Chapter 64: Daily operations

The two of them threaded the Copper Coins one by one onto the hemp rope, the coins clinking crisply together, a sound that made one’s heart strangely at ease.

After counting them all, today’s pork sales brought in two thousand two hundred Copper Coins, which was just over two Yuan.

They also sold some dried goods outside, and all together, the total came to three Yuan.

Earning this much on the very first day of opening was partly because it was a new shop and attracted curiosity, and also because the Pig was home-raised, so there was no need to pay for the initial cost.

If they’d bought a Pig from outside to slaughter, they’d have made at least a thousand Copper Coins less.

Kang He inquired about the market rates, and found that buying a Pig to slaughter went for eight Qian per Jin.

A single Pig weighed no less than a hundred Jin, so each time they bought one, they’d need to prepare at least one or two Yuan.

Kang He put away the strung Copper Coins. This time, they didn’t plan to exchange the Copper Coins for silver or Jiaozi; it was best to have small change on hand to keep the business running smoothly.

The money they’d saved from selling medicinal candles before was spent on opening roads, buying land, paying rent outside, and renovating the shop. Altogether, they’d spent quite a bit, and of the thirty or forty Yuan they’d had at the start, only sixteen or seventeen Yuan were left after all the expenses.

But just before opening, the Big Room gave them a Red Packet with two Yuan and three hundred Qian, Fan Father and Chen Shi gave a Red Packet with three Yuan, and even Hu Dasan sent a Red Packet of one Yuan and two hundred Qian.

All in all, the Red Packets totaled six Yuan and five hundred Qian. Even if they didn’t use their own savings, the Red Packet money was enough to keep things going for a while.

As for Xiangxiu, during New Year, she was matched with the Meng Family, which the Big Room found satisfactory, and both sides met once for a look.

A few days ago, the Matchmaker came and the proper rites were observed. Both families were satisfied and the engagement was set, only the wedding date had not yet been decided.

Kang He had previously asked Hu Yuan in the city about Meng Third, who ran the Sweetwater Shop. Hu Yuan had been in the city for a long time and indeed knew the man.

He said his character was decent enough. After hearing this, Kang He also felt at ease.

Although the Meng Family was a good match, during the marriage negotiations, they insisted on following the customs of marrying off a daughter from outside.

And what’s the custom these days? It’s all about the Bride Price.

After asking around in the city, Kang He learned that the Bride Price in the city was even more extravagant than in the countryside. Even ordinary small households had to prepare a dowry of at least fifteen Yuan for their daughters.

Besides that, they had to buy cloth, cabinets, and jewelry to make a good impression.

No need to calculate closely; it was clear it would be no small sum.

The Big Room was worrying about the dowry, so Fan Shoushan went to distant villages to hire musicians, even for just a few Copper Coins.

Zhang Jingui didn’t want to lose such a good marriage, so she also worked hard to make money.

Because Kang He and Fan Jing were opening a shop, the Big Room sent over such a large Red Packet, which they hadn’t wanted to accept.

Fan Uncle insisted. When the Big Room opened the private school before, Kang He helped a lot and also sent a Red Packet of two Yuan. Now that they were starting a business, how could the Big Room not send a Red Packet?

They didn’t add much, and though it felt a bit little, there was a major expense looming over them, so they couldn’t spare more.

Kang He felt awkward accepting it, but seeing the Big Room’s sincerity, he had no choice but to take it for now.

Since the wedding date wasn’t set, once it was, and if he and Fan Jing were more comfortable by then, they’d give Xiangxiu a bigger Red Packet in return.

Kang He and Fan Jing finished counting the money, snuggled together in bed, warm and content.

“Counting the money really lifts your spirits.”

Kang He rubbed his tall nose against Fan Jing’s neck.

“I’m feeling a bit eager now.”

Fan Jing pushed Kang He’s head onto the pillow beside him. Of course he knew what Kang He was thinking. After a busy day, he still had that kind of energy.

“We have to get up before dawn tomorrow.”

Kang He pressed closer. “I know. I won’t keep you up for long, so it won’t delay tomorrow’s work.”

Fan Jing wouldn’t fall for it. Every time, Kang He said the same thing, but once the pants were off and he was satisfied, who remembered what was said before?

