Zhao Zhan looked at her with a pampering expression. It was rare for him to cooperate at times like this. “I’ll be counting on you in the future.”

He was tall, strong, and had tough facial features, which was completely different from the temperament of a scholar.

Yue Jiaojiao laughed out loud. “You better not buy some random storybook and go home to peek at them.”

Zhao Zhan’s expression froze for a moment, but when he saw her happy smile, he could not help but curl up the corners of his lips.

“Then let’s go. We’ll go look for a blacksmith first,” Yue Jiaojiao placed her hand on Zhao Zhan’s palm and pulled him outside. “Recently, Li Miao and I would often come out to stroll around this town when we’re free. There’s a blacksmith’s shop on the street behind our shop. If we need it urgently, when the time comes, we’ll pay more silver and ask them to forge it as soon as possible. The oven needs five iron trays, right?” Yue Jiaojiao roughly showed Zhao Zhan the size. “Other than this, we also need to make a few trays as a backup. According to the size of the iron tray we want, we can make a few more and put them in to roast together. And remember to try the stove chamber and smoke evacuator before you use them. Don’t let the smoke get stuck in the backyard. The customers sitting in the shop will also choke.”

“Alright.” Zhao Zhan nodded seriously. “I’ll remember it all. I told Fang Tianliu yesterday that if the shop is booked, he should go to Master Chen to prepare the materials first and get a general idea out.”

As the two of them spoke, they arrived at the blacksmith’s forge.

“Master Chen,” Zhao Zhan hid Yue Jiaojiao behind him and asked politely, “I want to forge a few pieces of metal trays, but I’m in a hurry. I wonder if you can forge them today?”

As he spoke, he gestured to him the size he wanted.

“Today? If I can’t, tomorrow afternoon will be best. It just so happens that I don’t have much work on hand recently, or you would’ve had to wait.”

“I’ll give you more silver.” Although he was anxious, Zhao Zhan’s expression did not show it. “If I want to get it this afternoon, how much more silver do you think you’ll need?”

The two of them haggled for a while, and in the end, the iron tray and the express delivery cost a total of forty silver.

Originally, there was a shortage of more than a hundred silver for building houses. After today’s spending, not only did the money for building houses not increase, it actually decreased quite a bit.

Recently, the profit from the tofu sold by Manager Li’s side had also increased from more than twenty silver to more than thirty silver. The amount of money that could be earned from selling things made from soybeans alone in the town was finally paying off.

Now, however, he had no power or influence, so it was not a good time to go to Huai County. If Lin Yuanxu came out of prison, he would definitely see him as a thorn in his side.

“Zhao Zhan? Should we go to the carpenter and talk to him about the tables and chairs?”

“Okay, I’m planning to sell morning food in our shop in the morning. Other than making more than half of the space for tables and chairs, I want to make a row of shelves to put things. When I was preparing the steamed meat noodles, I accidentally came up with a spice recipe. I want to use that to stew meat.

Zhao Zhan loyally held his lover’s hand and spoke endearingly.

“This street is filled with vendors who set up their stalls and open their own shops. Sometimes, when they close their stalls in the afternoon, they will go to the butcher’s shop. The smell of the meat we cooked with spices has spread far and wide. I believe that many people can now stand the overbearing taste.

“I’m planning to order some pork ribs, pig trotters, and the like from a butcher. They’re cheaper than meat, but the taste of braising them seems to be more fragrant than eating meat alone.”

Yue Jiaojiao felt her stomach grumble just by listening to him. “I want to eat braised pig trotters now.”