After Ji Chengkang finished his report, Chen Xiaocai and Chen Xiaomai returned to Shaxian with the team, while Ji Yun'an was left in Kyoto.
Chen Xiaomai was quite happy in Kyoto and was a little reluctant to leave. However, when Chen Xiaocai urged Chen Xiaomai to go back, Chen Xiaomai didn't make a fuss.
"Big brother." Chen Xiaocai returned from Kyoto in the autumn and was very happy to learn about Chen Chi's baby.
"Brother Lin, this time when I went to Kyoto to sell that story, after deducting the costs, I made a total of more than 2,400 taels. Here is 1,200 taels, and there are still a few dozen taels left for me to spend."
Chen Xiaomi was stunned for a moment, then said, "So much!" She actually made so much money, all from just one story. Lu Lin was also taken aback, but he maintained a calm and collected demeanor.
Lu Lin secretly thought that Chen Xiaocai was indeed a promising talent; his money-making ability was top-notch.
Chen Xiaocai took out the silver notes he had on him again. "Brother Lin, the six hundred taels of silver notes I brought with me before the trip are all here. I haven't touched them much."
"Xiao Cai, you're really capable!"
"Brother Lin, your story is good."
Chen Xiaocai knew that Lu Lin had told people this story from a deceased mountain dweller. However, Chen Xiaocai also understood that there was no such mountain dweller at all. The mountain dwellers were busy making a living every day; they wouldn't have time to think about stories. If there were any mountain dwellers, wouldn't Qin Yi know about them?
Chen Xiaocai always felt that Lu Lin had a secret, but she didn't investigate it further.
“This is two hundred taels, let’s split it in half,” Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiaocai shook his head and said, "Two hundred taels will do."
Two hundred taels is an amount of money that many people cannot earn in a lifetime. Along the way, he simply followed Lu Lin's plan. Chen Xiaocai thought that if Lu Lin had personally taken action, he would have earned more than two hundred taels. Unfortunately, Lu Lin was too busy to leave.
Lu Lin shook his head and said, "Are you going to take five hundred taels? After all, you're about to have a son. We're all family, so it doesn't matter whose family the money is in."
Chen Xiaocai nodded and, without further ado, took out five hundred taels of silver.
Previously, Chen Xiaocai bought a street in Shaxian County, which cost a lot of money. Having money in hand made many things easier to do.
"The winery has been doing well lately. Now that you're back, you can keep an eye on it," Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiaocai nodded and said, "Okay."
Chen Xiaocai paused, then said with some lingering reluctance, "Brother Lin, doing business with rich people in Kyoto is quite easy, but it's also easy to offend people."
Chen Xiaocai nodded and said, "That's true."
Initially, they intended to entrust the storytelling rights to Yunxuan Restaurant. However, later, several teahouses approached the Ji family. Chen Xiaocai learned from Ji Chengkang that these teahouses had royal relatives behind them, and their relationships were very complicated, making them people they could not afford to offend.
Later, as the book Journey to the West became more and more famous, it was no longer something Chen Xiaocai could manage, so he handed the matter over to Ji Chengkang.
There are too many important figures in the capital; one big wave could drown him out.
Kyoto is great in every way, but it's not free enough. "In the capital, you have to be careful in everything you do, or you can easily offend someone."
Chen Xiaomi smiled and said, "When it comes to living life, you still have to pursue freedom."
Chen Xiaocai made a lot of money in Kyoto and had some money to spare, so he sent a batch of wine to Gunkan.
Chen Xiaolai was now a celebrity in the military camp. Along the way, the soldiers who escorted him got a lot of food from Chen Xiaolai. After arriving in the capital, Chen Xiaolai also earned a lot of money. He treated a few soldiers to drinks twice and gave them some silver.
The soldiers all thought that Chen Xiaocai was young and promising, had a great personality, and was generous.
Once this was spread in the military camp, everyone respected Chen Xiaocai even more.
In the military camp, some soldiers who initially looked down on Chen Xiaolai changed their opinion of her after learning that Ji Chengkang had made a fortune with Chen Xiaocai.
Liu Yun flipped through the book in her hand and said, "General, this Journey to the West is indeed interesting." Ji Chengkang nodded and said, "It is very interesting. It is said that the concubines in the palace also like this story very much."
Ji Chengkang also sent several sets of deluxe edition books to the palace. These deluxe edition books cost eight taels of silver per set, which was actually very cheap to produce. Ji Chengkang bought them at cost price, so he didn't spend much money. Because of his act of sending books to the palace, the emperor seemed to think highly of him and even wanted to promote him.
