Su Luo didn't want to keep explaining to A Xu, so she threw the grass in her hand on the ground and walked ahead.

The county magistrate and the village chief walked at the very back, not daring to disturb Nangong Qing.

"What do you mean, Madam Su? I don't understand yet. Please explain again."

Nangong Qing used her fan to block A Xu's chest, forcing him to stop his attempt to chase after Su Luo.

“Ah Xu, we’re not on the same level.”

After saying that, Nangong Qing laughed and walked forward.

"Young master, what do you mean? Did you understand? Why are you laughing..."

Ah Xu stood there, reflecting on what he had said. He hadn't said anything foolish.

Magistrate Jiang patted Ah Xu on the shoulder and said, "Reading more books does have its benefits."

...

Over the course of five days, the old courtyard had been completely demolished and repaired, and Fan Gaocen arrived as promised to bring over the blue bricks and wooden beams.

The carpenters and bricklayers began their work.

Under Fan Gaocen's guidance, the foundation gradually took shape, and the laborers were still the people from Changping Village whom Su Luo had hired.

With the addition of more than twenty bricklayers, Su Luo and her colleagues had to increase their daily cooking workload.

Su Luo has already taken out five or six baskets of eggplants from the space to sell.

Before she knew it, it was the end of July, and it was time for Su Luo to distribute the dividends. She needed to get the money first, and then go to pay the villagers their wages that evening.

"I've calculated it. Do you want to calculate it again?"

Su Luo handed the ledger to Nangong Qing.

"No need, I trust you."

However, Nangong Qing then gave Su Luo another ledger.

"These are the vegetables and meats that Fu Man Lou buys for you every day. You can check them yourself."

Su Luo had to calculate the bill herself. One pound of pork cost thirty-five coins, and twenty pounds a day would cost seven hundred coins.

Twenty days would cost fourteen taels of silver, plus some vegetables, making a total of eighteen taels.

Su Luo then divided the month's profits according to the share.

"In that case, my bonus this month will be 4,500 taels, plus 360 catties of eggplant, which makes 360 taels in total."

"Two hundred packets of spice mix, another six hundred taels, totaling five thousand four hundred and sixty. Subtracting my eighteen taels for vegetables, that leaves five thousand four hundred and forty-two taels."

Ah Xu also received over a thousand taels of silver. After he returns to the capital, he plans to buy land, a house, and get married. Just thinking about these things makes him happy.

The two men reached out to Nangong Qing and said at the same time, "Give me the money."

Nangong Qing gave Su Luo five 1,000-tael silver notes, four 100-tael notes, and a 60-tael silver ingot.

The moment Su Luo saw the silver, her eyes shone brighter than the moon.

"Nangong Qing, it's been a pleasure working with you."

Su Luo counted the silver and put it away.

Taking advantage of Su Luo's good mood, Nangong Qing asked the question he had always wanted to ask.

"Su Luo, you mentioned last time that you could cultivate new varieties of edible plants. Do you have any ideas about that now?"

She had the idea, but Su Luo didn't have time right now. It was August, autumn was approaching, and the rice still needed to be harvested. What else could she plant this season?

By the way, the only thing that can be planted after the autumn harvest is Chinese cabbage.

“I know of a plant that only grows in the north. If you can find it, I can cultivate a vegetable suitable for winter.”

Nangong Qing didn't even rush to give the money to Axu, waiting for Su Luo to finish speaking.

What plant?

“Turnips aren’t as hot in Nanning now, so they should survive if I bring them here. I’ll pollinate them with the rapeseed we have here, and we’ll get a new vegetable that’s big and tender, a must-have in winter.”

Winters in Nanning are cold, and apart from some wild vegetables, there are almost no fresh vegetables to eat. People usually dry bamboo shoots in the spring and other things that can be dried in summer and autumn to save for the winter.

If there were cold-resistant winter vegetables, many fewer people would die.

