He Zifeng stayed at home for three days. On the last day, Qiu Yu made him some spicy sauce with fried duck meat pieces inside. A big spoonful of spicy sauce was half meat, delicious whether dipped with steamed buns or mixed with rice.
Qiu Yu wanted to go to the county town with He Zifeng, but there was still an old person and a young child at home. He couldn’t just leave them at home!
He Zifeng saw that he had prepared a lot – besides the spicy sauce, there were also shelf-stable mung bean cakes, and he had even made a dried sauce-board duck. This thing only needed to be steamed in a pot to eat, without adding any seasonings.
He Zifeng saw Qiu Yu packing his bundle with some reluctance.
He Zifeng embraced his waist from behind and said: “I’ll come back as soon as I get a break.”
Qiu Yu also found cotton gloves and cotton socks from the box, along with thick cotton shoe insoles. Qiu Yu’s needlework wasn’t good, so these things were all made by asking others to do them – the most warm and thick kind.
The cotton socks were bought at a high price from Gouzi’s father. It was said that this was something only wealthy people outside could afford to wear. It was made by finely twisting sheep’s wool into thread, and only a skilled embroiderer could weave two pairs.
Making one pair of socks took fifteen days from start to finish and sold for eight taels of silver.
These things were both light, thin, and soft. Plus with this year being particularly cold, wool socks were very popular among wealthy people.
Gouzi’s father had a good relationship with them and only charged the cost price of six and a half taels. Gouzi’s father had only made three pairs in total – two pairs were sold to wealthy households in the city, and this one pair was bought by Qiu Yu.
Qiu Yu usually didn’t talk much, but when it came to He Zifeng, he couldn’t help but give a few more instructions: “Take them out to air every day. Don’t let your hands and feet freeze, or you’ll develop chronic problems.”
Qiu Yu knew that He Zifeng handled big matters very clearly, but he always forgot to take care of himself.
He Zifeng leaned close to Qiu Yu’s ear and said quietly: “I know.” The warm breath went through Qiu Yu’s ear and drilled into his heart.
Qiu Yu originally didn’t want him to hold him. Today Fang Shi was cooking, and little He Ran went to the courtyard to look after his big rabbit and horse. He was always afraid they would suddenly come back. The two had been married for many years, and it wouldn’t look good for people to see them embracing.
But thinking that He Zifeng would be leaving tomorrow, he couldn’t bear to push him away. His body gently leaned against his.
He said: “When you’re outside, find a comfortable place to sleep. Don’t catch cold.”
He Zifeng used his finger to lift a strand of Qiu Yu’s hair and wound it around his fingertip.
Seeing him still playing around, Qiu Yu said: “I was just talking to you. Did you listen?”
He Zifeng laughed and said: “I heard every word.” Then he leaned close to Qiu Yu’s ear and said: “Let’s light the heated bed in Ran Ran’s room today. The little guy can’t keep sleeping with us forever!”
It wasn’t easy to come back once, and the next time he came back would be after New Year. As a man with strong fire energy, he had already been holding back for two days. He knew Qiu Yu was thin-skinned and it wasn’t good to sneak around with him.
Qiu Yu understood his meaning and then lowered his head, revealing his smooth nape.
He Zifeng just felt that this soft flesh was particularly good to bite. For a moment he couldn’t restrain himself and followed his heart’s desire to bite it. He didn’t use force, but having such a sensitive place held by He Zifeng made Qiu Yu let out a muffled grunt.
Only then did He Zifeng seem to come to his senses and gently licked the place he had just bitten.
Qiu Yu blushed and said: “You, you’re just never serious.” He wanted to glare at him but was afraid of letting him see the affection in his eyes, which would make He Zifeng even more pleased with himself. So he could only say: “Look at the bundle I packed for you. Is there anything forgotten inside?”
He Zifeng said: “No, there isn’t.”
Then they heard footsteps from outside – little He Ran came running back, covered in sweat from playing.
When he came back into the house, he was picked up by He Zifeng. The little guy’s cheeks were red and rosy, and he said excitedly: “Daddy, I built a snowman outside.”
The snow outside was very thick. He had been rolling it all morning to get it done. He made two branches for the little snowman’s arms and used two coal balls for eyes.
After finishing, he ran back to show off to his two daddies.
