Chapter 40
Trouble
Li Yu had just reached the door when she saw Li Qing walking out. “Ah Qing, where are you going?”
Li Qing saw the blood on Li Yu’s body and pounced over to check. “Sister, what’s wrong with you? You’re bleeding!”
Li Yu smiled and comforted Li Qing. “It’s fine. It’s not mine. It’s that kid called Ji Xiang.”
“Ji Xiang? Ji Xiang is Sir’s assistant! How did you meet them?” Li Qing followed Li Yu. “Today, Sir brought Ji Xiang and Ji Xiang up the mountain to see the autumn scenery! Sister, they encountered wild beasts, right? Is everything alright?”
Li Yu put down the backpack. “Yes! I encountered a hungry bear. Fortunately, I helped chase it away. It’s just that Ji Xiang was a little injured. Don’t worry, it’s fine.”
Li Qing was relieved. “That’s good. Fortunately, they met you.” Li Qing looked at the blood on Li Yu’s body. “Sister, go wash up first.”
Madam Qian came out with hot water and said to Li Yu, “Xiaoyu, go wash up first and come back for dinner.”
After Li Yu came out of the shower, Madam Qian handed the money for the pickled vegetables that Xiao An had retrieved from Shopkeeper Liu and the booklet to Li Yu. “Xiaoyu, Xiao An took these back from Shopkeeper Liu. I gave 100 jars to Shopkeeper Liu like you said. Take a look.”
Li Yu took the booklet and looked at it. She smiled. “That’s right. I made a wasted trip today and didn’t hunt anything. The chestnuts I picked up also dropped.”
Madam Qian arranged the dishes and said with a smile, “It’s good that you’re fine. Have one of the steamed buns first. You must be tired after a day of running.”
Li Qing and Xiao An closed the door and washed their hands before everyone started eating. Madam Qian waited for everyone to quickly pack up before returning home with Xiao An to rest.
Li Yu and Li Qing sat in the courtyard and burned wormwood to chase away the mosquitoes. The siblings chatted for a while before going to rest.
Li Yu went back to her room and counted. There were 17 gold leaves and more than five taels of silver. The banknotes had 200 taels of silver printed on them.
Li Yu put the golden leaves and banknotes into her space and lay on the bed, thinking to herself that she had thought Li Qing’s teacher was an old man. She didn’t expect him to be so troublesome. Where did this trouble come from? He’s actually being hunted down. Looks like she would have to find another academy Li Ah Qing. As Li Yu pondered, she slowly fell asleep.
In the Zhou family, Zhou Jia and Ji Xiang’s injuries had been bandaged. Ji Xiang was lying on the bed with a pale face and was unconscious. Zhou Jia sat on the chair in front of the bed and watched Ji Xiang take his pulse. After a while, Zhou Jia heaved a sigh of relief and said to Ruyi, “It’s alright. His pulse has stabilized. Remember to feed him medicine again at night.”
“Yes.” After Ruyi agreed, she looked at Zhou Jia indignantly. “Young Master, that witch caused you to not even be able to go to the countryside examination. She even used Madam’s funeral to force you to agree to leave the competition for the role of the family patriarch. We’ve already escaped here, but that old witch still wants to kill us.”
Zhou Jia said indifferently, “The Zhou family has long been strong on the outside but weak on the inside. She was just afraid that I would take the exam next year and jeopardize her son’s position, so she sent someone over. Also, in my opinion, this is already her last resort. If we hadn’t met the Li family’s young lady today, I’m afraid Ji Xiang and I would have already lost our lives. It seems that we aren’t fated to die. It’s just a pity that we lost the medicinal herbs that we finally found.”
Ruyi went up to support Zhou Jia. “Young Master, that Miss Li is really a strange person. I said I wanted to thank her, but she said she had already taken the reward.”
Zhou Jia smiled. “When Ji Xiang woke up, he said that she took all the money from the assassin and gave him the bronze plate and jar. She even threw the assassin and his sword down the mountain stream.”
Ruyi frowned and said, “It’s strange. According to the villagers, Miss Li used to be timid and submissive to the Zhang family. How did she suddenly become so tough and skilled?”
Zhou Jia pondered for a moment. “Maybe she had a fortuitous encounter. Besides, it’s all thanks to her saving us today. When Ji Xiang and I get better, we’ll visit her again.”
