It was another day at the market. Yu Ge'er was a little absent-minded today. He kept looking at the shop door while working. Lin Yan knew that he was waiting for news from A Mo. When they were riding in the car together today, A Mo promised to come and tell them as soon as she had any news.

Lin Yan patted Yu Ge'er's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, my mom will come over as soon as I have any news."

Yu Ge'er nodded, still feeling anxious and expectant. However, he hadn't missed any of his tasks, and he hadn't made any mistakes.

＊

"Have you heard? Douxiangzhai has yuba for sale."

"Hasn't it always been there? You know what? It's actually quite delicious. You can't get it anywhere else."

"It's not that kind of yuba, it's uncooked yuba. You can buy it and cook it yourself at home."

"Really? Then I have to go buy some quickly. I brought back some fried bean curd sheets and pork last time, and my wife loves it. But unfortunately, she doesn't allow me to buy it often, saying that I'm wasting money."

The passerby hurried to South Street. Douxiangzhai was especially crowded today, with people who had heard about the sale of dried bean curd sheets coming to buy them. There was a line forming. Some were selling a pound, others half a pound, and soon the baskets were empty.

"What a mistake! I should have brought more." Lin Yan sighed and quickly dragged out another basket. Zhao Shiyun was weighing and packing the bean curd sheets for the customer and quickly said, "Put it aside, I'll do it."

Lin Yan loosened his grip and stood up. Zhao Shiyun dragged the dried bean curd sheets to the door. Because there were so many people buying, they were selling them right there today. The baskets used to hold the dried bean curd sheets were quite large, weighing about ten pounds each. With more than ten people already queuing, there probably wouldn't be enough to sell them.

The bean curd sheets in Lin Yan's family are big and thick. There are about fifteen pieces in one pound, and seven or eight pieces in half a pound. Two pieces are enough for a family to eat in one meal. If there are many people in the family, you can buy one pound. If you think it is expensive, you can buy half a pound. Uncle Qian even bought three pounds.

"Your bean curd sheets are delicious. My wife likes them too. I'll buy more and make them whenever she wants to eat them." Uncle Qian said with a smile.

Lin Yan also responded with a smile and gave him another one. Uncle Qian went home with a full bundle of bean curd sheets.

＊

At 2:15 PM, Yu Ge'er, who had been waiting anxiously, finally saw Zhou Chunlan. He excitedly put down the bowl in his hand and rushed to the door.

Zhou Chunlan almost bumped into him and quickly held his shoulders. "Don't worry, don't worry. I have good news for you."

She smiled and said, "Brother Li's sister-in-law has made up her mind and plans to rent a house in town to recruit disciples. Coincidentally, the house next to Brother Li's is vacant, so she rented it yesterday."

"How much is the tuition?" This is the question Yu Ge'er is most concerned about.

"She knew it was my idea, and she said it was me who recommended it, and that she would receive eight taels of silver a year."

Yu Ge'er looked at Li Yuemei, who hurried out and asked, "Really? That's fine, eight taels isn't expensive. The ones we asked for before all cost twenty taels."

"Of course, since she just started accepting apprentices, she asked me to introduce more people to her. Normally, I would charge fifteen taels a year, which is cheaper than other embroiderers."

Yu Ge'er felt relieved and couldn't suppress a smile on his face. Lin Yan was also happy for him from the bottom of his heart. He planned to pay for the bundle of cultivation himself, but it was not convenient to mention it now. When he got home, he would let Brother Shi Yun give it to A-mo in the evening.

Over the past few months, he's been able to make an average of around 500 wen per day. At the end of each month, he divides a portion among the four members of his family, essentially distributing dividends. He didn't take Zhao Shiyun's share, letting Lin Yan keep it, so he's now accumulated over 30 taels. Yu Ge'er works diligently and never complains about the hardship, so as his brother-in-law, I'll treat this as a reward.

He looked at Yu Ge'er's excitement, touched his belly, and thought to himself, if it's a boy, he can send him to learn embroidery, if it's a boy, he can send him to school. But it depends on what the child likes, not to force it.

Zhou Chunlan returned to West Street after making an appointment to become a disciple the day after tomorrow. Li Yuemei finished her business at the shop and took Yu Ge'er shopping for apprenticeship gifts. Besides tuition, they also needed to bring meat, red beans, lotus seeds, longan, red dates, and celery.

After Li Yuemei went out, Lin Yan and Zhao Shiyun packed up the last things and sat in the shop waiting for them to come back.

"Brother Shiyun, I plan to pay for Yu Ge'er's tuition. Do you think it's okay?" Lin Yan asked, but he knew that Zhao Shiyun would agree.

"Of course. My money is with you anyway. You can spend it however you want." Zhao Shiyun held his hand, looked outside the shop, and seeing that no one was passing by, he quickly grabbed it and kissed it.

Lin Yan was startled and looked towards the door of the shop. Seeing no one there, he pulled out his gun and hit him, "What are you doing? You scared me."

Zhao Shiyun laughed out loud, "Let's go out too. We've finished the sour plums we bought last time. Should we go buy some more?"

Lin Yan nodded. He had been craving sour food recently, so he kept a bag of sour plums in the pocket of his shirt. Whenever he wanted to eat one, he would take one and he would finish it in no time.

The two walked out of the shop hand in hand and headed towards the bakery. People were coming and going on the road, and Zhao Shiyun held Lin Yan's hand tightly, fearing that he would be squeezed by the crowd.

Arriving at the bakery, there was a dazzling array of preserved fruits of all flavors. Lin Yan's eyes sparkled, and he looked around like a child. Zhao Shiyun looked at him lovingly and said to the shopkeeper, "Please pick out some sour preserved fruits for me."

The shopkeeper agreed and asked, "Are you pregnant?" Zhao Shiyun nodded, "Then I'll get you some plums and dried apricots. This perilla plum cake is also sour, and pregnant women and men like it."

Zhao Shiyun asked him to pack more. Lin Yan took out his wallet and placed it in his hand. The shopkeeper had already packed the preserved plum cakes. Lin Yan took a bag and began to eat. Zhao Shiyun paid, and the two of them walked back slowly. The sun shone on them, stretching their shadows long, as if time had stopped at this moment, leaving only the deep love between them.