Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Yunxi County had quite a few restaurants.

The Chen Family Restaurant was the biggest and best one around.

The Chen family was based in the prefectural city, with businesses spanning many industries. Their business stretched across the whole prefecture.

Pretty much every county had some Chen family business in it.

The restaurant in Yunxi County was just one small enterprise among the Chen family's holdings.

Shen Song didn't know any of that, but when Shopkeeper Chen bragged about having the number one restaurant, it sounded pretty impressive to him.

"So why are you coming to our place?" Shen Song asked. "Are you here to buy our veggies?"

Shen Song got a little hopeful. He'd been thinking about getting his veggies into more restaurants lately. Now that he was growing more, the four places he already supplied couldn't take it all.

Shopkeeper Chen smiled so wide his eyes squished into slits. He suggested they go inside and sit down to talk things through.

The Shen place didn't have much seating—just some long wooden benches they could pull out. They sat under the straw awning, which gave some shade and a breeze now and then.

Even if that breeze was hot.

Shopkeeper Chen put up with the discomfort, keeping a perfectly polite smile on his face as he announced he wanted to buy up all the Shen family's vegetables.

Shen Song's first thought was that he wouldn't have to go hunting for other restaurants to take his veggies. Even though those restaurants were all dying to get his veggies, he'd never said anything publicly because he didn't have enough to go around.

But whether it was ten restaurants or just one, Shen Song figured it didn't matter.

"I've got delivery deals with four restaurants and the Xie family. Besides what they need, everything else is up for grabs."

Shopkeeper Chen had done his homework before showing up.

He knew Shen Song delivered veggies to Magistrate Xie's place. He himself went to the Xie residence every day, so his people would've had to be blind not to notice.

Still, Shopkeeper Chen hadn't figured a village kid would have ties to someone like Xie Zhiyu. To him, Shen Song was just some guy delivering veggies to a house.

The Chen family had businesses all over, and every shopkeeper had to go to the prefectural city once a year to give a report.

Shopkeeper Chen had been running the Yunxi County restaurant pretty well.

So there was no way he was going to let anything go wrong at his place.

It wasn't like nobody in Yunxi County wanted to outdo the Chen Family Restaurant. Shopkeeper Chen had timed his visit just as the Shen family's veggie output was starting to pick up.

He hadn't come sooner because other folks had held him up, and since he didn't want them beating him to it, he'd thrown some obstacles in their way.

In the end, he'd come out ahead.

The reason they were all scrambling to get here first was that they'd all had a taste of the Shen family's veggies.

They really were something else.

You could say that whichever restaurant got the Shen family's veggies would leave the others in the dust, no matter how good their chefs were.

A dish was half about the chef's skill and half about the ingredients themselves.

Shopkeeper Chen figured the other four restaurants were too small-time to worry about. Even with the Shen family's veggies, they were just little town joints. He wasn't worried.

And as for supplying the Xie household, that sure as hell wasn't going to hurt his restaurant business either.

"Besides what you said goes to those places, I'll take everything else."

Shopkeeper Chen announced with a grand wave of his hand.

He knew the Shen family had bought seven mu of wasteland to grow their business.

He knew Liu Xiaoping, the guy who handled that sort of thing.

They knew each other personally. The day the Shen family bought the land, Liu Xiaoping had handed him a basket full of veggies.

Back then, Shen family veggies were especially hard to get your hands on. He'd gotten a whole basket, supposedly from the Shen family, and had his chef cook up a couple of dishes to taste them.

He'd been given a good amount, and he had to admit, the dishes smelled and tasted amazing.

He'd only had them once, but after that he thought about them every single day. Since he couldn't go himself, he'd paid someone to stand in line for him. But they never managed to get any—he knew he couldn't outbid the richer folks, so he'd let it go.

That day, he'd chatted with Liu Xiaoping for a bit and found out about the Shen family buying the land.

Wasteland wouldn't produce much in the first few years.

Seven mu would give about a third of what average or below-average farmland would.

Plus, he could send some to the Chen Family Restaurant in the next county and the main branch in the prefectural city, so he could take it all.

Someone wanted to buy veggies, and Shen Song had them to sell, so of course he said yes. "Alright then, when shall we draw up the contract?"

Shopkeeper Chen said he wanted to check out the fields first, and if everything looked good, they'd draw up the contract when they got back.

He wanted to make sure the new veggies were still as fresh and crisp as the old ones.

