Qi Panzi, with a beaming smile, handed him the roasted duck and after weighing it with an iron scale, said, "Four jin and one liang, let’s just round it down to four jin, for a total of 240 copper coins." The Shang Family’s servant, after receiving the roasted duck, gazed droolingly at the array of braised delicacies in a large clay pot and pointed to them saying, "Give me two jin of each of these—this braised lamb, braised fish chunks, braised dried tofu, and fried tofu." "Alright, I’ll weigh that up for you now." "You guys are related to the Gu Family’s daughter’s aunt’s family, right? Are these new snacks thought up by the Gu Family? They smell really good. Give me two jin of this vegetable braising sauce," the person said, pointing to the braised fried tofu in the vegetarian braising sauce. "Eh, I’ll get it for you right away." "I heard that the Gu Family’s tofu stall has new snacks, it must be these dishes, right? They smell so good. Come on, give me a piece of meat, plus six eggs and one jin of this kind of yellow tofu." "That’s called braised fried tofu. It needs to be deep-fried, which uses a lot of oil, so it’s fifteen cents a jin," another customer explained. But that customer didn’t mind: "After buying white tofu, you still have to add spices to it and cook it. This one is fried in oil, rich in oiliness, and can be directly sliced and served. It’s convenient." More and more customers came, some out of curiosity and many to try something new. Qi Panzi and Gu Daya were so busy they didn’t stop moving, picking up four baskets of vegetarian and meat braisings as well as roasted ducks. Almost everything was sold out in just two hours. Mrs. Chen, watching by the side, was almost sour with jealousy as she couldn’t help but say, "Sister Daya, your family’s business is really good. It’s true what they say about aunts; the business thought up by Little Xiao Yu is indeed better than our tofu and bean cakes." Gu Dagui glared at Mrs. Chen, and scolded, "Shut your mouth, will you? How can you talk like that?" Then he quickly apologized to Gu Daya, "Sister Daya, don’t mind her; this woman just can’t speak properly." Gu Daya replied with a smile towards Gu Dagui but didn’t put up with Mrs. Chen’s talk, retorted, "Little Sister-in-law Da Gui, no need to be envious, Little Xiao Yu treats you, her clan aunt, really well too. You get to manage both the stall and the shop with the shopkeeper’s wife, and you even have a workshop. Your family’s life is much more prosperous than ours." Mrs. Chen choked on her words; Gu Daya was implying that, although she was just a clan aunt, she benefited a lot from Gu Jinli’s household, whereas she, being an aunt by blood, had only gained a new business. Knowing she was in the wrong and recognizing Gu Daya’s sharp tongue, Mrs. Chen dared not retort anymore and obediently got back to frying tofu and bean dregs cakes for the customers. Ms. Yan and her husband came with Mr. and Mrs. Chen to set up their stall, seeing Mrs. Chen getting put in her place, Ms. Yan could only helplessly shake her head. Little Sister-in-law Da Gui never learned her lesson, only realizing she got a tongue-lashing after the fact. "Gu Family’s, I heard you have new snacks, hurry up and give me two jin of each kind!" Chef Li from Fugui Building came rushing over after finishing up the midday meal preparations, but unfortunately, he was too late. "Only these left." Qi Panzi pointed to about a dozen braised eggs, a few pieces of braised dried tofu, several chunks of braised fish, and two pieces of braised lamb within the clay pot and smiled. Chef Li regretted missing out and, smelling the scent from the braised dishes, immediately said, "Wrap all of these up for me, I’ll take them no matter the cost." "Eh, I’ll wrap them up for you." Qi Panzi efficiently packed up the leftover braised items for Chef Li, after weighing and calculating, and reported to him, "That’ll be a total of 480 copper coins." Mrs. Chen saw that Qi Panzi swiftly passed the braised dishes to Chef Li and hurriedly said, "Don’t give it to him just yet, he’s from Fugui Building. Our goods have to be registered with a fingerprint." Hearing this, Gu Daya quickly intercepted Qi Panzi, took out a register, and handed it to Chef Li, smiling said, "As you’re from Fugui Building, please press a fingerprint here." Xiao Yu had said that their families had a feud