The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 272

 

| TBBOTOF | 272

The caravan had picked up its pace, and what usually took about sixteen days had been delayed slightly this time due to a detour. 

While the situation wasn’t ideal, it couldn’t compare to the profits they’d earn in Yongcheng City. Considering this, they decided to tighten their schedule and hurry along.

If they could reach their destination earlier to set up shop and get everything organized, he could return home sooner.

It was early spring, a season when everything was coming back to life. As they traveled through a forested area, Wu Hong couldn’t help but remark, “It’s colder here than back home, isn’t it?”

When they had left home, the fields were dotted with short, vibrant green sprouts, which had been a delightful sight.

“We’re heading farther north now,” the young steward replied with a smile after overhearing his comment. “This time of year, you can still spot patches of lingering snow. I heard there’s fighting in the far north, and when heavy snowstorms hit, even the army struggles to march.”

Wu Hong’s heart tightened at these words.

His third brother had sent a few letters home, mentioning that he was serving as a low-ranking soldier in the northern region.

“In weather that bad, how do they even get enough to eat?” he asked anxiously.

The steward chuckled. “The court provides provisions and supplies. I heard they recently won a battle. There’s no way they’d let the soldiers go hungry, for sure.”

Wu Hong let out a quiet “oh,” and felt a bit of relief.

The young steward noticed Wu Hong’s expression and saw that his earlier worry wasn’t feigned. 

After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Do you have someone in your family serving in the army?”

Wu Hong nodded. “My third brother. He’s been away for several years now.” 

Truthfully, Wu Hong felt some resentment toward his brother for leaving home and not returning. 

Their parents had raised him with great care, yet instead of showing filial piety and repaying them, for the longest time, he didn’t even send letters back to the family.

The steward didn’t quite know how to respond. After all, war was dangerous, and just surviving and returning from the battlefield was a blessing from the heavens.

Wei Dong, who was driving a mule cart, glanced back at the somewhat dejected Wu Hong and asked, “Have you tried writing to him?” 

He wasn’t particularly close to Wu Weiming, but he had paid some attention to his family’s situation.

Wu Hong gave a bitter smile and shook his head. His tone carried a hint of grievance as he said, “He’s always wandering somewhere unpredictable. If he manages to send us one letter in half a year, we count ourselves lucky. How could we reach him? My mother has even talked about wanting to send him some clothes, worrying that he might not be eating or warm enough. But the courier we asked said it’s impossible to deliver anything to him.”

Wei Dong nodded slightly. Military operations were highly regimented; it wasn’t like they could take personal requests to deliver things.

He offered some words of comfort: “If he’s able to send letters, it means he’s doing fine. Don’t ask for too much beyond that.”

As long as the person is alive, it's fine. As long as they're alive, there’s at least hope for a reunion someday.

By the time they entered Yongcheng City, night was already falling, and if they’d been half an hour later, the city gates would have been closed.

The caravan went straight to the house they had rented. Though the courtyard was small, it was conveniently close to the main street, making it easy to restock and retrieve goods. The rent wasn’t overly expensive, either.

This time, Wei Dong had brought silver notes with him. Remembering that Tang Xu had asked him to set up a storefront here, he went out the next morning with the notes in hand.

Yongcheng City was enormous, with streets crisscrossing in every direction. The city’s market districts were bustling and open daily. Anyone looking to make money could find all sorts of business opportunities here.

Naturally, there wasn’t just one market district. Wei Dong headed to the one where they regularly sold their dried and braised ducks.

"Well, if it isn’t Brother Wei! Your caravan has finally arrived!" Before he had walked far into the market’s main gate, someone enthusiastically greeted him, raising a hand as he approached. 

The man’s face was full of excitement and urgency.

Wei Dong stopped, smiled, and nodded in acknowledgment. "Boss Liu."

This Boss Liu had placed a large order with him. Among the dried and braised ducks and chickens they had brought this time, 1,000 of them were for Boss Liu. Since it was such a large order, Wei Dong had given him a good discount.

