Gu Jin’an saw Gu Dexing and was not surprised at all.
"Brother Dexing." Gu Jin’an greeted him as usual, his smile just right, with no pride, no showing off, and certainly no contempt.
Gu Dexing was a few years older than Gu Jin’an and taller, but at this mont, looking at Gu Jin’an’s smile, he felt sowhat awkward.
Good Brother An’s smile was too open and honest, so much so that it made him feel ashad, as if blocking him was a petty act.
Gu Dexing lowered his head.
Seeing this, Gu Jin’an did not ask why he’d stopped him nor did he leave; he just stood there, waiting.
After a long while, Gu Dexing asked Gu Jin’an, "What did Scholar Shang teach you today?"
Gu Jin’an took out a book from the cloth bag he was carrying and handed it to Gu Dexing, "It’s the Analects from the Four Books. The teacher let copy the book, saying that my family is poor and it wouldn’t be cost-effective to spend money on buying books. By copying it, not only can I familiarize myself with the content, but I also get a new book for free."
"The teacher also said that I am studying to pursue an official position and that the student examination is not difficult. As long as I morize the Four Books and Five Classics, I can go for the student examination, so he started teaching from the Four Books."
Gu Dexing was shocked; he had not expected Gu Jin’an to say such things.
He thought that with Gu Jin’an’s family having always been looked down upon, Gu Jin’an would be very reluctant to ntion that his family was poor. But Gu Jin’an did not care at all; he plainly said his family was poor, could not afford books, and so he copied them.
Then there’s the fact that Scholar Shang knew Gu Jin’an was studying for an official position, a goal so self-serving, yet Scholar Shang was still willing to teach him.
"Scholar Shang wasn’t angry?" Gu Dexing asked.
The question seed out of the blue, but Gu Jin’an understood and replied with a smile, "Why should he be angry? Why else do poor people study? When it cos down to it, it’s for pursuing an official position, gaining influence to protect their own families and relatives. The teacher said there’s nothing to be ashad of about that."
Gu Jin’an’s words once again shocked Gu Dexing; he hadn’t expected Scholar Shang to be so different from the teachers he had t back in his hotown.
The teachers in his hotown would never allow them to say they were studying only for an official position; whenever they ntioned it, the teacher would scold them for their impure thoughts, for defiling the sacred books passed down by the Saints.
Gu Jin’an looked at Gu Dexing and said, "The teacher is an open and generous person. If you really want to study with him, you might as well ask him openly and honestly. That’s much better than harboring wild thoughts and feeling resentful."
Gu Dexing bowed his head again, and after a mont of silence, he said, "What if I go ask and Scholar Shang doesn’t accept ? Wouldn’t that be..."
"Very embarrassing?" The smile on Gu Jin’an’s face did not change: "If you can’t even let go of this little face, why bother seeking a teacher?"
He added one last thing, "If you want to study with the teacher, just go and ask boldly. Even if you are rejected, at least you have tried for yourself and you will have no regrets later."
Having said this, Gu Jin’an bypassed Gu Dexing and went ho.
Gu Dexing stood there for a long ti until he heard Mrs. Chen’s angry shout, "Brother Xing, why are you standing there like a block of wood waiting to sprout? Hurry ho and grind the spices! We don’t have much spice left, if you don’t hurry and grind it, there’ll be none to sell tomorrow. That’s money we’re talking about."
Hearing Mrs. Chen’s words, Gu Dexing turned and ran ho.
That evening, Gu Jinli made crystal sweet and sour pork, fried crispy pork, and stir-fried a plate of bean sprouts, along with their own tofu and yesterday’s fried bean skins. The family had a splendid dinner, celebrating Gu Jin’an’s official start to his studies.
Seeing his family so supportive of him, Gu Jin’an beca even more determined to pursue an official position and protect his family.
Their family had just finished dinner, and the dishes had not been cleared, when several neighbors arrived, all very concerned about other eateries in town selling Fried Five-Spice Tofu.
