Xu Qinyu accepted the 150 taels of silver, and she also had some other plans.

One hundred and fifty taels plus her own earnings were enough to open a restaurant, but she still couldn't afford to buy a shop, so she could only rent one. On North Street, a shop with just one room for a small business would cost at least one hundred and fifty taels of silver. If she wanted to open a restaurant, she would need at least two or three shops. A two-story attic would be more expensive, so she could only rent one. But with two hundred and ten taels of silver, she could even rent a shop on East Street or West Street. She could then choose a location and see where to open the restaurant.

So she would accept the 150 taels of silver, and when she opened the restaurant and started making money, she could send money to her original body's parents.

When Ma Liu returns to the capital, he has to bring a letter to her, asking her original mother to stop doing embroidery. Embroidery is really harmful to the eyes. According to the speed at which Xue is saving money, I'm afraid she will be embroidering day and night. If she keeps doing embroidery like this, her eyes will be ruined in a year or two.

Well, she decided to write two letters, one to her original parents and one to her uncle's family.

If her uncle from her natal family treats her well, she will naturally repay him. If they want to be rich, they should all be rich together!

She has also been secretly practicing calligraphy in the past two or three months, and her handwriting is almost the same as the original one.

Xu Qinyu put the money in her sleeve and said with a smile, "Master Jun, the evening meal at home has just been prepared. Why don't you join us for dinner?"

“Okay, okay.” Ma Liu grinned, then scratched his head, “Miss Xu, if you don’t mind, don’t call me Jun Ye from now on. It sounds weird. Just call me Sixth Brother.”

As for why his name was Ma Liu, it was because his family was poor, his parents were rough people and didn’t know how to name things, and he had five older brothers and sisters, and he was the sixth, so he was named Ma Liu. However, among his five brothers and sisters, only his second brother and fourth sister survived.

His second brother was named Ma Er and his fourth sister was named Ma Siya.

People like him who followed Deputy Captain Chen to escort exiled criminals were not even formal officers and soldiers. Their salaries were not high, and they relied on rewards from the families of the prisoners along the way, but they also spent a lot of money on the journey.

"Then Sixth Brother, come inside and eat something."

Wen and Xu Qinyu led Ma Liu into the kitchen.

The square table in the kitchen was already laid out with three dishes and a large bowl of soup. Ma Liu was drooling just by smelling the aroma.

He had eaten a few big meat buns in the morning and was not full, so he ate two big steamed buns and was already hungry by now.

Xu Qinyu cooked a pot of glutinous rice. There were some steamed buns at home. She knew that Malay rice was a big portion, so she heated up the buns. There were not enough vegetables, so she picked up twenty or so pieces of fermented bean curd from the wooden barrel. The fermented bean curd she made was delicate and soft, with a fragrant aroma. It was just ordinary salty, without dogwood powder, and not that salty, but it was particularly fragrant and went well with rice.

In fact, it would be better if we had authentic chili peppers. If we use dogwood to cook dishes, the flavor is still lacking.

Ma Liu didn't bother to be polite with Miss Xu, he took the bowl and chopsticks and started eating.

The dish of fried spring bamboo shoots with bacon has fat popping out of your mouth, but it is not greasy at all. The spring bamboo shoots are crispy and have absorbed the aroma and fat of the bacon, making it fresh and fragrant.

Fried river shrimp with leeks. The small river shrimps have no fishy smell, the meat is firm, and the leeks are fresh and tender.

Fried eggs with Chinese toon, the eggs are tender and fragrant.

The moldy tofu was also delicious with rice and was completely different from the moldy tofu he had eaten before.

The moldy tofu he had eaten was very salty and dry. Half a piece of tofu could be eaten with a bowl of rice. It was bought by poor people who could not afford to buy vegetables and only ate it with bean rice and bean porridge.

But the moldy tofu made by Miss Xu was delicate and fragrant, and not too salty. He could eat half a piece of moldy tofu in one bite, and then take a big bite of the milk steamed bun. It was a perfect match.

The three-fresh soup is also very fresh. I don’t know what is added to it, but it is particularly thick and has a smooth texture.

The taste is even better than what I had on the road to exile. It is so delicious that it makes Ma Liu want to cry. How can the food cooked by Miss Xu be so delicious?

Of course, the rice was not enough, but fortunately there were still milk steamed buns. Ma Liu ate the remaining milk steamed buns cleanly with the fermented bean curd in the wooden barrel.

