Chapter 83 Big Selling
Jiang Tangtang had anticipated this and remained calm, but Su and the others were extremely excited. "Really? Can seeds planted at this time of year really sprout?"
"Really," He Qiuniang said, "This is the first time I've seen seeds sprout in winter."
Su said happily, "Then soon, won't we be able to eat our own food?"
He Qiuniang said, "I will take good care of it. As long as it doesn't freeze to death, it won't be long before we can eat the vegetables we grow ourselves."
In order to motivate the two servants, Su gave them the homespun cloth that Jiang Tangtang had bought two days ago. "You have worked hard these days. Work hard. We will never forget your kindness."
He Qiuniang was so moved that she kept expressing her sincerity.
How can this be considered hardship? Didn’t I have to work at home before?
The work I do at home is no less than what I do now, and the food I eat is not as good as it is now. Moreover, the whole family of this host family is very kind to others.
…
Seeing her mother-in-law using a piece of cloth that she had originally intended to give to the servants, she was so moved that she burst into tears and vowed to work hard to repay them.
Jiang Tangtang sighed in her heart, she was worthy of being born in a wealthy family. Although she couldn't wash clothes or cook, she was very familiar with winning people's hearts.
Although Su didn't know how to farm, she was very curious about the vegetables that could sprout in the middle of winter. So she went to the wasteland with He Qiuniang early the next morning.
Jiang Tangtang went to the county town again today.
But today I am not going to the county town to sell cakes, but to the blacksmith shop to get an iron plow.
This time, Lu Shili did not accompany Jiang Tangtang, but Manager Xia went to the county town with her.
Manager Xia attached great importance to the iron plow designed by Jiang Tangtang. After he and Jiang Tangtang took the iron plow home, he immediately called his son and took the cow to the wasteland to try out the new iron plow.
Seeing that the new iron plow was much easier to use than the ones they had used before and that the soil was plowed very fluffy, Manager Xia could not hide the excitement in his eyes.
He consulted with Jiang Tangtang and said, "Madam Lu, could you please let me submit the blueprint of your iron plow to the imperial court to benefit the people of Great Zhou?"
Jiang Tangtang naturally had no objection.
Manager Xia took Jiang Tangtang's drawings and went to the government office that day to present the drawings to his immediate superior. He then went to the blacksmith shop and asked Old Li to help him make another iron plow.
On this side, Jiang Tangtang saw that the speed of land reclamation had greatly increased with the iron plow, so he decided to put strawberry planting on the agenda.
Jiang Tangtang was busy with planting, but in the county town, Manager Pu and his people were waiting anxiously.
"Why hasn't that young lady come yet?"
Shopkeeper Pu stamped his feet anxiously, and couldn't help but complain about the waiter's lack of tact. "You said you had such a good chat with that young lady yesterday, why didn't you just ask her where she lives? If you had asked her where she lived, you wouldn't be so hard up to find her now."
As he was speaking, another waiter came running in from outside and said, "Shopkeeper Pu, the guests from yesterday are here again. They asked for egg yolk pastry. If you don't have egg yolk pastry, cat ears or glutinous rice noodles will also do."
It turned out that after Jiang Tangtang left yesterday, Shopkeeper Pu asked the waiter to introduce various snacks to the customers who came to the teahouse as new products.
Unexpectedly, the effect was surprisingly good.
Many customers not only ate at the teahouse, but also took some away when they left. The goods he bought from Jiang Tangtang were sold out in less than two hours.
"Where is Master Wang? He ate a lot of cakes yesterday. Hasn't it been made yet?" Shopkeeper Pu couldn't wait for the waiter to answer, and strode towards the kitchen.
In the kitchen, several pastry chefs had already tossed around a large bag of flour, steaming it, frying it, and baking it. They had tried many different methods, but they still couldn't make egg yolk pastry.
Seeing so much flour wasted and nothing was made in the end, Shopkeeper Pu was very frustrated. He scolded the waiter and told him to go to the street to look for the lady selling cakes. If they found her, they should invite her in.
On that day, all the major restaurants and teahouses in Raoying County were looking for a young lady selling cakes, just like Manager Pu.
But nothing was found.
However, the customers who had just tasted the delicious egg yolk pastries and other pastries frequently came to the building to inquire about the food, which made the shop owners who were just watching the customers come in but couldn't make any money very anxious.
There are also many people like Shopkeeper Pu, who instruct their own chefs to make egg drop pastries, glutinous rice noodles and other foods by themselves according to their appearance.
I could manage to make snacks like glutinous rice sticks and cat ears, but I couldn't make the egg yolk pastry no matter how hard I tried.
Just when the shopkeepers were getting anxious like ants on a hot pan, Jiang Tangtang had already brought back more than fifty strawberry seedlings from the space under the pretext of going into the mountains to look for wild berry seedlings, and planted them on the newly cleared wasteland.
In those days, there was no plastic film, so Jiang Tangtang used straw to keep the strawberries warm. At night, she would cover them with straw, and then remove it around ten o'clock in the morning.
Although this method is a bit troublesome, it is very effective and all the strawberry seedlings survived.
The four sons of Manager Xia all helped in the fields as agreed earlier.
In addition to helping with plowing the fields, they also helped water the strawberry seedlings, cover them with straw, and dig black soil from the mountains to improve the soil.
The villagers of Zhounanzhuang were shocked to see the four sons of Manager Xia working on the Lu family's wasteland.
Gradually, all kinds of rumors began to spread.
Some people say that Jiang Tangtang is the daughter of Manager Xia who was stranded outside, while others say that Manager Xia has taken a fancy to Lu Zhixi and wants to marry Lu Zhixi to Xia Lao Si.
Otherwise, people really couldn't understand why Manager Xia, with his status, would try to curry favor with criminals like the Lu family and let his sons help work in the fields.
Jiang Tangtang didn't know that because of this cooperation, so many strange rumors were spread outside, and the strawberry planting had to proceed step by step.
Finding too many wild strawberry seedlings in the mountains at once would only arouse suspicion. Therefore, for the time being, she decided not to take any strawberry seedlings out of the space, intending to return her focus to her small business of making money.
The winter melon has been pickled, and Jiang Tangtang starts to light a fire, boil winter melon syrup, and make winter melon candy.
When they heard that Jiang Tangtang was going to make candy, the children lost interest in their studies and kept glancing towards the kitchen.
Lu Shiyan saw what the children were thinking and finally put down his book and said, "Go! Don't make noise and help your mother with the work, okay?"
"Daddy is the best!" Lu Tiantian stood on tiptoe, hugged Lu Shiyan, kissed him, and ran away quickly.
The two sons, who had never shown their joy on their faces, also smiled and ran happily towards the kitchen.
"Mom, can winter melon and water be turned into sugar if boiled together?" Lu Tiantian moved a small stool, stood on it, and looked at the winter melon and water in the pot curiously.
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