If they weren't, why would he bother insisting on the Shen family's veggies? Besides, the main family had sent word telling him to personally check out the Shen family's fields and report back on every little detail.

The buyer wanted to see the fields, and Shen Song agreed right away.

The sun outside was scorching. Since they were headed to the fields, Chi Jiu grabbed two straw hats—one for Shen Song and one for Shopkeeper Chen.

Shopkeeper Chen glanced down at the beat-up, grimy straw hat, smiled, and waved it off politely.

"Thanks for the thought, but no need. I don't get much sun at the restaurant, so a little sunshine now and then does me good."

Chi Jiu nodded and just plopped the hat on his own head.

"Xiao Jiu, I can go by myself. It's blazing out here, and your leg's not great. You don't need to tag along—just rest at home."

Chi Jiu said he wasn't tired and his leg was okay. Walking more was good exercise, nothing bad about it.

Then he added, "I want to spend more time with you. It makes me happy. Is that okay?"

Shen Song's face lit up. He nodded hard without a second thought. "Of course it's okay! I'm happy being with you too."

Shopkeeper Chen trailed behind, his already small eyes squinting even harder in the sun. Being a bit on the heavy side, he was already huffing and puffing after just a few steps.

Gasping for air, he chuckled and said, "You two are really sweet on each other. I've got two boys at home, and they're nowhere near as close as you two. They're both over ten now, and they still fight all the time, each one stubbornly refusing to see the other's side."

Shen Song mulled over what Shopkeeper Chen said. Chi Jiu had never once thrown a fit with him—he was always good to him in every way.

He said, all serious, "My Xiao Jiu is the best little brother in the world."

Chi Jiu, upon hearing this, the smile at the corners of his mouth froze, and he grunted in acknowledgment.

Shopkeeper Chen wanted to respond, but he was too winded to respond. For the rest of the way, he kept his mouth shut, not uttering a single word, using every bit of his strength just to catch his breath.

The blazing summer heat was pure misery.

Because they had to slow down for Shopkeeper Chen, they reached the vegetable field fifteen minutes later than usual.

And when Shopkeeper Chen saw the endless stretch of lush green vegetables, he was completely floored.

Was this really what came out of wasteland?

It looked like it yielded even more than prime farmland.

With this much, there was no way he could take it all.

It was way too much—four or five times what he'd expected.

"What did you do to get these vegetables to grow like this? How can wasteland be so productive?" Shopkeeper Chen exclaimed in amazement.

Shen Song knew full well that wasteland didn't produce much—his family had even talked about it back then.

The wasteland was useless, but his Earth Ability could fix that; however, he couldn't tell the truth.

Shen Song stayed quiet, trying to figure out what to say.

In the silence, Shopkeeper Chen apologized, saying, "I was being too nosy."

The vegetables from the Shen family were unique, and anyone who had tasted them could tell.

This was their secret recipe, and asking about it was prying.

Shen Song quickly said it was no problem, and asked if Shopkeeper Chen wanted to see the other fields—the seven acres of vegetable fields were vast.

He'd brought him straight to the leafy greens because that was the only crop ready to sell right now.

Shopkeeper Chen said there was no need to look further. Wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, squinting in the sun, brow furrowed, face flushed red, he said in a low voice, "Young Master Shen, I didn't know before coming that the yield would be this abundant, so my earlier promise to take everything might not hold up anymore."

After saying that, Shopkeeper Chen's face felt even hotter—whether from the sun or from embarrassment, he couldn't tell.

Earlier, when they met, he'd boldly declared he'd take it all, and now he was saying he couldn't. He'd spoken out of turn and was now backtracking, so he was too embarrassed to look at Shen Song. He was also glad he hadn't been dumb enough to suggest signing a contract first.

But no matter what, Shopkeeper Chen couldn't force himself to take all those vegetables just to save face.

He was just a servant of the Chen family—how could he dare make such a big call?

Shen Song didn't mind at all. If someone could afford to buy more, great; if not, buy less.

Business only worked when both sides were happy.

He also got from Shopkeeper Chen's words that he hadn't expected the yield to be this high. He'd originally wondered how big Shopkeeper Chen's restaurant was to need this many vegetables.

In the end, Shopkeeper Chen settled on sixty catties a day for now, and once the other vegetables came in, they'd negotiate those separately.

The sixty catties a day weren't just for the restaurant—some would go to the main household in the county seat.

As for the price being fifty percent above market rate, Shopkeeper Chen already knew—he'd done his homework.

He could accept the price, but in business, you don't just agree to whatever the other side says.