He ate about ten of the twenty pieces of moldy tofu by himself. It was really delicious.

Looking at the clean dishes on the table, Ma Liu felt embarrassed and wanted to help Miss Xu wash the dishes, but he heard Miss Xu ask him, "Sixth brother, when are you going back to Beijing?"

Ma Liu said, "I've made an appointment with the boss to meet at the dock tomorrow night for dinner, and then we'll take the merchant ship back."

Xu Qinyu thought for a moment and said, "Sixth brother, then you can find a guest inn to stay in tonight and come over for breakfast tomorrow morning. I want to write a letter to my mother and uncle, and you can bring it back for me then." There are many women in the family, so male guests certainly cannot live in casually. She planned to find a guest inn for Ma Liu to stay in.

"Okay." Ma Liu agreed immediately.

He found an inn on North Street to stay at night. It was not expensive. He could stay in a big room for only thirty cents.

Originally Miss Xu wanted to pay for him, but he refused. After having such a delicious dinner, he couldn't bear to let the lady pay for him.

Xu Qinyu wrote two letters to her original mother that night, one to her original mother, Xue, and one for Xue to give to her brothers from her natal family.

She herself was the soul of her original body and had inherited all the memories of her original body, so she remembered the handwriting as well. When she started writing, it was about 50% similar. After practicing for two or three months, there was no difference.

The letter to Xue said that she had received the 150 taels of silver and planned to open a restaurant. She also told Xue not to worry about her, saying that the food she cooked was delicious and that she would make a lot of money by opening a restaurant in the future! When she made a lot of money, she would ask Ma Liu to send them money. The letter also mentioned that Xue should stop doing embroidery and stop sending her money. If she asked Ma Liu to send her money again, she would be angry. She also said that another letter she wrote contained some food recipes, which were specially given to her uncle, and asked her uncle to follow the recipes above to modify the tea stall.

In fact, if she knew that the letter was addressed to Xue, Xue would only think that it was not stable for her to run a restaurant and would continue to do embroidery and save money for her.

But as long as she gave the recipe to her uncle and he made money, Xue would know that what she said was true and naturally would not continue to do embroidery.

After writing the two letters, Xu Qinyu took another piece of rice paper and wrote down the recipe for wooden barrel fermented bean curd on it.

This recipe was for Ma Liu. She remembered that Ma Liu's family was not well-off, and she would have to rely on Ma Liu a lot when communicating with her original parents in the future. This recipe was naturally a gift to Ma Liu.

If you can make this wooden barrel fermented bean curd, you can make a lot of money.

Fermented bean curd can not only be eaten with rice, but is sometimes also used as a seasoning in cooking.

After sealing the two letters, Xu Qinyu specially made glutinous rice sausage for Ma Liu for breakfast the next day. She used three sets of sausage to make a lot of it, and asked Ma Liu to take the remaining ones to give to Lieutenant Chen and other officers and soldiers.

Last night, she went to find Tian the butcher and bought three more sets of offal, so today she made three sets of pig intestines into glutinous rice pig intestines, and the other three sets were salted and handed over to Cheng Ge'er, who delivered them to Tian the butcher's house early.

He handed the two letters to Ma Liu and also gave him the recipe for wooden barrel fermented bean curd, saying that it was a gift to his family and he could use it to make a small living.

Ma Liu stammered, "Ms. Xu, this recipe must be very valuable, why are you giving it to me?" He also knew that this kind of moldy tofu was unique.

He had memorized the dishes that Miss Xu had taught him to cook during her exile. Sometimes when he went back, his mother would cook them for him to improve his diet, but the taste could not compare to what Miss Xu had cooked.

As for the dish of bamboo shoots stewed with bacon, his mother could never figure it out because the process and side dishes were too complicated.

There is no one in his family who is gifted in cooking.

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "In the future I will have to rely on Sixth Brother to help me deliver letters and other things to my parents. Don't worry, Sixth Brother, this wooden barrel fermented bean curd does not require any culinary skills. Just follow the recipe I wrote above strictly, and you can still make a living from this." This wooden barrel fermented bean curd is indeed very simple to make once you master the recipe.

As for how big this business can be, it depends on how big Ma Liu's family members are willing to give.

Ma Liu finally accepted the recipe. He bowed solemnly to Xu Qinyu and called him "little master".