“No.”

Seeing Fan Jing unmoved, Kang He knew he really meant it.

So he settled down, hugged Fan Jing, and said, “Fine, no it is. But you have to promise to make me two pairs of socks.”

Kang He rubbed his foot against Fan Jing’s calf. “Early spring brings Spring Cold, and it’s freezing at the stall. My heels feel like they’re frozen solid.”

Fan Jing thought to himself that Kang He never missed a chance. If he couldn’t get one thing, he’d ask for another. But he just hummed in agreement.

Kang He was delighted, leaned over, pecked Fan Jing on the lips, and only then went to sleep.

The next day, before dawn, the two quickly loaded up the cart.

Juner hurried out of the house and handed Kang He and Fan Jing each a face mask and earmuffs.

She’d made them the night before, knowing how cold early spring mornings were. Leaving before dawn and facing the wind, even if your body was strong, your face and ears would suffer.

Kang He saw how well they were made—warm to the touch—and thanked Juner. After putting them on, he drove the donkey cart out.

With a hat on their heads and most of their faces and ears covered, the knife-like wind lost much of its bite.

By the time they reached halfway, the sun was up, and they didn’t feel so cold anymore.

As usual, they set up the stall and opened for business. After everything was in order, Chen Sanfang came over to help after finishing the housework.

Today, it was just the three of them.

Business was lively—probably thanks to word of mouth. Many new faces came by today.

They kept the same discounts as yesterday, giving away

Several women and Fulang, arm-in-arm with baskets, came to check out the new son-in-law. Yesterday, besides selling pork at the Pig Meat Stall, they also sold dried goods.

The shop owner was a son-in-law, tall and handsome, with a striking face.

People, when idle, love to see something new.

So they really did see the two of them sitting together at the pork stall outside the shop.

That Fulang, with a face as stern as iron, was handed a cup of hot tea by the young man, who gently coaxed him. The Fulang drank a few sips, and the man took it back and finished the rest.

“My, look at that—what a loving couple~”

Hearing the teasing, Kang He looked up and saw a group coming. He greeted them and invited them in.

“Not only is the son-in-law handsome, he treats his Fulang well too.”

Kang He smiled, “Lady, you jest. If we didn’t have business today, we’d only have one bowl of tea to share. Now that you ladies are here to support us, maybe I’ll get a whole bowl to myself.”

Everyone laughed, teased Kang He a bit more, and then bought some meat before leaving.

After they left, Fan Jing wiped his knife, glanced at Kang He, then poured a cup of tea from the pot by the back window and handed it to him.

Kang He smiled at him.

After a while, an Old Man came by, wearing a straw hat, and asked, “Is this the new Pig Meat Stall?”

Kang He put down his cup and answered.

“Do you buy Pigs to slaughter?”

“We do.”

Kang He saw he wasn’t a meat-buying customer but a Pig farmer, so he said, “We’re a new shop, planning to do long-term business. If you have Pigs to sell, we can come and slaughter them for you.”

The Old Man asked, “What price do you offer?”

“Same as elsewhere, eight Qian per Jin.”

Kang He quoted the honest price—he’d already checked around. At this time of year, the buying price wasn’t high.

Pork prices rose at New Year and fell from twelve Qian to eight Qian by late first month.

But Kang He was already thinking about buying Pigs. Both the Pigs at home had been slaughtered. If they didn’t buy more, the shop would run out of stock.

To Pig farmers who came to ask, Kang He was especially friendly. “We’re just starting out, so we’re willing to offer a little extra to make friends. For the first half-year, if we come to your place to buy Pigs, we won’t charge any Hog Slaughter fee, and we’ll also give you twenty-eight Copper Coins as a thank-you.”

The Old Man didn’t think much of the price at first.

The shop was new, and the buying price wasn’t higher than others. Since he hadn’t dealt with them before, why sell here instead of to someone he knew?

But hearing about the special offer, he was moved.

Asking around for prices is all about getting a bit more profit.

The Old Man was a bit skeptical and asked again, “Really no Hog Slaughter fee?”

Kang He nodded. “Sir, this is a new shop. We’re not just doing a one-time business—how could we cheat people and ruin our reputation?”

