Chapter 233 – Simple, Understandable, and Elegant

Chapter 233 - Simple, Understandable, and Elegant

The houses were too close together, and ancient dwellings lacked soundproofing. He Zhiran feared that any commotion would invite ridicule from her family the next morning, so she hastily pulled Mo Jiuye into their private space.

Remembering the lingering scent of cooking oil on her body, He Zhiran once again retreated to the bathroom for a cleansing shower.

Mo Jiuye was particularly clingy today, following his wife wherever she went, even claiming that since she had worked hard today, he was willing to serve her by bathing her...

In front of Mo Jiuye, He Zhiran's resistance was like a little rabbit facing a big wolf. Inattentive for just a moment, she found herself in his embrace, and the sudden kiss left her unprepared.

Amidst the splashing water in the bathroom, as their lips and tongues entwined, her mind instantly went blank, and her entire body fell under Mo Jiuye's control.

Soon, she became very cooperative, tilting her long, fair neck to meet his passionate kisses.

After an unknown amount of time, Mo Jiuye finally released her, leaving He Zhiran feeling almost suffocated.

As she caught her breath, Mo Jiuye had already fetched a towel hanging nearby, wrapping it around He Zhiran's entire body before scooping her up horizontally and heading straight for the bedroom...

After a night of passion, He Zhiran woke up late once again.

Her sisters-in-law seemed to have grown accustomed to this situation; every time she emerged from her room when the sun was high, everyone's gaze would unconsciously fall upon her abdomen.

He Zhiran coughed awkwardly, not offering an explanation as she had done the first time.

She knew deep down that explaining such matters would only make things worse, painting a darker picture with each attempt.

She cleared her throat twice. "Sisters, help me divide the cold rabbit meat into small portions and wrap them in oiled paper."

Her sisters-in-law understood that the ninth sister-in-law was shy and tactfully refrained from teasing her.

After wrapping the cold rabbit meat, they had breakfast. Then, Mo Jiuye prepared to take He Zhiran into the city by donkey cart to find a restaurant to promote their dish.

Unexpectedly, just as they reached the gate with the donkey cart, they saw a carriage approaching.

The carriage headed directly toward the Mo residence, stopping a dozen meters away from the gate.

Tang Mingrui jumped off the carriage.

"Brother Mo Ninth and Sister Ninth were planning to go out?"

At that moment, He Zhiran was sitting inside the carriage and stepped out upon hearing the familiar voice.

"I've been working on some dishes and planned to try selling them in the city."

In He Zhiran's understanding, although Tang Mingrui was currently down on his luck, he was someone who did big business and wouldn't be interested in such snacks.

Therefore, she hadn't considered the possibility of collaborating with him.

Surprisingly, Tang Mingrui showed genuine interest.

"I wonder what kind of delicacy Sister Ninth has made. Could you show it to your brother?"

Not only could he look, but he could even taste it.

He Zhiran directly took out a package of cold rabbit meat from the carriage and handed it to Tang Mingrui.

"This is made from the meat of rabbits I raised myself. Brother Tang, please taste it."

Tang Mingrui opened the oiled paper and put a piece of rabbit meat in his mouth.

His reaction mirrored that of the Mo family last night—his mouth tingled from the spiciness, yet he still wanted to continue eating.

After three consecutive pieces, Tang Mingrui stopped. Knowing that the ninth sister-in-law of the Mo family made the decisions, he ignored Mo Jiuye.

"Sister Ninth, this meat is delicious. Why don't we collaborate?"

He Zhiran hadn't expected Tang Mingrui to be interested in such snacks.

Regardless, having a future major imperial merchant as a partner would be more convenient than her going to the city to promote the dish herself.

"Brother Tang, please come in. We can discuss the details of our collaboration."

Only then did Tang Mingrui realize that he had been impolite, tasting the food right at their doorstep.

His face flushed slightly as he said, "Alright."

Mo Jiuye led the donkey back into the courtyard and brought Tang Mingrui into their room.

With him there, there was no need to worry about any issues with outsiders, especially since he had noticed over these days that the villagers of Xiling rarely paid attention to such formalities. He could easily adapt to local customs.

They all took their seats, and Tang Mingrui couldn't wait to ask, "Sister Ninth, does this dish have a name?"

"The rabbit meat tastes better cold, so I named it Cold Rabbit," He Zhiran explained.

"Cold Rabbit... What a good name, simple, understandable, and elegant." Tang Mingrui praised the name.

Next, he inquired about the price.

He Zhiran couldn't lower the price of the Cold Rabbit just because she was collaborating with someone she knew. At most, she wouldn't ask for more.

"I'll wrap all the Cold Rabbit in oiled paper. The portion Brother Tang received is one serving, priced at one hundred wen per serving."

If Tang Mingrui thought it was expensive, she would find buyers in the city herself. In any case, a pack of Cold Rabbit must not sell for less than this price.

Tang Mingrui subconsciously looked at the package of food in his hand.

Visually, it could fill a plate without issue.

Recalling the bustling cities he had visited, where signature dishes in restaurants could sell for several taels of silver,

If such a dish of chilled rabbit were to be served, it would likely fetch a minimum price of over one tael of silver per serving.

This was a profitable deal.

Although the Tang family had fallen on hard times, they still knew many wealthy merchants who owned large taverns. For instance, the owner of the biggest tavern in the nearest prefectural city to Yun City had some acquaintance with his father.

Such exquisite cuisine, unique in all the land, would surely be in high demand if he presented it to them.

"Good, I'll take as many servings as you have at one hundred cash coins each, just as Sister Mo suggested."

He Zhiran wasn't aware of Tang Mingrui's distribution channels, nor did she care about them. Her initial intention in deliberately having Mo Jiuye rescue him had been for future business collaboration.

"We've prepared eighty servings of chilled rabbit today. The packet that Brother Tang sampled will be on us."

Even though it was only one hundred cash coins, He Zhiran, who took her business seriously, felt it necessary to clarify this.

Tang Mingrui didn't refuse the offer. When dealing with the benefactors' business, he would never prioritize profit.

When the time came, he would pay according to a profit-sharing arrangement, confident that it would certainly help the Mo family to some extent.

With the chilled rabbit not yet delivered to the taverns, Tang Mingrui couldn't determine the final selling price. Therefore, he refrained from mentioning the profit-sharing arrangement with Ninth Sister beforehand, as he had done with the dolls.

Having settled the sales of the chilled rabbit, Tang Mingrui brought up other matters.

He had come today to check on the progress of the doll production.

He Zhiran hadn't paid much attention to the number of dolls made in recent days; that had been left to her sisters-in-law to manage.

So, she went out to inquire about the doll count from Elder Sister.

Elder Sister informed her that together with the womenfolk from the Xie and Fang families, they had produced a total of one hundred and fifty dolls in these few days.

He Zhiran relayed this figure to Tang Mingrui.

Upon hearing there were so many dolls available, and eager to sell the chilled rabbit in the prefectural city, Tang Mingrui departed from West Ridge Village at the fastest possible speed, taking both the dolls and the chilled rabbit with him.