Newcomer to the City

None of Wang Pan'er and her two companions expected that their first transaction would be with this burly man who came to collect the initial payment. Mang was straightforward; he didn't haggle, and after making the purchase, he picked up the oil paper bag and left with two or three of his underlings, including Skinny Monkey, without a care in the world.

Wang Pan'er weighed the two strings and thirty coins she had just received; they were heavy.

The first deal was a big one, which could be considered a great start. Wang Pan'er was overjoyed, and Wang Xiaoyao was also happy. Only Mu Chuan had a sour face.

Wang Pan'er went to a nearby shop and bought a candied hawthorn skewer. She put it to Mu Chuan's lips as if coaxing a child, saying, "Don't be angry. Why are you arguing with Brother Mang?"

Mu Chuan kept his mouth shut and tilted his head back slightly.

"Aren't you going to eat it?" Wang Pan'er stopped eating, while Wang Xiaoyao's eyes followed the candied hawthorn. "If you don't eat it, someone else is waiting to eat it."

Mu Chuan took the candied hawthorn, gripped it tightly, and took a big bite.

Wang Xiaoyao clicked her tongue in disappointment: "Sister Pan'er is always biased."

Wang Pan'er handed Wang Xiaoyao a string of copper coins to play with, then sat down next to Mu Chuan: "You're so calculating, you wouldn't really..."

She was glared at fiercely, and then tried to salvage the situation by saying, "How about we go to a brothel together after we close up shop, so you can show off your prowess and wash away your shame?"

Upon hearing the word "shame," Zhao Niangzi, the owner of the mutton soup stall, burst out laughing, clearly having misinterpreted the meaning.

The candied hawthorn was placed heavily on the small table. Mu Chuan couldn't eat anymore and got up to leave.

"Hey!" Wang Pan'er tugged at his sleeve. "If you don't want to go, then don't go. Why are you so upset?"

Mu Chuan pulled the fabric that Wang Pan'er was holding from his hand, his face cold: "So in your heart, I am the kind of person who waits in brothels to have fun. Since you want to humiliate me, then I might as well leave this place."

"No, no!" As her clothes were tugged, Wang Pan'er quickly grabbed Mu Chuan's arm. "How about we go listen to a storyteller later? Is that alright?"

Mu Chuan seemed to be persuaded, and his struggles lessened.

"Let's brew another pot of good tea and relax a bit," Wang Pan'er coaxed, and Mu Chuan was finally half-pushed and half-pulled back to the stall.

It was past midnight, and the food stalls had closed down.

When she had some free time, Zhao Niangzi swayed her slender waist and sat down next to Wang Pan'er, whispering in her ear: "Your husband has quite a temper. You can't spoil a man like that, or you'll only suffer in the end."

"Huh?" Wang Pan'er was a little confused and turned to look at Mu Chuan.

He borrowed a storybook from somewhere and sat upright like a primary school student, calmly and leisurely turning the pages one by one. The storybook was old, and he patiently smoothed out the creases in the pages.

"He has a bad temper?"

Seeing Wang Pan'er looking over, Mu Chuan raised his eyes. Knowing they were talking about him, he subtly pricked up his ears.

"Once you set up this stall, he started avoiding work. If people gossip about it, he gets angry and won't listen to anything. You have to coax him and pay him to listen to storytelling before he'll stop." This Zhao Niangzi is quite interesting. She has many ideas and chose a hardworking and honest man as her husband. She is in charge of everything at home and outside. The couple each do their own thing and live a wonderful life. Therefore, she can't stand women like Wang Pan'er who are run around by their husbands. "You can't just look at a man's appearance. If you spoil him, he'll end up being your maid."

Wang Pan'er was amused by Zhao Niangzi's words and her melodious tone, and suddenly she didn't want to clarify her relationship with Mu Chuan at all. She wanted to see what other interesting things Zhao Niangzi could say: "If someone is not good-looking, throwing a tantrum is called mourning. My Mu Chuan is like that. Having a little temper is called being charming. Besides, he is quite easy to coax. If you stroke his hair, he will be very obedient."

"You look like a newlywed young lady, unaware of the complexities of marriage." Madam Zhao gently tapped Wang Pan'er's forehead: "A woman marries a man for food and clothing. Are you going to raise your husband like a male prostitute?"

Wang Pan'er chuckled, "Who doesn't dream of being a rich woman? It's not impossible."

"So, is he even capable? He can't be completely useless, can he?"

Mu Chuan was flipping through his book with a loud rustling sound when Wang Pan'er suddenly remembered that this guy practiced martial arts and had good hearing.

