After traveling through time, she went to practice her way of making money

After County Magistrate Chen returned to the mansion, Xiao Ran said to him, "Uncle, now that we have confirmed that this tofu was made by the Su family and there is no problem with its source, then for you, presenting this good thing to the people in the capital may bring you a lot of benefits."

"Is that really the case? In that case, I really have to thank you, Ran'er!" Hearing this, County Magistrate Chen was extremely excited. After all, he had been working hard all these years just to have the opportunity to go to the capital.

In fact, the capital was called Jingzhou, but for ordinary people, it was not necessary to distinguish whether it was the capital or Jingzhou, as long as they knew it was where the emperor lived. This was not only the political, economic and cultural center of the country, but also a holy place where officials from all over the country dreamed of being able to serve, and Chen County Magistrate was one of them.

"How could my nephew deceive you? But there is one thing we must remember, we must not forget to give the Su family the benefits they deserve. Although the scholar Su has given up the path to the imperial examination, his two children are both very smart and will surely achieve great things in the future."

"Yes, that's right. Su Yu and I are fellow disciples, and we have a very harmonious relationship. For example, the rice dumplings we ate a few days ago were made by the Su family."

"Oh? So it seems that their family is quite good at cooking?"

"I'm not sure whether they are good or not, but they are good at making some novel dishes. We can stay here for a few more days. I heard that they also have various delicacies made with tofu. Let's buy some and try them."

Xiao Ran nodded and said, "Thank you, uncle!"

"Why are you being so distant with me? Your mother and I are cousins!" County Magistrate Chen was afraid that Xiao Ran would forget their relationship, so he kept reminding him. However, Xiao Ran didn't seem to feel much about it. He didn't have any deep feelings for either the Xiao or Xiahou families. What's more, although County Magistrate Chen was his uncle, he was only a relative in name only. However, since he was now living in the Chen family and both sides got what they wanted, he had to do enough superficial work, at least not to embarrass the other party.

So, Xiao Ran responded casually: "Yeah!"

Since Xuyang County was under the jurisdiction of Yuzhou and was large in size, its geographical location was in the center of Wei State. For local residents, the most important economic pillar was the white charcoal they carefully burned. These high-quality white charcoals were transported to the capital by merchants and supplied to dignitaries for use in their daily lives.

However, the high demand for white charcoal in the capital caused its price to remain high, as high as two taels of silver per catty! In contrast, when sold locally in Xuyang County, white charcoal could only be sold for a mere 100 coins per catty.

Despite this, the charcoal business seems to be quite profitable on the surface, but in fact it is still limited by seasonal factors. In addition, compared with the many other industries under the Xiaoguo Mansion, the charcoal business is undoubtedly only a small part of the business.

Interestingly, the current County Magistrate Chen's private property is a number of charcoal kilns located in Fengqi Mountain near Xuyang County for burning white charcoal. And the business area of the company that Xiao Ran is currently in charge of is also the charcoal-related industry. In this way, Xiao Ran easily has the decision-making power and can directly purchase the white charcoal produced by County Magistrate Chen and even the people of Xuyang County.

This was also one of the important reasons why Xiao Ran came to Xu Yang. It turned out that the charcoal bosses in the capital and other places and even the manager in charge of this matter in Duke Xiao's Mansion were secretly colluding in an attempt to teach this young boy who was in charge of the charcoal business of Duke Xiao's Mansion a severe lesson.

However, how could Xiao Ran easily succumb to the pressure of others? Since he couldn't decide what to do, at least he could choose how to deal with the predicament.

As for what the charcoal fire bosses would do, the Su family had no time to worry about it. Since Su Yu and his sons returned home, Su Shining and Su Shikuan have not returned home yet. Su Shian was concerned about his brother's safety and insisted on going to look for them, fearing that something unexpected had happened. Seeing this, Su Yu took the initiative to offer to go together, saying that he had nothing important to do at the moment and could accompany them to look for it.

Deng Xian stood behind them and shouted loudly: "Remember to come back early for dinner!"

"Know it!"

The three of them had walked a distance while talking, and soon they found Su Shining and Su Shikuan on Qili Street not far from their residence. Su Shikuan was sitting quietly in front of a house, and Su Shian hurriedly stepped forward to ask: "Second brother, why are you sitting here alone? Where is my eldest sister?"

Su Shining walked out of the house slowly and said softly, "I'm here."

Su Shikuan quickly responded, "We are waiting for Uncle Zhao and Sister Hongdou to return. This is their new home. Dad, do you want to go in and take a look?"

Su Yu thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "No one is here. If we break in on our own, it might be inappropriate..."

However, Su Shikuan suddenly interrupted and said, "Dad, there is actually someone in the house."

Su Shian couldn't help but feel suspicious: "Ah? Who is at home? According to common sense, if there is someone else at home, they should come out to take a look."

At this time, a low and slightly hoarse voice came from the house: "Ms. Su, could it be that your family members are looking for you? Cough cough..." The cough sounded quite weak.

"Could it be that Old Man Hong is in the room?" Su Shirong asked tentatively. After all, he had dealt with this man before and could naturally recognize his voice.

Su Yu hesitated for a moment, but finally made up his mind: "Let's go in and take a look."

Everyone stepped into the house, walked through the slightly messy rooms that had not been tidied up yet, and finally saw Old Man Hong who was still recuperating from his injuries in one of the shabby rooms. Su Shirong walked lightly to Su Yu's side and introduced him in a low voice: "Dad, this is Old Man Hong."

Su Yu cupped his hands and said, "Brother Hong, I am their father, Su Yu."

Old Man Hong said with a face full of shame: "Oh! It turns out to be Mr. Su. I have heard of him for a long time. Today I see that he is indeed a very elegant and talented person. I am so sorry. The ladies and gentlemen have helped us a lot. I am sorry to have caused you trouble again today..."