Beautiful Peasant Girl: The Young Marquis's Beloved

Xu Ruolan did not delay and took Zi Ling to Liu Dazhu's house in the afternoon while the child was asleep.

There was not much farm work in winter, Liu Dazhu was chopping wood in the yard. Now that they had to grow mushrooms, the firewood was consumed quickly. The men in the village did not go out to find work this year. If they took good care of the mushrooms, the mushrooms they sold in one day could equal their previous monthly wages. Tiedan took his brother to the village to play with his friends, while Zhuang was mending clothes. Although life was better now, they had been used to being frugal for a long time, so it was not too tattered, and it was good to wear them for work.

When Xu Ruolan arrived, she saw the couple busy in the yard, and a trace of envy flashed in her eyes. She immediately smiled and took the initiative to greet them, "Sister-in-law, are you busy?"

Zhuang looked up when she heard the noise and saw that it was Xu Ruolan. She was stunned for a moment, then quickly put the basket aside, stood up and greeted her warmly: "Ruolan, how come you have time to come here today? Come in and sit down."

Liu Dazhu also saw it, greeted him with a simple smile, and continued chopping wood.

"I've been busy for a while, so I came to see you today when I'm free!" Xu Ruolan said gently.

Zhuang led the two into the main room and poured them a glass of water. The room was very clean. Perhaps because it was cold, there was a small charcoal basin with a water pitcher on it for the convenience of drinking water.

"Come on, there's nothing in the house. Drink some hot water to warm yourself up first. I'll go make you some sugar-water eggs!" Zhuang was about to turn around and go to the kitchen, but Xu Ruolan quickly stopped her.

"Sister-in-law, stop busying yourself. I just had dinner! I came here today to tell you something!"

Zhuang was a straightforward person. Seeing that Xu Ruolan was not pretending to be polite, she sat down and asked directly, "What's wrong? Did something happen? If you have something to say, just tell me. We are neighbors. As long as I can help, your sister-in-law and your eldest brother will never say no!"

Hearing this, Xu Ruolan smiled more sincerely and said angrily, "Sister-in-law, look at what you said. Do I have to come to you only when I need your help?"

"Ah?" Zhuang was stunned for a moment, then said embarrassedly: "That's not the case. I'm just afraid that you are too embarrassed. Although our two families are a little far away from each other now, it's not in vain all these years. If you need help from me and your brother Dazhu, don't be shy to ask, understand?" Zhuang took Xu Ruolan's hand and patted it gently.

Xu Ruolan felt warm in her heart, and held her calloused hands. "Hey, sister-in-law, don't worry. When I need your help, I will definitely not go against you. But I came here today because I do need your help on two things!"

Seeing that Zhuang was looking at her anxiously, she quickly said, "You also know that because of mushrooms, Master Chang and my Xu'er became siblings. A few days ago, he came to our house and happened to see Xu'er tinkering with the soup pot that his grandfather had told me about before. Then the kid saw through it and insisted that Xu'er use the secret recipe to open a restaurant with him. I thought it would be good for our family to have more businesses, so I agreed." Xu Ruolan paused here.

"Oh, that's a good thing! Do you want me and your eldest brother to help you in the store? But we both don't have any skills, what can we do if we go? Besides... our family can only send one adult, and Erdan is still too young, so how about letting Tiedan and your eldest brother go? Tiedan can run waiters, but your eldest brother... I'm afraid he can only help you carry things or something. No, I have to talk to him later..." Zhuang said naggingly.

Xu Ruolan was a little amused and interrupted, "Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, don't worry! It's not about going to the store. We only provide the recipe for the restaurant, and the rest is the responsibility of Young Master Chang."

"Oh, so that's it! Well, that's good. Your elder brother is stupid. If I really let him go, I'll feel uneasy." In fact, she felt a little regretful. Even if Dazhu couldn't go, it would be good if Tiedan could go, but she didn't dare to say it. Then she asked again: "What are you talking about?"

