Ye Wenxue sensed that the atmosphere was not right and was afraid that the technical consultant would be beaten up, so she quickly tried to smooth things over: "There are still a few left. They are not big and will not fill you up. After you finish eating them, you will feel warm all over and can continue eating."
Madam Xu smiled kindly at Ye Wenxue: "I've heard everything from Wenxue."
When the family was almost in dire straits, it was Ye Wenxue who left them money and gave them hope.
She was also the one who found a doctor to treat the injured old man Xu and to examine Xiao Lin's eyes.
She was the one who helped the Xu family earn money.
Madam Xu was very grateful. Whenever Ye Wenxue ate at her restaurant, she would always save the biggest and best piece of meat for her.
Not to mention, she wouldn't embarrass Ye Wenxue over such a trivial matter.
Lan Qing and Old Madam Xu squeezed together to sit down and slowly ate their sweet potatoes. The bald man finished his sweet potato in a few bites and turned to look at Ye Wenxue with a puzzled expression: "Why does he call you sister-in-law?"
In fact, Xu Lin had called Ye Wenxue that more than once, and the bald man only noticed it at this moment.
Xu Lin was gagged with a sweet potato by his father and couldn't speak, but Ye Wenxue didn't try to hide it from him:
"He was my late husband's classmate and close friend."
Zhixing interjected, "What a coincidence!"
Xu Lin's family nodded silently, "That's right."
The bald man swallowed his words, turned to Ye Wenxue and asked for a few more sweet potatoes: "I'll take them back for my mother!"
Ye Wenxue narrowed her eyes: "What about Zhixing..."
"Go away, go away! I'll pay for his travel expenses and his men to send him!"
Zhi Xing was overjoyed and almost swore he wouldn't return to the mountain stronghold until he made a lot of money, but Ye Wenxue stopped him in time: "Don't be too happy. Baldy's words make sense. When something happens, think three steps ahead and don't be too impulsive."
"Uh-huh!"
Ye Wenxue smiled and looked at the bald man: "Didn't I say before that we'd have a feast at the bamboo house after it's all done? What do you say?"
Whether the county town made a profit or not is another matter, but the surrounding towns alone earned over a hundred taels of silver, so it must be considered a success.
The bald man was delighted at the thought that more and more people would buy charcoal after the snow: "Alright, set up a few tables in the bamboo house in three days, and I'll take some men to hunt wild boars and wild goats! Also, call up the village chef and have her prepare the dishes."
Let's also hold a feast in the mountain stronghold so that the brothers can have a good meal.
These past few days have been busy chopping firewood, transporting charcoal, collecting charcoal, and selling charcoal. The brothers are all exhausted, it's time to treat them.
"No!" Ye Wenxue quickly stopped her. "Let me do it."
She had eaten the roasted lamb leg and other dishes in the mountain village, and had also eaten at the bamboo house more than once.
As for the taste... no wonder she considered her cooking skills to be mediocre, yet her kids ate it with great relish.
Putting aside everything else, even when stewing meat soup, they don't remove the fishy smell or scum, and they don't add any scallions or ginger. At most, they sprinkle some salt and add some sugar, as long as it's edible.
She eats even coarser food than she does.
Ye Wenxue suggested setting up a few tables because she wanted to take the five kids out to play, meet Xu Lin's family, and maybe even get some meat. She didn't intend to teach the children a lesson.
The bald man looked on in disbelief: "You...can cook?"
Ye Wenxue smiled and said, "You'll be my assistant then. Aunt Xu and Lan Qing have been working so hard these past few days, they deserve a few days of rest."
His bald face suddenly scrunched up.
"Oh dear!" While the two were facing off, Old Master Xu wiped his hands clean, ran into the house, and brought out a heavy wicker basket. He then held it up to Ye Wenxue and said, "Here you are, the walnut charcoal you mentioned."
Ye Wenxue instantly shifted her attention, picked up a black walnut charcoal, examined it for a moment, and then carefully placed it into the fire.
The charcoal-black walnuts gradually turn a fiery red, making them highly visually appealing.
Grandpa Xu stroked his beard: "These were burned by me, Xiao Lin, and Wang Chun. There wasn't much, only about 500 catties. We spent a lot of money just collecting the walnuts."
Ye Wenxue's smile deepened: "It was worth the money! By the way, Baldy, remember to give Zhixing, Zhiwen, Wang Chun and the others some silver as a reward. They've done a great job!"
Just as Zhixing was about to refuse, the bald man patted him on the head and said, "Don't worry, I remember everything. We'll pay you all at once when we settle the accounts later."
The two bandit henchmen standing guard to the side were somewhat envious. Wang Chunyuan was originally called Wang Chun, but he got this name because he was dull, slow to react, and stubborn.
Who would have thought that this person was so stubborn, guarding the charcoal kiln every day, and was the first to produce good charcoal. He was valued by Old Master Xu, who specially asked Xu Lin to help him come up with a good name.
Now that I'm being praised by both Boss Ye and Boss Nian, I have no regrets in this life!
Grandpa Xu slowly explained the benefits of walnut charcoal and bamboo charcoal: "Bamboo charcoal has a slight bamboo fragrance when burned, which you should have experienced. Walnut charcoal looks nice and produces less smoke, but its aroma is just average."
“It’s alright, we can try it in the county town whether it works or not.” Ye Wenxue looked at Zhixing. “We don’t need to sell ordinary charcoal in the county town, but we should take some with us on the way. We might encounter some refugees who don’t have much money and need charcoal to keep warm.”
Zhixing nodded emphatically and told her about buying five catties of charcoal ash for one coin.
Ye Wenxue patted his head with satisfaction: "Well done."
Charcoal ash isn't something that can't be given away for free, but a little kindness is appreciated, but too much kindness breeds resentment. The problem is that some people, after helping, will take it for granted and feel indebted to them, and then shamelessly try to take advantage of them.
*
Before they could even have a celebratory feast, Zhixing and Ye Wenxue left and immediately went back to the mountain stronghold. They gathered dozens of men who were all muscle and no brains, and a dozen or so men who were both smart and strong. They took all the bamboo charcoal and walnut charcoal, as well as a dozen or so kilns of good charcoal that had just been produced, and went down the mountain.
They rented more than a dozen horse-drawn carriages from the town's post station, equipped them with enough dry rations and weapons, and set off against the wind and snow.
It wasn't that some of the bandit brothers harbored resentment, complaining that Zhixing didn't stay in the mountain stronghold on a snowy day, but insisted on going to the county town in the freezing cold.
Zhi Xing didn't explain, only instructing that after the deed was done, he would return to the mountain stronghold and receive a corresponding silver reward.
The bandits then calmed down and drove the unroofed cart, piled high with charcoal, all the way to Longxing Prefecture.
Two days after leaving the town at the foot of the mountain, we indeed saw many refugees along the way, some wearing thin clothes, others huddled together to keep out the wind.
Zhi Xing pursed his lips, and when a bandit, feeling sorry for him, tried to help, he sternly stopped him.
There were too many refugees around; if you saved one, there would inevitably be a second and a third... pestering you for help.
Rather than facing difficulties later, it's better to be ruthless and not help any of them.
Before the many eager refugees surrounded him, Zhixing coldly ordered his brothers to draw their knives.
The people who surrounded them dared not step forward, but were unwilling to let them go so easily, so they stayed at a distance behind them.
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