Lu Lin: “…”
His heart was shaking. Making money… off the dead?
Lu Yang saw it instantly—he knew exactly what was going through his head.
“The money’s not from the dead—it’s from the government. The officials are the ones paying. It’s clean.”
Then Lu Yang glanced over at Shazhu, who was squatting in the corner, trying to pretend he didn’t exist. He added to Lu Lin, “No big deal—we’ll have Shazhu make the deliveries.”
Shazhu: ?!!
Lu Lin: “…”
My little brother is terrifying. I’m never crossing him again.
That thought stuck with Lu Lin the whole way out—his mood for strolling around completely soured. Once he got out onto the street and the cold wind hit him, he actually shivered.
If someone had jumped out of a dark alley just then, he’d have screamed for his dad and his brother while running for his life, probably cussing out Zhang Tie in between.
Back at the shop, Xie Yan was frowning. He asked Lu Yang, “Do you think we’re short a manager here?”
Lu Yang smiled brightly. “Let me tell you something—you can’t take everything that doctor says at face value. What does ‘overworked’ even mean? You’ve seen me—I’m full of energy every day. If I really get tired, I’ll tell you. And mental stress? Please. I take one look at a situation and already have a plan. It’s not like I’m sitting around racking my brain.”
He kept kneading Xie Yan’s hand while they chatted, never sitting still.
Xie Yan looked at him helplessly. After a moment, he said, “We’ve got two helpers in the shop. You don’t need to run around so much. Didn’t you say connections are part of doing business? Go visit some other shops—like Boss Ding’s place?”
Lu Yang agreed.
He’d thought about it too—this little shop couldn’t really afford two helpers for the long term.
Look at Boss Ding. His wine shop easily pulled in two taels of silver in profit a day—and that was just the store. He also had regular clients who hosted banquets, needing cartloads of wine delivered to their homes. Plus he supplied traveling vendors and had deals with inns and restaurants.
If he had even wider connections, he could sell to gambling dens and brothels—that’s the kind of wealth that makes you rich beyond belief.
And yet a big boss like him only hired a manager and a bookkeeper. His shop assistant was a kid from a relative’s family—paid almost nothing. Free room and board, work for three years, then get sent to the wine estate to learn the craft, and another relative gets brought in to take the spot. Tight operation.
They couldn’t compete with that. They hadn’t saved much, and the business wasn’t big. Trying to mimic Boss Ding would just be setting themselves up for failure.
Still, after the New Year, there would definitely be staffing changes. Keeping two people on? Plus Zhang Tie back in the village doing dough work? Not sustainable.
They’d send Shazhu back, and just keep Lu Lin here.
After New Year, Xie Yan would start school. Lu Yang and his mom could pitch in when needed.
If something heavy came up, they’d just hire help for the task. Pay five or six coins a time—at most three hundred in a month. It would ease the pressure. People got paid, he got help, everybody won.
If they ended up with a steady supply of wild goods, and Li Feng was willing to deliver game to the shop, he’d consider hiring one more helper—maybe Zhang Tie, Lu Lin’s man.
But that’d depend. They didn’t have extra space to house anyone right now.
Honestly, the shop was still pretty barebones. Anyone could see it was thrown together on a shoestring. Lu Yang didn’t feel comfortable going out to make social rounds yet. The neighbors on either side were fine, but farther than that? People might look down on them—or just be annoyed.
He chatted with Xie Yan about all kinds of shop-related things—from how many people they could afford to hire, to what meals and lodging should look like, to what a normal shop setup would be, and what kind of cutthroat practices they might run into from shady bosses.
Suddenly, he said, “To Shazhu, I’m probably one of those shady bosses.”
Shazhu couldn’t even squat in the corner anymore. He popped up and offered, “Boss Lu, need me to run any errands? I can’t just sit around—it makes me itch. Put me to work!”
Lu Yang pointed to a half-sold basket of rice cakes. “That’s about fifty pounds. Take it out and walk around—see what you can sell.”
Two baskets on a shoulder pole. A grown man could carry it without much strain.
Shazhu eagerly agreed.
Lu Yang kept some rice cakes behind to pass out at the end of the day. Everyone would get a bit, and today, Shazhu was included. A little reward to cheer him up—get him and his mom working with more spirit.
Now that it was just him and Xie Yan in the shop, Lu Yang didn’t hold anything back—he let all the thoughts in his head tumble out.
