Becoming the Vicious Husband of a Juren Household
Author: Zhu Liuliu
Making Money Isn’t Easy
It really wasn’t strange that Jiang Mai had been so worried.
Yesterday afternoon, after Ye Liang left, Ye Li had fried all the remaining tofu into tofu puffs. He’d sent one jin to Jiang Dahe’s family, and there were still three jin left at home.
If today’s tofu didn’t sell, it would have to be fried again.
And if the tofu puffs couldn’t be sold either, they would truly be ruined!
Jiang Mai had just stepped out of the kitchen when he saw Ye Liang entering the courtyard. He immediately ran toward him.
Over the past few years, Ye Liang had often come to Yezao Slope to help the Jiang family with farm work. The two of them were fairly familiar with each other.
As he ran, Jiang Mai called out, “Second Brother Liang, did the tofu puffs sell?”
Ye Liang broke into a grin. “Sold!”
“They went fast too—less than half a shichen and they were gone. Even Uncle Liu sold thirty more flatbreads along with them.” As he spoke, he handed over the small burlap pouch he’d been carrying. “Your Yige asked me to bring three flatbreads for you and Yage’er to taste.”
Jiang Mai got the answer he’d been waiting for. His eyes lit up at once, all his worry swept away.
Wonderful!
That grass-brained fool hadn’t worked for nothing after all. He and Yage’er could keep earning their wages.
Heaven knew how anxious he’d been just now. He’d truly been afraid that if the tofu business failed, that fool would revert to his old vicious ways.
He reached out his small hand to take the pouch, a broad smile spreading across his little face. “Second Brother Liang, have you eaten? Come inside—we’re just having our meal.”
At that moment, Ye Li also stepped out of the kitchen and invited Ye Liang to join them. “Brother, come eat a bit. And tell us how Yige sold the flatbread-with-skewers.”
When Ye Liang had set out, he’d eaten one of the Liu family’s flatbreads and a few spinach corn buns. But walking more than twenty li from Darong Village to Yezao Slope had long since burned through that food.
He entered the kitchen and saw several corn-and-bean-dregs cakes left in the basket. Not standing on ceremony, he grabbed one and began eating.
When he spoke of the tofu puffs’ sales, the usually taciturn man became surprisingly animated. It had gone far too smoothly.
With the first round of hawking, they sold four flatbreads stuffed with skewers. The second round brought several more. Just after the third call ended, Zhu Xing—who had already walked far away—turned back.
He wanted his family to try something new and bought three more in one go.
Bit by bit, they sold like that. In less than half a shichen, everything was gone.
After selling out, Liu Yi went home, then headed to the fields to find him, asking him to come to Yezao Slope to settle accounts with Ye Li and bring back tomorrow’s tofu puffs and large skewers.
“Li-ge’er, fry as much as you can today. It’ll definitely all sell,” Ye Liang said cheerfully.
Just relying on local customers, they had sold off two and a half jin of tofu puffs and large skewers, plus two jin of spinach, in under half a shichen. And Baixian Town saw countless boats docking every day, not to mention travelers journeying south by water or overland. Add all those customers together—one hardly dared imagine it!
The dullness pressed into his eyes by years of hardship now gave way to a bright, lively gleam.
For the first time in over twenty years of living, he felt that perhaps life was truly about to improve.
“Alright. I’ll start frying after lunch,” Ye Li replied with a smiling nod.
It matched his expectations. Carbohydrates paired with fragrant, spicy skewers—just the sight of it was irresistible.
“Do you have enough firewood? If not, I’ll go gather some,” Ye Liang offered.
“We have enough. You’ve walked such a long way—rest a while,” Ye Li said.
“Second Brother Liang, Yage’er and I gather dry wood every day. We have plenty,” Jiang Mai chimed in, clutching his flatbread.
“Yes, Xiaomai and Yage’er are very diligent. And well-behaved too,” Ye Li praised.
At that, Jiang Mai’s dark eyes flicked sideways at Ye Li. But he said nothing.
Truth be told, he’d heard such praise every day these past few days. At first, he’d thought the man harbored ill intent—a weasel paying New Year’s calls to a chicken. But now he wasn’t so sure.
He didn’t know whether to stay on guard or to feel secretly pleased. In the end, he could only pretend he hadn’t heard.
Beside him, Jiang Ya gnawed on his flatbread, puffing out his little chest, delight written across his small face. That’s right—he and Second Brother were very capable.
Ye Liang was startled.
When he’d come yesterday, Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya had been out gathering firewood and weren’t home. But he knew his third brother had always detested the two boys.
And now Third Brother was praising them?
After the surprise came relief. Jiang Ji could now study in peace. Father and A’Die could rest easy too.
After lunch, Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya took hemp rope and headed up the mountain to gather firewood. Ye Liang fed the pigs and chickens, then went into the kitchen to tend the fire for Ye Li.
There were seventeen jin of tofu left today.