The Old Man thought it was a good deal. Other Hog Slaughter butchers charged sixty Copper Coins, which was already half of what it cost to hire someone just to slaughter. But that was still dozens of Copper Coins.

So the Old Man told Kang He his address, and they agreed to slaughter a Pig at his place tomorrow afternoon.

After he left, Kang He, worried they’d be busy and forget, wrote it down to avoid missing the appointment.

Chen Sanfang overheard and said to Kang He, “It’s fine not to charge them Hog Slaughter money, but why also give twenty-eight Copper Coins as a thank-you? That’s a loss.”

Kang He replied, “If we don’t offer a sweet deal, why would they come to us? When starting a business, building a reputation is most important.

Pig farmers see our Hog Slaughter skills and honest business, and only after they trust us will we have future business. At first, people see you’re young and not better than other shops, so they don’t trust you. It’s better to have them come to us than for us to go begging.”

Chen Sanfang saw the logic and didn’t say more.

Near noon, Kang He went to the restaurant and ordered three bowls of noodles. The three of them ate together.

After the morning market, Chen Sanfang wasn’t very busy.

She cleaned the shop’s shelves, ate lunch in the shop, and prepared to go home in the afternoon.

The salted Duck and preserved eggs had sold quickly these two days. Now that they had a shop, it was easier to attract customers, so she wanted to get Shen Fulang at home to make more.

Now that it was warmer, she planned to hatch two more batches of chicks and ducklings.

There was plenty to do at home too. Now that spring had started, Fan Father was busy with the fields—nearly ten mu. It was still a lot for one person.

Kang He agreed and told her to take the cart home, no need to save the two Copper Coins.

Chen Shi agreed and said she’d boiled a pot of hot water for them—when they had time, they could drink some hot soup. Then she left with her basket.

In the afternoon, business slowed. Kang He wiped down the stall, and Fan Jing bought two boiled Chicken Gizzards from a Fulang selling tea eggs. He peeled one for Kang He and ate one himself.

The eggs had been simmered, so the yolks were flavorful and tasty.

At closing time, they’d sold nearly a hundred Jin of pork. The new Pig slaughtered today wasn’t as big as yesterday’s, only about one hundred fifty Jin.

They sold yesterday’s leftover meat first, gave customers a few Qian off here and there, and by the next day, it was all gone—not much left for people to pick over.

As a result, there were still about fifty Jin of pork from today’s Pig.

On the way home, Kang He said to Fan Jing, “We’ll sell the rest of the meat tomorrow morning, then go out to slaughter a Pig in the afternoon. That works well. But judging by these two days’ business, we won’t have enough pork to sell. And with no Pork Blood Tofu to give away tomorrow, maybe there’ll be fewer customers. But for the next seven days, we’ll still give away Steamed Bean Curd.”

Fan Jing thought for a moment and said, “Why not slaughter a few rabbits at home and add them to the stall?”

Kang He’s eyes lit up. “That’s a good idea. The two batches of rabbits we raised at the end of last year are all grown. We’ve got nearly twenty rabbits now. If we’re short on pork, slaughtering a few rabbits, Chickens, and Ducks can fill out the stall.

It’ll also save the two girls from having to go out in the cold every day to gather grass. With so many rabbits, feeding and cleaning up after them is a lot of work.”

After they got home, they slaughtered four fat rabbits, a Chicken, and a drake, planning to bring them to the shop as a test.

That night, they made a pot of blood tofu and vegetable soup using Duck Blood and Chicken Blood. Chen Sanfang stir-fried the Chicken and Duck Gizzards, leaving a big bowl of leftovers packed in a Food Box for Kang He and Fan Jing to take to the city the next day.

After calling for noodles twice at the shop—a plain bowl cost five Qian, adding meat cost extra—she felt it wasn’t filling and was expensive.

It was fine for an occasional treat, but eating out every day in the county wasn’t worth it.

So she decided it was better to prepare food at home and bring it along.

Kang He agreed. The shop in the city had a stove; they could just heat up the food. Business wasn’t busy at noon, so it wouldn’t take much effort.

He noticed most other shops had family deliver food, rarely ordering from city restaurants.