Ji Chengkang didn't know what to say. He had risked his life in the outside world for so many years, and the emperor rarely thought of promoting him. But when he sent a few books to the palace, the emperor thought of promoting him.
Liu Yun smiled and said, "You can tell this story to the soldiers when you have time."
Liu Yun thought to himself: There's not much entertainment in the army, and everyone seems quite bored right now.
Ji Chengkang nodded and said, "Good. Lao Ba and the others should all know that this guy has been frequenting teahouses since he arrived in the capital." Lao Ba, whom Ji Chengkang was referring to, was one of the men who had come to the capital with him.
“Recently, more people have been settling down in Shaxian,” Liu Yun said.
Ji Chengkang nodded and said, "This is a good thing. With more people coming, more wasteland can be reclaimed."
Ji Chengkang felt that Shaxian County had changed a lot since he last returned. Many villagers were repairing roads, and the roads in Shaxian County were now well-connected. Perhaps it was because Lu Lin had paid them enough money. The people working there all seemed to be very energetic.
Chen Xiaocai's return greatly excited Shen Chi.
"Is the capital city prosperous?" Chen Chi asked curiously.
Chen Xiaocai nodded. "The capital city is naturally prosperous."
The most prosperous place in Shaxian is Shaxian Street. There are many streets like this in Beijing, and there are many streets that are more lively than Shaxian.
The streets are lined with shops selling jewelry, jade, calligraphy and paintings—you name it.
Even a random piece of calligraphy or painting in a calligraphy and painting shop can make him feel his poverty.
Chen Xiaocai really couldn't understand it. It was just a tattered painting, yet it could sell for hundreds of taels of silver. These literati were really just bored and had nothing better to do.
Back in Beijing, he was often looked down upon. Even after Journey to the West sold very well, many people still thought he was just someone who took shortcuts and didn't take him seriously.
"I brought you something delicious."
Chen Chi said helplessly, "Why bother with all that trouble? It's been brought all this way, it'll have gone bad by now. There's plenty of good food at home."
Although she said that, Shen Chi felt a warm feeling in her heart.
Chen Xiaocai smiled and said, "Of course I understand. This is lotus root starch that I bought in a nearby county town. It can last for several days. I'll cook it and try it out."
Chen Chi nodded and said, "Okay."
"Before leaving the capital, Xiaomai bought a lot of delicious food and even categorized it, with some for my older brother, some for Brother Lin, and some for you. I was worried that the food would spoil when we brought it back, but that guy couldn't resist and ate it all on the way." Shen Chi couldn't help but smile when he heard Xiaocai's words.
"Did Ji Yun'an stay in Kyoto?" Shen Chi asked.
Chen Xiaocai nodded and said, "Yes."
Chen Chi sighed and said, "After all, he's a child from a large family. It's better for him to stay in Kyoto and develop his career."
Chen Xiaocai nodded and said, "Yes, but he seems to have quite a few troubles too."
Although Ji Chengkang was the legitimate son, he was not as favored as his half-brothers, who could often stay by their father's side.
Although Ji Yun'an changed his surname and was included in the Ji family genealogy, he was, after all, born to a married daughter. Ji Chengkang was brought back to the Ji family. Originally, it was his father's problem. However, some idle people in the capital liked to gossip and thought that he returned to the Ji family because he looked down on his father's family's low social status.
Ji Yun'an's father was also a hypocrite, and he did not refute the outside world's claims.
Chen Xiaocai pondered that if Ji Yun'an wanted to pursue a career in politics, he would face quite a few difficulties.
Chen Xiaocai shook his head, thinking to himself: It's Ji Yun'an who wants to pursue a career in politics, not him. He doesn't seem to need to think too much about it.
“I haven’t been away for long, but the town looks much more lively now!” Chen Xiaocai said.
Chen Chi nodded and said, "The lord hired many people to repair the road. Some of these people heard that there was thirty coins a day, so they came to look for work. After arriving, they found that life here was not bad, so they settled down here."
"That's a good thing," Chen Xiaocai said.
Population is also an important criterion for evaluating the prosperity of a county. If the population of a county magistrate increases significantly during his term of office, it will greatly benefit the magistrate's performance evaluation.
Chen Chi nodded and said, "Many people say that Brother Lin is a rare upright official, so they all come here."
Chen Xiaocai smiled and said, "I didn't expect Brother Lin to be able to do this. I really underestimated him..." Chen Chi glanced at Chen Xiaocai helplessly and said, "Brother Lin is really amazing!"