When He Zifeng heard this, he kissed his son’s red rosy cheek and said: “Qiu Yu, let’s go look together.”
Qiu Yu hummed in agreement, put on his cotton jacket, and went out the main door to the courtyard. Sure enough, he saw a pile of snow, though it didn’t really look like a snowman.
Little He Ran was only four years old. To make it look like this was already not easy. He Zifeng said: “Let me help you reshape it a bit.” After speaking, he reworked the little snowman.
He made the head round, then rebuilt and compressed the body, and rearranged the nose and eyes. After compressing it, it would become solid after freezing overnight. This way, even if the sun came out, it wouldn’t melt easily.
Ran Ran jumped excitedly: “Daddy is so amazing!”
He Zifeng was very pleased by his son’s worshipful praise.
That day they ate sauerkraut with frozen tofu. The stewed vegetables were hot and very satisfying to eat.
After eating, the little guy had to go recite his books. He Zifeng didn’t know how his son’s grades were, but he didn’t need supervision every day.
That evening, Qiu Yu also lit the small heated bed in his son’s room. Considering that his son rarely slept alone in this room, he first coaxed him to sleep, then quietly returned to their room.
As soon as he returned to the room, the lights were still off. He had just taken off his cotton jacket when he discovered the heated bed was empty. Then Qiu Yu was embraced onto the heated bed. Familiar kisses pried open his mouth, and his whole body was like ignited flames.
After so many days of restraint, they finally had release. They fooled around until the second watch before gradually resting.
The next day when He Zifeng was about to leave, he said a few words to Qiu Yu, who was too tired to open his eyes.
Qiu Yu vaguely heard him, but he was really too sleepy. Probably seeing that he didn’t respond, He Zifeng actually boldly leaned over to kiss him, his hands threading through his hair. Qiu Yu was forced to open his eyes and could only make pitiful whimpers like a small animal.
How could a man like He Zifeng resist such provocation? He almost wanted to do it again.
When he finally used his self-control, Qiu Yu’s cheeks were already full of rosy clouds, his lips also showing tempting moisture. His smooth neck had many ambiguous marks.
Qiu Yu’s voice was hoarse and carried a bit of panic as he said: “Go quickly, don’t fool around.” Then he tried to get up, but his body was sending aching pains. He really couldn’t get up, so he simply hid under the blanket, showing childlike petulance by directly covering his head!
He Zifeng was afraid he would suffocate and quickly shook him out, his face showing a helpless smile as he said: “Alright, I’m leaving.”
After He Zifeng left, Qiu Yu put on his clothes and opened the window. When he went out planning to make breakfast, he discovered that millet porridge was already cooked and steamed buns were already warmed. He didn’t know when he had made all this.
He drank a sip of porridge to moisten his dry throat. He Zifeng had just left, and he already missed him a little.
…
He Zifeng returned to the county office and was called away as soon as he arrived. The county had two government-run tofu workshops that could produce more than five hundred boards of tofu per day. Even the carpenter business became prosperous because of this.
The County Magistrate had now tasted the sweetness of concentrated effort and set up another craftsman workshop. They provided three meals a day, apprentices got one hundred wen per month, craftsmen got at least three hundred wen, and as long as they were selected, they got cotton jackets.
On the day He Zifeng returned, all this work had been done by Constable Zhu. Recently, the orders they made were all various tools for the tofu workshops. Now that they had the proper equipment, efficiency greatly improved.
When the County Magistrate heard that He Zifeng had returned, he immediately summoned him.
He Zifeng said: “My lord.”
The County Magistrate had now implemented so many measures to benefit the people. Plus after the heavy snow sealed the city, he had consolidated power, so now his orders became very effective.
The County Magistrate said: “I told those below to sell sauerkraut soup twice a week.” This price wasn’t expensive, and it was hot to drink. It was perfect for the common people to get some oil.
They thought only poor people would like to drink this, but unexpectedly some wealthy people also liked it. In winter, firewood prices soared. Originally five wen bought two loads, now five wen bought one load. If you hadn’t bought coal cinder, one load of firewood didn’t burn for long, so naturally they were reluctant to use it for cooking.
“My lord keeps the people in his heart. Those common people are very grateful to you.”