“The delivery isn’t due for another three days,” Wei Dong said calmly.

Although it was a bit late, the contract they had signed clearly specified the delivery date. Only if they missed that date would it be considered a breach of contract.

"Oh, I know, I know! I’m not here to rush you about the delivery... well, actually, I kind of am. You’ve got to get me those goods quickly; my caravan needs to transport them to the capital," said Boss Liu with a friendly smile. 

He tried to throw an arm around Wei Dong’s shoulder, but being much shorter, he couldn’t quite manage. Instead, he settled for patting Wei Dong’s shoulder while standing slightly on tiptoe.

Wei Dong glanced down at him. "Is there something else you wanted to talk about?"

"Yes, actually! About the wine you brought over last time—do you still have any?" Boss Liu’s tone was eager, and his eyes sparkled with hope. "However much you’ve got, I’ll take it all. Is that doable?"

Wei Dong shrugged, regret evident in his expression. "If you want wine, you’ll have to wait until next year. Even then, I can’t guarantee how much there will be."

The sorghum liquor they distilled needed time to age for a smoother taste. Drinking it fresh was far too harsh. 

Last autumn, there had been a bumper harvest of sorghum, and Tang Xu had distilled a good amount, storing it away with plans to sell it once the new batches were ready the following year. 

Each batch replaced the previous one in a carefully managed cycle.

Boss Liu’s face fell instantly, looking as wilted as a frost-bitten eggplant.

Wei Dong couldn’t help but find it amusing. For someone well past fifty, Boss Liu’s emotional highs and lows were surprisingly dramatic.

“You’re not in the food business, so why are you so fixated on the liquor?” Wei Dong asked, glancing at Boss Liu.

Boss Liu clicked his tongue and walked alongside him deeper into the market. “Food and liquor don’t clash. You don’t know how popular the ten jars you sold me last time were! They helped me close a pretty big deal.” His face lit up with a touch of joy, likely recalling the sizable profits he had made.

Merchants are always after profit. If it hadn’t been lucrative for him, he wouldn’t be so eager about it.

His eyes darting around, Boss Liu continued, “How about this? Why don’t we draw up a contract right now? When your liquor is ready to sell next year, you can bring all of it to me. That way, you won’t have to go looking for buyers.”

Wei Dong raised an eyebrow, his expression turning into a half-smile as he looked at Liu. The prolonged gaze made Boss Liu squirm, his eyes flickering nervously. 

Only then did Wei Dong respond, his tone cool: “My family works hard to earn our money, Boss Liu. You know this, don’t you?”

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t say it like that! This is a win-win! Selling to me would save you the trouble of finding customers yourself,” Boss Liu said with a dismissive wave of his hand, putting on an expression of pure innocence.

Wei Dong chuckled but didn’t bother to reply.

Seeing that the topic of liquor wasn’t going anywhere, Boss Liu didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he asked, “Are you here to buy something at the market?”

The two of them had interacted a few times before, and Boss Liu knew that every time Wei Dong came, he would leave with a load of local specialties. 

Initially, Boss Liu had thought Wei Dong was buying them to resell, but when he asked, he found out that Wei Dong bought them as gifts for his husband.

Now, watching Wei Dong wandering around and looking at things, Boss Liu naturally assumed he was shopping for his husband again.

“I’m planning to buy a shop in the market,” Wei Dong said, stopping in his tracks and glancing at a tightly shut wooden door. “Has this place gone out of business?”

Boss Liu followed his gaze and recalled, “I think this used to be a fabric shop. What kind of shop are you looking to buy? This one has a backyard where you can live.”

Shops in the market often came with small courtyards, making them much more expensive than those outside. However, the bustling activity and high foot traffic of the markets drew many merchants to trade here.

If Tang Xu were here, he’d notice that Yongcheng City’s markets resembled the large wholesale hubs of later generations. Goods were sold in bulk at competitive prices, though single-item purchases were possible but slightly more expensive. 

