Beautiful Peasant Girl: The Young Marquis's Beloved

On the agreed delivery day, Liu Xu rushed to Xing'er's house early in the morning.

It was still the same team, doing the same thing. Because they still had to cook today, they went straight to Zuiyunxuan when they arrived in town.

After listening to Liu Xu's words, they went out the back door today. After entering the door, a waiter told Liu Xu that the shopkeeper was waiting in the hall.

Liu Xu took Xing'er and went straight over, while Liu Changshun and Chen Lan and her son stayed behind.

In the backyard hall, shopkeeper Chang was eagerly waiting. When he saw Liu Xu and the other two come in, he got so excited that he couldn't help but stand up. Perhaps he felt something was wrong, so he pretended to ask the waiter to serve tea, and then sat down again.

After Liu Xu and the other two came in, they bowed and sat down at the bottom.

Although this was not the first time they met, Xing'er was, after all, a genuine 8-year-old child. She still seemed awkward, her upper body stiff, and she sat cautiously on the edge of the chair.

On the other hand, the little girl Liu Xu sat calmly in her seat, with a steady and generous posture.

When Shopkeeper Chang saw this, he couldn't help but murmur in his heart, "With this kind of manner, the noble lady is probably lacking in comparison, right? A farm girl in this town?" Then he shook his head and laughed, "I have seen this girl grow up since she was a child, isn't she a real farm girl?" Then he collected his thoughts and said with a smile:

"Girl, uncle has finally got you here.

You don’t know, ever since we launched this mushroom dish, the restaurant has been packed at mealtime these past two days, and with the seasonings you taught the chef, almost all of the dishes are sold out every day, and this is all thanks to you.”

Liu Xu narrowed her eyes and smiled when she heard this: "Uncle Chang, you are too kind. This is a mutually beneficial and win-win situation for us, hehe."

"Hahahaha, what a win-win situation! What a win-win situation!"

Shopkeeper Chang laughed out loud, with a look of approval on his face.

"Girl, I've been thinking about what you said before about teaching me three more mushroom dishes. However, I took advantage of you for the first two dishes. For the remaining three, I'll give you a total of 3 taels."

Seeing that Liu Xu frowned and seemed unwilling, Manager Chang waved his hand.

"Don't refuse yet. Although the contract said that I would give you five dishes for free, judging from the business of the restaurant in the past two days, I have taken advantage of you. You know, not counting the two recipes you gave me, just the way you use the seasonings is worth a hundred, if not a thousand gold. I won't buy it, just think of it as my thanks to you, okay?"

Since people have said so, Liu Xu shouldn't be hypocritical anymore. Hahahaha, she doesn't want something that's given to her for free. She's not stupid.

Besides, this is not a free gift, just think of it as selling a recipe. Well, I deserve it.

Liu Xu was delighted, but she looked helpless: "Since Uncle Chang said so, it would be disrespectful for me to refuse."

Shopkeeper Chang was deceived by her appearance: "Good child, that's right!"

"Also, regarding the profit-sharing issue you mentioned earlier, the owner has already responded. Someone will come to talk to you in person in a few days. Will your uncle send someone to notify you then?"

"That's not necessary. When my third uncle comes to deliver the mushrooms, Uncle Chang can just tell him directly." Liu Xu was worried that if Shopkeeper Chang sent someone, her grandmother and the others would find out and she didn't know what would happen.

"By the way, girl, uncle wants to discuss something with you."

"Uncle Chang, please speak." Liu Xu was a little confused.

"Can the delivery date be changed? You know that fresh mushrooms cannot be kept for a long time. If they are delivered every 3 days, they will basically be gone on the third day. Can you change it to every 2 days? And can you increase the quantity?"

“Uncle Chang, I can discuss the delivery time with Uncle San, but I’m afraid I can’t increase the quantity.

First, we have limited manpower, and mushrooms are wild in the mountains, and they don’t grow indefinitely, they have a growth limit. Second, as you know, fresh mushrooms are not easy to store. In the past few days, because they are fresh dishes, everyone loves new things, and anyone who has a few will definitely come to try them. After a few days, the number of people who specifically eat mushrooms will definitely decrease. If the supply exceeds the demand, it will be wasted.”

"Another thing, Uncle Chang, you should know that things are valuable because they are rare. The girl not only disagrees with you increasing the amount of fresh mushrooms, but also suggests that you should limit the supply. After all, they are wild delicacies. What's so precious about them if there are too many? As for the high price, well, the first two days were equivalent to the tasting stage, and the tasting is over now..."

Liu Xu's words made Shopkeeper Chang's eyes light up, and then he looked at Liu Xu with surprise:

"Girl, how can you be so smart? You are a natural born businessman. I am ashamed of myself!"

Shopkeeper Chang stroked his goatee and thought, if she wasn't actually sitting in front of him, he wouldn't have believed that these were words spoken by a six-year-old child.

"Hehe, Uncle Chang, you're too kind. How can a girl compare to you? I just like to think about things when I have nothing to do!"

Xing'er watched Liu Xu and Manager Chang talking from the side, her heart full of admiration. She wished one day she could be as capable as Xu'er.

"Then uncle, if there is nothing else, I will go and teach the chef how to cook first?"

Liu Xu was worried that if she returned home too late, the group of jackals at home would discover her.

