Chapter 37
The price will not be lowered by much, and the people in Dongxiang Town will live better than those in Libei Town.
As long as the food is well-made, it will sell. If the taste is good enough, Ye Jia is confident in charging a high price. However, the chive and egg pancakes won't last long, so Ye Jia is considering making a multi-grain pancake as a replacement. However, the flavor of multi-grain pancakes depends heavily on the sauce and crispiness; without chili sauce, the pancakes wouldn't be as delicious.
"Alas, I still suffer from the lack of seasoning." Without chili peppers, the magic tool for eating rice, everything I cook will lack flavor.
Yu Shi didn't hear Ye Jia's mumbling, but instead took Ye Jia for a walk in Wa City.
The tile market in Dongxiang Town was busier than Libei Town, and the venue was much larger. Entering through the large barrier-lined entrance, Ye Jia looked up and saw a large cage in the center. Inside was a group of people, disheveled and with expressionless faces. A burly, bearded man lashed out with a whip, lashing the caged figures mercilessly. The noise was terrifying, even to Ye Jia's core.
"A new batch of prisoners have arrived from the Western Regions. They're all strong and tough!" the bearded man shouted as he cracked his whip. "Anyone passing by, take a look!"
Ye Jia took a quick glance and quickly retracted his gaze, then walked inside with Yu.
The tile market in Dongxiang Town was full of things to buy and sell, from horses and livestock to silk and floral fabric. There were also vendors selling vegetables and meat, as well as those specializing in exotic seeds. Yu had long wanted to turn the backyard plot into a vegetable garden, so she pulled Ye Jia over to the seed stall and squatted down.
She was looking at some common fruits and vegetables, but Ye Jia noticed something familiar: "Is this the seed of a winter melon?"
The stall owner was a burly man with a touch of foreign ancestry. At first glance, he couldn't tell, but his curly hair suggested he might be of foreign descent. Seeing Ye Jia ask, he quickly glanced over. He'd actually had these winter melon seeds for a long time, but no one had ever asked about them. Ye Jia was the first to ask him about them. He immediately put on a smile and said, "Yes, they're winter melon seeds."
"How much are these seeds?" Ye Jia wanted to eat watermelon very much, and he wanted it even more when the weather got hot.
The strong sunlight in the northwest is the most suitable for growing watermelons. With sufficient sunlight, the watermelons grown there are sweeter than those grown in the Central Plains.
Ye Jia still remembered that in later generations, fruits and vegetables from Xinjiang were the sweetest. While their current location wasn't called Xinjiang, Ye Jia could vaguely guess based on local customs and climate that it wasn't far off. Logically, the fruits and vegetables from this place should be top-notch, but due to the many introduced species and the locals' focus on grazing, they had no habit of cultivating them. Consequently, many of these fruits were left to wander around the city of Washi, unseen.
Ye Jia's mind couldn't help but come alive, "How do I sell this seed?"
The stall owner had quite a few unusual seeds, including winter melons and muskmelons. Muskmelons are the Hami melons of later times. They're not widely available today, and only a very small number of people cultivate them in the northwestern borderlands. They're not sold on the market, but they're available in stores. Seeing that Ye Jia seemed to recognize these seeds, thinking he'd hired someone knowledgeable, he quickly took out all the seeds he had that no one else wanted.
"If we can take it together, I can give you a better deal."
Ye Jia took a quick look. Aside from watermelon seeds and cantaloupe seeds, she didn't recognize much of anything else. But there was one thing she did recognize: peas. Or perhaps it should be called "peas" these days. Peas were quite common in ancient times, so they weren't considered anything new. "Okay, give me a price."
The stall owner had obtained these unfamiliar seeds from merchants in the Western Regions, and since he hadn't grown them himself, he couldn't really tell the price. But since they were sent from the Western Regions, he naturally had to ask for a high price. He resolutely asked for one tael of silver for these seeds: "I only have these things here, they are definitely not available anywhere else. If I didn't know you were a connoisseur, I would never sell them this way. One tael of silver is a must."
When Yu heard the price of one tael, her expression changed. She held three seeds, each worth only a few dozen coins. Even if these seeds were rare, wouldn't it be a waste if they weren't planted? Furthermore, who knew if they were still viable? If they didn't survive, wouldn't the one tael of silver she'd spent be a waste?
Now Yu was also good at bargaining, and if she heard something wrong, she would refute the vendor in a soft voice.
How could the stall owner not know? But this is not the case. Hasn't he met someone who knows the goods?
"This is one of a kind," the stall owner said. When Yu asked him what the seeds were, he couldn't answer, nor did he know how to plant them. But he was the only one who had them. "You definitely won't find them anywhere else."
