Gu Huai and Xie Yunjiao had already finished cooking the pot and rice before Ye Baien finally arrived.
He came back with a lot of herbs, but he didn't seem happy, with a frown on his face.
"Master, did you encounter something bad on the road?" Xie Yunjiao scooped a bowl of scallion oil noodles for Ye Baien.
Ye Baien was attracted by the aroma and started eating.
He ate another poached egg and then stopped, saying he was full.
Although Xie Yunjiao got her job again, she had just started working and naturally had not received any monthly salary. Money was needed for various things, so their meals were always simple.
Any ingredient is prepared by counting the number of people.
This time, I fried an extra egg for Ye Baien because I was afraid that he wouldn’t be full.
"Master, there is another egg for you." Xie Yunjiao said.
Gu Huai felt a little uncomfortable, blaming himself for being useless. Even if he wanted to entertain the guests, he had nothing to offer.
"I'm full, give it to the child." Ye Baien said.
Doudou's eyes lit up: "Can I really have another egg?"
Although Xie Yunjiao gave him eggs every day, he could only eat one. He was sensible and never asked for more.
But now that he can suddenly eat one more, he is still very happy, because the egg fried by his mother is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and it is very fragrant!
"You eat it." Xie Yunjiao said as she put the egg into Doudou's bowl.
Doudou said thank you sweetly to Xie Yunjiao, then thought for a moment and said thank you to Ye Baien, because he could only eat the eggs because Ye Baien didn't want them.
He thought again, he had already said thank you to Xie Yunjiao and Ye Baien, but it was so pitiful that only Gu Huai didn't hear the thank you.
He thanked Gu Huai again.
Gu Huai was amused by Doudou. He looked at Doudou and asked, "Why are you saying thank you to me?"
"Because you are so pitiful." Doudou replied.
Gu Huai immediately understood what Doudou meant, and looked at this sensible and sensitive child with a mixture of laughter and tears.
"Dad, Mom, Grandpa Ye, let's eat eggs together."
Doudou stretched out his short little hands and put eggs in each of their bowls. He distributed them personally so that everyone got one.
Xie Yunjiao touched Doudou's head and her heart melted.
Their Doudou is really sensible.
Ye Baien looked at Doudou and nodded with satisfaction. Doudou knew how to share food and consider everyone at such a young age. He was such a good child.
The dinner was simple, but Ye Baien felt that it was the most delicious food he had eaten in all these years.
After dinner, Doudou didn't want to sleep yet. He wanted to practice calligraphy. Ye Baien became interested and went to watch Doudou practice calligraphy.
This is amazing!
He fell in love with the quill pen in Doudou's hand. He heard that it was made by Xie Yunjiao, so he shamelessly asked Xie Yunjiao to make a set for him as well.
"Master, I made this thing just because I'm poor."
I didn’t have money to buy a brush for Doudou, so I made him this simple brush.
I didn't expect that Doudou practiced so diligently that his handwriting became more and more beautiful. His strokes were natural and smooth, and even more beautiful than hers!
She felt that it was too difficult for her to teach the diligent and studious Doudou, after all, the knowledge she learned was different from Doudou's.
If Doudou wanted to take part in the imperial examination at that time, it was not enough to just be able to read and write, he had to study systematically.
She planned to wait until spring, then spend some money to send Doudou to a school in the next village, where the child could study freely.
She didn't expect that this small quill pen would attract the attention of the knowledgeable Ye Baien: "Master, if you like it, I will give you a set as well."
"Girl, do you still have a lot of these pens and inks at home?"
"Of course there is."
"Do you know that this ink has a unique fragrance and medicinal effects, can refresh the mind, and the ink flows smoothly. It is an excellent ink. Did you really make it?" Ye Baien didn't believe it.
"That's what I did. I just happened to pick some herbs in the mountains, so I brought them back, dried them, ground them into powder, and added them to the ink to make the ink sticks."
Xie Yunjiao didn't expect that Ye Baien would praise her so much for something she made casually.
"I said you are still complaining about being poor. If you sell these ink sticks, not only can you have a good year this year, you will also have enough money to live well in the future." Ye Baien said.
Seeing that his old friend's son was living a tight life, he naturally wanted to give him some advice.
Xie Yunjiao had never expected that the ink sticks she made could be sold for such a high price: "Then I'll take them to the town tomorrow and ask around."
"Go to Zizhuxuan. No other place would dare to accept ink sticks like yours." Ye Baien said.
Because we can't afford a high price, only Zizhuxuan has that kind of ability.
Xie Yunjiao silently took note of Ye Baien's words, and then she asked, "Master, how much do you think this ink stick can sell for?"
Ye Baien made a double gesture.
Xie Yunjiao felt that she had an idea: "Two hundred coins, that's not bad, I still have twenty sticks here, which means I can sell them for four ounces."
Although not as exaggerated as Ye Baien's, four taels of silver can indeed last for a long time.
Ye Baien looked at Xie Yunjiao with a look of disappointment: "Who told you it can only be sold for 200 wen? Such a good ink stick should be sold for at least 2 liang. If you are brave enough, you can offer 5 liang and let him bargain slowly. Maybe you can sell it for 30 or 40 liang."
Xie Yunjiao opened her mouth wide and forgot to close it.
A single ink strip weighs four ounces? That's far from what she imagined!
This is the purchase price. Zizhuxuan needs to sell her ink sticks after buying them. How high a price should it charge to make money?
At such a high price, will anyone really buy it?
"If I tell you to sell it, then go ahead and sell it. If it's less than two taels, don't sell it. It's a waste of the ink stick." Ye Baien knew what Xie Yunjiao was thinking. He couldn't let such a good ink stick go to waste.
“Will anyone really buy it?”
She sold a bag of chestnuts for twenty cents, but people thought it was too expensive, so in the end she could only sell it for fifteen cents a bag.
Three or four taels of silver is a year or two’s income for some families!
"Girl, why don't you believe me no matter what I say? I'll go sell it with you tomorrow."
If you sell it too cheaply, you will lose a lot of money.
"By the way, tell me what medicine you put in the ink stick."
The smell of the ink stick was too strong, and he couldn't smell all the flavors in it even after sniffing it several times, so he could only ask Xie Yunjiao.
Xie Yunjiao carefully counted the herbs she had put in.
When Ye Baien heard that there were several herbs that he was missing, he asked Xie Yunjiao where they got them.
Xie Yunjiao said that they were picked on the mountain, and Ye Baien had an idea in his mind.
The next morning, when Xie Yunjiao got up to cook breakfast, Gu Huai also woke up.
He was a little excited because from today on he would learn martial arts from Ye Baien.
But he waited and waited in the yard but Ye Baien didn't get up. When Doudou got up and asked, he found out that Ye Baien was no longer in the room.
"Master is missing?" Xie Yunjiao, who was making breakfast, was stunned.
Logically speaking, Ye Baien would not leave without saying goodbye.
He also said that he would go with her to sell ink sticks today.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
