Seeing this, Old Liu joked, "What's wrong? Didn't you run into that girl on your way to deliver goods to the restaurant today?"
Zhao Dashu paused, then blushed. His already dark complexion appeared even darker as his cheeks suddenly turned red.
The women laughed and joked around.
"Oh dear, the big tree is shy."
"Which family's daughter is she? Your aunt will arrange a marriage for you."
Seeing Zhao Dashu hanging his head, seemingly unsure of what to say, Jiang Yimian looked at Old Man Liu with curiosity and asked, "Grandpa, which family's daughter is she?"
I never expected Zhao Dashu to have such a shy side; he usually seems so carefree.
Old Liu stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "I heard from Xiao Hei that she's a girl who sells tofu at a stall in town, but I really don't know which family she belongs to."
Jiang Yimian raised an eyebrow, glanced at the small basket in Zhao Dashu's hand, smiled, and didn't say anything more.
No wonder I kept getting tofu at home lately. She thought her family had become obsessed with tofu, but it turns out they had ulterior motives!
Zhao Dashu was a little embarrassed by everyone's teasing and quickly explained, "It's a misunderstanding. I just saw that Xiao Tao was going to town to set up her stall every time I passed by Daliu Village, so I gave her a ride in my mule cart. The tofu was her way of thanking me."
After understanding what had happened, the others stopped teasing him.
Zhao Dashu unloaded the pork fat from the mule and said with a worried look, "Sister Mian, something has happened down the mountain."
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at him nervously.
Zhao Dashu sighed before speaking seriously, "I heard from Miss Xiaotao that some people in the surrounding villages are selling konjac. I wonder who they are and whether it will affect our business."
The konjac business is relatively easy to run, but that's only when no one else knows about it.
If the recipe is leaked and that person goes to the restaurants in town to negotiate a lower price, they really won't be able to do this business again.
Zhao Xing'er frowned and said, "Could it be that someone has leaked the recipe?"
It wasn't that she had bad intentions; it was just that she had never seen this method of making konjac before, and it was Yi Mian who taught them how to do it.
Logically speaking, no one else should have done it either, unless someone leaked the recipe.
Zhao Dashu frowned, and after a while said, "Probably not. People who know how to make konjac are all family members, and the Zhang couple who help down the mountain don't seem like the type to talk about this."
Although Xiao Zhangshi often gossiped about village affairs, she knew what she should and shouldn't say, so as not to ruin her own livelihood.
Jiang Yimian thought of someone.
There aren't many people in Qingshi Village, and most of them are busy with their own family matters, only occasionally visiting each other.
She had heard from Xiao Zhangshi several times that Wenshi had gone to see them, and she had even seen it with her own eyes last time.
The other party seemed genuinely interested in the konjac recipe, but whether it was actually made by the Wen family remains to be verified.
Thinking it over, she simply said, "Don't worry about it. Just continue doing your own thing. We'll talk about it when that person actually gets to the restaurant."
Konjac is not difficult to make; you can try making it yourself after hearing some recipes. It doesn't require much skill, so she wasn't surprised that others were making it.
She hadn't originally planned to do this business for long, since spring was coming and konjac takes a year to mature, and her family's stock was empty except for some konjac powder.
The konjac taro is too small at this time of year, making it troublesome to process and not as delicious as mature konjac. So they're not worried about anyone stealing their business.
Seeing Jiang Yimian's calm expression and lack of fear, Zhao Dashu hesitated before nodding. Although he was dissatisfied, he still said, "Sister Mian, don't worry. If we accidentally leaked the recipe, I will definitely tell Xiao Hei and the others."
They should be careful on a regular basis, otherwise how can they do business if they can't keep the recipe?
Jiang Yimian simply waved her hand and asked about the workshop down the mountain.
When the workshop was mentioned, Zhao Dashu just smiled and said, "It's almost ready. It will be ready to use in two more days."
There were bricklayers from Qingshi Village and other villages who built the workshop extremely quickly. Except for the windows and tiles, it was basically finished.
Jiang Yimian was somewhat surprised and immediately said, "I'll go down and take a look."
She also wanted to visit the Wen family; after all, they had tricked her, and she couldn't bear not to return the favor!
*
It was nearly evening when Jiang Yimian came down the mountain. Lu Cijian was still in the small depression because he was being pestered by Gou Sheng and the others to practice martial arts.
She first went to see the house where the foundation had been laid and the walls were being built.
The house was located behind several thatched huts, and you could tell how big it was just by looking at the foundation.
She originally planned to build a new house for each family, but then she worried that Old Man Liu and the others might not agree, so she decided to build a large mansion instead.
Not only is it convenient, but it's also impressive. Even if more than a dozen people live there, it won't feel crowded; instead, each person has their own small courtyard.
After all, it's twenty acres of land; she can do whatever she wants with it.
If Old Liu and his family want to build their own houses, that's fine; if not, they can still find a place to live in the village.
The workshop is not far from the house, but there is still some distance between them, so you can grow some vegetables and other things, which will be convenient to eat later.
From a distance, the workshop was almost complete; except for the windows and roof tiles, it was basically finished.
As Jiang Yimian was examining the workshop in front of her, Xiao Zhangshi approached, both nervous and excited, and asked, "Jiang girl, what are you planning to do with this factory?"
Seeing that the factory was built in just a few days, she felt both happy and uneasy.
What's gratifying is that Jiang's daughter must have made a lot of money to build such a large factory, and she can continue doing this job.
What troubled her was the fear that a more capable woman in the village would take over her job, and she wouldn't be able to earn any more copper coins.
Thinking about all this, she couldn't sleep well for several days in a row. To make matters worse, Jiang Yimian didn't come down the mountain either. She kept it all bottled up inside, so worried that she couldn't even eat.
Jiang Yimian didn't hide anything, saying, "It's for making soap. You've come at the right time. Help me look around the village these next few days to see if there are any reliable people. Once the workshop is built, we can start production."
With Ms. Zhang helping her prepare in advance, the interview will be easier.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhang was overjoyed and said with a smile, "Yi Mian, don't worry, leave this to your aunt. I'll definitely handle it well for you."
Although she didn't know what soap was, it wouldn't affect her work as long as it didn't affect her.
With the weight lifted from her heart, she felt much lighter and pulled Jiang Yimian to go to her house for dinner.
Jiang Yimian felt somewhat helpless and simply declined, citing other matters as an excuse.
Ms. Zhang still had some regrets.
As the two were talking, they saw Wen coming out of Chen Guixiang's house in the distance.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