Yu was irritated by his cheating tone, her chest heaving and her face flushed red with anger.
"How about this, shopkeeper," Ye Jia was really envious of the watermelon seeds, "give me a discount and I'll take all of them."
The shopkeeper stared at Ye Jia for a long time, pondering something. Seeing that Yu was about to drag Ye Jia away, he finally said, "I'll give you another bag of seeds from the Western Regions. Take it all. 800 coins. Not a penny less."
Seeing that he clearly still had room for bargaining, Ye Jia remained calm and just asked him to take out the extra bag of seeds first.
Ye Jia's heart skipped a beat when she saw it. It looked a bit like chili seeds, but she wasn't sure.
Ye Jia's limited historical knowledge allowed her to gather some knowledge that chili peppers were introduced to the Central Plains during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. She didn't remember it from any historical research, but rather from her nine years of compulsory education, which had enabled her to memorize numerous Tang, Song, and Yuan Dynasty poems. There's a line from Tang Xianzu's "The Peony Pavilion": "Chili pepper flowers narrow the yin and heat." At least, in Ye Jia's opinion, chili peppers must have arrived in the Central Plains much later.
The good thing about the border is that it connects to the trade routes of the five countries in the Western Regions, and many things that are not available in the Central Plains can be found here.
"What kind of seed is this?" Ye Jia's heart was beating faster and faster, and he had a vague feeling that he had made a profit.
"I don't know," the stall owner said. He didn't farm, so he didn't even recognize him. He'd gotten the packet of seeds by accident. Now, looking back, he couldn't even remember where he'd gotten them. "I'll give you this packet too. 800 wen, okay?"
"Okay." Ye Jiamu's face was wooden. She paid the money without paying even if Yu Shi winked at her. "Pack it all for me."
The stall owner liked Ye Jia's straightforward nature. He happily agreed and gave Ye Jia six packets of seeds, along with the cabbage, radish, chrysanthemum, and chive seeds Yu had in hand. Ye Jia then gave him one tael of silver.
The shopkeeper gave him a hundred coins in change. Ye Jia thought about it and asked him to take it back.
Seeing that he seemed puzzled, Ye Jia smiled and said, "If the store has any new and unusual seeds in the future, please keep them for me. I usually love to study these strange and unusual things."
The shopkeeper smiled when he heard her speak so kindly and said, "Okay, I'll definitely keep it for you."
Yu's thoughts had also changed. While her daughter-in-law might be soft-hearted, she wasn't the type to accept a loss. She looked as if she'd found something good. She gathered her thoughts and followed Ye Jia around for a while before returning to the blacksmith's shop.
"Hit something," Ye Jia said. She wasn't one to sit still and wait for death. While moving closer to the garrison meant she wasn't likely to be caught in a war, she had a vague sense that neither of these two camps was a good thing. She felt uneasy even when she went to bed at night. She definitely needed to raise the walls around her house, and she also needed to dig some traps near them, "to prevent any criminals from climbing over the walls."
Yu was as willing to spend money as Ye Jia in this regard. Having experienced a life of ups and downs, she had long understood that nothing was more important than life.
The two of them ordered some animal traps from the blacksmith, then went to the brick kiln to inspect the goods. Ye Jia had asked about it a while ago, and today was the perfect time to come and inspect the goods. The kiln worker recognized Ye Jia the moment he saw her; after all, it was rare to forget such a beautiful girl. He hurriedly showed Ye Jia the nailed tiles he had made according to Ye Jia's drawings.
Ye Jia took a look and asked, "Can this withstand falls?"
"It should be shatterproof," the potter remembered Ye Jia's requirement. "It should be shatterproof, and the tiles should be sharp enough." "You can try it."
Seeing that he was confident, Ye Jia really grabbed a piece and threw it to the ground.
What's more, when it hit the ground with a bang, not only did it break, but none of the sharp nails on it were broken.
"Master, your craftsmanship is truly remarkable!" Ye Jia's eyes brightened at the mention, and Yu Shi felt a sense of relief. Yu Shi was certainly familiar with nailed tiles; many prominent families used them in their courtyards, but none she knew were this sharp. The potter Ye Jia had hired was surprisingly able to make nails this sharp and shatterproof. Truly impressive.
The potter felt embarrassed by Ye Jia's praise, and smiled and said that he had worked hard for several days to make it look like this.
"Since you can do it, we'll order 1,200 yuan from you. Ninety percent should be nailed tubular tiles, and the remaining ten percent should be nailed flat tiles." Ye Jia was going to use this primarily for the top of the courtyard wall, not the roof, so tubular tiles were naturally more suitable. He would keep some flat tiles for other uses.
