project would be delayed any further, Yan Xingmao and his wife cautiously broached the subject with their son, asking if they could go ahead and buy the land first.

This was the first time the couple had taken the initiative to suggest a purchase, and Yan Xiaoyu agreed without hesitation.

Construction would begin right after the Lunar New Year next year; they had already discussed it. Buying the land a few months early wouldn’t be a problem, and they would decide how many craftsmen to hire and what style to build based on the local conditions.

So, Yan Xiaoyu spent six taels of silver to buy a plot of land from Niu Fugui.

Yan Xingmao and He Qiuhua were so moved by the deed that tears nearly welled up in their eyes—they would finally have a house that was entirely their own!

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Not counting other miscellaneous expenses, the donkey cart, cotton, and the plot of land alone cost fifteen taels. The silver they’d worked so hard to earn hadn’t even had time to warm their pockets before half of it was gone in the blink of an eye, and Yan Xiaoyu began to feel a sense of urgency.

Next year, they wouldn’t just be building a house—they also planned to open a restaurant in the county seat!

Yan Shaoxuan had inquired earlier: even the cheapest shop at the foot of the county mountain cost seven or eight taels a year in rent. Yan Xiaoyu wanted to rent a place that came with a well and a house, which would be even more expensive—at least one or two taels more.

Once the shop was rented, renovating it and purchasing the utensils needed to run the eatery would be another expense. Adding it all up, he feared it would take two or three taels to get everything ready.

On top of that, once their house was built, they’d need to buy furniture, and since they planned to prepare food at home, they’d also need to dig a well for convenience…

Money was needed everywhere.

Yan Xiaoyu had originally thought that since their family was now earning a little over one tael a day, by next spring they would surely have saved enough silver for both building the house and opening the restaurant.

But after crunching the numbers these past few days, he realized it wasn’t quite secure.

Since buying the donkey, life had become easier for his family, but expanding the business would still be difficult. He’d have to hire a few people or delegate some of the work.

After much deliberation, Yan Xiaoyu finally decided to recruit a few people from the village to join him in a partnership and make money together.

To go into business together, he naturally needed to choose people of good character and trustworthy. Aside from Niu Fugui, whom he had hinted at earlier, the first people Yan Xiaoyu thought of were Aunt He and Liu Pingshan.

Aunt He had helped Yan Xiaoyu’s family quite a bit in the past; her family relied on farming and selling vegetables to make ends meet, and their current circumstances weren’t much better.

Now that there was an opportunity to help her out, Yan Xiaoyu was more than happy to do so. He was just about to discuss it with her parents and have He Qiuhua go talk to Aunt He when Aunt He and Liu Pingshan came looking for them first.

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That day, Yan Xiaoyu and his older sister had just returned from town when their parents pulled them into the house to talk.

He Qiuhua stammered, “Your… your Aunt He and Uncle Liu came by today. They… they’d like to ask for your help in finding a way to make some money.”

By now, everyone in the village knew that Yan Xiaoyu was the head of the household.

Although Yan Xingmao had obtained the tofu recipe, he hadn’t been able to make tofu for years, leading villagers to speculate that there must be some flaw in the recipe.

When the tofu was finally made, Yan Xingmao was still limping. The fact that it turned out well was likely due to Yan Xiaoyu’s efforts; otherwise, the family wouldn’t let a young girl make all the decisions.

But Yan Xiaoyu was quite fierce. Setting aside the recent examples of Yan Xiaobao and Wang Ergou, just the other day, a man tried to mess with Yan Xingmao. When Yan Xiaoyu saw this, he immediately shoved the man into the ditch.

This young ger was truly not someone to mess with.

So now, whenever anyone had a matter to discuss, they would first speak with Yan Xingmao and He Qiuhua—who were known to be approachable—and then ask them to pass the message on to Yan Xiaoyu.

Aunt He and Liu Pingshan likely felt awkward about speaking directly to Yan Xiaoyu, which was why they turned to Yan Xingmao and his wife.

Yan Xiaoyu had already planned to bring Aunt He into the partnership, so he was naturally willing to help, but he was still a bit surprised: “Why did Aunt He and the others suddenly decide they wanted me to help them set up a business?”

“Ah!” Yan Xingmao sighed. “Aunt He’s family is in a pitiful situation. Her eldest daughter—your sister, Liu Xu—returned to her parents’ home the day before yesterday. Her in-laws have actually divorced her!”

Yan Xingmao explained the whole story to Yan Xiaoyu and his older sister. 

It turned out that Liu Xu had been married for three years without bearing any children. Her husband had long been dissatisfied with her, but because their family was poor, he knew that divorcing his wife would make it difficult to remarry, so he had been putting up with it.

Later, for some reason, he started seeing a widower from their village. This year, that widower’s wife became pregnant with his child, and now there was simply no room left for Liu Xu.

And so, Liu Xu was divorced. Liu Pingshan went to his daughter’s in-laws’ home to stand up for her, but not only did he fail to get justice, but he was also berated.

The family claimed Liu Xu was a hen that wouldn’t lay eggs but insisted on occupying the nest, which infuriated Liu Pingshan to no end. But his brothers refused to help, and with just Liu Pingshan and his son, they were no match for the other family’s numbers, so they had to return home first.

The Liu family was never well-off to begin with, and now with another mouth to feed, everyone in the household was deeply worried.

Aunt He and He Qiuhua had a good cry together. Aunt He said that if Liu Xu’s condition couldn’t be cured, she wouldn’t let her daughter marry and suffer anymore; from now on, she would stay at home and be cared for.

But feeding and clothing the four of them, plus the expenses for Liu Xu’s recuperation, all cost money, and she and Liu Pingshan were truly struggling to make ends meet.

Liu Pingshan had long been envious of Yan Shaocheng and had tried to get Aunt He to ask He Qiuhua for a business opportunity. Aunt He had always refused before, but this time, with no other options, she had no choice but to turn to He Qiuhua for help.

Although Liu Pingshan was somewhat opportunistic, he wasn’t a bad person and could be relied upon. Yan Xiaoyu didn’t take offense at his actions.

“Mom, Dad, please have Aunt He and Uncle Liu come over tomorrow afternoon. I have an idea, but I’d like to discuss it with you first.”