"Just thinking of those shaless people selling our Fried Five-Spice Tofu, I am so angry I can’t even eat." Mrs. Chen learned today that people in town were selling Fried Five-Spice Tofu, and was so angry she nearly went to smash those shops with a pole.
"And there’s Fugui Building. Elder Doctor Wu said they added fried pork slices to Fried Five-Spice Tofu and made a dish called ’golden jade fortune,’ selling one plate for fifty cents. It really makes one furious."
Mrs. Chen almost fainted from the pain of losing money.
The other families were also worried about the town’s shops stealing their business.
However, Gu Jinli said, "Everyone, don’t worry. Even if the whole street is selling Fried Five-Spice Tofu, we will not lose money, but make a big profit."
Mrs. Chen was startled and quickly asked, "Xiao Yu, what do you an by that? If Fried Five-Spice Tofu is everywhere, who would still buy from our stall?"
Gu Jinli repeated what she had said to Third Grandma and Third Grandpa that afternoon to everyone, "If they want to make Fried Five-Spice Tofu, they must buy our plain tofu and seasoning spices. So the more they buy, the more we earn. There’s no reason to fear. If we feel that we are not earning enough, we can always raise the price of the plain tofu and seasoning spices."
"In a nutshell, as long as we keep the tofu recipe and the seasoning recipe in our hands, we’re the ones who will make money."
The families were pleasantly surprised when they heard this.
Mrs. Chen said, "Oh my, doesn’t that an they will help us sell tofu, and we can earn more money by working less?"
Gu Jinli nodded, "That’s the idea."
She also ntioned the villagers from Lianghe Village who ca to buy plain tofu.
"We can’t always stick to one stall. We need to change our business model and start producing large amounts of tofu and seasoning spices, selling them to others so they can carry the loads to sell our tofu."
"So we won’t be setting up a stall anymore? That won’t do; we make a good amount of silver selling bean dregs cakes every day," said Mrs. Chen, who wanted to continue running the stall.
Gu Jinli replied, "We can run the stall while increasing the tofu production, selling to those who want to sell tofu."
At this point, Third Grandpa said, "It’s a good plan that can make us more money, but where do we get so many hands?"
"Making tofu is tough work; it requires a lot of manpower. We are now making tofu, setting up the stall, grinding spices, and clearing the land for cultivation – we simply can’t handle it all. It’s already the middle of February, and in half a month, we need to plant seeds. There’s simply not enough manpower."
Gu Jinli said, "Don’t worry about manpower, Third Grandpa. We can hire people to work."
Third Grandpa, upon hearing Gu Jinli talk about hiring workers, was a bit worried that the hired help might have bad intentions and ruin their tofu business. He said, "Hiring help can’t be rushed; we have to choose people carefully to avoid getting swindled."
"Third Grandpa, if you’re worried, we can start by hiring people to clear the land, while we stay at ho to grind the soybeans and spices." Gu Jinli intended to hire people to set up a workshop, but she knew she couldn’t convince them all at once. Since they were indeed too busy now, and setting up a workshop and hiring people would take ti, she chose a compromise.
The families all agreed with this compromise and decided to hire help to clear the land the next day, so they could stay at ho and produce more tofu.
As a result, the next day, Third Grandpa put out the word that they were looking to hire people to clear the land.
When the villagers of Da Feng Village heard the news, it caused an uproar.
"Hey, did those famine refugees find gold? They are hiring people to clear land?"
"They are running a tofu business in the town, and it’s booming. It’s like they’ve found gold," soone said sarcastically.
"I wonder how much the wages are? Should we go ask?" So of the poorer families were keen on the work.
"Don’t go. If you want to go, then go. Since when do local folks work for outsiders?"
He Laoguo, hearing the villagers’ comnts, scoffed: "Pah, you’re just being sour. What’s wrong with being refugees? They’re more capable than you."
"You just can’t bear to see others do well. You disdain this work, but not our family. San Miao, let’s go to Uncle Gu’s place and take on this land-clearing job." Old Guo set off towards the Gu Family, muttering, "When food is scarce, they still pick and choose over work. Are they trying to avoid making money?"
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