The more distinguished one’s status, the more grand and complex the coming-of-age ceremony becomes.

For commoners, the ceremony is simply a matter of changing one’s hairstyle, and that’s considered done.

Normally, for Old Clark Family, even as a minor noble family, the sole heir’s coming-of-age ceremony would certainly involve inviting people of similar status to attend, and perhaps even someone of higher rank to preside.

But Old Clark Family had fallen into decline. Just as signs of revival appeared, Grandmother, for reasons unknown, perhaps spurred by some shock, could not wait for Old Clark Family to fully recover and hastily held the coming-of-age ceremony for Ethan Clark, with only a single family retainer as witness.

As soon as the ceremony ended, Ethan Clark received a bronze key and a bamboo scroll from Grandmother.

The key signified that from then on, Ethan Clark would decide all major policies for Old Clark Family, becoming the actual and sole leader of the household.

The bamboo scroll served as proof of nobility, clearly stating the boundaries of Old Clark Family’s fief, its size, and a general description of the terrain within.

Afterward, Elder Scott handed over the chest containing the red contracts (indentures) to Ethan Clark, symbolizing that from that moment, Ethan Clark held the power of life and death over all warriors, dependents, and slaves.

From simply tying his hair into a ponytail to binding it up and inserting a hairpin, a change in hairstyle marked the start of a new life.

Yet Ethan Clark simply continued with his usual tasks.

After finishing the construction of houses for the warriors and craftsmen, it was time to allocate land to the warriors—a job for Elder Scott.

But deciding where to place the workshops and how to plan them, a task beyond Elder Scott’s abilities, fell to Ethan Clark.

For a metallurgy workshop, the first requirement was a furnace. Drawing on impressions from archaeological programs and combining them with the craftsmen’s practical advice, Ethan Clark chose the most common type: the shaft furnace.

Building such a furnace was far from simple.

First, suitable clay had to be selected to construct the furnace base and body. Typically, a mixed-material method was used: appropriate clay layered with fine sand, then a mixture of charcoal dust and crushed iron ore was tamped down layer by layer.

Most of the design and construction was handled by the craftsmen. Ethan Clark noticed they deliberately left some openings, and upon asking, learned these were for installing the “tuóyuè.”

Those two characters are pronounced tuóyuè, referring to ancient bellows used to stoke the fire.

Ethan Clark had a perspective 2,700 years ahead of his time, but that didn’t necessarily make him more professional than the craftsmen.

So, professional work was left to the professionals.

Andrew Price appeared when the metallurgy workshop was halfway built.

He always kept the baby by his side. Upon seeing Old Clark Family building the metallurgy workshop, he observed for a day or two. Whether he couldn’t bear to watch or simply didn’t want to freeload, he offered some guidance to the craftsmen.

The craftsmen didn’t just take anyone’s word for it.

They found Andrew Price’s suggestions reasonable, so they consulted Ethan Clark, and only after receiving his approval did they make changes according to Andrew Price’s advice.

When you’re busy, time flies by.

In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed. Ethan Clark had sent off the first batch of chefs who came to learn cooking, and suddenly realized that all the necessary tasks were already underway, leaving no room to start any new projects.

During that period, Samuel Webb and the other noble youths hadn’t visited again, which actually surprised Ethan Clark.

He had expected those young nobles to drop by every few days for food and drink.

When the first batch of iron woks from the metallurgy workshop was finished, someone was sent to notify the Webb, and Samuel Webb dispatched a team to collect the newly made woks.

Samuel Webb also had a family retainer deliver a letter to Ethan Clark.

Naturally, it was written on a bamboo scroll.

He wrote that he was looking forward to coming to Old Clark Family again for delicious food, but had been extremely busy lately and hadn’t had the chance.

He also mentioned that he had tried the dishes made by the chefs who had returned after training, but found them not as tasty as those made by Ethan Clark.

Finally, he informed Ethan Clark that preparations for opening the restaurant were already underway, and told him to await good news.

In the partnership between Old Clark Family and the Webb, although all the technology and ideas came from Ethan Clark, the Webb took sixty percent of the share, the Harris thirty-five percent, and Ethan Clark only half a percent.

In other words, if there were a hundred shares, the Webb would get sixty, the Harris thirty-five, and Ethan Clark only five.

Ethan Clark had no complaints about this.

He didn’t have enough influence to persuade the noble families to agree to open a restaurant on his own land.

Moreover, everything needed to make the iron woks—including buying land, constructing buildings, ingredients, and labor—was provided by the Webb and Harris.

So, what was there to be dissatisfied about?

Ethan Clark had another project that the Webb and Harris weren’t involved in.

He truly wanted to set up street stalls, specifically to sell soy milk and fried dough sticks.

Of course, he wouldn’t be running the stalls himself. He would have the necessary tools made, then find willing dependents to operate in various villages or cities.

Initially, Old Clark Family would provide all the investment.

If there were losses, Old Clark Family would bear them all.

If it made money, all the equipment for the stalls would be sold to the dependents on credit, and in the first year, Old Clark Family would take sixty percent of the profits, decreasing year by year until it reached ten percent, which would be a permanent dividend.

This method was even more exploitative than the most notorious landlords, but in the Spring and Autumn period, it was a unique approach.

As a result, when Ethan Clark explained it to the dependents willing to take the risk, not only did they not feel exploited, they actually thought Ethan Clark was an incredibly good person.