The County Magistrate said: “It’s just that the county is almost out of money!” Originally it wasn’t a wealthy county. He had been in office for a short time, and there had been successive expenditures for building city walls, storing grain, buying pigs, and such. Now they also had to pay the craftsmen and tofu workshop people. There weren’t enough cooks either. The government office’s account only had five hundred taels of silver left.
Continuing like this, they would eat through their resources.
Merchants valued profit. Under such disaster conditions, they only needed to sell grain to make a fortune, but the County Magistrate wouldn’t let them do that, so they closed their doors.
He Zifeng said: “What brilliant ideas does my lord have?”
The County Magistrate said: “None for now.” His foundation was still shallow. A few days ago, he had also purchased some kiln factories that fired bricks and tiles.
The County Magistrate said: “Ever since we started employing everyone, basically no fights or brawls have occurred.” In his view, it was because they were idle and had energy with nowhere to use it. Now with the snow disaster at hand, lacking food and clothing, plus half the shops closed, it was easy to cause unrest among everyone.
It was easy to breed incidents like armed fights. Since everywhere was now hiring people, poor people went out to work and got both food and cotton jacket distribution, and at month’s end, silver could be converted to grain distributed in their hands.
There was almost no troublemaking.
The County Magistrate had done many things to prepare for contingencies, but due to insufficient silver in the accounts, he was somewhat limited. He wanted to ask if He Zifeng had any good ideas.
He Zifeng said: “I heard that growing vegetables on heated beds has already been accomplished!”
The County Magistrate nodded.
He Zifeng said: “Why not sell this thing outside? The most difficult thing in winter is fresh food. Although there are many poor people in the county, there are quite a few wealthy people too.”
Previously he didn’t know, but later he saw that fat Taoist priest bluffing around with demon-exorcising things. Performing a small ritual cost over ten taels of silver, and performing a large ritual cost over one hundred taels of silver. Only then did he gain insight.
The County Magistrate said: “But how would this work?” As County Magistrate, he was fine doing practical work, but he really didn’t understand business. Previously when talking with the merchant association president, when it involved their domain, they were all reserved.
In the eyes of these business people, the County Magistrate was equivalent to a disruptor. Once he entered the market, other people’s business would be affected, so they played tai chi with the County Magistrate.
This made the County Magistrate very frustrated, but he was too embarrassed to say anything. His hands really couldn’t reach too far. If higher officials found out, they might think he was competing with merchants for profit.
Throughout history, making money has always involved heavy taxation, squeezing merchants, settling trumped-up cases, and such.
Now the common people also had a very good impression of them, so doing anything wasn’t appropriate.
He Zifeng saw the County Magistrate suffering from being constrained by money and said: “My lord, they say people regard food as heaven. Why not open a shop and bring together small food vendors, charging rent by location. Also sell some fresh vegetables and such inside.”
He Zifeng’s suggestion gave the County Magistrate inspiration. He said: “This would be excellent.” Then he began studying it.
Soon the news that the county was going to open a food court spread.
The county had deep foundations and indeed had several shops under the County Magistrate’s control. When originally built, it was designed as one wall for two households, leaving only load-bearing pillars and tearing down all the other dividing walls.
This made the space spacious, divided into twenty stalls. The main door was also expanded and rebuilt. The second floor space was large and wasn’t divided, so it was rented out as a whole.
The rent for half a year was thirty taels, but sixty large tables could be placed.
The small spaces below were divided according to size, with half-year rents ranging from two to five taels of silver.
Everyone had no livelihood, but the County Magistrate could always come up with new ideas. Many people were watching the county’s big moves. Seeing new innovations again, they all rented spaces.
He Zifeng rented the largest one for thirty taels of silver. The location was much better than his own shop – it was a proper storefront facing the main street.
For the porridge distribution, they used fifty jin of rice per day, cooking it in advance. The next day they just needed to heat it early in the morning. Anyone who had been there long could do it. The main thing was just watching to make sure it didn’t burn.
So he transferred Chef Zhang’s family out and found ten helpers for Chef Zhang to use. The others washed dishes or worked as servers.
They needed to custom-order new pots, stoves, and such equipment.
The County Magistrate kept one stall for people to sell vegetables grown on their heated beds. Although they grew somewhat thin and weak and weren’t as good as seasonal vegetables, wealthy people were tired of pickled goods and craved this fresh taste.
Besides, such expensive and rare things naturally should be sold at a good price to make the hard work worthwhile.