The potter naturally agreed readily. Once this thing was tested and made, it would be easier to make it later.
Twelve hundred tiles would only take one kiln to burn. Ye Jia was willing to pay in cash, so they told him to pick it up in two weeks. After some negotiation, they learned that these tiles were more difficult to make than ordinary large tiles, and each tile cost a penny more. Twelve hundred tiles would cost two taels and four qian of silver. This price was quite low, as Yu knew that the nobles of the Central Plains would spend hundreds of taels on these items.
"Of course." Ye Jia didn't bargain with them. A craftsman earns a living. "We'll come and pick it up in half a month."
Seeing the nailed tiles, Yu's frown relaxed considerably. She knew her daughter-in-law was always tinkering with things others couldn't fathom, but she hadn't expected her daughter-in-law to come up with something like nailed tiles. She was delighted and surprised at the same time. Yu wasn't someone to be fooled. When she hired her daughter-in-law, she knew she was literate. But her literacy was a far cry from her current level. She had also been literate, so how could she not be as clever as her daughter-in-law?
She was surprised, but Yu knew she couldn't dwell on this matter any further. If she did, she feared she wouldn't be able to sleep at night. She glanced at Ye Jia vaguely, seeing her eyes clear, her expression calm and peaceful. She immediately put these chaotic thoughts behind her. If she continued to suspect this and speculate that, she feared she wouldn't live to see Ruijie grow up.
Life is so confusing...
Yu was able to think things through, and after a while she finally came to her senses. When she got home, she happily hugged Rui Jie'er and kissed her several times.
Ye Jia didn't care what others thought. What was the point of hiding it when life was already like this? If she wanted to survive in this shabby place, she had to use all her strength. How ignorant was she to be so hypocritical and afraid of her own abilities before her death?
When they returned, Ye Wumei had just finished washing the family's clothes and was hanging them out in the yard. Seeing Ye Jia return, she called out "Sister" through the rope. Ye Jia nodded. The two lambs, now half a man's height, were nibbling grass in the corner of the yard. Old Man Sun had woken up from a nap and was coming from the back house with his grandson.
When he saw Ye Jia coming back from a distance, he walked up quickly and asked his grandson to kowtow to Ye Jia.
"Don't worry about those empty formalities." Ye Jia waved his hand, "Go wash up, and ask Uncle Sun to help you later."
Old man Sun didn't act pretentiously. He nodded and took the child to wash up.
There was a well in the Zhou family's yard, making it very convenient to draw water for washing. Both the grandfather and the grandson were men, so they washed their faces and mouths and hurried over.
Ye Jia was packing her backpack. Yu had also gone in, changed into some ragged clothes, and emerged. The two of them squatted in the front yard, examining the packets of seeds on the ground. Yu had experience with flower gardening, tending to plants in her spare time. But when it came to planting, she was hesitant. Ye Jia had some common sense, but she was an engineer, not an agriculturalist. Her vague common sense might tell her how to plant these things, but she didn't have the practical skills.
"When I was young, I used to reclaim wasteland and plant crops at the garrison." Although Old Man Sun hadn't farmed for many years, he knew more about the practical operations than the two women of the Zhou family. "I know how to water and fertilize, but I don't really understand the habits of these seeds."
Ye Jia looked at Mrs. Yu, then at Old Man Sun. It was over. With such a broken planting technique, could the seeds she had spent so much money on survive?
Yu saw what Ye Jia was thinking and scratched her cheek. She was relieved and said, "Why don't we dig up the plots of land in the backyard first and grow some vegetables we often eat. We can think about this later when we have some free time?"
Ye Jia didn't say anything. Old Man Sun felt a little ashamed of his own uselessness. But Ye Wumei, who was standing by, came over after listening for a while and said, "Sister, do you want me to try?"
Ye Jia was stunned, and looked at Ye Wumei in surprise. Ye Wumei was really good at doing a lot of work without saying a word.
"My second sister-in-law takes care of the fields and vegetable garden at home. I have to go help out after I finish my housework," Ye Wumei said, crouching beside her, a bit shy. She had indeed helped tend the garden and plant vegetables; she and her second sister-in-law were responsible for watering and fertilizing the two acres of dry land. But they were limited to growing radishes and cabbages.
To prove her usefulness, Ye Wumei introduced herself: "I have grown vegetables, home-cooked dishes..."
Ye Jia looked at her for a long time and nodded: "Okay, I'll give you a try with the white cabbage first."
Ye Wumei's eyes lit up and she was very happy: "I will take good care of you."
