113 – Concern about Thieves

The name of the processing yard became ‘’Glimmer of Paradise Processing Yard’’. The vermicelli and wine produced in the processing yard were all marked with a ‘’bitten moon’’ logo. The logo was drawn by Qin Mian himself. The words of ‘’Glimmer of Paradise’’ were printed on the packaging bags of the vermicelli. Qin Mian also signed a contract with a pottery kiln workshop to produce many wine jars with the logo and brand name.

Plum ripened later than honey peaches. Qin Mian made the plums into dried plums and plum jam. Some of them were left in the space for use in autumn and winter, while the rest were sent to Double Xiang House. A lot of customers liked the taste of dried plums and plum jam, sweet and sour. Every time they came to dine in Double Xiang House, they bought more to bring home for their families to eat.

In terms of taste, Double Xiang House’s food, fruit, and jam were better than other places. The customers had already understood this fact. Even Double Xiang House’s competitors bought them in large quantities and resold them. In any case, Qin Mian and Lei Tie made money either way.

As the vermicelli workshop increased in production, it was more than sufficient to provide for Double Xiang House’s demand. Qin Mian simply expanded the production again and sold sweet potato and potato vermicelli for 100 Wen per jin. Not only that, like the noodles, he also produced green vermicelli, red vermicelli, and purple vermicelli, all of which for 150 Wen per jin. In the first month of export, the vermicelli workshop made a net profit of more than 700 silver taels.

The operation of the winery was also on the right track. Regardless of white wine or fruit wine, the Glimmer of Paradise’s wine had more ineffable aroma than others’ wine, so that the drinker could better taste the pleasure of slight drunkenness. Therefore, 90% of the people who liked to drink the Glimmer of Paradise’s wine believed it was more expensive than others’ wine but worth the money.

As for the situation of Qin Mian and Lei Tie’s family, considering that milk was needed to make many cakes, Qin Mian had Lei Tie buying five milk cows from the prefecture town.

In mid-late of the eighth month, the honey peach trees stopped fruiting. Qin Mian stopped supplying honey peaches to Double Xiang House. The last batch of peaches, he sent 20 jin to Deng Village, 20 jin to the old house, two to each of his servants, and the rest were sold at the price of 100 Wen per jin, earning him another fortune.

At this time, the grapes and the yellow peaches began to ripen.

There were only two grapevines, and the grapes were enough for Qin Mian and Lei Tie to eat for themselves.

Yellow peaches were not suitable for storage, but they were very suitable for canning. It tasted very sweet. Even Qin Mian, who strongly disliked anything sweet, liked it very much. He and Lei Tie went to the county town to order a thousand small earthen jars with a capacity of about one and a half sheng¹ to make canned yellow peaches. Of course, they used the same brand name.

The two hired a group of dexterous women in the village and picked the ripe yellow peaches. After washing the yellow peaches, they peeled, cut in half, removed the pits, and then cut the flesh into pieces. A pot of water was brought to boil and added with sugar. When the sugar dissolved, the flesh of the yellow peaches was poured in. After it started to boil, turned to low heat, and cooked until the flesh was soft and firm. Lastly, the flesh was put in the clean jar and filled until 4/5 parts full before sealing it.

After a thousand canned yellow peaches were ready, Qin Mian used the excuse of sending them to the ice storehouse in the town, but actually stored all of it in the space. In autumn and winter, when he sold them at the price of 1 silver tael per can, he could make a net profit of 1000 silver taels!

The rest of the yellow peach was mainly supplied to Double Xiang House.

The customers of Double Xiang House had noticed that after eating Leisurely Farmhouse’s fruits for a long time, their physical condition had obviously improved. Especially for the women, they discovered that the spots and lines on their faces were much lighter and their skin was whiter. This statement made Double Xiang House’s fruit, juice, jam, and pastry sell like hotcakes.

The orchard of Leisurely Farmhouse not only brought wealth to Qin Mian and Lei Tie, but also provided the villagers with the opportunity to do odd jobs by picking, washing, cutting, and transporting fruits. If one worked for a day, one could earn at least 10 Wen! For the women who spend two days embroidering a pouch before selling it but only earned 1 to 2 Wen, this money was like a steal! The lives of the villagers became much better than in previous years. Therefore, they were kinder to Qin Mian and Lei Tie.

However, fortune and misfortune correlated with each other. In the meantime, Leisurely Farmhouse also drew some new people’s attention.

In the middle of the night, Qin Mian was sleeping soundly. After hearing the fierce barking of dogs coming from the processing yard, Qin Mian woke up with a start. In the darkness, he got up and nearly fell out of the bed, but was caught by Lei Tie.

“A-Tie, there is a thief?”

“Go back to sleep. I’ll go and have a look.” Lei Tie quickly put on his clothes. His figure flashed and disappeared after jumping out of the window.

Outside, moonlight and starlight mingled while the sounds of frogs and summer insects lingered in the ears but still could not cover up the barking of the dogs.

Qin Mian sat on the bed and yawned, not fully awake. He was not very worried. There were two servants on duty every night at the processing yard, and the six dogs in the processing yard were not ordinary; two of them were wolfhounds and the other four were vicious rural dogs. The six dogs were very vicious. Most people dared not get close to them. After Qin Mian fed them spiritual spring water, they became more intelligent and extraordinarily acute. When work finished in the evening, the servants on duty would untie their ropes. Even if the thieves successfully entered, they would be caught by the dogs.

