Farmhouse life after traveling back to ancient times

The shelves in the warehouse are filled with exquisite jars and pots that are not much bigger than the palm of a hand, row after row, full to the brim.

"What is this?" Yue Niang picked up a jar and looked at it over and over again, and finally found a few small words on the bottom of the jar: Welcome guests.

"Hey, is this the welcoming ceremony in the capital?" Yue Niang looked at Du Wenxiu in confusion.

Yingkelai is the largest restaurant in Beijing. I heard that it recently started a pickle business and sales are booming.

He also said that he would find Du Wenxiu to have a good talk and buy a few jars of pickles for the guests to study.

Yue Niang looked around and was surprised to find that the pickles that were so popular among guests were actually produced in her own workshop. This was really a pleasant surprise.

Du Wenxiu smiled and took her to the inner room, where three or five women were busy working, each of them sweating profusely.

Some were cutting watermelon, some were mixing fermented beans, but when they saw them coming, they stopped what they were doing and greeted the host.

Du Wenxiu told them to go about their business and scooped out a bowl of soup from a sealed jar in the corner.

"Just try it."

Yue Niang took a bite and frowned.

"What does this taste like? It's like bean paste, but not like it either. It has the salty aroma of beans, but also another flavor. But what spices are added that I don't know about?"

Du Wenxiu smiled without saying anything, turned around and took her to the next room.

The house next door has three locks.

Du Wenxiu opened a lock and looked back at Du Wenchan. She quickly took the key and went forward to open the lock.

Then, Guan Shaorong took the key and went forward to unlock the door, which made Yue Niang stare at him in amazement: What kind of treasure is worth such attention?

The door was pushed open, and there were several round patterned melons scattered on the ground inside.

"What is this?" Yue Niang stepped in and asked hesitantly, "What is it called? Watermelon?"

"Haha, I knew you would be able to recognize it." Du Wenxiu laughed.

Yue Niang couldn't help but glare at her: "I half recognized it, and half guessed it. You always talked about watermelon and soybean sauce before. I got two pieces from the Chi family and asked them about the origin of the watermelon."

"This is a watermelon. Can you find out where it came from?" Du Wenxiu looked at Yue Niang with interest and asked with a smile.

"It is said that this watermelon is only sold by merchants from the Western Regions, but the merchant is so elusive that even the middleman is hard to find. If you can buy one or two, you will be very lucky."

After saying that, Yue Niang looked at the watermelons scattered randomly on the ground in surprise, her eyes widened.

"These, are all ours? The melons cost a thousand coins each, and you use them to make sauce? Are you crazy?"

Du Wenxiu smiled but didn't say anything. He went up to pat the watermelons, picked a ripe one and held it in his arms, turned around and came out, then locked the doors again.

"Today I will treat you to some melons. Don't even mention two pieces. I will let you eat as much as you want."

Du Wenchan used a knife to cut the watermelon into small pieces. She then went to call Cheng Suying and her daughter to come and eat. However, she saw that she was very busy, so she took a few pieces and put them aside for her to eat when she was free.

"Oh, it's even sweeter and more delicious than the watermelons I ate at Chi's house. How much did you pay for this kind of watermelon to make sauce? How much sauce beans do we need to sell to make a profit?"

Yue Niang kept praising the food while eating, and then asked Du Wenxiu.

Seeing that they were talking about business, Guan Shaorong sensibly went out and walked around nearby to keep watch.

Du Wenxiu put down the melon peel, picked up the handkerchief beside him to wipe his hands, and answered her question with a smile.

"How can it be so cheap? Did you save the merchant's life?" Yue Niang's face was full of surprise.

She had heard in the capital that watermelons were a rare commodity, and even if they were brought from such a long distance, a lot of watermelons would be lost on the way.

Therefore, it is expensive, and it is no exaggeration to say that it is more expensive than gold.

Not only does he use the watermelons to make sauce in his own workshop, but the purchase price is only half of the selling price, which is puzzling.

Du Wenxiu smiled slightly and told that he went to the provincial capital to meet a Western merchant, but unexpectedly met Lu Sangui, which led to this opportunity.

"After all, it was you two who did good deeds first that led to the situation in our workshop today." Yue Niang sighed.

"You were in the capital before, where the mountains are high and the roads are long. Now that you are back, if there are any more watermelons to send to our family, I will share one with you." Du Wenxiu said with a smile.

Yue Niang glared and said unhappily, "Why are you so stingy? One is not enough. We need at least two."

Du Wenxiu laughed and quickly agreed.

Yue Niang asked about the price of the watermelon bean paste again. When she heard that it was so expensive just by purchasing from her own workshop, she couldn't help but worry again.

"Nowadays, watermelons are delicious, and only a few high-ranking officials and nobles know about it. If they were sold at such a high price, I'm afraid I don't know how much money would be spent on the promotion in the early stage..."

"Don't worry. We have signed an exclusive supply contract with the Chen family for our watermelon bean paste, and we have fully authorized them to sell it."

Du Wenxiu smiled and comforted her.

Yue Niang frowned and asked her what was going on. She told her about the Chen family restaurant, and sure enough, Yue Niang was not happy.

"We have such good stuff, and we now have a way to send pickles to the palace. Why should we sign such a contract with them and block our own way?"

"Don't be anxious, just listen to me and I will tell you slowly." Du Wenxiu said with a smile and a gentle voice.

"You said it yourself first. This is expensive. I don't know how much money it will cost in the early stage. If you can't make back your investment, then you will lose money."

"Once we sign this contract, whether it's a loss or a profit is their own business. They have to do it according to their ability. If they dare to accept it, they must have the ability to do it."

"If we're talking about pickles to send to the palace, wouldn't our Eight Treasure Pickles be more suitable? The name sounds nice and the taste is delicious. As long as we have one of these, isn't that enough?"

Yue Niang remained silent for a long time, as if she was trying to convince herself.

"Oh, I can't. When I think about not being able to sell such a good thing, I feel like I'm being scratched by a cat."

Yue Niang threw her handkerchief and sat down on the chair, supporting her face with her arms, looking like a scoundrel.

Du Wenxiu lowered his head and chuckled, then he stretched out his hand and threw a book of accounts in front of Yue Niang: "Here, take a look first, then you can scratch it later."

Yue Niang opened the account book suspiciously, and after turning a few pages, she stood up suddenly.

"This, this, this...is this the income from the past one or two months?" She pointed at the account book and looked at Du Wenxiu in disbelief.

Du Wenxiu just smiled and said nothing.

It was Du Wenchan who went up to take it and said to her with a smile, "More than that, this is a separate account for watermelon and soy sauce."

Yue Niang was stunned and looked dazed.

After a long while, she leaned over to look at Du Wenxiu and said, "The Chen Family Restaurant is so powerful that it has achieved such success since it started selling?"

"You also said that Yingkelai is the largest restaurant in the capital. Does the largest mean the most high-end?" Du Wenxiu asked her.

Yue Niang nodded, and Du Wenxiu continued, "Isn't it reasonable that the sauce made from the rarest watermelon, which can only be bought in the most high-end restaurants, is a little more expensive?"

It took Yue Niang a while to react and she sighed softly:

"It's true that comparison is the real culprit. They sold it easily. If it were us, we would probably have to build momentum for many days and still might not be able to raise the price."