"Turnips are only found in Beiliang. There are constant battles between Nanning and Beiliang, but it's not difficult to find a few live turnips to bring back."

The appearance of eggplants led Nangong Qing to read many books about plants; otherwise, he wouldn't have known that turnips only grew in Beiliang.

"Alright, as long as you can get them, there are some wild rapeseed plants next to my kiln. I will cultivate them properly and they will succeed."

After Su Luo left, Nangong Qing gave A Xu his share of the thousand-plus taels, and both of them were smiling.

"Young master, are you really going to Beiliang for Lady Su? Are you really going to find that plant and marry Yuntai? Isn't Yuntai just a wild vegetable that cows eat?"

"Um!"

Nangong Qing didn't want to talk to Axu about this, because he wouldn't understand anyway.

“Ah Xu, the Imperial Advisor said that a lucky star is coming, but perhaps we have been looking in the wrong direction.”

This is a big deal! Ah Xu immediately stood up and said, "How could it be wrong? It must be among these infants in Yongle County."

Nangong Qing tidied the books on the table and said, "Maybe I'm overthinking it, or maybe the lucky star really isn't among the children."

...

Su Luo first went to the money exchange and exchanged the two hundred taels of silver notes for loose silver and copper coins.

When the manager of the money shop saw that Su Luo had so many silver notes, he advised her to deposit them in the money shop, saying that it was safe and reliable.

Su Luo smiled; having her own private space was much safer than a money exchange.

When Su Luo returned to Changping Village, Zhao Ruyun and the others had already prepared dinner. She found a stool and a table and sat down.

The village chief showed Su Luo the records of everyone's work. Everyone was very diligent, and no one had asked for leave.

"Su Luo, this is all for the past twenty days."

The village chief wrote it in great detail, so that Su could understand it at a glance.

"Thank you for your hard work, village chief." Su Luo took out one or two taels of silver from a bag and gave it to the village chief.

The village chief only receives one or two taels a month, but Su Luo gave him more this time.

“That’s not right, Su Luo. I’ve only worked for you for twenty days. You can give me six hundred coins. I can’t take more than that.”

“Village chief, you have helped me a lot, this is what you deserve.”

"No, no, no... If you keep doing this, I won't come tomorrow."

The village chief refused to accept anything, so Su Luo had no choice but to give him another 600 coins. The village chief only wanted round numbers, so he was actually short a few coins.

"Aunties, please stop what you're doing and I'll calculate your wages first."

Liu Fangfang, Chen Yan, and Zhang Xiujuan arrived first, while Zhao Ruyun was still there preparing the last dish.

Yan Chuan Yi Huan and Chen Xiao Xiao were playing on the side. As if they knew the adults were about to pay wages, they ran over to take a look.

Let's start with Zhang Xiujuan's: "Aunt Zhang, you cooked for twenty days, earning fifteen coins a day, which is three hundred coins."

The bag was given by the money exchange, and the copper coins inside were strung together in groups of one hundred. Su Luo didn't need to count them; she simply took three strings and gave them to Zhang Xiujuan.

"Aunt Zhang, please make a selection."

"Okay, okay... alright, hahaha..."

Zhang Xiujuan's smile stretched almost to her ears.

Then there's Liu Fangfang.

"Auntie, it's still three hundred coins."

Su Luo handed her the money first: "But I helped you sell the eggplants this month, a total of fifty catties, is that right?"

Liu Fangfang nodded repeatedly: "Yes, I remember it all. The waiter weighed us every day, and it was fifty jin."

"One pound, one ounce of silver," Su Luo said jokingly as she took out fifty ounces of silver from Liu Fangfang.

"Auntie, should I give you this fifty taels of silver, or should my uncle keep it?"

Liu Fangfang's face flushed slightly: "Su Luo, you're joking about your aunt? Chen Ping'an is a rough man, of course I'll take it."

Liu Fangfang felt embarrassed.