Joy of Life: The Mei Family's Son Grows Up

Chapter 8 Wang Qinian's Mission

You have to know that Mei Cheng'an's original monthly salary was not small, thirty taels. This was a lot of money. You have to know that the common people in the capital of Qing Kingdom might not have thirty taels of silver in a year, and the prices in the capital were not high. A string of candied haws cost one cent, and a bowl of noodles with minced meat cost only two cents.

If it doubled, that would be sixty taels, a huge sum of money.

Mei Cheng'an asked the reason for the salary increase and found out that it was because Teacher Su praised him in front of his father.

I couldn't help but sigh in my heart, it's okay that Teacher Su is good in class, but he really praises me for the award, without saying anything else. Teacher Su is a good person to get along with!
In order to thank Su Lishi, Mei Cheng'an was ready to cook for Teacher Su after class and made a spicy rabbit head. This was his favorite food in his previous life. It was spicy, fresh and delicious.

In order to eat it often in his previous life, he even worked part-time in a shop selling spicy rabbit heads, and he worked there for three years. He was diligent and hardworking, and in the end he even became a core staff member of the shop. The boss even didn't guard against him and let him participate in the unique secret braising process.

If he hadn't traveled through time, he would have even planned to continue working in this store after graduation.

To make spicy rabbit heads delicious, marinating them in brine is the most important thing. Mei Chengan prepared the brine and put the twelve processed rabbit heads into it. The rabbit heads were from wild rabbits he brought back before, but because his sister liked rabbits, he didn't eat them but raised them.

As an aside, the reproductive capacity of rabbits is too exaggerated. In just over a month, eight female rabbits have given birth to cubs. The fewest gave birth to six or seven, and the most gave birth to more than ten at a time. Mei Chengan sighed, it seems that he will never have to worry about having a rabbit in this life.

We have strayed off topic. Let's get back to the point. If you want to thoroughly marinate the food, it needs to be marinated for at least six hours, which is twelve hours. It will take until midnight before the marinade is ready. If you think about it, three hours is not impossible.

After lunch, as there was no class in the afternoon, Mei Chengan moved the recliner to the courtyard, where he enjoyed the winter sunshine while reading a book and drinking tea. It was so comfortable.

But soon this comfort was interrupted by an unexpected visitor.

The unexpected visitor was Wang Qinian, who was lying on the ground at this time. It turned out that Wang Qinian had just jumped over the wall and landed in the yard. He stepped on an empty jar placed beside the wall and fell flat on his face.

Mei Chengan had the empty jars placed there specifically to prevent those thieves from sneaking in through the main door.

"Hey, Lao Wang, we are all acquaintances, why don't you go through the front door?"

Wang Qinian got up with a sullen look on his face.

"I have to inform you to go through the main gate. What a hassle!"

"You have to pay for the jar you stepped on. The purpose is not to pay money, but to teach you a lesson! What do you want from me?"

"Master Xiaomei, have you forgotten? You asked me to find a method of internal energy suitable for women to practice. I am here to report it."

"Oh, about this. If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten about it. Why did it take so long?"

"Wang has spent a lot of time and energy to find these four exercises. It took him a lot of effort to collect all four. It was really not easy!"

"Bring it to me and see."

Wang Qinian took out a cloth bag from his arms, opened it and found four martial arts secret manuals, then handed the manuals to Mei Chengan.

Mei Cheng'an took it, took a rough look and felt that there was something wrong. These secret books were too new. One of them even smelled faintly of ink. He opened it and took a look. Not only was the paper rough, but the martial arts formulas and illustrations on it were printed and the ink was smudged. Although it did not affect the content, it was really unsightly.

Mei Chengan remained calm.

"Is this the secret book you were looking for?"

"Exactly."

"bought?"

“It cost a lot of money!”

"How many?"

Wang Qinian stretched out his right hand with his five fingers slightly open.

"Five taels? That's not expensive."

"Master Xiaomei, you are joking. It's five thousand taels!"

"Seize the young master?"

"Five thousand taels!"

Mei Cheng'an was so angry that he laughed.

"How long have we known each other, Lao Wang?"

"One, one year."

"Do you think I look like a fool?"

"Mr. Xiaomei is a smart boy, so he is definitely not stupid!"

Mei Cheng'an threw the secret book at Wang Qinian's feet.

"So you're trying to fool me with a secret book that was printed no more than three days ago? Do you think I'm too young to see the problem? And you spent five thousand taels to buy it. I think you look like five thousand taels!"

Wang Qinian didn't feel embarrassed at all when Mei Cheng'an pointed out the truth, and he picked up the rare secret book calmly.

"I knew I couldn't fool Young Master Xiaomei's sharp eyes. Five thousand taels is just a joke. How about five hundred taels?"

"Five taels! Printing and plate making together will definitely not cost more than one tael of silver, and we can still make a net profit of four taels!"

Mei Cheng'an had calculated the cost clearly, and Wang Qinian was anxious now. He handed the secret book back to Mei Cheng'an and said, "Young Master Mei, yes, the printing cost is not high, but the content inside is not fake. They were originally high-level skills collected by the Supervisory Council.

The place where the skills are stored is heavily guarded. It took me, Lao Wang, a lot of time to find an opportunity to obtain the secret book. Even the printing process was done by myself without the help of others. After printing, I had to put the secret book back. You should understand how big the risk is.

You said, four high-level skills, plus the time I spent and the risks I took, my asking price of five hundred taels is not too much, right? "

"If you say so, then five hundred taels is not too much!"

"Hey, Master Mei is so considerate!" Wang Qinian's face was full of smiles again.

"Of course, we're on our own!"

Wang Qinian smiled and stretched out his right hand: "Master Mei, this money..."

"Why are you in such a hurry? Let's settle other accounts! Did you break the jar under the wall?"

