Given the demand for vegetables from the surrounding neighbors, the eggs shouldn’t go bad.
Spring is here, and it’s time to dig for bamboo shoots again. Have my younger brother harvest plenty of them.
He won’t complain about the small amount of vegetables. When the time comes, he’ll proactively contact the restaurants and inns in the county town. I’m confident they’ll sell.
It’s just in time for spring planting. Have them spread the word around the village too. Forget about the good farmland—just tend to their own small vegetable plots and plant them all up.
That little bit of land, if tended well, can be sold for silver. During the busy farming season, they can buy a few pounds of meat to eat. It’s worth it!
With the accounts settled, Lu Yang kept calculating in his mind. After a while, he went to inspect the baskets of dried goods, troubled by the pile of sunflower seeds and peanuts.
Suddenly, inspiration struck. He went back inside, grabbed a stack of scrap paper—the kind Xie Yan had discarded, clearly unwanted but perfect for plastering walls—and brought it to the front.
He used the paper to wrap the melon seeds and peanuts, each bundle weighing about two or three taels. Once wrapped, he sold each bundle for three or five cash.
He called out to Lu Lin: “Brother Lin, come help me wrap the melon seeds!”
Lu Lin heard the call and came over, but hesitated to take the paper.
Paper and ink were precious; he feared these might be useful.
Lu Yang assured him it was scrap paper: “Ayan collected this unwanted stuff for me to plaster walls. I never found the time. Now, after settling accounts, I realized sunflower seeds and peanuts won’t sell well after the New Year. So I came up with this: pack them in loose bundles, shout out at the door, and make it easy for customers to buy. Asking them to come in specifically to weigh seeds is too much trouble.”
” When someone comes in for something else, we casually ask, ‘How about some five-cash peanuts?’ Point them over, then mention we also have three-cash bags. Peanuts cost more per pound than meat—most folks won’t splurge on them regularly. So we sell them loose: three cash, five cash. They hear it’s not much, grab a bag, and walk out. No time to second-guess or change their mind. “
He rattled off these ideas nonstop, his words coming thick and fast: “Next month is the preliminary exams. I’ll get Young Master Wu to save some writing paper for me too. Whenever we have free time, we’ll pack sunflower seeds and peanuts to sell outside the exam hall. There’ll be crowds waiting for the candidates to come out. They’ll be bored anyway—might as well crack some seeds. It’s all business.”
Lu Lin listened intently, his hands never stopping, ears practically perked up. “You’re so resourceful—how do you come up with all these ideas?”
Lu Yang had more plans: “Have you heard? They inspect food at the exam hall. Even a cake has to be broken into pieces for inspection. Since that’s the case, why not bring powdered goods instead? I just bought a new batch of flour. Can you roast it? Once roasted, we’ll package it. Since it’s inconvenient to carry manuscript paper, I’ll use Ayan’s cheap paper instead. They’re only in for one day of exams. Just enough for one meal to tide them over. Each packet will hold three taels of roasted flour, and we’ll sell it for six cash per packet!”
A jin of flour costs about that much.
Lu Lin paused, giving him a thumbs-up. “You’re bound to make a fortune.”
Then he went back to packing melon seeds and peanuts, asking, “Should we pack the red dates too?”
Lu Yang pondered briefly, sighing. “No, let’s skip them. Honestly, ordinary folks can’t afford to snack like that. Sigh.”
His hands kept busy while his New Year plans took shape.
The shop needed a unique selling point. When his brother and Li Feng came to deliver goods, he’d insist on securing “Wild Game Day.”
With so many hunters in the mountain village, they could at least supply him with a few pheasants or wild rabbits.
Beyond game, the wild mushrooms needed exclusivity.
High-end varieties like blue-capped mushrooms and silver ear fungus should ideally be sold to him.
Selling them to him would create shortages at other shops in town.
With shortages, he’d set the market price.
Common, abundant mushrooms? Forget it. Ordinary folks needed them too—he wouldn’t touch those.
But rare, exceptionally tasty mountain mushrooms? Those are clearly meant for the wealthy gentry. How could he sleep at night without fleecing them?
As for the shop location, selling vegetables can boost foot traffic, but it’s mostly neighborhood business. Too much produce will spoil, so sourcing from the four western villages will suffice.
That leaves the buns.