Xu Qinyu laughed and said, "How can this be called a master?"

Wait for Ma Liu to go to the dock with glutinous rice and pork intestines, two letters and the recipe for wooden barrel fermented bean curd.

The young chef said it was called wooden barrel fermented bean curd. After returning home, he asked his mother to make some for trial sale. It was also called wooden barrel fermented bean curd, and it was not called moldy tofu like others.

Needless to say, the glutinous rice sausage was praised by all colleagues. They all said that they had never eaten such delicious sausage and had no idea that sausage could be made so delicious. Each person was given two pieces and they were gone, and they were still not satisfied.

Afterwards, Ma Liu, Deputy Captain Chen and a group of officials boarded a merchant ship and returned to the capital city of Duxun in just five or six days.

Ma Liu did not delay and immediately went to the Dechang Marquis's Mansion to deliver a letter to the second wife. Although the doorman still had a bad face this time, he went in and reported. The old lady of Dechang Marquis had been ridiculed by Ma Liu last time, so she would not meet him and make herself unhappy, so she asked the doorman to take him to the second wife.

When Xue saw Ma Liu, she couldn't hide her concern for her daughter. She led Ma Liu to the living room and asked the maid to bring up tea, fruits and snacks.

Ma Liu didn't even have time to drink water when he returned to Beijing. Xue asked the maid to serve him a drink to quench his thirst. He drank it all and smiled, "Don't worry, Madam. Miss Xu is living well in the border town. She has already accepted the 150 taels of silver and said she is planning to open a restaurant. She also wrote two letters to you, but one of them is to your brother from your mother's family. Please make a decision after reading the letters."

After he finished speaking, he took out two letters from his arms and handed them to Xue.

Xue took them and saw that one of the letters was addressed to her mother, while the other was addressed to her uncle.

She hurriedly opened the letter her daughter had written to her. It was written in her daughter's familiar handwriting. Just seeing her daughter's familiar handwriting, Xue couldn't help wanting to cry. She looked at the letter with red eyes.

Yu Jie'er was very worried about her and told her not to do embroidery. She also said that she could earn more than twenty taels a month just by selling food, and that she would earn more after opening a restaurant, so she told her not to do embroidery. She also told her not to send her money, and that she would not accept it even if someone sent her money in the future. She also said that when the restaurant made a lot of money, she would let Ma Liu send her money and she would support her, her father, and Li Ge'er.

"This child..." Xue smiled and wiped the corners of her eyes.

He couldn't help but mutter, "If I just sell food now, can I really make more than twenty taels a month?"

Ma Liu heard this and immediately said, "Madam, you really don't have to worry about Miss Xu. The food she cooks is so delicious that you don't know how delicious it is. To be honest, I've also eaten a meal or two in a big restaurant in Beijing thanks to my boss, but it's nothing like what Miss Xu cooks. She makes more than twenty taels a month just by selling fish and salted pig intestines. If she opened a restaurant, she would definitely make more money."

Xue had never seen her daughter making money with her own eyes, so she didn't quite believe it.

She knew her daughter's cooking skills. She was a good cook, but she didn't think she was better than the chefs in big restaurants.

The letter her daughter gave to her brother from her natal family contained some food recipes that could be used to ask her uncle to change the tea stall. She hesitated for a moment, but decided to go back to her natal family tomorrow and give the letter to her brother from her natal family. After he had read it, she would let her brother decide for himself whether to try what her daughter had mentioned.

Naturally, she had never read the letters her daughter wrote to her brothers.

After reading the letter, Xue thanked Ma Liu and even took out some change from her pocket as a reward.

Ma Liu naturally refused, and stood up and said, "Madam, this is impossible. In fact, Miss Xu gave me a recipe for wooden barrel fermented bean curd. When I get back, I will let my mother try to make it. I can also do some small business in the future. Maybe I can make a lot of money. So, if you have any letters for me to take to Miss Xu in the future, just ask, but don't give me any reward."

In fact, he thought that this wooden barrel of fermented bean curd could bring in an extra one or two taels of silver a month, which was already quite good, so he had no nerve to ask for Xue's reward.

After Ma Liu finished speaking, he probably feared that Xue would give him more reward money, so he ran away.

Xue was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

The next day, she went back to her parents' home.

Xue's parents' home is also in the capital, but it is quite far from the Dechang Marquis's Mansion, and it takes more than half an hour to get there by carriage.

