"Buy ten bags and get a free bag of croton powder!" Wawa added, pulling out a small flag from his sleeve pocket. It had croton and poop embroidered in gold thread. "Buy laxatives and get a free 'scam kit' so you can go home and scam the bad guys!"

Seven days later, at 15:30 on the twilight hour, a crowd of three people gathered around the carved counter of the time-honored Tong Ren Tang restaurant in Beijing. The accountant wiped his sweat as he handed the last packet of "Kengkeng Brand Tongchang Pills" to the housekeeper in a satin jacket. The packet was still stained with fresh croton powder. "Sir, here are the ten packets you requested. Remember, only take half a pill at a time! The other day, the son of Minister Li ate one, and the examiners at the Imperial Examination Hall thought there was a flood!"

The housekeeper lowered his voice, brushing the medicine bag against the sleeve of his satin jacket. "Cure our master's constipation! He's been in the toilet for three days. If it doesn't work, we'll have to call the imperial physician. If it works, I'll buy ten boxes and give them to the tenants who owe us rent!"

The servant next to him suddenly interrupted, swiping his braid in the butler's face: "I heard that Zhang Gelao's grandson took this medicine and wrote 'loyalty and filial piety are both perfect' as 'loyalty and filial piety are both shit' in the Imperial College, and was beaten with 20 boards by the teacher!"

The news spread like a winged croton bug, spreading across every corner of the capital three days later. That morning, Chen Weiwan was teaching Wawa to trace the red characters in Chinese characters when Chuntao rushed in, holding a gilded account book. The word "profit" on the cover was embossed with gold dust. "Miss! Great news! The pharmacy has sent us its share—a full 100,000 taels! Eighteen pharmacies combined, a total of 103,250 taels!"

"One hundred thousand taels?" Shen Weiwan dropped her brush onto the rice paper, creating a smudge of ink that looked like a croton seed painted by a pit. She snatched the account book, her fingers trembling over the figures. A few tiny grains of croton seed powder stained the edge of the book. "Two babies made one hundred thousand taels selling laxatives? Enough to buy three hundred bolts of brocade!"

Xiao Yu walked in with a cup of ginseng tea, the teacup filled with croton flowers. He looked at Shen Weiwan's wide eyes and almost dropped the cup. "The children have a celebration banquet in the hall. They said they want to treat you to a 'full croton banquet' - croton cake, croton oil chicken, and croton preserves. Everything is ready."

In the main hall, Kengkeng and Wawa sat at the head table, before them a "money" character carved from croton seed cake, the edges still stained with croton powder. Kengkeng, with a broken-tooth abacus, moved his beads with croton powder, with aplomb. "Dad, we're planning to expand production and open a branch in Beidi! People there must be constipated from all the barbecue they eat!"

"We're also going to make a 'transnational scam package'!" Wawa held up a small flag, the croton pattern on it glistening with honey. "Buy laxatives and get Beidi cheese for free. After scamming Dasheng, we'll scam the grasslands!"

Shen Weiwan looked at the two young bosses, then at the crumbling croton powder jade pendant on Xiao Yu's waist: "Your Highness, your son earns more than your three-year salary."

Xiao Yu sighed helplessly, the "招" character on the jade pendant falling off halfway. "From now on, the expenses of this palace will have to rely on the laxative business of these two babies. Yesterday, the Minister of Revenue even asked me to borrow money to buy two boxes of 'Rapid Laxatives' to treat his brother-in-law who likes to default on his debts."

He suddenly jumped off the chair and handed a wooden box to Shen Weiwan. The cracks in the box were full of croton powder: "Mom, this is our dividend for you!"

Shen Weiwan opened it and saw that there were crooked silver notes inside. The smallest denomination was five taels, and the largest one was written with "I owe my mother one million taels - pit pit wawali", and there were two greasy croton powder handprints at the signature.

That night, Chen Weiwan counted the banknotes until midnight, all of which smelled faintly of croton. Xiao Yu hugged her from behind, nuzzling the croton flowers in her hair. "Madam, if you start selling laxatives, I'm afraid all the toilets in the capital will have to charge admission. Little Lizi said the other day that His Majesty has stockpiled thirty packets of 'Quick Laxative' in the palace to entertain the princes at the Mid-Autumn Festival family banquet."

"Go away!" Shen Weiwan smiled and slapped his hand away, but saw outside the window in the moonlight, Kengkeng and Wawa were squatting in the corner of the courtyard wall, secretly feeding the stray cat with croton cakes: "Xiaohua, eat this and you will catch more mice! The mice you caught yesterday ate croton and pooped faster than me!"

The next morning, news came from the palace: "Your Majesty asked Little Li to buy thirty packets of 'Quick Laxative', saying that he would 'give a slap on the wrist' to the ministers who had defaulted on their debts at the Mid-Autumn Festival family banquet."

Chen Weiwan laughed so hard she collapsed, knocking over the croton tea on the table. Xiao Yu, however, watched the line of people waiting outside the courtyard wall to buy laxatives. The line stretched from the Prince's Mansion to the West Street entrance, each clutching a medicine packet with the word "Pit" written on it. "It seems my children are really going all-in on selling laxatives. Yesterday, an envoy from Southern Chu came to ask if they could order a 'croton tribute' for their emperor to treat his constipation."

Sunlight streamed through the window lattice into the accounting office. Chuntao was recording in a new account book, ink dripping from her brush tip, smearing the "profit of two hundred thousand taels": "Kengkeng brand laxatives, exported to southern Chu and western Shu, profit of two hundred thousand taels this month." Shen Weiwan watched the jumping figures on the account book and suddenly remembered the despair she had felt in the snow in her rebirth year—back then, she couldn't even afford a hot steamed bun, yet now she watched her children flourish in the croton business. She finally understood: this skill of deceiving others, learned from childhood, not only leads to revenge but also to huge profits. It was indeed the ultimate secret of a happy novel where God has given us a job.