Chapter 19

After Old man Kang sold all his geese to Li Yao, he started helping her collect geese in the village as promised.

But he didn't expect to be shut out by the first family he visited.

"24 wen per catty is too cheap, we're not selling."

"Old Kang, you're too honest. How much more could that Li lady from He Wan Village earn by selling a braised goose? She's only giving you 24 wen per catty, aren't you losing money?"

"Without our geese, she can't do business either. She'll raise the price herself eventually, let's wait and see."

...

After visiting the whole village, Old Kang was very anxious.

He had promised and guaranteed that he would help Li Yao get this done, earning 10 wen per goose as hard-earned money.

But now the villagers were holding on to their geese and not selling any. How could he explain this to Mrs. Li?

In the end, he barely managed to buy 3 geese from one family after pleading and offering an extra 30 wen. He delivered those to Li Yao.

"I'm so sorry Mrs. Li," Old Kang said. "I wanted to help but I guess I'm useless."

"It's not your fault, why apologize?"

"But...without the geese, how can your restaurant continue?" Old Kang asked.

"Have you heard of anyone else buying geese in your village?" Li Yao asked.

"Well..." Old Kang thought hard and finally said, "I did hear someone mention they'd pay 27 wen per catty. I was in a hurry then and didn't listen carefully."

That's it.

There were only two reasons the villagers wouldn't sell their geese.

One, they wanted to raise the price. Two, someone was sabotaging this.

It seemed to be the latter.

And those sabotaging must be the shop owners or bosses of the other three restaurants in the market. They were jealous of He's Restaurant and wanted to secretly cause some trouble.

If they couldn't have it, they didn't want Li Yao to succeed either.

To fully resolve this, there was only one solution.

"Old Kang," Li Yao asked again, "Do you know of any other places with geese?"

"Well...there are some, but very far away and not as many as our village has."

"Then let's do this," Li Yao said. "From now on, help me purchase geese from everywhere. Don't limit the price, follow market rates. I'll pay you an extra 1 wen per catty as your hard-earned money. What do you think?"

"That much?"

If he bought 3 geese a day, that would be over 30 wen extra. In a month that would be over 1000 wen... For a poor old man like him halfway into the dirt, he could earn so much?

Even after messing up the goose purchase, she not only didn't blame him but even gave him such a good deal. "Mrs. Li, you must be an immortal goddess!"

"I'll need large quantities going forward, so you'll have to travel far and wide. 1 wen more per catty is not much," Li Yao said. "But you must ensure supply and quality of the geese."

Old Kang patted his chest and promised, "Mrs. Li, don't worry. I'll do a good job on anything I promise you!"

"I know Huanghua Village has some goose raisers, I'll go buy from them now!"

Li Yao gave him 2000 wen as working capital.

She also gave 500 wen for him to help buy goslings or goose eggs that could hatch goslings.

Buying geese from all over long term was clearly not sustainable. She intended to raise them herself.

...

At Zhang's Restaurant.

The boss Zhang Guangsheng drank tea while asking the new shop manager,

"Did you get it done?"

"Done," Manager Wu said. "I paid a 10 wen deposit to each family in Baiyun Village. They won't sell a single goose to someone surnamed Li. But I'm worried she may raise the purchase price, then..."

"If she raises the price, we'll raise too," Zhang Guangsheng said. "Those poor villagers will hold on to their geese as long as you promise half a wen more per catty.

"But we're not really buying. If this drags on, won't the villagers eventually sell to her?"

"Are you dumb?" Zhang Guangsheng said. "We paid deposits so they can't sell before the agreed date no matter what. Just stalling them for 10-15 days will divert business back to us once He's Restaurant has no braised geese to sell."

"The boss is brilliant."

Looking out the window, Zhang Guangsheng smiled as he saw He's Restaurant in the distance.

Sometimes only a small spend was needed to accomplish big things.

Just then, a waiter rushed in in panic, "B-boss, trouble!"

"What's got you so frantic?"

"He's Restaurant has braised geese today too!"

"What's there to panic about? That's definitely leftover stock from yesterday."

But what Zhang Guangsheng didn't expect was He's Restaurant still had braised geese every day for the next three days too.

Not only that, Li Yao had also partnered with restaurants in the 3 nearby markets!

Yet not a single goose had been sold from Baiyun Village.

"Where is she getting the geese?"

"I asked around, she hired an old man to buy up geese from several neighboring counties."

Zhang Guangsheng felt frustrated.

He thought Li Yao was just a farmer's wife, naive and helpless without geese from Baiyun Village. Turned out the clown was himself.

"Boss," Manager Wu said, "Should we teach that old man a lesson?"

"What nonsense idea is that?" Zhang Guangsheng snapped. "What if you kill that old man? She'll just find another. Besides the new county magistrate is cracking down hard, don't cause me trouble."

"Yes, yes. What should we do about the Baiyun Village deposits then?"

What could they do, just consider it money tossed into water.

"There aren't that many geese in nearby counties. I'd like to see what she uses once that runs out!" ...

Old Kang traveled several counties but didn't manage to buy any goslings. He did buy two large crates of goose eggs though.

He Xiaoya was a little worried.

They only had one old hen at home. How to incubate so many goose eggs?

Li Yao said, "No need for the hen. We'll incubate them ourselves."

He Xiaoya: ...

Mother must be confused today. How can humans incubate goslings?

Sleep hugging goose eggs in bed for a month?

The biggest challenge of artificial incubation at that time was precise temperature control. After thinking hard, Li Yao decided to use the heated brick bed to incubate.

She bought lots of wood and had Li Zheng saw it into planks to build double-layered walls and roof, with the gap stuffed fully with hay. This was the incubation room.

The incubation bed was harder to build.

To evenly transmit heat, Li Yao spent heavily to have the blacksmith cast an iron tub 1 meter square and 15 cm thick, propped up by a ring of adobe.

The tub was filled with hot water, then layered with grass ash, cloth and thin quilts on top.

Several oil lamps burned below to maintain temperature.

Preparations were done.

If successful, they could even incubate chicks and ducklings in future.

When the bed temperature matched body temperature, she washed the goose eggs clean and laid them one by one on the bed, covered by two thick quilts.

The incubation duty was handed to He Xiaoya.

"Check the temperature every quarter hour. Same warmth as your body means correct temperature," Li Yao instructed solemnly. "If too hot remove an oil lamp, if too cold add one. Also turn the eggs over every 2 hours, and swap inner and outer eggs every 3 days."

"Got it mother. I'll incubate them properly."

This was two hundred goose eggs. A failure would mean huge losses.

He Xiaoya simply moved into the incubation room. Every quarter hour she would place a goose egg inside her clothes to test temperature and adjust oil lamps accordingly.

After five days, Li Yao candled the goose eggs under an oil lamp. Those without blood vessels inside could not hatch goslings.

She picked out over 50 of them and braised into tea eggs for He's Restaurant. Unexpectedly they became quite popular.

The news of Li Yao incubating goslings without a hen soon spread through the village.

"She really dares to think of anything and do anything."

"If she succeeds, wouldn't she be able to incubate hundreds or thousands at one go?"

"Just daydreaming! If she's really that capable, I'll read my name backwards - Jewel Gui!"

...

While waiting for the goslings to hatch, braised goose sales were also stabilizing.

They could sell 10 braised geese every day across the 4 markets and 4 restaurants, generating around 4000 wen profit daily.

Adding the braised food stall, total daily profit was now up to 6600 wen.

Li Yao now firmly held 50 taels of silver, establishing herself as He Wan Village's number one rich lady.

With these stable income sources, Li Yao finally had time to research on the grass plaster.