"The restaurant is still under renovation, so the girl is at home cooking. She complained to me the other day that there are too few vegetables in winter and she was worried that it would affect business. I was also worried, so I lay in bed at night and thought about it. Then I remembered that there are two kinds of soybean dishes in my hometown that can be produced all year round. But my family has to make other things and there is really no manpower. I thought that you and Alan are the only ones in the village who are close to me, so I wanted to teach you these two things separately. This way, the restaurant can have more dishes, and you can also have more livelihoods. Sister-in-law, do you think it's okay?"

After Xu Ruolan finished speaking, she looked at Zhuang sincerely.

"This... Ruolan, are you trying to fool your sister-in-law by saying that she can't read? You're not asking me to help you, you're clearly giving us money for free, okay?" Zhuang said unhappily.

"However, I cannot make the decision on this matter. I have to ask your eldest brother. Wait, I'll go call him!" After saying this, Zhuang got up and went out.

After a while, the couple came back together. Liu Dazhu sat down and drank some water before speaking, "Sister-in-law, from what your sister-in-law said, you plan to teach the craft to our family, and then we will supply it to the restaurant, and sell the rest yourself, right?"

"You can put it this way. After I teach you, you will deliver it to the restaurant yourselves every day. You can negotiate the price with the restaurant, but you must give priority to Zhenxiu Pavilion and Zuiyunxuan." Xu Ruolan nodded.

"What? The restaurant charges us?" Liu Dazhu and his wife looked at each other in surprise.

Xu Ruolan blinked her eyes, and it took her a while to realize that they seemed to have misunderstood. Then she said with a smile: "Of course we have to charge for it. Otherwise, I'll let you give it away for free? Wouldn't that be cheating you? Because Alan has a big family, I gave the tofu, which is more difficult to make, to them. The other kind is bean sprouts, which are simpler and more suitable for your family. But you have to make sure that what you make is supplied to Zhenxiu Pavilion and Zuiyunxuan first, and only if there is any surplus can it be sold outside. And the price must be higher than what you give us." When she said this, Xu Ruolan looked much more serious.

Liu Dazhu and his wife looked at each other and then replied, "Sister-in-law, we agree! But we won't take this for free. The money we earn will be divided equally between our two families!"

Xu Ruolan was somewhat helpless after hearing this. As expected, just as her daughter said, the two families' answers were exactly the same. This indirectly proved that they had not made a mistake, but: "Brother Dazhu, there is no need to divide it equally. This method is simple. If you meet a smart person, you will learn it after thinking about it. Just don't forget to give priority to Zhenxiu Pavilion and Zuiyunxuan."

This was also a decision she made with her daughter. Bean sprouts are not like tofu, and there is really not much technical skill involved in making them.

"That won't do. No matter how simple it is, we won't know unless you tell us. I know you want to support us, but if you want your eldest brother and I to do it for free, we can't do it. Just listen to your eldest brother, okay!" Zhuang stepped forward, patted Xu Ruolan's hand, and said gently.

"Sister-in-law, look at what you said, it's not free at all! These two restaurants are waiting for it! You don't know how important a new dish is to a restaurant!"

"Sister-in-law, stop framing your sister-in-law. Even if you say it's easy, people will be able to do it at a glance. But you asked us to deliver it to two restaurants, which means we don't even have to worry about the sellers. It's no different from taking money for nothing. If you don't agree, we won't learn it. There are many people in your family now, so you will be able to do it." Liu Dazhu scratched his head with a simple and honest expression, but his words were not simple at all.

Xu Ruolan had no choice but to agree. Then she told the two how to grow bean sprouts, and then the three of them discussed the price. Her daughter told her that this pound of soybeans can produce at least five pounds of bean sprouts, which is higher than tofu production and does not require much effort, so they set the price low, one cent per pound for the restaurant, two cents per pound for the outside world, and three cents for two pounds.

After saying this, Xu Ruolan talked about another matter, "Sister-in-law, I really need your help with this other matter."

Seeing that they wanted to talk about something else, Liu Dazhu got up and left.

"What's the matter? Just tell me. As long as your sister-in-law can help you, I will definitely do it for you." Zhuang almost patted her chest to make the promise.

