Chapter 74

The three hooligans pleaded with Xu Qinyu, grateful that the white snake and black leopard were tame and not aggressive like wild animals. They assumed Xu Qinyu must raise the white snake, as she showed no fear upon seeing it.

Raising such creatures and training them to be so tame was indeed impressive.

Hearing their pleas, Xu Qinyu didn’t say much. She found a rope and had them sit up, planning to tie them up again.

These hooligans were not to be trusted. Even if they were hungry, they could have gone home to eat. Though old and dirty, their clothes had no patches, indicating they weren’t destitute. They weren’t beggars. When Xu Feng and his friends were beggars, they never resorted to stealing, even when starving.

Xu Feng only once took a milk bun from Gong Ge’er when he feared for his sick brother’s life. Even with disabilities, Xu Feng and his friends never thought of stealing.

These hooligans, all in their teens and physically fit, could have found work at the docks, even if it was hard labor. They wouldn’t starve. They were simply lazy and preferred petty theft, thinking it was harmless as long as they didn’t steal much.

The youngest tried to plead again, “Young Lady Xu, we truly know we were wrong. We were desperate and just wanted to steal some cured meat. We won’t do it again. Please forgive us.”

Xu Qinyu suddenly said, “I’m not older than you, so don’t talk about forgiveness. If you weren’t caught this time, you’d steal a ham and think it’s no big deal. Next time you’re hungry or short on money, you’ll steal again. If Bai Yu and Mo Yu hadn’t caught you, you’d keep stealing until all my hams were gone!”

So Xu Qinyu didn’t soften. She tied them up and reported them to the authorities to see how they would be punished.

With Bai Yu and Mo Yu around, the three didn’t dare resist and let themselves be tied up.

After a moment of silence, they realized Xu Qinyu was right. This wasn’t their first time stealing.

Xu Qinyu said, “Don’t underestimate small evils. Stealing is the same. Don’t think stealing a little is harmless. Your greed will grow, and soon, small gains won’t satisfy you. You’ll start stealing gold and silver. Since you stole, I’ll report you.”

The three, tied up, remained silent.

Xu Qinyu turned to pet Bai Yu, who nuzzled her.

Even Xu Qinyu saw a hint of grievance in Bai Yu’s eyes and couldn’t help but ask the three, “How long were you tied up?”

One of them replied, “About two hours.”

Xu Qinyu couldn’t help but laugh. Bai Yu had tied them up for two hours, no wonder it felt aggrieved. She guessed Mo Yu had gone to wake her but found her sleeping soundly, knowing she was tired and had to work at the restaurant in the morning. It didn’t want to wake her and waited until she woke up naturally to bring her over. If Bai Yu had gone to wake her, the result would have been the same.

Mo Yu, realizing its mistake, nuzzled Bai Yu apologetically.

Bai Yu turned its head towards Xu Qinyu, ignoring Mo Yu.

Mo Yu meowed, lowering its black head.

The three hooligans were stunned. These animals were incredibly intelligent. How did Young Lady Xu manage to train them?

After tying up the three hooligans, Xu Qinyu instructed Bai Yu and Mo Yu, “Bai Yu, Mo Yu, stay here and guard them. I’ll go to the yamen to report this.”

The three hooligans looked miserable but didn’t plead this time.

Xu Qinyu glanced at them and finally said, “When you get out of the yamen, if you stop stealing, you can find Xu Feng at my restaurant. He’ll give you work. I have a few acres of grapevines to plant, and you can help. The pay is twenty wen a day.”

Planting is hard work, and twenty wen is a fair wage. She didn’t offer too much.

The three were delighted and quickly thanked Xu Qinyu.

Xu Qinyu drove the donkey cart to the yamen to report the incident.

Upon hearing the news, Magistrate Yang sent yamen runners to bring the three back to the yamen.

The yamen runners followed Xu Qinyu to the workshop and were startled to see Bai Yu and Mo Yu. Fortunately, the two animals were calm, one coiled by the window and the other crouched below it, showing no signs of aggression.

Xu Qinyu reassured them, “Don’t worry, they won’t hurt anyone. They’re just here to guard the hams.”

The yamen runners cautiously approached and pulled the three from the ground, relieved that the white snake and leopard didn’t react.

The yamen runners took the three away, saying, “Young Lady Xu, we’ll take them to the yamen now.”

For petty thieves like these, if they hadn’t stolen anything, they would be detained for a few days and then released. If they confessed, they might receive a few lashes and then be released.

After the yamen runners left, Xu Qinyu petted Bai Yu and Mo Yu, telling them they could go home. She needed to head to the restaurant to prepare breakfast.

