124 Gray-green "explosive pack"
"County Magistrate Ye, the owner of Ruyi Tower has arrived and is waiting for you in the courtyard."
"I slept well." Madam Cuihua's smile was a little stiff.
To be honest, she hadn't slept well. Ever since she became pregnant, she'd been constantly sleepy during the day. Liu Dazhuang didn't want her to work, so they hired a few people to help, but they couldn't stop them from chatting. Whenever she was half asleep, she could hear their noises, which always made her feel uneasy.
Seeing her uneasy expression, Ye Yunzhao didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he asked, "Do you regret not growing the weaving mushrooms earlier and choosing to grind tofu instead?"
She lowered her head and smiled: "To be honest, I regretted it so much that my intestines turned green! But the materials needed to grind tofu have been bought and made. What can I do if I regret it? I can only bite the bullet and do it..."
Madam Cuihua looked up at her and whispered frankly, "Luckily I made it through. I'm still making some money now."
"This one has finally found happiness after all the hardship." Ye Yunzhao smiled at her and casually reminded her, "Didn't you say earlier that Yuezhou City was in need of good tofu? I think you should build a mill, expand its scale, hire more people to work, and deliver the tofu to the Yuezhou Restaurant every morning. That way, we'll have some peace and quiet at home, and Brother Dazhuang will have more time to take good care of you."
She paused and whispered, "Besides, Brother Dazhuang is out selling tofu, and you're pregnant right now. If you don't pay attention, it would be even more worrying if there's a thief at home."
Hearing this, her eyes lit up, but she still hesitated, "But if I hire too many people, won't I lose money?"
Ye Yunzhao asked, "Where are you selling your tofu now?"
Madam Cuihua answered obediently, "I sell part of it to the people in the county, and part of it to the small restaurants in Yuezhou."
She said, "If we open a mill and guarantee that the tofu tastes the same as before, the daily output will probably be much higher than it is now. I think this is a good idea, but it depends on what you two think. I'm just saying this casually."
She said it casually, and Madam Cuihua obviously remembered it in her heart. She was sure that the person in front of her would be the right one to listen to when it came to growing the woven mushrooms.
She only said, "Don't worry, Master. I will seriously consider this matter."
I don't know what Ye Yunzhao was thinking about, but he suddenly said, "Can you leave me a piece of tofu in five or six days? It's better to be big. I'll come buy it earlier then."
Madam Cuihua hurriedly said, "Master, you are slapping me in the face by saying that. It's just a piece of tofu. We are master and disciple, so why would I accept your money? Just wait at the county government office tomorrow and I will have someone send it to you."
She changed her usual push-and-shove attitude and actually responded with a smile: "Okay, then I'll take advantage of you."
The two were chatting when Liu Dazhuang came back pushing a wooden cart. He looked a lot darker after not seeing him for a while.
When Liu Dazhuang saw Ye Yunzhao, he was startled, then laughed and said, "When did County Magistrate Ye return from the capital?!"
She smiled and said, "I just came back and ran into Cuihua today. I couldn't refuse her kindness, so I came to my house and stayed."
He tactfully pushed the wooden cart to the corner of the yard and said, "It's just right. Let's have dinner at home tonight."
Without waiting for Ye Yunzhao to answer, Madam Cuihua quickly instructed him, "Of course, let Master taste our tofu tonight. Hurry up and prepare it."
After the two chatted for half an hour, the peasant women who were working in the backyard left one after another. Liu Dazhuang ran back and forth three times, and the wooden table was full of tofu dishes.
Tofu fish soup, fried tofu, tofu soup... Ye Yunzhao was a little dazzled for a moment, and after being persuaded by the two, she was the first to pick up her chopsticks.
Apart from anything else, the tofu is surprisingly tender and smooth when eaten.
It was almost two quarters past the hour of You when Ye Yunzhao finished his meal and left. Before leaving, Madam Cuihua specially cut a large piece of tofu for her to take back and eat.
She didn't refuse and took it with a smile.
*
The next morning.
After feeding the chickens, Ye Yunzhao thought of the tofu from yesterday and suddenly became interested.
She poured the remaining flour from the ceramic jar into the basin. After washing her hands, she kneaded the white and tender tofu furiously, quickly breaking it into flocculent pieces. Ye Yunzhao added a little well water, beat three eggs, and added salt, chopped wild onions, and dogwood.
Just as she was about to start, she suddenly remembered that there was one thing missing - flour.
Old dough is also called starter dough. If made in this way, the steamed buns will be soft, fluffy and delicious.
After repeated confirmation, Ye Yunzhao used bamboo chopsticks to stir them into dough, and then kneaded the dough with her hands. When the dough became fatter and bigger, she kneaded it again and neatly divided it into eleven or twelve dough pieces.
She was not good at steaming buns. After working for half an hour, she was so tired that her back and waist ached. She had no energy to shape the dough. She just pinched it and put it on the pot.
After a quarter of an hour, when Ye Yunzhao opened the lid of the disaster, hot steam came to his face. He rubbed his hand in a ceramic bowl filled with well water before he dared to reach out and take out a tofu bun covered with red dots.
She moved the steamed bun from her left hand to her right hand, and then from her right hand to her left hand. She kept blowing on it, and only put it into her mouth when the temperature dropped a little.
Although it looks a bit strange, it tastes excellent, with the aroma of beans mixed with the aroma of noodles, and a little salty and spicy. It does not need any side dishes, and even if you eat it alone, it has a unique flavor.
She ate up the steamed buns in her hand and faintly heard voices coming from the county office. She washed her hands and walked out.
Passing through a few bare trees and looking through the stained glass windows on the corridor, she saw that people from the East and West townships had arrived.
