From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 58 Tavern
Xu Fugui read the contents of the letter slowly, fearing that he would miss a single word.

The Xu family members gathered in a circle nearby, listening and watching.

Xu Fugui turned over another page of letter paper and said, "Xiulian..."

When he realized that the next part was what Xu Xiaoniu was writing to Chen Xiulian, he quickly closed the letter and said, "Don't read this, everyone."

He had to give Da Niu some privacy, because who knew how much sour content there was in the letter.

"Xiu Lian?"

He turned around to look for Xiu Lian.

"Hey~"

Chen Xiulian had been standing nearby, and she quickly responded.

"Daniu wrote this for you, keep it quickly."

Xu Fugui handed over the last few pages of letter addressed to Chen Xiulian.

Xu Xiaoyun laughed and said, "Sister Xiulian, please read it to everyone."

Xu Xiaogou echoed, "Yeah, don't be shy, big brother can't write any love words, you read it to everyone."

"no, I do not."

Chen Xiulian blushed and clutched the letter tightly to her chest, afraid others would see it. This was hers alone.

Jiazhen took the letter written by Daniu from Xu Fugui. In the days to come, she would read this letter word by word countless times.

When they learned that Xu Xiaoniu was still alive, the worry in everyone's heart eased.

The messenger has not left yet, he is waiting to receive the reward.

Delivering military merits and family letters was a lucrative job. Even the poorest families would be rewarded with a few hundred coins, and if they met a wealthy family, they could even be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver.

Xu Xiaoyun gave him five taels of silver and a jar of wedding wine.

"By the way, can you write back?"

Xu Fugui suddenly thought of this key thing, it would be great if he could write a reply.

The messenger shook his head: "They don't have a fixed location on the battlefield, so they can't reply."

At this time, someone from the Du family came forward and asked, "May I ask if there is anyone named Du Yong from the Du family?"

"Yes, yes."

The messenger nodded repeatedly and took out the military merit and family letters from his bag: "I remember Du Yong clearly. He is the only centurion in Baihe Village. He is a fourth-class military meritorious official and was awarded ten acres of permanently tax-free land.

Here, for you."

Du Hai smiled happily: "Good, good, my son has made great progress."

As he said this, he took out ten taels of silver from his pocket and gave it to the messenger.

He did not open the letter on the spot, but kept it carefully and waited to read it when he got home.

The messenger said goodbye and left. He had many other families in Baihe Village to deliver military merits and family letters to.

The news quickly spread throughout the village. Of the hundreds of people who were conscripted and left, only a dozen or so sent letters home.

Families who received letters from home were extremely grateful, while those who did not were extremely sad.

The lack of letters from home could mean he had no military achievements or he died on the battlefield.

It is worth mentioning that Du Yong is the only centurion in Baihe Village, but there is someone who is more powerful than him: Liu Hongzhan of the Liu family, a centurion who has won third-class military merit.

The rest of the people, including Xu Xiaoniu, were squad leaders and had won fifth-class military merit.

----

Half a month after Xu Xiaogou’s wedding banquet, it was Xu Xiaohou’s third birthday banquet.

As usual, the Xu family held a sumptuous family dinner.

On the day of the family dinner, Xu Fugui nourished the family treasure tree with the blood of his descendants.

The sense of ritual was essential. He placed his palm on Xu Xiaohou's head as he had done the previous times, muttering something. Thinking of Xu Xiaoyun and Xu Xiaoan's martial arts talents, he changed his words.

"My sixth son, Xu Xiaohou, is three years old today! May he be gifted with intelligence and exceptional martial arts skills, like a dragon or a phoenix!"

After absorbing the blood of Xu Xiaohou's descendants, the family treasure tree grew a sixth branch.

The initiation fruit at the top of the treasure tree was nourished and grew to the size of an egg. According to the growth of the first initiation fruit, after two more nourishments from the offspring's bloodline energy, the initiation fruit would mature.

----

Some time passed.

In Tonggu County, next to the main road running through the south and north of the city, an inconspicuous small shop opened its door.