Bai Yu and Mo Yu didn’t want to leave. They didn’t like walking around in broad daylight, as it attracted too much attention—especially Bai Yu, who disliked seeing strangers.

Xu Qinyu didn’t force them. After petting them, she hurried to Xu’s Food Mansion.

Xu’s Food Mansion was already open, and everyone was busy working.

Xu Feng was there, so Xu Qinyu told him that if three young men came looking for work, he should hire them.

Xu Feng nodded. The few acres of land had been fertilized and weren’t ready for planting grapevines yet, so he hadn’t hired anyone for that task.

At the yamen, Magistrate Yang knew these hooligans. They weren’t evil, not stealing every day but only when they hadn’t eaten for a few days. They would steal a chicken, a duck, or some vegetables—nothing valuable. But they preferred stealing over hard work to earn money. In his opinion, they were just lazy.

Previously, when caught, they wouldn’t confess. This time, when Magistrate Yang asked why they tried to steal hams from Xu’s Food Mansion, he expected them to deny it. To his surprise, they admitted it and said Young Lady Xu had taught them a lesson, and they wouldn’t steal again.

Magistrate Yang had heard from the yamen runners about the two-meter-long white snake and the leopard at the workshop. He knew about the leopard as Young Lady Xu raised it. His daughter, Yang Zhizhi, often talked about how majestic the leopard looked, with its shiny, smooth fur, well cared for by Xu Qinyu. He hadn’t expected Young Lady Xu to secretly raise a python as well.

The three hooligans were likely scared by the python, leading to their reaction.

Magistrate Yang had the yamen runners give them a few lashes. The lashes weren’t too severe, just enough to cause some pain without injuring their muscles or bones. After the punishment, they were released.

Having gone hungry for a few days, failed to steal anything, and been scared and punished, the three didn’t argue with their families anymore. They went home, ate, and planned to find Xu Feng at Xu’s Food Mansion the next day, hoping to work for Young Lady Xu.

The next day, the three went to Xu’s Food Mansion to find Xu Feng.

Xu Feng, only thirteen, was younger than them but knew what they had done. Seeing their sullen faces, he agreed to let them work but warned them against laziness. If they were caught slacking, they wouldn’t be paid. The three quickly agreed, and Xu Feng took them to the fields.

The land had been fertilized and was ready for planting grapevines. Knowing the grapevines were valuable, the three worked carefully. In one day, they planted one acre, exhausted by the end. After a full day of work, they were too tired to move but managed to endure.

When they returned home, their families, seeing them dirty and tired, assumed they had been up to no good and scolded them.

The three initially wanted to argue but decided to explain, “We’re working for Young Lady Xu, planting grapevines. We’re paid twenty wen a day.”

Their parents were skeptical, “Really?”

“Of course. If you don’t believe us, ask at Xu’s Food Mansion.”

Their parents, half-believing, didn’t say more.

After a night’s rest, the three, still sore, debated whether to continue. In the end, they decided to persevere. Over five days, they planted five acres of grapevines.

Xu Feng paid them each two hundred wen, saying, “The owner will pay the rest.”

The manager confirmed that if they completed planting the five acres, their wages would be doubled.

Receiving two hundred wen, the three were incredulous. Despite their exhaustion, they had resented Xu Qinyu. Normally, they would have quit after the first day, but the fear of the white snake, Bai Yu, haunted their dreams, compelling them to continue. The python’s intimidation was far more effective than the leopard’s.

Snakes can appear silently, and they feared that if they didn’t work, the owner of Xu’s Food Mansion would send the big white snake to scare them at home. So, they gritted their teeth and persevered these past few days. But unexpectedly, the owner of Xu’s Food Mansion was quite kind, giving them twenty wen a day for their work and even adding an extra twenty wen each day.

When the three received two hundred wen, they felt a different kind of satisfaction for the first time. Earning money with their own hands, instead of through petty theft, felt genuinely different. They felt content and no longer had to live in fear.

Excited, they patted Xu Feng on the shoulder and said, “Brother Feng, if there’s any more work, just let us know. We’ll do anything.”

Now, they truly wanted to earn money through honest work.

Thinking about how these guys were older than him, Xu Feng, with his uncovered eye showing a bit of helplessness, said, “Don’t call me Brother Feng. I’m younger than you.”

The three laughed, “But Brother Feng, you’re amazing. You’re the apprentice of Xu’s Food Mansion’s owner and help manage over a hundred acres of land. You deserve to be called Brother Feng.”

In a small town with only a few thousand people, any significant event couldn’t be hidden. The news that Xu’s Food Mansion’s owner had bought over a hundred acres of land naturally spread.

