CH 63

Jul 24 2023

Living Together Happily

When they returned home, Yu Qingze told Grandpa Chang about his plan to stay at the shop. It would save time and allow him to watch over the store.

Chang Le also mentioned that he would stay at the shop, visiting home every few days. He couldn’t let Brother Yu handle everything alone and work so hard.

Grandpa Chang agreed.

Yu Qingze initially disagreed, but Chang Le insisted, saying that if he didn’t agree, he would still go to the shop every midnight. It would be even more unsafe and tiring for a young ger to walk alone at night. Yu Qingze naturally wouldn’t let that happen, so he reluctantly agreed.

Seeing their discussion come to an end, Chang Hao looked speechless and sighed for his own stomach and mouth.

His brother and Brother Yu were going to stay at the shop, which meant there would be no delicious food for him and Grandpa every day…

But he also knew that if his brother and Brother Yu didn’t have to travel back and forth every day, they wouldn’t be so tired. So he didn’t say anything. He couldn’t bear to see them exhausted every day.

Otherwise, should he try to learn cooking too? He had been watching for so long, he should be able to make something tastier than before, right?

The young boy pondered with his chin resting on his hand, worrying about his and Grandpa’s empty stomachs.

That night, Yu Qingze and Chang Le packed a few clothes and necessary items, getting ready to bring them over to the shop the next morning.

The following day, they still woke up early, and the three of them set off together to the shop.

Upon seeing them carrying bags, Brother Chang’s mother asked them about it. Yu Qingze informed him that he and Brother Le would be staying at the shop and advised him to leave at daybreak for safety reasons.

Brother Chang’s mother still expressed concern, “Can you two manage with all the different types of dim sum? Maybe I should go early?”

Yu Qingze shook his head and said, “It’s not necessary. We can handle it. You can leave at daybreak, it’s safer.”

Brother Chang’s mother agreed.

On the second day of the shop’s opening, Cai Chenxi arrived early with Cai Yunwei.

Yu Qingze noticed that Cai Yunwei’s forehead was sweaty, he was panting and his face was flushed. He asked, “Did you run all the way here?”

Cai Yunwei was still trying to catch his breath as he leaned on Yu Qingze’s counter.

Cai Chenxi nodded and replied, “Yes, you mentioned that Yunwei should get up in the morning to jog and exercise. Since we were already running, we decided to come over and have breakfast as well.”

“… ” Yu Qingze pointed to the backyard and said, “Go wash up in the backyard. You can’t have breakfast now. Wait for Second Young Master to rest for a while and catch his breath before eating, otherwise, he might choke.”

Cai Chenxi nodded and took Cai Yunwei to the backyard to freshen up and rest.

There was an osmanthus tree in the backyard, and under the tree, there was a stone table. The scenery was quite pleasant, so the two of them washed up and sat in the backyard to rest.

In the front, many customers had come for breakfast. Most of them were those who had come to try the food yesterday, and some came with their families, young and old, to enjoy a meal together.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot come.

Yu Qingze also noticed several guests who had attended the flower-viewing event at the Cai Residence. They came with their children and servants. Among them was Madam Zhao, who came with his two children and a servant.

Yu Qingze went over to greet them and led them to a private booth while a servant went to fetch food.

“Boss Yu, congratulations on the opening. The shop looks great,” Madam Zhao congratulated with a smile.

Yu Qingze smiled and thanked him, “Thank you, Madam Zhao. It wouldn’t have been so smooth without the support of your esteemed residence.”

Madam Zhao chuckled and said, “You’re too modest. It’s also because of your excellent culinary skills that our whole family loves it.”

Yu Qingze humbly exchanged a few polite words and then turned to the two children, “Young Masters, what would you like to eat? I’ll have it brought over.”

The older child, a little boy of about seven or eight years old, said, “I like ribs. Grandpa says ribs are delicious.”

The younger child, a boy of three or four years old, was playing with a wooden carved bird. When he heard Yu Qingze’s question, he looked up and cutely said, “Bean, red bean bun.”

The older brother glanced at him disdainfully and said, “You always want red bean buns. Aren’t you tired of them?”

The younger brother, feeling challenged, retorted defiantly, “You always have ribs. Aren’t you tired, tired of them?”

The two children started arguing with each other.

Yu Qingze laughed and said, “The young masters are really adorable.”

Madam Zhao chuckled helplessly and said, “They’re like this every day. By the way, Boss Yu, do you have the silver ear fungus soup that we had at the Cai Residence?”

Yu Qingze replied, “That will be introduced in a few days. Once the staff here become more familiar with their tasks, we will gradually introduce desserts. Do you enjoy silver ear fungus soup, Madam Zhao?”

