The wild boar was hunted by Qin Fang and Centurion Lu, so naturally, the meat was split between the two families.

With so much meat, Sister Lu couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear.

She watched her husband and Qin Fang process the wild boar and chatted with Yang Haiyan, “Haiyan, with all this wild boar meat, what are you planning to do with it?”

Yang Haiyan thought for a moment, “I plan to make preserved meat.”

Sister Lu knew that Yang Haiyan was skilled in cooking, and hearing her plan made her excited.

Fresh meat isn’t easy to preserve, but making preserved meat requires a specific technique, and she felt embarrassed to ask for help.

After a while, seeing that Sister Lu hadn’t spoken up, Yang Haiyan asked, “Fresh meat doesn’t keep well; you can either sell it or make preserved meat. What do you plan to do, sister?”

Sister Lu sighed, “Winters are tough here; almost no meat is available during winter. I plan to sell half and make preserved meat from the rest, but I don’t know how to make it. Haiyan, I can give you the meat and ingredients and pay you to help me make some.”

Yang Haiyan understood her intention.

In modern times, such recipes are trivial and easily found online, but here, these recipes represent a craft that can be passed down through generations, making them very precious.

She said, “It’s not that complicated. I’ll just tell you how to do it.”

Sister Lu felt embarrassed, “But…”

Yang Haiyan reassured her, “It’s nothing. I learned it when I was in the capital, and many older folks in the countryside figure it out themselves. I’ll write down the steps and ingredients for you.”

Sister Lu smiled, “Thank you, Haiyan.”

Yang Haiyan replied, “Your husband is a comrade of mine; why should we stand on ceremony?”

Sister Lu smiled back, feeling grateful.

Qin Fang, overhearing their conversation, felt proud; his wife was generous.

Once Yang Haiyan finished writing the recipe and took it next door, she found Zhang’s mother chattering away in the yard.

“Where did all this wild boar meat come from?”

“Little Lu, why didn’t you call Zhang Ge when you were hunting?”

“Little Lu’s family has so much wild boar meat; you can’t eat it all, so sell some to your aunt!”

Sister Lu wasn’t fond of Zhang’s mother, but since her husband and Zhang Baifu worked under the same commander, she didn’t want to create too much conflict.

Since Zhang’s mother asked, she replied, “Pork at the butcher is 16 wen per jin; I’ll sell it to you for 15 wen per jin. Do you want some?”

Zhang’s mother immediately frowned, “Little Lu, we’re familiar with each other. Don’t you think 15 wen is too much? How about 10 wen per jin? I’ll take 5 jin.”

Yang Haiyan felt lucky to have avoided a confrontation by writing down the recipe.

Sister Lu’s couldn’t possibly sell it for 10 wen a jin.

They haggled and finally settled on 13 wen per jin.

Zhang’s mother bought 5 jin, saying it was borrowed from the Qin family.

After Zhang’s mother left, she said cheerfully, “Little Lu, I’ll take the meat now and bring the money tomorrow.”

Sister Lu replied, feigning a smile, “Just don’t forget.”

Zhang’s mother replied, “Of course not!”

Once Zhang’s mother was gone, Sister Lu let out a sigh of relief but then felt anxious again, thinking about how she wouldn’t have money tomorrow.

She had been neighbors with Zhang’s family for over a year, so she understood the situation.

Even though they were separated by the Qin family, it was still Qin Fang’s wedding money, and that house was empty, so calling them neighbors wasn’t too far off.

Yang Haiyan smiled as she handed the recipe to Sister Lu, “I think you’ll need to ask her for the money tomorrow.”

Sister Lu said firmly, “I will definitely go. That’s 65 wen, and money is hard to earn these days.”

The meat was divided, each household getting half a boar.

Qin Fang carried the meat back to their yard, and then the three of them—Uncle Hong, his wife, and Aunt Fan—got busy.

But most of the work fell on Qin Fang because of his strength, so he handled chopping the ribs and cutting the meat.

Once he finished, Yang Haiyan said, “We can’t eat all this ourselves. Take two ribs and four skewers of meat to Sister Dahua’s house.”

That was about two jin of bones and two jin of meat.

When she was recovering from her illness, Yang Dahua had visited her.

Although she was looking after the original owner, that kindness lingered.

Plus, Qin Fang had a good relationship with Han Zhen, who also worked under the same commander.

She didn’t have any friends here, so it was important to maintain her relationships with Sister Lu and Yang Dahua.

Even in modern times, such exchanges were quite common.

Qin Fang replied, “Okay.”

The sky was not quite dark yet, but it was getting late.

By the time he arrived, Han Zhen and Yang Dahua were already in bed, busy with matters of having a child, but Qin Fang had no way of knowing that from outside.