Xu Feng remembered that his master had told him they could go to the winery if they wanted more work.

At Madam Lu’s winery, there was no shortage of craftsmen to build the house, but they needed laborers for tasks like moving bricks and mixing mud. This work paid twenty wen a day, thirty wen less than the craftsmen, but it was hard and tiring. Local farmers usually did this work, but with spring planting, they were busy and could only work occasionally, so there was a shortage of laborers.

The three decided to give it a try.

When they returned home and handed over the two hundred wen, their families were surprised, “Did you really work for Xu’s Food Mansion’s owner? Just planting grapes for five days, and the owner gave you two hundred wen?”

That meant they earned forty wen a day.

The three explained, “Originally, it was twenty wen a day, but the owner gave us extra. We’re planning to go to Dagu Village tomorrow to work at the winery as laborers, earning twenty wen a day.”

The families of the three young men were very pleased and surprised that the owner had managed to correct their bad habits.

Little did they know, the memory of the white snake had left a deep impression on the three.

Xu Qinyu believed that if they could endure this hardship, they could change for the better and become useful. Although the kitchen didn’t lack staff, when summer came and it was time to make wine, there would definitely be a need for more hands to pick grapes from the mountains. While she didn’t need to worry about the winery, she still needed one or two people to help oversee things.

The three young men gradually persevered, working for over half a month. When the winery was completed, they earned another three to four hundred wen in wages.

The six hundred wen they earned during this time was kept by them, as their families didn’t take it.

Especially for Tao Qi, who was already twenty-one, his family repeatedly reminded him, “You’re not young anymore, already over twenty. At your age, you should have children by now. Save the money you earn and see if you can find a wife and settle down.”

For the first time, Tao Qi didn’t argue with his parents and just listened quietly.

Earning money wasn’t easy, and the three didn’t spend it frivolously. Apart from having breakfast at Xu’s Food Mansion once, they saved the rest.

The breakfast they had at Xu’s Food Mansion was an eight-wen meat bun at the entrance. The taste left them in a daze. If the meat buns at the entrance tasted this good, how delicious must the custard buns, crystal shrimp dumplings, and shumai inside be?

After breakfast, the three squatted at the entrance, not saying a word, with only one thought in their minds. They wanted to eat such delicious breakfast every day. They hadn’t tried the dinner, but they imagined it must be even better than breakfast.

This motivated them even more to earn money. Only with clean, honest earnings would they feel comfortable spending it at Xu’s Food Mansion. They hoped to try dinner at Xu’s Food Mansion one day.

---

After planting the grape seedlings, the winery was completed. They still needed to order wine jars, bottles, and barrels, and dig a well at the winery, which would take another month or two.

Digging the well required laborers, so Tao Qi and the other two continued working at the winery. This time, they didn’t complain at all. Perhaps they had gotten used to the hard work of moving bricks and tiles, so digging and carrying soil didn’t feel too tiring.

Xu Qinyu didn’t realize that her food had motivated the three of them. She added a new signature dish to her restaurant’s menu: salted pork and bamboo shoot soup. Priced at three hundred wen per serving, it was slightly more expensive than other signature dishes due to the complex curing process of the ham, which took a year to ferment.

Moreover, this dish was limited to three servings per day, and once sold out, it was no longer available. Even if they sold only three servings a day, they could only sell for six or seven days, and the remaining ham would be enough for about twenty servings.

Knowing it was a new dish, the regular patrons of Xu’s Food Mansion naturally wanted to try it. After tasting it, they understood why it could be a signature dish at Xu’s Food Mansion.

The salted pork and bamboo shoot soup had a rich, white broth with a savory and fresh taste. The ham was tender and fatty but not greasy, with a very strong umami flavor—however, the salted pork and bamboo shoot soup sold out after a few days.

The patrons who had tasted it couldn’t help but ask, “Young Lady Xu, why did you only sell this dish for a few days? We just got addicted to it and wanted to eat it for a few more days. Why not continue selling it?”

Xu Qinyu explained honestly, “Please understand, it’s not that I don’t want to sell it, but the most important ingredient in the salted pork and bamboo shoot soup is the ham. This ham is different from regular cured meat. It requires two rounds of salting and curing, and then it needs to ferment for six months to a year to develop its flavor. If the fermentation is good, the ham can be eaten raw after two or three years. The skin becomes very thin, and when you peel off the outer layer, the ham inside is bright in color, with red lean meat and creamy white fat, perfectly marbled. When you slice it thinly, the aroma is rich and intense.”

The patrons, mouths watering, couldn’t help but ask, “Young Lady Xu, when can this ham be eaten raw? Do you have any?” They decided they wanted to try it no matter the cost.