with the Zou family. Since the Fugui Building was the Zou family’s property, anyone from there had to leave a fingerprint when buying their goods to prevent the Zou family from purchasing their products and then poisoning them, causing harm and demanding compensation. Chef Li had long been accustomed to such treatment by the Gu Family’s tofu stall and readily pressed his fingerprint, paid with silver coin, and eagerly started tasting the food after getting it, taking a few bites of each dish: "Delicious, rich flavor, perfect for pairing with drinks." Especially the braised fish pieces; it was unexpected that fish could be prepared this way. The fish had been fried until crispy, resulting in a great chewy texture, and the aroma of the braising sauce was very enticing. Chef Li ate with great satisfaction, and he could tell that the spices used for the braised dishes were much more abundant than those for seasoning... He wondered if he could replicate it? "I heard there’s a red, festive duck called roasted duck. Will you be setting up your stall tomorrow? Our Fugui Building would like to reserve ten of those," said Chef Li, who had become the shopkeeper and could now buy any ingredients in any quantity without having to look at Manager Zeng’s face. Gu Daya shook her head, "No can do, our roasted ducks are currently only sold to common households and not to restaurants." Xiao Yu had mentioned that the trial sale aimed to build a reputation; they needed to sell to more people so that more could taste the braised flavors and roasted ducks, which would help to spread their fame. Xiao Yu specifically instructed that, since roasted duck was their signature dish, they couldn’t sell roasted ducks to Fugui Building before everyone knew it was Gu Family’s specialty. Otherwise, others might mistakenly think that the roasted duck was made by Fugui Building, and they would suffer a great loss. Chef Li listened with much regret, pleaded with Gu Daya and Qi Panzi for a while, but seeing that they were not relenting, he had no choice but to leave with the braised dishes and return to Fugui Building. After selling all the braised dishes and roasted ducks, Qi Panzi and Gu Daya helped Mrs. Chen sell out all the tofu, spices, and bean dregs cakes, then they packed up and went home together. Gu Daya and her husband went directly to Gu Jinli’s house, where they tallied accounts and counted the earnings. Upon learning that they had made a total of one tael and five hundred copper coins today, they were utterly astounded: "We actually made so much in net profit." There were three taels and four hundred copper coins on the table. After deducting costs, there was half a tael of silver left over. Sharing the profits fifty-fifty, her family also got seven hundred and fifty copper coins. "Xiao Yu, thank you, this business really is profitable," Gu Daya said, her eyes brimming with joy. Gu Jinli laughed, "What’s there to thank for, you are my aunt. Besides, my family is also part of this business. Your family making money is the same as mine making money." "Xiao Yu is right. We’re all family. Don’t count your golden beans here; hurry home to make the braising sauce and roast ducks otherwise, we’ll have nothing to sell tomorrow." Third Grandma urged them, and after dividing the silver, she sent Gu Daya’s family back home. In the following days, Gu Daya’s family was busy preparing the braised dishes and roasted ducks. They would get up before dawn to make the braised dishes and finish before the hour of Chen (7-9 a.m.), then join Mrs. Chen and others at the market stall. After selling out, they would head back in the afternoon to slaughter ducks, air-dry them, and start roasting them at night. The roasted ducks would come out of the oven warm the next morning when the fires were lit. The townspeople, including some wealthy families from the surrounding countryside, were very fond of the braised dishes and roasted ducks. The Gu Daya’s household could not make enough to meet the demand. As days passed, Gu Jinli and the others prospered greatly. By mid-April, the Jiang family sent their Protector, Jiang Puzi, to deliver an invitation to Gu Jinli’s house, stating that the Soybean Oil Workshop was about to open. They wanted her to pay a visit to inspect the wooden oil press and the soybean oil, to see if there was anything that needed improvement.