Chapter 36 – Renting a House, First Order from the Restaurant

Xia Tian and Xia Yang made some inquiries and soon found a broker.

They were greeted by a broker surnamed Liang.

They explained their purpose. “Broker Liang, we want to rent a slightly larger house, one with a yard and a well.”

Broker Liang thought for a moment and then said, “There are currently three courtyards that meet your requirements. One of them, however, is only for sale, not for rent. But I can still take you to have a look first.”

“Alright.”

They followed Broker Liang to view the houses.

The first courtyard was near the town’s north gate. It was enclosed and had both front and back yards, but only three rooms in total—just two of them suitable for living. Also, neighbors were right next door on both sides.

Xia Tian shook her head. Too few rooms.

Another place was near the south gate, a bit farther from the surrounding neighbors. It had four rooms that could be lived in and a fairly large kitchen with two big stoves. It also had front and back yards.

The backyard was much bigger than the front yard, and the well was in the back too. The whole place was significantly larger and more spacious than the one near the north gate.

Xia Tian was quite satisfied.

The only downside was the higher rent—three hundred wen a month. The one by the north gate was only two hundred.

Xia Yang thought it would be better to save money, and they could squeeze in if necessary.

But Xia Tian disagreed.

In the end, they directly rented the house near the south gate.

This courtyard was farther from nearby neighbors, which made it convenient for them to cook their marinated dishes. Plus, it was farther from the north gate. People from the Xia Family Village and Liu Family Village usually came through the north gate, so this location was out of their way. It also meant fewer chances for the Xia family to cause trouble.

Even though their father had promised to stay out of those people’s business, who knew if he would forget the pain once the wound healed?

It was better to be cautious.

Since they had already decided on this house, they didn’t bother viewing the third one.

After finalizing the decision, they followed Broker Liang to the yamen (government office) to sign the lease contract. When they got there, Xia Tian realized the person handling the paperwork was someone she knew.

It happened to be the same clerk who had handled her street vendor registration. Xia Tian slipped him a handful of copper coins, and the lease was processed quickly.

Broker Liang took the agreed thirty-wen introduction fee and left.

Xia Tian and Xia Yang returned to the inn and informed everyone about the new place. Everyone visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

She then asked her parents to stay at the inn for now while the others went ahead to the rented house to start cleaning up.

The furniture in the house was still usable. Xia Yue, Sun Maimiao, and the two younger ones cleaned off the dust and fetched water to wipe down surfaces.

Xia Tian checked the kitchen. After cleaning, it was ready to use.

She directed Xia Yang to bring in the two large iron pots from her carrying pole and place them on the stoves. They fit perfectly.

Then she took out the rice, flour, grains, oil, bowls, and chopsticks from the baskets and put everything in place.

Seeing how thoroughly Xia Tian had prepared everything, Xia Yang pressed his lips tightly together, doing his best to hold back tears.

These past three days had been the hardest for him. After their father collapsed, he became the pillar of the family. Everyone looked to him, and he didn’t even have anyone to consult.

He hadn’t expected that the one who would end up giving him strength was the sister he had wronged the most.

Xia Tian didn’t know how to comfort her brother, so she pretended not to notice and went to check the other rooms.

The heated beds (kang) in all the rooms were bare. They needed to buy some bedding and sleeping mats.

The bedding Xia Yue and the others had brought was already worn out and unusable, so they decided to replace it all.

They also needed to buy a few large wooden chests to store things in each room.

They needed two tables as well.

Xia Tian went room by room, noting everything they needed. Once she saw Xia Yang was back to normal, she called him to go shopping with her.

Xia Yang followed behind her, numb from all the buying. He figured they already owed Fourth Sister so much—what’s a little more? They’d just have to work hard to pay it back in the future.

By the time they finished shopping, half an hour had passed.

Because they bought so much many of the shops offered home delivery.

By the time Xia Tian and Xia Yang returned, the items had all arrived.

The others hadn’t dared touch anything—the sheer amount was overwhelming.

When the two of them came back, everyone quickly started unpacking and organizing.

They laid out sleeping mats on the beds and placed folded bedding for each person.

Two wooden chests were placed in each room.

They set up three large water jars—two in the kitchen and one in the backyard.

Wooden buckets, basins, and other supplies were all arranged properly.

By the time everything was settled, it was already past four in the afternoon. Xia Yang went to the inn to fetch their parents while Xia Tian headed straight home.

