After returning from the riverbank, Lan Yamei changed Qiu Zeyu's dressing; the wound had almost healed. Wang Fengyang then clung to his master, the two of them sweetly discussing techniques from the darts manual.
Lan Ya Mei got up to go see the newly bought small building.
As dusk approached, the two-story building was cleaned spotless and empty. After settling the wages and seeing everyone off, Lan Yamei turned to find the old man who sells tofu pudding.
The place was easy to find; you just had to ask around. The old house was tucked away in a corner of an alley, and it was dilapidated, cold, and run-down.
When Lan Yamei knocked on the door, the old man was picking soybeans one by one under the lamp, while the little boy was reading a book on the other side, nodding his head.
Upon seeing that the visitor was Lan Yamei, the two men became somewhat flustered and quickly invited her into the house. Just as they were about to offer her tea and water, Lan Yamei stopped them and went straight to the point, saying, "Old man, you've encountered a great opportunity! Manager Wang of the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion across the street is selling his small building next door. I saw it, and the size and location were just right, so I bought it. This afternoon, I had someone clean the whole place, and we can move in now. It'll save us the trouble of moving things tomorrow morning!"
"Ah! You bought a house, it must have cost a lot of money!" the old man said, as he carried an empty jar from behind the door. The jar was full of copper coins, which clattered loudly. The little boy saw that his grandfather couldn't carry it, so he went to help.
"This is the money we've saved over the years, probably around three hundred taels. I know it's far from enough to buy a house," the old man said, his voice filled with apprehension.
Lan Yamei took out the land deed from her bosom, handed it to him, and closed the money jar, saying, "One building for another, just right. Once you move out, this old house will be mine. I have so many people working at my shop, and I'm worried about where they'll live. Renting rooms outside every day isn't a long-term solution. I've already planned it out. Once you're settled over there, I'll find someone to clean up this old house and use it as dormitories for my employees."
"How can that be? Wouldn't that be a huge loss?" The old man originally thought that Lan Yamei was just marking out a small space in front of the barbecue restaurant, but he didn't expect her to offer a whole street-front shop. He couldn't bring himself to do something so obviously opportunistic.
Wang Wei also said, "Manager Lan, your house is too expensive. Our old house can't compare."
The old man nodded, his eyes full of gratitude, yet he resisted accepting the gift.
"Wang Wei, is studying good?" Lan Yamei changed the subject and asked.
“It’s good, but it takes a lot of time at school, so Grandpa’s work will be even more tiring. Look, he hasn’t even finished picking the soybeans for making tofu tomorrow! If I hadn’t gone to school, I could have helped Grandpa finish this work.”
"Child, what's the difference between bad beans and good beans?" Lan Yamei asked, grabbing a handful of beans.
Wang Wei tilted his head and looked at the beans, saying, "Good beans are round, bad beans aren't very round. Good beans haven't been bitten by insects, bad beans have wormholes."
"Well said!" Lan Yamei picked up a book, tilted it slightly, and grabbed a handful of beans, placing them on the book. The round beans rolled off, leaving only the oddly shaped beans stuck on the page.
The grandfather and grandson's eyes lit up.
Lan Ya Mei said, "Wang Wei, knowledge is power! Look at this handful of beans, you can pick out the good ones in no time! That's because your sister has read a lot!"
Wang Wei looked at the rolled-down beans, picked up one with a wormhole and said, "But there are still some worms that have been bitten in here that we haven't picked out."
Lan Ya Mei smiled and said, "This is even simpler." She then poured a glass of water and threw in seven or eight beans. The good beans sank to the bottom, while the ones bitten by insects floated on the surface.
Wang Wei suddenly realized, "So, this works too."
At this point, Lan Yamei said, "This is something you learned in your textbooks, and you'll know it all in the future. Remember, knowledge is power. If you want to help your family live a better life, you must study hard so that you can achieve something great when you grow up."
Wang Wei nodded seriously.
Lan Yamei then said to the old man, "Uncle Wang, it's fate that we met. I don't help just anyone. Moving to a new place will allow Wang Wei to meet more like-minded people and become smarter. Moving will save you a lot of unnecessary hard work, and you can operate your business for a longer period of time. Moreover, even if something happens at the shop, I'll be right across the street, making it easier for me to help you."
Since the matter had been brought up, Uncle Wang couldn't refuse and accepted the land deed with tears in his eyes.
They didn't have much stuff at home, so the group quickly packed it all up and carried it to the new building.
The first floor was empty, without tables or chairs; the second floor was empty, without a single bed.
"Wang Wei, you and Grandpa pack your things first. I'll be right back after I go out for a bit." After saying that, Lan Yamei hurried to the carpenter's shop in town.
In Longyang Town, everyone goes to a carpenter's shop to have tables, chairs, and benches made; the shops usually have many samples on display. Lan Yamei went on a buying spree as soon as she entered. She paid for the furniture, and it was delivered to the tofu pudding shop almost immediately, as if afraid the shopkeeper, Lan, would change his mind.
Because we bought them in a hurry, we got seven or eight tables of various sizes, which filled the first floor completely, but it was enough. We bought two beds, an eight-person table, and two benches for the second floor. After making the bed, it looked like a home.
As night deepened, Lan Yamei bid farewell, and the grandfather and granddaughter, filled with excitement and gratitude, did not sleep a wink all night.
Qiu Zeyu went out that night and came back to knock on the door, "Please help me again, His Majesty still wants to eat hot pot!"
Lan Ya Mei was fast asleep, her hair a mess, yawning as she said, "No way, eating hot pot twice a day! Aren't you afraid of getting a sore throat?"
"Please, have mercy! Let's have another meal!"
"Hot pot is definitely out of the question. How about we have some snail rice noodles? Snail rice noodles are easy to make."
"Luosifen?" Qiu Zeyu originally wanted to insist on eating hot pot, but couldn't bear to, so he said, "Okay, as long as it tastes good, who cares."
"Wait for me." After saying that, Lan Yamei went downstairs to the kitchen, took out a packet of snail rice noodles from her spatial storage, cooked it, and put it in the largest thermos. Because the noodles were still a bit hard, they needed to be steamed for a while to soften before they tasted better!
Qiu Zeyu picked up the thermos and left.
The Emperor was really looking forward to having another hot pot meal, but when he saw Qiu Zeyu come in carrying a thermos, he hurriedly asked, "Didn't you get any?"
"New stuff! Snail rice noodles! Even better than hot pot!" Actually, he had never tried it before, but he still mustered up the courage, grabbed a large bowl, and like a treasure, uncorked the thermos and poured it out.
In an instant, a foul odor spread, penetrating everywhere.
The Emperor's face darkened. "Master Qiu! This is the delicacy you spoke of? It stinks even worse than excrement!"
Qiu Zeyu chuckled awkwardly, "I'll eat first, no problem at all, it's delicious." He then served himself a small portion, held his breath, and began to eat.
The final result was that Qiu Zeyu truly discovered the wonderful taste of snail rice noodles. The Emperor only took one bite and refused to eat any more. The first round of the snail rice noodle incident thus came to an end.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, the tofu pudding shop opened its doors, a few candles flickering, signaling the start of the new business.
As usual, the customers gathered at the barbecue restaurant, and Tie Tou led them all to the new location and stayed there to help out. Later customers followed the sounds and smells and found their way there.
Because of the light drizzle, there weren't many people out on the street, and the three of them were more than able to keep up with the workload.
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