Chen Xiaocai thought to himself: Shen Chi has no idea how wicked Lu Lin is. When this guy first came, he caught a lot of chicks and pheasants for him and Xiaomai to take care of. As a result, he and Xiaomai were busy all day long, while Lu Lin just waited to eat meat.
Qin Ming sat atop a tall stone pillar, chatting animatedly with several workers about his experiences in Kyoto.
The workers were completely taken aback by Qin Ming's words.
After going to Kyoto with Chen Xiaocai, Qin Ming's net worth increased significantly, and many people now knew that Qin Ming was a worldly person.
"Brother Ming, Young Master Cai really made a lot of money just by selling a story."
Qin Ming nodded and said, "That's right! There are too many rich people in Kyoto, and they're so foolish. They've already bought all three volumes of the novel, and then when the young master released a deluxe edition, they snatched up another set, even though they're the same thing."
"How much is the deluxe edition of the novel?" a carpenter asked curiously.
"Eight ounces." Qin Ming held out his hand, indicating an eight.
Several people immediately exclaimed in surprise, "Eight taels! That's enough to buy several pigs!"
"Eight taels, that's all the silver I earn in a year."
"This set of books sells for eight taels of silver; it should sell!"
"They're selling like hotcakes! You wouldn't believe the scene! Everyone's scrambling to buy them, afraid they won't get any. There are plenty of people in Kyoto who have nothing better to do than have money to burn," Qin Ming said with pride.
"What exactly is that story?!"
"This story is called Journey to the West, and it's mainly about a monkey."
The story of a monkey can fetch so much money! People in Kyoto are definitely rich! Yeah, it's just a monkey.
Qin Ming said, "People in the capital like to compete with each other. A single set of clothes can cost dozens of taels of silver. How can we people here afford to spend money like that!"
"Young Master Chen is dressed decently for the locals, but in the circles of wealthy people in the capital, he looks rather shabby. Just how much money has this young master Chen made?" a blacksmith couldn't help but ask.
Qin Ming shook his head and said conservatively, "The money we earned was split equally between the young boss and Young Master Ji, but it should be at least a few hundred taels!" When the group heard Qin Ming mention several hundred taels, they were all in an uproar. For ordinary workers, earning a few dozen coins a day was already considered good, so several hundred taels was undoubtedly an astronomical figure for them.
"The young boss is really amazing!"
"The young boss is indeed a capable person; no wonder he was able to buy a whole street of shops."
Qin Lang looked at Qin Ming sitting on the high stone steps and shook his head helplessly. His younger brother had gone out this time and seemed to have changed a lot since he came back. This guy used to admire his older brother a lot, but now he had become arrogant.
Qin Lang felt a little envious of his younger brother Qin Ming's experiences, but he was also happy for Qin Ming. It seemed that his younger brother had grown up since they went out.
Qin Yi looked at the spirited Qin Lang with a smile, then shook his head helplessly.
"Father, my second brother seems to be in a good mood lately."
Qin Yi smiled and said, "He's finally made it to the capital, let him be smug for a bit. Not to mention Shaxian, how many people in Linzhen have actually been to the capital?"
Qin Lang nodded and said, "Yes!"
Qin Yi is very satisfied with his current life. A few years ago, he was a mountain dweller who lived hand to mouth. After following Lu Lin, his son has even been to Kyoto.
In those days, transportation was underdeveloped, so for the villagers, having traveled far away was a remarkable thing, and those who had traveled far away had ventured out into the world.
"Daddy, Second Uncle is amazing!" Yuanbao said, munching on a roujiamo (Chinese hamburger).
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Yes, your second uncle is really amazing."
Yuanbao raised his head and said, "When I grow up, I want to be like my second uncle."
Lu Lin tilted his head and thought to himself: Yuanbao is really something. With such a glorious and tall father here, Yuanbao still wants to become someone like that brat Chen Xiaocai.
Lu Lin said sourly, "Doesn't Yuanbao want to become someone like his father?"
Yuanbao glanced at Lu Lin sideways and said with some disdain, "Dad, you're too timid."
Lu Lin: "..."
Chen Xiaomi walked in and overheard the conversation between the father and son, and couldn't help but smile.
Seeing that Lu Lin's expression was not good, Yuanbao quickly slipped away.
Lu Lin said with dissatisfaction, "I heard that this dish is very popular recently. Everyone in the village admires it."
Chen Xiaomi smiled and said, "You deserve the most credit for this. Without you, he wouldn't have been able to sell any books."
Lu Lin stroked his chin, thinking to himself that he was an unsung hero behind the scenes.
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