Chapter 50
Delivery was done on the fifth day of every month, so it only took a few days. Although the goods to be delivered to Linglong Rouge Shop had been prepared long ago, there was no guarantee that they would be delivered to Liyuan Lane.
The shops in Liyuan Lane weren't selling their products through legitimate means. Because they were sold to prostitutes, demand was high. They used it for shampooing, bathing, washing faces, and even hands and feet. A single bar of scented soap could be used up in less than two weeks. It used to only cost a hundred yuan, but as it proved popular, demand grew, and the timing of its arrival was unpredictable. To facilitate production for the Zhou family, Cheng Linfang usually placed orders only two weeks in advance.
If they can't get the raw materials of bath beans, they won't be able to make the product, which is like being strangled.
The joy of the new shop opening had barely lasted long before Xiangpizi caused her another setback. Ye Jia returned to the front yard of the shop with a gloomy face. The brisk business in the front yard gave her considerable comfort.
Seeing that she was not in high spirits, Zhou Jingchen pondered for a moment and said, "In this situation, it's not that we are completely helpless against him."
In fact, there was already a bath bean seller in Libei Town. The owner of that shop sold bath beans of comparable quality to Xu Youcai's, and the prices were even lower. However, Libei Town was quite far away, and leaving early in the morning would take at least a day to get there and back. Buying bath beans used to be a simple task, and anyone could do it. Now, someone had to be assigned to do this job specifically.
"Let's find another way to deal with the emergency first. Let Uncle Sun go to Libei Town again tomorrow."
Zhou Jingchen's voice was unhurried, clear, and soothing, his words instantly reassuring. "After dealing with the current situation, you'll need to make long-term plans. In the perfumed soap business, if you want to dominate the market within a ten-mile radius, you must control the source of raw materials. If you want to be invincible, you can't afford to be manipulated by anyone."
Ye Jia certainly knew that the raw materials had to be in his hands, but this was not the case because he did not have enough capital or manpower, so he could only settle for the second best.
Once she had accumulated enough assets, she would establish a business and form her own escort team. This was Ye Jia's plan after her business matured. Currently, the amount of money she had on hand was only enough to maintain her existing business without any problems, and she couldn't fully control it.
"Then cooperate with the big caravan." Although Zhou Jingchen had never done business there before, he understood the principle.
Of the large caravans, the only family they could contact and potentially negotiate with was the Cheng family. Ye Jia's heart suddenly moved, and she looked up at him: "Husband, how well do you know Ajiu? No, I should ask this: Husband, what do you think of Ajiu as a person?"
Zhou Jingchen understood immediately, paused, and said, "You want to recruit Ajiu to work for you?"
"Why not? Ah Jiu is smart, quick-witted, and skilled in martial arts. He'll definitely be a good helper."
Ajiu had previously said he had a team of people who could help transport winter melons to Luntai, and she had been impressed. However, due to Zhou Jingchen's strange attitude towards Ajiu, she was hesitant even if she had the idea. If Ajiu was trustworthy, based on their in-law relationship, it would be more reliable to have her brother-in-law help her than someone she didn't know well.
Zhou Jingchen was a little surprised at Ye Jia's sharpness. She noticed the subtle differences in his attitude towards Ajiu.
"It's not that Ajiu isn't trustworthy," Zhou Jingchen recalled, recalling a past life when he had dominated the trade route from the northwest to the five kingdoms of the Western Regions for many years, appearing and disappearing with uncanny force. He had repeatedly routed bandit-suppression armies, a source of headaches for all three factions. Now, in this life, the Green-Eyed Rakshasa had become his brother-in-law. Zhou Jingchen couldn't help but feel a little surprised when he thought about it now. Perhaps they had been brothers-in-law in a past life, too, but he had never considered it.
He didn't have any prejudice against Ajiu, but because of the impression he made in his previous life, he subconsciously guarded against this person. "But this person has a wild nature and is difficult to restrain. It's not easy to recruit him to do things."
"Why is it not easy?" Ye Jia admitted that Ajiu was rough by nature and behaved like a ferocious wolf. But Ajiu was not a person who did not follow the rules. "People are free from worries and are not bound by rules. If they have worries, they will naturally follow rules and constraints when doing things."
Fourth Sister Ye was still at the Zhou family and about to give birth, possibly twins. Ajiu had long wanted to work with her to earn some money, in order to save enough to support the family. Besides, she had no intention of tying Ajiu to her side forever. She wanted to be a wealthy businessman, not a slave owner. If things didn't go her way, he could leave.
This reminded Zhou Jingchen. He blinked and couldn't help but think about whether Green-Eyed Rakshasa had any offspring in his previous life.
