Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Pei Mu had agreed to meet the others at the entrance of Liushan Village for departure. Lin Aniu lived farther away and didn't have an ox cart, so he came a night early. Since the small courtyard at the foot of the mountain couldn't fit everyone, Pei Mu had him stay at the Zhong family's old place.

Liu Mingfeng had already gotten there early, telling everyone not to block the road.

As Liu Youzong's oldest son, people respected him, and the villagers of Liushan naturally did what he said. Plus, during these days of training, Pei Mu had clearly been treating him like a second-in-command. He could handle it, and the folks from other villages had gotten used to how things were done here.

He got all the carts turned around and lined up, ready to roll at a moment's notice.

When Pei Mu showed up, everyone called out "Boss." He nodded and had Lin Aniu ride with Liu Mingfeng at the back, while he took the front himself.

Somewhere in the village, a rooster crowed, and dogs started barking along. It was the most ordinary morning in the village—the sound everyone knew best and felt safest with.

Pei Mu didn't look back. He raised a hand and said, "Let's go."

...

"Did you hear? There were eight ox carts that day—what a sight." Country folks get up early, and even though Pei Mu's convoy left early, somebody still saw them. Nothing stays secret in a village, and with everybody buzzing about the Pei family's business, the gossip was flying.

"Eight carts! That's a ton of goods. Their shop's only been open a month, and they're already making that much?"

"You don't know this, but the couple runs two different businesses—they're raking it in on both ends!"

The onlookers clucked their tongues in amazement. Word was that everyone who went got paid a tael of silver, with food and lodging covered by Pei Mu. That meant a full tael of silver in pure profit every month! Too bad their own families didn't have ox carts.

Someone else poured cold water on it, saying the road was dangerous—folks had run into bandits before, or been robbed at shady inns. Who knew if this bunch would even come back in one piece...

"Shut up, Zhang Laoqi! What kind of bad-mouthing is that? Your Zhang Aman was too scared to go, fine, but why jinx our Erbao?"

Zhang Laoqi played dumb: "What do you mean? I'm just telling the truth—the road's dangerous..."

The two went at it, but most villagers took Pei Mu's side. People around told Zhang Laoqi to knock it off—Hunter Pei had skills from the battlefield, so he'd definitely come back safe.

The talk then turned to Liu Mingtao selling incense pills in town. He was the village head's youngest son and had always been tight with Zhong Yizhu. Sure, some people were jealous, but nobody said it out loud. Instead, everyone figured: if Liu Mingtao could buy stock from Zhong Yizhu and sell it, why couldn't they?

Once the first person got up the nerve to ask, the rest swarmed over, scared of missing out.

Zhong Yizhu, like he'd expected this, gave everyone the same answer.

Villagers could buy goods from him to sell, but they couldn't go to towns where someone else was already selling. There was a minimum order amount, and they had to sell at the prices he set. He told them to think it over carefully before jumping in.

Everyone had rushed over thinking they'd make money, but business wasn't that easy. After Zhong Yizhu laid out the rules and added that they'd eat any losses themselves, a lot of the hotheads backed off.

Yeah, doing business took money and know-how. At the end of the day, they were just regular farmers who'd never even used those incense beads or pills themselves—how could they sell them? That wasn't an easy meal to earn.

Still, a few were willing to give it a shot. Zhong Yizhu wrote down which towns they planned to go to and told them straight: if they wanted to switch, they'd have to come register with him again. They could only go where nobody else had already claimed the spot. If anyone got caught poaching business or undercutting prices, they'd never buy stock from him again.

Thanks to Liu Mingtao's stall doing pretty well in town, a few people had come by to buy stock, though they didn't get as good a price as Liu Mingtao.

Zhong Yizhu had also taken two traveling merchant orders by now, and he priced things for the villagers based on those. The villagers bought way less than the traveling merchants, but they were fellow villagers after all—helping them was helping himself too.

The Bamboo Fragrance Shop was doing even better than before, and with those big bulk orders on top of it, it was lucky Pei Mu had decided way back to leave the leftover incense materials to Zhong Yizhu. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had nearly enough stock.

Zhong Yizhu was run ragged and had lost some weight. One day, Sun Yunniang said she wanted to go into the city with him to buy fabric for summer clothes. Zhong Yizhu said sure and went back inside to grab an extra umbrella to keep the sun off her on the road.

Pei Mu had taken their ox cart, but Zhong Yizhu had already worked it out with Old Zhang to hire his cart by the day for the month.

When Old Zhang pulled up with the cart, Zhong He loaded the goods without anyone else lifting a finger. A young man carrying a bow and a knife—Old Zhang thought it was weird the first time, but after a few times, he didn't care anymore. When Sun Yunniang got on, he chatted with her friendly-like.

Since the Bamboo Fragrance Shop was doing so well, and Liu Mingtao's stall in Chuiliu Town was selling good too, Sun Yunniang had done what she said she would—taken on apprentices to teach from the ground up. One of them was the third daughter of Old Zhang's younger sister.

