Chapter 129: Glib Tongue

Chapter 129: Glib Tongue

After purchasing the land, Sui Yu found time to visit it twice. She brought a wooden board as large as a basin and roughly sketched out the layout of the eight acres. The land was about a li away from the river. To make fetching water convenient, she initially planned to have the entrance face west, but considering the dry, cold northwest winds in winter, she marked on the board that the main gate should face south, toward the city.

Busy during the day at the shop, she spent her nights drawing layout plans by lamplight. She discarded one wooden board after another, never quite satisfied with her work.

One night, she woke up from a dream, recalling the scene, and suddenly remembered the inn project. Her constant revisions were aimed at accommodating more people. By following the layout of a school, she could achieve her goal. Since building tall structures wasn't possible, she decided to lay them flat, converting the first, second, and third floors into three courtyards. She would set up corridors on both sides east and west, serving as staircases for movement.

Sui Yu couldn't sleep anymore. She got up, dressed, and Zhao Xiping, awakened by her movements, turned to look outside and asked, "Is it almost dawn?"

"I don't know, I can't sleep. I have something to do; you keep sleeping," Sui Yu said as she put on her shoes and got out of bed, holding an oil lamp.

Zhao Xiping was puzzled. He yawned and, upon hearing Yin Po's voice, lay back down.

A short while later, Sui Yu returned to the room with the oil lamp.

"You keep sleeping. If the light bothers you, turn around," Sui Yu said, picking up the wooden board leaning against the wall.

Zhao Xiping understood immediately. He knew nothing about this matter and couldn't help, so he pulled the quilt over his eyes and told her to continue working.

Under the dim light of the oil lamp, Sui Yu leaned close to the table, pressing a wooden ruler she made with one hand and holding a piece of charcoal with the other. She first marked the measurements, then calculated that the thirty-zhang area north to south could accommodate fifteen courtyards if each courtyard, including a small yard, took up about six steps or two zhang. Could she build fifteen courtyards?

She recalculated again and again, then considered her finances. After deducting the 1,500 coins (150 taels) spent on the land, she had 2,700 coins (270 taels) left. Due to the war last year, business had been poor for nearly half a year. Even adding Zhao Xiping's salary, it wouldn't be enough to build fifteen courtyards, let alone additional storage for merchants' goods and stables for camels.

Sui Yu focused on drawing the plan, deciding to start with three courtyards based on her remaining funds, gradually expanding as she earned more.

The wick burned black, and the night slowly faded. Roosters crowed in the backyard, and distant cocks echoed. Sui Yu heard Yin Po opening the door to start cooking. She rubbed her neck, looking at the completed layout on the wooden board, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

"Have you been awake all night?" Zhao Xiping woke up, getting out of bed in his robe, saying, "Spring planting is coming soon. It will be hard to find laborers. Why are you in such a hurry? You can draw during the day."

"It's clearer at night," Sui Yu said, showing him the wooden board. "This row of connected houses on the east side is for storage, where merchants can store their goods. The small courtyard on the west side is the kitchen for guests. It's close to the river, making it easy to fetch water. The middle section is for guest rooms. Fifteen courtyards, with the first ten for guests and the last five for livestock. What do you think?"

Zhao Xiping studied the scattered words, memorizing them. Pointing to the storage area, he said, "Placing the storage outside the guest quarters means you need reliable people to guard it, patrolling day and night. That's troublesome. If anything happens, we'll have to compensate. How about turning the storage into stables and reducing the fifteen courtyards to eight, widening each courtyard and adding another row of houses inside. Merchants can store their goods in the courtyards they stay in and guard them themselves."

Sui Yu marked the plan accordingly, adding lines to the corridors connecting the courtyards. She decided to have separate gates on both sides of each courtyard, with only the guests having keys for security.

"That's settled. When I have time, I'll copy it neatly," Sui Yu said, putting down the wooden board. The charcoal was now just a stub, which she tossed on the table. She stretched and climbed onto the chair, leaning on Zhao Xiping's back.

"One more nap?" Zhao Xiping asked.

"No, it's already morning," Sui Yu said, jumping off. "It's late. Hurry up and get dressed for breakfast, and don't forget your morning training."