"Yes, yes." "This jar of mine is very special. It was made by the best craftsman in Qing Kingdom with exquisite craftsmanship. It took several months to make it. Is it too much to ask you for fifty taels for a jar?"

"Mr. Duo? Fifty taels? Why don't you just go and rob it! Even if it's mixed with gold sand, it's not that expensive. Isn't it just an ordinary pickle jar?"

"Old Wang, it's too small, the pattern is small, the world's famous craftsman, exquisite craftsmanship, it took months to make it!"

The corner of Wang Qinian's mouth twitched. The feeling of the boomerang hitting him was indescribable. This time, Master Xiaomei had caught the opportunity and he could only accept the defeat with hatred.

"Stop, stop, stop. I admit it. Is that not enough?"

"That's right, Lao Wang. Let me count how many you broke. Wow, four. Two hundred taels. Tsk tsk, I feel bad for you. What kind of foot is this? Too extravagant."

Wang Qinian's teeth ached when he heard this. He looked down at his disappointing feet and cried out in pain, "Wouldn't it be nice to just go through the main entrance and earn an extra 200 taels?" It's too late to regret, and it hurts me so much.

"The account is settled now, Master Xiaomei!"

"Don't worry!"

Wang Qinian's face changed. Is there still a debt?
"Isn't it over?"

"I've settled the account with the jar, but what about the lie you just told me?"

"Didn't I tell you? I was just joking with you, why did you take it so seriously?"

"I'm a stickler for details, but considering our good relationship, I think it's not too much to deduct fifty taels from you."

Too much! It’s fucking too much! Wang Qinian screamed in his heart!

"Okay, Lao Wang, don't look so sad. Sit down and have a cup of tea and some snacks. I'll ask someone to get the money for you." After saying that, he waved to Xiaolan and whispered a few words in his ear. Then Xiaolan turned around and went into the house to get the money.

Wang Qinian sat down on the other side of Mei Chengan with a sigh, picked up a piece of dessert and stuffed it into his mouth, as if he had a grudge against dessert.

Mei Chengan watched happily from the side.

After a while, Xiaolan came back and gave the banknote to Mei Chengan.

Mei Cheng'an handed it to Wang Qinian.

Wang Qinian took the money and counted it. Why is it three hundred taels? He looked up at Mei Chengan and didn't say anything. What if he took the wrong money and gave too much? If he asked, it would be exposed. He was making a profit by taking it, so he quickly stuffed the money into his arms.

Mei Cheng'an couldn't help laughing when he saw Wang Qinian's sneaky look, as if he had taken advantage of something.

"That's right. The extra fifty taels is the 10% commission I promised you."

Wang Qinian was stunned. He never expected that under such circumstances, Young Master Xiaomei would still pay him the errand fee according to the high price he had asked for. He felt mixed emotions for the moment.

"Let's put things in perspective. Don't think too much about it. But, Lao Wang, we've known each other for a long time. Can you be more sincere and less scheming in the future?"

"What is a routine?"

"You clearly stole the technique, but you said you spent five thousand taels to buy it. You want to cheat me out of a lot of money. This is a trick. I thought we were all friends and we should be sincere to each other. What do you think?"

Wang Qinian straightened his face and said, "I am ashamed. Young Master Xiaomei's words have deeply touched my soul and made me ashamed. Since Young Master Xiaomei treats me as a friend, I promise that in the future, when I get along with Young Master Xiaomei, there will be no more tricks, only sincerity!"

"Drink tea!"

This section is over. Wang Qinian has no problems except for money, so it's okay to give him some warnings.

Without urging Wang Qinian to leave, Mei Cheng'an just lowered his head and read a book.

Wang Qinian ate several pieces of the dim sum in a row. He felt that the dim sum was not only beautifully made but also delicious. He suddenly wanted to bring a few pieces for his future wife to have a taste.

He raised his head to see Young Master Xiaomei, who was reading a book as if no one was around. He thought it would be inappropriate to take it secretly in front of the host, so he considered how to approach the matter.

Before he could finish his words, a voice came from the side.

"You can take whatever you like!"

Wang Qinian looked up and saw Young Master Xiaomei still looking down at the book, as if it was not him who had spoken just now.

"In this way, there will be more young plums. I want to bring some to my wife to try."

After saying that, he took out a handkerchief from his bosom, carefully placed the remaining snacks on the plate in the middle of the handkerchief, then wrapped it up, and finally even tied a beautiful bow.

He put the wrapped snacks into his wide sleeves, stood up and was about to climb over the wall to leave.

Another sentence floated over.

"Go through the main entrance. Sister Lan, please take him out."

"Yes!"

After Wang Qinian left, Mei Cheng'an finished reading the book in his hand and put it aside, then picked up a few martial arts secret books and started reading.

It does look much better than the ones he had in his hands, so the two hundred and fifty taels were worth it.

He called the four people, Mei, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum, to him, pointed at the four secret books and said, "Sisters, pick one each. I will guide you in your practice after dinner."

The four girls looked at each other, knelt down and kowtowed to Mei Cheng'an, then stood up and each picked a book and held it tightly in their arms.

They knew that this was the secret book that the young master had bought at a huge price, and that the money spent on the secret book was more expensive than their four lives, so they naturally treasured it very much.

After dinner, Mei Chengan took out the rabbit head that had been pickled for three hours.

Heat oil in a pan. When cooked, add chili powder, sesame seeds, sugar, salt, etc. and stir-fry until fragrant. Then add the braised rabbit head and stir-fry again. The rabbit head has fully absorbed the spicy, sweet and fresh taste in the wok. When the heat is almost right, remove from the pan and serve.

The fresh spicy rabbit head is ready.

The 12 rabbit heads filled three plates.

(End of this chapter)