When Yang Haiyan heard this, she said, “Then you go ask him if he is willing to look after the crops for a monthly salary of three hundred wen.”

Uncle Hong quickly responded, “I will go ask him right away.”

Niu Da, at forty-five years old, had already become a grandfather.

He wasn’t young anymore and had no other skills besides being a proficient farmer.

However, in the countryside, no matter how good a farmer one was, it didn’t matter much; the land was limited, and the harvest was also limited.

He thought he would live his life like this and never expected that a benefactor would hire him to look after the crops.

Naturally, he was willing.

Niu Da followed Uncle Hong over and knelt down, knocking his head in gratitude: “Thank you, benefactor… thank you, benefactor… Niu Da will certainly do his utmost to take good care of the crops.”

Qin Fang said, “There’s no need for such formalities, old man. You can just go about your business.”

Niu Da replied, “Understood.” He respectfully withdrew.

Yang Haiyan said, “Husband, how is this place? It’s close to the town, and if we have a good harvest, we won’t have to buy food for our household in the future.”

Qin Fang looked at the busy people and replied, “It’s quite good, but it’s tough on Yan Yan. Everything she does is for this family; it’s my fault for not being good enough, which makes her worry about our livelihood.”

County Town

Kun Zhang arrived to sell snacks for the first time.

At first, she felt very uncertain and didn’t know if the business would go well.

She brought three pounds each of small cakes and cookies to test the sales.

Although Mrs. Han had said they sold well, she hadn’t tried it herself, so she felt uneasy.

However, after selling for an hour, she felt completely reassured; they were indeed selling well.

She priced her snacks the same as Mrs. Han, and after calculating, if she sold everything today, she could earn around sixty wen.

But after one morning, six pounds of snacks had been sold.

After that, there wouldn’t be many customers; people would gradually disperse and return home unless a shop remained open all day.

Like her, who was just a street vendor, everyone else would have gone home.

Kun Zhang figured that if she came every day, she could earn over one tael a month.

Just as she was feeling pleased, a middle-aged man approached her and scrutinized her.

Kun Zhang felt a bit scared and took a few steps back: “You…”

As she was about to speak, the middle-aged man spoke up: “Madam, may I have a word with you?”

Kun Zhang was hesitant: “What do you want?”

The middle-aged man said, “Don’t worry, I’m the manager of that snack shop over there…”

He pointed to a nearby snack shop. “I see your snack business is doing well. Are you considering selling the recipe?” Last year, there had been a woman who often sold similar snacks. At first, he hadn’t paid much attention, but later he noticed and sent someone to buy some to try. They were indeed delicious and inexpensive.

He had wanted to buy the recipe back then, but other matters delayed him, and when he returned, he found that woman no longer selling.

Today, seeing another woman selling similar snacks, he had sent someone to buy and tasted them, finding they were the same as last year’s, so he came personally.

Kun Zhang directly refused: “I’m very sorry, but this recipe is not mine. I didn’t make these snacks; I just brought some to sell in the county town.”

The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes: “Oh?” He stared at Kun Zhang, trying to gauge her honesty from her expression.

While he could see her fear was genuine, he couldn’t discern any deceit.

He smiled and said, “Then, please go back and ask that owner if they are willing to sell this recipe. If they agree, you can come find me at my shop. Does that sound good?”

Kun Zhang immediately nodded: “Sure.”

The middle-aged man said, “Sorry for bothering you.”

After the middle-aged man left, Kun Zhang didn’t continue selling.

With a few small cakes and cookies left, she decided to take them home for her son to eat since she had already made some earnings today.

Kun Zhang didn’t know that as soon as she left, the middle-aged man instructed his servant: “Go follow her and see where she lives and who the owner of the snacks she mentioned is.”

The servant replied, “Understood.”

Kun Zhang reached the county town gate, paid two wen, and boarded a donkey cart heading to the town.

The servant, seeing this, also paid two wen and followed her.

When Kun Zhang returned to the Qianfu residence, it was still early, and Yang Haiyan and the others had not yet returned from the countryside.

After she prepared lunch and stewed the chicken from yesterday, Yang Haiyan and the others came back.

Hearing the commotion outside, she immediately went out. “Madam…”

Kun Shi looked at his wife with a puzzled expression as she approached him.

Kun Zhang was there to find Yang Haiyan.

She nodded to Kun Shi to greet him, then saluted Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan. “Madam, I have something to discuss with you.”

Seeing the nervous expression on her face, Yang Haiyan said, “Let’s take a walk.”

Then she turned to Aunt Fan and said, “Aunt Fan, let’s have chicken noodle soup for lunch.”

Aunt Fan replied, “Yes.”

Yang Haiyan led Kun Zhang to sit by the stone table in the inner courtyard. “What’s going on at Captain Kun’s house? Sit down and take your time to explain.”

Kun Zhang said, “Thank you, Madam. It’s like this—I went to the county today to sell pastries…” She recounted the incident involving the middle-aged man. “Madam, have I caused you any trouble?”

Yang Haiyan initially thought it was something serious, but it turned out to be this.

She said, “This is not a big deal. If you’re going to the county again tomorrow, you can give a message to the owner of that pastry shop to come here and talk with me.”

