Chapter 239: It’s Just Duck Eggs
“Are you saying we can have people collect duck eggs over there and transport them back to our house to make what you call salted duck eggs and century eggs? But Yao’er, what are salted duck eggs, and what are century eggs?” Old Madam Luo asked.
Wen Yao hemmed and hawed for a long time. “They’re just… duck eggs.”
Old Madam Luo: It felt like she had explained it, yet also like she hadn’t.
“Second Daughter-in-law,” Old Madam Luo suddenly called out. Lady Li immediately stopped what she was doing and raised her head to look at the old lady. “Mother, what is it?”
Old Madam Luo said, “Take a few dozen of your duck eggs and give them to Yao’er.”
“Ah? Right away. How about I go to the duck shed right now to fetch them for you, Mother?” Lady Li clapped her hands to brush off the feathers.
“Tomorrow will do, there’s no need to rush so much.” After saying that, Old Madam Luo looked back at Wen Yao. “Find me at the workshop tomorrow. You can handle how to make them yourself.”
Wen Yao linked her arm through the old lady’s and nuzzled against her shoulder. “Grandma is the best.”
Old Madam Luo’s expression softened, her eyes full of doting affection as she gently patted Wen Yao’s hand. “Grandma knows you’re doing this for the sake of the family. However, things are already very good at home now, so don’t strain yourself too much.”
Wen Yao: “…” Grandma was praising her, right? Right?
Early the next morning, Lady Li delivered a hundred duck eggs to Old Madam Luo’s soybean paste workshop. There were quite a few large vats here, which happened to be convenient for Wen Yao.
Watching Wen Yao put in so much salt, Old Madam Luo felt a stabbing pain in her heart from the waste.
“Yao’er, will this really work? You’re wasting far too much salt.”
What Wen Yao could rejoice over was that although salt was sold by the government now, at least the quantity wasn’t restricted. As long as you weren’t smuggling it, nothing would happen; otherwise, she wouldn’t have dared to do this either.
While busying her hands, Wen Yao replied, “Grandma, just rest assured. We definitely won’t lose money on this.”
Old Madam Luo watched with heartache, but she didn’t say anything more.
Once fifty salted duck eggs were pickled, Wen Yao began to mess around with the century eggs. Seeing her using both plant ash and lime, Old Madam Luo simply stopped bothering with it.
After getting everything ready, Wen Yao clapped her hands. “Alright, now we just wait. The salted duck eggs take twenty-five days, and the century eggs take a month.”
“That long?” Old Madam Luo remarked.
Wen Yao nodded. “Good things come to those who wait. Grandma, just you wait and see.”
A few days later, Qiu Rongrong brought her family’s accountant to the Wen residence again. This time, without even needing Qiu Rongrong’s instructions, the accountant went straight to the old family residence to find Old Madam Luo, audited the accounts with her, and settled the silver for this month.
The business of Yunwu Roast Duck was getting better and better. In addition, the soybean paste used by the roast duck shops in the Jiangnan region also came from Old Madam Luo’s workshop, and that consumption volume was far greater than the one in Yunwu Town. The money settled this time was even more substantial; just for Old Madam Luo’s soybean paste workshop alone, the accountant settled a full two hundred-odd taels of silver for her. The duck shed brought in even more, over nine hundred taels. This was only because the Wen family’s duck production couldn’t keep up with the consumption volume, leaving them with no choice.
Aside from the Wen family’s ducks, the roast duck shop would also source ducks from other places.
When Old Madam Luo distributed the money to Lady Li and the others, Lady Li still felt it was a bit of a pity; they really should have raised a few more.
However, Wen Yao didn’t advise them to raise more. Right now, there were already two to three thousand ducks at home; as the large ones were sold, smaller ones replenished the numbers. If there were any more, she feared it would easily cause problems if the numbers grew too high.
Lady Li was merely muttering a few passing words. Since Wen Yao said so, she also laid that thought to rest.