Ye Yunzhao immediately turned around and took out the tofu buns he had been busy making all morning. After thinking it over, he put two more back into the pot and then walked out carrying a large ceramic basin full of buns.
She walked over quickly, and with a smile, she stuffed the buns into their hands: "I made these today when I had some free time. Come and try my cooking."
Seven or eight peasant women in thin clothes looked at each other, feeling the hot white flour buns in their hands, and swallowed uncontrollably.
Ye Yunzhao naturally knew that they hadn't eaten breakfast, but he didn't expose their mistake. Instead, he smiled and said, "Come and try it. I'm going to sell this steamed bun to Ruyi Tower. Try it and see how it tastes. Is there anything I can improve?"
After hearing her say that, the peasant women had no reason to refuse. Xiao Hua Niang immediately took a bite and her eyes lit up: the steamed bun was actually tasty.
Everyone admired them. Although they were still hungry, they stuffed most of the remaining steamed buns into their arms or put them into their backpacks. Ye Yunzhao's heart twitched, guessing that they were going to take them back to their families to eat, but poor people also have self-respect, so she could only see through it and not say anything.
Then she walked in front to lead the way, and the peasant women followed behind, and they stopped only when they reached an open space.
Yesterday, when Liu Yayi heard that Ye Yunzhao was looking for people to pack and weave mushrooms, he tactfully prepared three large square tables and a dozen somewhat worn wooden stools.
"Thank you all for moving the backpacks out of the house. Let's move half of them first." Ye Yunzhao gave them instructions. She herself was not idle either. She took this opportunity to move out the large backpack filled with dried bamboo leaves.
After everything was ready, she took two pieces of bamboo leaves and began to explain: "Two pieces of bamboo leaves are used to wrap twenty pieces of bamboo fungus. When wrapping, everyone carefully check whether there are any problems with the bamboo fungus. Although the yamen runners have already checked, they are always worried that some will slip through the net."
Xiao Hua Niang immediately agreed: "Of course, County Magistrate Ye, don't worry!"
Ye Yunzhao smiled at her and said, "Each person gets three cents a day. The county government doesn't have much left over, and the money we give to everyone isn't much either. But at least there's a lucrative job during the spring sowing season. If you do a good job, I'll definitely look for you again if there's another job like this in the future!"
She felt a little embarrassed when she spoke of this. The five taels of silver she had brought back from the capital, once exchanged, amounted to five thousand copper coins. She had thought she would have more left after deducting the money she gave to the farmers. However, after discussing it with County Magistrate Han, adding the plan to chisel the stone and build the road, and paying the monthly salaries owed to the county government officials, there really wasn't much left.
In fact, Ye Yunzhao originally planned to recruit more than 20 extremely poor people from the east and west townships to work, but he had limited copper coins, so he only found seven or eight people.
Even so, they feel very happy. It does not delay spring sowing and they can make money at home. Why not do it?
They didn't have to work hard, and just sitting here weaving mushrooms felt as comfortable as chatting in the countryside. Ye Yunzhao had come to tell them this good news in person, and he also brought a pound of coarse flour, which was enough for a family like theirs to have for half a month, so they respected County Magistrate Ye very much.
A peasant woman scratched her head sheepishly and asked, "County Magistrate Ye, can you wrap it any way you want?"
Ye Yunzhao quickly picked up two bamboo leaves, crossed them and stacked them together. He placed the woven mushrooms inside and instructed them to come closer to take a look: "There are 20 woven mushrooms in a pack. Ten with the caps facing up and ten with the caps facing down. This way the packing will be smoother and more beautiful."
As she spoke, her fingers flew, and soon, a small gray-green square came into view.
As everyone was amazed, Ye Yunzhao paused, holding the wrapped woven mushroom in his left hand, looking around as if he was looking for something.
Someone asked, "What are you looking for, County Magistrate Ye? I'll get it for you."
There was a hint of annoyance in her tone: "I forgot to prepare the twine."
"Hey! What's the big deal? County Magistrate Ye, take a look--" Xiaohua Niang called her with a smile, raised her hand and tore off a thin and narrow strip of bamboo leaf from one side of the bamboo leaf, took the woven mushroom that Ye Yunzhao had just wrapped, turned her right hand left and right, and soon, a mini "explosive pack" appeared in front of everyone.
"Okay! Okay!" Ye Yunzhao was delighted and said to the others with a smile, "Let's wrap it like this. Got it?"
Everyone responded: "Got it!"
Then they sat back in their seats and started wrapping the clothes quite skillfully. They were all hardworking and capable, but their lives were very difficult.
Ye Yunzhao's expression was gloomy. Those who had no land had no land, and those who were sick were sick. Among the four classes of people, farmers, artisans and merchants, farmers were obviously above merchants. However, she could not deny that many people in Da Qi were not living well. In this case, it would be better to be called merchants. At least they would not starve.
She felt a little bitter. She was fortunate to be the head of a county. Although she wasn't rich, she had never been hungry due to poverty. Looking at them all wearing ill-fitting clothes, with patched sleeves and collars, Ye Yunzhao felt an indescribable warmth well up in her heart, burning her ears and eyes, and making her determined. Lingnan County must become a place comparable to the Peach Blossom Spring!
After thinking this through, Ye Yunzhao boiled a few pots of hot tea, brought them over with a smile, placed them on another wooden table, and reminded them, "Remember to drink if you're thirsty."
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone thanked her nervously. They had never seen such a good county magistrate.
Suddenly, a voice was heard at the gate. Ye Yunzhao looked in the direction of the voice and saw Liu Mazi saying:
"County Magistrate Ye, the owner of Ruyi Tower has arrived and is waiting for you in the courtyard."
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