Wang Pan'er, already provoked, didn't want to provoke him any further. She whispered to Zhao Niangzi, "Alright, alright, you have a pretty face and a great body."

Zhao Niangzi covered her mouth and walked back to her stall with a motherly smile on her face.

Mu Chuan, who was at the far end of the stall, held up a small storybook to cover his face, revealing only the tips of his red ears.

At midday, the market was mostly frequented by merchants and artisans. Merchants mostly went to restaurants, while artisans and small vendors mostly went home for lunch or brought a couple of steamed buns or sesame cakes to tide them over. No one visited the food stalls.

When it was time to leave school, the students walked out of the academy one after another, and Wang Pan'er finally reached her peak.

Most people in the world rely on a small plot of land, living at the mercy of the weather; those a little better off can run a stall or shop, escaping the life of toiling in the fields. The tuition fees of one student could equal the food rations of an entire ordinary family. Children from ordinary families, once they gained strength, had to start working to supplement the family income; they had no opportunity to study, let alone afford the precious necessities of writing materials. Those who could afford to support their children's education were mostly families that didn't worry about basic necessities like food and clothing.

After a long day of classes, the students were able to relax, and the happiest time of the day arrived.

They strolled through the market, laughing and joking, picking out their favorite foods and trinkets. If they came across a newly opened stall, they would definitely check it out.

Seeing the crowd approaching, Wang Pan'er forked out some beef, slicing it into small tasting boxes, and loudly called out, "Don't miss out! This braised beef is delicious and visually appealing. Try it, don't be shy!"

At that age, when they were both active and growing, they were bound to be hungry after a day of studying. The students didn't stand on ceremony; they took the bamboo skewers from Wang Xiaoyao and lined up one by one to pick out the braised meat from the small box.

"It smells so good."

"Seriously, I have never eaten such delicious beef."

"Brother Yan, come and have a taste."

A group of students surrounded a tall young man dressed in coarse cloth clothes as they arrived at the center of the stall.

Pushed to the front, he felt somewhat embarrassed: "I can't accept a reward without merit. I don't even have the money to buy it, so how can I taste it?"

Wang Pan'er personally forked a stick for the young man: "Why not try it? I see that you have a lot of integrity and are admired by your classmates. You must be an outstanding person. If you don't have money to buy it today, you might not be able to tomorrow."

"Not only is the braised meat delicious, but my sister is also beautiful and has an exceptional eye for people. The teacher said that as long as Brother Yan does not fall short of his usual standard, he will definitely pass the provincial examination and become a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level imperial examination) in one fell swoop."

"Really? Then future scholar, may my little stall also benefit from your good fortune."

Having said all that, giving the young man ample face, it would be impolite for him to refuse any further. So he took the bamboo skewer, bit into the braised meat, chewed for a while, and then earnestly praised, "It is indeed excellent."

After receiving the young man's praise, the group burst into laughter.

"But you know what, the calligraphy on this little sign is even better than Brother Yan's! I wonder which master calligrapher you invited, sister?"

"There he is?" Wang Pan'er pointed to Mu Chuan, who was still reading a storybook behind them.

Mu Chuan, who had been the center of attention, raised his eyebrows.

The students let out a long series of "wow" exclamations.

"Even these coarse clothes cannot conceal your elegant demeanor."

"If they wore silk and satin, even princes and nobles would pale in comparison."

Wang Pan'er promptly stopped the students from showering him with compliments: "That's too much. He's only good-looking. If you keep praising him, he'll get all cocky."

Mu Chuan closed the book and tapped it lightly twice on the desk: "Can't I skip it?"

See? He immediately became smug.

Wang Pan'er shrugged and shook her head helplessly.

The students treated this handsome and beautiful young man as an honored guest: "With such natural talent, he is naturally outstanding."

Mu Chuan won the students' favor and stepped forward: "Then let's line up in order, one by one."

The students were stunned by his directions and naturally lined up in front of the stall.

Passersby, unaware of what was happening, craned their necks to watch the spectacle. Wang Xiaoyao stuffed a bamboo skewer of beef into each of them, and they pushed and shoved each other into the queue.

After this, all the braised food in the pot was sold out, and even the three kinds of sweet soup were gone.

Wang Xiaoyao called out to the dispersing crowd, "Bamboo tubes will be recycled for three coins each. If you bring your own cups, the sweet water will be three coins cheaper."

Those who had queued up but failed to buy anything were still reluctantly peering into the stall. The young man called Brother Yan, however, helped them gather all the bamboo skewers, truly living up to his saying that one shouldn't accept something for nothing.

