| TBBOTOF | 330
He got up and went to the backyard.
The mule shook its head and trotted over to the feed trough. It looked at the dry hay inside, made a couple of calls as if to say, After a whole day of work, I deserve something better to eat.
Wei Dong put down the cart frame. Hearing footsteps, he turned his head and saw his husband.
The man’s face immediately lit up with a smile as he asked:
Tang Xu nodded and walked up to him, first giving him a once-over, then glancing at the basket on the ground. He asked, "Why are you back so late? What did you bring?"
"Auntie made some pastries. She asked if we had made any; I said no, so she packed some for us. Also, there's some fermented bean paste. She said it wouldn't keep for too long and might go bad, so she gave us some to eat."
Tang Xu nodded, took out a jar of the fermented bean paste, and noticed that it was quite heavy. The jar was filled to the brim and sealed with cloth and mud at the mouth.
"Tomorrow, we can thaw some frozen string beans and stew them with cured meat using this paste—it’ll be delicious."
Wei Dong raised an eyebrow. "Whatever you cook always tastes great." He wrapped an arm around him, pulled him into his embrace, and kissed him lightly. "I’ll head to the county early tomorrow morning."
Tang Xu immediately understood his meaning and asked in surprise, "It was settled so soon?"
"The old man Wang wanted 3,000 taels. I offered 2,500, and he agreed," Wei Dong said, holding him as they walked toward the front yard. "That place has both a front and back courtyard, fully equipped. They said we can move in as soon as they move out after the New Year. I agreed. They’ll move out before the spring planting season."
Tang Xu nodded. "Is that courtyard big? Bigger or smaller than the one at our braised food shop?"
"That place should be bigger," Wei Dong said. "When I went to the shop to get wine before, their shopfront was about the same size as our courtyard. Inside, they had ten tables set up, and the old lady there was selling some side dishes to go with the drinks. The backyard was for living. They have five sons, and it wasn’t until they got married that they moved out. Just think about it—how could that courtyard be small?"
Tang Xu blinked and mentally sketched out the approximate size. "Two thousand five hundred taels doesn’t sound too expensive."
"The location is pretty good too," Wei Dong added. "It’s in the more central area of the town, even more tucked in than our braised food shop. Just a few storefronts away is the Fuyun Restaurant."
He gave Tang Xu’s neck a gentle squeeze. "Another thing—I saw people queuing up to buy braised food today. Your cousin was so busy she even had to ask the neighbor to look after Goudan. They’re short-handed, so tomorrow, I’ll take Ah Li and Liu Yao with me so they can help out over there for a while. Once the shop closes for the day, we’ll all come back together."
Tang Xu nodded. "This morning, Ah Li already mentioned that the shop would definitely be busy and that she was worried Father and the others wouldn’t be able to handle it. Just let them know tomorrow. There’s nothing much going on here, anyway."
Wei Dong first went back to the house to change his clothes and wash his face before heading to the main hall for dinner.
Tang Xu had already informed Liu Yao and Tang Li about heading to town early the next morning. The young couple eagerly nodded in agreement.
"Around this time last year was so busy that Father and the others probably didn’t even get enough sleep," Tang Li said as she served a large bowl of rice to Wei Dong, pursing her lips. "If me and Ah Yao end up going to Yongcheng, I’m not sure if they’ll be able to handle things afterward."
"If they can’t manage, then hire more people. There’s no sense in making money only to work yourself to the bone," Tang Xu said as he ladled soup for Wei Dong.
He turned to ask his husband, "What time are you leaving in the morning?"
"I’ll head out after breakfast. I need to go to the county, and the round trip will take some time," Wei Dong replied, scooping rice into his mouth. "I’ll eat lunch at the restaurant there—might as well, no point in spending money and not eating until I’m full."
Tang Xu chuckled lightly and added more dishes to his bowl.
Hearing that Wei Dong was heading to the county, Old Wu said, "I have an order here. You might be able to find the medicinal herbs at the large pharmacy in the county."
Wei Dong nodded. "Anything else you need? I’ll bring it all back in one trip."
"Just deliver two letters to the post station. I don’t need anything else," Old Wen said.
