OFTLHFRO C84

Chapter 84 No One Doesn’t Need Money

With Wen Liuyun not back yet, Luo Mingchen could only go sell tofu with Huo Yan.

The shop had been closed for several days, and with the exam season on, students were home on break, so business was mediocre.

Sitting by the counter, Luo Mingchen said to Huo Yan, who was teaching their daughter the abacus, “Looks like to do business properly, there has to be time for it every day.”

Huo Yan had anticipated this long ago and simply said, “If this business doesn’t go big and strong, then this is all it can be.”

It sounded like stating the obvious.

But Luo Mingchen understood what he meant.

To go big and strong would require moving to a higher-traffic area, buying a larger shop, and hiring a team of suitable helpers.

If they couldn’t manage that, they could only build a circle of regulars and muddle along, neither here nor there.

“Then next year let’s test the waters in the county?”

As for capital, they already had plenty.

Even the busiest small town couldn’t compare to a county, let alone Yuanzhou Prefecture.

If the results in the county were good, they could move on to Yuanzhou next.

Hearing this, Huo Yan let Huo Xinyue play with the abacus on her own, looked at Luo Mingchen, and said, “Better to find partners.”

“Partners? Who would we…”

Before he finished, a light went on in Luo Mingchen’s mind. “You mean?”

Seeing he’d caught on, Huo Yan nodded. “Mm.”

“Will that work? They probably don’t need the money, do they?”

Though the third prince was a promising partner—connections and territory wouldn’t be their headache—with such a small business, who knew if anyone would even be interested.

But Huo Yan said, “No one doesn’t need money, even the royal family.”

Thinking it over, Luo Mingchen felt he had a point.

Beyond human greed, there was also the possibility that the third prince truly needed funds.

After all, if he wanted the throne, he would need to win people over and do other things—like maintain troops, covert guards, or retainers. Money, the more the better.

Also, milk tea didn’t have to stay low-end.

The key was how to hype it.

However, since they had already used mutated bamboo leaves, they needed to find other mutated plant leaves, or it would be easy to trace back to them.

If the emperor discovered the third prince’s intentions—considering he was already out of favor—the emperor would become even more wary, and by then there would be no chance for a palace coup.

Taking out pen and paper, Luo Mingchen wrote for a while, then suddenly remembered something and tilted his head at Huo Yan. “If we send over the plan, would the third prince think we’re trying to latch onto his thigh? Like… how to say it, the cheap and tacky kind.”

After all, Huo Yan had rejected the third prince previously.

“We only propose a partnership, with clear terms,” Huo Yan said. “If they think it feasible, we go in together. If not, we can just work harder ourselves.”

Luo Mingchen nodded. “If the third prince doesn’t partner with us, he likely won’t ask for our help either.”

That would save some trouble.

Though the odds of that were small.

After chatting, Luo Mingchen kept writing, planning to have Huo Yan copy it neatly later.

If he used a brush, it would take two or three years to finish—writing one or two characters per sheet…

The next morning, seeing Chen Xiuyue heading out, Luo Mingchen asked, “Auntie, where are you going?”

In his eyes, she still seemed frail as before, so he asked more than usual.

Smiling, Chen Xiuyue said, “Yun’er finishes today. I want to go to the town gate to meet him.”

“He won’t be back until the afternoon, right?” Luo Mingchen asked, puzzled.

“Mm…”

Thinking he needed her for something, she asked, “Is there anything you need me to do here?”

“No. How about this—let’s go to the county together after lunch, we happen to need to buy some things.”

Chen Xiuyue froze. “This… would that be too much trouble?”

Luo Mingchen smiled at her. “Not at all, it’s on the way.”

Although Yuelan County wasn’t far from Taohua Town, walking still took about an hour.

Still, he wasn’t lying—because they really did need to buy seafood, having promised Huo Xiang last night to make takoyaki.

After finishing their homework, Huo Yuhui and Huo Xiang came to help at the shop.

Hearing they would go to the county for seafood at noon, Huo Xiang was delighted—that meant the treasured little octopus balls were real.

After lunch, they took a carriage to Yuelan County.

On the way, Luo Mingchen sat beside Huo Yan, while Chen Xiuyue and the three children were inside.

After arriving, they dropped Chen Xiuyue off first.

There were few people waiting outside, perhaps because most candidates sitting for the provincial exam were adults—or it wasn’t time to finish yet.

Leaving her to wait, Luo Mingchen and Huo Yan took the three children to shop.

At the docks, they happened to run into Xiao Lin and Hua Niang buying sea fish.

Carrying a bucket of sea fish, Xiao Lin looked surprised. “Eh? You’re buying seafood too?”

“Mm.”

Seeing the docks were quite large, Luo Mingchen asked, “Brother Xiao, have you seen anyone selling octopus here?”

Shaking his head, Xiao Lin said, “No big octopus—apparently one was caught two days ago and already sold.”

Hearing this, Huo Xiang looked a little crestfallen.

Luo Mingchen smiled. “Alright, thanks.”

“No need to be polite. There are swimming crabs up ahead; you might take a look. Octopus is hard to catch—usually you have to arrange with fishermen in advance, or hire those with excellent water skills to specifically go for them.”

Helpless at that, Luo Mingchen realized he’d forgotten that local fishermen didn’t have many tools—making octopus a tricky catch.

They bought a bucket of clams, a bucket of sea shrimp, and a good haul of swimming crabs.

Glancing at Huo Xiang, Luo Mingchen caught his eye.

When his little Daddy looked his way, Huo Xiang pushed down his tiny disappointment and beamed. “Sea shrimp are delicious too.”

With an approving look, Huo Yuhui thought his younger brother had finally grown up.

Huo Xinyue had been gazing into the shrimp bucket, and at this, she nodded solemnly.

Whatever Little Daddy cooked out of sea shrimp would be delicious anyway.

Such a sensible child made Luo Mingchen feel even more guilty; if only he hadn’t bragged about how tasty takoyaki was…

Looking out across the way and seeing the sea not far off, Luo Mingchen exchanged a glance with Huo Yan, who quickly understood.

“That works too.”

So the couple took the three children to a secluded spot.

Luo Mingchen formed a hollow water sphere around himself. “Wait here.”

“Little Daddy! The sea is dangerous,” Huo Yuhui said anxiously.

Smiling at him, Luo Mingchen said, “Not for me.”

After all, there were no mutant beasts in this sea; even a school of large sharks wouldn’t matter.

Seeing him leap in, Huo Yuhui glanced up at the very calm Huo Yan and relaxed a little.

Huo Xiang was nervous too, watching intently.

In truth, if not for fear that making too big a splash would draw attention, Luo Mingchen could have just used his ability to part the sea.

This way was a bit more trouble, but it wouldn’t burn as much energy, and he could quietly bring back more seafood—worth it when one thought about it.