Lu Yang watched him tidy the bed on his own, then looked at him with a smile. “What did your Da Feng say?”
Lu Liu replied, “He pretended to be sad and told me to go. He said he’d take care of the kids, reminded me to tuck in the covers and stay warm, and that if I got hungry at night, I shouldn’t hold back—if it was really inconvenient, I could come find him in the middle of the night. He and the kids are waiting for me.”
Lu Yang furrowed his brow, a question mark forming above his head.
“Ah? That’s Shun Ge’er talking, right?”
Lu Liu beamed, “You wouldn’t have guessed—it was my Da Feng!”
Lu Yang admired him. “One thing truly tames another.”
Lu Liu immediately chimed in, “Xiao Liu tames Da Feng!”
That night, he brought the ledger with him, and before bed, the brothers curled up on the kang, flipping through it.
It was Lu Liu’s first time going out to run business, and he hadn’t formally learned bookkeeping from anyone. This ledger was for planning next year’s business, to help recognize peak and off seasons. This year’s output, he wasn’t sure if it was normal. Business was ongoing and not at a loss, so he hadn’t thought much of it.
But Lu Yang could read it. After flipping through, he sensed something was off.
Everything else seemed fine, but why did the honey show such drastic gaps?
On the first day, customers came gradually; the second day, sales surged; the third day, they dropped by more than half; the fourth day, only a few stragglers.
The honey had been stocked in the shop before the big market, and twenty days had passed. From the highest sales on the second day, the amount sold had dropped from twenty-seven jin to half a jin by the twentieth day. What kind of drop was this?!
Lu Yang asked, “Out of stock?”
Lu Liu shook his head. “No. We brought in over three hundred jin of honey, sent some to the pier shop for sampling, and the rest is here. We still have some stored at home.”
Then it was definitely odd. Honey was like Lu Yang’s “vegetable day”—promotions spiked customer numbers, inflating sales figures, but not all customers waited for that day. Even in regular business, there’s a baseline; retaining fifty percent of customers would be low, he thought—it should be sixty or seventy percent.
Honey wasn’t like vegetables; people didn’t eat it every day. Even if it dipped a bit, three or four out of ten customers should remain.
Such a steep drop suggested no returning customers at all.
Lu Yang frowned. “That shouldn’t happen…”
If they didn’t like honey, they wouldn’t have come in droves initially.
If the honey were bad, other business would also be affected—but the ledger showed no impact. Only the honey wasn’t selling.
Lu Liu hesitated, thinking, “The roads are long from the mountain village; some honeycombs broke and floated in the honey. Could that be the reason?”
Lu Yang was uncertain. “Alright, tomorrow we’ll buy several types of honey, all price ranges, and see. If we find the problem, we’ll fix it. We can hold another tasting to restore the honey’s reputation. If we can’t find the issue, we still hold a tasting, prepare a mixed-honey soup, and ask the customers honestly about the honey. In business, pride is flexible. Don’t force it—be honest. Ask when needed, fix mistakes when they happen.”
Lu Liu nodded, “We’ll go buy it tomorrow.”
With the shop just opened, the ledger was simple, and everything else seemed fine. Only the honey sales numbers were problematic. They set the book aside and curled back under the covers. Lu Yang praised Lu Liu again, saying he had a good memory and cleverness.
Lu Liu reached out to hold him. Since they had slept together before, when he was already visibly pregnant and careful, it wasn’t as convenient as now. Lu Yang’s belly wasn’t showing yet, so they could embrace comfortably.
He had become clingy—at first, even changing clothes made him blush and shy away, but now he was open and confident. Recently, he often held Lu Yang.
Lu Yang pushed him gently. “Clingy little thing, open your eyes and see who I am.”
Lu Liu chuckled. “You’re my brother, my best brother. I came to hold you and sleep with you. You’re right—what’s so great about that stinky man? Being with you is the best.”
Lu Yang recognized the words—they sounded familiar. After thinking a moment, he realized they were his earlier comforting words, which his little brother had imitated. His brother learned by copying, and even his speech carried that mixture of sincerity and humor.
Xie Yan had left today, different from when he ran errands with Li Feng—the separation this time would be brief before they reunited.
Lu Yang said, “I don’t miss him.”
Lu Liu blinked, curious. “How come you don’t miss him?”
Lu Yang didn’t resort to sentimental whining, just smiled. “Because I saw him this morning.”
Lu Liu said, “I’ll tell my brother-in-law you don’t miss him at all.”
Lu Yang said fearlessly, “Go ahead—he’ll only say he misses me. Whether I miss him or not, he’ll think I do.”
Lu Liu liked hearing this. That kind of confident, bold talk fit his brother perfectly!
The two whispered and chatted for a long while. Late into the night, one of them said something, the other didn’t answer, and eventually they fell asleep.
The next day, Lu Liu woke early; Lu Yang slept a bit longer.
Lu Liu went home to speak with Li Feng about the honey.
Li Feng was going to see Hai Youtian about the shop today and agreed to buy the honey.
Lu Liu thought strategically. “Da Feng, I heard there are many workshops: book printing has print shops, dyeing has dye houses, brewing has breweries. What about honey—are there honey workshops? When you meet Hai Yazi, ask him. I recently read Chu Ge’s notes; many people struggle because they have no skills to earn a living. In the city, workshops change owners quickly. If someone runs out of money, they transfer it. The new owner might hire relatives, leaving skilled workers unemployed. These artisans, relying on skill, can only produce small amounts to earn a living. It’s like a household loom—family members take turns, making just enough cloth for the year. If you want, it’s easy to gather such talent and start a workshop.”
They could first find people skilled in beekeeping and honey processing. Da Qiang had already fulfilled some honey orders under the shop’s name, but if the honey reaching merchants was flawed, building a customer base would be difficult.
Li Feng listened, eyeing Lu Liu’s clever head.
Goodness, this household has a smart one.
He looked at Lu Liu as if savoring something, making Lu Liu confused.
“Da Feng, what’s wrong? Are you even listening?”
Li Feng, hearing it, patted Lu Liu’s head as if taking some of his intelligence and putting it into his own head.
“Xiao Liu, if you went to study, what would your brother-in-law do?”
He bragged shamelessly, making Lu Liu blush.
If he were studious, how would Xiao Mai and Zhuang Zhuang fall asleep as soon as they heard a book?
Li Feng took responsibility. “My fault, I don’t like reading.”
Lu Liu’s thoughts drifted, worried about this.
“This won’t do. We still need to trick the kids.”
The couple had agreed to continue their “teach by example” plan. Each left home in the morning, starting a new day.
Today, Lu Erbao and Wang Fengnian finished their work and went out for a trip.
They brought back cotton, fabric, and bamboo splints, planning to make a long bamboo pillow for Lu Yang to hug.
Lu Liu had used one before, sent by Yao Fulang. When the belly grew, it could be placed underneath for comfort.
It was cold, and hugging a bamboo pillow alone was uncomfortable. The two fathers planned to weave a small bamboo pillow as a core, wrap it with a cotton cover—comfortable and warm.
The pillow was rounded at both ends and flat in the middle. After weaving, they sanded it to remove any splinters.
When Lu Yang heard, he came over to see them busy and cheerful, feeling moved, and sat to play a while.
Wei Meng stuck close; when Lu Yang sat, he lay at his feet, lifting his head to nuzzle his palm. Lu Erbao had been preparing dog food lately, and seeing Wei Meng play, even gave the dog—his “granddog”—a big bone to chew.