Blowing out the oil lamp, Sui Yu went out first. Despite the lack of sleep, she felt energetic.

Breakfast was served, and Yin Po and her two sons ate in the kitchen. After the family left, she collected the dishes, giving the leftovers to Gan Da and Gan Er.

"Eat more; you won't get such thick porridge at the ranch," Yin Po said. "After eating, go work in the fields and take the pigs, sheep, and camels out. No slacking off."

Gan Da and Gan Er nodded. They wouldn't slack off anyway. Since coming to the Zhao household, they hadn't gone hungry and occasionally enjoyed some meat. The family treated them well, and they cherished this good life too much to risk it by being lazy.

The food shop opened, and nearby residents started gathering, discussing spring planting.

Sui Yu kneaded dough, preparing to make soup buns and flat breads. Zhao Xiaomi rolled and flattened dough on the other side, ready to make buns.

"Nan Shi, is breakfast ready?" Eight men entered noisily.

Sui Yu smiled, saying, "It's been over a year since we last met. Where have you been making money?"

"We went south last year and came back in winter," they said, sitting down. "Your food shop looks impressive. You've added more stoves, so business must be booming."

Sui Yu laughed, saying, "Not like you. If you ever need someone to join your trade expeditions, I'm game for big profits."

The traders chuckled, not taking her seriously, knowing women who joined caravans weren't respectable.

As she rolled out the dough, the clay pot of braised meat began to boil. Sui Yu checked it; it contained leftover pork and half a rabbit from yesterday. She signaled Sui Liang to remove the firewood from the stove, heating the meat was enough.

"Second Uncle Niu, what kind of noodles do you want—wide or thin?" Sui Yu asked the first group of customers.

"Wide noodles, they're chewier."

"All five bowls wide noodles?" Sui Yu confirmed.

"Yes, yes, five bowls of wide noodles, one with braised meat," Second Uncle Niu said, tempted by the aroma, adding, "After this bowl, I won't come for a few days."

Sui Yu chuckled, slicing the noodles, and said, "Why hoard your money? Didn't you just collect rent?"

"We can't spend all our rent money on food," Second Uncle Niu said, shaking his head with a smile.

The wide noodles were two fingers wide. Before boiling, Sui Yu stretched and tore the noodles, dropping them into the boiling water. She fetched the braised meat, slicing a piece an inch thick and cutting it into strips. The rich aroma quickly filled the air.

Another group of traders turned to look, and Chen Wu asked, "Nan Shi, how much is a bowl of soup noodles with braised meat?"

"One coin," Sui Yu replied.

The wide noodles cooked, she scooped a bowl, adding a ladle of broth, a ladle of braising liquid, a spoonful of vegetables, a braised egg, and finally topped it with the braised meat, drizzling it with a bit more sauce.

She showed them the full bowl, explaining, "The extra cost is for the meat. Without the braised meat, a bowl of broth noodles is twelve coins."

The eight men looked at each other and said in unison, "Eight bowls of braised meat noodles."

Sui Yu praised them, "Only traders have such deep pockets. Wide or thin noodles?"

"Let's go with wide noodles. We'll have thin noodles tomorrow morning."

Sui Yu delivered the other four bowls of broth noodles to the table and continued slicing the noodles.

After these two groups left, Sui Yu emptied the pot, bringing in the filling Yin Po prepared last night, and fried it directly in oil.

This is the last bit of radish that hasn't gone bad. The winter radishes are all gone, but fresh shepherds' purse, leeks, and bitter greens have come to replace them.

Around mid-morning, Sister-in-law La Mei brought over two baskets of cleaned shepherds' purse and leeks, saying, "The work in the fields will get busier soon, so I'll only be able to deliver in the mornings from now on. Are you planning to make dried vegetables this year? As much as last year?"

"Yes, I won’t mind having too many dried vegetables. I’ll take whatever you can provide. If you're too busy, you can find some people to help," Sui Yu said.

Sister-in-law La Mei smiled and said, "My sister and my mother are helping me, and I also have a diligent mother-in-law at home. I can manage."