It seems like there isn't one. Not only does he have no children, he doesn't even have a wife. Zhou Jingchen still doesn't know the situation of Ye Simei and her husband. Yu Shi did mention it once before, but she only said that Ajiu brought the pregnant Ye Simei to the Zhou family.
When Ye Jia mentioned him again, he remembered: "How many months old is the fourth sister?"
"It's almost eight months." Ye Jia estimated that Ajiu would be back tomorrow. "She should be giving birth soon. Her belly is big, I think it's twins."
Zhou Jingchen frowned and thought for a while, then he said, "Let's find a doctor to look after Fourth Sister as soon as possible."
If Ah Jiu hadn't married in his previous life, it would have been fine. If he had married Ye Simei, something must have happened to him, leaving him alone and with both his wife dead. The only thing that could have caused the death of both his wife and his wife was probably childbirth.
Ye Jia saw him frowning, and although he didn't know what he was thinking about, he still took his words to heart.
Regardless of his blind trust in Zhou Jingchen, calling a doctor was essential. Childbirth was inherently dangerous. Even in later times, with comprehensive medical facilities, women died prematurely due to unforeseen circumstances, let alone in the backward conditions of ancient times. Regarding the bath beans, Old Man Sun could only make a trip to Libei Town. For now, the most important thing was to overcome the current difficulties.
Ye Jia collected his thoughts and still instructed Zhou Jingchen, "Xu Youcai's breach of contract must be effective. You should pay close attention to the compensation for breach of contract."
Zhou Jingchen looked at her angry expression and curled his lips: "Yeah."
Since he said so, Ye Jia put the matter behind her. She would no longer cooperate with Xu Youcai and would find another supplier. Ye Jia finally decided to negotiate with the Cheng family. The Cheng family had a good reputation in the area, but the owner was not easy to meet. Well, once the shop here was stable, she would find an opportunity to return to Libei Town.
With this in mind, Ye Jia first went to the shop to check on the business. Yu Shi also came over from home to help. She wasn't good with a knife, so she couldn't cut vegetables, but she was very good at calculating and weighing. Ye Wumei was busy chopping and mixing meat on the east side, while Yu Shi was on the west side calculating and collecting money, working together very harmoniously.
Seeing that her help was not needed, Ye Jia turned around and went to the backyard to find Old Man Sun.
Old Man Sun didn't hesitate to take the order and immediately drove his ox cart to Libei Town. Now that the bandits had been eliminated, he no longer had to worry about being harassed by them. Libei Town was gradually becoming peaceful, but he was worried that having too much money might attract jealous people.
Ye Jia reminded them to be careful, but Old Man Sun smiled and said, "No one knows the roads around here better than me."
He used to drive people and was used to it.
Ye Jia thought about it and nodded, "Okay, go early and come back early."
Ye Jia gave him the payment and told him to buy as much as he could. Bath beans are durable; after being ground into powder, they can last at least half a year. Buying more wouldn't hinder future business. "Buy as much as you can, compare them, and choose the best quality bath beans."
Old Man Sun knew what was going on, so he put the silver in his pocket, whipped his bullwhip and hurried away.
Business that day was booming, far exceeding Ye Jia's expectations. Ultimately, it was the stall's previous success. The stall had grown accustomed to the taste of Ye Jia's meat, and after a few days of no sales, the sudden reopening of the stall naturally attracted many regular customers. He had originally stocked up on five pig heads and sixty pounds of pork belly, but they were all gone before 3 p.m. He had included the large bucket of pig intestines as a gift, but he hadn't expected it to make any money.
On the other hand, Liu Yuan, Gongsun Erze, and several of Zhou Jingchen's colleagues who were eating at the shop decided that the pig intestines tasted better than the pig's head. They kept asking if they could sell them, saying they were willing to buy two or three pounds to go with their wine and indulge.
"The pig intestines are not for sale for the time being. They are only given away today." Ye Jia couldn't help laughing when he saw Ye Wumei's face was so long. "If Mr. Liu wants to eat them, come back tomorrow."
Liu Yuan felt a little embarrassed by Ye Jia's smile. He, Liu San, had few hobbies in his life. He wasn't interested in women, money, or fame. He just loved eating. It was rare for him to taste something delicious after such a long time, so naturally he lost his composure. He reached into his pocket and took out the copper coins that Ye Wumei had found, putting them back on the counter, grinning. "That's great! I'll put them all here. Tomorrow, if you have any, leave me this amount."
Ye Wumei glanced at the copper coins on the cabinet, glanced at Ye Jia, and then scooped up all the money and put it into the cash box below.
