The Story of a Destitute Noblewoman Farming

The shop was on track, and Lu Linlang went to the town again. The town was obviously not as lively as the county town, but people still came to the shop from time to time.

The county magistrate had the recipe copied many times and distributed to the village heads. By the time it arrived in Xishan Village, all the workshops in the village had been opened.

The clan leader was a man of decisive actions, and he wanted to seize the initiative in this matter. Now that he had seen with his own eyes that the people of Chongshui liked to eat konjac tofu, he came back and discussed with the clan elders, and then he had people start digging konjac.

As for the workshop, it was simply converted from an uninhabited house in the village. Not many things were needed, just a stone mill, a wooden basin, a large pot, firewood and alkali. By the time Lu Linlang came back from the county town, everyone in the village had tasted the konjac tofu.

"Damn, our village has finally got such an opportunity. If we don't seize it, are we going to have to wait for someone else to start the business first? As for what Linlang girl said about selling goods, at worst, our villagers can carry them ourselves and sell them in the county town, town, and various villages.

This is a business with no capital at all. No matter how much money we lose, if we don't have the guts to do it, then we can forget about getting rich. We'll just have to guard those few acres of land and starve to death for the rest of our lives."

An elder of the clan made the decision, and the others followed suit. They asked a few people to try making a pot first. After tasting it, they immediately took out the remaining six taels of silver that they had paid to Yunyi that day and used this six taels of silver to start their business. If they lost money, the worst that could happen was that they would work hard for a year next year.

The speed of their actions made Lu Linlang admire the determination of her clan members.

She is responsible for coming up with ideas on this matter, and as for the rest, the villagers have to do it. Only by allowing them to have the ability to think independently can they achieve great things in the future.

When the clan leader learned that Lu Linlang had returned to the village, he happily told her their plans.

"Chief, your idea is very good, so stick with it. If the money is not enough, I can contribute part of it."

"No, no, we still have the money. This thing doesn't cost much in the first place. I just don't know if your vegetable store will accept our konjac tofu. I heard that you all make it at home and send it over."

"Of course we do. We didn't know what the response would be, so we didn't disclose it to the public. If we were to make it ourselves, it would be troublesome. I originally planned to buy it directly from the village after we established it."

"Okay, okay, then we have our first stable customer base. And that tofu workshop you mentioned, Linlang girl, we also think is feasible. We're going to make grinding heads anyway, so we plan to make a few more. If we can also sell tofu, we can make some money."

"Chief, if we sell this tofu, it won't just be white tofu. We can make soy milk, tofu pudding, dried tofu, tofu fruit, bean curd sheets, thousand sheets, bean curd sheets, vegetarian chicken, dried tofu, and so on. Just making white tofu is too monotonous. We need to increase the variety so that we can sell more and keep it longer."

"What? Apart from the soy milk and tofu pudding you mentioned, I haven't heard of the others. There are so many varieties, and we don't know how to make them. What should we do?"

"That's right, I've seen it before. Once the tofu is ready, I'll go over and discuss it with everyone."

"That's great, Linlang girl, you are really our lucky star. No matter what kind of workshop it is, we only start it because you mentioned it. I think it would be better if you could be the manager of this workshop in the future. We would all listen to you and follow your lead."

"Chief, please forgive me. I have other plans. I think it would be better if you managed this workshop yourself. You must teach all the rules and set the requirements from the beginning so that they can be followed later. Otherwise, if the scale is expanded and the workers' mentality is not correct, there will be endless disputes and even damage to our reputation. You need to be responsible for these things."

"That's right. I can't ask you to do everything. Don't worry, I have already made an agreement with the elders about this workshop. Of the money earned, in addition to paying the workers, 50% will be given to you first, and the rest will be used by the village for other things."

"How can this be possible? I just talked and did nothing, so how can I get a share of the money? I don't want a penny of this money. Just consider it as a token of my gratitude to the villagers for sheltering me after I return to the village. If I need anything in the future, I hope the uncles and brothers in the village can lend a hand."

"Isn't this just a matter of convenience? Why do you need to bring it up? Anyone who dares to bully you will be a sinner in the village. This money should be given to you. You are the one who pushed the entire workshop to be established. Don't let us do you any harm."

"Chief, let's not talk about this anymore. I have another thing to tell you. Yesterday, the county magistrate invited us to offer sacrifices on the first day of October. I don't know much about this sacrifice, so I hope you can help me clear up my confusion." In fact, she had already found out about this matter yesterday, and now she was just trying to change the subject.

"Oh, this is really a big event. October 1st is a big day for everyone in Chongshui. On this day, everyone will go to the river to worship. The city will be even more lively. The county magistrate will lead all the gentry in the county to the river. There will also be people singing operas and dancing sacrificial dances. If anyone can go with the county magistrate, it means that their family has a high status in Chongshui.

Now that you have this opportunity, you must make friends with those gentry. Although they are not officials, they are well-known figures in the entire Chongshui, and most people dare not offend them. In addition, their family businesses are also opportunities that others are interested in.

That day was as lively as the Chinese New Year, and it was not that cold on the first day of October. Many people would wear new clothes and go out, wearing chrysanthemums, osmanthus or hibiscus flowers on their heads. After the day was over, they would put these flowers into the river and let them float downstream.

Some people would gamble for flowers in places with fast-flowing water. Of course, these weren't real flowers, but hibiscus blossoms carved by carpenters and coated with flower juice, giving them an intricate appearance. Everyone would buy one of the flowers and release them simultaneously. Whoever's flower reached the designated spot first would win. It was quite lively.

The clan leader became more and more excited as he spoke, wanting to experience it for himself, and had long forgotten what he had just said. Lu Linlang also nodded. Such a lively event, of course, could not be missed, and the people, even more so, could not be missed.

"Thank you for your guidance, Chief. I will prepare new clothes for my brothers and sisters when I return. I will definitely go and take a good look at them one day."

"Okay, go ahead." After Lu Linlang left, the clan leader realized that he had just forgotten what he was going to say. He could only pat his head and said that it would not be too late to give the money directly to Linlang when he made money.

After Lu Linlang returned home, she told her brothers and sisters the good news. Sure enough, Dahua and Erhua almost jumped up when they heard the news. They grew up in Chongshui and had heard about such a grand event, but they had been living in the village since then. Naturally, the village was not so lively, and they had never felt such joy again.

This year, they were both very happy to be able to go to the city with their sister and wear new clothes.

"Sis, we haven't even finished wearing the new skirts you made for us yet. You don't have to make new ones for us. Make some for our brothers instead."

"Little girl, don't worry about it. Who wouldn't be happy to have more new clothes to wear? Besides, we're going to the city. If we dress better, those gentry and their families will look at us differently. Clothes make the man, and saddles make the horse. When it's time to be generous, you must be willing to give."