Chapter 370: Providing for the Family

Chapter 370: Chapter 370: Providing for the Family

"With Xu Laifu helping, I can rest a lot easier."

To be honest, establishing the Sauce and Vinegar Workshop wasn’t part of the original plan. It was the result of a sleepless night of thinking after returning from Yeyang the other day.

It was a bit of a hassle, but if she didn’t do it this way, just lumping the soy sauce and vinegar into Baiwei Square would muddle the accounts, creating even bigger problems down the line.

So, it was better to have Baiwei Square and the Sauce and Vinegar Workshop run in parallel, both under the umbrella of Ji’s Flavor Industry.

Ji Huan did some more calculations.

To establish the Sauce and Vinegar Workshop, she would have to cover all the capital investment.

Not only would she need to provide the startup funds, the workshop space, the staff, and the production equipment, but she also had to be ready to expand production at any time.

As the partner contributing technical expertise, Xu Laifu wouldn’t need to invest a single cent.

All her assets combined currently amounted to about three hundred and thirty taels.

One hundred taels for the Sauce and Vinegar Workshop, one hundred taels for Baiwei Square, and the remaining one hundred taels as working capital for the new shop... It was just enough.

But when things actually got running, how could it ever be "just enough"?

The initial stage was all about pouring money in. Cash was needed everywhere, and cost overruns could happen at any moment. When they did, she’d have to rob Peter to pay Paul.

That was partly why the Sauce and Vinegar Workshop was postponed until after the spring—the lack of funds.

But no matter how tight the money was, Xu Laifu still had to be paid his salary.

Any market expansion takes time. The profit-sharing was scheduled to be settled at the end of each year, and this year would be over in just a little more than two months. By then, the soy sauce and vinegar might not have even broken into the market.

In other words, the first dividend payment probably wouldn’t happen until the end of next year.

She couldn’t just let Xu Laifu wait around with nothing. He had to live, and he had a family to support.

Honestly, for a shareholder, a monthly salary of one tael of silver wasn’t much, especially since he had also offered to help out at the new shop.

But Ji Huan thought, ’It’s always better to start low and go high than the other way around.’

Besides, at this stage, she really wasn’t in a position to be overly generous.

"Sigh. When you have one copper coin, you wish you had one tael. When you have one tael, you want a hundred taels. When you have a hundred taels, you’re still thinking about ten thousand... People are never satisfied, and there’s never enough money to go around..."

Ji Huan fiddled with her silver and feigned a profound air, not expecting Guan Shan to take her words to heart.

"If..."

He had just spoken one word and stopped.

"If you have something to say, just say it." Ji Huan craned her neck to look at him.

Guan Shan met her eyes. "If I went to a horse stable..."

Ji Huan froze, surprised. "You actually believe that old man from the Horse Market?"

"He wasn’t lying." The wages for someone who knew the Horse Selection Skill were indeed higher than for an ordinary person at a stable.

"Even if he wasn’t lying, and even if the pay really is high, you’ll be leaving in a few months anyway. Why take that risk? Stables are crowded with all sorts of people..."

Guan Shan deliberately ignored the issue of his departure. "The Northern Pass is full of horse stables. Every one of them wants to select fine horses, have them trained, and then send them to the military camps. I can help them train warhorses. I’ll give you all the money I earn."

"I don’t need you to earn money for me."

"A man should provide for his family."

Ji Huan found this a little strange. She tilted her head and studied him for a moment.

"Did you also hear those last few things the old man said? About you being ’soft in the ears,’ not a ’real man,’ and living off your wife?"

A flicker of emotion crossed Guan Shan’s eyes, and he turned his head away.

Ji Huan was relentless, turning her head to follow his. Before she could even speak, a smile was already bursting across her face.

"What, did it wound your masculine pride? Don’t be silly. We both know our situation. You’re not really my husband, and I don’t need you to provide for me. You should just let words like that go in one ear and out the other. You actually took it seriously? You’re just too..."

Catching sight of Guan Shan’s deepening frown, Ji Huan immediately wiped the smile off her face and put on a serious expression.

Guan Shan’s dark gaze fell on her face, and he offered a rare explanation. "It’s not what you think. I just don’t want you to worry about Silver Coins."

Ji Huan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. "I was just joking with you. We’re not that desperate for money yet... Have you really decided to go?"