In a wealthy residence, several people were playing cards. Looking at the gold and silver on the table, you could tell they were playing for high stakes. But these wealthy young masters seemed listless.
Previously when their families didn’t let them play, they always thought about playing. Now that they were together every day, they found it boring instead. Cricket fighting, raising cats and dogs – everything was boring.
One of them, wearing black clothes, Young Master Zhang, said: “I’ve come across an interesting business.”
Everyone present was wealthy young masters not lacking money, with family businesses that could last several generations. They said: “What interesting business?”
Young Master Zhang said: “Didn’t the County Magistrate open a warming house with various stalls? I rented two large ones that can be combined into one. I’ll have my family’s crispy fish chef go show his skills.”
“Your family’s crispy fish is exceptional.”
The other few people also agreed, just not knowing what was interesting about it.
Young Master Zhang, like them, was always fooling around with cats and dogs, never doing serious work, only good at eating, drinking, and having fun.
Young Master Zhang said: “Since we’re idle anyway, my father always complains I’m useless. This crispy fish recipe came from outside, and the chef was also hired from outside. What’s the point of only our family knowing about it? Might as well set up a stall outside and let others taste it too, to make my reputation known. In this county, when it comes to food and drink, I’m the best.”
After speaking, he gave himself a thumbs up.
Actually, he just wanted to show off!
To make crispy fish, you had to use about one jin of fish in advance, gut it, then rub it with seasonings and marinate it. Then smoke and roast it. When eating, fry it in oil again. It tasted sour, fragrant, and crispy. You could also mix it with fermented ingredients. Although it wasn’t crispy anymore, the fish meat had chewiness.
Eating this with wine had an excellent flavor.
They stayed indoors every day, and everyone in the family was tired of each other. They wanted to find proper work to do but had nowhere to go. Renting a stall to play around was perfect.
The other few young masters were also tempted after hearing this.
Every family had some specialty food they could present: “Let’s brothers do it together.”
“Right, those people used to look down on us. We’re not good at studying, but when it comes to eating, drinking, and having fun, we’re grandmaster level.”
“We just focused on playing for ourselves before. Others don’t know our talents.”
“How about my lotus flower cheese?”
“Then I’ll make soy sauce tendon.”
“Last time I got a recipe for roasted suckling pig. That meat is so tender. Brushing honey on the outside is exceptional.”
These wealthy family young masters spent money like water.
They were purely playing around and never planned to make money.
Young Master Zhang was just worrying about not having helpers. Seeing his old brothers all getting interested and eager to do big things, he remembered something important: “Why didn’t you say this earlier? When I was choosing stalls, there were still quite a few left. Now there probably aren’t any.”
Several wealthy young masters waved their hands grandly: “Don’t worry about this.” Then they had their subordinates go look.
No matter how much others offered, they would pay double.
In a poor household, the family was somewhat gloomy, feeling that the second son had been too rash. He had spent three taels of silver to rent a stall, and the family all blamed him. Now that grain cost money and seasonings had risen in price, forget about making money – how much would they have to sell just to break even?
Just then the door was knocked. The visitor was a well-dressed person who said: “Did you rent a shop at the county office?”
He had also found a familiar government official and checked the rental records to find this family. Since his young master wanted it, he had to make the effort to run this errand.
This household said: “Yes.”
The visitor said: “My master wants to rent it. How about this – I see you paid three taels of silver. We’ll give you six taels. Transfer the shop to us.”
The poor household’s people looked at each other. Could pies really fall from heaven? They were just regretting renting the shop, and heaven seemed to hear their hearts’ voices, directly letting them break even and earn three more taels. Was this real?
The servant seemed to see their confusion and said: “We can go directly to the county office to handle the transfer and pay the silver directly. No tricks.”
Seeing this, the family quickly urged the second son who had rented the shop to handle the transfer. The second son also went and came back looking dazed. The family looked worried and said: “What happened? Did they give the silver?”
The second son took out six taels. Even after returning home, he still felt like he was dreaming.
Then he told the family what he had learned. It turned out wealthy people were also eyeing those stalls. After knowing this, they felt some regret. These shops were hot commodities after all. If they had known, they would have rented two.
Similar scenes played out in multiple households.
For a time, everyone in the county knew that these wealthy people had come to rent shops at the county office, saying they wanted to do big business. Everyone was extremely curious.