“Got it. Have a good rest. I’ll go watch Lucky.”
Zhou Jia waved his hand and Ruyi left. Zhou Jia lay on the bed and couldn’t help but laugh when he thought of Li Yu’s expression when she rolled her eyes at him.
The next day, Li Yu dragged the pickled vegetables to Shunfeng Inn. After handing the pickled vegetables to Shopkeeper Liu, she took the money and drove the ox cart back.
Not long after, they met Manager Wei. Wei Wencheng looked at Li Yu and smiled. “Miss Li, how’s business?”
Li Yu smiled. “My small business helps me make a living. Why are you looking for me, Mr. Wei?”
“I’m looking for Miss Li to buy pickled vegetables and discuss business with you.” Wei Wencheng smiled.
Li Yu said readily, “Sure! Then can you come to my house to talk?”
“Okay.” Wei Wencheng turned around and got into the carriage. He followed Li Yu’s cart to the Li residence. Li Yu saw the courtyard door close and thought that Auntie Qian and Xiao An might have gone to the wasteland.
Li Yu opened the courtyard door and invited Wei Wencheng and the two people who came with him into the house.
Li Yu carried the small wooden table to the eaves and poured three bowls of boiling water into the pot. She said politely to Wei Wencheng and the two people accompanying him, “Mr. Wei, my place is simple. Please sit and drink some water.”
“Not at all,” Wei said politely.
A young man accompanying Wei Wencheng glanced at Li Yu and sat down. After he sat down, Wei Wencheng sat down.
The man pointed at the sauce jars placed against the courtyard wall and said with a smile, “Are these the sauce jars for your pickled vegetables?”
Li Yu shook her head. “No, those are bean paste. They’re also used for cooking.”
The man nodded and stopped talking. Wei Wencheng looked at Li Yu and asked, “Miss Li, do you still have a lot of pickled vegetables at home? I want to buy more this time.”
“It’s not much. It’s just that, Mr. Wei, if you buy too much, the pickled vegetables will go bad if you can’t finish them.”
Wei smiled. “I’m not afraid. We should have enough demand.”
Li Yu did some mental calculations. There were only 30 vats of meat paste weighing 50 catties per vat. There were also 50 vats of peas and vegetables weighing 500 catties. If she divided them up, she could at least fill more than 8,000 vats. If he could buy them all at once, it would save her a lot of effort.
“Mr. Wei, there are still seven or eight thousand jars of pickled vegetables left at home! Do you want all of them?”
“Yes, it’s going to snow soon. These pickled vegetables are just right, Miss Li.” Wei Wencheng looked at Li Yu and hesitated about how to tell her.
Li Yu saw that he was not in a hurry. Wei Wencheng hesitated for a moment and decided to tell the truth. “Miss Li, I won’t hide it from you. We’ve tried to make your pickled sauces a few times, but the taste is still a little lacking. Most importantly, they do not last as long as your pickled sauces. We want to buy your recipe. Are you willing to sell it?”
When Li Yu heard this, she knew that they might not have added white wine and white sugar. However, as time passed, they would be able to figure it out. If the price was suitable, they could sell it.
“Mr. Wei, how much money do you plan to give me for the prescription?”
Wei raised a finger. “One thousand taels. After you sell it to us, you can continue to sell at Clearwater Town, but you have to promise not to sell it to anyone else.”
“Since I promised to sell it to you, I won’t do such a thing. I’ll agree to sell it to you for 1,500 taels. Since you’ve tried it, you should know how much profit they would yield. If I have the manpower, I can earn a few 1,500 taels a year,” Li Yu said calmly.
Wei Wencheng glanced at the man accompanying him. After seeing the man nod, he smiled and replied, “Alright, 1,500 taels. Miss Li, do you want banknotes or cash?”
Li Yu thought to herself that she would still have to go to Green Mountain City to exchange the banknotes. Silver is still better. Furthermore, she did not have to worry about having more space to store them.’
“I’ll go for silver? Looks delightful.”
“Alright, Miss Li is really a straightforward person.” Wei Wencheng turned to the guard standing at the side and said, “Ah Sheng, go and get the silver.”
“Yes, shopkeeper.” Ah Sheng carried two wooden boxes from the carriage and placed them at Mr. Wei’s feet. “Silver, sir.”