TATSD Chapter 29

In the house of Baozi Xishi on West Street.

Liu Qing, Lin Qing, and Li Erba were sitting around the table. Baozi Xishi had brought out plenty of fine wine and dishes for them to eat and drink. She, however, dared not to disturb them and stepped back, standing quietly behind.

“If it weren’t for Boss Sun pulling strings to get us out, we’d be stuck in there for a year!” Liu Qing’s face was livid, and he pounded the table with his fist, causing it to shake.

Baozi Xishi, standing at the back, was startled and took another step back, nervously watching Liu Qing and biting her lip, too afraid to speak.

“Why don’t we find a dark, windy night and—” Li Erba made a slashing motion across his throat, speaking in a vicious tone.

“If this grudge isn’t avenged, I, Lin Qing, won’t have any face left!” Lin Qing, unlike the other two, was more restrained but the most calculating among them.

Among the three, he was the strategist.

Once he spoke, the others’ gazes all turned to him.

“Brother Qing, do you have any ideas?” Liu Qing’s expression softened a bit.

“Let’s not talk about killing people anymore,” Lin Qing said solemnly, looking directly at Li Erba. At the sight of Li Erba’s sinister expression, Li Erba immediately shrank back, mumbling that he understood.

“We are upstanding citizens. If someone dies, even Boss Sun wouldn’t be able to protect us. Do you think we can always escape danger like this?” The thought of Boss Sun’s furious face made Lin Qing shudder.

It wasn’t that Boss Sun was particularly cruel, but everyone who made him angry and disappointed ended up with a bad fate.

There was no need for Boss Sun to lift a finger.

Take that Master Lu from the county office, for example. In the gang, with the internal power struggles, without his protection, others would soon come knocking. Before long, they wouldn’t be able to stay afloat.

It would either be fleeing to another place or ending up in the county jail, with no hope of getting out for at least three to five years.

Boss Sun’s greatest taboo was having his subordinates act outside the rules.

Fighting was permissible, but it had to be justified.

Murder was not allowed. If it happened, if the county magistrate didn’t intervene, Boss Sun would have the culprit bound and sent to the county office to make amends with the magistrate.

Lin Qing was smart enough not to make such a mistake.

“So what do you suggest?” Liu Qing asked with curiosity.

“To completely ruin Ji Wei, we need to target his most crucial points,” Lin Qing said with a cold smile. “Isn’t he trying to distance himself from us and start anew?”

Liu Qing, recalling that day’s events, was seething with hatred.

The sound of liquor pouring into mouths was loud and quick.

“Right now, he’s only got confidence because of his lousy stall. As long as we completely ruin his business, he won’t be able to come back to the gang and will have no income. Let’s see if he won’t be begging us for forgiveness!”

Li Erba, shivering with fear, couldn’t help but agree: “Brother Qing, you’re right! Let’s destroy him! Make him beg us for mercy!”

If Liu Qing is the wolf and Li Erba is the jackal, then Lin Qing is the venomous snake lurking beside them, striking only when necessary and leaving no survivors. Even Liu Qing wouldn’t dare to offend him.

“So what exactly should we do?” Liu Qing was confused.

“We’ll need to trouble Xiufen for this.”

Baozi Xishi, who had been mentioned, shuddered and looked at Lin Qing with some fear.

Liu Qing waved her over, angrily saying, “Why are you standing so far away? Are you afraid I’ll eat you?”

Baozi Xishi stepped forward, closer to Lin Qing and Liu Qing, and shook her head vigorously, “No, I’m just afraid of interrupting your drinking and chatting.”

“Xiufen, there’s no need to be so reserved; we’ve known each other for so long,” Lin Qing said kindly to Baozi Xishi, but for some reason, this made her even more frightened.

“It’s not a difficult task. I know you’re skilled with your hands.”

“Ah?” Baozi Xishi looked at Lin Qing in confusion.

“You’re close to Ji Wei’s stall and have often seen him making pancakes. You should know how it’s done, right?”

“I have some idea,” Baozi Xishi hesitated.

Even Liu Qing, who wasn’t very sharp, started to catch on to Lin Qing’s meaning.

“Brother Qing, you mean?”

Lin Qing smiled at Baozi Xishi, “It’s simple. We provide the money, and you put in some effort. When the time comes, set up a stall next to him and sell pancakes. If he sells three for a coin and you sell one for the same price, I don’t believe he won’t be squeezed out!”

“But is this really a good idea?” Baozi Xishi was a bit scared and felt uneasy about the plan.

She dared not speak up but looked at Lin Qing with a pleading expression, trying to silently convince him to change his mind.

“Good! Good! Good!” Liu Qing said three times, “You’re really smart!”

“This plan is called ‘cutting off the firewood from under the pot,’” Lin Qing said softly.

Cut off their financial lifeline and see what kind of spirit they have left.

Ji Wei sneezed.

He rubbed his nose, feeling somewhat puzzled.

“Brother Ji, could it be a heatstroke?” Liu Yimian asked with concern. The sun had been strong in the afternoon, and he still had to go to Zhao Quezi’s house to distribute money, saying that wages couldn’t be delayed to avoid unrest.

“It doesn’t seem like it.”

“Should we see a doctor?”

“I’m not that delicate,” Ji Wei laughed. “It’s nothing; just drink more water.”