Ye Jia nodded, and Liu Yuan didn't stay any longer. He put on his sword and left in a leisurely manner.
There's nothing to sell, so there's no point in wasting time. Ye Jia thought about it and closed the shop, then took the silver and went to the butcher shop with his fifth sister to buy pig heads and meat for tomorrow's supply. "Sales were so good today, so tomorrow will probably be another big one." That's how the food business works: fresh food always takes a while to sell before its popularity dies down and becomes commonplace.
Old Man Sun took the ox cart away. They had already made up for the pork they were supposed to buy for tomorrow, but they had nothing to transport. Lifting a hundred pounds of stuff wasn't feasible for just two people, and Ye Jia and Fifth Sister were both small and frail. Unable to handle such physical labor, Ye Jia went to the back and hired a cart.
I had a cart loaded with the meat sent to Zhou's house. If there wasn't a well behind the shop, making it difficult to get water, I wouldn't have to buy things and have them delivered to his house.
"That won't do," Yu came back with the money box. Sitting on the ox cart, she felt that one ox cart was not enough. "Let's go to the tile market in town tomorrow to see if we can buy a mule. Mules run fast and have great strength. In the future, as our business grows, we will definitely need more than one cart. We don't have enough manpower either, so we still need to hire people to work."
If there were people working, someone would be there to buy meat and large intestines. Buying them early and processing them early would keep them fresher.
Ye Jia had considered this, but mule carts were easy to buy, but recruiting people was harder. The Zhou family didn't have close ties with the people in this town, and hiring someone to work at home was always a concern. But Ye Jia knew better than to give up on things, especially business. If you were so afraid of the cold that you killed yourself, your whole family would be left starving.
Thinking of this, Ye Jia told Yu about Xu Youcai's lack of bath beans.
As soon as she said this, Yu's face flushed with anger. She was a good-tempered person, rarely getting angry. Even now, even in her rage, she didn't curse. All she could say was, "You bastard!"
"What should we do? How can we make this fragrant soap without the bath beans?" Yu knew the recipe for the fragrant soap; the bath beans were the key to it. "Is there any other place to get them? We can't let them hold back and cut off our business, can we?"
"No, I've already asked Uncle Sun to go to Libei Town to buy it." Ye Jia sighed, "This has taught me a profound lesson."
"We're just going to let him cheat us this time?" Not only Ye Jia couldn't swallow this anger, but Yu Shi couldn't swallow it either. Thinking about it over and over again, the anger stuck in her heart and made her feel extremely uncomfortable. "How can Xu Youcai act in a moral way? We had a written contract in black and white, and he signed and sealed it himself. If he can just ignore it like that, is there any law?"
In remote areas, many things can't be taken for granted, and deeds aren't as effective as one might think. The government doesn't have much reach, and the local authorities don't get involved in trivial matters. Those who truly have no shame, unless they're so ruthless as to beat someone to death, will only suffer in vain.
"Can you find someone to beat him to death? Or find someone to steal his warehouse?" Ye Jia was helpless.
Yu was silent.
In the final analysis, those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes, and those who are righteous are afraid of those who cheat.
"Mom, don't be angry. I'll leave this matter to my husband." Seeing Yu's chest heaving with anger, Ye Jia was afraid that she was really upset, so he quickly added, "My husband said to wait for him to make the arrangements."
Ye Jia originally thought Zhou Jingchen's plan was to use some rough and tumble method to make Xu Youcai realize that the Zhou family was not to be trifled with, so that he would learn a lesson and not act recklessly next time. But who knew that this man would be so ruthless that he would go to the local business community.
It was at this time that Ye Jia learned of the existence of a merchant guild in Dongxiang Town. Although there was no government office in the area, the area was bustling with merchants, especially those traveling westward. To maintain order, merchants were required to abide by rules and uphold integrity. Consequently, a merchant guild was formed, spearheaded by a major local merchant house. Its leader was Cheng Li, head of the Cheng family in Libei Town.
In other words, Cheng Feng's biological father.
It's unclear how Zhou Jingchen negotiated with Cheng Li from the merchant group. Xu Youcai, a humble grocery store owner, had become a prominent figure in the Forbidden City merchant group. Because of his dishonest behavior, he was cut off from most of his future supply channels.
Once dishonest, never again. Xu Youcai didn't know that his greed had cut off his financial resources, and Ye Jia only found out about this much later.
At this moment, she was busy unloading things from the ox cart and dragging them into the yard. When Fourth Sister Ye heard the noise, she came out of the house with her big belly bulging. Rui Jie'er followed her and, upon seeing that it was her grandmother and aunt returning, she jumped up and down, ready to pounce on them.
