A farmer has a shrewish wife; he's busy making money every day.

Following her memory of everyone's requests, Ye Qingxue went to the grain store and bought grain.

The shop owner was overjoyed to buy so much grain at once.

By the time Ye Qingxue finished buying, there wasn't much grain left in the shop.

Ye Qingxue stepped forward and asked the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, has the harvest been bad lately?"

Seeing that Ye Qingxue had bought a lot, the shopkeeper became more accommodating.

"Yes, in recent years, the weather has been dry and the river hasn't been flowing properly, so the harvest has been much worse."

"Doesn't the county government care? If we report it to higher authorities, we should be able to get some relief."

The shopkeeper quickly made a shushing gesture: "Young man, are you new to our county? You mustn't mention the words 'county government'."

Ye Qingxue raised an eyebrow, took out fifty coins from her waist, and placed them on the counter.

"Shopkeeper, tell me, why can't we mention the county government in our county?"

Seeing that Ye Qingxue was so generous, the shopkeeper stopped hiding his true intentions.

"Young master, have you heard of Fierce Tiger Stronghold?"

Ye Qingxue didn't speak, gesturing for him to continue.

"This Tiger Stronghold came to our county five years ago. They occupy a mountain and come down from the mountain every day, ostensibly to collect protection fees, but in reality they just rob people."

"They don't commit arson or murder, they just loot. They not only steal money, but also women. They are extremely brazen."

Ye Qingxue was shocked: "The county magistrate isn't doing anything?"

The shopkeeper clapped his hands: "That's the problem!"

"The county magistrate can't do anything about it; the leader of this Fierce Tiger Stronghold has connections above him!"

Ye Qingxue's heart skipped a beat: "Who is it?"

The shopkeeper hurriedly shook his head: "I don't know about that. I only heard a little bit about it because I know someone in the county government. It is said that they are officials from Jiangnan Prefecture, and our county is under their jurisdiction. The county magistrate does not dare to oppose them at all. They just arrest them and make a show of it in court before releasing them."

"This Tiger Stronghold is so arrogant that they openly collect tolls at the entrance of Qingshui Town. Sigh, it's been a long time since any outsiders have come to our Qingshui County."

Mentioning tolls, Ye Qingxue thought of that wolf-rich man: "But I haven't seen anyone collecting tolls lately?"

The shopkeeper nodded: "I heard that the third leader, Wolf Fu, was injured and hasn't woken up yet, so..."

"Why don't they send someone else to collect it?"

"Hey, who knows? But who can figure out what the people of Fierce Tiger Stronghold are thinking?"

He sighed, "Now, we people in this county just hope that the Fierce Tiger Stronghold will come down the mountain less often and rob less. If they do come down the mountain, we'll have to hope they rob other people instead."

"Young master, you're from out of town, so be careful. Tiger Stronghold is notorious for bullying outsiders."

"Thank you."

After asking for the information, Ye Qingxue walked out of the grain store and looked at the bustling street. While the people coming and going were laughing, their faces also carried a hint of inappropriate caution.

Tsk, this Tiger Stronghold is really something, they don't do anything right.

But Ye Qingxue wasn't one to be overly kind; she wouldn't rashly get involved unless it truly involved her.

Let’s take a look first.

As she walked out of the grain store, the shop assistant had already loaded the grain she bought onto the car.

Ye Qingxue picked up Chen Shi and hurried back to the village.

Surprisingly, we didn't encounter anyone blocking our way at the county gate.

If Tiger Stronghold truly doesn't welcome outsiders, then she would definitely be stopped if she brought back such a large load of goods.

But she left without any problems.

We didn't even see the tail that was following us.

Although Ye Qingxue was a little confused, she was naturally happy that no one was bothering her.

Back in the deserted village, she distributed all the villagers' food, with the burly men who had helped build the donkey cart receiving even more.

They were overjoyed as they held the grain: "Madam Ye, these extra three catties of fine rice were all obtained by you after negotiating the price for us?"

Ye Qingxue nodded: "Hello, shopkeeper."

Several burly men happily took the grain home to show their parents, while the other villagers who hadn't received anything were furious and secretly plotted to get Ye Qingxue to deliver something else.

After Ye Qingxue finished distributing the grain, it was already afternoon. After eating, she went to Aunt Lu's house to find Chen Shi.