“Han Zhen… Han Zhen…”

Han Zhen, putting on his pants, came out looking annoyed, opening the courtyard door. “I say, good brother, what’s so urgent that you had to come over now?”

He seemed ready to complain more.

Unaware of Han Zhen’s grievances, Qin Fang simply handed him a basket. “I went hunting with Brother Lu today, and this is for my wife. She asked me to bring it.”

His implication was clear: if it weren’t for his wife’s request, he wouldn’t have come.

Seeing the meat in the basket, Han Zhen exclaimed, “Wow, you didn’t call me to join the hunt? Thanks!”

Qin Fang explained, “We just happened to see a wild boar coming down the mountain and hunted it on the way back; it wasn’t planned.”

Han Zhen replied, “Winter’s coming, so we definitely need to stock up on wild meat. We should go up the mountain together on a day off.”

“Sounds good,” Qin Fang agreed.

Han Zhen said, “I’ll close the door then.”

He started to shut the courtyard door.

But Qin Fang stopped him with a hand, expressionless. “Give me back the basket.”

Han Zhen was momentarily taken aback but quickly took out the ribs and meat and handed the basket back to him.

……

Though it was getting cold, the meat wouldn’t spoil overnight, but it could develop an odor.

So Yang Haiyan planned to process the meat right away.

The half wild boar yielded about 60 pounds of ribs and over 140 pounds of meat.

Yang Haiyan intended to make cured meat from the larger portion and marinated ribs from the rest.

However, making either required a lot of salt, so Yang Haiyan gave Aunt Fan some silver to buy supplies.

Generally, shopkeepers in town who didn’t have their shops attached to their homes left spaces for people to sleep in at night to deter thieves.

Thus, even if many shops were closed, she could still buy what she needed.

To make marinated ribs, the first step was to chop the ribs into smaller pieces and marinate them for a day and night.

The next day, they would wash the ribs with warm water and add wine yeast.

For 60 pounds of ribs, 35 pounds of wine yeast would be needed. After marinating with the wine yeast for two days, they could eat them.

However, 35 pounds of wine yeast couldn’t be purchased anywhere nearby, so Yang Haiyan planned to buy it online when she had the chance.

The entire night, both the Lu family and the Qin family were busy, though the Lu family finished more quickly since they weren’t making marinated ribs.

The Qin family worked late into the night, and by the time they finished everything, it was already early morning.

Aunt Fan returned too late to go back home, so she stayed over; there was a storage room available for guests, which was also her room when Qin Fang was on night duty.

The next day, Yang Haiyan slept in, as she had worked late the previous night and couldn’t get up early.

When she finally woke up, it was already around ten o’clock.

After washing up, she saw that there was sweet potato and millet porridge warming on the stove and boiled eggs waiting for her.

She also prepared a bowl of milk powder for herself.

After breakfast, she purchased 38 pounds of wine yeast online, using 35 pounds for the marinated ribs, with the remaining 3 pounds reserved for making dumplings tomorrow.

When Aunt Fan returned to prepare lunch, she saw Yang Haiyan standing straight against the wall.

Curious, Aunt Fan asked, “Madam, what are you doing?”

Yang Haiyan replied, “I’m promoting good health. Standing for half an hour after a meal prevents belly fat from accumulating, aids digestion, and is good for the stomach.”

Aunt Fan remarked, “That’s great! Madam, you know so much.”

Yang Haiyan smiled, “I’ll be cooking the wild boar trotters today, but we need to remove all the hair. If we can’t get it off completely, we can roast them over the fire to make it easier to remove when they’re cooked.”

Aunt Fan nodded, “Got it.”

Over the past few days, she had learned that this Madam was much more skilled in cooking than the mistresses from wealthy families, making fewer dishes but with a greater focus on flavor.

Yang Haiyan added, “I’ll also make a soup with shredded radish and meatballs and stir-fried eggs.”

Their meals didn’t feature a variety of dishes, but the portion sizes were generous.

“Understood,” Aunt Fan replied.

“Yang Haiyan… Yang Haiyan…”
Yang Dahua arrived.

After receiving so much meat from Qin Fang yesterday, she came to express her gratitude.

Seeing Aunt Fan washing vegetables in the courtyard, she thought she was a relative of the Qin family and glanced over a few times.

Unbeknownst to Yang Dahua, Yang Haiyan had bought the courtyard and opened a shop, as it had only been about ten days since then.

During this time, she had been busy making pouches to sell in the market and county, keeping herself fully occupied and unaware of Yang Haiyan’s circumstances.

The only person who knew about it was Sister Lu, since Aunt Fan visited Yang Haiyan daily to buy groceries, cook, and do laundry, so Sister Lü had seen her regularly.

