The next day, He Zifeng and Qiu Yu took their son back to school, and also gave the food to Teacher Lin as a way to improve the children’s meals. Afterward, He Zifeng returned to the government office, and Qiu Yu went to serve porridge.
Ever since people from the village came to help, Qiu Yu didn’t have to be so tired anymore. He was thinking about arranging a proper house nearby for their shop employees. Right now those people were living in the shop, putting several tables together and laying out bedding. With winter approaching, their place didn’t have heated kangs, so they definitely wouldn’t be able to endure the winter.
This time Qiu Yu didn’t need to go to the employment agency – he could just inquire nearby. People around had all eaten free porridge from his shop, so when they saw he wanted to rent a house, they were very enthusiastic. All the nearby neighbors clearly knew which families had houses available.
Soon he found one. This family had been away for several years, and the house was entrusted to relatives to look after. When they heard he wanted to rent the house, the relatives immediately agreed.
There were four large rooms and two small sheds in total. Although there was no courtyard, the price wasn’t expensive – one hundred coins per month. He immediately rented it for half a year, paying the family’s relatives for six months. The other party was beaming with joy. They also wrote up a contract and found witnesses.
Everyone around knew his husband was a bailiff, so they didn’t dare cheat newcomers.
Qiu Yu said: “That relative of yours really isn’t coming back, right? Don’t have them come back before the lease is up and drive us out.”
The other party said: “They’ve already settled down elsewhere and even asked me to sell the house some time ago!” But the house’s location was mediocre, and without a courtyard it was hard to sell. There hadn’t even been any inquiries, meaning he could live there with peace of mind.
Qiu Yu looked at the house and was quite satisfied. Then he went back to tell them this good news. When everyone heard it, they were all very happy.
Being able to live in a house was definitely better than living in the shop, especially for the accountant Xiao Chen. He was a ger, and although he didn’t plan to marry, living together with these rough men was inevitably somewhat uncomfortable.
Qiu Yu said: “I looked at that house – the main room is the largest, so let Master Zhang and his family live there.” The large room had a kang and could also fit two beds. “The rest of you can each have a small room, but the other three rooms don’t have fire kangs. With winter approaching, why don’t you build one?”
It was precisely the season when autumn and winter alternated. Fire kang builders had good business. If they had this idea, they needed to speak to people early, otherwise it would delay things.
Building a fire kang cost six hundred coins each. Qiu Yu could pay half. He said the remaining money they could pay themselves. It could be deducted from their monthly wages. From now on, they would have to handle the money for firewood and coal themselves.
Everyone agreed. So Qiu Yu hurriedly found people to build the kangs first. They would still have to live here for two more days. The kangs needed to be built, dried, and then burned for a day to be completely ready!
But from now on they could live in a house – the wait was worth it. Besides, living and eating at the shop didn’t cost them anything anyway. Moreover, Qiu Yu would deduct fifty coins from their monthly wages, and they could still get fifty coins in their hands each month.
They increasingly felt that Qiu Yu and the others were kind-hearted. At this moment, He Zifeng still didn’t know about what Qiu Yu was doing. But even if he knew, with his personality, he would say Qiu Yu thought things through thoroughly and they were fortunate to have him.
Qiu Yu was getting to understand He Zifeng more and more. Outside, people still called He Zifeng “Military Master,” yet little did they know he would bring his child home because he missed him. His heart was so soft.
Previously He Zifeng was serious and hard to approach. When the child spoke to him, he was always timid. Now the little fellow wished he could shrink down and crawl into his clothes to play with him.
The higher He Zifeng’s position became, the more he spoiled the child. He indulged him – if Ran Ran wanted the stars in the sky, he would have to find a way to help the child get them.
Xiao Chen nearby said: “Boss.”
Qiu Yu suddenly came back to his senses and said: “Ah?”
Xiao Chen said: “This is the list – we’re still missing the seasonings on it.”
Now it wasn’t just the morning – their shop was also busy at noon and evening. Seasonings were used up quickly. Sugar jars and salt jars were empty every few days. Many things needed to be prepared early, otherwise when Chef Zhang needed to use them and they weren’t available, that would be terrible.
Xiao Chen was looking at Qiu Yu at this moment, not knowing what Qiu Yu had been smiling about just now. He had called several times before he responded.
Qiu Yu took the list and said: “Alright.” He was a bit flustered – just now his mind had been thinking all about He Zifeng. After coming back to his senses, he felt a bit embarrassed.
…
At this moment, He Zifeng was at the government office entrance, being complained to by Captain Zhu. He said he had a fever yesterday, so he went home early. He had no idea that so many things had happened in just one day. He heard that the county magistrate had sent people to look for him three or four times.
When he heard about it today, he felt guilty. He told everyone it was a health problem, not that he was intentionally trying to slack off. He also said: “Fortunately you were there this time.”
He Zifeng said: “Usually, I always learn from you and have picked up some superficial knowledge. But compared to you, I’m far behind.”
Captain Zhu was afraid that He Zifeng had gained the county magistrate’s favor and would overshadow him. Now seeing that He Zifeng didn’t have that intention, his heart felt much more at ease. He smiled and said: “Not at all.”
Ever since yesterday when he was caught absent from duty by the county magistrate, he planned to perform well during this period to salvage some face.
He Zifeng saw Captain Zhu was ambitiously wanting to accomplish something and said: “I have some matters at my rural home. I was thinking of requesting leave for these few days.”