Old Zhang's family had an ox cart and did all right, but his sister's family had been hit by sickness and injuries, barely scraping by. He could help them out now and then, but he couldn't pull them out of the hole entirely. So when his niece came home all excited about earning money embroidering pouches and sachets, he was genuinely happy for them.

In his eyes, what Sun Yunniang was doing was practically charity. He was grateful, and the price he charged Zhong Yizhu for carting was extremely favorable. He'd even thought he'd help carry the goods since it was a household of young men and women, but Zhong He handled everything himself, leaving him no chance.

The group set off toward Songyun County in the morning light. Old Zhang would deliver the three of them and their goods to the shop, then run a job to Chuiliu Town at the carriage depot, returning in the afternoon to pick them up.

Yao Le was at the shop, so Zhong Yizhu chose a quieter time after noon to accompany Sun Yunniang to the cloth shop. He picked out two bolts of cool, breathable ramie cloth for her—perfect for summer clothes. Thinking of Zhong He, he also picked out a bolt of fine linen for him.

And of course, he didn't forget Pei Mu. By the time Pei Mu returned, it would be about time for summer clothes. Pei Mu ran hot and was always warm to the touch, so he probably felt the heat more than most. If the clothes were made in advance, Pei Mu could wear them as soon as he got back.

Turning around, he saw Sun Yunniang had already picked out some brightly colored silk gauze—clearly meant for him. She said that as a shop owner now, he needed to dress well so people would show him proper respect.

Zhong Yizhu smiled and agreed to everything.

They bought quite a few bolts of cloth, and the shopkeeper recognized Zhong Yizhu, so he offered to have his assistant deliver the goods to the shop directly, saving them the trouble of carrying everything.

Zhong Yizhu then accompanied Sun Yunniang to browse the embroidery shops and tailor shops, checking out the latest fashionable patterns in the city.

If Sun Yunniang had initially embroidered sachets and pouches to earn extra money for the household, and then to help the small incense stall, now—as a manager leading the village's girls and young men to earn money—her mindset had completely transformed.

She wanted to help more girls and young men earn silver, and she also wanted to supply Zhu Ge'er's shop with more exquisite and attractive sachets and pouches. Every time she thought about what she was doing, she felt energized.

After their shopping trip, Sun Yunniang had some new ideas. She discussed them quietly with Zhong Yizhu as they walked, and by the time they returned to the shop, their mouths were dry from talking.

There was a customer in the shop, and Yao Le was attending to them. Zhong Yizhu went around to the back courtyard to get some water, but Zhong He handed him something first: "Boss, someone just delivered this—a letter for you."

Zhong Yizhu was momentarily stunned. No one had ever written him a letter before.

When he looked down and saw the familiar handwriting on the envelope, his nose immediately stung with emotion.

Zhong He took the teapot to the front of the shop, and Zhong Yizhu sat at the stone table, unfolding the letter.

Pei Mu had studied writing with Zhong Yizhu for half a year and was now quite proficient. The man who usually seemed too lazy even to talk had filled an entire page of letter paper.

The letter said they had safely passed through Songxi County and would enter Quzhou Prefecture in two days. The journey had been smooth, and he told Zhong Yizhu not to worry.

Calculating the timing, the letter must have been written and sent at least three days ago. Letters traveled slowly, so by now Pei Mu's group should have entered Quzhou Prefecture as he'd said.

Zhong Yizhu continued reading. Pei Mu wrote that there was a sugar figurine maker near the inn where they were staying who was very skilled. He'd had the craftsman make a figurine of Zhong Yizhu based on his description, and while it didn't look much like him, it was still very cute. Unfortunately, the sugar figurine would melt if sent back.

Pei Mu seemed to have tried drawing the figurine to show him, but there was a blob of ink—he'd probably scribbled it out himself.

Zhong Yizhu saw Pei Mu casually continue writing as if nothing had happened, and couldn't help but smile.

The rest of the letter was filled with words of concern—telling him to eat well and not overwork himself, to be wary of scheming people, and to guard against the Zhong family. These were things Pei Mu had said many times before, but now, written carefully on paper and sent from afar, they carried an entirely different weight.

The letter ended with: "I miss you very much, but you don't have to miss me too much. I'll come back as soon as I can."

Zhong Yizhu's eyes reddened as he whispered, "Fool." Then he read the entire letter from beginning to end several more times before carefully folding it and putting it away.

Later that day, Zhong Yizhu went out.

He went straight to a sugar figurine stall in the western market. He'd always known it was there but had never visited. As luck would have it, the stall owner remembered both him and Pei Mu, so without needing a description, he could craft a sugar figurine of Pei Mu right away.

The stall owner had been working this craft for decades, and he captured expressions with remarkable accuracy. Zhong Yizhu took the finished figurine with delight, his eyes shining with a smile.

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Author's note: Sorry, sorry, I got stuck on this chapter. Here's a red envelope for everyone~