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On the ox cart, Ye Erquan looked dejected. He had only been out for a few days, and now it was all over.
“Little sister, are we not setting up stalls anymore?” Ye Erquan asked, a bit melancholic.
“All the products have been distributed, no need to get up early and run around every day,” Ye Caiping smiled at him and said, “Don’t worry, even if we don’t set up stalls, there’s still plenty of work waiting for you. From now on, you’ll be in charge of delivering goods every morning, noon, and night. So, it will be up to you.”
Ye Erquan brightened up and patted his chest. “Alright, leave it to me!”
Back at home, Ye Caiping closed the door and started counting the inventory with Ye Jin’er.
Ye Jin’er used her fingers to calculate:
“Shunke Lou needs 2 barrels in the morning, noon, and evening, a total of 6 barrels.”
“Daxing Restaurant and Decai Inn are the same, 2 barrels at noon and 1 barrel in the evening. That’s a total of 6 barrels.”
“Aunt Pang needs 1 barrel in the morning. That makes it a total of 13 barrels a day.”
“After deducting costs, each barrel earns 300 wen. The total earnings for the day…”
Ye Caiping said, “It’s 3 taels and 900 wen.”
Ye Jin’er nodded, “By the way, will we still be setting up in the county city?”
“Yes,” Ye Caiping wanted to keep the stall in the county city.
One reason was to promote her spicy soup and prepare for her workshop.
The second reason was to train Daquan, Erquan, and the two girls, allowing them to interact more with people outside and broaden their horizons.
“Plus, the daily income from the county city is 1 tael and 200 wen…” Ye Jin’er gasped, “That means Mother earns… 5 taels and 100 a day! In one month, that’s…”
“153 taels!” Ye Caiping said.
“Ah! This… this… this is incredible! Earning more than 100 taels a month! My heavens! The last time someone offered 100 taels for a recipe, but we can earn that much in a month, and even more—53 taels extra.”
Ye Jin’er was so excited that she jumped up and down, then laughed, “Last time, Li Jiaojiao dug up a ginseng and sold it for 200 taels. Everyone was so envious, saying the Li family was rich. But that 200 taels was just a one-time thing. But our family earns 153 taels every month!”
Ye Caiping was in a good mood, laughing as she said, “Stop jumping around, it’s not here yet.”
“It will be here starting tomorrow! But…” Ye Jin’er suddenly thought of something and looked a little worried:
“With so many hot soups suddenly in the town, will we be able to sell them all? Won’t the customers get tired of them?”
Ye Caiping said, “No, they won’t. If they get tired of this one today, they’ll want to try the other one. It’s just like meals—do you ever get tired of eating?”
“No, even if I get bored for a while, I’ll want to eat again later.”
Ye Caiping nodded with a smile, “Besides, the town has more than ten restaurants and countless small vendors. They’ve all managed to stay in business, which proves there’s enough customer traffic. The market can handle it.”
…
In the afternoon, when Yan Fang and the others returned from the county city, they heard that the stall in the town would no longer operate, and they felt a bit disappointed.
But when they learned that not setting up a stall actually led to more sales and higher profits, they were pleasantly surprised.
Ye Caiping now had to carefully plan the route and assign tasks.
In the morning, make 6 buckets: 3 for the small town and 3 for the county city.
Before noon, make 6 more buckets, and in the evening, make 4 buckets.
Early in the morning, Ye Bajin took people to the county city to set up the stall, and at the same time, delivered the goods for the town.
After leaving the village, at the hour of Chen (7:00 AM), he would pick up villagers to the town, and by the hour of Si (9:00 AM), the county city’s stall would be packed up. Then, he would leave the town to the county city and pick up the villagers.
After that, he would deliver 6 large buckets of goods around noon, finish the delivery, and take the villagers home.
In the evening, he would deliver goods again.
After Ye Caiping arranged the routes, she was a little stunned. Ye Bajin was so busy, running around all day.
After Ye Caiping explained the delivery routes to Ye Bajin, he scratched his head and laughed, saying, “It’s not that I mind running, it’s just that it’s exhausting, like a cow.”
Ye Caiping laughed: “In that case, your wages definitely need to be raised. I’ll increase it to 30 wen, and give your ox some supplements.”
Thinking about how many trips he had to make and how much he had to carry, Ye Bajin finally felt deserving of the pay: “Alright, thank you, Sister Caiping. But my family’s Fubao’s spicy soup…”
“It’s just a bowl of spicy soup, like the one you have now. I’ll just prepare it every day and keep it for him. Tell Aunt not to forget to come and take it.”
Ye Bajin grinned, so happy he didn’t know what to say.
Ye Caiping said, “But, Bajin, you’re already earning 30 wen a day now. You don’t need to work so hard hauling villagers anymore, right?”
Not every villager was willing to pay for a ride in the ox cart. Even on the busiest mornings, there might only be six people per trip, and sometimes, the cart would be empty.
Ye Bajin hurriedly said, “No, no. Even though not everyone is willing to spend that money, we still need at least one cart going in and out of the village. There are always some people who want a ride.”
Ye Bajin couldn’t explain that feeling. It wasn’t just about earning the extra money; it felt like a responsibility.
Ye Caiping understood: “Alright then.”
“When you’ve made enough money, buy an ox cart too. It will make hauling things more convenient.”
Ye Caiping nodded with a smile.
With the ox cart arrangements made, the next thing to organize was the people for delivering goods and setting up the stall.
She and Yan Fang would no longer set up the stall, but would stay at home to make the soup.
One of Ye Daquan or Ye Erquan would take Jin’er and her sister out to set up the stall.
As for delivering goods, whoever wasn’t setting up the stall, Daquan or Erquan, would handle the delivery.
Occasionally, she could also go out to set up the stall. Everyone would take turns, so there would always be time to rest.
As for the wages, Yan Fang’s pay remained the same, but Daquan and Erquan’s wages were raised to 25 wen a day.
Ye Bajin’s pay was set at 30 wen plus a bowl of spicy soup, because he not only handled the deliveries, but also made three trips a day and operated both the cart and the ox.
Once everything was arranged, Ye Caiping let out a long sigh of relief.