Back home, no one was inside, only the rustling of rabbits eating grass and the crowing of chickens in the backyard. Qin Xiaozhou washed her hands and went into the kitchen to boil water and heat up skim milk. The three of them each drank a large bowl and then ate some red bean cakes. Lu Yunxing then went to the orchard.

Lu Yunfeng stood at the kitchen doorway. "I'll go to the county town again this afternoon and buy the house."

Qin Xiaozhou had the same idea. He took out two handfuls of dried pear blossoms and soaked them in water. He also sliced ​​the last piece of wild boar cured meat that was left in the house and stir-fried it together. He then beat eight eggs, poured them into a large pot of boiling water to make egg drop soup, and then used a strainer to sprinkle in dough pieces to make a bowl of egg drop soup.

Add another bowl of flour to the remaining batter, knead it into a dough, and then make pancakes.

After cooking, around noon, the women of the Lu family returned, washed their hands, and went into the kitchen to eat. After the meal, Wang Lan and Lu Yan washed the dishes, while Qin Xiaozhou took the contract and went out with Lu Yunfeng.

Qian Yazi was unsure whether to be happy or disappointed when he saw the two. If the deal fell through, he would have earned thirty taels of deposit for nothing. However, since they had come, it was a good thing that the house could be sold.

The three of them went to the government office to transfer the property title. With the deed in hand, Qin Xiaozhou finally felt relieved after several days of anxiety. She was in a good mood and almost wanted to hum a song. After saying goodbye to everyone, Qin Xiaozhou and Lu Yunfeng went to the house to take a look.

Qin Xiaozhou's first priority was to renovate the kitchen. The kitchen in this shop was not small, about twelve or thirteen square meters in size. There was a cabinet on one side of the wall, with several bowls and plates in the cabinet. The two large iron pots on the stove were either taken away by the owner or bought by Qian Yazi, leaving two large, dark holes. There was a decent square table where you could cut and put vegetables.

After looking at it, Qin Xiaozhou had already figured out how to modify it. So he went to the bookstore at the end of the street and bought a stack of paper and ink. While drawing, he explained to Lu Yunfeng, "This box-like thing should be made of sheet metal. This stove also needs to be modified so that the hot air can flow around this sheet metal box. It's like an oven."

Lu Yunfeng nodded, "I understand. We'll knock down this stove later and build one tomorrow morning that can circulate heat. This tin box isn't difficult to make either; the blacksmith can make it."

Overjoyed, Qin Xiaozhou rushed over and hugged him, saying, "Let's consider this shop a partnership, and we'll split the profits 50/50."

Although Lu Yunfeng was a hunter from the countryside, he was really smart. Perhaps because he often made bamboo products, he understood everything as soon as she described the general shape, purpose and appearance. Moreover, he took the initiative to buy goods and prepared everything for her.

Lu Yunfeng's ears turned slightly red, and he turned his head away, saying, "I'll get back to work now."

Qin Xiaozhou smiled, took out her purse and started counting the money. There were thirteen taels and two mace, plus a few loose copper coins. "Okay, I'm busy too."

He then used the remaining paper to make a small, simple ledger to keep track of his expenses and inventory the things he needed to buy.

You need to buy pots and pans, especially plates for desserts. You also need to buy ingredients for making desserts. You don't need too many kinds at the beginning. Ingredients for rolls, crème brûlée, milk pudding, and cakes are easy to buy and easy to learn. Lu Yu and Zhao Fen can both learn them.

That's right, she's not hiring right now. She wants to start a family workshop first, and then consider hiring after she's made some money in a few months.

After writing down what they wanted to buy, it was getting late, so the two of them went together and bought rice, flour, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, and five catties of pork before heading home.

When Qin Xiaozhou got home, it was getting dark, so he cut two pounds of meat and stir-fried it.

During the meal, they talked about opening a shop in the county town. When Wang Lan heard that they had spent 195 taels of silver to buy a house, she almost fainted. She had already heard from her second grandson that the tiger had been sold for 200 taels, and now it was all gone in the blink of an eye.

"Why didn't you discuss such a large sum of money with us first?"

Two hundred taels! Even at the height of the Lu family's wealth, they never had that much. Having twenty taels was already a sign of great financial security, and these two spent two hundred taels in a single day!

“You young people are spending money so recklessly. You should ask your mother and me more often in the future. This is outrageous! Two hundred taels for a tiger. You went through so much trouble to carry it out of the mountains and bring it to the county town. It didn't just fall from the sky…”

Qin Xiaozhou said impatiently, "Alright, the house has already been bought and registered with the government. This matter is settled. There's no point in you saying anything more. What I'm about to say is the important thing."

She became serious, as if she were in a meeting. "First of all, the house costs 195 taels. Da Yun paid 100 taels, and I paid the rest. Secondly, Da Yun will also need to pay another 20 taels as a reserve for renovating the kitchen and purchasing raw materials, including but not limited to these."

Qin Xiaozhou took out the materials she had written in the shop that day. She didn't know how to use a brush or write traditional characters, so she wrote simplified characters. Each stroke was neat but not pretty.

Lu Yunxing was surprised that she could read, and couldn't wait to take a look. Then he looked at her with a puzzled expression, and finally couldn't help but whisper, "Sister-in-law, your characters are missing parts."

He felt that it was already rare for a woman to be literate, and that it was wrong to say such things to discourage her, but he still couldn't bear to look at it.

Qin Xiaozhou didn't argue. He pointed to the paper and read out the required items one by one. After reading them out, he started to arrange the work. "Starting tomorrow, you two brothers will go to the county town to renovate the kitchen. Grandma and Xiaoyan will work a little harder and take care of the chickens, ducks and geese at home. Aunt and... Mother will learn to make desserts. You need to get the hang of it as soon as possible. If everything is ready, we will open for business in three days."

Zhao Fen was very nervous. "Me? Me? I can't do it. Your cooking is so delicious, I can't learn how to make it."

“You can learn it,” Qin Xiaozhou said firmly. Zhao Fen was familiar with the stove and had a good grasp of cooking temperature. She was also very good at kneading dough and making buns, so she believed that she could do it. “Just follow me.”

"After the kitchen was renovated, Eryun came home to take care of the chickens, ducks and geese and look after the house. Since we are a new store opening and we don't have any connections or background in the county, it's inevitable that some people will come to cause trouble. So your brother will have to stay in the county to look after the store. As for your fourth brother, we'll have to trouble Grandma to take care of him. I'm afraid we won't be able to see our mother for more than three to five days in the future."

Zhao Fen's eyelids twitched. For the first time, she genuinely felt that this daughter-in-law was really too much of a troublemaker. First, she messed around with the orchard. Well, it originally belonged to the Lu family. If she messed around with it, she could make some money. At least she could make a living and wouldn't have to worry about freezing or starving to death in the winter. Then she raised chickens, ducks, and geese. Fine, the Lu family has a lot of people. Raising hundreds of chickens, ducks, and geese would provide eggs and meat for them to eat later. But unexpectedly, just over a month later, she went to the county town and bought a house.

Now she's getting the whole family involved in the business. We thought the Lu family was big enough, but with this arrangement, it feels like there aren't enough!