During the autumn harvest, the entire village struggled, with families tightening their belts to survive.
Yet those who had spent half the year traveling with Huo Shu's caravan returned not only to pay their taxes promptly and in full - no delays, no excuses - but even had money to host wedding banquets. The difference was obvious. Whether they’d truly profited or not, the truth was plain to see.
Huo Shu went even further by opening an archery workshop and a large horseback archery range in the city. Everyone saw it with their own eyes.
Before, they hadn’t thought much of this merchant business, shaking their heads and saying they’d rather stay poor in the village than risk their lives out there.
But now, seeing how things were going, they were on the verge of having nothing to eat, and suddenly, they were more anxious than anyone to improve their lives.
Even before Huo Shu announced that he was recruiting, many had already asked those who had gone with him earlier in the year whether he still needed people.
Once the news got out, people rushed over in droves.
Now they were practically begging to join, a complete reversal from when Ji Yangzong had to go door-to-door to persuade them.
Huo Shu, of course, raised his standards. Those who had experience from following him earlier were kept on.
But for the rest, aside from being willing to accept their terms, they also had to be selectively chosen—not everyone who applied would be taken.
The winter month passed quietly like this.
However, there was one joyous event during this time. On the tenth day, the results of the county-level imperial exams were announced, and Zhao Pan, performed exceptionally well, passing on his very first attempt.
The family now had a scholar in their midst, and Yuan Huiru was overjoyed.
Not just her—the entire household, knowing the inside story, was delighted.
By the end of the eleventh lunar month, Huo Shu had hired twenty people in total. Adding the three experienced leaders from the Northern Territories and Ge Liang, the team now numbered twenty-four.
The number was one and a half times that of the previous year.
Huo Shu estimated that the volume of goods could be increased threefold.
Aside from cloth and tea, they had also secured porcelain this time. Moreover, Huo Shu noticed that Hailin Prefecture, adjacent to Tongzhou, was abundant in seafood, so they could purchase dried fish and other marine products to transport to the Northern Territories.
Ji Taoyu also thought it was a good idea. The Northern Territories were too barren in terms of local products, so bringing specialties from the far south would be excellent. Though not as profitable as silk, tea, or porcelain, the cost was much lower.
On their first trip to the Northern Territories, they had carried too little and too limited a variety.
So, in the twelfth lunar month, Huo Shu sent Ge Liang, Uncle Fan, and Huo Shou to Hailin Prefecture to purchase seafood. At the last minute, Ji Wenliang also tagged along for fun.
In the twelfth month, Huo Shu and Ji Taoyu went to Shili Cloth Shop, Fang He’s tea store, and the porcelain workshop to negotiate purchases.
When their shop had opened, all three businesses had sent gifts.
As regular customers now, negotiations went smoothly—it was just a matter of selecting styles and quantities.
Huo Shu introduced a new term this time: paying 60% upfront and settling the remaining 40% when the merchant team returned in the sixth lunar month.
Fang He, who was stabilizing his own business, readily agreed, especially since Huo Shu’s order had tripled.
Shili Cloth Shop, perhaps due to Wu Lianhe’s influence, also agreed easily. Wang Long even joked that with Huo Shu’s nephew now a scholar, his reputation was secure—no fear of him skipping town without paying.
Only the porcelain workshop proved difficult. It took some time to negotiate, but Chen Pu still remembered Huo Shu’s promise to bring horses back from the Northern Territories.
After waiting a while, he finally agreed to the terms.
It wasn’t that Huo Shu lacked the funds—the total cost of the goods came to two thousand taels of silver.
He could have paid it all at once, but by paying only 60% upfront (twelve hundred taels), he saved eight hundred taels for other uses.
With the merchant team gone for months, having extra funds on hand would allow him more flexibility.
Once the goods were settled, the year’s major business affairs were finally wrapped up.
By mid-month, Huo Shu temporarily stopped collecting grain from the villages, only accepting small deliveries at the shop. The horseback archery range staff no longer needed to make village rounds.
With enough hands at the shop, Huo Shu and Ji Taoyu found themselves with more free time.
They returned to the village. Not knowing if it would snow again this winter, they took advantage of the clear weather to inspect and repair the roof.
Moving the roof tiles inevitably shook loose dust into the house.
Since the New Year was approaching anyway, it was a good time for a thorough cleaning.
Ji Taoyu opened the windows wide but still coughed from the dust stirred up while sweeping.
"Did you knock all the dust into our room on purpose?"
"Only the tiles above our room were loose. Replacing them naturally shook more dust loose."
Holding a handkerchief over his nose and mouth, Ji Taoyu bickered with Huo Shu while cleaning. It took half a day just to clear the dust.
By the time they finished, Ji Taoyu collapsed onto the bed, exhausted.
"Housework is more tiring than running a business."
He buried his face in the freshly changed bedding, rubbing against it.
Over the past few months, they had spent more time in the city for business, returning home less often.
Now, during the New Year period, they could finally sleep soundly at home.
Huo Shu ignored the restless figure rolling on the bed and surveyed the now-transformed room.
"We’re not done yet. I’ll finish the rest tomorrow."
Ji Taoyu looked up at Huo Shu, who had just washed up.
"It’s mostly done. Much cleaner now."
Huo Shu noticed a tall stack of books by the cabinet that hadn’t been put away.
He walked over and glanced at them—classics like the Four Books and Five Classics, medical texts like Shennong’s Herbal Compendium, and even some plays and novels.
[Shennong’s Herbal Compendium (神农本草经): the earliest surviving Chinese pharmacopoeia, attributed to the mythical Emperor Shennong, which classifies hundreds of medicinal herbs, minerals, and animal-derived remedies into three tiers of potency, laying the foundation for traditional Chinese medicine]
Truly, this was the collection of a well-read young man.
Normally, these books were stored on shelves or in cabinets, so their sheer volume wasn’t obvious. But now, piled together, they were impossible to miss.
He picked up a playbook at random, but as soon as he opened it, a sheet of paper fluttered out, covered in densely written characters.
"What’s that?"
Ji Taoyu, still sprawled on the bed, asked lazily.
Huo Shu hadn’t even seen what it was before it fell to the ground. He bent down to pick it up.
Assuming it was some old notes or a copied manuscript, his eyes were abruptly drawn to the two glaring characters at the bottom.
Huo Shu’s expression didn’t change, but he felt the air above him shift color.
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