Lu Yang let him lean on him. In his view, this kind of affectionate behavior could also be interpreted as spoiled behavior. Only those who are pampered would act spoiled. It was a natural display of coquettishness that melted people’s hearts.
Lu Liu also mentioned his efforts to Lu Yang: “I went out to visit neighbors and chatted with everyone about the small shop, but so far only a few families have come to buy wine, and the dried goods haven’t been touched yet. Yao Fulang said it won’t start selling well until after the Little New Year. When I visited, I saw that they were very restrained when eating sunflower seeds. If someone felt like snacking, they’d drink tea instead. Drinking too much tea makes you urinate more, and they’d rather not use someone else’s outhouse, so they’d run back home and not come out again. Right now, every household has some unfinished chores. After the Little New Year, they’ll only be able to chat. It’ll be better then.”
He can earn money to support his family, and Dafeng and his mother will be more lenient with him, letting him keep some silver. Then he can do whatever he wants. He misses his relatives.
Lu Yang saw the hint and shut him down.
“Liu Ge, don’t think about money yet. Let’s talk about it when life gets better.”
The benefits of marrying into the Li family were obvious; the Li family’s circumstances spoke for themselves.
The drawbacks were also clear: the Li family’s mother and son were the ones in charge, and with the second son setting a bad example, Lu Liu could maintain proper etiquette with her maternal family, but holding onto silver to support them would make people unhappy. At first, one might understand, but over time, resentment builds up, and the good life one has achieved flies away.
Lu Yang couldn’t say that. He thought for a moment and taught Lu Liu, saying, “In business, it’s like this: you have to be willing to invest capital and take risks. First, you exchange money for goods, then you exchange goods for money. If you sell it, you make a profit; if you don’t sell it, it stays in your hands.
“Business is about buying and selling. Buying is easy—with silver, you can buy anything anywhere. But selling? You need customers, and you need to meet their needs. Human needs are never fully satisfied. The wealthy have their needs, and the poor have their struggles. We’re just doing a small business—it’s just something to chew on.
“What is sustenance? It’s food and drink. Food and drink are three meals a day; under poorer conditions, two meals a day. How much can one eat in a day? In this business, we must stay focused and prepare to break even after half a year or a year. This stage is the hardest to endure. Money is spent, but the expected returns are slow to come, and sometimes even the principal is tied up. Many people give up, and some even blame you for making a bad decision.
“What should you do then? You must stay calm. Where there is trade, there is the flow of money. When money flows into your pocket, it’s what you’ve earned. This isn’t something to rush.”
This was a long speech, and Lu Liu listened carefully. Afterward, he pondered it for a long time. Some things he couldn’t understand yet, so he made a mental note of them.
Lu Yang saw the timid expression on his face and patted his hand again: “Don’t rush. I’m here with you.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Liu couldn’t hold back his tears. He cried out, “Brother,” and more tears flowed.
Lu Liu wiped his eyes: “Okay!”
Mushroom stewed chicken is delicious and nourishing.
Lu Yang agreed, “Alright, I’ll wait.”
This kitchen was a standard shop kitchen layout, different from the kitchen at home.
Upon entering, there are long stone benches on both sides. The top serves as both a table and a cutting board, while the lower section has a grid for storing rice, flour, spices, vegetables, meat, eggs, baskets, bowls, chopsticks, and other miscellaneous items.
In the center is a square table with raw and cooked foods. Lu Yang planned the layout into four sections.
The first area is for proofing dough, the second for uncooked buns, the third for prepared fillings, and the fourth as a transit zone where items are temporarily held before and after cooking.
Li Feng kneaded a ball of dough, following Xie Yan’s instructions, and placed it in the proofing area. He stacked a basin on top, placed the dough inside, and covered it with a small round sieve.
He glanced over and saw that Lu Liu’s eyes were red, clearly having cried, but she was smiling as she spoke, as if she wanted to say something. Seeing that the two brothers were chatting happily, she ultimately didn’t speak and turned back to take more flour to continue kneading.
Xie Yan’s hands weren’t idle either; while negotiating prices with Li Feng, he was also kneading dough.
