Farmhouse life after traveling back to ancient times

After A-Luo came, she no longer had to do the rough and heavy work. A-Luo said with a smile that she had worked in the Du family for half her life, but now she came to the Lu family to enjoy herself.

Du Wenxiu told her not to think too much and just live here happily.

A chicken coop was built in the yard and chickens were raised. Yue Niang also marked out an area to build a shed for growing wood ear mushrooms and taught A Luo how to do it. When Du Wenxiu saw this, he praised Yue Niang for her thoughtfulness.

Since A'luo had been living here for the past few days, they would clean up every day. The few of them would put away the things they brought, wash their hands and cook.

At this time, the gatekeeper, Mr. Wu, came over and said, "The eldest son of the Zhu family is outside visiting the old man and his grandmother."

Du Wenxiu smiled and said, "Uncle Wu, please don't call me grandpa or grandma. We are all from Taohua Village. Just call Fang Haixiu Niang as before."

Mr. Wu kept saying that he didn't dare, and Du Wenxiu pretended to be annoyed to make him change his mind.

Lu Fanghai went to see Young Master Zhu, and soon came back to say that the other fifty acres of land was bought by the Zhu family, and Young Master Zhu happened to come today to discuss with the tenant farmers what crops to plant on the land.

When their group arrived, Young Master Zhu saw them in the field and came over to say hello. He also asked if they wanted to grow the same crops, as he thought the seeds would be cheaper if they bought them together.

Lu Fanghai knew that Du Wenxiu didn't understand the matters in the fields, so he agreed to Master Zhu's proposal and thanked him for his trouble.

The two chatted for a while, and then Young Master Zhu tactfully took his leave.

"It seems that we have a good neighbor." Du Wenxiu said with a smile.

A Luo also echoed:

"That's right. I've only been here for a few days, and sometimes I go to the fields to take a look, fearing that the tenants are not paying attention. Seven or eight times out of ten, I can see Young Master Zhu squatting in the fields to check on the land. He is a down-to-earth and hard-working man."

"How old is Young Master Zhu this year? Is he married?" Du Wenxiu became excited and asked A Luo while pulling him.

A Luo glanced at the shy Du Wenchan next to him and knew what Du Wenxiu meant by asking. He said that he had not asked yet and could ask Old Man Wu's wife, Mrs. Li, to ask.

Du Wenxiu hurriedly urged her to go and looked at Du Wenchan again.

Du Wenchan didn't take it seriously and chuckled:

"Sister, please don't mess with Auntie. Even if my family is looking forward to me, they would like to use the money from selling me to live in the next life. Which family would be willing to marry me? I have already given up. Sister, please don't make Auntie have hope, but then let it go. I am afraid that she will feel even more uncomfortable."

Thinking that the situation of the Du family was exactly as Du Wenchan said, Du Wenxiu could only sigh:

"It's better to have some hope than nothing at all. Besides, things depend on human effort. There may be a silver lining. You can't just wait to die without doing anything, right?"

Du Wenchan smiled sadly, stopped talking, and just stared outside.

Du Wenxiu knew that she felt uncomfortable in this situation, so she didn't say anything more, so as to prevent her from thinking too much and getting stuck in a dead end.

Just after dinner, Yue Niang came. Du Wenxiu hurried out to greet her and said with a smile:

"They say it's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early. How come you came just after we washed the pots and dishes? Even if it's just a little while in the morning, you'll still have a bite to eat."

Yue Niang laughed and said, "Pah, I still need your meal. I just remembered you after dinner and came to see you."

A few people went into the inner room laughing and joking. Qiu Yong, who came with them, took Lu Fanghai and went to find a place to drink.

In order not to disturb the two of them, after a few pleasantries, A Luo took Du Wenchan back to his room so that the mother and daughter could talk in private.

Yue Niang sat down and drank a sip of tea before talking about business:

"I came here to discuss something with you. Now that I have bought the land, I have permanent property and a way out. I have been thinking about it these days. Now that the dishes of Hui'an Restaurant have been well-known, the shopkeeper has mentioned to me several times that he wants to open a restaurant in the provincial capital and asked me if I can afford it."

Du Wenxiu said happily: "This is good news. I didn't expect that we can do such a big business now."

"Don't mess around, I'm talking to you about serious matters."

Yue Niang rolled her eyes at her and said, "He told me before that I wouldn't dare. We are a small family. If we blindly expand our business, once he doesn't need so many goods, we will have to keep them all in our hands. We have to be absolutely sure before we can do it."

Du Wenxiu listened, thought for a moment, and then smiled and said:

"You are also timid. You should be bold in your imagination and be careful in verifying everything. Let alone being completely sure, even if I am 30% sure, I will dare to make a small investment and try it. If I am 50% or 60% sure, I will dare to give it a try."

"I told you that you were a bold man, but Qiu Yong was afraid that you wouldn't dare to do it. Now it seems that there is nothing else you dare not do except rebelling."

Yue Niang laughed so hard that she fell backwards.

He also put forward his initial ideas for discussion with Du Wenxiu.

"I was thinking that since we want to expand, we should not be limited to one state or one prefecture. Why not let Qiu Yong take a few people with him and go to more places to ask about our pickles and preserved foods?"

Du Wenxiu nodded.

"Yes, we don't have to stick to restaurants, we can even go to grocery stores to promote it, a little bit adds up to a lot, but we have to do it within our capabilities. We don't have to go too far at first, we can just promote it based on how much we can make."

"Unfortunately, I still have a recipe. If the fermented beans can be improved, it will surely become our family's signature dish." Du Wenxiu sighed.

Yue Niang came over. "What's the secret recipe? Tell me quietly, don't think of getting rich without me."

Du Wenxiu glared at her and said helplessly:

"Since I have the recipe, why don't I make it? It's because I'm short of ingredients. You're such a fool."

"Then tell me what the material is so that I can go find it." Yue Niang looked at Du Wenxiu aggrievedly, which gave her goose bumps.

Unable to bear her gaze, Du Wenxiu could only say:

"It's a kind of melon called watermelon, which ripens in summer. If you cook it with soybeans, it tastes delicious and has a unique flavor. But it should be from the Western Regions. We don't seem to have it here yet."

"Huh?" Yue Niang sat up straight and looked at Du Wenxiu with shining eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I heard that there is indeed a rare food called watermelon in the prefecture this year. The shopkeeper of Hui'an Tower lamented that it was easy for people to make money and mentioned it to me twice."

Du Wenxiu also perked up. He was just saying that he was sleepy when a pillow was brought to him. It turned out to be a coincidence. He quickly stretched his neck towards Yue Niang, and the two heads were almost touching each other.

"Is it true that watermelons are available now? What did the owner of Hui'anlou say?"

Yue Niang tilted her head and pondered for a moment, as if she was thinking about the situation at that time.

"He said that the watermelon was as big as a basin, with lines on it, and bright red with seeds inside. It tasted sweeter than honey and was very juicy, but it was expensive! Really expensive! One watermelon costs at least five hundred coins. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, who are you going to sell it to if you want to make sauce with this watermelon? Who can afford it?"

Then he added:

"He also said that this year, many big buyers are looking for something new, so there won't be enough to sell. I'm afraid the price will go up next year."