Wang Pan'er helplessly stirred the brine and showed it to the people gathered around: "I really don't have any left. I'll be back at my stall tomorrow. If you like it, come and buy some more tomorrow!"

"Let's disperse, let's disperse."

"Young lady, make a lot more braised tomorrow."

Wang Pan'er nodded and responded to them with a smile.

The stall needed cleaning up. Wang Xiaoyao was tidying up the scraps on the ground, while Wang Pan'er was carefully counting the stacked copper coins.

Today I received over 1,700 coins. After deducting the 800 coins for the ingredients and the cost of braising spices, firewood, oil, and salt, which averaged out to about 100 coins each, I made a net profit of over 800 coins.

For the first day of setting up a stall, this was a pretty good result.

Wang Pan'er gave Mu Chuan and Wang Xiaoyao a string of cash each as pocket money, packed up the stall, and then set off in a grand procession to buy more goods.

Twenty catties of beef, fifteen catties of pork, five catties of large intestine, four portions each of tripe and pork stomach, plus some vegetables that can be braised, and ten strings of cash were spent in an instant.

Despite having gained considerable experience during this time, Wang Xiaoyao still felt uneasy about the constant flow of money in the business. The largest red envelope she had ever received in her life was ten coins, and she never dared to dream that she could receive two hundred coins in the same day. She couldn't help but sigh, "We really have to thank Brother Muchuan for the hundred taels of silver. Otherwise, how hard would we have to work to save up the capital for this small stall?"

“You really should thank Mu Chuan. Without him, I wouldn’t have been able to pull you out of the well, let alone escape the village together.”

Behind them, Mu Chuan said to Wang Pan'er with a sinister look, "Aren't you going to thank me?"

The resentful tone sent a shiver down Wang Pan'er's spine. She rubbed the goosebumps on her arms and said, "You better speak properly. If I put a hundred taels in your hands, you'd squander it all in three to five days. Without me, you wouldn't have the good life you have now."

Mu Chuan protested, "I really don't know why Xiao Yao always says you're biased towards me."

"Isn't that unfair?!" Wang Xiaoyao listed them off one by one. "We have two rooms, but Pan'er and I squeeze into the smaller one, and we leave the larger one for you. If you're unhappy, Pan'er has to coax you, but I wouldn't dare to throw a tantrum at her. Even when cooking, I always consider what you like to eat first."

“I got one string of cash today, and you still have two strings.”

How can this lead to an argument?

Wang Pan'er covered their mouths with one hand each: "Stop, we should go home now. After we put our things down, we'll find a restaurant for a good meal, and after that, we'll find a teahouse with storytelling, order a pot of good tea, and relax. Don't make me slap you two on this happy day."

Wang Xiaoyao nodded obediently. After Wang Pan'er withdrew her hand, she asked again, "But these things won't be enough to sell tomorrow, right? Shouldn't we buy more?"

Wang Pan'er shook her head: "You can't get fat in one bite. It's better to take it step by step and keep the customers' appetites in suspense than to leave unsold food to go to waste."

"Can't we offer a discount on the unsold units, like we do with house tiles?"

“No, that won’t work.” Wang Pan’er arranged the vegetables and meat neatly. “If we give discounts on unsold produce, everyone will wait for the discount period to buy. We’re still a new stall, so unless we lose money due to unsold produce, we can’t easily offer discounts.”

Wang Xiaoyao nodded in agreement: "As expected of Sister Pan'er."

Mu Chuan also looked at Wang Pan'er in surprise: "Your methods are really amazing. You don't seem like a country bumpkin at all. Could you be possessed by some kind of vixen?"

You can't expect ivory to come out of a dog's mouth.

Wang Pan'er lightly tapped Mu Chuan on the back of the head: "How dare you talk like that? What vixen? Who can be more seductive than you, looking like this? I've been favoring you every day, so go ahead and use your vixen tricks to seduce me."

Mu Chuan was suddenly hit, which made him a little angry and a little aggrieved.

He lowered his head slightly, tilted it to the side, and raised the corners of his eyes slightly. His clear, narrow eyelids were wide open as he rubbed the back of his head, which was slightly sore from being hit, and sighed sadly.

It was as if Wang Pan'er had done something utterly heinous to him.

Wang Pan'er got goosebumps all over her body from the provocation, then grabbed Mu Chuan's arm and shook it wildly: "Have some decency, stop being so provocative."

Wang Xiaoyao stood aside, dumbfounded as she watched Mu Chuan's actions. She vowed never to cross Mu Chuan again; a man who so skillfully used his advantages was simply terrifying.