Qin Mian put on his clothes, carried a lantern, and entered the processing yard from the corner gate. Seeing the torch and swaying shadows in the distance, Qin Mian quickened his pace and called out, “A-Tie, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Two thieves were restrained with their hands held on their backs by Lei-Qin Li and Lei-Qin Jian. There was also a man pressed by a wolfhound, lying on the ground, trembling and scared to move. At the side, there were five other dogs with their mouths opened.

On the wall not far away, there was a long wooden ladder. On a closer look, it turned out that two wooden ladders were connected with ropes. There was another wooden ladder that appeared outside the wall.

Qin Mian brought the lantern near the three thieves, and was stunned, “Zhou Erhao, Zhao Sifa, and Li Sanlai?”

Zhou Erhao glanced at the dog’s mouth, which was only three inches away from him. He turned his head and begged for mercy. His voice trembled, “B-brother Qin, please spare me this time. I was egged on by those two!” Inwardly, he sighed at his misfortune. He didn’t expect these dogs to be so alert. Not long after the three of them climbed over the wall and came in, they were found out by the dogs. However, they had been prepared and dropped some steamed stuffed buns with knock-out drugs, wanting to incapacitate them. Yet, these dogs did not eat the steamed stuffed buns, not even sniffed at them.

How could he have known that these dogs were so full to have eaten three meals a day and also ate very well? Moreover, they were intelligent. Having simply trained by Lei Tie, they would not eat food given by strangers.

“Nonsense, you frick!” Li Sanlai broke out into curses. “You made the idea of putting knock-out drugs in the steamed stuffed buns!”

“That’s right!” Zhao Sifa chimed in, “It’s Zhou Erhao who egged me and Li Sanlai on!”

“Frick, it was you two who egged me on!” Zhou Erhao fiercely glared at them, “Brother Qin, believe me. Zhao Sifa has always hated you for hiring others to work, but Li Sanlai is even more detestable because he wants to steal your vermicelli recipe.”

“No, it’s him who wants to steal the recipe!” Li Sanlai raised his foot to kick Zhou Erhao, but Lei-Qin Jian exerted force, making him screamed in pain and didn’t dare to move again. He was shocked that the boy, who was only a teenager, had such great strength.

“Shut up!” Qin Mian stopped them and said in a cold voice, “I thought the thieves were from other villages. I honestly didn’t expect it would be you three. Zhao Sifa, if I remember correctly, your wife is working in the vermicelli workshop?”

Zhao Sifa’s head drooped, not making a sound.

“Eldest Young Master, Little Young Master. It’d be better to send them to see an official!” Lei-Qin Jian angrily said, “Fortunately, our dogs are smart, otherwise they will succeed.”

Qin Mian frowned. Stealing could either be a big or a small matter. In any case, everyone was from the same village. If they were sent to the official, their families would certainly hate them (the victim), which might cause more trouble. But if they did not deal with them, these people would regard him and Lei Tie as the sort to be easily bullied.

He asked Lei Tie, “A-Tie, what should we do?”

Lei Tie indifferently said, “Take to see Li Zheng tomorrow morning.”

“No!” Zhou Erhao and the other two turned pale at the same time. The countryfolks were simple, they despised those who resorted to trickery. Once they were sent to see Li Zheng, their reputation would be completely ruined.

“Brother Qin, Brother Lei—”

Lei Tie coldly said, “Take them away.”

After dawn, Qin Mian and Lei Tie went to Li Zheng’s home with Lei-Qin Li, Lei-Qin Jian, and Lei-Qin Zhong escorted Zhou Erhao and his other two accomplices.

Seeing this situation, the villagers immediately guessed that something had happened last night, and they all followed behind to watch.

The wives of Zhou Erhao, Li Sanlai, and Zhao Sifa found out their husbands were missing in the middle of the night yesterday. At this time, they realized that their husbands had been caught by Qin Mian and Lei Tie. They rushed over to find people and asked what had happened.

Zhou Erhao and his two accomplices yelled out their grievances.

“Brother Qin, is there any misunderstanding?” Zhou Erhao’s wife was both anxious and worried, as well as a little wary.

Qin Mian said, “Whether or not it’s a misunderstanding, you’ll know after seeing Li Zheng.”

The procession was getting bigger and bigger. Some villagers speculated whether the three people went to the processing yard to steal things last night. They didn’t know that it was the right guess.

Li Zheng saw the group and asked everyone to enter the courtyard. The courtyard of Li Zheng’s house was quite large, which was used for discussion meetings when major events happened in the village.

“Lei Tie, Lei Tie’s wife. Tell me, what’s going on? What’s wrong with the three of them?” When Li Zheng saw the village’s three good-for-nothing people together, he immediately guessed that the matter was very difficult to handle.

Since Qin Mian was the one who ‘’married in’’, in the eyes of the villagers, Lei Tie was the master of Leisurely Farmhouse and the processing yard. Thus, Qin Mian signaled Lei Tie to speak.

Lei Tie cupped his hands in obeisance and said, “Li Zheng, thank you for your hospitality. In this matter, Lei-Qin Li and Lei-Qin Jian are the clearest. You may as well listen to them.”

After bowing respectfully, Lei-Qin Li said, “I’d like to report to Li Zheng that last night, these three people climbed over the wall to enter the processing yard and tried to steal things. They were caught by Lei-Qin Jian and me. At this time, there are certainly wooden ladders and stuffed buns with knock-out drugs as evidence.” The explanation was concise and comprehensive, straight to the point.

As soon as the villagers heard this, their disdainful eyes fell on Zhou Erhao, Li Sanlai, and Zhao Sifa. Particularly Zhao Sifa, whose wife was diligent and still working in the vermicelli workshop in the processing yard.

Note:

Footnotes