Chapter 96 The Profit of Taro Paste: Yu Cai's Failed Blind Date
Upon hearing Jiang Ji's request, Ye Li immediately shook her head: "My butt isn't healed yet. Let's find someone else."
"I'm going back to the county school tomorrow."
Jiang Ji gave a reminder.
"You came back before the Laba Festival."
Ye Li also reminded him.
This year there will be an annual examination, during which the county school will be closed for the holidays. The school director and instructors will have to go to supervise the examination and grade the papers, which will take three days in total.
Jiang Ji does not need to participate in the annual examination.
In other words, Jiang Ji only needs to attend classes for one week during his return to the county school, and then he will get another three days off.
The holiday is over, and after another week of work, it will be winter break.
December is so wonderful!
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ji hesitated for a moment.
Indeed, after entering the twelfth lunar month, half of the time is spent on holiday, so there's no need to give a reward tonight.
Moreover...
He lowered his voice and asked, "Does it still really hurt?"
His handsome face showed obvious worry, which made Ye Li laugh again: "Your butt doesn't hurt anymore. You didn't hit it that hard. It just made a sound."
Jiang Ji asked in surprise, "Then why were you praising me just now?"
Are you kidding him?
Ye Li lowered her voice: "Does the place where you went in still hurt?"
Jiang Ji: "!"
He was terrified and, like a thief, quickly turned his head to look around.
In broad daylight! In broad daylight!
Ye Li was amused by his reaction, and her smile widened: "Alright, alright, stop trying to cover it up. Nobody heard us."
"If you really want this reward, then wait until you come back next time."
It was so beautiful when I was making it.
However, the aftereffects are indeed quite significant.
Jiang Ji: "..."
He sighed softly and shook his head: "Let's choose another one."
"What should we change it to?" Ye Li asked curiously.
Jiang Ji looked him up and saw that he was covered up from head to toe except for his face, so he said, "Shall we go to the cloth shop and see if they have any nice hats? You don't have enough clothes."
"What? You want to make it up to me? Don't try that, it's giving me the creeps. It's not like I didn't get my fill."
Ye Li made a face as if she felt nauseous.
Jiang Ji: "..."
Just as he was about to explain, Ye Li added, "However, your suggestion also makes sense."
"The New Year is coming soon, so we really need to buy new clothes for the family. Let's go to the fabric shop and have some custom-made."
Ye Li herself doesn't like needle and thread, and the few people in her family who know how to sew are busy making taro paste and tofu, so they don't have time to make new clothes.
"……good."
Jiang Ji nodded.
So Ye Li started counting on her fingers: "You, me, Xiaomai, Ya Ge'er, and Father Yi Ge, that's six sets in total. Right, Father has one, so Dad has to have one too, that makes seven sets."
When Uncle Ye came to their house, he took over all the housework.
This is my own father. He's worked hard all winter at home, so I can't leave out Father Ye when it comes to making new clothes.
Since Ye Adie has one, then Ye Daji must have one too.
After Liu Yi arrived, she did a lot of housework.
He doesn't lack money anyway, so Liu Yi should have some too.
As for Ye Liang, who is not part of the official staff, let Liu Yi worry about that.
Jiang Ji had no objection to his arrangement, so the two of them drove the oxcart to their usual cloth shop.
With the Lunar New Year approaching, the cloth shop is doing brisk business.
They ordered their new clothes a bit late; the embroiderers and tailors at the fabric shop were booked until New Year's Eve. Even though Ye Li asked for more money, the shopkeeper didn't give him a definite answer.
The shopkeeper also needs to coordinate with the embroiderers in the shop before deciding whether to accept his order.
Left with no other choice, the two visited two more cloth shops before finally settling the matter.
With this delay, it was getting dark.
But Ye Li was in no hurry to leave the city. He asked Jiang Ji to drive the oxcart to Banxianju.
This morning they delivered 180 jin of taro paste; I wonder how it sold.
In the dead of winter, as darkness falls, people prefer to get into bed early, so business during the midday hours is not as good as at noon.
When the two arrived, the first floor was not full.
The two men didn't plan to eat, so they parked the oxcart temporarily at the door.
As soon as they entered, Deputy Manager Zhang happened to look over. Then, Deputy Manager Zhang's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly came out from behind the counter with a smile: "Oh my, Mr. Ye and Mr. Jiang, we've been waiting for you two husband and wife to come."
"Please sit down, please sit down. What would you like to eat?"
Seeing Ye Li looking towards the backyard, he smiled and said, "The master is not here. He went home this afternoon to take care of something."
"However, the taro paste sells extremely well, especially the taro paste cakes. Customers are buying ten or twenty at a time to take away. Even the owner joked that he would switch to selling cakes in the future."
"So much taro paste, it'll be gone by late afternoon."
"The landlord specially sent someone to Yezao Slope to inform you, husband and wife, that you should add more taro paste tomorrow if possible."
This long string of words surprised Ye Li and Jiang Ji: "One hundred and eighty catties of taro paste, gone by Shen Shi (3-5 PM)?"