Indeed, Liu Yimian went back and boiled a large pot of water, cooled it, and brought it to Ji Wei, insisting that he drink it.

Drinking water continuously in the first half of the night meant frequent trips to the bathroom in the second half.

Ji Wei didn’t sleep well all night. The next day, with dark circles under his eyes, when he saw the workers coming to his door, they all laughed meaningfully.

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Compared to yesterday, Ji Wei had hired a lot more people.

They were divided into three groups.

One group went to Zhao Quezi’s house to milk cows, another shook the milk, and the third, led by Zhao Hu, made butter.

Ji Wei didn’t say what the products were for. Although they didn’t voice it, they couldn’t stop murmuring in their hearts.

Once Ji Wei left, those making butter started talking openly.

“What do you think this is for?”

“What else? To eat.”

“How can you waste food like this? It’s painful to watch.”

“I’ve never heard of anyone doing this; it’s hard to guess.”

“We didn’t do this yesterday; I was there too.”

“I just tasted a bit. It’s fragrant but doesn’t have much flavor.”

When someone mentioned tasting, the others were stunned.

“Why are you staring at me? I just tasted a bit,” he said, feeling that everyone was overreacting. He was about to taste more when a familiar voice rang out.

“Ah, so you dare to steal some!”

Zhao Hu grabbed him by the collar, pulled him out of the group, and dragged him to the center of the yard, loudly declaring, “Ji Wei spent so much money hiring you all, not to have you chat and steal food!”

“If anyone dares to talk or steal food while working again, this will be their end!”

His loud shout startled Ji Wei inside the house.

Coming out, he saw a tall, thin man being held by Zhao Hu, pleading with a sorrowful face, “I’m sorry! I won’t do it again! Please let me off this time!”

“What’s going on?” Ji Wei asked, hands behind his back, walking over and looking at Zhao Hu calmly.

“He stole some food,” Zhao Hu said briefly.

“Dismiss him,” Ji Wei’s face turned cold. “I remember he didn’t work for an hour, so give him five coins and send him away.”

“Give me another chance!” the man shouted.

“Trust is mutual. I’ve given it, and there are no second chances. Anyone who dares to be lazy or do something inappropriate—” He didn’t need to say more.

Everyone watched as the man was kicked out by the burly Zhao Hu, and no one dared to have any other thoughts. They all worked diligently.

Efficiency improved dramatically.

Ji Wei occasionally walked around, checking the progress and seeing it was good, then retreated to the kitchen.

He had ordered a batch of thin, smooth tin from the blacksmith.

After receiving it, he carved different patterns into it and rolled it into cone-shaped piping tips.

Ji Wei made four piping tips in one go, all simple in shape and not complex in workmanship.

After preparing the cookie dough, he rolled it into a tube with parchment paper, inserted a piping tip, and began to pipe the cookie dough onto the baking tray covered with parchment paper, shaping them one by one.

Round cookies, ten in a row, five rows in total.

The bread oven was heating up, emitting billowing hot smoke.

The people working nearby had to move to the edge because of the heat.

Once Ji Wei put the tray of cookies into the oven, soon a faint, sweet aroma of milk began to waft through the cracks in the oven.

“What’s that smell? It’s making me so hungry!”

“Yeah, I’m getting hungrier and almost can’t carry the jar.”

“I’ll go get a bowl of soup!”

The already exhausted workers, upon smelling the aroma, found it hard to continue working and began whispering among themselves.

Ji Wei knew that the smell of baking cookies was indeed very enticing and hard to resist.

So he didn’t scold them.

When he thought the time was right, he took out the tray of cookies and put in a new one.

After the cookies cooled, Ji Wei took half of them, put them on a plate, and started distributing them.

“These are so delicious I’m about to swallow my tongue!”

“Why am I even hungrier after eating them?”

“Brother Ji, can I have another piece?”

Ji Wei smiled and shook his head, “There’s a limited quantity. I see you’re all working hard, so I just brought some out for you to try.”

“My son loves sweet things, so these will suit his taste!” A man, seeing Ji Wei leave, quickly put down what he had and ran to grab Ji Wei, “Could you sell some to me? I’d like to take some home for my family to try.”

“I’m sorry, big brother. I didn’t plan to sell them today, and there aren’t enough. Wait a few days, and when I start selling, you can get as many as you want,” Ji Wei left, leaving the man standing there, a bit disappointed.

It took three days to refine all the accumulated goat’s milk into yogurt and butter.

The process was quick but costly.

In terms of labor and goat’s milk, Ji Wei spent almost ten taels of silver to prepare everything needed.

Every day, after calculating the accounts, Liu Yimian watched the money flow out like a river, and her heart bled.

Unlike her, Ji Wei was completely unfazed.

As long as he could make the money back, spending twenty taels wasn’t a big deal.

At this point, Ji Wei locked himself in the courtyard and focused solely on baking cookies.

One batch after another, tray after tray.

The unique aroma wafted far and wide, attracting countless visitors and sparking whispered criticisms.

Without exception, the door remained tightly shut, and everyone was turned away.

When Ji Wei finally used up all the butter, the door of the Ji household was finally opened.

He called the men who had previously made noise and gave them new selling phrases to memorize. The next morning, the five of them set out with a box of cookies in hand.