Buns were the shop’s sole specialty. Everything else was sourced from suppliers, carrying the risk of shortages. But buns could be sold rain or shine, and they were genuinely profitable.
Since Lu Yang started selling buns, the most common complaint he heard was that they were too expensive.
Even Ding, the owner next door, said they were too expensive.
He’d been selling them for so long, and other shops’ meat buns were priced the same. He couldn’t lower his prices.
He considered making smaller buns. A large meat bun cost five cash to make. Smaller buns could be made a bit smaller, balancing the cost and pricing accordingly.
He’d made small buns before—two small ones required slightly less filling than one large meat bun. Since the profit margin was there, he could afford to be a bit more generous: three small buns for five coins.
Putting three for five coins next to one for five coins made the comparison clear.
Even with the smaller buns, he must uphold his reputation for savory meat fillings, thin wrappers, and generous portions where every bun glistens with oil. This sets his stall apart from others and defines his shop’s specialty.
That’s the essence of running a shop.
As the saying goes, a new year brings new beginnings. Before year’s end, he plans to rent a small courtyard.
Having lived on the street before, he knew the going rates.
Xie Yan needed a quiet place to study, free from noise and commotion. A serene environment would cost over twelve taels of silver in annual rent. But it wasn’t just the rent. Once they moved in, they’d need to furnish the place with pots, pans, and other necessities. They’d have to set aside fifteen taels to cover it all.
It all depends on how much he can earn from selling books. If sales go well, these plans could be completed ahead of schedule, and they could have a little home sooner.
When renting the courtyard, he’ll choose one closer to the academy. That way, Xie Yan can easily go home when he wants to.
He took the opportunity to advise Lu Lin: “Life unfolds day by day, but we mustn’t drift through it aimlessly. Good fortune won’t suddenly fall upon us. First, we must clarify what we desire, then assess what we currently possess, and finally strive diligently toward our goals. That direction of striving is our plan. For you two newlyweds, if you wish for more spacious living next year, the silver for purchasing a home becomes your goal. Raising pigs can save some. Helping me collect vegetables and eggs can save some too. Come harvest time, I’ll take Mr. Ding to inspect your crops. If he’s satisfied, your harvest will earn you another sum.”
Bit by bit, small savings add up to a large sum.
Speaking of this, Lu Lin also had something to discuss with Lu Yang.
“I noticed your brother and others running small shops in the village. It got me thinking—do you think we could open a shop in Shangxi Village?”
Lu Yang shook his head immediately. “Hardly. Li Village can manage it because it’s remote—thirty or forty miles round trip. As long as they can get their daily necessities there, they won’t bother coming out.” Shangxi Village is too close to the county seat. You guys commute daily—you should know better.”
Lu Lin sighed. Shangxi Village didn’t have anything special, unlike Li Village, which leaned against a mountain and could pull treasures out of thin air.
Lu Yang said, “If the village has no treasures, you can create your own.”
Lu Lin asked curiously, “How?”
Lu Yang replied, “We grow wheat here, right? Two harvests a year. Yet so many people still buy flour. Why? Stone mills are scarce. One family can’t grind enough to make a difference. It’s time-consuming and disrupts work. In the end, it’s cheaper to sell the grain and buy flour. The price difference makes it more economical than tying up labor at the mill. But what if there were a mill?”
Lu Lin listened, dumbfounded.
What a bold idea.
A mill…
It actually seemed possible.
He didn’t even want to return to the village anymore. He wanted to stay by Lu Yang’s side for a few more years, learning real skills.
With those skills, his mind would sharpen, and he could figure out ways to make money too.
After chatting for a while, they finished packing all the sunflower seeds and peanuts in the shop.
Lu Yang couldn’t sit still. He grabbed a small basket, hugged it close, and started hawking at the door.
“Sunflower seeds for sale! Thin-shelled, large kernels! Three coins a bag! Eat sunflower seeds! Sweet and roasted sunflower seeds! Three coins a bag!”
His energy wasn’t what it used to be. After shouting for a while and selling a dozen or so small bags, he started to feel dizzy. Lu Lin came over to take his place, joining in the call to sell melon seeds.
By midday, Lu Yang went to the back to help prepare the meal.
Zhao Peilan remained shy around strangers, preferring to keep busy in the rear. The kitchen was kept spotless.
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