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

I want ten thousand taels of gold.

This was Ye Qingxue's first thought.

With money, she can open chain stores all over the country and do whatever she wants.

But reason told her that she would get beaten up if she spoke up like that.

Ahem, calm down and get serious.

Ye Qingxue calmed herself down and began to seriously consider the reward.

If you ask her what she wants most right now, it's simply to make the new store a lively place and get the brand out there.

Wait... the signboard!

Ye Qingxue's eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had thought of something.

"I'm about to open a new noodle shop. I wonder if Magistrate Xu could write an inscription for the shop and make a signboard in his own handwriting?"

Xu Guangming has an excellent reputation in Qingshui County. Although he was previously suppressed by Menghu Village, he still does his best to do good deeds.

Therefore, he was extremely loved and respected.

If there were a signboard with his own handwriting, the brand would definitely be able to make a name for itself here!

Given Xu Guangming's special status, it can be considered as him being a spokesperson for her noodle shop, killing two birds with one stone.

Ye Qingxue looked at Xu Guangming expectantly.

Xu Guangming paused for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing: "You really know how to pick a child."

Having served as an official for so many years, he naturally knew the kind of impact his inscription would have.

"Magistrate Xu, is that alright?" Ye Qingxue pursed her lips.

Xu Guangming thought for a moment and then smiled and said, "Then let me try your restaurant's signature dish first!"

He didn't refuse, which means it's possible, but he needs to investigate further.

Ye Qingxue was quite excited and quickly invited Xu Guangming into the noodle stall.

Xu Guangming sat down and looked around: "Hmm, not bad, clean and tidy. Just help me with whatever you like."

Ye Qingxue responded and went to give instructions to Madam Chen.

Soon, the scallion oil noodles and red bean and osmanthus dumplings were served.

Xu Guangming picked up a noodle, put it in his mouth, and chewed it carefully.

His eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of surprise in them.

Then he put down his chopsticks, scooped up a spoonful of red bean paste, and put it in his mouth.

The red bean paste is delicate, the glutinous rice balls are soft, sweet and fragrant, with a faint osmanthus aroma.

The fragrance is delightful, and I feel warm all over.

Xu Guangming couldn't help but exclaim in genuine admiration, "Excellent, truly excellent! This tastes unlike any other noodles I've tried before. It's delicious!"

Upon hearing the praise, Ye Qingxue showed no arrogance, but smiled faintly: "If Magistrate Xu likes it, that's fine."

Magistrate Xu quickly finished the food on the table, gently wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, and smiled at Ye Qingxue, saying, "I agree to your request!"

Ye Qingxue smiled and said, "Thank you, Magistrate Xu."

Xu Guangming waved his hand hurriedly, "It's alright. By the way, could you send these noodles to the county government office? I want everyone to have a taste. The county government office is too busy right now, and no one has time to eat properly. They're just eating steamed buns and dumplings."

Ye Qingxue nodded: "Sure, the county government isn't far from here, we can deliver it, but the taste might be a little off."

Xu Guangming laughed and said, "It's alright, their mouths aren't that sensitive, no need to take it so seriously."

Ye Qingxue smiled too. Hearing Xu Guangming mention the county government, she remembered the incident at Menghu Village.

"By the way, Magistrate Xu, how's the interrogation of those people from Fierce Tiger Stronghold going?"

"The gold mine in the mountain has been discovered. This is a serious matter; it needs to be sent to the capital for trial, and it has even alarmed the Emperor. In short, they have no chance of turning things around." Xu Guangming's face lit up with a faint smile as he mentioned this.

Ye Qingxue nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "What are the connections behind the Fierce Tiger Stronghold...?"

"It's strange that the people behind them haven't made a move at all, as if they don't care about the Tiger Stronghold group at all."

"A discarded pawn?" Ye Qingxue guessed.

Xu Guangming shook his head, "I don't know. Their caution is just a sign that they might be up to something big."

Ye Qingxue lowered her head in thought. She was just a woman who didn't understand or have any say in the affairs of the court. She should focus on making money and living her own life.

"Then I'll be going now. Don't worry, I'll make sure the signboard is ready before you open. Also, remember to send twenty servings of scallion oil noodles to the county government office tomorrow. This is the deposit, plus the money for the noodles." Xu Guangming placed one tael of silver on the table, turned and left.

Ye Qingxue put away the silver and turned to serve other guests.

While wiping the table, I overheard some guests whispering.

"Hey, was that Magistrate Xu just now? Why is he here looking for this boss?"

"Could it be that the hero who helped capture the Fierce Tiger Stronghold a few days ago is really this noodle stall guy?"

"But the owner of Li's Noodle Shop said he was the hero that day, right? My sister idolizes him so much that she drags her girlfriends to Li's Noodle Shop every day."

"Sigh, who knows? We didn't go to that birthday party. Even if we had gone to the wealthy family's birthday party, we wouldn't have gotten to know them."

Ye Qingxue's eyes turned slightly cold upon hearing this.

The owner of this Li's Noodle Shop is really shameless; he'll embellish his own image with anything.

Taking advantage of the fact that the people of the county had never seen him, he dared to impersonate her.

However, her identity is not so easy to impersonate. The higher you climb by stepping on her fame, the harder you will fall!

Ye Qingxue's eyes flashed, a chill running through them.

Suppressing her emotions, Ye Qingxue decided to focus on the task at hand.

He took out paper and pen, wrote down the job posting, and posted it on the pillar of the noodle stall, as well as on the county's bulletin board.

Soon, someone came to their door.

So after closing up shop each day, I had to stay there for a while to assess the people who came to work.

The waiters are fine; as long as they are enthusiastic, diligent, and quick-witted, that's good enough. It's the chefs who are a bit more complicated.

It's fine if we let them cook for themselves; they all cook quite well.

But Ye Qingxue needs someone who can immediately create a new product just by listening to what Ye Qingxue says.

I've searched high and low, but I still can't seem to do it.

This made her realize how lucky she was to have found the Chen family.

Three days later, Ye Qingxue had no choice but to hire two people who could barely complete the dishes under Chen's guidance, as well as three waiters.

Including Shan Xuan, there are four shop assistants in total. With myself and Aunt Lu working on both sides, that should be enough.

The next issue is training. First, the newly recruited workers will go to the new store to familiarize themselves with the environment, and then they will go to learn from Mrs. Chen and Aunt Lu every evening.

After a period of such busy work, several more days have passed.

During that time, I took some time to go up the mountain and cut some bamboo, and made twenty bamboo tube bowls that I could take with me.

The windows of the new store have been renovated and installed. Ye Qingxue went to try them out and was quite satisfied.

It took another two days to build an extension table by the window and put a wooden shelf inside to store some essential materials.

After instructing the waiter to wipe down all the tables and chairs in the shop and hang up festive red couplets, the new shop was officially ready.

In the last few days of the month, she posted a large red paper outside her stall early in the morning to inform passing customers that her new shop was about to open.

They received a lot of attention and blessings.

On the last day of the month, Ye Qingxue was even more excited because Magistrate Xu sent someone to say that the plaque was ready and he had inscribed the words "Xiangmai Pavilion".

Ye Qingxue had seen it beforehand; the characters were sharp and powerful, penetrating the paper, and pleasing to the eye.

She was very satisfied; it seemed the new store would open smoothly tomorrow.

The only downside is the incident that happened today by the owner of Li's Noodle Shop.