In the end, Ye Ziâan had to threaten that he would go back to his own home before Yang Chuxia finally accepted his silver. However, she only took one tael, saying that she would pay back when she had the money, but Brother An just hummed and hawed, showing no intention of wanting it back.
In Brother Anâs words, although he saved Xiaxia, the medical expenses should not be borne by Xiaxiaâs family. Since the Yang Family hadnât paid for any medical expenses, he should pay for it himself.
Another four days passed, and it was the day Yang Chuxia and the tavern owner had agreed upon. She went to town early in the morning with the pottery jar.
This time, she and Yang Dachuan went to town together, and they even borrowed the Yang Land Officerâs ox cart. When they arrived at the tavern, the shopkeeper was already waiting early. Upon seeing Yang Chuxia and Yang Dachuan entering together, he hurriedly invited them to the second floor.
The shopkeeper was quite straightforward about business, and he couldnât wait to taste the dish as soon as they got to the second floor. Yang Chuxia naturally wouldnât refuse, and she had brought the opened small pottery jar in the morning just for people to taste.
She was confident in the taste of the drunken crabs, and it was clear just by looking at the eyes of the tavern keeper.
"Shopkeeper, the lunch crowd will be coming in soon. Iâll give you the half jar of drunken crabs I brought, so you can offer a few extra crabs to your customers for free to test the waters," Yang Chuxia suggested.
The shopkeeper was even more delighted upon hearing that, as it meant there was no risk for him.
"I must thank Miss Yang for that," he said gratefully.
"No need to be polite, Shopkeeper Li." Yang Chuxia smiled faintly. "Anyway, I have nothing to do today, so Iâll just wait here. If the feedback from your customers is good, we can continue discussing this business deal."
"All right, Miss Yang is quite straightforward and generous."
With that, how could Shopkeeper Li be unwilling? He immediately had someone bring some tea and snacks for Yang Chuxia and Yang Dachuan before taking the remaining half jar of crabs downstairs.
By lunchtime, Shopkeeper Li ordered the young waiters to add more dishes to the tables, and just as the half pottery jar of crabs was distributed, people started asking if there were more crabs available.
As one person asked, another followed suit. In no time, everyone began to clamor for more crabs. The shopkeeper hurriedly went up to the second floor with a cheerful bounce in his step.
"How is it, Shopkeeper? I can hear people downstairs asking you for crabs from up here on the second floor."
Shopkeeper Li wiped the sweat from his forehead and laughed, "Miss Yang has provided a great dish for my tavern! Iâm a straightforward person, and the taste of your crabs is indeed excellent. These crabs have little cost, and the other ingredients are also quite limited. However, theyâre valuable because theyâre fresh. How about this, Iâll give you two taels of silver for one jar of crabs?" The shopkeeper calculated that the jar of drunken crabs Yang Chuxia brought could hold about ten plates, and he could sell them for five hundred wen per plate. This way, he could make a net profit of three taels without investing anything. Anyway, the rich families who dined here wouldnât care about three to five hundred wen.
Two taels of silver? Upon hearing this, Yang Chuxia was overjoyed. This was great, way too great! In these times, a family of five or six could live on six taels of silver per year, of course, this was the expense of a relatively well-off family.
Doing the math, two taels could cover three to four months of living expenses. However, she still had some considerations!
" Shopkeeper Li, Iâm using smaller crabs now, and I naturally agree with the two taels of silver per jar. But next time, I might buy bigger crabs to make this dish. You know, larger crabs have more meat, and itâs what the rich people prefer, so at that time, two taels of silver wonât work."