Chapter Fourteen: Buying a Cake
Lin Miaomiao arrived in the county town and began her cake-selling venture. She wasn’t particularly worried about whether Anqi would succeed, so she switched to her “little engine” mode.
In the modern era, Lin Miaomiao had been a student in the Department of Food Health. They often developed new products and researched various food issues, which meant frequent cake-making. Whenever the department was short on funds, they would bake a large batch of cakes and sell them around the campus.
Back then, the rule was simple: the more cake you sold by weight, the greater your reward. Lin Miaomiao always took first place in such activities. She desperately hoped to become a pastry chef—her passion made her relentless.
When selling, she was full of energy, adept at tailoring her speech to whoever she met, just as the old saying goes: “Speak to people as people, speak to ghosts as ghosts.”
Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhe made their way to the main street and started hawking, “Fresh cakes for sale! Delicious cakes, sixty coins a piece! Come and buy!”
At her cries, many young ladies were drawn over. Some wealthy misses, accompanied by their maids, approached her stall.
“My mistress wants to know, what exactly is this cake? Is it tasty?” A maid, haughty in demeanor, questioned Lin Miaomiao.
Lin Miaomiao smiled at the maid, replying, “Sister, your lady clearly isn’t short of money. Our cakes are truly delicious—if you don’t believe me, just try one.”
She picked up a cake, tore off a piece with an oiled paper, and handed it to the maid. The aroma instantly made the maid’s mouth water.
The wealthy miss took a bite and, delighted by the taste, said to Lin Miaomiao, “I’ll take five.”
Lin Miaomiao smiled and replied, “Alright, I’ll pack them up for you right away.”
Thus, Lin Miaomiao successfully sold five cakes. As more customers gathered, she sold out within the morning.
She calculated her earnings: altogether, she had sold one tael of silver and eight hundred copper coins’ worth.
Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhe exchanged the copper coins for silver, leaving her with ninety-six taels. She then went to find Anqi.
Compared to Lin Miaomiao’s speed, Anqi’s predicament was rather dire. He wasn’t adept at attracting customers, and the locals weren’t buying. When Lin Miaomiao arrived, she said, “Brother Hei Qi, your business is a bit bleak!”
Anqi looked at her with a bittersweet smile. “Miss Lin, I really can’t handle this sort of thing.”
Lin Miaomiao didn’t respond, merely waved her hand and began hawking.
Her clear, youthful voice, sweet and childlike, coupled with her fair, pretty looks, quickly drew the attention of many women.
It was midday and many women were preparing their meals, so when Lin Miaomiao started hawking, a crowd gathered around. Women naturally have a fondness for adorable children—though few bought cakes, plenty surrounded her.
Chattering away, they engaged Lin Miaomiao in conversation. Her cute appearance and crisp, childlike voice won them over. She called them “sisters,” left and right, and the women were utterly charmed. Lin Miaomiao was quick-witted and talkative, able to respond to anything, making the women laugh and feel delighted.
Anqi and Li Yanhe acted as silent assistants, taking money and handing out cakes as needed.
Some women noticed Li Yanhe’s handsome looks, prompting several middle-aged women to ask Lin Miaomiao, “Little girl, your brother is so handsome—does he have a wife?”
Lin Miaomiao would always beam and reply, “Oh, Auntie! He’s not my brother; he’s my father.”
Upon hearing this, the women pursed their lips, glanced at Li Yanhe, picked up their baskets, and left.
Lin Miaomiao glanced at her “father,” Li Yanhe, whose face had darkened, but she wasn’t at all intimidated. She felt a mischievous triumph; inside, her little imp was dancing with glee.
As the sun rose higher, Lin Miaomiao employed her promotional tricks, encouraging the women to buy quickly and move on.
The women liked her very much and, as she was about to sell out, all asked when she would return next.
Lin Miaomiao responded to each with a cheerful smile, “As long as I have time, I’ll come back in a few days. Be sure to visit then, sisters!”
The women left laughing, and Lin Miaomiao sighed; indeed, serving women is never an easy task.
Women are excellent consumers, but catering to them requires attention to every detail.
