Dressed as a young lady, she became rich by relying on Pinxixi

"Okay, the problem is solved for you. Now let me tell you about the coal business." Mrs. Hong greeted with a smile.

Since her last trip to Xinshan Village, Mrs. Hong has enjoyed using the products from the Xu family workshop.

Xu Siyu also gave her some extra things to use. Mrs. Hong didn't know why her father felt that the young host was not good at dealing with people and wanted her to help take care of the baby more.

"Yes, Mrs. Hong, please go ahead."

"On the second day of the second lunar month, during the Flower Festival, the prefectural capital will hold a banquet on the Jia River, connecting the three counties and showcasing hundreds of flowers. This is a major event. I heard that a high-ranking official from the capital will be coming to inspect."

Xu Siyu didn't understand what this had to do with her, so she could only respond: "Yeah."

Fortunately, Mrs. Hong didn't finish her story. "Do you know about the Qi Family Flower Shop in the south of the city? They've received an order to move three flower gardens to the banks of the Jia River. They're using the Twelve Flower Gods as their theme, and they want them to bloom by the Jia River."

"Twelve Flower Gods? Blooming together?"

"Alas, they're not real flowers. Those flowers that are out of season are just tongcao flowers."

"Oh."

"But..." If there wasn't a distinction between superiors and inferiors, Xu Siyu would have thought that Mrs. Hong was telling her a joke, with a beginning, a middle, and an end.

"There will be a song and dance performance of 'Xizi Washing Silk' near Jiahe Boat House, where real lotus flowers will be seen in the water."

"Lotus? Shouldn't it bloom in May?"

"Yes." Mrs. Hong finally got to the point.

"The Qi family wanted to encourage the lotus flowers to bloom, so they thought of building a greenhouse, but that would require a lot of firewood. However, logging is prohibited in spring and summer, and they've already found a coal mine in Sanxi Township."

"But the Qi family doesn't know how to make coal, and the ones made in Sanxi Township..." Mrs. Hong covered her nose and shook her head, "The smoke is thick and smelly, it's completely inferior to the fragrant coal cakes you make."

Hearing this, Xu Siyu finally understood what business Mrs. Hong was talking about. But she was also puzzled. Using the method of sealing and exhausting the smoke from the heater, the smoke from any coal cakes was not a big problem. Why did they have to use fragrant coal cakes?

"You mean the Qi family will ask me to buy fragrant coal cakes? It has to be fragrant coal cakes?"

Mrs. Hong had just returned from the Qi family flower garden, where she had just come back from admiring the flowers. She had wanted to see the blossoms in advance, but she heard that the Qi family was extremely busy and needed to buy coal cakes to hasten the flowers' blooming.

On the way back, I happened to meet Xu Siyu and told her the good news.

"Yes, and there are quite a few!"

Xu Siyu can now make more than one kind of fragrant coal cake, but this kind of coal cake needs to be ground very finely and mixed with finely sieved yellow mud powder. Their daily production capacity is only 50 pieces. Moreover, this kind of coal cake has always been in short supply and there is no stock at home.

Xu Siyu couldn't be happy when she heard that there were a large number of orders.

It can’t be done. It can’t be done with the current productivity of Xu’s workshop!

Seeing that she was the only one who was happy, and Xu Siyu was calm and even a little sad, Mrs. Hong hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"

"Madam, the process of making these coal cakes is very labor-intensive. The Xu family can make fifty in a day, which is already amazing."

"Oh no." Mrs. Hong immediately jumped up from her chair, looking even more anxious than Xu Siyu.

"The Hundred Flowers Banquet is the most important event in the prefecture. It's only twenty days away. I'm afraid the Qi family will ask the county government to come and ask you for the fragrant coal cakes. If you can't provide them, you'll be in trouble."

"What? Is this possible?"

Xu Siyu couldn't understand. She couldn't do it and had never agreed to it, but she would still be punished.