So Shopkeeper Chen still tried to haggle.

Shen Song knew bargaining wasn't his strong suit—he had zero skill at it—so he wisely kept his mouth shut and let Chi Jiu take over.

The two went back and forth for about half an hour, their mouths dry from the summer heat, but Shopkeeper Chen still couldn't get the price down.

Chi Jiu's stance was simple: the Shen family's vegetables were already cheap, and lowering the price any further would be a real loss.

"Young man, that's no way to do business—not a single penny off. Do you actually want my business or not?" Shopkeeper Chen was also getting a bit frustrated.

Chi Jiu sighed and said they could knock off one penny for every ten catties, but couldn't go any lower. The more you buy, the more you save.

A few pennies meant nothing to Shopkeeper Chen—he wouldn't even stoop to pick them up.

What he wanted was for them to budge a little, to show they were willing to negotiate.

Chi Jiu gave him that out, and Shopkeeper Chen naturally took it, saying, "You folks work hard growing these vegetables, so one penny off per ten catties, fine."

Chi Jiu smiled and said, in a bargaining tone, "Nobody else gets this deal. We're sincere about doing business with you, Shopkeeper Chen. You'll have to keep this under wraps—if other families find out, it'll be tough for us to do business later."

Hearing the discount was just for him, Shopkeeper Chen felt even better. "I certainly won't say a word. You can start delivering tomorrow."

Chi Jiu quickly nodded in agreement, then saw Shopkeeper Chen off.

After Shopkeeper Chen left, Chi Jiu watched the carriage until it disappeared from sight. Shen Song asked him, "What are you looking at?"

Chi Jiu still had the straw hat on his head, not having had time to take it off. He frowned slightly and said, "I'm a bit worried."

"Worried about what?"

"Finalizing the deal for the vegetables is simple. Restaurants are different from other eateries—not everything requires the boss to handle it personally. This deal today is small, the kind that doesn't need the boss to come negotiate. The person in charge of purchasing could decide it."

Chi Jiu had managed household affairs with his mother before and knew this, but Shen Song didn't—he had never been exposed to it.

Shen Song's expression turned serious. "So what do we do?"

Chi Jiu said, "We'll deliver normally for now, stay vigilant, and see what they're really up to."

-

The four restaurants in Qingyun Town each received four baskets of vegetables a day.

With so much fresh produce, they couldn't possibly use it all in one day—most of it was pickled to make preserved vegetables.

Thanks to the dock at Yunxi County, Qingyun Town also saw many merchants passing through.

Lodging in town was much cheaper than in the county. And Qingyun Town had its own specialty—a soy sauce brewery that was particularly good, attracting many merchants to stock up.

Preserved vegetables could be stored for a long time. The vegetables grown in soil nourished by the superpower had excellent texture and flavor, making them perfect for pickling.

Not only were merchants willing to buy them, but diners also wanted to take a small clay jar home to enjoy.

The clay jars for preserved vegetables were only palm-sized, easy to carry and store.

Some merchants even tried to buy preserved vegetables from the restaurants to sell elsewhere.

It was tempting, but they were restaurants, not preserved vegetable vendors.

If they were to do it, it couldn't be on a small scale, or they'd never recoup their costs. But expanding would require more capital than they had.

Someone would need to take the lead to make it happen.

Since nobody's stepped up to take charge, the whole thing just got put on the back burner, but the four restaurants' pickled veggies are still selling like hotcakes.

Once the greens get pickled, they shrink down a lot, and none of the four restaurants have cut back or bumped up the daily four-basket order.

Chen Family Restaurant's order is three baskets.

Going by past experience, Shen Song figured Shopkeeper Chen would be asking for more before long.

Before, with the big deliveries, they'd either borrow the village head's ox cart or make several trips hauling the veggies on their backs.

Now with Chen Family Restaurant added, and more households and bigger orders on the horizon, buying an ox couldn't wait any longer.

The delivery volume has gotten way too big to just carry by hand anymore.

And they couldn't keep mooching off the village head's ox forever either.

Since Shen Song had borrowed the village head's cart so often, he secretly used his Superpower on the village head's fields, keeping it subtle so nobody would notice. He also snuck the ox some energy-packed grass since the poor thing was worn out.

Otherwise, if the village head saw how beat the ox was, he wouldn't have been so willing to keep lending it.

After all, animals need time to rest and recover, or they'll break down.

He also had Chi Jiu keep track, planning to pay the village head the going rate for the cart at the end of the month.