It was already June, and many vegetables were actually out of season. Most edible vegetables had already been put on the market. If they wanted to plant, they would have to wait until the second season, which was the autumn harvest season after July. Planting during the autumn harvest season could start as early as July. However, Ye Jia didn't recognize all the seeds she had. Fearing they would go to waste, she thought about it and decided to plant a small packet of each. She couldn't tell from the seeds, but perhaps she could tell when the seedlings grew. After all, Ye Jia had spent a tael of silver on the seeds and couldn't bear to waste them; she couldn't let them go bad.
After resting enough, Ye Jia told him to go eat. He took his hoe and went to the backyard to open up the wasteland.
The Zhou family's new house occupied a vast area, with no neighbors nearby. They could expand further. While the courtyard contained only five large rooms, a kitchen, and two small firewood sheds, the area enclosed by it was incredibly large. This was precisely why Ye Jia had taken the twenty taels. Not only did the land within the courtyard belong to the family, but if anyone nearby cleared the land and took over, no one would complain.
Old Man Sun, seemingly trying to impress on his first day at the Zhou residence, cleared an acre of land. He was sweating profusely, his face gleaming with the sun. Ye Jia was worried he might faint from heatstroke, so she quickly made him some mung bean soup to cool him down.
Ye Wumei was also afraid of being driven away by Ye Jia, so as soon as Old Man Sun cleared the land, she followed with the small shovel to dig the ditch.
For three days, Old Man Sun and Ye Wumei worked tirelessly, cultivating an acre and two mu of land and planting the garland chrysanthemums and wild arborvitae they often eat. Coincidentally, Ye Jia had been busy these days, too, so he set up his breakfast stall.
With adults at home, the two of them felt relieved to set up their stall in town. Rui Jie'er had the company of the Sun family's grandson every day, and she became much more lively.
Since we didn't grow the chives ourselves, we had to go to town to buy the ingredients. Since the price had been reduced by two wen, the white flour pancake with egg was only five wen each. Despite the low price, more people were eating it. This flavor wasn't new in Libei Town, but it was a truly unique delicacy in Dongxiang Town. Even selling five or six hundred in the morning wasn't enough, so the profit wasn't bad at all.
Yu counted and found she had earned a little over two taels of silver. After deducting the costs, she still had a little over two taels. In just three or four days, she had earned five or six taels.
"Let's make the pork head tomorrow." Mrs. Yu looked at her daughter-in-law with a smile. Money had been flowing out of the family like water lately. Although it was necessary to save lives, the thought of only going out and not coming in was frustrating. Finally, some money was coming in, and she felt at ease.
Ye Jia was also thinking about this. Now that there are more mouths to feed at home, it will be harder.
Arriving in Dongxiang Town, Ye Jia pulled out the sign for Zhou's Xishi stall again. While the concept of branding didn't exist back then, having a name was better than having no name at all. If someone could explain their business when asked, they'd be noticed. Ye Jia hadn't done any social psychology research, but she understood this principle. Besides, she was hoping the owner of the rouge shop would find her!
Half a month had passed since the incident with the fragrant soap, and it was unknown whether the owner of the rouge shop had gone to Libei Town to look for her stall. Ye Jia knew that with the chaos and turmoil, he would definitely not go looking for her, but she still held on to a lucky mentality.
The days passed so quickly when I was busy, and it was already the end of July in the blink of an eye.
The weather was getting hotter, and people were getting restless. Breakfast stalls were opening earlier and closing earlier. After 3:15 PM, when the sun began to blaze, breakfast sales slowed. However, Ye Jia's Xishi stall had carved out a niche in the Dongxiang Town tile market thanks to its delicious food, eventually stabilizing its sales at 500 pancakes a day. Now, when everyone talks about breakfast, they say the pancakes at Xishi are the best.
Seeing that the name was decided, Ye Jia prepared to sell pig head meat.
Yu was now familiar with the process. She couldn't quite recall the various marinade ingredients, but she remembered the ingredients for the mixed vegetables, how to clean them, and the braised meat process. Ye Jia didn't have to do it herself; she and Ye Wumei could clean the pig's head perfectly. Now, she was the one who did all the work every day. As long as Ye Jia packed the marinade ingredients in the morning, she could still make a good stew.
However, Ye Jia has to come in person to sell the pig head meat because she is not good at cutting.
"Otherwise, ask Fifth Sister to come with me when we sell pig heads." Ye Fifth Sister was a truly diligent worker, nimble and quick-witted. When selling pig heads to Yu, it was Ye Jia who cut and mixed them, while Yu collected and gave the change. But if Ye Fifth Sister went, she could both cut and mix, helping Ye Jia with a lot of tasks.