Sister Lu believed that Yang Haiyan was capable of opening a shop to sell snacks, especially since she had tasted the delicious treats Yang Haiyan made.

A hint of envy crossed her mind; if she had the skills and the capital, she would definitely open a snack shop herself.

Yang Dahua didn’t come empty-handed; she brought some fruit. “I picked this up in the county town this morning.”

Yang Haiyan was surprised when she saw the fruit. “Are there apples in the county?”

Yang Dahua was unsure. “Are these apples? I don’t know. I’ve never had them before. I saw an old man selling them in the county, saying they were wild fruits picked from the mountains. They’re really sweet, so I bought some.”

Yang Haiyan confirmed, “Yes, they are apples. I had a piece before when I was with Miss Yang.”

This world had relatively few types of fruit—apples, pears, bananas, lychees, grapes, watermelons, and cherries.

The original owner of the body hadn’t seen any other kinds, which suggested they likely didn’t exist.

The Yang family used to be prosperous, and they had access to many fruits, either bought or given by the emperor.

As the favored legitimate daughter of the Yang family, Miss Yang would have received fruits from the household, so whatever she had seen, the original owner had likely encountered too.

That’s why Yang Haiyan was certain that these were the only types of fruit in the world.

Yang Haiyan added, “But these should be wild apples, not cultivated ones. I’ve seen bigger ones before, and they’re quite sweet.”

Indeed, the wild apples in this world were small but very sweet.

Yang Dahua responded, “They are sweet. I had half of one.”

She brought out six apples, which cost five wen per pound.

There were five larger ones or six smaller ones per pound, and she chose a nice mix.

“Thank you, Sister Dahua. Will there be more of these apples in the county tomorrow?”

Yang Dahua replied, “I don’t know. I’ll go back to the county in a few days, and if I see them, I’ll bring some for you.”

Yang Haiyan said, “If you meet the vendor selling these fruits, please tell him my address. I’ll buy however many pounds you find, and I can pay one wen more per pound than his selling price.”

Although Yang Dahua didn’t understand her reasoning, she nodded, “Alright.”

Yang Haiyan poured a cup of tea for Yang Dahua and invited her to sit in the study.

The courtyard was limited in space, and the study was the only place suitable for receiving guests.

However, this study wasn’t like those in wealthy families filled with important documents, so it was fine for entertaining.

“Sister Dahua, I bought a shop in the bustling market, and it opens tomorrow. From now on, I’ll be there most of the time. If you can’t find me at home, you can come to the market shop to find me.”

Yang Dahua’s eyes widened in surprise.

It took her a while to process, “Haiyan, you opened a shop?”

It was hard to believe; if Yang Haiyan hadn’t mentioned it, she wouldn’t have known. “What kind of shop did you open?”

If a shop could be profitable, that would be great, but their family didn’t have the money to buy one.

She wanted to earn money too; otherwise, she wouldn’t have learned needlework from Yang Haiyan and walked an hour to the county to sell her pouches and bags.

At first, Yang Dahua set up her stall near the town’s vegetable market to sell her pouches and bags, but the town had a limited population—about 300 households and around 2000 people, excluding military families, which were not counted in the town’s population.

The market was saturated, and she wasn’t selling much, so she decided to focus on the county.

Walking an hour to the county every day wasn’t too tiring, and she indeed sold better there than in the town, so she kept it up.

Yang Haiyan explained, “I opened a snack shop, the same snacks I made on the day of the banquet.”

Yang Dahua admired her. “Haiyan, you have great skills and make delicious snacks. Opening a shop is a good idea. I, on the other hand, lack such skills and can only do rough work.”

At that moment, an idea struck Yang Dahua, but she felt a bit shy. “Haiyan, I’d like to discuss something with you.”

Noticing her hesitance, Yang Haiyan asked, “Sister Dahua, what do you want to discuss?”

After a moment of contemplation, Yang Dahua steeled herself and said, “Haiyan, you opened the shop to make money, right?”

Yang Haiyan confirmed, “Indeed.”

Yang Dahua steadied her nerves and continued, “Then as long as it’s profitable, it doesn’t matter who you sell to, right?”

Yang Haiyan agreed, “That’s true. If you have something to say, please feel free to.”

Yang Dahua boldly stated, “I’d like to wholesale your snacks to sell. Is that okay?”

Yang Haiyan was taken aback; she hadn’t expected Yang Dahua to have such an idea.

Yang Dahua continued, “I’ve tried your snacks, and they taste really good. Back when I was at the Yang family, the lowly maidservants also received snacks as rewards from the masters, and the taste is something I’ll never forget. But after tasting the snacks you made, I think yours are even better.”