Borrowing from others all the time wasn't right, so once they'd saved up eighteen taels, Shen Song, Chi Jiu, and Shen Dashu headed to the county town, where the ox market was.

Nobody in the Shen family knew the first thing about picking out an ox.

Shen Chong knew the family was planning to buy an ox, but figuring out the timing, he'd probably be away then. So he told his dad to go find Xu Xiaoshan, the broker at the tooth shop, before buying, and have him help check things out and oversee the deal.

Xu Xiaoshan worked the ox market all the time, and even if he wasn't an expert at picking oxen, having him there meant the Shen family at least wouldn't get ripped off.

When they asked for his help, Xu Xiaoshan said he didn't want cash—he wanted some of the Shen family's veggies.

As a broker in the know, he'd been dying to try the Shen family's veggies for ages, but had never gotten a single bite.

The next day, the Shen family hauled a basket of greens and twenty jin of husked flour over to Xu Xiaoshan's place in the county town.

Xu Xiaoshan happened to have the day off, smiled as he stashed the goods, and led them to the ox market.

The place was pretty out of the way, and they walked a good while to get there.

The ox market stank to high heaven of cow dung, with piles of it all over the ground, so folks had to watch every step.

Shen Song wasn't in cloth shoes—he was wearing straw sandals.

He kept his head down, watching where he stepped, because if he landed in cow dung, with straw sandals on, it'd be just like stepping in it barefoot.

The Shen family needed that ox cart ASAP, so a calf was definitely out of the question.

No time to wait for it to grow up.

They had to get a full-grown ox.

And a full-grown ox ran three times the price of a calf.

With Xu Xiaoshan there, whatever ox they bought would be worth every penny.

The Shen family had their eye on three oxen, all at different prices.

One was a full-grown female, no flaws whatsoever, but pricey—fifteen taels.

One was a full-grown male, built like a tank, clearly a solid farm ox, at thirteen taels.

And there was one for just eight and a half taels, the cheapest of the bunch.

Compared to the others, it was scrawnier and weaker, but with Xu Xiaoshan there, the seller wasn't trying to pawn off a sick ox on them. The ox had just always been that way—didn't eat much, and naturally didn't have the same strength as the others.

If they bought the female, they could breed her later and raise their own calf. But breeding was risky, not many calves came out fine, and the ox couldn't work while pregnant.

After going back and forth, the Shen family passed on the female.

Money was tight, and if they bought that ox and got a cart built, they'd be back to square one on savings.

After mulling it over and talking it through, the Shen family settled on the scrawny ox at eight and a half taels.

At home, they mainly needed it for deliveries, not farm work.

After deliveries, it'd get plenty of rest, so it wouldn't be overworked.

Shen Song had his eye on this one too—he could feed it energy-packed grass and fatten it up into a strong ox later. Eight and a half taels beat the others on price, and he was afraid they'd miss out if they didn't grab it.

Shen Dashu just thought it was a steal—next to thirteen and fifteen taels, eight and a half was a straight-up bargain.

It didn't have some deadly disease; being skinny was fine, and having less muscle was fine.

Because of the low price, plenty of folks had been interested in this ox, but they all hemmed and hawed, scared it couldn't pull its weight once they got it home.

Eight and a half taels was no pocket change for regular folks, and the saying "penny wise, pound foolish" came from hard lessons learned in everyday life.

When you're dropping serious money, you can't be too careful.

That exact worry was why the interested folks either talked themselves out of it or were still on the fence.

The ones still hesitating didn't want to make the call themselves—they were waiting for someone else to buy it so they wouldn't have to sweat it anymore.

There were oxen at nine or ten taels, sure, but they never quite measured up to the pricier ones.

Plus, the old man selling the ox swore up and down it was healthy as could be, not a lick of illness. He was itching to sell, and the ox kept nuzzling its head against Shen Dashu, staring up at him with those big, begging eyes, until Shen Dashu could practically see the ox pleading 'buy me' written all over its face.

In the end, they gritted their teeth and took the eight-and-a-half-tael ox home.

The old man grinned from ear to ear and handed over the ox without hesitation.

On the way home, Shen Dashu named the ox "Eight and a Half."

The cart the ox would pull wasn't ordered from a carpenter in the county town but from one in a village.

On the way home, they passed a village where a carpenter lived.

For carpentry work in the surrounding villages, people basically went to him.

His prices were much lower than carpenters in the town or county. The items weren't ornate, but they were sturdy and durable.

