Chapter 51: Budding

“I have nothing to do with that Gu Yanzhen.”

In the darkness, only one side of the house emitted light. The sound of the Qinhuai River flowing carried through the wind, and the night mist loomed like mountains. Ning Yi watched her expression and finally nodded with clarity.

“Alright, I understand.” After a moment, he thought again, “But what exactly is your relationship with him?”

Nie Yunzhu’s face was still serious at first, but upon hearing this, her expression became complicated. She seemed to struggle to maintain her earnest emphasis, holding it for a few seconds before she couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“We met long ago at the Golden Wind Pavilion.”

She glanced at Ning Yi. For some reason, when he asked about Gu Yanzhen, she suddenly felt tense inside. Unsure what he had heard and what he thought, she tried hard to figure out how best to be honest. Yet, because of his words, when she spoke again, her heart was calm, light as clouds, as if they were chatting before the building as usual.

Ning Yi paused: “A few days ago you mentioned him—he’s a famous scholar, isn’t he?”

“It was strange that you hadn’t heard of him.”

“I forgot,” Ning Yi shook his head, “So what now?”

“I don’t know. I’ve already thought about asking Erniu’s relatives to help, but haven’t decided yet.” Nie Yunzhu propped her chin, troubled. “In the beginning, there wasn’t much to do. I just wanted a small cart to sell pancakes, to prove I’m not utterly useless. That’s how I thought about the preserved eggs too, thinking it’d take ages to find buyers, but who knew so many would be sold in just a few days? I can’t keep up—it’s too fast… I’m happy, really, but what should I do next? I never thought about it before. What do you think?”

“The preserved eggs… do you want to keep making them?”

“I never intended to do business, so I just planned a small stall…” She knew herself well. After so many years at the Golden Wind Pavilion, she’d seen many successful merchants. Business, selling goods, profit comes with risk—some things aren’t easy for her temperament to handle. Still, “Suddenly business is so good, and I can’t keep up… feels like such a pity…”

“Things are going to get complicated.”

“Hm?”

“The preserved eggs will sell more. You’ll hire some people. For the first month or two, sales will expand—especially after Kang Xian promotes them at home banquets. Jade eggs, fortune eggs… demand will exceed supply, you’ll keep scaling up. That’s how new products always go…”

Ning Yi picked up a twig, speaking casually as he doodled on the ground. “Then you’ll find you lack management experience. Originally, you’d use people you know, like Erniu’s relatives and friends for a small workshop, but all sorts of bumps and hiccups will start. Meanwhile, people will begin to copy the preserved eggs. In three months, maybe sooner, if you keep the process secret, it’ll last four months at most…”

“The process for preserved eggs isn’t technical. You bring dry wood home to burn, buy lime powder—anyone can find out with a little effort. Now the product is famous and there’s a shortage; the news spreads among a few restaurants, and someone is likely already watching. You sell preserved eggs with traces of unwashed mud, others experiment using salted duck egg methods—it’s not hard. And if you scale up with a small workshop, the method becomes even easier to expose.”

“Then it’s simple: price wars. More people will make them, invent new ways to eat them. You can’t sell at twenty coins; you’ll have to lower prices, so will they, and even more people will make them. In the end, selling preserved eggs will be no different than selling pancakes… uh…”

Ning Yi turned to look at Nie Yunzhu, who was also propping her chin and gazing at him, eyes twinkling with amusement. Ning Yi pursed his lips, pointed the twig at her: “You’ll get hit hard then.”

Nie Yunzhu was thinking of something else: “Actually, Liheng, you’re really skilled at this stuff, aren’t you?”

“Hm? What stuff?”

“Business.”

Ning Yi was silent for a moment, then said, “I’m really an old demon reborn who’s good at business; should I tell you that too?”

Nie Yunzhu smiled, smoothing her hair by her ear. “I’ve always wanted to ask: the sudden surge in preserved egg sales—does it have anything to do with you?”

“I made a bet, so I had to do something. Can’t just sit and lose.” Ning Yi laughed. “It started as my idea, and now it’s gotten out of hand, making things harder for you. I should’ve just hired a few idle people and left it at that. Since I figured you couldn’t handle this volume, I even told Elder Kang not to spread the word at the Prince Consort’s residence…”

“So it’s true,” she murmured, a smile curling her lips, “Liheng arranged for people to buy?”

Ning Yi nodded.

“But Liheng… didn’t you say you didn’t know Gu Yanzhen?”

“The morning I ran into Li Pin, I mentioned it casually. He said he had some bored friends who could help—probably scholars and such. I don’t know them, maybe Gu Yanzhen was among them. When I bet with Elder Kang, we agreed not to use reputation to promote the preserved eggs… Oh, remember you told me the second day that you sold six eggs? Four of those were bought by me.”

Nie Yunzhu narrowed her eyes in sudden realization. “Ah… I wondered why the restaurant waiter suddenly came to buy four preserved eggs, when Liheng had only just set up the cart that first day. So that’s why… ha…”

Before dawn, the sky still dotted with stars, Nie Yunzhu looked up and smiled. Many things became clear in her heart.