Xie Yan held his hand in return and copied Lu Yang’s habit, gently pressing and kneading his fingers and palm.
He wasn’t the best at social cues, but he could tell something was off. Sure, Lu Yang was usually lively and chatty—but not like this. Today he was bouncing all over the place. He’d start on one topic, then suddenly veer off. He’d forget where he started, take a detour, and launch into something completely new.
Xie Yan had seen him like this once before.
That day, Lu Yang had admitted to feeling jittery inside—after watching a play, he still wanted to go paste paper on the walls just to stay busy.
Xie Yan reached out and gently patted his head. Lu Yang flinched, blinking rapidly—oddly cute in that moment.
Then Xie Yan stroked his face and ear. Lu Yang reacted like a startled little hedgehog—not used to being touched, every hair on end.
His eyes went wide. “What are you doing?! It’s broad daylight—show some decency!”
Xie Yan tossed all pretense of “decorum” aside. He looked at Lu Yang and said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m not going anywhere. No matter what happens, I want to be with you.”
All of Lu Yang’s prickly edges softened. His casual sprawl tightened into something neater. He dragged his stool over, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with Xie Yan behind the stove, watching the towering five-tier steamer in front of them. His voice was soaked in the rising warmth—hoarse, low, almost damp.
He said, “What’s with all the big promises? I don’t believe a word of it.”
Xie Yan caught his hand and raised it to his lips, kissing it again and again.
Then, out of nowhere, he busted out with a coarse saying he’d clearly picked up from somewhere:
“I’m sealing it with spit—one spit, one nail. That makes it binding.”
Lu Yang burst out laughing—he couldn’t stop.
And just like that, the fear was gone.
Whatever. His scholar husband was gullible and easy to coax. He had him right in the palm of his hand. If anything was gonna get done—it’d be on his terms!
Lu Yang, playing up the drama, pouted and said, “Uh-oh, I think I’ve got like five nails in my hand now. They really hurt.”
Xie Yan thought for a second, then gently cradled Lu Yang’s hand and blew on it.
Lu Yang cracked up, beaming—who needs a doctor? Easy win.
Chapter 49: Are We Out of Food Again?
News traveled fast in the village.
Lu Liu made a trip to the county town, and when he came back, he was carrying twenty giant meat buns that his older brother had given him—not counting the ones he’d already eaten while he was there. That tidbit exploded in Xincun (New Village) first.
Turns out, his brother had a storefront in town, and was even helping them sell their rice cakes on consignment. All because it was Lu Liu’s family, they weren’t charged a stall fee, didn’t have to pay for labor, and whatever price they sold it for—that’s what they’d get. In a few days, they’d just come by to collect their earnings.
Lu Liu went into town on the fifteenth. By the sixteenth, the rice cake prep was already underway. Chen Guizhi, having to explain where the cakes were going, casually mentioned Lu Liu’s brother in the county. And then, naturally, she also brought up the twenty giant meat buns.
The chat kept snowballing. They ended up talking about how this generous big brother could even help them sell other goods in town—just let him know what they needed, and he’d get it delivered to the village. They’d save everyone a trip, and maybe make a little cut themselves.
Only a few families were actually involved in making the cakes, but there were plenty of husbands and wives helping press them. Once word got out, people were chatting about it all the way home, and from house to house, the gossip spread like wildfire.
Meanwhile, down the mountain, Yao Fulang got up late that morning. He stepped out and just happened to bump into Chen Fulang. Couldn’t resist the jab.
“Oh my, isn’t that Chen Fulang? Did you hear? Lu Fulang’s big brother brought him twenty meat buns! Can you imagine?”
Chen Fulang hadn’t heard. He just snorted and walked away.
Yao Fulang, grinning ear to ear, turned and headed straight to Lu Liu’s to gossip.
Lu Liu had also slept in that day. On his way in, Yao Fulang even crossed paths with Li Feng.
Li Feng spotted him—just in time.
“You home today?” he asked.
Yao Fulang raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“I need to take Erhuang over to the Sanmiao family. My husband’ll be the only one home—if you’re around, can you keep an ear out in case anything happens on this end?”
Yao Fulang: “…”
Guess that mutt really can’t get married. Sigh.
“Sure, go ahead.”
Inside the house, Lu Liu heard voices outside. He’d been planning to go back to sleep for a bit, but now that someone was up and talking, there was no way he could drift off again. He scrambled out of bed in a rush.
