"Can Lady Qi clarify a bit more? It benefits both Lord Jiang and me, and the benefit is indeed substantial," Jinrong inquired.
Jinrong had witnessed the unexpectedly daunting Miss Ye in action. Apart from feeling that Ye Xinyan was somewhat alarmist, he had no particular reaction. This woman was not to be trifled with when she was in the capital city; though she couldn’t be said to possess outstanding eloquence, she often managed to choke her opponents with her words. Now a tiger fallen to Pingyang, if she paid attention to her method and delivery, wouldn’t she still have some debating skill left? He was actually quite eager to hear what shocking remarks Lady Qi could utter.
Jiang Yifan, however, was immensely impatient. After parting ways with this woman last autumn, he felt greatly relieved. He couldn’t even dream of getting entangled with this woman again.
Fortunately, after losing her status from the Duke’s Mansion, even upon encountering her again, she behaved quite sensibly. However, hearing her suddenly refer to him as "Lord Jiang" made Jiang Yifan feel extremely uncomfortable.
Jiang Yifan gave Jinrong an unsatisfied glance; it was all due to this fellow causing unnecessary trouble. Regardless, he decided to ignore it. After all, if any troublesome issues arose later, it would be His Highness Prince Yu’s problem to solve—not his.
Qi Younian noticed the expressions of the two nobles and felt insecure about the situation. Although he hadn’t spent much time with his granddaughter, his own flesh and blood had her own method of handling things and wouldn’t embark on something uncertain.
Yet, the words uttered by Ye Xinyan had now unsettled the old master. Who were these two individuals? What kind of business deal could immensely benefit the Emperor’s son? If Ye Zi’s upcoming explanation couldn’t circle back to her preceding statements, what would they do then?
Ye Xinyan, catching sight of Jiang Yifan’s impatience, was infuriated within. Damn it, what’s so great about you? So you’re an Imperial Scholar who placed as a Top Scholar, but what does that have to do with Ye Xinyan? Did he think all the women in the world would be infatuated with him like the original host? Besides, he was nothing more than a renowned name and a pretty boy. After enduring so much, even the original host standing here wouldn’t have any thoughts about him.
Ye Xinyan truly wanted to ignore this narrow-minded petulant man, but her business had encountered an insurmountable hurdle, and she had no choice but to consider roping in a wealthy investor.
Various snacks in Ye Xinyan’s shop relied heavily on milk as an indispensable ingredient. Yet, infuriatingly, this era did not emphasize the breeding of dairy cows! Nearly all the milk came only after cows had calved, naturally produced and not guaranteed—available at some times, not at others, entirely up to nature.
This era did not possess high-yield black-and-white dairy cows, only common cattle, and even when cows produced milk, the quantity was very limited. After the calves were fed, scarcely any milk was left. The populace, without nutritional research, regarded milk as good but dispensable; straitened families couldn’t afford to spend Silver Coin on milk.
Therefore, selling milk was not a profitable business, and in the agriculture-centric Great Xia Dynasty, there was no specialized dairy farming industry.
A combination of these factors made running Ye Xinyan’s snack shop extremely challenging, with her constantly struggling to find which household had a milking cow—let alone thinking of commodities like cream or butter.
Ye Xinyan racked her brains; setting up a breeding farm could alleviate her current predicament. But such an undertaking was far from easy—a breeding farm was an immense task.
With such endeavors, profitability was a major concern; the financial returns from cattle-raising were hard to predict.
There’s a saying, "Even if you own millions, animals don’t count," highlighting the inherent risks. Especially in ancient animal husbandry, lacking sanitization measures and specific disease prevention medications, an outbreak of an epidemic among numerous livestock could be catastrophic.
Even with adequate disease prevention, there was still the matter of profitability. Animal husbandry required hefty investment with slow returns. Without long-term vision and grand ambition, who would engage in a business with high risk and slow profit?
As Ye Xinyan pondered her vexing situation, His Highness Prince Yu and Lord Jiang happened upon her establishment—they were actually considering investing...
For others, this might not be a sound investment, but for these two individuals, it was different. Logically, no one engages in business that’s certain to incur losses, yet Jiang Yifan, being a county magistrate, could definitely consider trying it out.