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

After receiving the meat from Butcher Wang, Li Changshun quickly told his son, Li Chunjiang, to run to the village behind the mountain to inform Yuansheng.

Yuan Sheng was in the courtyard, helping Zhu Chenxi pick out the small stones from the mung beans, when he heard someone knocking on the wooden gate.

"Uncle Yuansheng, Uncle Yuansheng..." A young man was knocking on the door.

Yuan Sheng was a little confused. Who was this young man? He was about twelve or thirteen years old.

Li Chunjiang smiled, revealing two small tiger teeth. "Uncle Yuan, I am Li Changshun's son. My father just bought 110 catties of pork from Butcher Wang at 10 wen per catty. My father said the meat of this pig is particularly good and asked if you want it. If you do, I will give you an extra half wen per catty."

"Uncle, you have a well at home. If you cook meat and put it in the well, it will still be fresh and delicious the next day."

Yuan Sheng laughed, guessing that Wang Damao had already exposed his financial troubles, otherwise Butcher Wang wouldn't be willing to sell meat at this price; he would lose a fortune.

"Great! I'll take it all." Manager Cao wanted 105 catties of braised meat, but considering the waste from cooking, Yuansheng wanted to buy 150 catties of raw meat.

At this price, his cost was reduced by more than one tael, which meant he made more than one tael of extra profit!

Butcher Wang, what a good man!

Without Wang Damao and Butcher Wang, where would Yuansheng have gotten this extra ounce for free?

Li Chunjiang's eyes lit up. No wonder Yuan Sheng didn't look much older than him. His father told him to call him uncle. Yuan Sheng was indeed capable.

"Okay, Uncle Yuansheng, I'll run back now and ask my dad to bring the meat, otherwise it won't be fresh by the afternoon."

Zhu Chenxi handed Li Chunjiang a bowl of water, saying, "Have a drink before you go back."

"Thank you, Auntie."

When Li Chunjiang got back, he told his father that there wasn't much meat left. Li Changshun told him to watch the meat stall and sell it slowly, while he pushed the meat in a wheelbarrow toward the village behind the mountain.

Li Changshun never expected that Yuan Sheng could eat 110 jin of meat.

He originally planned to wholesale a large portion to Yuansheng and retail the rest, which would allow him to earn more money.

The retail price must be the original price. It's not that he's greedy, but if such good meat is sold at a low price, they won't be able to do business tomorrow. Who will buy it at the full price tomorrow?

Along the way, Li Changshun encountered several acquaintances, but none of them mentioned that the meat they were pushing was meat. As Brother Yuansheng once said, "Keep a low profile and you'll have a long and safe journey."

Yuansheng took the meat and examined it carefully. It was indeed good meat, full of fat and firm lean meat.

He couldn't help but exclaim again, "Butcher Wang, what a good man!"

“Brother Li, I owe you 10,310 wen last time. Adding this 10,155 wen, the total is 20,465 wen.”

Li Changshun counted on his fingers, "One hundred catties of meat costs one tael and fifty wen."

"Ten catties of meat cost one hundred and five coins."

"In total, it is... 1,127 coins."

After struggling and calculating for a long time, Li Changshun finally figured it out.

“Brother Yuan, you can do the accounting directly from now on. You’re fast and accurate, and you don’t even need an abacus. You’re better at it than the old manager.”

Yuan Sheng waved his hand, "Even close brothers should keep clear accounts. We always settle accounts clearly to avoid future disputes."

Li Changshun thought to himself, "Brother Yuansheng is truly a perceptive person."

Such a shrewd, capable, reasonable, and insightful person—who on earth called him a scoundrel?!

Li Changshun sighed again, realizing that he had a keen eye for talent and had managed to befriend someone like Yuan Sheng early on.

"Brother Li, here is two taels of silver. I'll give you the rest tomorrow. I still owe you four hundred and sixty-five coins. Also, I need eight pairs of pig ears, one pig's head, and forty catties of leg meat tomorrow."