“What do you think I should do, Liheng?”

“If it interests you, scale up. If not, stop. See if you think it’s interesting.”

“It’s actually quite satisfying, makes me feel capable. But I know I’m not really skilled. Liheng… will you teach me?”

A brief silence. Ning Yi glanced at her: “…Alright.”

On a March morning in the eighth year of Jinghan under the Wu Dynasty, this gentle promise echoed in the mist before dawn by the Qinhuai River. Afterwards, it was just trivial matters—food, chain stores, strong spirits, industrial chains, and so on—discussed casually by the two at the small building’s steps, as always. What they talked about hardly mattered anymore. Inside the building, a maid named Walnut leaned on the window, sighing, still worried for her young mistress.

White mist flowed and dispersed, the sun rose, and people moved through Jiangning’s streets. Let us speed up time, hasten the sun’s path, and when noon nears, release our grip. Nie Yunzhu, carrying a small bundle, wandered aimlessly along the bustling commercial streets, since Walnut and Erniu were guarding the shop.

Had it been her habit of recent days, she would hurry back to find ways to increase preserved egg production, weigh where to buy firewood in the afternoon for the best price. But today was different. From morning, she’d been wrapped in a mood that never eased, her thoughts churning.

Ever since Walnut told her “Miss, you can’t marry him”—perhaps even earlier, since she noticed certain feelings within herself—to the recent days of Gu Yanzhen’s entanglement, the sudden boom in the preserved egg business, and the heavier burden, her mind had been wavering. But not today. All morning she was cheerful, her mood bright, every shadow swept away.

From afar, she saw a flag of Su’s Cloth Shop. Such banners were common; Jiangning had several branches. Usually, because of Ning Yi, she would pay them little mind, but this time she stood by the roadside, quietly watching for a long while, observing the busy flow of customers.

Words Ning Yi spoke that morning echoed in her mind, the nod and gentle “Alright,” and all that followed.

“…But there’s one thing you must remember. I want you to recall why you decided to move forward. Even if you don’t have much money now, you’re happy. You only wanted a pancake stall, to prove you can accomplish things—that’s the Yunzhu I know. If one day you move too fast, remember your present feelings: stop when you should, retreat when you must, don’t force yourself, lest you lose sight of what you truly want. Let the sand slip through your fingers. Even if you return to where you are now, you’ve lost nothing…”

After that nod, Liheng spoke carelessly, drawing on the ground with his twig, unconcerned or at ease, “maybe” do this, “maybe” do that. Only this passage he spoke with earnestness, then seemed to smile self-deprecatingly, as if thinking of something. Nie Yunzhu remembered his words, though her feelings at the time were not quite the same as Ning Yi’s.

Some events, some feelings, happen quietly, and Ning Yi never knows. In fact, yesterday morning, Ning Yi went on an outing with Su Tan’er and the others, ate some food, and Chan’er and Juan’er flew kites. There were many on the excursion; Ning Yi never knew that Nie Yunzhu and Walnut saw them from afar.

At that time, Nie Yunzhu and Walnut had contacted an old acquaintance of Erniu, then went to the countryside to buy duck eggs. When they returned, they saw Ning Yi with Su Tan’er. It was Nie Yunzhu’s first time seeing Su Tan’er: from afar, the two spoke on the grass, and an indescribable complexity welled up inside her. That morning, meeting Ning Yi, her mood was already shrouded in gloom, then Ning Yi suddenly asked about Gu Yanzhen; for a moment, she felt as if something tightened around her.

Thankfully, that feeling was soon released, but seeing Ning Yi, she kept recalling yesterday’s grassy field, the young, beautiful, elegantly dressed Su Tan’er. Gradually, other feelings arose, especially after Ning Yi nodded and admitted he was behind the preserved eggs. The idea had been there for some time, but now it became clear. As everyone said: why would such a man become a son-in-law?

The reasons aside, Nie Yunzhu suddenly wondered. Liheng has talent in poetry and business, living his leisurely days—was he truly happy every day? She knew little of the Su family, and after redeeming herself, lost all sources of information, only hearing the Su family was wealthy, worlds apart from ordinary folk like her. Later, Ning Yi gained fame for two poems, and she heard rumors that he lacked business talent, that the Su family’s young mistress was gifted in commerce and would even take over the family business. But Liheng did have business talent. If he remained in the shadow of Su Tan’er, unable to show his abilities because of his status, how would he feel?

Liheng’s casual resolution of the preserved egg problem—might it be his way of breaking free, since he couldn’t act at home, so he helped outside, just as easily?

She suddenly realized what she could do.

Perhaps she could become his tool, let Liheng prove through her that he was superior to Su Tan’er. If she could reach that point…

At heart, she was a gentle, quiet woman. Some thoughts were hard to entertain. She hugged her bundle, gently bit her lip, and walked past the entrance of Su’s Cloth Shop, turning her head to glance inside. Then she pursed her lips, childishly thinking: someday, her own shop would be much, much bigger than this one…