The next day, Kang He and Fan Jing went to the city. They didn’t bring any pork, so it was more relaxed and they arrived earlier than usual.

“No fresh pork today?”

The sharp-eyed women at the morning market saw the meat on the stall wasn’t complete—no Pig heads, trotters, or offal hanging up, and no Pork Blood Tofu either. They guessed it was leftover meat from before.

Kang He was honest: “The meat’s not bad, just what’s left from yesterday. Smell it, it’s still fresh.”

The women knew that pork from the day before didn’t spoil overnight. One said, “Yesterday I heard Zhang Fulang say he bought three Jin of leftover pork from your stall and got four Copper Coins off. Will there be any discount for today’s leftover meat?”

“Of course, it depends on you, lady. If you keep supporting our business, you’ll always get a good deal.”

The woman was pleased and asked for two pieces of meat.

But the small discounts were tricky. Sometimes it was three Qian, sometimes one or two, and if it was four Qian, you had to buy at least two Jin for Kang He to give a discount. For half a Jin or one Jin, it wasn’t worth it.

This time, Fan Jing cut the meat very precisely—two pieces were exactly thirty Copper Coins, so there was no extra to round off.

Kang He picked a bit of trimmings and put it in the woman’s basket. She felt it was worth it and was happy.

Noticing two rabbits hanging, the woman asked, “Why do you have rabbit meat too? Do you sell that here?”

Kang He wrapped the pork in a clean Banana Leaf and replied, “We raise rabbits at home. These were freshly slaughtered yesterday. Since we didn’t slaughter a Pig, we added them to the stall. We’ve got rabbits, Chicken, and Duck, but not many.”

The woman pinched the skinned rabbit and looked it over—it was fat and tender.

She asked the price.

“Same as elsewhere, twenty Copper Coins per Jin. Home-raised, not as pricey as wild rabbit.”

Before, Fan Jing sold wild rabbits for fifty Copper Coins each. Restaurants usually bought by the rabbit, but if you skinned and sold them by the Jin, they’d go for at least thirty Copper Coins.

“I’d like to buy some to make cold rabbit. Your rabbits look fat—one must weigh over two Jin.”

“No problem. If it’s too big, my Fulang can split it in half for you. Take half home to cook.”

“But we can’t cut it smaller, or it won’t look good and others won’t want to buy.”

“All right, half a rabbit is perfect.”

Fan Jing split it down the spine, dividing it into two halves.

The woman was satisfied and took her meat home.

Unexpectedly, everyone started buying half a rabbit at a time—hardly anyone bought a whole one, but it attracted more customers.

They realized that city folk shopped more carefully. Living in town, it was easy to buy what you needed, so no one wanted to buy too much at once, unless they were hosting a banquet.

But stall owners usually thought the opposite—they wished every customer would buy ten Jin of meat at once. Chickens, Ducks, Rabbits—whole birds sold easier and made more money; no one liked to cut them up.

Kang He and Fan Jing found it troublesome, but it sold well, so they decided to keep doing it.

The other two butcher stalls on the street had fresh pork today—belly, front leg, tenderloin, everything. Plenty of customers went there for meat.

Kang He and Fan Jing only had leftovers, so business should have been bad. But with discounts and offerings like Chicken, Duck, and Rabbit that the other stalls didn’t have, they still attracted customers and business was good.

By the end of the morning market, nearly all the leftover meat was sold.

Even the wife from the oil shop next door came to buy half a rabbit to cook that night.

Kang He gave her a piece of Steamed Bean Curd.

Though it seemed like they lost money by giving discounts, selling everything meant they actually made a profit.

By noon, the stall was clean, and both Kang He and Fan Jing were happy.

Just as they were heating up their food, Chen Shi arrived with Qiaor to help watch the shop. Seeing how capable they were—having sold all the pork—she was impressed.

Chen Sanfang was glad she’d brought a basin of fresh Steamed Bean Curd. With that, there’d still be something to sell in the afternoon, so she wasn’t worried about having nothing to do.

Kang He and Fan Jing handed things over, took two taels of silver and five hundred Copper Coins in change, put them in their pouch, and drove the donkey cart to Small Tan Village, where the Old Man lived.