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Chapter 379: I'm Bloody Rich!

The waiter chuckled: "There's a huge difference between that and getting it for free! In our Gao Family Village, if you're a road worker doing purely physical labor with no skill required, you only earn three pounds of flour a day. But a pound of flour here only costs seven copper coins. You do the math yourself—is that really 'given away for free'?"

Liu You quickly did the math, a jolt going through him. So, a full day's work only earned him twenty-one copper coins? A whole month would only net six hundred copper coins, which was a mere six *qian* of silver.

In that case, he muttered, pure brute labor here barely earns anything!

He thought back to the situation in Heyang County. Ever since Heyang County received aid from Gao Family Village, road workers there were paid three pounds of flour a day, in addition to being fed until full.

Before, calculating with Heyang County's grain prices, he'd thought the road workers' wages were quite generous. But measured against Gao Family Village's prices, they were horrifyingly low.

Liu You couldn't help but ask another question: "What kind of work earns the most here?"

The waiter grinned. "Being an artisan! A skilled artisan can easily make three taels of silver a month."

Liu You gasped, "Three taels!"

He was genuinely stunned.

Liu You thought: *I have a lifetime of skill making fresh Hele noodles; that should count as a skill, right? Never mind, I need to get back to work.*

As he walked back to his shop, he pondered how much he should charge for a bowl of his Hele noodles.

In Heyang County, he used to sell them for ten *wen* a bowl. But flour was expensive there, so the cost of a single bowl of Hele noodles was almost entirely in the flour, leaving him with a razor-thin profit – less than one *wen* per bowl, at most half a *wen*.

That half *wen* was essentially his meager payment for all his hard work.

Here, however, flour was incredibly cheap, seven *wen* a pound! A bowl of Hele noodles would at most use two ounces of flour, making the ingredient cost just over one *wen*. Adding in the cost of coal and seasonings, he could sell a bowl for only three *wen* and still make a profit of one *wen*.

The realization startled him.

He walked back into his shop, absently kneading dough, his mind still reeling from the thought.

Zhao Sheng chuckled, asking, "Shopkeeper, how much are you planning to sell your Hele noodles for a bowl? Have you decided yet?"

Liu You, still dazed, mumbled, "I haven't decided yet. What do you all think... how much should I sell them for?"

Zhao Sheng suggested, "Five *wen* should be fine, right?"

Old Zhang Five nodded. "Five *wen* seems about right."

The other Disciplinary Committee members also smiled, "Mm-hmm, reasonable."

Liu You jumped, thinking: *Five *wen*? Wouldn't that mean a profit of three *wen* per bowl? Wouldn't I get rich then?*

He asked somewhat timidly, "Won't five *wen* be too expensive?"

Zhao Sheng laughed. "On this street, there's a shop selling southern rice noodles, run by Gao Laba. He sells his rice noodles for five *wen* a bowl. Your unique dish is surely no worse than rice noodles, right? Why not also sell it for five *wen*? Go head-to-head with Gao Laba, steal his business, infuriate him! Hahaha."

Liu You hesitated, lacking confidence. "I'm an outsider... if I go head-to-head with a local for business, what if he calls over a hundred or so of his fellow villagers? Wouldn't they smash up my shop?"

Zhao Sheng laughed again. "Overthinking, overthinking! In Gao Family Village, who would dare engage in such bullying business practices? Do they want to end up in Labor Reform?"

Everyone chuckled. "Hahaha, nobody wants to go to Labor Reform."

Liu You asked, "So, I'll set it at five *wen* then?"

Zhao Sheng said, "Be bolder, shout out 'five *wen*!' Alright, I'll help you shout it."

He ran to the shop entrance and yelled to the stream of people outside, "New Heyang snack shop open! Little Clam Hele noodles, five *wen* a bowl! Five *wen* a bowl!"

With that shout, an old man on the street immediately looked over.

This old man was none other than the Village Chief of Gao Family Village, a man of considerable wealth, one of those who had struck it rich overnight and now had money to burn but few places to spend it. The moment he heard about a new snack, he didn't care what kind it was; he just wanted to grab a spot.

The Village Chief walked in and plopped down with a thud. "Shopkeeper, one bowl for me."

From a shop further down, Gao Laba's head popped out. "Oh, Village Chief, are you abandoning my shop today?"

The Village Chief chuckled. "Eating your rice noodles every single day, wouldn't I get tired of it?"

Gao Laba exclaimed, "Ah? You're right, I'm even sick of it myself! Alright, I'm closing up today; I want to try the new snack too."

The fellow closed shop just like that, slamming the door of Laba Rice Noodles shut. Then he followed the Village Chief into the Hele noodle shop, plopped down beside him, and slapped the table. "I want a bowl too."

This completely flustered Liu You. "Whoa, whoa, whoa? What's going on?"

"What's wrong?" Gao Laba asked. "Aren't you serving a fellow merchant?"

Sweat poured down Liu You's face. "It's not that I'm not serving, it's just... I feel... a little overwhelmed...."

It would have been strange if he *wasn't* panicked. With Laba Rice Noodles closed, everyone who wanted rice noodles had nowhere to eat. The braised duck next door was too expensive, and the river fresh seafood shop opened by folks from Bai Family Fortress wasn't cheap either – not something you could eat every day. So, a group of people, eyes darting, settled on the newly opened Hele noodle shop.

People kept streaming in, taking seats one after another.

Luckily, the shop had been converted from a brothel, so it was much more spacious than a typical storefront and could accommodate many customers. The first floor quickly filled up, and soon even the private rooms on the second floor were packed.

Just eating a snack, yet they were sitting in private rooms as if they were in a grand restaurant – it was truly a bit awkward.

Upstairs and downstairs, two floors of people waited for Liu You to cook their Hele noodles.

Liu You was frantic, desperately kneading dough, frantically cooking, frantically scooping...

This really put him through the wringer.

He scurried around ceaselessly, up and down, until the sun had completely set, lights flickered on in Gao Family's commercial district, and nightlife began. The main wave of diners, stomachs full and content, finally left, and only then did the number of customers in the shop finally dwindle.

Only then was Liu You finally done. He let out a heavy sigh, sat down behind the counter, and rubbed his aching back:

"I'm exhausted. I nearly broke my back from all that work."

A flicker of movement at the shop entrance, and Gao Yiye and the two young women, Qiu Ju and Dong Xue, walked in. Seeing Liu You, Gao Yiye offered a gentle smile. "Shopkeeper, I heard you really opened a shop in Gao Family Village, so I came specifically to check on you."

Liu You quickly stood up and bowed. "Many thanks for your guidance, Miss."

Gao Yiye asked, "How's business today?"

Liu You replied, "Huh? I was so busy just now, I haven't even counted. Let me see how business actually was."

He pulled open the counter drawer, peeked inside, and immediately gasped, sucking in a mouthful of cool air. The drawer was overflowing with copper coins, completely full.

Just one day!

A single day!

Liu You let out a triumphant cry. "I'm rich! I'm rich! Haha, from now on, I'm going to give myself a nickname: 'Drippingly Rich!'"