CHAPTER 192: CHAPTER 191: FEELING A BIT SORRY FOR HIS DAUGHTER

The family wanting to buy the Yu Family’s braised meat recipe is the Zhao Family from the west of the city, which is Zhao Xudong’s family and Fu Zihan’s grandmother’s family.

The Zhao Family owns a restaurant named Meishan Building in the west of the city, which is the largest restaurant there.

The Zhao Family is willing to pay five hundred taels for the Yu Family’s recipe, but if the Yu Family agrees to sell, then the braised meat shop can no longer operate.

Yu Changhe had heard about the Zhao Family from Yu Xiaolian and knew the Zhao Family was no simple household, so when they sent someone to inquire, he didn’t dare refuse immediately.

Upon seeing his daughter return from school, he quickly went to discuss the matter with her.

It’s just a braised meat recipe, and Yu Xiaolian didn’t value it too highly. Besides, Yu Changhe and Sun Fengshou had mentioned more than once that they were unhappy with doing business and wanted to move to Taohua Village to farm.

Their plan was to buy a large piece of land in Taohua Village and become landowners.

Considering how constrained her father and uncle felt living in the city, Yu Xiaolian thought this was a good opportunity and suggested selling the recipe.

Thanks to recent influence and training, Yu Changhe’s arithmetic had greatly improved. "After accounting for costs, our braised meat shop only profited around one tael per day on average. After you came up with the spicy duck recipe, we earned more, but for me and your uncle to make five hundred taels, we’d have to hustle all year. In my opinion, if the Zhao Family is willing to buy the recipe, it’s a good thing. We can use the five hundred taels to buy land in Taohua Village.

We can then build a few big houses there and truly settle down."

For some reason, ever since coming to Yu State, Yu Changhe had felt unsettled. Although they had bought two shops, life didn’t feel secure, ultimately because they didn’t own land.

Moreover, life in the village was simpler and more straightforward. He felt most secure when safeguarding his house and land.

Yu Xiaolian nodded, "Five hundred taels is indeed a lot, so if you’re willing to sell, then sell it. I have other plans for the space freed up from the braised meat shop."

Yu Changhe felt a bit guilty for his daughter’s efforts. Remember when they first arrived in Luocheng? His daughter was busy opening the braised meat shop, ordering signboards, improving recipes, and cultivating chilies. Now, he was talking about giving up, feeling somewhat sorry for his daughter.

Yu Xiaolian agreed readily, but Yu Changhe was slightly conflicted and reluctant.

They finally decided to discuss it together in the evening.

After dinner, the family voted and ultimately decided to sell the braised meat recipe, move to Taohua Village to build houses, buy land, and become landlords.

Considering Yu Xiaolian couldn’t cook, and Xiaohu and Su Jingyue needed to stay in the city for school, Sun planned to keep Zhao Erya and Zhao Sanyan for cooking, laundry, and some chores.

With Sun heavily pregnant and about to give birth soon, how could she manage without anyone to care for her?

Yu Xiaolian wanted to buy her mother a maid.

But as soon as she suggested it, everyone opposed it.

Sun Laotai said she was there and could take good care of Sun, even saying that she didn’t need anyone else for the delivery; she could handle it.

Sun also felt it unnecessary to spend the money hiring people, wondering why they needed such fanfare when they were just humble folks.

Yu Xiaolian disagreed, looking at Sun Laotai, "Grandma, my mom will give birth in a month. By then, you’d better find a doctor. You can’t just deliver the baby yourself to save money.

It’s true you worked as a midwife in Upper River Bay, but did you ever deliver twins?

Twin births are risky. If something goes wrong, we’ll all regret it deeply.

Besides, once they’re born, someone needs to look after them all the time. Are you and my mom going to wear yourselves out daily?

No, I disagree. Once we finish building our house in Taohua Village, we should at least hire a few maids and long-term workers. Maids can handle the household chores, and the workers can do farm work."

Sun looked slightly worried, "My concern is we have too many secrets, and more people mean more gossip, what if..."

Yu Xiaolian said, "It’s simple. Once we hire them, they’ll stay in Taohua Village. As for Taotao Residence, we just won’t let them go there."

At some point, Sun started to become heavily dependent on her daughter, very dependent.

Rather than call it dependency, it was more like trust.

She felt that with her daughter around, she didn’t have to worry about anything. Her daughter seemed to think of everything for them, and whatever she said or did was impeccable. Even when Sun wanted to argue back, her daughter would lay out a series of well-reasoned arguments.

Sun couldn’t outtalk or outdebate her daughter, so she eventually stopped trying.

Now, Yu Xiaolian practically ran the household, while her mother only worried about where to hide the money they earned each month.

Indeed, her daughter was cautious. Afraid of that space silently swallowing money again, most of the earnings were handed over to her.

Initially, Sun often thought of silver notes as just paper and frequently wanted to convert them to hard silver and gold.

Sun indeed exchanged quite a bit, acquiring many gold and silver ingots. However, she later realized there was no place to hide them and stopped.

It wasn’t that they had more silver than could fit in their house. There simply was no discreet place to hide it that felt safe.

When they had little money, Sun would occasionally move her silver around. Now she was simply too lazy, as it was too heavy.

The family agreed to have Yu Changhe go to Meishan Building in the west of the city the next day to sell the braised meat recipe. They would also find time to visit Taohua Village to see how it really was.

If it looked promising, they would settle there by building houses, buying land, and making it their long-term home.

Even though it was nearing the Ghost Festival, the weather showed no signs of cooling down, instead growing hotter. If they were in Yangcheng, the weather would surely have cooled by now.

Yu Changhe suggested building two houses, one for Sun Fengshou.

Sun Fengshou, not yet thirty, had a long life ahead. It was unlikely he would remain unmarried and continue living with his sister and brother-in-law.

Moreover, it was best to finish constructing the houses before the weather turned cold.

Building two big houses in two months seemed a tight deadline, but with the money in place, it wasn’t a problem.

In ancient times, labor was abundant, and also least valued.

Yu Xiaolian looked at Yu Changhe, "Dad, if you’re going back to Taohua Village, don’t forget to take a decent gift for the Village Chief.

As for the property, don’t rush to make a decision. Let’s look at a few more places first. This time building a house may involve a lifetime decision, so we must choose carefully and not settle for anything."

Yu Changhe nodded, "Yes, we should bring things over. Since we’ll be living in the village, interaction with the Village Chief is inevitable.

But I heard Taohua Village’s land is mostly mountainous, with lots of fruit trees. I wonder if we can plant your chilies there?"