Wealthy beyond measure, yet you call me a sister-supporting-brother demon?

When Butcher Wang returned home, he asked his son and daughter-in-law about Yuansheng.

"No, I didn't see any officials come to arrest Yuansheng! Dad, what did Yuansheng do wrong?" Wang Damao asked excitedly.

Butcher Wang frowned. "Did he get a beating from the old couple from the Yuan family?"

"No, if there had been any, it would have made a commotion. We didn't hear anything at all."

Butcher Wang's thick eyebrows furrowed in dismay. How could this be? Could it be that Yuan Sheng didn't steal the money?!

He slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Damn it! If Yuan Sheng's money wasn't stolen, wouldn't Li the butcher have made a fortune off this huge deal today?"

Oh dear, Butcher Wang felt a pang of heartache.

His meat was selling unusually slowly today.

People saw that there wasn't much meat left on Butcher Li's stall, so they went to buy from him even more, as if they were convinced that the meat from him was better.

He left a lot of meat until the afternoon, which cost him at least a hundred coins less.

In the end, there was still some pig's head left. Selling it too cheap would be a loss for him, so he gritted his teeth and simply took it home and ate it.

If you remove the pig's head, he lost money on this pig today.

Damn it, Yuansheng must have had some incredible luck to make so much money all at once. Seeing Yuansheng make so much money makes me feel worse than if I had lost it all.

Butcher Wang's eyes lit up, and he immediately had an idea. "Da Mao, Yuan Sheng seems to have hit the jackpot and made a lot of money. Didn't he occasionally treat you to meals before? We have to treat him to a meal."

Seeing his father's face turn as red as a palette, Wang Damao couldn't help but ask curiously, "Dad, how much did Yuansheng actually earn?"

"I estimate at least two or three ounces."

"Ha! I'll have to call a few more brothers and give him a good beating!"

Without further ado, Wang Damao came to find Yuansheng in the evening and could smell a delicious aroma from afar.

The aroma of Yuan Sheng's family's food hadn't yet dissipated.

Sure enough, Yuan Sheng made a fortune this time, otherwise his family wouldn't be eating so well.

Yuan Sheng wasn't surprised to see Wang Damao come looking for him; this guy was definitely up to no good.

"Da Mao, what brings you here so late?"

"Yuanbao, it's been so long since we brothers have had a drink together. How about we go for a drink tomorrow?"

Sure enough, "It's been a long time since we've had a drink, Da Mao, where shall we go for a get-together?"

"The usual place, Liu's Restaurant." Liu's Restaurant is an ordinary small restaurant. Yuan Sheng and Wang Damao used to go there occasionally, mainly because Yuan Sheng would treat them.

"Liu's Restaurant is so boring. If you're going to go somewhere, go to Donglaishun. It's much more upscale!"

Hearing Yuan Sheng's words, Wang Damao was delighted. He had never been to such a high-class restaurant before. He would invite more of his brothers tomorrow. Yuan Sheng would spend the money, he would show off, and he would win over his brothers.

"Then let's go with Donglaishun!"

"Da Mao, we're going to a fancy restaurant for dinner tomorrow, shouldn't we dress nicely?"

"Understand!"

After leaving Yuan Sheng's house, Wang Damao rushed to Li Yong's house. Since Yuan Sheng was treating, he figured he should invite a few more of his buddies and show off a bit.

Wang Damao called for a total of nine brothers from Shanhou Village, Dongshan Village, Xishan Village, and Beishan Village.

After Wang Damao left, Yuansheng went to Dongshan Village to find Li Changshun by the moonlight.

There's not much entertainment in the countryside. After dinner, Li Changshun and his wife took off their clothes and got into bed when they heard someone calling from the gate.

"Butcher Li? Are you home? I need to order meat from you."

Li Changshun quickly put on his clothes, and when he saw it was Yuansheng, he was immediately delighted.

"Oh, it's Yuansheng! How much meat do you want to order?"

"Seventy-five catties of meat and one pig's head."

"How much?" Li Changshun took a step back. He couldn't have heard wrong, could he?

Seventy-five catties of meat! You wouldn't even need that much for a wedding! He must have misheard!

"Fifteen catties of pork belly, sixty catties of leg meat, a total of seventy-five catties of meat, plus a pig's head and a pair of pig's ears. If the cooperation goes well, I will order this much from you every day, no less."