When Ye Wumei heard this, she didn't dare to answer and subconsciously looked at Yu first.
Despite her young age, she was quite knowledgeable. Although her sister had come up with this business, she was married into the Zhou family. She wondered if her sister's mother-in-law would be unhappy if she, a younger sister, got involved in the business.
"Just go." Yu was actually tired of following him every day. After all, business wasn't something you could just sit at home and do anytime. Business, especially as a small vendor, meant standing around all day, so back pain was the least of your worries. "If you're too busy, I'll follow you."
Ye Jia nodded and agreed.
Food is the most important thing for people, and this saying is true everywhere. Ye Jia originally thought that the pig head meat would not sell so well the first time. Who knew that Dongxiang Town had more people who loved it than Libei Town? The smell of vinegar was so fragrant that it attracted the attention of nearby stalls.
Ye Jia's pig head meat, which was priced at 38 cents per pound, did not scare people away. He sold five or six pounds in less than a quarter of an hour.
Yesterday, I braised two pig heads, and they were all sold out before noon. I earned a little over two taels of silver. Including the breakfast items I sold in the morning, I could make four taels a day. Ye Jia was almost blinded by the money she was making. Fortunately, she had some sense. After two weeks of business, she remembered the twelve hundred tiles with nails she had deposited at the brick kiln and told Mrs. Yu and Old Man Sun to go get them back.
Ye Jia had to personally oversee the construction of the high wall and the installation of the nailed tiles. While laying tiles wasn't difficult, those unfamiliar with construction couldn't tell if the tilers had cut corners. To ensure the wall was absolutely solid, Ye Jia didn't delegate this task to anyone else.
After working on the courtyard wall for nearly ten days, it was finally completed.
Not only did Ye Jia build a wall, she also had traps dug around the perimeter of the yard. The two hundred or so nailed tiles were placed inside the traps. She also dug a number of traps against the inner wall, each containing the expensive animal traps she had made. With two traps in each trap, even if someone escaped the outer traps and climbed over the wall, their legs would be broken if they jumped out.
Looking at this situation, Yu was both relieved and speechless: "...Is it really necessary to go to this extent?"
"Of course." Ye Jiake doesn't believe in luck. She only believes in advance preparation and taking precautions. "This is all to protect our family, the elderly, the weak, the women and the children. In this chaotic world, we only have one life, and we don't have that much luck to waste!"
Ye Wumei agreed and praised him: "Sister, you are absolutely right! Everyone has only one life!"
"Don't rely on luck. The price of luck may be something you can't afford in your lifetime."
Ye Wumei's eyes were shining when she looked at Ye Jia.
After finishing the meal, the Zhou family even set out a small table. In ancient times, people celebrated the occasion with a wine toast to the beams of a building. The Zhou family's wasn't a wine toast to the beams of a building, but rather a housewarming toast. Yu, along with Ye Jia and her fifth sister, all drank that day. Old Man Sun also drank a little, though he didn't dare drink too much. The room was filled with women, so after dinner, he took his grandson back to the backyard to retire early.
The courtyard gate had been closed early. Ye Jia was feeling very hot after drinking. He took a shower, then leaned against the bed with his clothes on and his hair wet to cool down.
That night, there was a loud thud in the yard, as something heavy hit the ground. Ye Jia was still awake, having drunk, and his mind was a bit hazy. Hearing the noise, he went to the backyard and fetched a stick. He didn't hear Diandian's cries, and being slightly tipsy and confused, Ye Jia walked over quickly with his collar half open, took the long stick, and hit the man in the corner with it.
The man groaned, and a familiar voice spoke helplessly: "Jia Niang, it's me."
Ye Jia opened her hazy eyes and saw that Zhou Jingchen's trouser leg had been scraped by the nail tile, and a large piece of the fabric had been torn off and was standing there. He looked at her innocently, like a young girl who had just been insulted. "...When did the wall at home become so high?"
"We're protecting ourselves from thieves." Ye Jia walked up and kicked him in the leg, feeling dizzy. "We're protecting ourselves from thieves like you who don't use the main entrance."
Zhou Jingchen didn't know if he was teasing her or what, but after being kicked by Ye Jia, he fainted and fell to the ground. However, the next moment, there was a sound of iron closing, and Zhou Jingchen's face, which had always been calm, finally turned green in an instant.
It turned blue, then white.
He tried hard to maintain his noble demeanor, but couldn't help but ask, "...You also set traps in your yard?"
Ye Jia's head was buzzing. She shook her head and walked over, and saw a trap stuck on Zhou Jingchen's butt.
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