The shop clerk chuckled and said,
"There's a big difference between 'free' and 'cheap.' Here in Gaojia Village, if you're just a laborer doing hard work like road repair—no skill involved—you'll earn only three catties of flour a day. But here, a catty of flour costs just seven copper coins. You do the math—doesn't that feel like getting it for free?"
Liu You quickly did the math in his head and was shocked.
That meant working all day earned only twenty-one coppers!
Even if you worked thirty days, that was barely six hundred coppers—a mere six-tenths of a tael of silver.
At that rate… pure manual labor here wouldn't make you any money at all!
He thought again about Heyang County's situation.
Ever since Heyang received Gaojia Village's aid, their road workers were also paid three catties of flour per day, plus meals.
When he used Heyang's grain prices to calculate, it felt like a decent wage—but now, compared to Gaojia Village's cheap flour, that wage seemed pathetically low.
"Then what job here makes the most money?" Liu You couldn't help asking.
The clerk grinned.
"Be a craftsman! Skilled artisans easily make three taels of silver a month."
"Three taels?!" Liu You gasped.
That was a fortune to him.
The clerk crossed one leg over the other, smiling proudly.
"Here, if you've got skills, you can get rich."
Liu You thought for a moment.
I do have a skill… making my Water-Fresh Dumplings.
"That should count as a skill too, right?"
He stopped thinking and hurried back to his shop to get started.
As he walked, he kept calculating how much to charge per bowl.
In Heyang, he sold each bowl for ten copper coins, but the flour there was expensive, so nearly all his cost went into ingredients. His profit was barely half a coin per bowl—hardly worth the effort.
Here, flour was dirt cheap—seven coppers per catty!
Each bowl used maybe two taels of flour, costing just over one coin. Even adding coal and seasonings, he could sell a bowl for three coins and still make a one-coin profit.
That realization startled him.
He rushed back, kneading dough absentmindedly, lost in his calculations.
Zhao Sheng (the scholar who'd written his shop couplet earlier) laughed.
"Shopkeeper, how much are you planning to sell each bowl for? Decided yet?"
Liu You said blankly, "Not yet… what do you all think?"
Zhao Sheng grinned.
"Five coins a bowl should be fine."
Zhang Laowu nodded.
"Five sounds about right."
The other Discipline Committee members agreed.
"Yeah, reasonable."
Liu You nearly jumped.
"Five coins?! Then I'd earn three coins per bowl—that's outrageous profit!"
He asked nervously, "Wouldn't that be too expensive?"
Zhao Sheng laughed.
"Down the street, there's a southern-style rice noodle shop run by Gao Laba. He sells his noodles for five coins a bowl too. Your dumplings are just as good—maybe better! Sell for five, go head-to-head with him, and watch him fume! Hahaha!"
Liu You hesitated.
"I'm just an outsider… If I steal a local's business, won't he bring a crowd to smash my shop?"
Zhao Sheng waved his hand.
"You're overthinking. Here in Gaojia Village, who dares to bully others for business? They'd be sent straight to labor reform!"
Everyone laughed.
"Hahaha, no one wants to go to reform camp!"
Liu You exhaled.
"All right then… Five coins it is?"
Zhao Sheng clapped him on the shoulder.
"Louder, man! Shout it with pride! Actually, I'll shout it for you!"
He ran to the doorway and yelled toward the bustling street:
"A new shop from Heyang! Water-Fresh Dumplings! Only five coins a bowl! Come try the flavor of the north!"
At once, an old man turned his head toward the sound.
It was none other than Gaojia Village's former village head—a wealthy man with nowhere to spend his sudden fortune.
The moment he heard about a new snack, he didn't care what it was.
He strode straight in, plopped onto a stool, and said,
"Shopkeeper, bring me a bowl!"
From across the street, a head popped out—it was Gao Laba, the rice noodle seller.
"What? Village Head, you're betraying my noodles already?"
The old man chuckled.
"I eat your noodles every day—I'm sick of them!"
Gao Laba threw up his hands.
"Ha! True enough. I'm sick of them too! Fine then, I'm closing shop to try the new guy's food!"
He slammed his shutters down with a loud clang and marched straight into Liu You's shop, sitting beside the old village head.
"Give me a bowl too!" he demanded.
Liu You nearly fainted.
"Wh-what? How can this be happening?"
Gao Laba grinned.
"What's wrong? You won't serve your competition?"
Liu You's sweat poured down.
"It's not that—I just… feel a little nervous…"
And no wonder!
With the rice noodle shop closed, the whole lunchtime crowd suddenly had nowhere to go. The duck shop next door was too pricey, the seafood restaurant from Baijia Fort was way out of budget—so everyone's eyes locked on the new Water-Fresh Dumpling shop.
One after another, customers streamed in.
Thankfully, the place was a converted brothel—spacious and multi-storied—so it could fit plenty.
The first floor filled up fast, then even the upstairs rooms were packed.
It was just a humble snack shop, yet now it looked like a grand tavern with full banquet rooms!
Upstairs and downstairs, every seat was taken.
Liu You was frantic—kneading dough, boiling noodles, scooping soup—running in dizzying circles.
He worked nonstop until the sun set and the colorful lanterns of Gaojia Commercial Street lit up the night.
Only then, when the last few full-bellied guests left, did the crowd finally thin.
Liu You collapsed behind the counter, rubbing his sore back.
"Phew! I'm dead tired. Almost worked my waist right off…"
Just then, two young women stepped in—Gao Yiye and Qiu Ju.
Seeing Liu You, Gao Yiye smiled warmly.
"Shopkeeper, I heard you really came to open a store in Gaojia Village. I just had to come and see for myself."
Liu You hurriedly stood and bowed.
"All thanks to your suggestion, young lady."
Gao Yiye asked, "So, how was your business today?"
"Uh… I was so busy I couldn't keep count," Liu You admitted.
"Let me check my drawer."
He pulled it open—and gasped.
Inside was a drawer stuffed full of copper coins—so full they almost spilled out.
"One day!" he shouted. "Just one day!"
Liu You jumped up, eyes shining.
"I've struck it rich! I'm rich, hahaha! From now on, call me—'Liu the Oily Tycoon!'"