For villagers, sturdy and durable items were more than enough.

The cart was considered a big item, and the carpenter asked for a deposit of one hundred wen. After paying, they agreed to pick it up in five days.

Once the ox arrived home, it was housed in the thatched shed that had previously been used as a grain storage warehouse.

Shen Sanqiu and the other kids were so excited to see the ox that they jumped up and down, running around it in circles.

Liu Chunxia and the other adults kept a close watch, telling the children not to get too close, worried the ox might get spooked since it was new to the place and stir up some kind of trouble.

Luckily, their Eight-and-a-Half was a gentle ox.

That's what the adults thought, anyway.

Shen Song figured Eight-and-a-Half was just too lazy to bother, too lazy to move.

Once it knew the shed was for it, it couldn't wait to flop down.

It stacked its four hooves on top of one another, closed its eyes, and lay there all peaceful.

Yi'an and Erkang had gone out earlier to cut grass and piled a bunch right by its mouth. It opened its eyes, worked its jaws, but couldn't be bothered to eat.

Just as Eight-and-a-Half was about to doze off again, it locked eyes with Shen Song.

Feeling guilty, it looked away, its heart pounding with fear—this guy had something scary about him that freaked the ox out.

But it was even lazier, didn't want to move, so it didn't even entertain the thought of running off. After looking away, it went back to sleep.

Everyone in the family figured the ox was just tired from the trip and the sun—everyone except Shen Song, who had a hunch something was off.

Shen Song squatted by the ox for a good while, feeling that their Eight-and-a-Half was remarkably smart for an ox.

Coming back from the cattle market, it hadn't blown its cover once the whole way.

Must've been exhausting keeping up the act, little buddy.

Eight-and-a-Half's arrival put Tuanzi, the little wolf-dog who'd been staying with the Shens for a while, on high alert.

It barked at Eight-and-a-Half for a good long while, but the ox didn't budge, like a dead ox, sleeping all peaceful.

Tuanzi must've barked too hard and too long—got dizzy and started stumbling around.

Eventually it figured Eight-and-a-Half couldn't hear squat with those ox ears, so it quit barking. And since Eight-and-a-Half just stayed put in the shed, Tuanzi stopped caring and went back to tearing around like usual.

On the third day, Zhao Lu—the one who'd said he'd round up some wolf dogs—showed up to deliver.

He wasn't alone—another hunter came with him.

Both had baskets on their backs, each with four pups inside.

Zhao Lu said he'd done his best, but couldn't scrounge up all fifteen. And not wanting to make them wait any longer, he just brought eight.

That made nine dogs total, including Tuanzi.

It wasn't until Shen Song saw all the pups piled together that he realized how many that really was.

He quickly said eight was plenty—if it were really fifteen, they wouldn't have room to raise them all.

The pups were still little and didn't know enough to be scared. Because of Shen Song's superpower, small animals were wary of him and kept their distance.

The pups did shrink back a little, but since they couldn't run away, they stayed put. Then they figured out Shen Song wasn't going to hurt them and was even playing around with them, so they started wagging their little stubby tails and yapping nonstop with their heads tilted up.

The Shen place was suddenly nothing but the sound of pups yapping, one after another.

Zhao Lu and the other hunter still needed to go to the county to sell their game, so they couldn't stay long. They each had a bowl of water at the Shen place and headed out.

When the day came to go get the cart, Shen Song led Eight-and-a-Half over.

These past few days, word had spread around Shenjiagou that Shen Dashu's family had bought an ox—a lot skinnier than the village chief's ox. Every time someone went to peek at it, they found the ox lying in the shed, barely moving.

Everyone figured the Shens had gotten a bad deal on that ox. When they gathered at the village entrance to gossip, they weren't so jealous about the Shens getting an ox anymore. Instead, they kept hinting that the Shens had finally scraped together the money for an ox, only to get a dud—money down the drain.

That evened things out.

Shen Song led Eight-and-a-Half past the village entrance, and every pair of eyes locked onto the ox. Seeing how skinny and listless it looked, they felt even more satisfied.

Eight-and-a-Half snorted, all annoyed. It had to get moving.

It wanted to be back in its shed, lying down.

But it didn't dare disobey—one of the young masters of its new home had a scary vibe, and the ox was still terrified of him.

Eight-and-a-Half was too lazy to even bother with grass. These past few days, it only ate when Shen Song fed it—and only out of fear.

The family all said Eight-and-a-Half liked Shen Song, only minded him, and only ate what he offered.

