Chapter 228

At lunchtime, Jiang Yunxiang had already prepared a meal for Zhang Guafu: one meat dish, one vegetable dish; Zhang Guafu was extremely grateful.

After Jiang Yunxiang left, Ye Cheng stayed a bit longer, still had something to say.

Just as he sat down, Zhang Guafu looked at Ye Cheng, her hands moving incessantly under her clothes, rubbing, a bit embarrassed she said, "A Cheng, I currently have no money to repay you; if you don't mind, sister-in-law can keep you company. Just, just, Xiao Liang is still at home, so keep your voice down a bit later."

Ye Cheng almost spat out his tea, damn it, I forgot to leave Xiao Hu behind, this caused Zhang Guafu to misunderstand.

"Aunt, I already told you not to bring this up again."

Zhang Guafu gave Ye Cheng a resentful, aggrieved look and said, "A Cheng, but that 30,000, you want auntie to repay it; auntie can't pay it back right away, so why not just take some interest?"

As she spoke, Zhang Guafu lunged forward, frightening Ye Cheng, who quickly rose and walked to the doorway, standing outside,

"No, no, Aunt, I'm here just to talk about the 30,000."

Upon hearing it was about money, Zhang Guafu stopped, nervously looking at Ye Cheng, not knowing what terms he would propose.

"Aunt, given your situation, you definitely can't repay this 30,000, right?"

Zhang Guafu nodded, then shook her head and said, "A Cheng, I will work hard to earn money to repay you, I..."

"Don't, Aunt, hear me out: you have no job, I'll find you work, then you earn money to repay me—does that make sense?" Ye Cheng just wanted to get this explained quickly, otherwise it would keep getting more ridiculous.

"Huh? You'll find me work?" Zhang Guafu stared for a moment, "Really? Going with you and Xiao Hu to gather seafood?"

"Not gathering seafood, but selling spicy crayfish, that is, the red crawfish we have in our fields."

"Crawfish? Who would want that?" Zhang Guafu's initially happy face darkened instantly.

"I'll teach you how to make it; just follow my instructions, then sell it at 10 per jin, limit 2 jin per person, so your profit per jin would be 5-6, selling 20 jin a day could earn 100."

"100 a day?" Zhang Guafu was stunned by the figure; that works out to 3000 a month—is it really that easy to earn?

"Of course, I'll say the unpleasant part up front: this is rather labor-intensive; you must wash it thoroughly, otherwise if someone gets sick from eating it, you bear the responsibility, not me."

"A Cheng, I'm good at washing things; I'll definitely wash it clean, you can rest assured—so, can this really make money?"

Zhang Guafu still wasn't entirely reassured.

Actually, this is entrepreneurship; why do poor people rarely succeed in starting businesses? Because they fear failure and thus dare not try.

Another reason is they lack capital; once they fail, they basically collapse completely.

The experience of a certain tea in later generations tells us that entrepreneurship is about casting a wide net—no one knows which project will take off.

If you lack a family background to support your failures, it's better not to start a business.

Zhang Guafu now has this mindset: she currently owes Ye Cheng 30,000, but if she starts a business she might end up owing even more, and she's afraid.

Ye Cheng instantly saw the problem, thought for a moment, then said,

"Like this, Aunt, you work for a month; any profit is yours, any loss is mine—does that work?"

"Damn, I've already been benevolent and righteous toward Zhang Guafu; perhaps it's because she's the first person I met after my rebirth."

Upon hearing there was still such a good deal, Zhang Guafu was so excited she didn't know what to say,

"A Cheng, um, how should I thank you?"

"Earn money and repay me—that's thanking me, got it?"

Zhang Guafu nodded.

"Alright, rest today; I'll come tomorrow to teach you how to make crayfish, and remember, from now on its name is crayfish, not crawfish."

Crawfish—just hearing that name puts people off buying.

Over the next two days, Luck Value wasn't particularly high; Ye Cheng brought Zhang Guafu to thoroughly research the spice blend for the mala, roughly dividing it into heavy spice and mild spice.

As for non-spicy, sorry, Ye Cheng really doesn't know how to make that.

"Mala, mala—what's the point of eating mala if it's not spicy?"

Because of Zhao Zhiming's prior lesson, Ye Cheng insists Zhang Guafu must wash them thoroughly, and then allow only two jin per person; more could cause trouble.

Zhang Guafu originally lacked confidence, since Ye Cheng was backing her, but after trying it once, her confidence instantly shot through the roof.

Now the consideration is how to obtain this many crawfish.

Although everyone knows they're in the fields, that doesn't mean you can have a steady supply.

Moreover, catching them in the fields requires people; relying on yourself, you can catch 2-3 jin a day, but demanding 20 jin or even several dozen jin daily is too hard.

To make this a long-term business, the main thing is the supply.

For now we can't afford to farm them, so we can only first find people to gather them from various villages.

As for the person to do it, Ye Cheng has someone in mind, but he doesn't know if they'll agree.

Taking advantage of the evening, Ye Cheng went to Li Quezi's and bought two bottles of baijiu, then carried them over to Chen Jinli's home; the Chen family's two brothers were holding bowls, eating rice in the courtyard.

Upon seeing Ye Cheng enter, the two immediately rose to their feet, looking delighted,

"Brother, why did you come? Have you eaten?"

Speaking, Chen Zhangfu felt a bit embarrassed, "My family's food is rather plain; brother, if you don't mind, you could have something at my place."

"I've already eaten; I just happened to have something to attend to." Ye Cheng set down the baijiu.

Chen Jinli heard the commotion and came out; upon seeing Ye Cheng, his expression flickered with embarrassment before quickly returning to normal,

"Lao Er has arrived—why be so formal, even bringing liquor?"

"It's only proper, Uncle; I haven't visited before, and it's not exactly fine liquor—just the usual drink."

Chen Jinli uncorked it—"Gu Jing Gong"—and said, "This still isn't top‑grade liquor."

This Ye Lao Er really has money.

Chen Jinli glanced around, thinking Ye Cheng was looking for his two sons regarding some matter, and quickly said tactfully,

"Then, Lao Er, if you have any business, just have them do it; if they refuse, tell me and I'll beat them."

After saying that, he didn't forget to bring in the Wuliangye as well.

The Chen Family's two brothers looked at Ye Cheng with eager anticipation,

"Brother, are we going to gather seafood? We've got the strength."

Last time they went out to sea and made a fair amount, the two of them have been thinking about it.

"No, it's just that there's a job, but there isn't that much money, and it's relatively hard work—see if you're willing to do it?" Ye Cheng first lowered his voice a bit, so as not to raise expectations too high.

Hearing Ye Cheng say it was hard work and didn't pay that much, the two brothers' faces darkened a bit, but Chen Zhangfu immediately reacted—those two bottles of alcohol alone cost over a hundred, they get paid for the work, what's there not to be willing about?