Anqi noticed Lin Miaomiao was quite thirsty, so his master quietly handed her some water, which she gulped down.
Li Yanhe looked at her and said, “Let me carry you. You’ve been standing all day—it must be exhausting. I’ll carry you home later.”
At midday, Lin Miaomiao sold thirty more cakes at sixty coins apiece.
They exchanged the proceeds for one and a half taels of silver, and gave the remaining thirty coins to Anqi. Lin Miaomiao told him, “Consider it your wages.”
Anqi silently accepted the coins, then tactfully handed them to Li Yanhe, who smiled and took them.
Thus, the thirty coins were left with Li Yanhe. When they returned home, Yang Fugui and his wife had sold all their cakes as well.
They earned a total of fifteen hundred copper coins. Lin Miaomiao explained that for each cake, Yang Fugui would take ten coins as commission. She gave him fifty coins.
Yang Fugui tried to return the extra twenty coins, but Lin Miaomiao insisted, “This is for your trouble—fifty coins is just right. We live here, and need firewood, water, and Sister-in-law’s help. Twenty coins is nothing.”
After some back-and-forth, Yang Fugui finally accepted the fifty coins, and Yang Linshi was overjoyed.
Today, they went to a prosperous area, so all the cakes sold quickly, and they didn’t miss any farmwork.
They earned fifty coins without effort. When Lin Miaomiao and her companions first moved into their house, they had paid fifty coins as well.
Now, with a hundred coins in hand, Yang Fugui’s household could be considered well-off. With a bit more savings, they might build a proper house, no longer needing to live in a mudbrick home—perhaps even a nice brick-and-tile house someday.
Yang Linshi mused happily, while Lin Miaomiao squatted and calculated her day’s earnings.
Her lips couldn’t help but curl upward—they had made five taels and one hundred coins today.
Including the hundred taels previously acquired, minus expenses, they now held one hundred and one taels and one hundred and nine coins.
It was a bountiful day. Lin Miaomiao took out one hundred coins and said to Anqi and Li Yanhe, “Come, your boss is paying wages!”
The two men looked at the fifty copper coins each, momentarily speechless; fifty coins had a certain heft.
Lin Miaomiao glanced at Anqi, suddenly grinning mischievously. She blinked and said, “Hei Qi brother, go deposit the money in town this afternoon.”
Anqi nodded, and that afternoon carried the copper coins to deposit. He returned with a bank note for one hundred taels and a single tael in loose silver.
The copper coins hadn’t been exchanged. That evening, Lin Miaomiao asked Yang Linshi to make a modern-style wallet—a fusion of ancient and contemporary design. Once it was finished, Lin Miaomiao happily folded the hundred-tael bank note and tucked it inside, along with the loose silver.
The remaining hundred coins she handed to Li Yanhe. He hesitated, but when Lin Miaomiao’s expression turned stern, she said, “You must take these hundred coins. As the saying goes, money shouldn’t be held by just one person.”
“In the future, if anything happens to me, you’ll have these coins as an emergency fund.”
Lin Miaomiao sighed and explained, “Do you know what risk investment means? It’s about not putting all your eggs in one basket.”
“We’ll be traveling often, so you need some coins for emergencies.”
“I have silver; if you need more, you can ask me. Besides, what would a grown man need to spend money on?”
Li Yanhe said nothing, simply listened as Lin Miaomiao spoke, nodding seriously at the important parts.
“I’m your wife—even if I’m just a child bride, I’m still your wife. Your money is mine, and mine is mine.”
Lin Miaomiao seemed to have thought of something wonderful. She stared earnestly at Li Yanhe, “Do you agree?”
Li Yanhe could only nod, smiling. Seeing this, Lin Miaomiao’s own smile deepened, her eyes curved, overflowing with joy.
In the end, when Li Yanhe saw her solemn face, with the threat of tears if he refused the hundred coins, he relented and accepted them.
For the first time in his life, Li Yanhe realized that a hundred coins were actually quite substantial.
He shook his head, watching the child bounce about and wondering what they would do tomorrow, amused by the thought.
In the past, Li Yanhe had received rewards worth fortunes, but such windfalls had never stirred him.