And Shen Song, thanks to his superpower, couldn't read small animals' minds or understand exactly what their cries meant.

But he could instinctively pick up on shifts in an animal's mood.

Simply put, he could instinctively tell what a small animal was about to do.

After watching it these past few days, Shen Song figured their Eight-and-a-Half was no ordinary ox.

It had a lot going on in that head of its—all of it focused on how to sleep more.

Take today, for instance. When it was time to lead it out, it wouldn't budge for anyone. Only when Shen Song came over did it slowly haul itself up.

All that stalling was Eight-and-a-Half buying itself extra time to lie around.

They hitched the cart to the ox. Shen Song didn't know how to drive it, so Chi Jiu took the reins.

The Shen family finally had their own ox cart.

Eight-and-a-Half was lazy to the bone. Its life motto: if it could lie down, it wouldn't stand; if it could stand, it wouldn't walk; if it could walk, it wouldn't run.

It was an ox too lazy to even eat grass.

Otherwise, a perfectly healthy ox wouldn't have ended up as skinny as a sick one.

Keep an animal long enough, and you learn its temperament. Knowing exactly how lazy Eight-and-a-Half was, its old owner couldn't take it anymore and decided to sell.

If they couldn't sell it, they'd give the ox a fake "sickness" and turn it into soy-braised beef, red-braised beef, spicy beef—you name it.

Eight-and-a-Half finally got motivated, cooperated with its old owner to get sold, and landed a new home.

Now it was time for the ox to earn its keep.

Eight-and-a-Half looked all droopy, head hanging low, totally dejected.

The Shens were loading up the cart with vegetables to deliver.

Just then, stuck in that miserable spot of having to work, not wanting to work, but having no choice, Eight-and-a-Half caught a whiff of something fresh and fragrant.

Seemed to come from something on the cart—and it smelled really good.

I really want to eat it.

The aroma grew closer, and Eight and a Half opened its mouth like it was already tasting it.

The tender grass was sweet and juicy—how could grass possibly be this good?!

The more it ate, the more energetic it got, and only then did it realize it was actually eating grass.

It was the tasty grass fed to it by the little master—the one whose presence scared it.

Eight and a Half ate its fill—now this was the kind of grass a cow needed to get some work done!

Shen Song noticed that after eating the grass grown with his superpower, their cow wasn't all droopy and down in the dumps anymore.

The more it ate, the more spirited it became, its eyes practically shining with joy.

Just days before, it had been too lazy to even bother eating.

The whole family was scared it'd starve to death.

But this cow—which barely ate or drank and just loved lying around—hadn't gotten sick. Aside from being skinny, there was nothing wrong with it.

You could only imagine how tough its constitution was.

Shen Song figured nobody could resist food grown with a superpower—and animals were no different.

Full and content, Eight and a Half worked with real energy.

It walked steady the whole way, its cow brain stuck on that delicious grass, wondering when it'd get to eat it again.

After delivering vegetables to the town, they headed to the county town.

Skinny as it was, Eight and a Half was strong as an ox. It was also crazy smart about people—you barely had to do anything to drive it.

On the quieter stretches of the main road, Chi Jiu even taught Shen Song how to drive the cart. After one try, Shen Song had the hang of it.

It wasn't that Shen Song was some genius—it was because Eight and a Half was so smart and cooperative.

That was also one reason the previous owner couldn't bring himself to find an excuse to butcher it—the cow was too smart, too in tune with people.

The Chen Family Restaurant had placed an order for the Shen family's veggies, and when they got back yesterday, Shopkeeper Chen had already spread the word to his customers.

Today, the customers who'd heard about it all ordered the veggies to give them a try.

The greens were great as a side or in soup—you could also blanch 'em or stir-fry 'em on their own.

The restaurant got three baskets. Shopkeeper Chen kept two and sent one to the main house in the prefectural capital.

Of the two he kept, one was for selling right away and one for pickling.

But to his surprise, that one basket sold out by morning. So he pulled out the basket meant for pickling to cover the lunch rush—and by evening, he still didn't have enough to sell.

Shopkeeper Chen quickly sent someone over to the Shen place to buy two more baskets on the spot—he couldn't have his customers going hungry.

The restaurant was busy, with tables turning over fast.

The staff pushed today's greens to all the merchants and eaters who'd come to Yunxi County from everywhere.

Word got around that the guy who grew these veggies was tied to the wild-vegetable rice mentioned in *The Travels of Lancheng*—and that his veggies tasted even better than the ones in the book. Anyone who'd read the book was dying to try them.

