Chapter 81

Ye Baizhi saw the redness in Jian Ping’s eyes and understood—his family had truly gone hungry before. For a panda beastman to be that thin, it could only be from prolonged hunger. As for his wife Zhu Ling’s frailty, it also stemmed from malnutrition. Both of them had been scrimping and saving, always putting their children’s meals first. They often went hungry themselves, and Zhu Ling frequently felt faint because of it.

Thankfully, over the past few days, Ye Baizhi had helped treat her, and now that they were eating regularly, Zhu Ling’s health was improving.

Ye Baizhi planned to give them a raise once the business was more stable. Both Jian Ping and his wife were tidy, efficient, and meticulous in their work—Ye Baizhi felt entirely at ease entrusting them with tasks.

Later, when more shops opened, she fully intended to hire them to help manage things—and, of course, their wages would be fair and generous.

But for now, she kept those thoughts to herself.

…

Back at home, Jian Ping’s three sons were helping out, chopping kindling and burning plant ash. His eldest was already seven—and capable of handling plenty of chores.

They were all very well-behaved.

Jian Da was tending the fire, burning plant ash.

In the afternoon, they would help their mother clean the wild beast offal.

“Dad, you’re home!”

“Did you bring something tasty again?”

“Mmm, it smells so good—is this from Auntie Ye?”

Jian Ping’s three sons were all fond of Auntie Ye. They thought she was the kindest and most amazing person they’d ever met. She treated them so well. She even helped heal their mother—and now, her health had improved enough that she could speak a little again. Though her words were still slow and choppy, she could at least speak—and that alone had the whole family overjoyed. And she often brought delicious food for them, too.

The boys adored her. They also loved playing with little Da Bao. He was so cute—and he could tell stories, too.

Stories they’d never heard before—he always said they were from his mother, and that just made Auntie Ye seem even more incredible in their eyes.

The stories were so captivating—like nothing they’d ever heard before.

And when little Da Bao said they came from his mother, the boys thought Auntie Ye must be truly amazing.

Jian Ping chuckled, “That’s right. You boys must always remember Auntie Ye’s kindness.”

The three Jian brothers nodded solemnly. “Mm-hmm, we will, Dad.”

Inside, Zhu Ling was sorting fresh shepherd’s purse.

Now that they’d learned shepherd’s purse and mushrooms were edible, she especially enjoyed shepherd’s purse soup. As long as the food filled their bellies, she was happy to eat it.

When she saw Jian Ping return home, she beamed at him. “Wel… come… back!”

Her speech was still slow—each word squeezed out one at a time—but for their family, it was already a miracle.

“Yeah, I’m back,” Jian Ping smiled. “Here’s offal soup and a scallion pancake from Madam Ye.”

“I’ll pour it into the pot and add a bit more water—that way, we can stretch it further.”

As always, Jian Ping couldn’t bear to eat the pancake himself. It was for his wife and children, of course.

“And here’s today’s spirit stones.”

Zhu Ling took the forty blue stones carefully, cradling them like something precious. They saved every bit of income—bit by bit, it was starting to build. With their stash growing, they were finally starting to feel a sense of security.

Given enough time, they might really accumulate something worthwhile.

…

Meanwhile, back at home, Ye Baizhi and Ye Wulan returned with Da Bao in tow. She poured out the jar of spirit stones they’d earned and started counting them together.

When they were done, Ye Baizhi’s eyes lit up. “Today, we earned 1,895 blue spirit stones.”

“With the hong and preserves we sold, that’s nearly two purple stones.”

“At this rate, we’ll be bringing in almost sixty purple spirit stones a month.”

“Soon, we’ll be able to buy this stone house—and even open our own shop!”

Just the thought had her brimming with excitement.

Ye Wulan had always known that food stalls at the market were profitable—he just hadn’t realized how profitable they were until now. After these past few days selling offal soup and scallion pancakes at the stall, he was finally beginning to grasp just how profitable the business could be.

It truly felt unbelievable. “We made a bit more today,” he remarked.

Which, of course, meant they earned more, too.

In the earlier days, they hadn’t prepared as much soup—bringing in around 1,000 blue spirit stones a day, the equivalent of one purple stone.

Back then, that had already seemed like a lot—almost unreal. Yet today, they had surpassed even that.

Ye Baizhi smiled and said, “We simply made more, and business was good.”

“If we had a proper storefront, we could keep it open all day long.”

“That’d let us earn even more.”

Ye Wulan gave her a look filled with quiet tenderness. “That would be too exhausting for you.”

“Even just this morning—you didn’t take a single break.”

She hadn’t even had time to sit down.

Ye Wulan wished she could rest, but once the business was bustling, Ye Baizhi hardly spared a thought for herself, especially when she was counting spirit stones—that brought her joy. There was something deeply satisfying about it. A feeling she couldn’t quite put into words, but one that filled her heart to the brim.

Ye Baizhi said, “It’s only busy in the beginning. Once we have a proper shop and business settles into a rhythm, we can hire people to help run it—then things will get easier for us.”

But right now, earning money is the priority.

Ye Wulan had wanted to pawn a few of his possessions so Ye Baizhi wouldn’t have to work so hard, but she refused. Those items were relics from the Enchanter Demon tribe, precious to Ye Wulan—and pawning them could expose his identity and put him in danger.

Besides, Ye Baizhi had an abundance of recipes in her mind. Just picking one was enough to start a stall. She simply didn’t have enough time to handle it all. Everything had to follow a gradual, step-by-step process.

To be honest, Ye Baizhi was enjoying the journey. Most importantly, her food had no real competitors. With business booming, she felt motivated and driven.

“I don’t actually feel tired,” she said with a smile. “This process makes me happy.”

“But poor little Da Bao—did you get cold today?” She reached out and gently touched his cheek.

Da Bao shook his head. “Not cold. Father Ye made me a hat—it’s warm.”

“Mother, once I’m a little older, I’ll help you too.”

Ye Baizhi found him just too soft and adorable—she kissed his cheek and smiled, “Our Da Bao is the best.”

She didn’t feel at ease leaving him at home alone. So she always brought him along to the stall.

Once they bought a proper storefront, they wouldn’t have to brave the cold winds outside anymore.

Ye Baizhi said, “We’ve been selling offal soup for six days now. Before that, it was gourds and red preserves.”

“All together, we’ve earned nearly fourteen purple spirit stones—twelve from before and two more today.”

“If we can keep making two purple stones a day, we could buy our stone house in just two months.”

Right now, Ye Baizhi is full of energy and momentum.

Ye Wulan, on the other hand, still felt a pang of guilt. Providing for the family should’ve been his responsibility. If the Enchanter Demon tribe still existed, he’d never have let her shoulder so much. She deserved a better, easier life.

As the weather turned colder, working outside at a stall clearly wasn’t sustainable. They would need a real shop. Ye Baizhi had no idea what was going through his mind—hers was completely occupied by stall plans.

“After lunch, I’ll start making malt,” she said. “We’ll add that to the stall tomorrow.”

“One piece will go for five blue spirit stones.”

Since nothing like it existed in the market, she could easily set a higher price. Honey, after all, sold for a hundred blue stones per jar. But pricing it too high didn’t sit well with her. She preferred fair, accessible prices—ones most people could actually afford. Additionally, the production cost was low, so she should focus on volume instead. She’d noticed that people loved sweets, but because honey was so rare and expensive, many could only admire it from afar. And honestly, five blue stones per malt piece wasn’t exactly cheap either.