On the way home, Qin Rong carefully calculated: today she had taken in 145 copper coins, earning about 80 coins in profit.

But she had spent 30 coins on meat, 8 on vegetables, and 10 on river snails—more than half her profit gone just like that.

Still, money was meant to be spent.

Tomorrow she could sell more fish balls, and combined with her flower cakes, the income would hopefully increase.

Qin Rong was now managing all household affairs. Aside from the 800 copper coins Madam Yu had initially given her as capital, there was another 100 coins given for daily expenses—with the understanding that she could ask for more if needed.

Currently, aside from the two taels of silver from selling the gold ring, Qin Rong still had 550 copper coins left from the 900 her mother had given her.

All of today’s expenses had come out of her pocket.

Upon arriving home and finishing her bookkeeping, Qin Rong opened the courtyard gate and saw Xiao Shan tidying up the yard.

The courtyard had some space, and Qin Rong planned to grow vegetables there.

She had only casually mentioned the idea, but clearly Xiao Shan hadn’t been idle.

“Xiao Shan, help me process the fish later, I’m going to cook first.”

“Okay.”

Today was the first day the food stall opened, so no matter what, they had to eat a good meal.

Now Qin Rong had the perfect excuse to take out some of the high-quality rice from her homestay space.

She quickly rinsed the rice and set it to steam.

She then cut up a piece of meat for cooking and hung the remaining piece in the well to save for the evening meal.

After slicing the meat, she blanched it in a pot with cooking wine and a few slices of ginger.

Once the white foam rose to the surface, she scooped the meat out and rinsed it in clean water to remove impurities.

After cleaning the pot, she added cooking oil and spices—all of which came from her homestay space.

Her seasoning selection was more than complete. Once the sugar and spices were browned, she added the meat. As it hit the hot oil, a loud sizzling sound and fragrant steam filled the air.

Once the meat was slightly browned and fragrant, she added soy sauce and warm water, brought it to a boil over high heat, and let it simmer on low.

Making braised pork took time.

While it stewed, Qin Rong quickly stir-fried a dish of green bamboo shoots and another of leafy greens.

By now, the rich aroma of the braised pork had filled the courtyard—and even wafted over into the neighboring yard.

Xiao Shan, still outside tilling soil, found his soul nearly lured away by the scent.

It smelled amazing.

Inside the main room, Qin Yue and Qin Yi were drooling, their hands paused mid-knot.

Next door lived Mr. Chen, a teacher at the local academy, along with his family.

His grandson was so overwhelmed by the smell that he nearly ran next door to beg for food—only to be dragged back by Granny Chen, embarrassed out of her wits. “Good heavens! It’d be a disgrace to go begging!”

When the sauce in the pot had reduced just right, a bowl of fragrant braised pork was served.

The color was rich, the scent mouthwatering. Qin Rong tasted a piece and couldn’t help squinting her eyes in satisfaction.

Perhaps it was because ancient pigs were free-range, but although the method was the same, it tasted better than the version she knew in modern times.

“Xiao Shan, A-Yue, A-Yi, come eat!”

No sooner had her call rung out than the three were already standing by the kitchen door.

“Since Xiao Shan is here today, carry the dishes into the main room,” Qin Rong instructed.

“Okay!”

Qin Rong filled each person a big bowl of steamed white rice, then ladled a spoonful of meat gravy over each.

Qin Yue and Qin Yi were used to it by now, but Xiao Shan was stunned.

He had never known that meat could look this good or smell this tempting.

Once Qin Rong picked up her chopsticks, the others began eating.

Xiao Shan tried to hold himself back, recalling Madam Yu’s teachings, but he couldn’t help it.

The braised pork was just too good—tender, savory, rich but not greasy. One piece was nowhere near enough.

He hesitated for a while, then finally reached for the bamboo shoots. To his surprise, they were crisp and sweet, making a perfect contrast after the rich pork.

He felt like he could float into the sky.

“Too delicious!”

“Mmm!”

Everyone buried themselves in the meal. Qin Rong, seeing Xiao Shan was only eating the vegetables, teased, “Xiao Shan, is the meat not to your liking?”

Xiao Shan immediately shook his head, his face flushing red. “No… no! I wanted to save some for the girls.”

Qin Rong smiled. “It’s fine—eat up. You’ll work better with a full belly. There’s plenty of braised pork, and I can always make more. You need strength to help out.”

As she spoke, she added two more pieces of pork to his bowl.

This child was really too thoughtful—it tugged at her heartstrings.

Only then did Xiao Shan truly dig in.

After all, once the meat was in his bowl, how could he resist?

After they finished eating, Qin Yue and Qin Yi took the initiative to clean up and wash dishes.

Qin Rong, feeling a bit tired, still had work to do—she needed to make fish balls with Xiao Shan.

Before that, she processed the river snails—they couldn’t be eaten unless they’d purged their sand.

Luckily, Qin Rong had a lot of salt stored in her homestay space, especially sea salt and rock salt, in large quantities.

Salt was expensive here and coarse, so to save money she rarely used the visible salt jars in the kitchen—since she was the one cooking, no one noticed what was missing or added.

She scooped a spoonful of salt into a basin of clean water, stirred, then poured the river snails into a large wooden tub to purge overnight.

She also realized they lacked enough jars, bottles, and basins—now that they were earning, they could start buying more. Qin Rong made mental notes as she worked.

With the snails taken care of, she and Xiao Shan began making fish balls. He might’ve been young, but being male, he was naturally stronger and much better at pounding the fish meat.

Seeing he was doing it properly, Qin Rong left him to it and returned to the stove to make another batch of pumpkin flower cakes. It wasn’t too hot today, so if she made them now, they could be steamed in the morning and sold right away.

They worked through the whole afternoon. When Xiao Shan finally went home, the sky had begun to darken.

Qin Yue, concerned, said, “Big sis, from now on I’ll cook lunch.”

Qin Rong agreed—it wasn’t sustainable for her to be busy from dawn to dusk every day. “Let’s do this. For the next few days, we’ll get by as is. Later I’ll teach you some simple dishes. Once we know what sells well at the stall, we can just eat the leftovers. And when we make more money, we can buy other foods to try too.”

“Okay.” At this point, Qin Yue completely admired and trusted Qin Rong—whatever Qin Rong said, she followed.

..

That day the embroidery workshop had lots of work, and Madam Yu came home very late.

By then, Qin Rong had already gone to bed, and Qin Yue was sitting by the lamp working on her knots, waiting for her mother.

“Mother, why so late today?” Seeing her mother exhausted, Qin Yue quickly brought her dinner.

It had been a tiring day indeed.

Rubbing her forehead, Madam Yu explained, “The daughter of Master Zhang from East Street needs her wedding dowry embroidery rushed. Everyone at the workshop was working overtime to meet the deadline. But once it’s done, we’ll each get an extra 100 coins.”

The rice had been kept warm in the pot and was still hot. With gravy-covered rice, greens, and braised pork, the meal was incredibly satisfying.

Madam Yu even let out a small burp after finishing, then only realized—was this food too good? Would they go broke from eating this way?

She had to work even harder from now on.

Madam Yu silently cheered herself on.