Dressed as a farmer's widow, she brought her daughter to stock up on food and reached the top

Chapter 511 The Sweet Potato Noodle Deliverer Hasn’t Arrived Yet

Wen Yuan leaned closer to Bo Wen, lowered his voice, and said solemnly, "If we can buy it in large quantities, maybe it can be used as military rations, solving one of the major food and fodder problems in the army."

This time, Bowen remained silent, his gaze fixed thoughtfully on the gray, dry strands of sweet potato starch. Judging from its appearance and smell alone, it wasn't anything special. He knew that most of the buyers were ordinary people, and since it was a year of famine, it was considered a good thing for the people to have enough food to fill their stomachs.

However, if we consider it from the perspective of food for war preparedness, the situation is quite different. First, sweet potato flour is relatively cheap, which can save money to a certain extent. Second, it has a long shelf life and is not easy to deteriorate, making it suitable for long-term storage. Third, it is light and convenient, making it quite easy to transport.

Just as Bowen was lost in thought, a very well-dressed woman walked in gracefully, followed closely by several maids. Just by looking at the scene, one could guess that she was the wife of a wealthy family.

The woman's gaze lingered briefly on the two people sitting on the chairs, then she walked straight towards Wenyuan, bowed, and said softly, "Master Wenyuan."

"You are..." Wen Yuan hurriedly stood up and bowed respectfully to the woman.

The woman nodded slightly, a hint of humility between her brows: "I am the mother of your student Li Yun."

"Oh, it turns out to be the wife of Mr. Li. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Wen Yuan suddenly realized and hurriedly bowed again, while subconsciously keeping some distance from the woman.

Seeing this, the woman quickly took two steps back, looking a little terrified: "Master, no, no, how can you bow to me?"

Bowen couldn't help it, so he interrupted the two people who were still pushing each other to salute, and cursed in his heart: This pedantic old man, the salutes never end.

"Mrs. Li, are you here to buy sweet potato noodles as well?"

Wen Yuan finally came to his senses and hurriedly introduced: "This person is from the capital, he is my junior fellow apprentice."

Hearing Wen Yuan call him "Junior Brother", Bowen couldn't help but pause slightly. This pedantic old man hadn't called him that for some years. He didn't expect that he still remembered it.

Wen Yuan continued, "Mr. Li's family owns six docks in Dayan and more than thirty merchant ships."

Hearing this, Bowen excitedly jumped up from his chair and said with a smile on his face, "Oh, it's Madam Li. I've heard of your great name for a long time! Please take a seat!"

Mrs. Li quickly bowed slightly and said, "You are too polite. I can't do that. I am just a woman. How can I accept such a generous gift from you, sir?"

Bowen became more enthusiastic, bowing and bending even lower, and said hurriedly, "Mrs. Li, it's all right, it's all right. I said it's all right."

As he spoke, Bowen secretly rolled his eyes at Wenyuan, muttering to himself: This old man, really, he is a big money sponsor who controls six docks and more than 30 fleets, but he has been hiding it all this time.

As several people were coming and going, bowing and greeting each other, Uncle Liu came out from the inner room with a few preserved eggs in his hands. He smiled and said, "Master Wenyuan, I picked out five of the preserved eggs you asked for. Do you think they are enough?"

Wen Yuan quickly took the preserved egg and nodded, saying, "That's enough, that's enough. I bought this preserved egg just to show my junior brother what it's like, so he won't get cheated again."

When Bowen heard this, he was immediately unhappy. What? He was a learned and well-known scholar in the capital. Who could have such a great ability to deceive him?

He reached out and took a preserved egg, examining it repeatedly in his hands. "What's wrapped around this preserved egg? It looks like dirt, mixed with grass leaves. Is this edible?"

After saying that, Bowen rolled his eyes and casually put the preserved egg back into Wenyuan's hands. "Humph, this is not the thousand-year-old egg I was talking about. The thousand-year-old eggs I've seen are rare items with a thousand-year cultural heritage. They don't look like this."

Uncle Liu couldn't help but stare at Bowen blankly as he listened to his words, wondering: Is this guy really Master Wenyuan's junior apprentice? Why does he look a bit... silly?

Wen Yuan smiled helplessly, picked up a preserved egg, and said to Bo Wen: "Junior brother, watch carefully."

Just as he finished speaking, Wen Yuan unexpectedly hit Bo Wen's fat head with a preserved egg. Bo Wen was caught off guard by this blow and couldn't help but cry out in surprise: "Ouch, it hurts so much! What are you doing!"

Wenyuan then quickly peeled off the cracked preserved egg, held it up to Bowen, and asked, "Junior brother, take another look at this, what is this?"

"Thousand-year egg!" Bowen shouted out subconsciously. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he suddenly came to his senses and thought to himself that something was wrong. He didn't expect that he was actually deceived by the waiter. He was really embarrassed.

Fortunately, everyone present only knew that he was Wen Yuan's junior apprentice, and his true identity was not revealed. Thinking of this, he quickly covered his mouth with his hand.

Madam Li smiled and asked curiously, "Which academy is this junior fellow from Master Wenyuan doing so well? I've heard that the most prestigious academy in the capital is Wenyuan Academy. Do you have any acquaintances there?"

"Well, very well... No, no, I don't know him." Bowen's face flushed immediately, he looked at Wenyuan in panic, and said anxiously: "What are you still doing here? Leave quickly after you buy the things! Okay, I won't say anymore, I'll wait for you outside." He slipped out before he finished speaking.

Uncle Liu saw this and turned to ask Madam Li with a smile, "Madam Li, are you here to buy sweet potato noodles again? Could it be that Master Li is going on a long trip again?"

The Li family has relied on water transport for generations, and whenever they encounter important cargo, Mr. Li always personally escorts it. And every time this happens, Mrs. Li buys a lot of sweet potato flour for Mr. Li to take away. Coincidentally, Mr. Li has a particular fondness for the taste of this sweet potato flour.

"Yes, the situation this time is rather special, and he has to go in person, so he specifically asked me to buy more, 20 bundles of sweet potato flour and 100 preserved eggs." Mrs. Li took out fifty taels of silver from her sleeve.

"Okay, wait a moment," Uncle Liu replied, then turned to Wenyuan and asked politely, "Master Wenyuan, would you like a bundle of sweet potato flour as usual?"

"Five bundles please. My junior brother will leave after finishing his work, so buy some more for him to take back." Wen Yuan smiled and took out silver to pay.

Uncle Liu's face turned awkward when he heard this. "To be honest, Master Wenyuan, our store's stock is really running low. According to the agreement with the villagers, they deliver sweet potatoes to the store once a week, but it's already two days overdue. As for the sweet potato flour we have now, it may only be enough to meet Madam Li's needs. I wonder, Master Wenyuan..."