She told Xia Yang she’d come over the next day to discuss business plans.

When she got home, Xia Tian didn’t even take a break and started preparing dinner right away.

While eating, she told Shen Nian everything that had happened that day.

She also told him that Xia Yang and the others had rented a house in town and that they’d be handling the production of the marinated dishes from now on.

But she’d still check the quality every day.

Shen Nian nodded and said he understood. He also told her to take it easy and to let him know if she needed help.

That night, lying on the heated bed, she meant to plan out the next steps for making the marinated meat—but ended up falling asleep immediately.

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The next morning, Xia Tian got up before 4 a.m. She had promised Manager Guo from Yunlai Restaurant to bring five-spice marinated pork today for him to try.

She marinated over fifty catties of pork, set two pieces aside, and stored the rest in a barrel inside her space.

She cut the two pieces into thumb-sized chunks, added pickled vegetables and pre-boiled peeled eggs, and put everything into a clay pot to stew slowly.

Since she wouldn’t be back for lunch, once the rice was steamed, they could just pour the stew over it for a delicious, marinated meat rice bowl.

That morning, Shen Nian and Mu Feng were drawn to the kitchen by the aroma.

Mu Feng came to the doorway and asked, “Sister-in-law, what are you cooking? It smells amazing!”

“I’ve prepared marinated meat rice for your lunch,” Xia Tian said with a smile. “Today I’m going to teach my brother and the others how to make the marinated meat, so I probably won’t be back at noon.”

“Mu Feng, come here. I’ll tell you how to serve it at lunch.”

“Okay, Sister-in-law!”

After giving instructions, the three of them quickly ate breakfast.

With Mu Feng helping out at home now, Xia Tian felt a lot more at ease.

Once she finished setting things in motion and things were stable at Xia Yang’s place, they could handle the marinated dishes over there, and she wouldn’t be so busy anymore.

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When Xia Tian arrived in town, she went to find Xia Yang and the others first.

The whole family had already eaten breakfast. Xia Yue and her sister-in-law were washing the new basins and jars they’d bought the day before.

Her mother was making medicine for her father.

Xia Tian called Xia Yang to come with her to deliver the goods to Yunlai Restaurant.

Yunlai Restaurant was the biggest one in Qingquan Town, located right in the center. It had three floors, always bustling with customers. Business was booming, though the prices were steep—ordinary folks couldn’t afford to eat there.

If they could partner with Yunlai Restaurant, deliveries could be handed off to Xia Yang in the future, so she brought him along to get familiar.

Xia Yang carried the barrel and followed Xia Tian into the restaurant.

Manager Guo was at the front desk and greeted them with a smile, leading them to a room on the second floor.

As soon as they entered, Xia Tian said nothing and opened the lid of the wooden barrel. A rich aroma immediately filled the room.

She had brought over fifty catties of marinated pork today.

Manager Guo asked a waiter to bring some bowls and chopsticks and couldn’t wait to try a piece.

From the look of bliss on his face after the first bite, Xia Tian knew the deal was sealed.

After tasting it, Manager Guo placed the order on the spot.

After all, the people who dined at Yunlai Restaurant were of higher social status, and five-spice marinated pork was more fitting for the restaurant’s image than pig head meat.

“I want this. How much?”

“Thirty wen a catty!”

One catty of five-spice pork would shrink down to seven or eight taels after marinating, not to mention the cost of spices and labor—thirty wen was more than reasonable.

Manager Guo considered it and agreed—it still left plenty of profit margin.

Plus, Xia Tian gave him the exclusive right to sell the product in Qingquan Town, which provided added assurance.

Before signing the agreement, Xia Tian and Manager Guo discussed the terms.

They agreed that within Qingquan Town, Xia Tian wouldn’t supply this five-spice pork to any other businesses, nor would she sell it herself.

However, Yunlai Restaurant must order no less than 100 catties per day.

If the restaurant ever ended the contract, she would be free to sell to other businesses in town.

Manager Guo was satisfied. They wrote up the agreement and signed it.

He also kept the fifty catties of marinated pork she had brought today to test customer response.

Once the agreement was signed, Xia Tian even shared her marinated pork rice bowl recipe for free.

Manager Guo was overjoyed and thanked her repeatedly.

He personally handed her six hundred wen and escorted her to the door.