Chapter 141: Cloud-Mist Roast Duck

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Before leaving, Qiu Rongrong finalized the roast duck partnership with Wen Yao. The roast duck would not count among the two new dishes Drunken Immortal House introduced each month; instead, they signed a separate contract. Qiu Rongrong was generous enough to give Wen Yao a forty-percent share of the profits, since she planned to lease the small building beside Drunken Immortal House and devote it entirely to roast duck.

The two of them had already settled on the name of the shop. At first, Qiu Rongrong had wanted to call it Rongyao Roast Duck, combining one character from each of their names, but Wen Yao rejected the idea. Somehow, it sounded rather strange. In the end, Wen Yao remembered the famous roast duck of her previous life and simply suggested Cloudmist Roast Duck. If the business ever expanded into the wider market, it could become a signature dish of Cloudmist Town.

The idea won Qiu Rongrong’s enthusiastic support. And so, before they even had a shop, Cloudmist Roast Duck already had a name.

When Shopkeeper Qiu learned that the two girls intended to open a roast duck restaurant, he was not stingy with his help. He personally offered to write the signboard bearing the words “Cloudmist Roast Duck,” then have someone make it for them. Once the shop was ready, they could hang it up immediately.

Qiu Rongrong and Wen Yao were delighted. Qiu Rongrong, in particular, was thrilled. The very person whom Xie Yushan had tried every possible way to approach, yet never managed to get close to, now regarded her as a younger generation and was even willing to personally write the signboard for her shop. The sheer satisfaction was impossible to suppress. She wondered what the old master would think when he heard about it.

Qiu Rongrong suddenly found herself looking forward to it.

Aside from the roast duck shop, Wen Yao also told Qiu Rongrong that her family intended to raise ducks.

“What’s there to worry about? You own half of this roast duck shop. Using ducks from your own family is only natural. Just have your second and third aunts raise them. No matter how many ducks you produce, Cloudmist Roast Duck can sell them all.”

Qiu Rongrong was confident in that much. Her ambitions did not stop there. If the roast duck business took off, she would certainly open branches elsewhere, with her parents’ hometown being the first place she had in mind.

If her parents could see the life she was living now, they would surely be proud. The sons and daughters of the Qiu family were born with a talent for making money.

The happiest of all were Li and Cai. The two women repeatedly promised that they would raise the ducks properly, making them plump and healthy, and would strive to produce the finest ducks for roast duck.

As for Madam Luo, Qiu Rongrong told her that all the bean paste needed by the roast duck shop in the future would be entrusted to her. Madam Luo stared blankly for a moment, unable to recover from her surprise.

Making bean paste was not difficult. Which rural household did not have several jars of it stored in the cellar? But once she entered into a partnership with Qiu Rongrong, she would no longer be making it merely for her own family. This time, it would be sold for money.

“Grandmother, are you unhappy with the price? If you think twenty copper coins per pound is too little, we can still discuss it,” Qiu Rongrong said when she saw the old woman hesitating. She assumed Madam Luo thought the price was too low.

In truth, Qiu Rongrong’s offer was not low at all. Drunken Immortal House paid roughly the same price when purchasing bean paste from outside suppliers. She had set the price according to the market and had not deliberately favored the Wen family. Business was business. Affection was one thing, but even relatives had to settle their accounts clearly in the marketplace.

Madam Luo hurriedly waved her hands. “No, no. I’m just afraid I won’t do a good enough job and will interfere with your business.”

Wen Yao linked her arm through the old woman’s. “Grandmother, you can do it.”

She winked at her grandmother. If Madam Luo truly found herself unable to manage, they could always hire people to help. What was there to fear? But if she let this opportunity to make money slip away, there might not be another one.

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Encouraged by Wen Yao, Madam Luo’s thoughts raced in every direction. At last, she gritted her teeth and agreed.

“Then I’ll give it a try.”

If things truly proved too difficult, she could bring her younger sister’s family into the work. The skills of making bean paste and pickled vegetables had both been taught to them by their mother. The sisters knew how to do it, and bringing her younger sister in would also give Madam Little Luo a helping hand.

After seeing all the guests off, Madam Luo sat in the new house of Wen Yao’s family, still feeling as though she were dreaming.

“Old man, pinch me,” she said, glancing at Wen Yao’s father, who sat beside her with flushed cheeks after drinking a little wine.

The request startled the old man so badly that most of the alcohol left his head at once. He stared at her in alarm.

“You old hag, what are you planning now?”

Madam Luo ignored him. She merely glared at him, then, before he could react, reached over and pinched his leg. The sudden pain sobered him completely. His shriek also drew the attention of everyone in the Wen household.

Madam Luo looked at him. “It isn’t a dream after all.”

Rubbing his leg, the old man howled, “I was sitting here perfectly well. Why did you pinch me?”

Everyone else looked equally puzzled.

Madam Luo glanced around at them and suddenly said, “I just feel as though our life now is a dream.”

Their family had somehow acquired more than a dozen acres of land, sent three children to the academy, and was now about to gain two more businesses.

The old man grew agitated. “You pinched me just because of that?”

In truth, he was rather anxious himself. His wife and both of his daughters-in-law now had businesses of their own, while he was still leading his three sons in farming. One of those sons was even the licentiate scholar whom he had spent more than half his life painstakingly supporting through his studies.

Thinking of this, the old man could not help glaring angrily at Wen Xiuyi.

He had become a licentiate scholar, yet now he spent every day following them into the fields.

How infuriating.

Wen Xiuyi: “…”

What did this have to do with him again?

Everyone struggled not to laugh.

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“Grandfather, Grandmother, let’s discuss the duck-raising first. Second Uncle, Third Uncle, Second Aunt, Third Aunt—everyone, think about where would be the best place for us to raise the ducks.”

Wen Yao suddenly interrupted, drawing everyone’s attention back to the matter at hand.

“We’ll need water if we’re raising ducks,” Li said. “There’s a pond in front of Iron Bull’s mother’s house, and she takes their ducks there every day. If we raise our own, we can’t exactly force our way in and crowd them together.”

Cai thought for a long while before finally offering, “Why don’t we dig a pond of our own?”

The moment Cai finished speaking, everyone present—including Wen Di and Wen Jin—stared at her in disbelief. They could hardly believe those words had come from their mother.

Madam Luo looked at this usually silent third daughter-in-law with newfound respect. It was better when she said nothing, but once she did speak, she certainly knew how to astonish everyone.

Under the weight of their gazes, Cai became so nervous that she could barely get the words out.

“Did I… did I say something wrong?”

Seeing her shrink as though she wished she could bury herself in the ground, Li was the first to lose control. She burst out laughing, her booming voice filling the entire courtyard.

Cai was instantly mortified. She wished she could hide herself completely behind Wen Xiuqing.

Madam Luo glared at her second daughter-in-law, who was laughing so hard she could barely sit upright, then turned to comfort the younger woman.

“Now, now, Third Daughter-in-law, don’t be frightened. Your second sister-in-law isn’t laughing at you. It’s nothing, all right?”

As for digging a pond—this daughter-in-law certainly had a bold imagination.

Wen Xiuyi, who had just suffered an inexplicable bout of displaced anger, spoke up at that moment.

“Actually, what my younger sister-in-law suggested isn’t impossible.”

“Hm?”

Everyone turned toward Wen Xiuyi in unison.

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