Old Mu has been living in the Song family's house for so long, and his monthly wage is one tael of silver. No one criticizes him for working fast or slow.

It was quite fun to modify things occasionally according to Miss Song's instructions. He had long admired Song Liyun's ingenious ideas, and now that he heard about adding a waterwheel millstone, he immediately agreed.

Han Ming took the formula and knew it was for feeding the rabbits that Xiao An kept at home, so he carefully put it away.

The number of rabbits at home has been increasing, and Xiao An spends half a day every day cutting grass.

If we could really use these green stalks to make feed for the rabbits, that would save us a lot of trouble.

Song's Cardboard Box Factory has been buying tree bark and wood chips. A month ago, they were buying wheat straw, and now they want to buy corn stalks, sorghum stalks, and hay.

As soon as the news spread, farmers who saw that their fields had little harvest quickly cut down their crops and sent them over.

The villages surrounding Suijin Town have little income, so being able to sell firewood for money is a good thing.

Song Liyun never expected that her casual remark would almost lead to the cardboard box factory being overwhelmed by corn stalks, sorghum stalks, and dried grass.

After all, there is little land in the village for growing fine grains such as wheat; the vast majority of land is used for growing corn and sorghum.

With so much stuff to process, the cardboard box factory had to start hiring again and even set aside a plot of land to build sheds for animal feed.

Song Liyun's formula was divided into several types according to the ratio and coarseness of the grass powder, such as rabbit feed, horse feed, and cattle feed for different age groups, which kept Han Ming busy by grabbing people from the acorn workshop.

Anyway, the acorn processing plant has stopped operating due to relocation and a shortage of raw materials, so it's a good opportunity to transfer staff here to help.

With everything at home in a flurry, Song Liyun still had to go to Tianxianglou for work from time to time.

When she returned to the building on the third day, she learned that she had missed Jinxi Louchen Leyan's invitation the day she was harvesting rapeseed at home.

"If we delay any longer, the people from the distillery will come again."

Song Liyun chuckled. Once she invited him, he would invite her again. As the weather gets colder, Tianxianglou would also need strong liquor. But before that, she would make the people at the distillery panic.

This had been agreed upon long ago, so Lin Tao didn't say anything. He simply opened the ledger and showed it to Song Liyun: "Lord Jiang said he wants to withdraw a sum of money from Tianxianglou."

"Hmm?" Song Liyun paused, her hand reaching for the account book. "What do you mean? Does Lord Jiang want to borrow money?"

That can't be right. Tianxiang Restaurant has only been open for a little over a month. They just broke even after paying over 300 taels of silver upfront. They don't even have any money in their accounts. Are they already planning to leech off them?

Lin Tao shook his head: "Judging from Lord Jiang's words, it's not about borrowing money, it's...it's..."

He didn't know what to say, but what Jiang Feng meant was that he could use the money from Tianxianglou as he pleased.

"Tianxiang Tower was allocated to the garrison by the government. If they want money, they have to ask Luo Baihu for it. We can't give him the money."

Song Liyun's heart skipped a beat when she recalled Luo Baihu's words.

Luo Baihu had told me that the deed to Tianxianglou was still in the hands of the government, and that I shouldn't take it too seriously, lest I end up doing all the work for someone else and have it taken back, which would be a huge loss!

I never expected that I would be targeted so soon after I started to show my talent.

“I showed the account book to Lord Jiang. When he saw that there were only fifty taels in the account, he didn’t say anything more. He only said that he must withdraw a thousand taels of silver next month.”

Song Liyun slammed her hand on the table and said angrily, "If he wants to take the money, he can keep dreaming!"

Jiang Feng was the county magistrate. Apart from the time he first took over the mess of Tianxianglou and Song Liyun obtained the contract from the county government, he had no further contact with her.

Although Tianxianglou and the county government had a very good working relationship in private, it had nothing to do with money.

Never mind him, if Jiang Feng wants money, let Luo Baihu handle it!

Tianxianglou's business is as good as ever, with mutton being transported from the garrison every day.

According to Wang Junxu, the mutton came from a place the garrison bought from the people living on the grasslands.

Song Liyun went to Qili County every day after that, and Huang Changsheng and Shen Leyan seemed to have forgotten about selling wine, and never invited her again.

During this time, Qili County, which was free from the turmoil of war, quietly underwent changes.

Suddenly, there were more cars and horses on the streets. Some people who originally lived in the prefectural city began to come to Qili County to visit relatives and friends, sightsee and cool off. They stayed there and never left.

Rumors about the war also spread as the crowd moved around.

The Di cavalry that breached Qing'an Prefecture were truly fierce and tyrannical; they did not want slaves.

Besides transporting the looted grain back to the grasslands, they also wanted gold and silver.

Wherever they went, they even cut off the earrings from the corpses. The refugees fled to Pingyang Prefecture and gathered outside the city, numbering in the tens of thousands.

Prices in the city skyrocketed, and in a panic, some wealthy people in Pingyang Prefecture thought of coming to Qili County.

There were garrisons here, and we had captured many barbarian bandits and even wiped out barbarian cavalry, so we felt very safe.

With these wealthy people seeking refuge, the commerce of Qili County suddenly flourished, and even the once-depressed Furui Winery saw its business improve.

He wanted wine at Zuichunlou, and he wanted wine at Jinxilou. All the hundred jars of wine that had troubled him were swept away.

Other well-known taverns and restaurants are also thriving with customers.

In the midst of chaos, Qili County was strangely prosperous.

Tianxianglou had to start taking numbers, and the waiters were running around like crazy.

Zhou Sizhu's children were the main force in the work, and Song Liyun also personally stepped forward to help serve dishes, wipe tables, and count tassels.

"Sir, you have eaten a total of eighty-two skewers and a pot of wine, which will cost you one hundred and fifty silver coins."

Song Liyun was all smiles when she saw Manager Wan, who had been missing for half a month, arrive right at lunchtime.

"Oh! Manager Song is serving dishes himself! Tianxiang Restaurant must be doing so well!" Manager Wan teased Song Liyun with a beaming smile.

Song Liyun knew that Steward Wan was a very busy person and would not visit unless there was a reason, so it must be because of the reaction to the handbag a month ago.

She greeted him with a smile: "Uncle Wan, it's hot, come upstairs and have a cup of sake."

Manager Wan beamed and nodded, saying, "We really need to have a good drink!"

The two were about to enter when they were stopped.

A woman dressed in a bright green dress and with her hair styled in two buns stood in front, hands on her hips, glaring angrily at Song Liyun: "I say, what kind of servant are you? We were in line first and didn't get any food, but this old man just comes in and tells us to go upstairs."

Manager Wan was taken aback by her calling him "old man," but as a merchant, he wasn't easily angered by unpleasant words.

Song Liyun's expression darkened slightly, but she did not react.

The other party was a guest, and she had to endure it even if she was mistaken for a servant, especially in front of Steward Wan.

She composed herself and said with a faint smile, "Young lady, Uncle Wan reserved a private room a long time ago, so he doesn't need to wait in line."

"Hmph! Who are you trying to fool? We asked the manager, and he said that the private rooms upstairs are not available by reservation. How could he have made a reservation? Are you trying to categorize guests into different classes?" The girl in the green dress spoke sharply, attracting several people who were waiting in line nearby.

Song Liyun frowned slightly; Tianxiang Tower indeed did not accept reservations.

Eating barbecue skewers is basically fast food, and it all depends on how quickly the tables are turned over.

In those days, there were no clocks. If a customer made a reservation to arrive at noon, but arrived at mid-noon, and then ate until the end of noon, two hours would have passed.