Seeing that Yang Haiyan didn’t seem to be pretending, Kun Zhang sighed in relief, fearing she might implicate the madam.

The next day, Kun Zhang went to the county to do business again.

Before that, she visited the pastry shop and met the middle-aged man, conveying Yang Haiyan’s message.

In fact, the middle-aged man had already learned about it yesterday.

A subordinate had followed Kun Zhang to the military family housing and had seen her enter a two-entry courtyard.

As a person from the border, he knew what military family housing meant—it was where the soldiers of Marquis Yonghe lived.

And the two-entry courtyard belonged to a regular seventh-grade officer’s residence.

At first, he had hoped to buy the recipe cheaply, but once he learned that it was related to Officer Qin, he dropped that idea.

Of course, he was not a bad person. As a businessman, it was normal for him to want a better price for the recipe.

After Kun Zhang arrived, the middle-aged man confirmed more definite news—this woman’s husband was the captain of Officer Qin’s personal guard, meaning she was close to Officer Qin.

That’s why she could get pastries in bulk from Madam Qin’s shop.

After selling today’s small cakes and cookies, Kun Zhang got on the middle-aged man’s donkey cart and returned to the family housing.

Yang Haiyan had just finished teaching Qin Siyu arithmetic when Grandma Lian came to report that the owner of the pastry shop from the county had arrived.

Because he was an outsider and a male guest, Yang Haiyan took Grandma Lian to the main hall to welcome him.

Normally, whether it was Uncle Hong or the private guards, she would discuss matters in the study accompanied by Grandma Lian.

But since he was an outsider, it was better to avoid unnecessary gossip.

“Apologies for keeping you waiting,” Yang Haiyan said as she entered the main hall.

The owner of the pastry shop, Master Ping, was sitting there, and upon seeing Yang Haiyan enter, he quickly stood up.

“Greetings, Madam,” Master Ping said.

It was Yang Haiyan’s first time being so formal with someone.

After sitting down, she said, “There’s no need for such formality, please sit. Grandma Lian, serve tea.”

“Yes,” Grandma Lian responded.

Master Ping sat down and got straight to the point. “Madam Qin, I believe you know why I’m here. I would like to know if you’ve considered selling the recipes for those small cakes and cookies.”

Of course, she wouldn’t sell them.

In ancient times, it was impossible to make butter, and while it was fine not to use butter, using it would make things tastier.

Moreover, Yang Haiyan had no intention of making a profit; otherwise, she could have produced several pastry recipes for sale.

But earning money this way was meaningless.

After selling the soap recipe, she no longer needed money; now, the pastry shop could earn ten taels of silver each month.

She wasn’t worried about her needs, so why bother selling recipes?

Thus, Yang Haiyan shook her head. “I’m very sorry, but I intend to pass the recipes down through generations and will not sell them.”

In truth, upon learning Yang Haiyan’s identity, Master Ping knew that the prospect of buying the recipe was slim.

He was there for other matters, and bringing up the recipe was just a casual mention.

He said, “Then could the pastries from your shop be supplied to us to sell in our shop in the county?”

Yang Haiyan replied, “That’s certainly not a problem.”

Since they were both doing business, it was perfectly normal for her to agree to sell pastries to him.

Then the two began discussing prices. Yang Haiyan typically earned about thirty wen per pound on the small cakes and cookies she sold.

Now, supplying them to Master Ping would mean a five-wen discount per pound, with the remaining amount equating to the prices for Yang Dahua and Kun Zhang.

When doing business, wholesale prices should be consistent; otherwise, it would create discomfort if one was expensive and the other cheap.

They agreed that she would provide ten pounds of small cakes and ten pounds of small cookies daily for Master Ping’s shop.

Yang Haiyan calculated that, based on the quantity determined by Master Ping, she could earn twelve taels of silver from him each month, amounting to one hundred forty-four taels a year.

However, Yang Haiyan also signed a contract with Master Ping stating that she could not supply the pastries to anyone else in the county.

After signing the contract, Master Ping paid the amount for April and left in a good mood.

Since Master Ping’s business was introduced by Kun Zhang, even though it was a coincidence, as a business owner, it was important to reward employees when appropriate.

Thus, Yang Haiyan called for Kun Zhang to come to the main courtyard.

When Kun Zhang arrived, she seemed a bit nervous. “Madam, did you call for me?”

Yang Haiyan said, “We’ve given the pastry business in the county to Master Ping, so our pastries can no longer be sold there.”

Kun Zhang felt a bit regretful upon hearing this; she could no longer engage in that business in the county.

Although she felt regret, she also understood.

After all, giving the pastry business to Master Ping was a significant opportunity.

While discussing this matter, Yang Haiyan observed Kun Zhang’s expression and saw that she did not reveal any unusual emotions.

Yang Haiyan continued, “This business with Master Ping was brought in by you, so this ten taels of silver is a reward for you.”

Kun Zhang quickly replied, “No, no, no, I can’t accept that. Madam, I can’t take it.” She hadn’t helped in any significant way; if that owner valued the pastries, he could have found them even without her assistance.