"It's still more convenient with family help," Sui Yu looked at Zhao Xiaomi and said, "I’m lucky to have my sister-in-law’s help; otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to manage."

This was the first time she truly felt the power of kinship. In ancient times, family ties were more reliable than hired labor. Thinking about her upcoming inn, she worried about who would oversee it. Sui Yu thought of Sui Hu, an extremely reliable person, but he was no longer around, buried on the grassland between the hills.

Seeing Sui Liang pause in making dumplings, he waved his hand and asked, "Sis, are you sleepy?"

"No," Sui Yu snapped back to reality, pinching the edges of the dumpling. She took another piece of dough and filled it, looking at Sui Liang working diligently. She thought he was a small helper left by Sui Hu and Auntie.

"Are the buns ready?" a woman carrying a shovel poked her head in.

"The pot is steaming them now; they should be done in about a cup of tea," Zhao Xiaomi said, "Auntie, how many buns do you want? The ones being steamed are pork lard and radish."

"I’ll take two baskets, regardless of the filling. Hold them for me; I’ll go back and pick them up. They need to be delivered to the fields," the woman spoke quickly, showing how busy the fieldwork was. She walked a few steps and turned back, asking, "Don’t you offer delivery? Can you bring them to the fields?"

Zhao Xiaomi looked at Sui Yu, who shook her head, saying, "We don’t deliver far."

"In that case, forget it."

The woman walked briskly away. Less than a cup of tea later, she returned with a covered basket, dropped 180 copper coins, and took two baskets of buns.

Zhao Xiaomi hurriedly packed two baskets of shepherds' purse and egg buns and placed them on the steamer. She came out and said, "Third Sister, during the farming season, there will likely be more people buying buns for the next month or so."

Sui Yu nodded and said, "Before closing tonight, steam four baskets of buns. We can heat them up tomorrow morning and sell them. We can also steam dumplings. I’m thinking of making some noodles without soup, which would be convenient to deliver to the fields. Unfortunately, we don’t have any radishes left, so we could use dried radish and shepherds' purse. Adding some eggs would be good too."

Yin Po had just finished her household chores and arrived. Sui Yu asked her to wash her hands and start making dumplings. She went into the room where the dried vegetables were stored and soaked half a basin of dried radish in hot water.

As the buns were steamed and sold one after another, the steamed dumplings were also bought up.

When the sun reached its peak, it was time for lunch, and the shop became quiet, with no customers coming in.

Sui Yu washed the iron pot and dried the bottom. She poured a spoonful of lard into the pot, melted it, and started frying eggs. Then she added the soaked and squeezed dried radish. The pot filled with a fragrant aroma as she tossed long, thin noodles into it and poured three ladles of braised meat broth over them. Next, she covered the pot to let it simmer.

"Sui boss, is the meal ready?" Zhao Xiping walked in, carrying a string of birds and three field mice.

"Not a bad catch today," Sui Yu leaned against the wall and asked, "Has spring planting started?"

"Yes, the government is distributing seeds. I’ll go collect them after eating," Zhao Xiping threw the field mice and birds on the ground and asked, "What’s for lunch?"

"Steamed noodles, or stir-fried noodles, if you prefer," Sui Yu went inside, lifted the pot lid, flipped the noodles and vegetables underneath, and sprinkled some tender shepherds' purse and finely chopped scallions, saying, "Lunch is ready, stop working."

The reddish-brown sauce stained the noodles, making them look oily despite using little oil. The tender green shepherds' purse paired with the golden eggs made the dish very appetizing.

Sui Yu picked up a bit of scrambled egg and said, "In the future, add the eggs and shepherds' purse together. Adding them too early makes the color unappealing."

"Taste is what matters," Zhao Xiping swallowed a mouthful of noodles and said, "It’s better than dried radish rice."

"If you like it, eat more. We’ll add this dish to the shop menu. Come whenever you’re hungry," Sui Yu said.

"Leave those birds for me; I’m inviting some people over for dinner tomorrow," Zhao Xiping observed her expression and added, "I’ll pay."

Sui Yu lowered her head and smiled, nodding, "Sure, then I’ll wait for your guests."