Madam Zhao nodded and smiled, “Yes. I couldn’t forget it after tasting it that day. If it’s available, I’ll have to come here every day.”

Yu Qingze smiled and said, “You’re most welcome. Madam Zhao, young masters, please take your time. I’ll have some refreshments brought over.”

Madam Zhao replied, “Boss Yu, you can go about your business. Don’t worry about us, we have a servant here.”

Yu Qingze stepped back and instructed Jiabao to bring a plate of ribs and a plate of red bean buns. Meanwhile, he made a mental note to ask Grandpa Chang to bring some silver ear fungus tomorrow to send to Madam Zhao.

In the afternoon, the village chief came to the shop to find Yu Qingze. With the autumn harvest approaching, they were preparing to sell the rice beds. The village chief wanted to discuss with Yu Qingze and see if he could offer any suggestions.

“Aze, what do you think would be a suitable price for the rice beds?” The village chief was troubled by this question. Each member of his family, including his eldest son, second son, and himself, had different opinions and couldn’t reach a consensus.

After listening to the village chief’s intentions, Yu Qingze pondered for a moment and asked, “What is the approximate cost for each rice bed?”

The village chief thought for a moment. The rice beds were relatively easy to make, so he replied, “With the cost of wood and labor, it’s less than 200 wen, close to that amount.”

Yu Qingze further asked, “How much disposable income do the villagers usually have?”

“That’s hard to say. Some hardworking families with lighter burdens manage to save seven to eight taels of silver, while others, especially those with sick family members, are so poor that they can’t even afford to eat enough. They can’t save any money. It varies. Generally, an average household would have around two to three taels of silver saved,” the village chief explained.

Upon hearing this, Yu Qingze thought for a moment and asked, “How many rice beds have you made?”

The village chief chuckled, “There are around two hundred.”

Yu Qingze was surprised and exclaimed, “So many?!”

The village chief replied with a smile, “They’re all piled up here.”

After some consideration, Yu Qingze calculated the village chief’s costs, including the purchase of the blueprints for 30 taels and the production cost of about 200 wen per bed. Altogether, it amounted to around 70 taels of silver.

After estimating, Yu Qingze said, “Then let’s set the price at around 600 to 700 wen. Most farming families should be able to afford it. If they find it expensive, you can suggest joint purchases between two households. In this way, after deducting the costs, you can earn around 50 to 70 taels of silver.”

After giving it some thought, the village chief found it appropriate and said, “Alright, let’s go with what you said.”

Yu Qingze then asked, “Where are you planning to sell them?”

The village chief replied, “At the vegetable market, where there are many people.”

Yu Qingze shook his head and said, “Don’t go to the vegetable market. The people who buy vegetables there are city dwellers, and they don’t need rice beds. The farmers who sell vegetables are too busy with their own business and won’t have time to pay attention to your products.”

“Then where do you suggest we go?”

“Go to the city gates. With your large group, split into three batches and sell at the east, west, and south gates. The people entering and exiting there are mostly farmers, and they are your target audience.”

“What about the north gate?”

“No need for the north gate. Outside the north gate is the wharf, and there are no villages nearby. Moreover, most people who go to the north gate are coming from the other three gates, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Alright! We’ll do as you say!”

“Also, village chief, when you sell, remember to demonstrate to others. Bring some rice grains or other grasses with seeds. Let others see the benefits of using these rice beds and allow them to try it out. Once they see the benefits, they will be more likely to buy.”

“Got it! I’ll remember that!” The village chief was excited and felt that coming to Yu Qingze today was the right decision.

The two of them discussed for a while and finalized the plan. Before leaving, the village chief remembered one more thing and said, “By the way, what are your plans for that piece of land after the autumn harvest? The families renting that land asked me to inquire whether you plan to cultivate it yourself or do something else.”

Yu Qingze shook his head and replied, “I won’t cultivate it myself. I don’t have the energy. If they want to continue renting it, they can rent it at the same price as before.” The shop keeps him busy every day, and Grandpa Chang is the one managing Brother Le’s fields most of the time. It’s exhausting, and he’s even thinking about having Grandpa Chang cultivate two fewer fields next year. It’s too tiring.

“Okay, I’ll go back and inform them,” the village chief nodded, then added, “Have you chosen a site for your residential land yet? It’s been quite some time, and I haven’t seen you coming to me.”

“I’ve chosen one! Isn’t there a large empty space about thirty zhang to the right of Brother Le’s house? It’s not far from there, near an old locust tree. Let’s go with that location.”

“The location is a bit far from the village,” said the village chief.