Yu bent down and held the person in her arms to comfort him. The two boys, Sun Jun and Sun Ying, also came out from the vegetable garden at the back.
The children fed the chickens, which laid eggs repeatedly, so they no longer needed to go to the tile market to buy eggs. Ye Jia told the children that Old Man Sun was out buying groceries and might be back late that night, so they wouldn't get worried if they couldn't find their grandfather.
Sun Jun nodded like a little adult: "It's my boss's money, so I have to work."
Ye Jia patted his head, thinking that a child this old should go to school in the future. But they didn't have the conditions now. If they had the conditions in the future, sending the child to school would be a help to him when he grows up.
Yu and Fifth Sister Ye were now the ones cleaning up. Ye Jia sat down to rest for a while before starting to clean up and cook. Fourth Sister Ye, sitting nearby, wanted to help, but as she bent over, her expression changed. She wouldn't cry out in pain, and if Ye Jia hadn't happened to pass by with a basin of water and seen her, she would have remained silent.
"What's wrong?" Ye Jia quickly put down the basin and walked quickly towards her. "Are you feeling unwell?"
Fourth Sister's belly was so large that it was sometimes frightening to others. Ye Jia had advised her not to eat too much in the later stages of her pregnancy and had even told Ajiu to keep a close eye on her and not let her eat in secret, but her belly just kept getting bigger and bigger.
Fourth sister Ye raised her face and wanted to smile at Ye Jia. She just opened her mouth to say, "I'm fine." Yu on the other side immediately shouted.
"Jia Niang! Quick! Find a doctor and a midwife!" Yu was the most experienced in childbirth among the family, having given birth to four children. As soon as she saw Fourth Sister Ye's face, she knew she was about to give birth. She wiped her hands on her clothes and hurried over to help. "Diniang, go boil some water and make the bed. I'm afraid Yuanniang is about to give birth!"
This sentence struck Ye Jia like a thunderbolt, leaving her numb from head to toe. Empathizing with her fellow women, Ye Jia always felt a special nervousness around women giving birth. It felt as if a delay could mean the loss of two or three lives.
She'd been working just fine just a few days ago, and she'd been mumbling about how the baby was about to be born so soon. Was Fourth Sister's pregnancy already in its full term? It wasn't even eight months yet, so was it really twins, as she'd suspected?
Feeling panicked, Ye Jia quickly put down his things and ran out.
She rushed to the clinic on East Street, hurriedly explained her situation, and asked for a doctor to follow her. Most women in the village would hire a midwife when giving birth, but Ye Jia was the first to hire a doctor for her birth. But after hearing her description, he guessed that she might be in a special situation. Seeing that the clinic wasn't crowded, the old doctor packed up his medicine box and followed Ye Jia.
After showing the old doctor the way to Zhou's house, Ye Jia still had to find a midwife. Ajiu had already found one when she was there, so Ye Jia only had to go and get her. The midwife knew the way to Zhou's house, so there was no need for Ye Jia to lead her personally. She went to Zhou's house as fast as the wind.
In such a hurry, Ye Jia used up all his energy to run.
On the way, she bumped into Zhou Jingchen who was returning from outside. Seeing her in such a disheveled state, as if she had just been pulled out of the water, Zhou Jingchen thought something serious had happened at home. He quickly explained a few words to the people around him and trotted to catch up with Ye Jia.
Zhou Jingchen finally breathed a sigh of relief after understanding what was going on. After a pause, he asked again, "Have you called a doctor?"
"Yes." Ye Jia smoothed her sweat-soaked hair. She thought the birth wouldn't be that quick, but she was still worried about how her family would handle it. As she walked quickly, she told him, "Fourth sister might be having twins this time. Twins are prone to premature birth and difficult births. Giving birth is like going through hell for a woman, and Fourth sister, you absolutely must make it through."
Ye Jia was genuinely worried not only for the sake of giving an explanation to Ajiu, but also for the sake of two lives.
Zhou Jingchen said nothing. He looked down and saw that one of Ye Jia's shoes was worn out. The upper of the old shoe was broken, and the sock inside was leaking out. He pursed his lips and said nothing. He glanced at Ye Jia's swollen ankle and squatted in front of Ye Jia without saying a word.
Ye Jia paused and looked at Zhou Jingchen who was bending over, wondering what he was doing.
"Doesn't your ankle hurt? It's not easy to start labor after just a few hours. Why are you in such a hurry?" Zhou Jingchen bent down with his back to her. His voice came from the front and sounded gentle. "Get on. I can carry you faster than you can run on your own."
Ye Jia: “…”
If you want to do good things, just say something nice. Why do you have to say something sarcastic to her?