He cut off one jin to keep for supper. The remaining sixteen jin, Ye Li fried all of it.
When he’d brought tofu puffs to Jiang Dahe yesterday evening, Jiang Dahe had been delighted.
Upon learning that Ye Li was short on soybean oil, Jiang Dahe had risen early that morning and hauled a large sack of soybeans to the county on his handcart, exchanging them for ten jin of oil.
So now oil wasn’t lacking. It just meant he owed Jiang Dahe another debt.
After more than an hour of busy work, sixteen jin of firm tofu had turned into tofu puffs and orchid-cut large skewers.
One jin of tofu yielded half a jin after frying. Sixteen jin produced eight jin of tofu puffs and eight jin of large skewers. Adding the three jin fried yesterday afternoon after Ye Liang left, there were eleven jin in total.
At eleven wen per jin, eleven jin came to one hundred and twenty-one wen.
Additionally, before Ye Liang had come yesterday, he’d fried three jin intending to promote them to restaurants in the county. Half a jin had been used for the Ye family to sample. The remaining two and a half jin were sold this morning—bringing in twenty-seven wen and five li. Ye Li voluntarily rounded off the five li.
In the end, Ye Liang handed him one hundred and forty-eight wen.
After settling the accounts for the past two days and exchanging a few more words, Ye Liang slung his basket onto his back and returned to Darong Village.
Once he’d seen him off, Ye Li went back to the kitchen. He picked up a few copper coins and weighed them in his palm, then sighed and placed them carefully into the winnowing basket reserved for money.
Hard-earned money indeed.
Blood-and-sweat money earned from rising at three in the morning to grind soybeans.
The cost of tofu puffs and large skewers was five wen and three li per jin. Over the past two days, he had sold Ye Liang thirteen and a half jin, costing seventy-one wen and five li. After calculating, he’d earned seventy-six wen and five li for two days of labor.
As for selling plain tofu—that was even more backbreaking. Selling three jin only earned two wen and five li. Over these two days, tofu sales had brought in twenty wen.
Thinking about it, he could only blame the original owner of this body. If not for the urgent circumstances and lack of money back then, he would never have chosen this line of work.
He carried the winnowing basket back to the west room, then flopped onto the kang bed and stared blankly at the ceiling beams.
If the Ye family’s flatbread-with-skewers business went smoothly, he’d have a steady income of sixty to seventy wen a day.
It was just that grinding soybeans every morning was exhausting.
…Maybe he should hire someone solely to turn the millstone?
In truth, aside from grinding, the rest of the tasks were fairly easy.
As he hesitated, voices drifted in from outside—Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya had returned with firewood. The two boys were chatting about that bargain husband of his; even Jiang Mai’s voice carried a hint of laughter.
Counting the days, it was nearly month’s end. In three or four days, that bargain husband would return.
Thinking of the man’s handsome face, Ye Li tore his gaze away from the ceiling and unconsciously rolled over on the kang.
Ahem. That face really was quite to his taste.
But last time, that bargain husband had had a fierce quarrel with the original owner and left on bad terms. When he returned, he certainly wouldn’t give him a pleasant look.
…
Never mind. Once the man went back to the private school, he’d hire someone to grind the soybeans. He would endure the hardship for these few days—and then show off his calloused palms to play the pitiful card.
That bargain husband had looks and potential.
And now he was the man’s properly wedded husband.
He had timing and position on his side—surely he ought to try developing the relationship.
If their temperaments didn’t match, then he’d focus on making money and seek a peaceful separation.
While Ye Li lay there drained, the Ye family brimmed with energy.
Each jin of tofu puffs sold brought in five wen of profit. Ye Liang had brought back eleven jin today. If all were sold, that would mean fifty-five wen. Add spinach, and they could earn seventy or eighty wen a day!
The next morning, Ye Liang and Liu Yi rose at the first crow of the rooster.
Spinach had sold well yesterday morning, so that afternoon Liu Yi had dug up over ten jin from his own vegetable plot. After trimming and washing it clean, it only needed boiling before it was ready.
The spinach had to be packed into a separate earthenware jar. The eleven jin of tofu puffs and orchid-cut large skewers also had to be divided into separate jars, as there weren’t enough large jars at home.
Three kinds of food filled three jars.
After a simple breakfast, Ye Liang and Liu Yi set off for town under a sky full of stars.
By the time they reached the Liu family’s flatbread stall, the heavy darkness of night had thinned. Light edged the horizon, though the sun had yet to rise.
But the town entrance was already lively.
Baixian Town had all manner of shops and functioned as a fixed marketplace; every day villagers from nearby came to trade.
Various stalls were already set up around them.
Father Liu kneaded dough while Mother Liu baked flatbreads, both too busy for their feet to touch the ground.
Customers were already waiting in front of the stall.
Among them was Zhu Xing, the oil mill owner from yesterday.
A smile immediately bloomed on Liu Yi’s face.
Another excellent start to the day.
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