He Zifeng looked embarrassed – now was the important matter of building the city wall, and all the brothers were working. It wouldn’t look good not to work at this time.
But Captain Zhu was very happy and said: “Why should we two brothers be so polite? Since there are matters at home, go handle your business. I’m here to take care of things.”
Captain Zhu didn’t know whether He Zifeng was being intentional or not, but he was very happy anyway. His trusted subordinates had told him about He Zifeng’s performance yesterday, and the county magistrate also valued him highly. He Zifeng was already a deputy captain. If he took another step forward, even his own position might have to be vacated.
Requesting leave at this time could be considered avoiding the spotlight. Captain Zhu could perform well.
After He Zifeng requested leave, he also spoke to the brothers in his group. To Xie Rui he said: “That Xiao Li in the prison is pretty good. Ask him later if he wants to come over – our group doesn’t have many people anyway. If he’s willing to come, make room for him.”
If Xiao Li could go from jailer to bailiff, never mind anything else, at least he could get two more sets of clothes in winter. He could also get a share from Lingshan Village – at minimum ten taels of silver income per year. That was much better than that dark prison.
After He Zifeng finished giving instructions, he left. When he just returned to the restaurant, he saw Qiu Yu driving the cart out.
He Zifeng said: “Where are you going?”
Qiu Yu said: “The seasonings in the shop are almost used up.” He wanted to go out to buy some.
He Zifeng took the list from his hand, looked at it, then said: “Let me do it.” Then he led the horse cart out.
He came back shortly. He had gone to the seasoning shop where the county magistrate had shares. The owner had already gotten word from the county magistrate to give He Zifeng cost prices.
He Zifeng ordered one hundred pounds of everything on the list. He also ordered five hundred pounds of dried vegetables from them.
The seasoning shop manager saw He Zifeng taking such large quantities and said: “Official sir, I have a source for clam meat, scallops, dried fish fillets, dried shrimp and such. Here’s the price list. If you can take five hundred pounds, we can take the rest of the goods.”
Seafood was expensive – the cheapest items here were fifteen coins per pound. When these items were placed in their seasoning shop, the price would triple at minimum. By New Year’s time, these goods would sell extremely fast.
But the other party’s shipload of dried goods was still too much, and they didn’t have enough money in their accounts. But the other party wouldn’t sell in parts, and it was rare to encounter such good prices. If they didn’t take it, they worried that getting goods from second-hand dealers would be more expensive.
He was just worrying about what to do when he saw He Zifeng and got an idea. These dried seafood could make originally cheap ingredients like stewed tofu and steamed egg custard sell for very high prices, so he told him about it.
He Zifeng said: “Can these things keep?”
The manager said: “I looked – they’re all completely dry! They can keep for at least two years. Ordinary families buying two pounds can celebrate New Year. But you have a shop, so five hundred pounds isn’t much.”
He Zifeng calculated, then made some marks. These goods would cost about one hundred taels of silver. He ordered three hundred pounds of dried shrimp, one hundred pounds of fish fillets, and one hundred pounds total of other items, and paid a deposit.
He Zifeng was a deputy captain and had gained the county magistrate’s favor. The manager said: “When the goods are unloaded from the ship, we’ll use horse carts to transport them back and deliver them to your shop.”
He Zifeng nodded, then transported these seasonings back.
After He Zifeng brought them back, Qiu Yu was startled, thinking He Zifeng had remembered the quantities wrong.
He Zifeng said: “I got them cheap this time, and these are things we use regularly anyway. It also saves us from constantly buying them.”
Qiu Yu looked at the prices and was stunned.
He Zifeng went back to the village to collect grain first. Ever since they hired workers in the village, everyone knew he had opened a porridge shop. He used a lot of grain, and the prices he offered in the village were much cheaper than buying from grain shops outside.
He didn’t delay payment when collecting grain – he always paid cash directly. People from surrounding villages all inquired, wanting to ask if He Zifeng would buy from them.
“Yes, I’ll buy from everyone,” He Zifeng said. Previously he had Shuanzi be more selective, but now as long as the grain was fine, he wanted however much they had.
When people around heard this, they hurriedly brought over their dried and milled grain, afraid of being too late.
He Zifeng weighed and paid silver. For a whole day he never stopped, collecting a full ten thousand pounds and spending over twenty taels of silver.
Village people were used to keeping out a year’s worth of grain and selling the surplus. In recent days they had already sold most of it. Today they concentrated on collecting another batch, and surrounding villages had sold almost everything.
Shuanzi thought he was out of work – these days he had earned over nine hundred coins. He really hadn’t earned little. Who knew He Zifeng would tell him: “Go collect more grain from other places.”
When Shuanzi heard this, hope returned. If he worked a few more days, he would have saved up a whole tael of silver. He had never done such profitable work before.
Shuanzi said: “Brother He, can you use all this much?” All together they had collected nearly twenty thousand pounds. Grain doesn’t keep indefinitely – old grain becomes worthless.
He Zifeng said: “Not only for my shop, but a friend also needs some.”
When Shuanzi heard this, he let loose completely. He Zifeng also said to collect quickly – however much they could get.
He Zifeng said: “If there’s good fine grain, get that too!”
Shuanzi slapped his chest resoundingly and said he understood.
R : Shuanzi is cute !
