Chapter 65 Mahua

Xu Qingmeng looked at the sensible Yun Sheng, who was not as greedy as yesterday, and rubbed her head with her hand: "Sheng Jie, you are really sensible. Big brother has packed it. These are for you and Mo Ge'er. Come and eat."

Yun Sheng's eyes lit up. He turned around, and when Xu Qingmeng handed him the beef jerky again, he opened his mouth and started eating.

“It’s delicious!”

"Yun Mo, come here." Xu Qingmeng also stuffed a piece of food into Yun Mo's mouth. He smiled so hard that his eyes disappeared, and his face was filled with satisfaction.

Xu Qingmeng made some more fried dough twists.

Mahua was invented by Chai Wenjin in the late Western Han Dynasty. According to legend, Chai Wenjin invented fried noodles, namely Mahua, in order to provide food for Liu Xiu who was hiding in a dry well.

The important thing is that the fried dough twist can be stored for a long time, is not troublesome to prepare, and can be given to the two little ones as snacks.

In the evening, Gu Yunyi was talking with He and Xu Qingmeng in the main room.

He took out the money box, took out a hundred taels of silver notes, and took out ten taels of silver and put them into her purse, and reminded: "As the saying goes, a poor family is rich on the road. On this long journey, eat and drink as you should, don't be frugal. After the exam, take a good rest for a day, don't rush back."

"Okay, Mom, I know."

He naggled for a while, but thinking that he had to travel again the next day, she stopped talking and told him to go and rest.

Xu Qingmeng followed out and saw Gu Yunyi waiting for her at the door.

The moonlight was like water, gently falling between the cracks of the bluestone slabs, reflecting mottled light and shadows, adding a bit of tenderness to the quiet night. Xu Qingmeng looked up and met Gu Yunyi's deep and gentle eyes, and her heart couldn't help but tremble slightly.

She stood there, her figure lengthened by the moonlight, appearing exceptionally tall and straight, as if she could withstand all the storms in the world.

To be honest, Gu Yunyi meets all her fantasies. He is handsome, has a good figure, and is talented. The current Gu Yunyi is not as decisive and ruthless as he is in the books. He still has the youthfulness of a teenager. It would be a lie to say that she is not moved.

He was not a fool, and he also felt Gu Yunyi's affection for her, but he didn't know how long this affection would last.

"What's wrong? Is there anything else?" Her voice was soft, but it clearly broke the silence of the night, with a barely perceptible tremor, which was the ripples left by the breeze on the lake of the heart.

Gu Yunyi took a step forward, as if he wanted to say something, but hesitated for a moment, and finally just smiled and said, "Nothing, it's just that I'll have to trouble you after I leave."

Hearing this, Xu Qingmeng said, "We are a family, why are you talking about this? We have to get up early tomorrow morning to travel. Go to bed quickly. I am sleepy too." Xu Qingmeng pretended to be sleepy and laughed.

Gu Yunyi had no choice but to give up.

Early the next morning, He and others sent Gu Yunyi out the door. The carriage had been gone for a while before He and others went back.

Of course, Gu Yunyi did not go alone. Not all the scholars in Yan County were from Hengshan Academy. Some of them had interacted with him after the Tongsheng Examination. It just so happened that two of them made an appointment to set off together.

However, at the last minute, he sent someone to deliver a letter to Mr. Liu.

That night, he was very angry because Gu Yunyi was very disrespectful to him. Gu Yunyi did not show up at the invitation yesterday. At this time, he was still lying in the arms of his wife. Then he heard the doorman say that Gu Yunyi had someone deliver a letter. He immediately laughed out of anger.

He held the letter in his hand and sneered, "He'd better have a reason to convince me, otherwise, I will never let him go."

He tore the envelope open suddenly. There was only a thin piece of paper inside. There were a few short lines of handwriting on it, which made Mr. Liu's face change instantly.

He stared for a long time, then suddenly laughed out loud: "Cowardly and greedy at the same time, how wonderful!"

But as long as he is greedy, it doesn't matter. What he despises most are those ignorant people who regard money as worthless and claim to be noble.

Gu Yunyi's departure seemed to have no other changes in Gu's restaurant. The business of Gu's restaurant was still booming, but there was one less scholar in the study, and no one was standing at the kitchen door chatting and laughing.

But after two days, Xu Qingmeng was no longer in the mood to think about this.

The chili oil that Xu Qingmeng had made before was placed in the shop for customers to eat for free. At the beginning, everyone thought it was too spicy and were reluctant to try it, but since the group of people who tried the boiled fish at Gu's Restaurant, they fell in love with the taste.

The spicy aroma of chili oil is like igniting the taste buds of diners, and recently they have been attracted by this unique flavor.

Once some things are opened, they are out of control.

After eating it for a few days, many people started asking if this chili oil was for sale.

Xu Qingmeng wanted to sell it, but it was a pity that he didn't have the raw materials, and the transportation of dried chili peppers was not cheap. In addition, the prices of the oil, sesame seeds, peppercorns, etc. were also not low, so the price of this chili oil would definitely not be cheap. It was not an affordable product that everyone could afford.

Just when he was worried, he saw Shen Jinwen happily coming to Gu's restaurant with a lot of peppers.

“Mr. Shen, what is this?”

Shen Jinwen said: "Madam Gu, I kept one bottle of the chili oil that was given to me, and I gave the rest away. After eating it, they all asked me where they could buy some, so I came here."

"Master Shen, do you want me to make all of this into chili oil?" Xu Qingmeng said.

Shen Jinwen nodded.

Xu Qingmeng admired Shen Jinwen's business acumen very much. In later generations, chili oil became popular all over the country. It was not surprising that this secret chili oil could be so amazing now.

Soon, Shen Jinwen discussed with Xu Qingmeng and finalized the contract for the chili red oil.

The raw materials are provided by Shen Jinwen, but she needs to check the quality, and the subsequent sales are all Shen Jinwen's work. This means that she only needs to make the products and package them.

As for the bonus, Xu Qingmeng did not worry too much about it. After all, she was just offering a skill, and it was not a big deal, so she just followed the 40:60 split proposed by Shen Jinwen.

Shen Jinwen is extremely efficient. Previously, Shen Jinwen had asked someone to bring some chili peppers to Xu Qingmeng, and now he has invested his own money.

On the third day after the contract was signed, two large trucks stopped at the door of Gu's restaurant.

A whole cart was filled with top-quality dried chilies. Ten large bags were unloaded in the Gu family's yard. After a careful inspection, Xu Qingmeng nodded with satisfaction. These chilies were bright in color and had a pure spicy taste, making them excellent materials for making chili oil.

Then there were a dozen barrels of oil, peppercorns, spices, and all sorts of other things that filled another large truck.

Xu Qingmeng couldn't help but hold her forehead. She originally thought it was a simple thing that just required some manual work. However, she had to wash so many dried peppers, fry them dry, and grind them. It was a lot of work. She was pregnant with a child, so she couldn't just ignore the child.

(End of this chapter)