Gu Linchen was about to call Feng Ge’er to eat the marinated pig’s feet when Meng Zuheng looked up and saw the boss holding two marinated pig’s feet. The sight of them immediately made him think they were much tastier than the other items they had been selling.

“Young Master, we don’t sell these; they are our lunch,” Gu Linchen explained. He could tell the young man wasn’t arrogant, or else he would not have let the servant obediently queue up earlier.

“I’ll pay one tael of silver to buy them from you,” Meng Zuheng insisted, unwilling to give up.

“It’s not about the money, it’s…” Gu Linchen was about to refuse when Feng Ge’er pulled him aside.

“Lao Gong,” Feng Ge’er said, his eyes sparkling. One tael of silver was a lot—it was more than they made in a whole day selling marinated food.

“Sigh! If the Young Master really wants them, we can sell you one, but we need to keep one for ourselves,” Gu Linchen said.

“Fine,” Meng Zuheng said, getting up to hand Gu Linchen one tael of silver. He immediately grabbed a pig’s foot and began to eat it.

The young master from a wealthy family was eating so casually, without any pretension. But then again, if he were a pretentious person, he wouldn’t be sitting here eating like this. Gu Linchen, looking at the one tael of silver in his hand, reflected on the disparity—poor families would work for over a year to save that much, while a wealthy family member could casually take it without even thinking twice. The difference was clear.

Looking at the remaining vegetable skewers in the bowl, Gu Linchen packed them up and offered them to the young man. “Here, try these too, they’re quite good.”

Meng Zuheng, his mouth covered in grease from the pig’s foot, mumbled, “Thank you.” He didn’t particularly care for the vegetables, so he pushed the bowl over to Afu. “Afu, you try them.”

“Thank you, Young Master,” Afu said as he took a skewer and ate it. “Mmm, this is really good!” He finished the whole skewer in one bite.

Seeing Afu’s reaction, Meng Zuheng picked up a skewer himself and tasted it. Instantly, he pulled the bowl back toward himself. The vegetables were unexpectedly delicious, and even though he felt full, he still wanted to eat more. He thought to himself that he would invite Heng Xuan and the others to come eat tomorrow.

Gu Linchen, unaware of the young man’s plans, continued eating the marinated pig’s feet with Feng Ge’er. They only had half a pig’s foot each, and with no noodles, they weren’t full. Gu Linchen realized they would need to eat something else before they left tomorrow, or they’d end up with stomach pains from eating so little.

Meng Zuheng, after eating to his fill and burping, got up to leave. As he was about to walk away, he remembered how delicious the pig’s feet were and turned back. “Boss, can you prepare six pig’s feet for me tomorrow? I’ll come by with some people to pick them up at noon.”

“I’m afraid I can’t. A pig only has four pig’s feet, and I can only promise you three,” Gu Linchen replied.

Meng Zuheng thought for a moment before nodding. “That works.” With that, he and his servant left.

“Lao Gong, do we still have any pig’s feet at the butcher’s?” Feng Ge’er asked, worried.

“We should hurry up and head to the butcher’s to see if they have any left. If not, we’ll think of another way,” Gu Linchen quickly cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks. If there’s money to be made, why not take it? How could he miss such an easy opportunity to make money? As for why he didn’t agree to six pig’s feet, it was partly because fewer items would make them seem more valuable, and also because he really couldn’t guarantee having that many.

However, luck was on their side today. When they reached the butcher’s shop, Feng Ge’er saw that there were still four pig’s feet on the counter. Excited, he ran over. “We’ll take these!”

Gu Linchen noticed the butcher looking at him as if asking for confirmation. “Brother Wang, could you please pack them up for us? My husband can make the decision,” he said.

Feng Ge’er felt a bit embarrassed for being too excited, but upon hearing his husband elevate his status, he felt a warmth in his heart.

When they returned home, they were absolutely starving. Gu Linchen’s mother hurriedly cooked them a bowl of noodles. The afternoon was busy again, and in the evening, the family happily counted the money. Today, they had earned six hundred and ninety copper coins and one tael of silver. When Gu Linchen’s father and mother heard that one pig’s foot had earned them one tael of silver, they were stunned. That was more expensive than a whole pig! It must take a very wealthy family to be so generous. They were also worried that someone might come looking for trouble.

Gu Linchen thought for a moment about the young man’s manner. Although he was a little arrogant, he didn’t seem like a bad person. “Dad, Mom, don’t worry. He won’t come looking for trouble. He’s ordered three pig’s feet for tomorrow.”

“Three?” Gu Linchen’s father and mother became unsettled. Wouldn’t that mean they’d get three taels of silver? Their voices trembled.

“Yes, tomorrow we’ll go after we eat breakfast,” Gu Linchen said, thinking that three taels of silver was quite a nice amount, much more comfortable than holding all those copper coins.

As Meng Zuheng stepped out, he saw a few friends waiting for him. He had asked Afu to notify them the day before, telling them that he would take them out for good food. Since the academy was on break, they had all come out when called.

“Zuheng, where are you taking us for this great food today?” Qi Hengxuan asked, curious. These guys had eaten at all the major restaurants in town.

“Exactly! Afu came to notify me yesterday, and I didn’t even look at my books. I’ve been thinking about today’s food. If it’s just okay, I’ll have to get mad at you,” Li Jinyu added.

“Don’t worry, just follow me. I won’t disappoint you,” Meng Zuheng replied with a smile, leading them toward the west street.

Meng Zuheng didn’t want to bring the group directly to Gu Linchen’s stall, so he found a seat at a teahouse across the street. Qi Hengxuan and the others were confused, wondering what kind of good food could be found at a teahouse.

Meng Zuheng didn’t explain. He took a window-side seat and ordered a pot of good tea from the teahouse manager. Then, he turned to Afu. “Go get them. Also, bring a bowl of marinated food with noodles for each of us, and get a plate of marinated vegetables as well.”

The group watched as Afu borrowed a tray from the teahouse manager and hurried over to the snack stall to queue up.

“This…” Qi Hengxuan looked over at the snack stall and saw a long line of people waiting. There was a couple working by a peculiar little iron box. It turned out they had come here to eat street food.

“Hengxuan, why are you standing up? Sit down and have some tea!” Meng Zuheng chuckled at the surprised expressions of his friends.

“Zuheng, is that snack over there really that good?” Li Jinyu asked, sitting down and taking a sip of tea.

“You’ll find out in a bit,” Meng Zuheng said, sipping his tea with a mysterious air.

Gu Linchen saw that the young master’s servant was holding a tray and smiling as he approached. “Boss, I’m here to pick up the marinated pig’s feet. I need seven bowls of noodles with them—one for me to eat now, and the other six to take with me. Also, I’ll take a plate of marinated vegetables.”

Gu Linchen brought out three marinated pig’s feet, each one cut in half. “Afu, young man, we can’t let you take the bowls back home. Otherwise, if everyone starts taking their bowls home, I won’t have enough for myself.”

Afu quickly waved his hands. “No, no, no, Boss, you misunderstand. Our young masters are over there, sitting in the teahouse. After they’re done eating, I’ll return the bowls to you.” Gu Linchen followed his gaze and saw several young masters in fine clothes sitting in the teahouse across the street, sipping tea. The young master from yesterday even waved at him.

“Alright then,” Gu Linchen said, placing the pig’s feet on a tray and adding a large plate of marinated vegetables on top. Afu handed over three taels and one hundred copper coins, but Gu Linchen only accepted three taels of silver. He wasn’t the type to overcharge; he wouldn’t take that much money from someone.