On the other hand, the consumption of Old Madam Luo’s soybean paste was the only source, so the demand grew greater and greater. Now, as long as the villages surrounding Yunwu Town had soybeans, they would all deliver them to the Wen family. In any case, no matter the amount, Old Madam Luo could accept them all.
However, as production increased, the cellars at the old family residence were now stuffed full, and even several empty rooms were piled high with soybean paste vats. Every day upon returning home, the whole house reeked of the smell of soybean paste.
Although they were used to it, this wasn’t a sustainable way to live in the long run.
It just so happened that at this time, Qiu Rongrong proposed to Wen Yao that she intended to open another roast duck shop in the prefecture seat. This caused Wen Yao’s previous notion of having her grandparents build a new house to sprout once again.
Seeing the old couple’s happy appearance now that they were earning money, Wen Yao was also genuinely happy for them from the bottom of her heart.
Once they had seen Qiu Rongrong off and only the family was left together, Wen Yao suddenly proposed the matter of building a new house to the two elders, asking if they wanted to do it.
“What? Build a new house?” Old Madam Luo and Old Man Wen truly hadn’t considered this matter before. That residence was the place they had lived in their entire lives; even if it was crowded at home now, the two hadn’t thought in the direction of building a new house.
Wen Yao knew that for the older generation like them, they always wanted to save up the money they earned and keep it at home as a safeguard for peace of mind. However, she still advised, “Grandpa, Grandma, Grandma’s soybean paste workshop can’t always be kept at home. You heard it today too; Sister Qiu intends to open several more roast duck shops.
The ducks can be bought from other places, but this soybean paste only comes from Grandma’s hand. In the future, the demand will only grow greater and greater. Can the house stack that much? Think about it.”
Seeing the conflicted expressions on the two elders’ faces, Wen Yao continued to egg them on: “I know you can’t bear to leave the house of the old residence. Then look at it this way to see if it works: either we build a new courtyard for people to live in, or we build a workshop and move the soybean paste workshop out. Otherwise, if my second brother and the others get married in the future, where will they live? Are we going to let the new brides live on top of the soybean paste vats?”
Suddenly being called out, Wen Nong almost choked on a mouthful of water. His face flushed red as he even stammered in his speech, “Yao’er, don’t talk nonsense. Who—who is getting married?”
A single sentence brought a slap from Lady Li. “Where did Yao’er say anything wrong? Look at how old you are yourself. If you don’t marry a wife, do you want to be an old bachelor for the rest of your life?”
Just as the words left her mouth, Lady Li noticed that the old lady’s expression didn’t look quite right. Suddenly realizing something, she quickly looked toward Wen Jun. “Little Jun, Second Aunt isn’t talking about you, huh? The most important thing for you right now is to focus on your studies. I’m talking about him, I’m talking about him.”
Wen Jun gave a slight smile. “Second Aunt, it’s fine.” In any case, the unlucky one wasn’t him.
Lady Li gave an awkward smile, and sure enough, she saw the old lady’s expression return to normal.
She glared fiercely at her son; it was all the fault of this wretched brat.
Wen Nong closed his mouth sheepishly, yet he still cast a reproachful glance at Wen Yao. Wen Yao snickered secretly.
Old Madam Luo and Old Man Wen looked at each other and said, “We’ll discuss this matter with your grandpa before saying anything further.”
Wen Yao didn’t force them either. For the old lady to say these words meant that this matter was already half successful. She then immediately added, “Grandma, when you build the house, our branch will contribute half of the money as a token of filial respect for you and Grandpa.”
As the financial steward, Wen Yao possessed this authority, and moreover, Wen Jun and Wen Xiuyi would only support her in this matter.
Old Madam Luo still had the warm silver distributed today tucked in her bosom, so she immediately waved her hand. “Even if we want to build it, we can’t spend your money. The family isn’t without money right now, so why would we still use yours? Let’s disperse for today then; I’ll go back and discuss it with your grandpa.”
After saying that, Old Madam Luo called the others and headed back.