“It’s fine, it’s not too far. And, village chief, I also plan to buy another mu of land. Please keep an eye out for me and make sure no one else takes it.”

“Alright, I understand. No one else will buy the land. I’ll go back now and have them cut some dogtail grass and reed stalks.”

“Okay, if you have any business, come find me.”

“Alright. You take care.”

Busy as always, another day went by.

After closing the shop, Yu Qingze held the usual summary meeting with everyone.

After a day of training and the post-closing summary meeting, the staff performed even better today. The number of issues noticeably decreased, and everything became much smoother. They were becoming more proficient in all aspects.

After the summary meeting, they all packed up and went home together.

Initially, Yu Qingze wanted Brother Chang and his mother to finish making the snacks and then go off work, but they didn’t leave either. Seeing everyone so busy, they decided to stay and continue helping.

Yu Qingze felt helpless about this. If Brother Chang and his mother continued to behave like this, he would have to give them a raise next month. They were working from dawn till dusk, much harder than the others.

Since opening the shop, Yu Qingze changed the daily settlement method of the snack stall to a monthly payment system. At the end of each month, he would pay everyone their wages, making it easier to manage.

After everyone left, Yu Qingze called Jiabao over and asked him to wait for a moment because the beds he had asked Grandpa Chang to buy had arrived. They assisted the shopkeeper in installing the beds. The quilts that Grandpa Chang had also bought were here, so they could finally settle in.

After Grandpa Chang left, Yu Qingze said to Jiabao, “Jiabao, starting from today, Brother Le and I will be living in the shop. You’ll have dinner with us in the evening. Also, do you want to learn arithmetic?”

Jiabao’s eyes lit up. “You mean multiplication and division?”

Yu Qingze nodded and said, “Yes. Do you want to learn?”

Jiabao nodded, “I want to learn!”

“Great, starting from tomorrow, bring a change of clothes when you come in the morning. Have dinner here, take a shower, and then I’ll teach you. There’s always hot water on the stove here, so you won’t need to heat water for bathing when you go back.”

Jiabao happily nodded, “Okay!”

“Brother Le, didn’t you also mention wanting to learn?” Yu Qingze asked.

Chang Le nodded.

“Then you can learn together.”

Chang Le gestured, indicating that he is not very fast at addition and subtraction, and it might slow down Jiabao’s progress.

Yu Qingze shook his head and said, “It’s alright. I’ll teach you a new algorithm, and Jiabao will start from the beginning too.”

Upon hearing this, Chang Le also happily nodded.

Afterward, the three of them began to prepare dinner. Jiabao took the initiative to light the fire and cook rice, watching Chang Le cook the dishes while Yu Qingze watched from the side, occasionally giving some instructions.

Jiabao realized that Yu Qingze was actually teaching Chang Le how to cook.

Yes, after spending some time together, Jiabao started calling Yu Qingze “Big Brother Yu.” He felt that Yu Qingze and Chang Le were truly like older brothers to him, teaching him everything and taking care of him, which touched the young boy’s heart.

When it was time to eat, Jiabao took a bite of the food and exclaimed, “It’s so delicious!”

Chang Le smiled and picked up a piece of meat for him with his chopsticks.

Yu Qingze also picked up a piece of meat for himself and another for Chang Le, saying, “Eat more meat and grow taller.”

“Mm!” Jiabao happily ate his meal. He had never tasted such delicious food before, well, except when he was with Big Brother Yu, that is!

After dinner, Yu Qingze and Chang Le escorted Jiabao back home. They held hands while walking back and together tidied up the rest area and storage room. They also made preparations for the next day. After washing up, they washed their clothes together, sat under the osmanthus tree for a while to enjoy the cool breeze, and then went to sleep.

From today onwards, Yu Qingze and Chang Le would live alone together.

Apart from not having that particular intimacy, it didn’t feel much different from living together before marriage. Thinking about this, Yu Qingze felt a faint sense of happiness filling his chest, sweet and content.

During this time, he had to seize the opportunity to make Chang Le accustomed to intimate actions with him as soon as possible! That way, their married life would be smoother and sweeter! Hehehe…

Previously, Yu Qingze used to sleep in the same room with Grandpa Chang and Chang Hao. Due to the inconvenience, he hadn’t relieved himself since coming here and had been suppressing it, even developing some pimples as a result.

Now, knowing that Chang Le was sleeping next door, with no one else in the room, Yu Qingze felt a bit excited. That indescribable little flame in his heart ignited, burning stronger and stronger, impossible to suppress.

Of course, he had no intention of suppressing it.

With that in mind, he let himself go.

Bliss!Thandar: LOL somebody beating meat after hours