Essentially, this was an ancient version of a premium wholesale market.

Wei Dong asked, “Who do I talk to if I want to see the inside of the shop?” 

If he was going to buy it, he needed to inspect the layout inside, and the size of the backyard was important too.

"The market has people who specifically handle shop rentals and sales. Come on, I’ve got nothing to do today anyway, so I’ll go with you," Boss Liu offered, considering himself a warm and considerate person.

Wei Dong didn’t bother to be polite. The two chatted as they walked, and when Boss Liu learned that Wei Dong had brought some pork jerky this time, his curiosity was piqued, and he expressed interest in trying it.

“Did your husband make all of this?” Boss Liu asked later, following Wei Dong back to the rented house, his mind still on the pork jerky.

Meanwhile, Boss Liu’s steward arrived with a team to move the crates containing the 1,000 dried braised ducks and chickens.

“There are 250 pieces per crate, for a total of four crates,” Wei Dong explained to the steward. “Open them up and inspect them. If there are any that have gone bad, set them aside.”

Then he turned to Boss Liu, who was holding up a palm-sized piece of pork jerky, examining it closely. “Yes, my husband made all of it. This one’s the spicy version. There’s also a sweet version.”

Boss Liu sniffed the jerky, taking in the rich aroma of the meat, faintly mixed with a hint of liquor and the fragrant spices in the marinade. Just the smell was enough to make him feel like savoring it was a luxurious experience. 

He took a deep breath, his eyes narrowing slightly, and tore off a strip to chew.

The jerky had a subtle saltiness, complemented by a mild spiciness—not the kind that numbed the tongue or irritated the lips, but a rich and addictive flavor that left him wanting more with every bite. 

He chewed thoughtfully and couldn’t help but think: this would pair perfectly with a glass of sorghum liquor.

Boss Liu quickly realized what made this pork jerky so special.

While it looked like standard meat snacks, the texture was entirely different. It lacked the toughness of typical dried meat and didn’t have any strong animal odor. 

Instead, it had a soft, slightly bouncy texture that was perfectly seasoned—not too salty, not too bland. It was easy to chew, didn’t tire the jaw, didn’t hurt the teeth, and best of all, it didn’t stick in your teeth!

This was truly a quality product, a real gem.

He took his time savoring the jerky, finishing it slowly. Once it was gone, he smacked his lips with satisfaction and his eyes lit up again. “However much you’ve got, I’ll take it all!”

Hearing this, Wu Hong, who was helping the steward inspect the braised ducks, was so startled that his hands shook, and the duck he was holding slipped and fell back into the crate with a thud.

The steward flinched and exclaimed, “Hey, be careful with those! We’re taking them to the capital to sell!”

Wu Hong quickly apologized, “Sorry, sorry, my hand slipped. This box is fine, though. If you’re worried I’m trying to fool you, you can check it over again. These crates were specially made for transporting the ducks.”

The steward nodded, somewhat mollified. “True enough. These crates are well-designed—ventilated, waterproof, and not as heavy as wooden ones. They make moving them much easier.”

He turned to look at his boss, and the two exchanged a glance before he added, “Everything’s in good shape.”

Boss Liu nodded cheerfully. Seeing that Wei Dong hadn’t responded to his earlier offer, he asked again, “How much of that pork jerky did you bring? I’ll take it all.”

Wei Dong tapped his fingers lightly on the table, seemingly deep in thought. After a moment, he finally said, “This batch weighs a solid hundred jin per crate.”

Boss Liu nodded in understanding. “What’s the price?”

Wei Dong curled his lips into a small smile. “I was originally planning to sell it retail, not knowing if the folks around here would take a liking to it. Since you’re buying it all, I’ll set the price at thirty coins per jin. Before you argue about the price—this jerky is made entirely from lean meat. You know how much lean meat costs these days.”

Boss Liu smacked his lips thoughtfully, then clapped his hands decisively. “Deal! I’ll go with that price!”

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