"You audacious scoundrels, how dare you deceive the people by selling counterfeit flower cakes under the name of Chen's Pastry Shop! Do you know that these roses are poisonous? Eating them will not kill you, but they will be extremely harmful to your health. They indirectly caused the death of Chen Tongsheng's mother, which makes your crime even more serious!"
The magistrate hadn't finished speaking.
A commotion broke out outside the door.
"Sir, let me in, I have something to say."
"Your Honor, I am from Shoucheng Village. I was also deceived by them and bought the flower cakes. My whole family suffered from vomiting and diarrhea after eating them. My poor young child and elderly mother have suffered a lot. They not only sell them in neighboring counties, but also in this town!"
"That's right, no wonder those two boys looked familiar. They're the brothers who sold me the flower cakes. They made all sorts of nice promises before I bought them, saying they were from the same family as Yan's Pastry Shop. It was all a lie. The flower cakes were absolutely awful. Luckily, my family didn't force ourselves to eat those poisoned flower cakes just because we didn't want to spend the money, so we escaped this disaster. I beg the magistrate to do us justice and make these heartless bastards return our money! I bought five bags back then, a whole 250 coins! I'm so angry."
"Give me back my money! Give me back my money!"
"......"
Magistrate Lu never expected them to be so bold.
The number of victims was greater than he had imagined.
Therefore, the Luo family was temporarily imprisoned.
Without further questioning, he issued a notice informing people who had previously purchased counterfeit flower cakes to register at the government office.
Ten days later.
Cui Siniu, as the mastermind, was sentenced to twenty strokes of the cane and five years in prison. Luo Jingui shifted all the blame to Cui Siniu and threatened her with a letter of divorce in prison to make her take the blame. He was released after only fifteen strokes of the cane for the crime of being unaware of the matter but condoning it.
Luo Wan and Luo Qian, as accomplices, will serve two years in prison and receive fifteen strokes of the cane.
Luo Bai's wife was pregnant, and because she was only fifteen years old when she sold flower cakes, the county magistrate gave her a lenient sentence, sentencing her to only 20 days in jail and thirty strokes of the cane.
As for compensation, the Luo family didn't have much money.
The county magistrate ordered the Luo family to sell their house, land, and grain to barely make ends meet.
Luo Wan and Luo Qian's wife felt ashamed and divorced them, then went back to her parents' home and remarried.
Anyway, they haven't had children yet, so they're easy to find.
Zhao Yuefang is in a difficult situation. She is officially four months pregnant, but in reality, she is five months pregnant. If she gets divorced, her family will definitely not support her, and she will not be able to get married.
Who would marry a pregnant woman?
Unless they are unable to have children, are old, and are poor.
Marrying someone like that would be worse than her simply packing her bags and sleeping on the street.
Her mother advised her to abort the child and then find her a good husband.
But Zhao Yuefang refused, even at the cost of her life.
Whether it was due to maternal love or something else, she took the money she had secretly saved and her father-in-law Luo Jingui's private savings and together they built a simple mud house on the edge of a low hill. It was just two small rooms, without even a kitchen. They could only build one outside the house with wooden planks. There was no latrine, so they had to use a chamber pot.
Place one in each of the two rooms.
The room was so small that there was no room for anything else except a bed and a chamber pot.
They could only eat in the makeshift kitchen, crouching down to eat.
The tables and chairs were all pieced together by Luo Jingui from wood.
They didn't have the money to buy land, and the village head couldn't bear to kill them all, so he gave them two years, telling them that after two years they could either buy the land or move away.
One of the two small houses was where Luo Jingui lived, and the other was where Zhao Yuefang and Luo Bai lived.
When the house was completed, Robb would still be a week away from being released from prison.
The county government has already issued a notice.
The first day of March.
Formal conscription of corvée labor.
Those living in towns were visited by officials, who went door-to-door to inquire. Those living in villages were led by the village head to notify and arrange for the officials to come to the village for a unified handover.
Either pay up or hand over the person.
Trying to avoid this is extremely difficult.
Even if you bribe the village head, someone will still report it, because if it's true, the county government will give you a reward.
Even if you bribe everyone, you can't escape the officials, because they will check the household registration records one by one.
If even government officials could be bribed, then it would have been better to have just spent a tael of silver in the first place.
It took so much effort.
It's not worth the risk.
The weather is gradually warming up.
The snow had long since melted, leaving no trace.
It was as if they had never been to this land before.
Some early-maturing plants have already sprouted.
It is said that one should dress warmly in spring and lightly in autumn, but some pedestrians on the street are still wearing thick winter coats, while others are already wearing only light clothing.
Their clothing was unusually inconsistent.
Yan Xia's family chose a middle value.
I took off my thick coat and put on a layered outer garment.
Towards the end of February, Yan Xia and her daughter-in-law moved back to the village.
The shop has passed its busiest time.
She bought up all the wasteland at the foot of the mountain.
A plot of land near the river was designated for building a cowshed.
There are few cattle for sale in Shuangqiao Town, and even fewer for selling cows. Yan Xia used all her connections, such as Zuo Li and the shop's regular customers.
That's how they bought thirty cows from various places.
And five bulls.
And all the cows are in their lactation period.
The cowshed didn't need to be built very well; mud mixed with wood would suffice. Yan Xia even added some blue bricks to make it more sturdy.
It only took 10 days in total.
After the cattle were transported back, Yan Xia had 10 men officially start working on March 1st.
Wages are paid on the 1st of each month.
Not only that, Yan Xia also appointed Brother Qian and Sister Zhao as managers to oversee the ten people in the cowshed and the ten flower farmers.
This saves her from having these people coming to her all day long for trivial matters.
She doesn't have that much free time.
Moreover, Brother Qian and his wife are efficient in their work and kind and generous in their character.
He has good character.
Yan Xia felt at ease having them as her subordinates.
These cows produce so much milk every day, Yan Xia is worried about what new product to launch.
"Auntie, the warehouse has accumulated more than a dozen barrels of milk again today. What should we do?"
With more cows, milk production suddenly increased, and Xiao Ji was extremely anxious.
Yan Xia quickly went back into the house, flipped through some books, and then took her daughter-in-law and Xiao Ji to the kitchen.
Pour the milk into a large pot in batches and boil to sterilize.
Stir it again.
The thick substance on top is separated and drained to make butter.
Once the butter has dried and solidified, it can be stored for at least half a month.
More than a dozen buckets of milk were boiled in five separate pots.
So only five pieces of butter were extracted.
The remaining milk is skimmed milk, which is not suitable for making desserts and pastries because it is not as sweet as whole milk.
The rich milk flavor will also be greatly reduced.
Yan Xia boiled red tea leaves with brown sugar to make milk tea.
She plans to sell these milk teas for 100 coins per cup.
Add half a spoonful of rose jam to each cup.
However, apart from the rest area, her pastry shop didn't have a place to sit and drink tea.
Yan Xia plans to expand the shop again, adding a second floor for customers to sit and eat and drink, just like a modern dessert shop and teahouse.
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