As soon as you enter, you can smell the rich aroma of scrambled eggs.

"Wow, your meal today is really good," Ye Qingxue exclaimed.

She doesn't have much time to cook, and Li Youren is stingy; lately, he's been cooking brown rice porridge with wild vegetables, which doesn't taste very good to her.

Madam Chen smiled and said, "Aunt Lu is kind-hearted; she's giving us extra food."

Aunt Lu pursed her lips: "I didn't make this for you, I just wanted to eat it myself."

Ye Qingxue looked at the number of eggs in the basin and realized that at least three eggs had been laid.

"Aunt Lu, you're eating three eggs by yourself? That's so extravagant!"

Aunt Lu paused, and after a long pause, she finally managed to say, "I'm willing."

Ye Qingxue smiled, stopped teasing Aunt Lu, and went to find Chen Shi: "Aunt Chen, let's talk about the new noodles?"

Aunt Lu tactfully went back into her house.

Chen replied, "Qingxue, do you have any thoughts?"

Ye Qingxue did have a few recipes in her mind, which she had memorized when she learned to cook in her previous life.

"Scallion oil noodles?"

Mrs. Chen was taken aback; she had never heard of this kind of noodle before. "How is it made?"

Ye Qingxue began reciting the recipe: "Chop scallions into sections, fry them in hot oil until golden brown and fragrant, then add three tablespoons of soy sauce, half a tablespoon of vinegar, and half a tablespoon of sugar, etc., and that will be the base sauce."

Chen's eyes lit up: "What a great method! It can directly bring out the aroma of the scallions, and the sugar can enhance the flavor even more. Let's go to the county earlier tomorrow and try it out."

Seeing how enthusiastic Chen was, Ye Qingxue smiled too.

“There are some others as well,” Ye Qingxue added.

Chen was somewhat impatient: "Tell me."

"Sour soup noodles, spicy mixed noodles, pork lard soup noodles, green pepper and scrambled egg noodles, hot dry noodles, tomato and shredded pork noodles, fried noodles..."

Ye Qingxue memorized the recipes one by one.

Chen became more and more excited as she listened: "Good, good, Qingxue, how do you know how to make so many kinds of noodles?"

Many of these were dishes she had wanted to try, but had been unable to make due to limited ingredients.

Ye Qingxue smiled shyly: "I just happened to get a cookbook before, but it's gone now."

Mr. Chen said with some regret, "If I have the chance, I will definitely read this book."

Then, with concern, he asked, "Do we have that many ingredients?"

Ye Qingxue gave her a reassuring look: "You don't need to worry about the ingredients. Just leave it to me and focus on cooking."

"Okay."

That evening, Ye Qingxue picked the ripe vegetables from the spirit field and planted wheat.

They harvested another fifty catties of wheat using the mature spiritual liquid.

Then I fell asleep.

The next morning, Ye Qingxue set off with Chen Shi at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM).

This time, without having to pull the cart, their journey was much faster.

Upon arriving in Qingshui County, Chen first took the money to buy ingredients, then went to a noodle stall and began preparing the ingredients.

Boil water, knead dough, let it rise, and pull noodles—after going through this whole process, a basket of fresh noodles is ready.

Once the water boiled, Chen put the noodles into the pot and then went to prepare the base ingredients.

Ye Qingxue picked some scallions from the vegetables, which she immediately gave to Chen Shi.

Cut the scallions into sections, heat the oil, add the scallion sections, and the aroma will burst forth, filling your nostrils.

Ms. Chen has an excellent control over the heat; the first time she fried the scallions, every time she stirred and tossed the wok, it was just right.

Finally, fry until just golden brown and at the point of maximum aroma, then add the sauce and stir-fry until it bubbles.

Finally, drain the cooked noodles, rinse them with cold water, place them in a bowl, and pour in the stir-fried sauce. The aroma wafts through the small noodle stall, making you feel warm and comforted.

"Hey bro! Is anyone home? I smell something delicious!"

"Let's open for business soon!"

There were already customers waiting outside the stall.

Ye Qingxue and Chen Shi exchanged a glance, both seeing the surprise in each other's eyes.

She hurriedly ran to open the tent and saw that there were already more than a dozen customers gathered outside the stall.

Without hesitation, he shouted, "We're open for business!"

The guests flocked in.