And folks who hadn't read it saw everyone else getting curious, so they got curious too.

The Shen family's greens fit right in at the new restaurant—no trouble at all, just kept thriving.

They sold like hotcakes!

Shopkeeper Chen didn't give a damn about the small profit from the greens—but he cared a lot about the foot traffic!

Today's crowd was bigger than usual, putting serious pressure on the other restaurants.

Shopkeeper Chen thought, if only the Shen family's veggies could be exclusive to his restaurant.

But he knew that was a pipe dream.

After today, no matter how hard he tried to stall, he couldn't stop other places from going to the Shen family to order veggies.

Shopkeeper Chen was right—before dawn the next day, a few folks were already standing outside the Shen family's fence.

They introduced themselves—all of them buyers for different restaurants in Yunxi County.

Shen Chong wasn't home, so Chi Jiu was the only one who could handle this stuff.

Before long, the Shen family landed four more contracts.

The veggie business was booming—not just county restaurants, but smaller eateries too, and several from Qingyun Town.

Even restaurants and eateries from the neighboring counties and towns showed up.

They were all in the same line of work, so word that every restaurant in Yunxi County was fighting to order from the same farmer couldn't stay secret.

The reason was easy to dig up with a little asking around.

So once they knew, how could they let themselves fall behind?

The three brothers came back from their corvée labor thin and banged up, covered in wounds, half dead—and by then, the Shen family was already pulling in three taels of silver a day from selling veggies.

It was also about time to pay their taxes at the tax office.

Chi Jiu kept the books real careful. Shen Song couldn't read, so he didn't bother. Shen Chong sat on the doorstep of the main hall, so skinny his shoulder blades poked out, flipping through the ledger in his thin hemp shirt.

With his skills, he couldn't tell if the books were good or bad. He could only spot major problems—and once he saw there weren't any, he handed it back to Chi Jiu.

They paid over seven taels in taxes. After taking out the money for the cow, the stuff they'd bought in town, and the cart, the family had just over six taels of silver left for the month.

Liu Chunxia tucked the silver away safe and said with a smile that they'd save up to build a house.

She finally had the nerve to start thinking about rebuilding their home!

Nobody in the Shen family was against building a house. This month they'd spent a lot on the cow and cart, but next month they'd definitely save more.

At the rate they were going, they could definitely start building early next year.

With a steady business, the family didn't have to struggle as much with food anymore.

They still couldn't have white rice every meal, but now they could eat mixed coarse rice and beans three days a week, and white rice one day.

They also had meat once every three days—and that day happened to line up with the white rice day.

The rough flour buns in Shen Song's bag had less rough flour in 'em now, so they were softer and smelled better. The family also picked up some malt sugar every few days for the kids, or brought back rice cakes to satisfy their sweet tooth.

Even fried dough sticks costing two wen apiece had started showing up on the Shen family's table.

Life really was looking up, plain as day.

The fried dough sticks were a yellowish-brown color, crispy on the outside and soft inside, leaving your mouth full of rich, oily goodness.

Shen Song fell in love with them instantly.

He found that the more foods he tried, the more he fell in love with each one.

There were truly countless delicacies here.

Just when he figured he'd seen it all, even more tasty stuff popped up.

On another delivery day, Shen Song, Chi Jiu, Shen Yian, and Shen Erkang were hauling crates at the back door of the Chen family restaurant.

Ever since they'd started delivering to the county's restaurants, Shen Yian and Shen Erkang had been tagging along.

The two were still young—thirteen and eleven, both having just had birthdays.

Farm kids grew up fast; since age ten, both boys had been working the fields and picking up odd jobs in the off-season. Shen Yian had a solid two-plus years under his belt, and Shen Erkang had over a year.

They were still small, but they had real muscle.

They came along for two reasons: to help haul the veggies and to keep an eye on the two young masters.

Neither young master was betrothed yet, so it wouldn't be proper for them to be hanging around a bunch of men.

The other Shen men had all gone to the labor market for work, and Shen Dashu and Liu Chunxia handled the fields with their daughters-in-law and son-in-law, so they weren't needed.

After they finished unloading, a restaurant waiter sidled up to Shen Song, saying the shopkeeper wanted a word.

Chi Jiu said he'd go with him, and Shen Yian and Shen Erkang insisted on tagging along too—no way were they letting the two young masters go alone.

So all four of them headed into the private room.

