Chapter 241: Chapter 242: One of the Three Hardships

Ancient Wen Heng waited until she had completely stopped what she was doing before walking over and gently massaging her shoulders.

Sanqing and the others were used to it, but the two nannies’ eyes almost popped out of their heads.

"Tired? From now on, let them do this kind of work. If you want to practice your calligraphy, just practice with your copybooks."

Jin Qianqian replied, "Well, I was idle anyway. It’s a good way to practice my speed."

Just then, Jin Qianqian noticed the two unfamiliar women and looked up at him with a silent question.

Ancient Wen Heng explained their background. "Try them out for a while. If you don’t think they’re a good fit, we can have Ye San take them back."

Jin Qianqian could also see a trace of arrogance in the two women’s eyes. "Then let’s have them stay for a trial run. Qing Lan, put aside the accounts for a moment and take them to the back courtyard to get settled."

Without much pleasantry, the two nannies’ hearts began to pound. ’This future mistress of ours... is she satisfied or not?’

If she found them disagreeable and sent them back to Prince Bai, they could well imagine their fate.

They exchanged a look, then respectfully lowered their heads and waited quietly by the side.

"Ye San sure took his time on this trip. Are we going to reinstall the glass in our windows?" Jin Qianqian glanced at the paper pasted over the window frames. She had just gotten used to it, and now they had to go through the trouble again.

"Let’s change it. The room will have better light that way." Ancient Wen Heng led her into the courtyard. After sitting for so long, it was time to stretch their limbs.

When Jin Qianqian revealed the current stock of regular and scented soap, even Ancient Wen Heng was shocked. "How do we have so much?"

Jin Qianqian teased him, "If I were to secretly hide away a portion of our family’s assets, you probably wouldn’t even notice." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Ancient Wen Heng tickled her palm a few times with his finger. "Isn’t everything our family has yours? Why would you need to hide anything? Where do you want to put it? Don’t trouble yourself with it; I can put it away for you."

Jin Qianqian let out a chuckle. "That’s something we can only say in private. But seriously, can Ye San transport this whole shipment in one go?"

"If he can’t, that’s his problem. How are the preparations on Dongzi’s end? Remember to keep some for ourselves here."

After all, the display shop Dongzi was in charge of was just waiting for the glass to be installed. Merchants from all over would soon catch wind of it and come flocking, so they needed to prepare in advance here too.

Jin Qianqian knew what she was doing. Neither she nor Ancient Wen Heng liked to put all their eggs in one basket. Besides the sales channel through Prince Bai, she wanted to control the other markets herself.

"Eldest Brother and the others came to see me today," Ancient Wen Heng said suddenly, out of the blue. But Jin Qianqian understood immediately.

"They wanted to plead their case."

Ancient Wen Heng scratched his head. "That’s the gist of it."

Jin Qianqian sighed. "Actually, it’s better that the sisters-in-law aren’t in our workshop. I was wrong to think otherwise before."

Ancient Wen Heng didn’t understand, so he looked at her, all ears.

"Haven’t your brothers ever thought about starting something of their own? Although Foreman Ding always has work for them, at most they can only earn a limited wage."

"So, what are you suggesting?"

Jin Qianqian stopped in the middle of the courtyard. "Everyone wants to stand on the spot with the best view. Sometimes, when the gap gets too wide, it’s only a matter of time before resentment starts to build."

Ancient Wen Heng said, "But there’s no other way we can help them right now."

Jin Qianqian held up a finger and wagged it. "You just haven’t put your mind to it."

Ancient Wen Heng said, "..."

"Have you forgotten the street vendors from back when we went to school? In this dynasty where everything is scarce, it’s not actually that hard to find a way to make a living."

"Setting up a stall here doesn’t seem realistic," Ancient Wen Heng said, shaking his head and dismissing the idea.

"Think about soy products. If they truly master this industry, how could your brothers not become rich?" Jin Qianqian felt like she couldn’t stop herself, her mind flashing with images of jellied tofu, soy milk, bean sprouts, tofu skin, dried tofu...

Ancient Wen Heng’s mind suddenly clicked. He hugged Jin Qianqian excitedly. "My wife is the clever one! If we really have them do this, won’t they be guaranteed a life as wealthy idlers in the future?"

"Don’t get your hopes up too soon. There are three great hardships in life, and making tofu is one of them. You need to make sure they can handle that kind of hard work first," Jin Qianqian couldn’t help but pour cold water on his excitement. The last thing she wanted was to eagerly provide the method only for the brothers to be unwilling.

"Don’t you worry about that! They’re all guys who’ve been through plenty of hardship. Besides, we’re giving them a secret recipe for free. How could they not be happy?" Ancient Wen Heng couldn’t sit still any longer. He patiently walked another two laps around the courtyard with Jin Qianqian before rushing off to the front courtyard.

&

"Seventh Brother, why don’t you discuss this with Sister-in-law a bit more?" Gu Yuanjin asked, his initial surprise giving way to some apprehension.

"This really isn’t quite right. It’s Sister-in-law’s family’s secret recipe, after all. For us brothers to just take it like this... it wouldn’t sound good if word got out," Gu Yuanshui said, sounding less confident than his eldest brother, though he was secretly delighted.

"It might be a secret recipe, but it’s going to involve a lot of hard work. You have to be mentally prepared.

After all, this is a one-time offer. If you really get this business going, the hardship will be even greater." Ancient Wen Heng still preferred to be upfront about things.

"As long as Sister-in-law has no objection, what do we brothers have to fear from a little hard work and exhaustion?" Gu Yuanhuo slapped his chest. "We don’t have much else, but we’ve got strength to spare."

Ancient Wen Heng had written out a long document on the various ways to prepare soybeans, but it was only at this moment that he realized his brothers were all illiterate.

He slapped his forehead in frustration, finally letting out a helpless sigh. "I guess I’ll just have to teach you all hands-on!

But you’d better commit all of this to memory. And it’s best if you don’t say a word about it, not even to your wives for now."

"Of course. From now on, only we brothers will know about this. We won’t even tell our own children for the time being," Gu Yuanjin said, then turned to stare at his younger brothers. "You all can do that, right?"

"..."

Ancient Wen Heng had never made tofu himself, but to teach his brothers, he was giving it his all.

Even the little donkey that had been on loan to Hu Dong was brought back. A carrot was hung right in front of it, and it was diligently turning the millstone.

"Is this really going to work?" Seeing Ancient Wen Heng fumbling about, checking the notes as he worked, Gu Yuanhuo grew a little worried. "Why don’t we just go get Seventh Sister-in-law? Don’t let Seventh Brother ruin all these ingredients."

Gu Yuantu sniffed the beany aroma in the air. "If it really doesn’t work out, we can just drink it like we did the soy milk earlier. That tasted pretty good too."

Gu Yuanhuo muttered under his breath, "A bowl of plain water would taste good with that much sugar in it."

"Third Brother, that’s enough out of you. Doesn’t everything require some effort?" Gu Yuanshui said, his eyes fixed on Ancient Wen Heng’s movements as he silently memorized the process.