Li Changshun was completely stunned by Yuan Sheng's words. What? Seventy-five jin of meat! And every day thereafter, it will only be more!

This is like a windfall!

"Brother Yuan, come inside and have some tea. Chunxiang, get dressed and get up to make tea."

"Butcher Li, no need for that. Let's just talk in the yard. Let's start with the price!"

"Brother Yuan, since you're buying so much, I'll give you a discount of one coin per pound on pork belly and leg meat, and I'll just give you twenty-five coins for the pig's head! I'll also give you the extra pair of pig ears!"

Yuan Sheng did the math and decided the price was acceptable. Although Butcher Li didn't make much profit per pound of meat, he had the advantage of large quantities. "Okay, but I have a condition: I don't want meat from old sows or dead pigs."

“Brother Yuan, I, Li Changshun, am a man of integrity and would never make money through such crooked means! Your sister is also in Dongshan Village; you can ask around if you don’t believe me.”

"Okay, deliver the meat to my house first thing tomorrow morning, try to do it as early as possible, and it would be best if no one saw it." Yuan Sheng wanted to keep a low profile; he knew all too well the destructive power of jealousy.

Jealousy is one of the worst human traits, as is showing off. To avoid trouble, it's best to keep a low profile.

If you have the ability to stand at the top of the mountain, it's not too late to be high-profile, because people at the foot of the mountain will only admire those at the top.

"Brother Yuan, I understand. I'll send it to you at the crack of dawn tomorrow."

Yuan Sheng paid a deposit of one hundred coins and went home.

After Yuan Sheng left, Butcher Li's excitement was completely released, and he immediately danced under the moonlight.

Life is so wonderful, and Yuansheng is his greatest benefactor!

Li Changshun is going to be rich from now on!

Butcher Wang was blind and missed out on such a benefactor. Li Changshun, on the other hand, had a discerning eye and conducted business with integrity, which indeed earned him the favor of this benefactor.

Li Changshun made up his mind to conduct business with greater integrity from now on, never selling meat from sick, dead, or old sows, never shortchanging customers, and always serving his esteemed clients with utmost care and following their instructions completely.

……

As dawn broke and the sky began to lighten with the first hint of white, the houses in the village were scattered in a neat and orderly fashion. The countryside was exceptionally quiet in the morning, with only the occasional crowing of a rooster or barking of a dog.

Li Changshun knocked on Yuan Sheng's wooden door early in the morning.

Yuan Sheng accepted the meat and paid Li Changshun one hundred coins, agreeing that Li Changshun would come to collect the remaining money that evening and also tell him the amount of meat to be delivered the next morning.

Fifteen catties of pork belly, 23 coins per catty, a total of 345 coins.

Sixty catties of pork leg meat, nineteen coins per catty, totaling one thousand one hundred and forty coins.

Adding the twenty-five coins for the pig's head, the total is one thousand five hundred and ten coins.

Yuansheng paid a total of two hundred coins, and still needs to pay one tael of silver and three hundred and ten coins in the evening.

He originally intended to pay in the morning, but he didn't have enough money left from yesterday. He earned one tael of silver and 1,125 cash yesterday afternoon. He spent one tael of silver and 832 cash on cloth, grain and oil, and carriage rides, leaving him with only 293 cash.

After paying two hundred coins, he only had ninety-three coins left, and quickly returned to being penniless.

He's still too poor!

Other families didn't eat so early; wisps of smoke were already rising from Yuansheng's chimney.

Yuan Sheng started braising meat as usual, but this time he used yesterday's old braising liquid instead.

The rich aroma of braised meat filled the air.

Zhang Qingshu could smell it even while he was still asleep.

In his dream, he was gnawing on a delicious piece of pork belly!

It’s so delicious!

In comparison, what a load of rubbish that stewed old hen was yesterday!

The aroma seemed to help my digestion go faster.

Glug, glug, Zhang Qingshu was woken up by hunger.

Although he ate most of the old hen yesterday, he still felt very hungry.

When Zhang Qingshu woke up, he realized that he was the one eating pork belly in his dream, while Yuan Sheng was the one eating pork belly in reality.

He felt an indescribable sense of frustration and could only secretly vow that he would study hard and rise above his social class! As for Yuan Sheng, he could only remain a peasant forever!