It was his first time inside a restaurant, and Shen Song's eyes were all over the place. He went up the stairs, down the hall, and once inside, took in the room's decor.

From the folding screen to the wall paintings to the patterns on the table vase, everything in the room showed the same red flower.

There was snow on the flowers too, the red and white popping against each other.

Shen Song suddenly thought of Xie Zhiyu's face, for no real reason.

His skin was fair, his lips red.

When he got angry, the corners of his eyes, his neck, and his collarbones would flush red too.

Mm, white and red—easy on the eyes.

Since everyone there was family, Shopkeeper Chen knew that being alone in a room with a young master would stir up gossip, so he didn't mind all four coming in. Instead, he had extra snacks and tea brought in.

The family's new clothes and shoes were all finished.

But since everyone had to work, nobody wore the new stuff.

Right then, the four of them were in tattered clothes, pant legs and straw sandals caked in mud.

They'd dusted themselves off and washed their hands before coming in, so they didn't look quite so grimy.

Shopkeeper Chen had a kind smile on his face, but his body honestly scooted in his seat—not that he moved far, but he just had to shift.

Once settled, Shopkeeper Chen cut to the chase. "I asked you young masters here to buy up all the veggies your family has left. Not just the greens, but cabbage, chives, green beans, cucumbers—anything that can be pickled.

I want what's ready now, and what's not ready yet, just bring it straight over once it's grown."

Shen Song and the other three were caught off guard. The fields produced a whole lot—Shopkeeper Chen had seen it himself.

Earlier, he'd wanted to buy everything, but after seeing the fields and the yield, he'd backed off. So why was he now saying he wanted it all?

Shen Song blurted out, "With this many veggies, can the restaurant really use it all?"

Shopkeeper Chen just smiled and said nothing.

Chi Jiu thought a moment, then asked, "Is Shopkeeper Chen's boss thinking of getting into the pickled vegetable business?"

The dock was right in Yunxi County, and there were way more merchants there than in Qingyun Town. Back in Qingyun Town, quite a few folks had asked about buying the restaurant's pickles in bulk to resell, but Shopkeeper Xu and the others knew they couldn't keep up with that kind of business and turned them all down.

They only did small-time trade, not bulk deals.

Once the veggies hit the county's restaurants, the inquiries would only pile up.

The Chen family had real pull in the prefectural city and were into all sorts of businesses. For them, getting into this trade would be a breeze.

They could get everything sorted in no time.

Since they'd guessed right, Shopkeeper Chen stopped trying to hide it and nodded. "Does the Shen family want to do this business?"

Chi Jiu asked, "So we'd be dealing with you on this?"

Pickles were sold at restaurants, but folks who made them specifically to sell out had dedicated pickle shops.

Shopkeeper Chen chuckled and said he was just the scout. If the Shen family wanted to talk details, the boss would send a dedicated rep from the prefectural city.

"If not, well, that saves everyone the hassle of a round trip, right?"

That made sense. Chi Jiu looked at Shen Song, waiting for his call.

Shen Song said he needed to talk it over with the family and would give an answer in a couple of days.

Shopkeeper Chen kept his smile. "Do let me know soon, young master."

On the way home, Shen Song stopped by the labor market to find Xu Xiaoshan and asked where his brothers were working, saying he needed to talk to them.

Xu Xiaoshan said, "They're coming to me tomorrow to pick up new jobs. If it's not urgent, I can pass the word along and have them head home?"

Shen Song figured that'd work, so he asked Xu Xiaoshan to pass it on.

"Tell my brothers to wait there, and we'll all ride the ox cart back together."

The next day, Shen Song brought Xu Xiaoshan some veggies on purpose—he'd picked up a thing or two about social graces by now.

Xu Xiaoshan was thrilled to get the veggies.

Anything that couldn't be decided right away at home was always talked over together as a family, sharing the risks.

This time was no different.

Being able to sell off most of the garden's vegetables in one go is a good thing.

But supplying veggies to restaurants and eateries is a whole different ballgame from shipping out big loads of produce for pickling.

The former is straightforward—the Shen family can handle it and keep sales within their means.

The latter carries increased risks.

Pickled goods will just keep selling more and more over time, and when ingredients run short, they'd have to expand their land. If the operation gets too big and their partners are way above their pay grade, it'd be more than a family like theirs could handle.

Though the Shen family are farmers, they aren't blinded by the shiny appeal of big profits.

They're focused on the long haul and the risks that could be lurking down the road.