"Third brother, is this the shop you are looking for?"

Xu Xiaoyun walked in and looked around. The shop wasn't big, only about 20 or 30 square meters, and it held two old solid wood cabinets. The cabinets were covered in cobwebs and emitted a faint musty smell.

"Why, are you not satisfied? I asked my uncle to help me find this for you."

Xu Xiaogou rolled his eyes. His fourth brother was still not satisfied after getting the advantage.

"Does this require connections?"

Xu Xiaoyun didn't believe it.

"Who told you not to spend money? You want to accomplish something big with just a little money? That kind of good thing is impossible."

"How much silver?"

"The annual rent is fifty taels."

When Xu Xiaoyun heard this number, his eyes lit up and his impression of this shop instantly reversed.

If the annual rent is 150 taels, he will say that the shop is rubbish and won't even give it a second glance.

The annual rent is fifty taels, this is a good shop!

It's located next to the main road and has a lot of traffic, so renting it for 52 years is really a good deal.

"Third brother, thank you! Where's the key?"

Xu Xiaoyun stretched out his hand.

"Can selling wine really make money? Don't make more money than you earn. Oh, and don't neglect your practice. Dad asked me to supervise you. Don't be lazy in your daily practice."

Xu Xiaogou said as he placed the key in Xu Xiaoyun's palm.

"Okay, I know."

Xu Xiaoyun really didn't like martial arts. If his passion wasn't there, no matter how much supervision he received, he wouldn't be able to achieve anything.

As for whether selling alcohol can make money, he has no confidence.

It is normal to make profits and losses in business, and he cannot guarantee that he will make money in his first business venture.

But it is better than selling the Chinese wolfberry in the medicinal field at a low price.

The Yanqi wine he brewed this time had a unique flavor. Last time, he used the Yanqi he found in the kitchen to make a unique-flavored wine yeast.

He specifically asked Xu Fugui, and Xu Fugui explained it this way: those Yanqi were wild Yanqi found deep in Baihe Mountain. Because they grew in the deep mountains and old forests, they had some spiritual energy.

Afterwards, Xu Fugui also took out a small amount of Yanqi to provide him with making wine yeast.

Xu Xiaoyun uses a mixture of ordinary Chinese wolfberry and "wild" Chinese wolfberry to make wine yeast, and a tiny bit of wine yeast can brew a large jar of wine. The spiritual energy of the "wild" Chinese wolfberry is dispersed in a large amount of wine and is barely detectable.

But it gives Yanqi wine a special flavor.

Furthermore, as a medicinal herb, Yanqi has the effect of "tonifying and strengthening yang," and the Yanqi wine brewed by Xu Xiaoyun has even more pronounced effects in this regard. This was personally confirmed by his third brother Xu Xiaogou.

Relying on this, he felt that his Yanqi wine could be sold at a good price.

"If there's nothing else, I'll leave first."

Xu Xiaogou left, leaving Xu Xiaoyun alone to guard the shop.

"We need to hire a helper."

Xu Xiaoyun looked at the dirty shop and thought.

Just then, a girl in plain clothes and covered in dust timidly approached the door of the shop and said, "Boss, boss, are you hiring? I can work. I'll provide food and shelter."

"you are?"

Xu Xiaoyun looked at the man. He looked to be less than 20 years old, tall, with big hands and feet, and looked like he had done farm work.

"My name is Zhang Caixia. I'm from Zhangjiazhuang, Putian County. My family suffered a disaster, so I had no choice but to come out to make a living."

She looked serious and didn't seem to be lying.

Xu Xiaoyun from Putian County knew that it was the county town adjacent to their Tonggu County.

"Can you work?"

"Yes, I have been helping with housework since I was young. I can do laundry, cooking, and farm work."

"..."

Xu Xiaoyun asked a few more questions and after confirming that Zhang Caixia was just a refugee fleeing famine, he decided to hire her to work.

The reason is simple: it’s cost-effective.

It's a good deal to hire her as she provides food, accommodation and does all kinds of work.

A few days later, Xu Xiaoyun's tavern opened.

(End of this chapter)