Guan Shan pressed his lips together and said nothing.

For some reason, Ji Huan instinctively didn’t want him to go, but at the same time, she knew she had no right to stop him.

She stood up and paced back and forth a few steps.

"If you work at a stable, you’ll have to live there too. If you really want to go, I won’t stop you, but you have to wait until I find a reliable driver..."

At this, Ji Huan suddenly felt a pang of anger.

’He said he’d be my driver, but it turns out it was a one-time offer.’

’Hmph. Men.’

That evening, Ji Huan put off making dinner. When Guan Shan came in and asked if she wanted some pickled vegetable congee, she retorted that she was already full.

She might have been full, but Dabao still needed to eat. Judging by the way he was clinging to the doorframe with those big, hopeful eyes, he really didn’t want pickled vegetable congee again.

With no other choice, Ji Huan rolled up her sleeves and went into the kitchen.

The next day, as planned, they went to Yeyang to look at properties.

This time, Jifeng was pulling their carriage, with the horse from Xin Ziqi’s family trotting alongside.

Although Jifeng had been eating constantly for the two or three days since he arrived, you couldn’t put on weight overnight.

Ji Huan had been a little worried, but when Guan Shan led Jifeng out from the backyard, she suddenly fell silent.

Jifeng held his head high, his chest puffed out, and his steps were confident and proud. Although he was still a skinny horse with a dull coat, his entire demeanor was completely transformed.

Ji Huan clicked her tongue in admiration. She was finally convinced he wouldn’t just drop dead one day—just like his master, his will to live was incredibly strong.

Now that they had their own carriage, they didn’t have to get up early to wait for the ox-cart, so they’d woken up a bit late today.

When the carriage reached the village entrance, Ji Huan heard the sound of a rattle-drum. She lifted the curtain and saw a peddler with his goods slung over a shoulder pole.

The peddler saw her too and stopped to greet her.

"Well now! Miss Ji, you bought a carriage? Having a cart is so much more convenient. Heading to town this early? Is your little brother with you too?"

Ji Huan shifted aside, revealing Dabao on the other side. "Dabao is coming along. Good morning to you too, Uncle Meng. You’ve come to our village several times this month, haven’t you? You’re the most hardworking of all."

"Hah! My whole family depends on this pole of goods to get by. How could I not be hardworking? Well, you folks be on your way."

The peddler waved at them and headed into the village, shaking his rattle-drum as he walked. He let out a couple of calls from time to time, and by the time he reached an alleyway, he was stopped by a group of women chattering excitedly, wanting to see the goods on his pole.

Ji Huan was about to lower the curtain when she noticed Guan Shan was also looking in that direction.

"Is there something you want to buy?"

Guan Shan retracted his gaze and shook his head.

After the carriage had traveled for a while, he suddenly asked, "Does that man come to the village often?"

Guan Shan rarely left the house, at most taking a walk on the back mountain, so it was normal that he didn’t know.

"Besides him, other peddlers have also taken a liking to our village recently."

Dafeng Village is quite remote, so peddlers rarely bothered to come in the past. We were lucky if one showed up once every month or two.

Recently, that’s completely changed. It’s become exceptionally popular with peddlers.

"When exactly did they start showing up so frequently?"

"After the results of the county-level examination were announced."

In other words, after Song Jing became a Scholar.

Dafeng Village had produced a Scholar, which was a symbol of the area being spiritually blessed and producing outstanding people. Even though the Scholar had already moved away, he had passed the exam while living here, so it was normal for outsiders to be drawn to the village by its reputation.

Guan Shan was silent for a moment before speaking again. "What about before the examination?"

Ji Huan really wasn’t sure about that. She rarely bought things from them; Ximei went more often and liked to tell her about it.

"I just remember this Uncle Meng. I think he started coming around shortly after the beginning of spring this year, maybe two or three times a month at most... Is something wrong?"

Guan Shan rarely took an interest in anything, so for him to ask so many questions about the peddler today, there had to be a reason.

Ji Huan wasn’t familiar with the other peddlers. She had only exchanged a few words with this Uncle Meng, and he seemed like a perfectly ordinary, cheerful middle-aged man.

A dark shadow flickered across Guan Shan’s eyes, but he didn’t say more. He only said, "Be wary of outsiders."