He was weaker, so it took him longer to knead the same amount of dough as Li Feng.
Li Feng teased him, “We’ve met again, and you still haven’t become a master chef.”
Xie Yan was speechless.
After a moment, he said, “No matter what, I’m still your brother-in-law.”
Li Feng: “…”
As the eldest, he had become the youngest in terms of seniority.
The two exchanged subtle jabs, then casually shifted the topic to more serious matters.
The matters of soy sauce and oil were mostly settled, but the owner of the wine shop, Mr. Ding, wanted to see their sincerity.
The Li family confirmed early on that they could take the wine. In the first year, they couldn’t take much, and they didn’t want to take less than last time, so they settled on 75 pounds, or three jars of wine.
If they were willing to take the wine, it would be easier to negotiate the price of the soy sauce and oil.
There were two types of soy sauce: soybean paste and soy sauce. They usually bought more soybean paste, which they added to their dishes to give them a salty flavor. It is made from beans and salt. Soy sauce is similar. The two have similar prices, but are divided into different price ranges, from five coins to thirty coins per jar.
Five coins per jar has a milder flavor. Lu Yang buys twelve coins per pound of soybean paste for making buns. Li Feng wants to take eight coins per pound.
A jar of soybean paste weighs between thirty and thirty-two jin, never less than thirty jin. The shopkeeper charges a fixed price of two hundred and twenty cash. Once you take it, he doesn’t care how you sell it or how much you sell it for.
Soy sauce costs five cash per jin, and a jar contains ten jin. You can take it for forty-five cash.
There are many types of oil: sesame oil, tea oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, and so on. They mostly use rapeseed oil, which usually costs twenty-five coins per pound. During harvest shortages, the price can double.
When Li Feng was a child, he used to help his father render lamb fat. That year, the villagers went crazy hunting sheep in the mountains.
The oil shop owner said he wanted to make a friend, but he had a request: he wanted a wild boar, dead was fine, but the head had to be intact.
The pig’s head is used in sacrifices, and wealthy families will offer a whole pig. Domestic pigs and wild boars are different, and wild boars are rare, so they show sincerity and symbolize strength and courage.
Xie Yan said, “If you have a wild boar head, I’ll sell it to you for 23 cash per pound. If you don’t have a wild boar head, I’ll give you a discount of 5 cash per 10 pounds. The price of the wild boar is separate, and the head is priced differently.”
This difference was significant, and it depended on whether Li Feng had the ability to befriend him.
In other words, today was not a good day to get oil.
Li Feng agreed, “Alright, when does he need it?”
Seeing that he agreed so readily, Xie Yan reminded him, “You have a family now, and wild boars are fierce. Have you considered that?”
Hunting a wild boar doesn’t require consideration for Li Feng.
If he has a family, he’ll bring more people along.
He’d rather earn less money than risk his safety.
Li Feng thanked him, still feeling proud, and boasted, “I’m a man who can make money too.”
Xie Yan: “…”
Xie Yan said, “It’s okay, he’s not in a hurry. Just give it to him before Qingming Festival.”
Li Feng grew impatient.
“Qingming Festival is still months away. Am I supposed to help him raise pigs too?”
Xie Yan agreed: “I think this boss isn’t sincere, but Mr. Dang can only negotiate with this boss, and we can’t do anything about it.”
Li Feng thought about it and decided to follow his mother’s advice. Some things are better to earn less than to lose altogether.
Once daily necessities are sufficient, people won’t have to frequently go to the county market. Food and drink can’t be skimped on, but other things can be made do with.
He wasn’t being greedy for now. Even if it was five coins less per ten pounds, it was still less, and less meant earning.
Then there was the price of mountain goods. Lu Lin made a few trips, talked to Lu Yang, and then sent Shazhu to go again. The owner of the dried goods shop wanted a large quantity of mountain walnuts and chestnuts.
The people of Lizi know this; they usually process chestnuts and walnuts and send them to the dried goods shop. The shop owner haggles fiercely, buying goods for three or five coins per pound and selling them for three times the price, usually at twelve coins or more per pound.