Normally, when going out in a carriage, one must tell the old lady of Marquis Dechang.

The old lady of Marquis Dechang originally wanted to ask her daughter-in-law why she was going back to her parents' home, and why she should come back less often, but she thought about what the third son had told her to treat the second wife better, so she didn't say anything. She waved her hand and asked the driver to drive her daughter-in-law back to her parents' home. But in the end, she couldn't help but nag, "Come back soon."

Xue responded and went out with the maid.

The Xue family lived in Shangpo Lane in the south of the city.

The reason why it is called uphill is that once you enter the alley it is an uphill road.

Xue's brother from her mother's side was named Xue Liang. He married Shi and had two sons and one daughter.

The eldest son, Xue Huai, married Zhang and had a daughter, Xue Yuanyuan.

My daughter Xue Qing is only thirteen years old, and my second son Xue Jian is only eight years old this year.

Xue's parents had passed away a few years ago, and Xue Liang was the only one left in the family. He still ran a tea stall, which was only the size of a shop. It was left by Xue's father. Xue's father was also a groom. He had hoped that his eldest son would pass the imperial examination, but his eldest son was not a student. Xue's father had no choice but to force his eldest son to study, so he bought this shop early and left it to his son so that at least he could support himself in the future.

When Xue arrived at the Xue family's home in Shangpo Lane, only Xue Qing was at home. Xue Qing saw her aunt, greeted her, pursed her lips, and told her aunt that her parents were at the tea stall, her eldest brother and sister-in-law were also helping there with Yuanyuan, and her younger brother Xue Jian was still in school.

Xue said something to Xue Qing, then went back to her brother's tea stall.

Xue Qing was born with delicate features, and if you looked closely, he was somewhat similar to Xu Qinyu. Watching his aunt leave, Xue Qing pursed his lips and sighed.

She knew that her father had given all the family savings to her aunt, asking her to send them to her cousin in the border town.

My cousin often came to our house to play when she was little. She had a very good relationship with her cousin. They often played house and cooked together when they were little.

It was only one hundred taels, which was really a lot. It was all the savings of the family over the years. She was not reluctant to give it away. Her younger brother was still studying and the tuition fee was not small every year. She was just worried that her parents would be too tired. Her cousin was in the border town and must have a hard life. She also needed money to support herself...

Mom has been quarreling with Dad for the past few days. Even after a few months, she is still not in a good mood towards Dad.

Mom is not a mean person, she just thinks what Dad has given her is too much, even if she has only given her more than half.

Xue Qing couldn't help but sigh again. It was really hard to make money, and she couldn't help in any way. The only thing she could cook was the food that tasted okay. On weekdays, her parents and brother and sister-in-law were at the stall, so she didn't need to go over there. She just cooked breakfast and dinner at home.

She really wanted to make some money, which would not only improve the family's living conditions, but also allow her to send some money to her cousin every year.

…

Xue went to his brother's tea stall again.

Xue Liang's tea stall is in the market in the south city. It is still very lively here. Although the market is not big, it has everything, including tea stalls, restaurants, inns, wine houses, cloth shops, jewelry shops, various food shops, etc. There is also a night market nearby. The new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu have issued a general amnesty, and there is no curfew. On weekdays, people basically pack up their stalls and go home at the end of the night.

Xue Liang's tea stall is not big, with only three tables inside. There is an oilcloth tent outside with two tables underneath. There is also a small courtyard and a small kitchen behind the tea stall, as well as a well. Although the stall is small, it has everything it needs.

There were not many people drinking tea on weekdays, but Xue Huai could tell stories, and his stories were very interesting, so many people came to drink tea and listen to his stories. Xue Liang could also cook some food, selling some of his fried dry goods, melon seeds and peanuts, and some dried fruit preserves. People could eat them with tea while listening to his stories, so the business was pretty good. With the busy work of the family, they could earn two or three taels of silver a month.

It's noon now and there's not much business. Business is usually better in the afternoon and evening.

At the moment, Shi was sitting at the door of the tea stall with a dazed look on her face. She was still feeling sorry for the one hundred taels of silver. She had also had several quarrels with her husband. It was not that she was unwilling to give the money to Yujie'er. She should at least leave her twenty or thirty taels. In a few days, Jiang'er would have to pay the dowry.