They sold out by 3 PM?
Moreover, a single pancake costs fourteen coins, almost the same as pork.
If you pack twenty of these, that would be two hundred and eighty coins!
The two men's surprise made Zhang, the deputy manager, quite proud: "Indeed, whether it's the drink or the taro cake, they are all fresh and delicious."
"Some people wanted to pack the taro paste directly, but the owner didn't agree."
"If you two are interested, you can come and take a look tomorrow. Business will definitely be better tomorrow."
"Hmm... okay, if we have time, we'll come and take a look."
Ye Li nodded.
He actually has free time tomorrow.
He had originally planned to make some walnut powder, but when he mentioned that he was still in pain, Jiang Ji told him to rest tomorrow.
In this way, he was free again.
Since I'm taking Jiang Ji back to the county school tomorrow, let's go for a stroll around Banxianju.
The two did not linger and left the city to return home as the night grew darker.
By the time I got home, it was already completely dark.
Several baskets and hampers were placed next to the well, filled with washed taro.
Father Ye had already prepared dinner.
This afternoon, when Yu Cai's people arrived, Ye Adie happened to be returning from the workshop.
After listening to the waiter's words, Ye Adie called Liang Erxiang, Jiang Liu, and Jiang Yu, who also didn't need to fry tofu puffs, to come and wash the taro.
Jiang Dahe happened to be free, so he came over and helped out for a while.
Wash the taro first, then you just need to steam it tomorrow morning.
The group washed a total of 300 jin of taro.
Condensed milk is too precious, so Father Ye didn't dare to give any orders. He planned to wait for Ye Li to return and let Ye Li make the decision.
After hearing what his father said, Ye Li looked at the three hundred catties of taro by the well, and his heart began to beat faster.
Good heavens! Yu Cai’s original words were to do as much as possible, but Father Ye suddenly increased the weight from 180 jin to 300 jin!
Three hundred pounds!
He really is my father, he really knows how to surprise him!
Thinking of the profits involved, he immediately said, "Father, you've done a good job. Now that the workload has doubled, the wages have been raised to thirty coins a day."
"As for condensed milk, it can be made in advance and left overnight without spoiling."
Homemade condensed milk has a shorter shelf life because it contains no additives.
Even if refrigerated, it can only be stored for a week.
But he doesn't need a week; he can just prepare it the night before.
Father Ye was quite pleased to hear this: "Then we'll prepare the taro and condensed milk a day in advance, and it will save us trouble the next day."
"But there's no need to increase the wages; you've already given enough."
The workshop pays thirty coins a day.
With taro paste added, it cost sixty coins that day.
That's too high!
Ye Li shook her head and insisted, "Father, you should take it."
"We're all family, so no outsiders should benefit."
Well, the main reason is that taro paste has a particularly high profit margin—if you calculate based on 300 catties a day, the daily profit is much higher than that of tofu puffs.
The people who helped him make the taro paste were not outsiders, but all his close relatives.
Washing taro in the dead of winter is such hard work.
So even with this number, he still felt uneasy.
He'll definitely give out big red envelopes during the Chinese New Year.
Seeing that Father Ye was about to persuade him again, he added, "Besides, isn't the reason why my elder brother and brother Yi live apart in two different places to make money?"
When Ye Liangliuyi was mentioned, Father Ye fell silent.
That's right. Their family's wealth is so meager that the two of them can't even think about having children; they just want to make money.
Sigh, I wonder when his precious grandson will be born...
I'm so worried.
As a result, the people in charge of making taro paste had much less work the next day.
I finished making the taro paste half an hour earlier than yesterday.
It weighed a total of 300 jin (150 kg) and was packed into several wooden buckets.
After Ye Li got up, he announced the wage increase.
After some initial polite refusals, Liang Erxiang, Jiang Liu, and Jiang Yu, seeing that he genuinely wanted to give it to them, happily accepted.
Besides raising the wages of these people, we also need to find another person to be responsible for transporting the taro paste in the morning.
This isn't 120 jin (60 kg), it's 300 jin (150 kg), enough to fill a whole truck.
Moreover, this is an extra task, and the transport team shouldn't be asked to do it for free.
He and Jiang Ji went to the workshop to discuss the matter with the employees responsible for transporting the tofu puffs.
Whoever is willing to transport taro paste will receive ten coins in wages that day.
This extra income made the employees quite happy.
Although every household is making some money now, ten coins is still a lot of money, and they are willing to earn it!
Meanwhile, at Banxianju, several cooks prepared several large basins of dough last night, intending to use the leavened dough to make taro cakes.
In fact, the workload of the semi-idle cooks is quite heavy. In addition to making various soup bases and cooking porridge with preserved eggs and lean meat, they also have to make some staple foods.
Such as the rice, noodles, steamed buns, and pancakes that diners want to eat.
The corn tortillas the employees are going to eat.
Occasionally, I also need to make some snacks for Yu Cai.