But Ye Jia didn't have the time to be fussy with him. She had indeed twisted her ankle in her haste. She hadn't noticed it in her haste, but now that she was reminded, she realized the pain. She hesitated for a moment, but quickly found a comfortable position and leaned on Zhou Jingchen's back. As soon as her soft chest touched someone's shoulder blade, the body beneath her stiffened. He carried the person on his back lightly, and the person on his back seemed weightless and soft.
Zhou Jingchen collected his thoughts, lowered his eyelids to block the dark shadows in his eyes, and walked quickly towards his home with his back to the person.
...You know what, it's indeed faster than Ye Jia's own running.
A gentle breeze ruffled Ye Jia's hair, tickling her cheeks. Ye Jia lowered her eyes to gaze at the profile of the man beneath her. Zhou Jingchen's prominent brow and profile looked beautiful even from behind. He must have just been training; his body smelled of sweat. Since he was a very clean person, the scent wasn't unpleasant. There was a clean, refreshing air.
Ye Jia's gaze unconsciously fell on his face, paused, and then retracted it.
This guy is so handsome...
When they got home, the old doctor and the midwife were both in the room. As a brother-in-law and a man, Zhou Jingchen couldn't enter Ye Simei's room.
The children didn't know what was going on and were waiting outside in confusion.
Seeing the adults return, they hurried over, Ruijie coquettishly calling "Auntie." Ye Jia dismounted from Zhou Jingchen's back, asking him to help look after the child while she limped into the house. Fourth Sister Ye, seemingly still unmoved, lay quietly on the bed. Cold sweat streamed down her forehead, her hair soaked and sticking to her face. Her face was pale.
She was covered with a cloth, the midwife was standing at the end of the bed, and the old doctor was sitting beside her, holding her wrist and taking her pulse.
After a moment, he said, "It will take a while. Wait a little longer."
"It's indeed twins. They're in good health, and both children are doing well." The old doctor was invited by Ye Jia, so naturally he was speaking to Ye Jia. "The mother may have suffered from financial difficulties in her early years, but she's been well taken care of recently, so it's nothing serious."
When Ye Wumei heard that it was nothing serious, she let out a breath of relief.
They said they would wait, but even after dark, Fourth Sister Ye showed no signs of labor. The old doctor drank three cups of tea and had dinner in the outer room, but there was still no movement in the room. Just when Ye Jia thought the labor would not happen today, Fourth Sister's screams suddenly rang out from the room.
The scream was so miserable, as if someone was cutting flesh with a knife, so painful and miserable.
Ye Jiaren, listening outside, felt her scalp tingle. She imagined the documentaries she'd watched in her past life, and goosebumps broke out all over her body. She wandered around outside for a long time, trying to go in, but was stopped by Zhou Jingchen. He had just received ointment for bruises and injuries from the old doctor and had stopped her and taken her back to his room. He pushed her down onto the bed, then grabbed one of Ye Jia's legs and placed it on his knee.
"There's a midwife inside, and my mother is watching. We've even called a doctor. Don't try to squeeze in."
Zhou Jingchen pinched Ye Jia's ankle with one hand, his white fingers seeming to glow in the light. He slowly unscrewed the bottle cap, scooped up a little ointment with his fingers, and smeared it on Ye Jia's ankle. Then he rubbed it slowly, gently applying pressure with his wrist. "The delivery room is so small, you won't be able to help if you go there. Don't look too much and scare yourself."
How could she be so timid? Giving birth is scary, but it's not something that should scare people.
Zhou Jingchen's wrist exerted force, and Ye Jia grimaced in pain. She moved, trying to break free, but her leg was held tightly in place, and she couldn't get it off. Besides, her position was truly embarrassing. One leg was held by Zhou Jingchen's lap, and the other hung over the edge of the bed. This way, she was inevitably sitting with her legs spread apart, facing Zhou in front of her. Zhou Jingchen's legs were long, and when he bent them, his knees almost touched the base of her thighs.
Although Ye Jia was a modern man with a much more open mindset, and this guy was indeed doing something serious, the straight-laced woman, who had been widowed for two lifetimes, felt somewhat uncomfortable with this position. She was afraid that if he moved his knee, it would scrape against her thigh.
She was so awkward that she couldn't help but say, "Hey, husband, I remember... aren't you a germaphobe?"
Zhou Jingchen, who was rubbing her feet, paused and looked up at her.
"I've been running outside all day and I'm sweating all over. I didn't wash my feet." Ye Jia broke out in cold sweat due to the pain and grinned.
Zhou Jingchen froze for a moment and then returned to normal, but he hit with even greater force.
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