Su Luo and Xie Wanwan both stopped in their tracks. Where they came from was not important; what mattered was that Su Luo knew Xie Wanwan was the daughter of a disgraced official.
Since Nangong Qing is also familiar with people in official circles, it's best not to let him know too much about Xie Wanwan.
"Nangong Qing, this is my Yi Huan's tutor. Isn't it inappropriate for you to ask too many questions?"
It is impolite for a man to inquire about a girl's background in front of her.
"Thank you, Master. I was rude."
A prince apologized to her, and Xie Wanwan was terrified.
"It's alright, young master."
lobby!
With so many people sitting together, Xie Wanwan felt a little awkward, especially when she saw Lin Kaiji, who had once been a close friend of her father in the same court.
I never thought I'd ever see him again in my life, but here I am, running into him.
But looking like this, even the Grand Minister of Agriculture probably wouldn't recognize me.
"Village chief, uncle, please sit here."
Su Luo arranged for the village chief and Chen Ping'an to sit next to Nangong Qing, while the women sat on the other side.
"My lords, the food is simple, and we can only ask you to make do with it."
The group sat down, but there were many undercooked dishes on the table in front of them. How were they supposed to eat this?
"Miss Su, what new dishes have you come up with this time? I've never seen anything like these at Fu Man Lou."
Xu Hongkuo had eaten at Fumanlou and heard that the dishes were all made by Su Luo, and that the taste was extraordinary.
Su Luo smiled and placed the bowls and chopsticks in front of them.
"This is hot pot. When it gets cold, everyone gathers around to eat hot pot, which is the happiest thing. You can cook whatever you want to eat."
Anyone who has ever eaten hot pot will unconsciously fall in love with it. You adults should definitely give it a try.
That's quite unusual.
"Madam Su, after hearing what you said, we are all eager to try it. Please demonstrate, Madam Su."
Su Luo dipped a piece of green vegetable in the broth, rinsed it briefly until it changed color, then took it out, dipped it in some sauce, and it was ready to eat.
"You should all give it a try."
Su Luo said that everyone was curious and tried it. It was not only delicious, but also quite fun.
"Not bad, this hot pot is just as Madam Su said."
Ah Xu ate the most.
Such delicious hot pot, yet Su Luo didn't add it to Fu Man Lou's menu.
He only got to try this new thing today.
I wonder if it was because everyone was too tired from working together? Or because the hot pot was so delicious?
Everyone at the table ate with great relish.
Lin Kaiji was preoccupied with the matter of the second crop of rice and it took him a long time to notice Xie Wanwan, who was dressed in a traditional Chinese updo.
"Why does this young lady wear a veil while dining? You look somewhat familiar to me. May I ask who you are?"
Xie Wanwan was afraid that Lin Kaiji would recognize her, so she lowered her head even further.
Seeing this, Su Luo had no choice but to cover for Xie Wanwan.
“Lin Sinong, this is my child’s tutor. He wears a veil because of a facial injury.”
It's understandable that the daughter of a disgraced official wouldn't want to face these people in the officialdom anymore.
In the minds of Lin Kaiji and his ilk, a woman's appearance was of utmost importance, and it was normal for her to not want to be seen if she had lost her beauty.
"I see."
When Lin Kaiji tasted Su Luo's spicy and sour radish again, he was pleasantly surprised.
As the Grand Minister of Agriculture, he dared not say he had tasted every food imaginable, but he had learned a great deal about them from books.
This was the first time he had ever seen this food before; it did resemble turnips from the Northern Liang.
"Madam Su, this dish..."
Lin Kaiji held up the bowl of radishes and asked Su Luo, "What's this dish called? Where did you get it from?"
Radishes aren't anything special, Su Luo said dismissively, "These are radishes, I grow a whole bunch of them in my backyard."
If you like them, I'll ask my mother-in-law to pick a few for you to take home later.
The radish, which was nothing special in Su Luo's eyes, was a new species in Lin Kaiji's eyes.
Nangong Qing told him that Su Luo would cultivate many new species; he had seen eggplants before, and now he saw radishes.
Given his level of awareness, he could never have cultivated such a person.
Lin Kaiji wanted to discuss this further with Su Luo, but Nangong Qing stopped him, saying that now was not the time to discuss this new species.
With him here, there's nothing to worry about. The most important thing now is the second crop of rice.
"Su Luo, the villagers of Changping Village exchanged a total of more than 170 jin of second-season rice."
I've calculated that you still have about three thousand catties of grain in your granary. If the government were to exchange it with you, how much would you be willing to give up?
Nangong Qing wanted to exchange for something weighing over 2,500 jin, but he didn't know what Su Luo was thinking.
How much do you want to trade with me?
Having extensive dealings with government officials, Su Luo cannot afford to be careless.
After thinking for a moment, Nangong Qing said, "Two thousand five hundred catties."
Two thousand five hundred catties was an amount Su Luo could accept, but the rice she received in return was too mixed and didn't have the same quality as her second season of Daoxiang rice.
She still harbored some resentment, and as a friend, Nangong Qing had never considered things from her perspective in this matter.
"Nangong Qing, have you considered my position?"
Upon hearing Su Luo's words, Nangong Qing realized that he only wanted her rice, without considering what would happen afterward.
He turned to look at Lin Kaiji and asked.
"Grand Minister of Agriculture, with an achievement like Lady Su's cultivation of two rice crops, shouldn't her grain tax be reduced for at least a few years?"
This is the form of questioning, and it also aims to get a definite answer from the government regarding Su Luo.
"This is an unparalleled achievement. Once double-cropping rice is widely cultivated in Nanning, the Su family will be exempt from taxes for life."
"I will return and report to His Majesty immediately; this is a great achievement."
No need to pay taxes for life means that no matter how much land Su Luo owns in the future, she will never have to pay taxes again.
She would never live in a Shuiqingzhuang village again; this tax exemption was an extraordinary benefit for her.
"So, are you satisfied with this answer?"
Su Luo nodded, finally agreeing to let them exchange so many seeds for this amount of seeds.
However, the rice that Su Luo exchanged was all personally sourced by Nangong Qing, and its quality was excellent.
The rice was all dried, so Su Luo and Zhao Ruyun didn't need to dry it anymore and just put it into the two side rooms.
After the government officials finished exchanging the rice, the village chief and Chen Ping'an came to exchange it with Su Luo; they had been busy all day.
Finally, they switched to the second season of rice.
"Village chief, uncle, I want to discuss something with you, it's about our village."
Su Luo led the two to the kitchen, found some stools, and the three of them sat down.
"Su Luo, is there anything we absolutely have to say in the kitchen?"
Su Luo wasn't in a hurry. She slowly asked the two of them, "Village Chief, Uncle, how was the hot pot dipping sauce we had today? Was it delicious?"
Both of them nodded in agreement. Of course it was delicious. Any dish made by Su Luo was delicious.
"tasty."
Su Luo continued, "My cooking is delicious, and there's a secret to it, it's this..."
Take the can of soy sauce from the condiment station, pour a little into a bowl, and let the two of them try it.
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