Mrs. Hong held her back and said, "Wait a minute. I'll ask someone to find my husband and bring him back. We can think of a solution together."

……

"What can we do? What can we do?" When County Magistrate Hong, who had hurried back, heard that the fragrant coal cakes were insufficient, he felt that his official career prospects were bleak again.

"But the Xu family just can't do this?" Mrs. Hong understood a little, but not completely. But she knew her father was happy working for the Xu family and needed her to protect the Xu family workshop. She couldn't hurt the old man again.

"Madam, this isn't just a matter for the Xu or Qi families. The invitation to the Hundred Flowers Banquet from the government office has already been sent to the capital. If the banquet goes well, everyone will be rewarded. But if it goes badly, everyone in our county office might have to be replaced."

This matter was ordered by the government office, but the requirements were so extraordinary and detailed, there must be orders from higher up.

Even if the three counties of Jiahe feel that they cannot do it and want to submit a petition, they have to get the job done first to avoid getting into trouble.

Hong Wenju felt that the imperial court's orders for the past two years hadn't been anything good for the country or the people. The higher-ups were even more absurd.

There was clearly a drought the year before last, but it was only last year that things started to recover, so they said the weather was good and they were going to hold a grand Flower Festival to pray for good farming.

For farming, you just go to the fields to pray. Why have a banquet with hundreds of flowers, and put flower boats on the river, accompanied by girls from Yanchun Tower?

"What the adults mean is that we must bear it even if it is difficult."

"Yes." Hong Wenju wasn't afraid of Xu Siyu's questioning. "If you say you can't do it, you'll be locked up first. The whole banquet will be ruined, and those in jail will definitely be the first to be sent to jail."

Once again, Xu Siyu felt that fate was never in her control.

"Okay, then I'll go back to the workshop to make arrangements."

Hong Wenju nodded at her, acknowledging her proactive approach. "If the Qi family pressures you, don't take it too seriously. My father-in-law is with you, so naturally I'll stand behind you."

The mistake Hong Wenju made was that he was unwilling to tell his family about the matter when it was not a big deal.

But he had no ability to solve it, so the matter became a big deal and he had no choice but to use all his family fortune to settle the grudge.

The father-in-law probably felt that he was not considered a family member, so he left home to work.

Since ancient times, a single chopstick is easy to break, but bundles of chopsticks are difficult to break.

Being an official, like running a business, is not a one-person job. He gradually understood this principle and no longer treated his wife as just a woman in the back house, or his father-in-law as just an elder from the outside family, without telling them about the dangers, and instead focused on solving problems early on.

My father-in-law said that he had become stupid because of reading too much and only believed in loyalty and righteousness. He didn't expect that without the contrast of cunning, loyalty and righteousness would not be so rare.

Hong Wenju's rise from a peasant to being favored by his father-in-law and supported to become a county magistrate was actually not something he could have achieved on his own.

He spent five years as county magistrate, neither rising nor falling. He was so eager to prove himself that he almost ruined his entire family.

Xu Siyu is his father-in-law's boss, so he is also a supporter chosen by his father-in-law.

If she is good, he will also be good.

After figuring this out, Hong Wenju has secretly taken care of the Xu family workshop.

On her way back, Xu Siyu met Xu Chenglin who was anxiously looking for her. They were traveling in a mule cart, and the boy's face was red with anxiety, as if something big had happened to him.

"Auntie, a steward named Qi came with some yamen runners to our house and wanted to buy some fragrant coal cakes. My brother refused to accept the offer, so they stayed and are waiting for you to go back and make the decision."

The people in the Xu family are used to being suppressed by Xu Wangshi. The whole family has one advantage: they are not reckless.

Like Xu Chengjie, who rose from a restaurant helper to a workshop manager in a short period of time, he made money and gained face, but he still kept his original intention, did not become arrogant or show off, and continued to work hard without rushing for success.

Knowing what was going on, Xu Siyu didn't let Cheng Qi and Cheng Zi follow her. She got into Xu Chenglin's car and drove back.

……