Xu Qinyu replied helplessly, “I only had one ham left, so the ingredients for the past few days are gone. As for raw ham, it’s even more out of the question. I only cured a hundred hams last December. If you want to eat it raw, you’ll have to wait at least two more years. However, next spring, the salted pork and bamboo shoot soup will be available, but the ham won’t be ready to eat raw.”

The patrons were disappointed. Knowing about a delicious food but not being able to taste it was the most painful torment for food lovers.

Xu Qinyu also wanted to try it. Seeing that the salted pork and bamboo shoot soup sold well, she planned to cure more hams this winter. She would inform the butcher in advance to reserve five hundred pig hind legs for her from the pig farm.

By late spring, the winery was finally completed, and the well was also dug. The winery’s bottles and wooden barrels were all prepared, just waiting for summer when the wild grapes would ripen, so they could be harvested, cleaned, and dried.

A couple of days later, at the end of the hour of the rooster, the gate of the Pei family courtyard sounded.

Xu Qinyu and Madam Wen had just returned when they heard a knocking sound outside. They exchanged glances and smiled, thinking it was Pei Weixuan returning.

When they opened the courtyard gate, it wasn’t Pei Weixuan outside, but Ma Liu.

Ma Liu was thrilled to see Young Lady Xu and didn’t notice the disappointment on the faces of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Ma Liu excitedly said, “Sister Xu, I’m back again. This year, my boss and I didn’t go to the southwest. The exiled criminals were sent to other places. It was only a month ago that another batch of serious offenders was sent to the southwest, so I took the time to come over.”

Xu Qinyu sighed inwardly and then smiled, “Brother Liu, come in quickly.”

Ma Liu followed her into the courtyard.

It was almost summer, and it got dark late. The sky hadn’t completely darkened yet, so Xu Qinyu entertained Ma Liu in the courtyard.

There were wooden tables and benches in the courtyard. After the weather had warmed up, the family would eat in the courtyard.

Madam Wen went to make tea and brought some fruits.

Ma Liu took out two letters from his body and handed them to Xu Qinyu, “Sister Xu, these are letters from your parents and your uncle’s family. They asked me to bring them to you last summer, but it wasn’t until this year that I could deliver them.”

Xu Qinyu took the letters and opened them. One was from her parents, and the other was from her uncle. Her parents’ letter asked her to take care of her health. There were also a few crooked lines of writing, obviously from a child, saying, “Sister, I’m Brother Li. I miss you so much. Sister, wait for me. When I grow up, I’ll come to rescue you.”

Xu Qinyu smiled, and tears welled in her eyes as she smiled. This was Xu Li, her original body’s younger brother. He was only five years old when the original body was exiled, and now he was seven. Her parents’ letter was not thick, just a simple page, but it showed the feelings of the second branch of the Xu family for the original body. In addition to the letter, there were also three hundred taels of silver notes in the envelope.

Last summer, Madam Xue and her brother planned to send some silver notes to Xu Qinyu. Originally, it was just over a hundred taels, but Xue Liang had earned a lot in the past half year, so he added another hundred taels. Madam Xue also added her share from her brothers, and they exchanged it all into silver notes for Ma Liu to bring to Xu Qinyu.

Xu Qinyu looked at the three hundred taels of silver notes, feeling both sour and swollen. She certainly wouldn’t accept these silver notes. She had accepted the previous one hundred and fifty taels because she needed money to open a restaurant. Now, her restaurant alone could earn five thousand taels a year, and she was going to open a winery this year, which would earn even more. She wouldn’t accept any more money from her original family’s parents and uncle.

Not only did she not accept it, but she also planned to take out another two thousand taels of silver notes and put them together with the three hundred taels in a return letter for Ma Liu to take back.

Two thousand taels were enough to buy a very nice five-entry house in the capital. If the Xu family didn’t want to split up, the second branch could use the two thousand taels as private money. Moreover, she planned to send one or two thousand taels of silver notes to the second branch of the Xu family every year. The reason for giving so much was also because she felt a bit guilty. She was not the original body, but she had indeed received the original body’s feelings and had familial affection for the second branch.

This affection was very complicated. She was alive, and the original body might have died. Even though she didn’t want to come here, she had lived on by borrowing the original body’s body. She felt a bit guilty, so she wanted to make up for it.

After reading her uncle’s letter, which was also very simple, thanking her and saying that he had turned the tea stall into a barbecue stall, earning fifty or sixty taels of silver a month, sometimes even seventy or eighty taels. He told her not to worry about the family, as he was taking care of them, and to take care of her health first. He also mentioned that there might be a chance to meet again in the future.