Old Sun waved his hand, signaling he didn’t need anything either—not even a letter to be sent.
After dinner, once everything was tidied up, Wei Dong went to Old Wu’s room to collect the list of medicinal herbs. He glanced at the items written on it, raised an eyebrow, and said, "These might not even be available at the county pharmacy."
"We won’t know unless we ask. If they have it, buy it; if not, forget about it," Old Wu said, sounding indifferent and not overly concerned.
Wei Dong thought for a moment and then asked, "How old does this ginseng need to be? And what about the lingzhi? Do you need it to be a specific age?"
As soon as Old Wu heard this, he immediately perked up. "Do you have any on hand?"
"Yeah," Wei Dong nodded lightly. "I dug up some ginseng in the mountains before. There are both thin and thick roots. When Old Xu was here, he dried them all, and they’ve been sitting in the storeroom ever since. Not sure if they’ve gone moldy by now."
To be honest, he had completely forgotten about the ginseng. Normally, they’d just use the thinner roots for making chicken soup or use the ginseng whiskers. The thicker ones were stored away, and over time, he simply stopped thinking about them.
Before Old Wu could lose his temper, Wei Dong quickly added, "I’ll ask Ah Xu tomorrow. Maybe he’s kept them somewhere."
Hearing that the dried ginseng had been left in sacks, Old Wu’s head started buzzing. He glared and said, "Go ask him now!"
Wei Dong, holding the list, turned and left. He went back to his room.
Tang Xu had just finished making the bed and was about to fetch water to wash his feet when he saw Wei Dong walk in. He casually asked, "Are you soaking your feet or taking a bath?"
"I’ll take a bath later," Wei Dong said. "Where did we store those dried ginseng roots we put aside earlier? Old Wu needs some."
He shook the list in his hand. "He’s asking for aged ginseng, and I don’t think the pharmacy in the county will have it. We still have a few roots, right? If they’re useful for him, we can give them to him. Otherwise, I’m afraid they’ll grow moldy and attract bugs over time."
Tang Xu sighed helplessly at him. "If we waited for you to remember, mice would’ve gnawed on them already. I’ve put them all in the freezer. Old Wen said freezing them wouldn’t affect their effect."
Wei Dong raised an eyebrow, leaned in to kiss him, and praised, "My husband is so thoughtful. What would I do without you?"
Tang Xu gave his shoulder a light pat. "Go take your bath. I’ll bring the ginseng to Old Wu. Anything else he needs?"
"Pick the thicker ones and give him five or six roots," Wei Dong said, stealing another kiss before heading off. "I’m off to bathe."
The two split up, one to take a bath and the other to fetch the ginseng.
When Tang Xu had frozen the dried ginseng, he’d been mindful to prevent it from picking up any odors from the other items in the cold storage. Each root was carefully wrapped in multiple layers of oil paper, then placed in a bag, with another bag over that. The packaging was sealed tight, layer upon layer.
Whenever they needed some for cooking, Tang Xu would only take out the thinner roots, leaving the thicker ones untouched.
He selected six of the thickest roots, then hurried out of the cold storage. Despite wearing a thick padded jacket, he was still shivering from the cold.
Tang Xu went straight to Old Wu’s room and placed the frozen ginseng on the table. "Take a look, Old Master, and see if these will do."
Old Wu unwrapped the oil paper, picked up one of the dried ginseng roots, and brought it to his nose for a sniff. He nodded in approval and said, "Not bad, it's been well preserved."
Tang Xu smiled and said warmly, "As long as it’s good enough for you. Use these first, and if you need more, just let me know. We’ve still got a few more of about the same size."
Seeing that Tang Xu was about to leave, Old Wu stopped him. "Wait, wait, hold on. Let me get you some banknotes."
Tang Xu blinked in surprise. "Huh?"
"This stuff is valuable. If you sold it, you’d make a good sum. I can’t just use it for free," Old Wu said as he opened a small box from the cabinet, pulled out a few banknotes, and handed them to him. "Here, this should be enough. Once I’ve made the medicinal pills, I’ll set aside some for you two."
Tang Xu smiled, accepted the banknotes, and cheerfully replied, "Alright, I’ll hold you to that."
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