She had a bad temper and had been quarreling with her husband for almost a month. Her husband also admitted his fault to her, saying that he was worried about his niece and that life in the border town was too hard. He also said that King Shu's property had been confiscated and he must have no money. If he didn't give Yu Jie'er some more, how would Yu Jie'er survive?

She also felt sorry for her niece. When Yujie was little, she often came to their house to play, and she watched her grow up.

In fact, this happened three or four months ago. One month after Yu Jie'er's accident, her husband gave all the family savings to her sister-in-law.

But she still gets angry when she thinks about it.

I did earn a few taels of silver in these three months, but it was still not enough to pay the tuition for Brother Jiang.

Just as she was thinking blankly, Shi looked up and saw her sister-in-law coming over.

Seeing Xue, Shi wanted to turn her face away, but she saw that Xue was much thinner than before Yu Jie'er's accident, her cheeks were a little sunken, and her complexion was a little bad, so she couldn't turn her face away anymore. She walked over and pulled her to sit on the tea stall, and asked with a stern face, "What are you doing here?"

When Shi knew that Yu Jie'er had just gotten into trouble, her sister-in-law had fallen seriously ill and almost died.

Thinking of this, and seeing how thin her sister-in-law was, Shi suddenly figured it out. She decided to give the money to Yu Jie'er. At least their whole family was still together and alive and well. In any case, it was better than the situation of her sister-in-law and Yu Jie'er.

Look how miserable Yu Jie'er is. She was a good girl, but now she was exiled because she was married off.

Shi sighed, went into the house, brought out a pot of tea and poured it for her sister-in-law.

Xue smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, is my eldest brother at home?"

Shi said, "He's busy in the back." After thinking for a while, she couldn't help asking, "How is your sister Yu? Has the money been delivered? How is sister Yu doing in the border town with the Shu Wang family? Are the Shu Wang family treating sister Yu well?"

Mrs. Xue smiled and said, "I asked someone to deliver the banknotes to Yujie a few days ago. Yujie wrote back and said she wanted to open a restaurant. Ma Liu, who delivered the letter, also said that the Shuwang family treated Yujie very well. Yujie cooked and her mother-in-law helped wash the dishes and pots. Yujie was not allowed to do any other work. The sister-in-law was also very affectionate and dependent on her sister-in-law."

After hearing this, Shi finally felt relieved.

But thinking of the previous sentence, I couldn't help but ask, "What kind of restaurant does your sister Yu open?"

Yu Jie'er learned her cooking skills from her husband. Her husband's cooking skills are not good enough to open a restaurant. Isn't Yu Jie'er too bold? She won't lose all her money.

Mrs. Xue didn't want to destroy her daughter's prestige, so she said, "Ma Liu said that the food cooked by my sister Yu is delicious, even better than the chefs in the Beijing restaurant."

Shi looked at her sister-in-law strangely and didn't believe what she said.

Xue then explained her purpose, "By the way, I'm here to deliver a letter to Big Brother. It's a letter from Sister Yu, saying that she has given him some recipes. You can take a look."

It was a thick letter that Yujieer wrote to her eldest brother.

Xue handed the letter to her sister-in-law. Shi, who could not read, went to the backyard and gave the letter to Xue Liang.

Xue Liang was frying melon seeds in the backyard when Shi handed the letter to her husband. "Yu Jie'er sent you a letter. Your sister-in-law is here too and is sitting in front."

Xue Liang hurriedly brought down the pot, which had already been fried with melon seeds. He took the letter and went to the door of the tea stall. Sure enough, he saw the girl sitting at the door. She looked empty even in the jacket she was wearing, and she was still very thin.

In fact, my sister is fatter now than before. When he gave money to my sister after Yu Jie'er got into trouble, my sister's face was gray.

"Brother." Xue called out.

Xue Liang nodded, sat down on the bench, and opened the letter written to her by her niece.

He couldn't help but ask, "Why did Sister Yu write to me? Why is the letter so thick?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the contents of the letter.

"Uncle, I am very happy to receive your letter. Thank you for the 100 taels of silver you asked my mother to send me. It is very timely. I plan to open a restaurant. The 100 taels from you is just enough. I have just discovered a lot of food. Uncle, you can try to change the tea stall. On weekdays, you can sell barbecue and some wine and drinks. In a few months, you can also sell ice bowls, ice drinks, and various cold dishes and cold noodles."

Below is the recipe that Sister Yu wrote for him.