So Xu Ruolan told Zhuang that she was going to hire someone to make ready-made clothes and quilt covers. She also told Zhuang that if the work was good, they would open a small workshop. She wanted Zhuang to help her find some women in the village who were good at needlework and were down-to-earth and capable.

Upon hearing this, Zhuang immediately agreed and said that she would take care of it.

"We don't need many at the beginning. Apart from you, me and Alan, seven or eight more will be enough. We can do it in my house first. There is an empty room on the left and right of the main house." Xu Ruolan added.

"Okay, no problem. I'll bring everyone to you the day after tomorrow at the latest." Zhuang said decisively.

"Okay, I'll wait for good news from my sister-in-law at home!" Xu Ruolan said with a smile.

After finishing the business, the two started chatting again. It turned out that Liu Dazhu's house was next door to them, so they inevitably talked about Liu Dongcheng's family.

"Ruolan, I saw it that day. Your uncle was carried back by someone. And that girl Liu Juan was pale, and the way she walked was... like she had done something. And there were only your uncle, Liu Juan, and Chengcai. Your eldest sister-in-law and their eldest brother were not there. And..." When she said this, she looked at Xu Ruolan unnaturally.

"Moreover, I later saw the person who sent them back went to your house. Did something happen to their family?" Zhuang asked this cautiously.

Xu Ruolan was silent after hearing this. Thinking of the relationship between the two families, she sighed softly and told them about Liu Chengming's plan to kidnap Liu Xu and how the eldest wife's family was later sent to the county government by the Chang family. However, she did not tell them about Liu Dongcheng and his family being tortured in the Chang family, and she did not know about Liu Xu's instructions to Chang Yifei. She only thought that Liu Xu could not bear to see the old man sad, so she asked the young master Chang to plead for her. That was why Liu Dongcheng and his daughter were only beaten with a stick and sent back with their child.

After hearing this, Zhuang's face turned red with anger. She gnashed her teeth and cursed, "How can there be such a vicious person? Why let such a person live? The county magistrate should chop off his head. He even harmed his blood relatives. He is worse than an animal!"

Then he asked nervously, "Is Xu girl okay? She's still so young, don't let her get scared to death."

"Don't worry, it's okay. There was a guard from our family who went with them at that time. Not long after they brought her back to the village, she was rescued by the guard and hidden in another place. Later, the young marquis and his men also went there and rescued her. They also got evidence from the bandits. I heard that when my guard went to rescue her, she was still sleeping soundly there. She is really brave!" At the end, Xu Ruolan couldn't help laughing. Her Xu'er was really brave.

Willow Catkins: What else can you do if you don’t sleep when it’s dark? You can’t run away, so why bother yourself?

"Puchi" Zhuang also laughed, "It's good that she's okay, it's better to be calm than to be scared! This girl is a lucky one, if she hadn't made this kind of mushroom and made an appointment with the young marquis to pick it up in the middle of the month, who knows where that beast would have taken her. Someone should keep an eye on her in the future, don't let her run around alone again." Zhuang couldn't help but remind Xu Ruolan.

"Well, don't worry. Now she has a girl who knows how to fight and kick with her at all times, and she also has two guards with her when she goes out. Such things will definitely not happen again." Xu Ruolan was both answering Zhuang and reminding herself.

Zhuang nodded, and then continued, "If you ask me, that evil woman Chen Shuman should have been divorced long ago. Now it's good that she almost broke up the family. Now it's good. Although there is no work in the town, the family has a house and land. As long as they are not lazy, the three of them can live well."

"Yes, and Xu'er said that she would teach him how to grow mushrooms when he gets better. It won't be any worse than living in town."

"That's right. Take our family for example. We have saved more than ten taels of silver in the past half month. Now we have the bean sprout business you mentioned. When the new year comes, your elder brother and I plan to send Tiedan to school. We don't ask him to pass the imperial examination, but it would be good for him to learn some words..."

The two chatted for a while, and seeing that it was getting late, Xu Ruolan said goodbye and went back.