Once the taro cakes were made, they became even busier.
We can't find someone who meets our needs in a short time.
Moreover, the kitchen space is insufficient.
So Yu Cai decided to buy steamed buns, noodles and pancakes from outside so that the cooks could focus on making taro cakes.
But today's taro cakes still aren't enough to meet demand.
The dough made from fermented dough is softer, and when it comes out of the pan, paired with extremely fine taro paste that has very little fiber and a milky aroma, the taste is absolutely wonderful.
Moreover, the taro cake itself is not big, weighing only 2.5 ounces. For people with a large appetite, how can one cake be enough to satisfy their cravings?
Besides, there are other people in the family.
Therefore, diners who are not short of money usually order at least ten items to go.
The price may seem expensive, but it's nothing to those with vast wealth.
Moreover, yesterday Yu Cai also asked Deputy Manager Zhang to explain to the diners why the prices were set this way.
First of all, the taro paste was purchased. The supplier, Ye Li, needs to make a profit, so the price of the taro paste cannot be low.
A serving of taro paste costs nine coins and weighs one and a half ounces.
This taro paste, about 1/2 ounces in size, contains no added water; it's made with solid condensed milk, cane sugar, and goat milk.
The cost of this small portion is six coins. Ye Li makes one and a half coins, and Ban Xian Ju makes one and a half coins.
However, after Ye Li brought the taro paste, Banxianju had to keep it warm.
In the dead of winter, we dare not serve cold taro paste to our customers.
This part of the cost cannot be ignored.
The taro filling in one taro cake weighs one and a half ounces, so the cost is calculated to be seven and a half coins.
The outer white flour pancake is slightly lighter than the taro paste, weighing about an ounce.
But it needs to be fried in oil.
After factoring in labor and firewood costs, Yu Cai only earns three coins for each pancake sold.
How much is that?
By selling taro paste toppings directly, Yu Cai can earn one and a half coins.
Processing it into cakes, after all that trouble, only earns an extra penny and a half.
For people who are not short of money, the profit margin of this product is not a rip-off at all.
Therefore, they bought it quite generously, willing to pay for this delicious treat.
When Ye Li and Jiang Ji arrived at Banxianju by oxcart after lunch, the first floor of Banxianju was still packed.
As they walked through the lobby on the first floor to the backyard, they heard several voices urging the waiter to hurry up and serve the taro cakes.
These urging words made Ye Li's lips curl into a smile.
A small portion of taro paste weighs one and a half ounces, and he earns one and a half coins.
Three hundred catties of taro paste can make two thousand servings of side dishes, so one and a half coins multiplied by two thousand equals three thousand coins.
Liang Erxiang, Jiang Liu, Jiang Yu, Ye Adie, and Liu Yi each received thirty coins, totaling one hundred and fifty coins per day.
Including the ten coins for transportation, the total cost of labor was only one hundred and sixty coins.
Therefore, he could earn 2,840 coins a day just from taro paste.
That's eighty-five taels a month.
Meanwhile, the workshop's monthly profit was sixty taels.
Now that he earns over a hundred taels a month, how can he possibly keep his mouth shut?
It's impossible to suppress!
He almost wanted to skip away!
However, when he arrived at Yu Cai's courtyard and saw her haggard face and slightly swollen eyes, his good mood was immediately replaced by worry.
What's wrong?
But Jiang Ji is still here.
He didn't want to ask directly, so he chatted with Yu Cai about other things for a while.
After that, he took Jiang Ji out of Banxianju.
As Jiang Ji sat on the oxcart, he felt a pang of sadness: "You're sending me back to the county school ahead of schedule just for Manager Yu's sake."
Ye Li: "...If I really valued friends more than women, I would have made you walk to the county school right now."
These words made Jiang Ji laugh, and the sour feeling in his heart dissipated a lot. He asked, "Then will you come tomorrow?"
"Come on, send the exact measurements to the fabric shop while you're at it."
Ye Li nodded.
When he ordered the clothes yesterday, he only knew his own, Jiang Ji's, and the two little ones' sizes. Therefore, he had to make another trip to deliver the sizes of Ye Adie, Liu Yi, and Ye Daji.
Moreover, with Ye Adie and the others working so hard, they increased the daily production of taro paste to 300 catties. He planned to buy three more bolts of cloth and have Liang Erxiang, Jiang Liu, and Jiang Yu make their own clothes.
Of course, that's for tomorrow.
After sending Jiang Ji to the county school, Ye Li drove the oxcart back to Banxianju.
Given Yu Cai's status, what could possibly cause him such sorrow besides marriage?
Sure enough, when he stepped into Yu Cai's courtyard again and asked her why she was like this, Yu Cai was embarrassed, but she still told him the truth.
“My father…the person he chose doesn’t think much of me.”
Seeing Ye Li's eyes widen instantly, Yu Cai gave a wry smile: "Actually, it's normal. I'm old and have difficulty walking. My father isn't in a high position, so it's understandable that people look down on me."
"These things can't be forced."
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