Chapter 1580 - 1569: Honest Fool

Chapter 1580: Chapter 1569: Honest Fool

"Brother Ye, you’ve prepared too few of these pancakes. Make sure to prepare more with meat tomorrow."

"How come your pork offal is so delicious? Is there a secret recipe?"

"Zhao Er, that’s not very considerate of you. How can you expect someone to share their business secrets?"

"I just find it unsatisfying to eat so little; I want to go back and have my wife make some."

"Then you’d better buy a couple more tomorrow."

"I’m willing to buy one, but two are just too much. Brother Ye, are you coming back tonight? I’d like to buy two for my kids to try."

"Not tonight," Ye Qiu shook his head, "processing these pork offals takes a lot of time, but if you guys want to buy, I’ll prepare some today and sell them tomorrow evening."

"That’s good, remember to reserve two for me."

"I want some too, save two for me as well."

"And me."

Jia Zhihe watched eagerly as the workers scrambled to place orders, as if they wouldn’t get any if they were late, and he was taken aback. This business seems stronger than his! He knew the pancakes tasted good, but did they really have such a big allure?

"Brother-in-law, shall we go back? I’ve saved two for Yu Kun and Yu Feng to try," Ye Qiu said softly.

Jia Zhihe’s expression became gentler upon hearing this, "Why save them for the kids? Selling would fetch thirty coins!"

"It’s our own business, nothing significant, just let the kids try something new."

Thus, Jia Zhihe did not refuse and warmly invited Ye Qiu to dinner, saying that if he were to face any difficulties in the future, he should feel free to come to him.

When they arrived, Ye Qiu was pushing a fully loaded cart; but on returning, although the materials were all sold out, it was the stove and pot that weighed the most. He was still drenched in sweat by the time he got home.

"This tricycle is still too old and shabby, it must have been hard for you!" Niu Xue Mei asked sympathetically, "Your health has just improved, we are doing business, but there’s no hurry."

Ye Qiu smiled while wiping his sweat, "Why not ask how business was today?"

Niu Xue Mei hesitated; she actually wanted to ask about this the most but feared that a poor sale would dampen her husband’s spirits, so she held back.

Seeing his response, she asked, "How was business then? No worry even if it’s not great; we can take it slow."

Ye Qiu chuckled seeing her comforting him, "Haven’t you tried the pancakes I made? Do you think such great taste wouldn’t sell well?"

"Yet, they are three times more expensive than ordinary pancakes and buns. Who would be willing to spend that much?"

"That’s where you’re mistaken. Not only did all my pancakes sell out today, but there were quite a few who couldn’t get any and asked me to prepare more for tomorrow."

Niu Xue Mei’s eyes widened, "Really? You’re not deceiving me?"

"Take a look at this," Ye Qiu pulled out a money pouch, which contained a tael of silver and dozens of copper coins, "We received a lot of copper coins today, so my brother-in-law and I converted them to silver; this is the total income for today."

"So much?" Niu Xue Mei was stunned, "You earned over a tael of silver in just one morning?"

"Not that much. If you think about how much we used for materials, plus the cart, pot, and stove which were bought, this tael of silver isn’t even profit!"

"Do you think I can’t calculate?" Niu Xue Mei huffed, "The cart, pot, and stove, these are bought once and can be used for a long time; can we count them in daily expenses? Moreover, the veggies are grown ourselves, costing nothing. Pork offal costs just a few copper coins for a whole lot; the slightly costly item is the flour. Therefore, dividing it up, we must’ve earned at least half a tael of silver today, right?"

"Right, everything you said is correct." Ye Qiu took a big gulp of water and finally relaxed, actually, Niu Xue Mei calculated less than it was, but the fact she knew how to do these calculations gave Ye Qiu much satisfaction.

"This is only the first day, given that we didn’t prepare much in terms of materials, I’m confident that with full preparation tomorrow, we’ll earn even more. So you don’t need to work so hard at home, just grow some vegetables and take care of the two daughters.

"It’s nothing compared to fieldwork," Niu Xue Mei waved it off, "I’m fairly idle not working in the fields, and doing more work helps us earn money faster to build the house."

"Xue Mei, I have an idea."

"What idea?"

"Let’s buy a house in the county, and not build it in the village."

Niu Xue Mei was startled by this idea, "Why the thought to buy a house in the county? Houses are pricey there; can we afford them? Besides, though our fields are gone, we still have land. Who’d tend it if we moved to the city?"

"I’ve seriously calculated, with our current income, as long as we save a bit, we’ll be able to buy a small courtyard in the county in a year; we can sell the land if we can’t tend it, and living in the city would mean not running back and forth for business, saving us a lot of trouble."

Niu Xue Mei felt sympathy for Ye Qiu’s exhaustion, but moving from the village to the city made her more worried; she hesitated to say, "What about the vegetables? Without growing them ourselves, where would the ingredients for your pancakes come from? Buying them might mean not earning as much."

Ye Qiu seriously looked at her, "Do you know which type of vegetable sold out first today? Meat dishes. City folks are different from us; they’re more willing to spend money, besides seasonal vegetables don’t cost much, adding little cost, plus I have an idea today."

"What idea?"

"Since everyone loves eating pork offal so much, why don’t we sell it separately? I’ll continue selling pancakes at the dock, and you could sell prepared dishes, I’m sure business won’t be bad."

"Can that work?" Niu Xue Mei was a bit anxious, "I’ve never done business before."

"Did I ever do business? Wasn’t today the first day, and everything went well? How about you follow me to check it out tomorrow, leaving the kids temporarily with my sister."

Niu Xue Mei gritted her teeth and steeled herself, "Okay, as long as it makes money, I’ll learn anything."

"It’s great you can understand this; rest assured, our days are only going to get better. Go prepare dinner, let’s celebrate with a chicken stew for today’s successful start."

Ever since the doctor mentioned Ye Qiu needed more nutrition, Niu Xue Mei has been generous with food; she immediately followed Ye Qiu’s suggestion to slaughter a big hen, with Cong Ying and Cong Zi helping to pluck feathers nearby, clearly joyful.

Looking at them, Niu Xue Mei felt a twinge of heartache; in the past, they had wronged the daughters, but now they would never let them be deprived. It’s just chicken; as long as we’re making money, we’ll eat it whenever we want.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere at Ye Chun and Wang Hong’s house was somewhat tense, while Ye Dong took pleasure in others’ misfortune, "Seeing how ambitious Brother looked this morning, he must’ve earned quite a bit today, right? Why not loan me some money?"

Ye Chun glared at him, "Is my business any of your concern?"

"Fine, if you don’t want to talk then don’t. Trying to make big bucks without Brother-in-law’s skill will be laughable,"

"That still beats you doing nothing but freeloading all day,"

The two brothers were stubbornly at odds, much to the headache of Old Lady Wang.