"No problem! Brother Yuan, don't worry! I'll send it over first thing tomorrow morning."

Li Changshun was overjoyed; his brother Yuansheng had requested even more things.

He's latched onto Yuan Laodi's coattails; he's about to make it big!

Brother Yuansheng needs 150 catties of meat a day, including a large pig's head and eight pairs of pig ears. It's not enough for a small pig; it takes a large pig to get enough.

Looks like he'll be slaughtering two pigs a day from now on!

Li Changshun excitedly spun around on the spot!

After Li Changshun left, Yuansheng started making braised meat. As he made it, he kept exclaiming, "Butcher Wang is such a good man! This meat is really good! He's made more than an ounce of meat for free."

Although a little over an ounce is a small amount of money, it's money that Butcher Wang lost, so it feels especially good to earn it.

Yuan Sheng prepared the braised meat, lowered it into the well, and discussed the matter of returning to his wife's family home with Zhu Chenxi.

"Chenxi, tomorrow is the third day after your wedding. What kind of gift do you want to bring? I'll go buy it after I hand over the meat to Donglaishun tomorrow."

There was no such thing as a "returning home" in the previous life. Yuan Sheng spent a fortune to marry such an ugly wife, so why would he be willing to spend money to buy gifts and accompany her back to her parents' home?

In this lifetime, Yuan Sheng is willing to spend a lot of money to buy a homecoming gift for Chen Xi, to enhance her image. As long as Chen Xi wants it, he will buy it.

Zhu Chenxi pouted her pink lips, "Buy? We won't buy anything! We'll just go empty-handed, take the two or three taels of silver I hid in the pigsty, and then we'll come back."

"Isn't what we're doing a bit unreasonable?"

Zhu Chenxi thought of her father and didn't want to completely sever ties with her family yet, so she decided to leave some room for maneuver. "Then I'll buy the cheapest jujube paste cake, the kind that costs fifteen coins."

Yuan Sheng cherishes Zhu Chenxi and is willing to spend money on him to save face, but he respects Chenxi's opinion even more.

"Okay, then I'll buy a pack of jujube paste cakes worth fifteen coins tomorrow."

Zhu Chenxi lowered her bright black eyes as she thought of her father.

Zhu Chenxi's father was a scholar who was invited by a landlord in the neighboring Laishui County to work as a tutor in his home. He would return home for one day a month.

When my mother was alive, my father treated her quite well.

After her mother passed away, her father became indifferent towards her.

His mother passed away, he married a new wife, had a son, and became increasingly indifferent to her.

Did her father really not know that her stepmother treated her so badly?

If her father finds out that her stepmother sold her to someone for a "lucky marriage" (a form of marriage to bring good fortune), will he be angry?

Yuan Sheng held Zhu Chenxi's small hand, and Zhu Chenxi felt comforted. "Hey, why think about that old home?"

She now has a warm home, a husband who loves her, and parents-in-law who cherish her.

Zhu Chenxi's dim eyes brightened again, becoming as black and shiny as the stars in the sky.

Yuan Sheng affectionately flicked her nose.

Zhu Chenxi's fair cheeks instantly turned pink, and her long, thick eyelashes fluttered like two small brushes.

In this beautiful and warm moment, a scream pierced the sky.

Aww.

The village dogs were startled by the scream and all started barking.

Butcher Wang paid the money and has already brought the person back.

As soon as he got back, he tied up Wang Damao, took off his clothes, hung him upside down from the roof beam, and started whipping him with a small tree branch.

"Father, spare me! Spare me!"

"Father, I was wrong, I'll never do it again!"

"Father, please forgive me, I didn't expect this either."

"Dad, you know I wanted Yuansheng to pay the bill, not that I wanted to eat there."

Butcher Wang had a gloomy face, and beads of sweat were on his face, not from the heat, but from anger.

Despite Wang Damao's pleas for help, he did not stop what he was doing.

"Ouch! It hurts! Daddy!"