"Oh, OK, you go first!" Shopkeeper Chang asked the waiter to send the two to the kitchen. He stayed behind to think about what Liu Xu said: things are valuable because they are rare.

"Xu'er, you are so amazing, even Manager Chang praised you!" After leaving, Xing'er hugged Liu Xu's arm and said with admiration. In her eyes, Manager Chang was the most amazing person in charge of such a big restaurant. How could she not be surprised when such a person praised her little sister?

"Hahaha, it's just so-so!"

The two of them went into the kitchen laughing and joking.

Half an hour later, Liu Xu demonstrated three other ways of cooking mushrooms to the chef, told him what to pay attention to, and then went to meet up with Liu Changshun and the others.

When the waiter led them to find Liu Changshun and the other two, they were sitting stiffly in a side hall with two plates of untouched pastries next to them.

Seeing Liu Xu and the other person come in, they knew they could leave and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Liu Xu also told Liu Changshun about delivering mushrooms every two days. Liu Changshun naturally had no objection.

Afterwards, the two adults and three children went to the front of the restaurant to find Manager Chang to settle today's money.

Because the three little ones made two trips in the morning and afternoon, the amount of dried mushrooms this time doubled compared to last time, and there were also about 30 kilograms of fresh mushrooms. Manager Chang still added a whole amount of coins to them, which was exchanged for taels and cents of silver according to Liu Xu's request.

Of course, the two hundred taels of money that Liu Xu received was given to her by Manager Chang in the form of four fifty-tael silver notes without anyone else's knowledge. After all, money can move people's hearts, and two hundred taels is already a large sum of money in the eyes of the country folk. He really liked this little girl, so he was willing to help her avoid some unnecessary troubles.

As for Xing'er, she was so busy and nervous at the time that she didn't remember the incident at all.

Therefore, except for Manager Chang and Liu Xu herself, no one knew that this little girl in patched clothes had a huge sum of two hundred taels of silver.

A few people drove the ox cart back to Liujia Village happily.

When they arrived at the village entrance, Liuxu and Xing'er found an opportunity to get off the car and went to Beilinpo to wait for Shuisheng.

When Liu Xu returned home, it was not yet lunch time.

However, her mother was no longer the only one in the kitchen today. Her grandmother and her aunt were busy in it. Liu Xu couldn't help but wonder.

When she saw Liu Chengming coming out of the house, she suddenly realized.

Oh, it turned out that her master Tongsheng had returned, no wonder there was such a fuss.

Liu Chengming looked up at her, then turned and went back to the main room as if he hadn't seen her.

Liu Xu raised the middle finger at his back and said, "Bah, what a piece of shit, ungrateful bastard."

At lunch time, Xu Ruolan and her daughter were still in their room, but thanks to Liu Chengming, lunch was quite sumptuous.

Liu Xu told her mother everything about her trip to the town. When Xu Ruolan saw the banknote her daughter took out, she was completely stunned.

How many years has it been since she last saw a banknote since she fled famine and was separated from her family?

That’s right, Xu Ruolan came to Yuyang Town to escape famine.

In the third year of the reign of the current emperor, a flood occurred in Yongkang Prefecture, flooding most of the prefecture. The natural disasters and man-made disasters made her parents flee north with them. Her father, Xu Yiru, was originally a wealthy businessman in Jiayu County, Yongkang Prefecture. Her parents loved each other and had two sons and one daughter. In addition to her, there were two older brothers in the family. The eldest brother, Xu Mingzhe, followed his father in business and married the daughter of his father's friend. He had a 3-year-old son. The second brother, Xu Mingli, was 2 years older than her. He loved reading and took the imperial examination route. The family originally planned to settle down in Yongshun Prefecture with their property and family members, but unexpectedly, they encountered a riot of refugees on the way and she was separated from them in a hurry.

Fortunately, she was smart enough to remember her parents' advice on the way to escape famine. After losing the protection of her parents and brothers, Xu Ruolan decisively disguised herself as a beggar, but she was spoiled after all, and she didn't know where to go, so she just followed the official road all the way. She had no money, slept in a dilapidated temple when she was tired, and even ate leaves and grass roots when she was hungry. Finally, she fainted outside Qinghe County and was rescued by Liu Donglai, and then she settled down.

Seeing Xu Ruolan staring at the banknotes in a daze with a look of nostalgia and sadness on her face, Liu Xu stretched out her hand and waved it in front of her eyes:

"Mom, mom, what's wrong with you?"

"Ah, I'm fine, I just remembered something from the past." Xu Ruolan came back to her senses, a little embarrassed, and then looked at Liu Xu with a serious face:

"Xu'er, who else knows about this banknote?"

"Manager Chang gave it to me secretly. I only told you, mother."

"That's good. Put it away quickly. Remember, before you can protect yourself, don't tell anyone about the banknotes, including Xing'er and the others. OK?" Xu Ruolan said seriously, putting her hands on Liu Xu's shoulders.

"Mom, don't worry, Xu'er knows."

It's no wonder Xu Ruolan was nervous. She thought the same as Manager Chang. Money can move people's hearts. Two hundred taels is not a small amount in the countryside. Seeing her daughter so sensible, Xu Ruolan was very pleased.

In the afternoon, Liu Xu took the divided silver and went to Xing'er's house. After handing it to Chen Lan, the three of them went to Beilinpo together.