The Story of a Destitute Noblewoman Farming

The servants who were bought were all handed over to Xing'er for teaching. They had all been servants before and knew the basic requirements. After a little training from Xing'er, they immediately took up their positions and started working.

The kitchen work was given to Chef Zhang and her daughter Xiao Cui, who would be responsible for cooking in the future. As for Ma Zhong's family, his wife was called Chen Daya, and Lu Linlang asked everyone to call her Aunt Ma. As for their sons, from the eldest to the fifth, their daughters were named Ma Chun and Ma Qiu.

Before daybreak, Chef Zhang and her daughter woke up. The two of them lived in the side building next to the kitchen. The Ma family occupied three rooms. With the increase in population, the originally small yard immediately seemed crowded. Lu Linlang looked at the residential land behind the house and thought of talking to the clan leader one day to buy the land and build some rooms for the servants.

Ma Zhong was cleaning the stable, and Aunt Ma started to sweep the yard. His children also joined in, and everything was organized and not chaotic.

Today we are going to make konjac tofu. Lu Linlang has found an uneven stone slab, which is just right for grating the konjac.

Seeing that the host was about to start, Aunt Ma and Cook Zhang hurried out to ask. They learned that they needed to wash konjac. Although they had never seen such an ugly thing before, they called their children to help with the work.

Lu Linlang told them some precautions and began to prepare.

Dahua and Erhua also came. After the younger brothers got up, they also gathered around the washed konjac. It was amazing that the konjac scraped clean with a broken bowl looked very pink. They rubbed the konjac back and forth on the stone slab and dropped it into the basin of alkaline water. It looked pretty good.

They all wanted to see the process of konjac becoming non-toxic, and none of them wanted to attend class, so Lu Linlang treated it as a social practice opportunity.

None of them had ever seen such a new thing. At first, when they heard it was poisonous, they were a little afraid to touch it. But now they can touch it and there is no harm, so they feel relieved.

When the konjacs were put into the pot and cooked, they really solidified into tofu, but not as fragile as tofu. The color turned into dark brown, which looked a bit ugly but really like tofu. Lu Zhan secretly poked it with his finger.

"Sister, it really does taste like tofu. Is it really non-toxic? Who wants to try it first?"

"Even though I know it's not poisonous, we still have to prove it before people can eat it. Don't worry, I asked Xing'er to buy chickens and ducks. Let's feed them first and see how it goes. I also ordered a pig from the village. We can't just keep buying meat like this. It's almost New Year when winter comes. Let's learn from the villagers and slaughter the New Year pig."

After hearing Lu Linlang's arrangement, Ma Zhong's family felt relieved. They were also afraid that this thing might be poisonous, and they were a little nervous for fear of being called by their master.

Soon, the chickens, ducks, and pigs all ate the freshly baked konjac tofu. Lu Zhanshu didn't want to read anymore and wanted to stare at it, but was suppressed by Lu Linlang.

By the afternoon, they were all fine. When they were given food, they all ate it with relish. Everyone saw that it really worked.

However, Lu Linlang still insisted on waiting for a day. She saw that the chickens and ducks were still eating happily, and the pigs were used to being watched. They ate konjac in big mouthfuls and used their long pig snouts to push the pig feeding bowl, as if to say that it was not enough to eat.

"Sister, can we eat now?" Lu Zhan started to swallow his saliva as he watched the pig eating. He also wanted to try what the tofu made from konjac tasted like.

"Okay, I'll cook it in a while." Lu Linlang instructed Chef Zhang to cook. After a while, a plate of fried konjac tofu shreds was served.

"Sister, don't be in a hurry, let me try first." Lu Zhan was eager to try.

"Cousin, let me try it for you. I just smelled it and it smells so good." Yun Can also said.

"Okay, you all can eat it. I've already tested it before cooking. It's not poisonous, so you can eat it without worry." Konjac tofu is boiled and can be eaten without frying. Lu Linlang had eaten it in advance, and seeing their exaggerated acting skills, she couldn't help laughing.

"Hmm, it's delicious, delicious, like eating meat, but different from meat." After hearing this, the two of them quickly picked up a chopstick and started eating.

After hearing the two people's comments, the others also picked up the dishes curiously. When the big flower took a bite, it really felt like eating meat, and it was elastic and not difficult to chew.

"Indeed, I think it tastes better than meat." Yun Yi also commented.

"I think meat is the most delicious." In Erhua's poor life experience, she thinks the most delicious thing in the world is meat, but Brother Yunyi and the others are different. They have eaten a lot of meat before, so they don't understand the deliciousness of meat.

"This is indeed a delicious vegetarian dish, and it doesn't contain meat. It won't make some elderly people gain weight easily, and it is also suitable for wealthy families." Yunxi nodded. He studied medicine, and the first thing he thought of was health.

"Sister, if we sell it, we will definitely make money. This can save a lot of money, and it will also give us an extra dish. It will definitely be sold out." Dahua said happily. She liked to think about these things.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Let's see the response first. If it's good, we can definitely grow konjac on a large scale and open up a new way for the villagers to make money."

As Lu Linlang was speaking, the clan leader arrived.

"Linlang girl, I heard from your aunt yesterday that you hired servants. If there's anything I can help you with, just let me know. By the way, your house isn't big enough, is it? I think you might want to expand, so I came to tell you about the situation."

What the clan leader said this time was exactly what Lu Linlang was planning, so Lu Linlang naturally agreed. When she learned that the residential land behind had not yet been allocated to the villagers, she bought it.

"Oh, there's one more thing. It's a bit troublesome. After discussing it with the elders, I thought we should get your opinions first. If it doesn't work, we can think of another way." The patriarch said in embarrassment.

"Uncle, can you tell me what's going on?" Xing'er brought the tea and Lu Linlang took a sip and asked.

"Hasn't it been these days that I've heard the sound of reading coming from your yard? When your father gave us the money, we were planning to buy some sacrificial fields and use the produce from the sacrificial fields to hire a teacher to teach the children in the village.

It is said that if a family wants to think well, the children of the family must study hard and be well-mannered, so that they can find decent jobs when they go out to work in the future. Moreover, if they have the opportunity to take the imperial examination, they will have a bright future.

Our clan genealogy also recorded that our ancestor was also a scholar in the past. Unfortunately, our family fell into poverty and for various reasons, we are in the current situation. If it weren't for your father, we would not have dared to have such an idea at that time.

But when we went to hire a teacher, just a student, who was said to teach the children in the village, they calculated the cost for us. The books we had to buy, the paper and pens we had to spend, as well as the gifts and tuition for the teacher, it would cost at least a hundred taels. They also said that our village was too far away and we had to arrange a house for him to live in.

When we heard this, we were overwhelmed. The income from the sacrificial land had to be taxed, and it really wasn't enough. We suggested that several children share a book and practice calligraphy on the ground, but the teacher said that would be embarrassing for him. Well, we later put the matter aside. The income from the sacrificial land was used to subsidize the villagers to pay taxes, which was just enough to make ends meet. No one wanted to hire the teacher anymore, saying that we had come this far all these years and not having to study wouldn't make us any less wealthy.