Chapter 78: People Fear Fame
Although Shen Zhiyi didn't mention tofu pudding to Zheng San this time, after talking about potatoes, Zheng San went to Zhao Daya for a whispered conversation. After all, these bean products were made by Zhao Daya, and she was happy to see that.
Everyone in the village has their own things to do, so how can this not be considered a case of "everyone has their own unique talents"?
Shen Zhiyi didn't offer any opinions on the sale of bean products. She had only listened for a few minutes, but she was already quite impressed with Zheng San. She hadn't expected Zheng San's growth to be so amazing!
"Hey girl, could you teach me how to make stewed chicken with potatoes?" Huang Hua asked shyly, then quickly explained, "I don't want to learn your recipe; I can buy it with money. It's just that my parents don't have very good teeth, and I wanted to make it for them so they could try it too."
“Sure,” Shen Zhiyi said without hesitation. “There are probably other ways to cook potatoes, but I don’t have enough potatoes on hand right now, so I don’t dare to try them easily.”
"But since I've taught you this time, I'll leave the potato research to you next time," Shen Zhiyi said with a smile, making no mention of buying them with money.
"Okay, I'll definitely do a great job for you!" Huang Hua said happily.
Shen Zhiyi didn't hold back and quickly told Huang Hua how to make the potato dishes that day, which moved Huang Hua, the daughter-in-law who had married into the family, to tears.
"Little sister, from now on you're my little sister," Huang Hua said excitedly, holding Shen Zhiyi's hand.
These two are truly a perfect couple; they even say the exact same things.
Shen Zhiyi squeezed the hand back and replied enthusiastically, "Yes, sister-in-law."
In the following days, Huang Hua would come to lunchtime every day, bring her own ingredients, and make many dishes under Shen Zhiyi's guidance. Relying on Shen Zhiyi's love for researching and cooking, she and Zhao Daya managed to figure out how to make tofu, as well as dried tofu, tofu skin, bean curd sticks, and fermented black beans.
With Zheng San selling first, they always had new products coming out later, and this series of reactions led to the growing reputation of their bean products.
Several thousand kilograms will only be sold out this month, and the recipes recorded already fill a stack.
Although it was only said that 10% of the selling price would be used as research and development costs, it still amounted to eighty taels! Shen Zhiyi felt that she hadn't been of much help, so this achievement was split equally between Zhao Daya and Huang Hua.
When she received the first daylily she had earned with her own money, she cried until her eyes were red, but no one laughed at her.
“Wife, you have to go to Xiangyun Tower to prepare the potato feast tomorrow, so you can’t cry anymore,” Zheng San whispered to her. “You’ll get three taels of silver from there.”
Xiangyunlou has a long-term vision. Although they won't sell potatoes for the time being, they'll first learn all the dishes related to potatoes. Once potatoes are sold, they'll immediately put those dishes on the menu and instantly get ahead of their competitors.
Rumors of this potato feast had already spread, and the fact that Lu Jingbai, as the county magistrate, would be attending made it a "major event" for the entire county, with countless eyes watching it openly and secretly.
However, this has little to do with Shen Zhiyi, who is holed up in Jigong Mountain, because green caterpillars have appeared on her fennel seedlings. She needs to check the leaves and catch them manually at any time, so she can only stay here.
Just then, there was a knock on the courtyard gate, and the barking of the yellow dog reached Shen Zhiyi's ears. She took off her rough gloves and opened the gate to see Lu Jingbai carrying a food box.
"Why are you here?" Shen Zhiyi asked in surprise.
"I heard that when you get busy, you don't have the habit of eating on time," Lu Jingbai said gently.
"Then there's no need for Lord Lu to personally deliver the food," Shen Zhiyi teased.
Lu Jingbai slightly shifted his gaze to ease the shyness lingering in his heart, and said softly, "This is my selfish desire; I want to see you as soon as possible."
Shen Zhiyi's heart skipped a beat. Are all cultured people so straightforward?
"Me too," Shen Zhiyi replied even softer. The pervasive silence felt strange, so she quickly changed the subject, "Have you eaten? If not, you eat first, I haven't finished what I'm doing yet."
"I'll help you," Lu Jingbai said hastily.
“You may not have done this before…” Shen Zhiyi was about to explain when Lu Jingbai interrupted, “I can learn.”
Since they insisted on this, Shen Zhiyi didn't say anything more. She led the people to the fennel field first, and then noticed that the other party had come over with a food box. Which one of them was the idiot?
With the important matter at hand, Shen Zhiyi and Lu Jingbai stopped worrying about these trivial details. He placed the food box on the flat ground by the edge of the field and then asked, "What should we do?"
“There are green caterpillars on the fennel leaves. We need to catch them. Sometimes they hide, and their color is similar to the leaf color, so we need to look for them slowly.” As Shen Zhiyi spoke, she used her other gloved hand to rummage through the nearest leaf and found the green caterpillar behind it. “That’s it. Once you find it, throw it in the bucket. Da Ya will mix it into chicken feed later.”
After saying this, Shen Zhi saw that Lu Jingbai was neither disgusted nor impatient, so he handed over another pair of gloves that were placed next to him and asked, "Want to try them on?"
"This plant is called fennel, but does it have any other uses?" Lu Jingbai took the gloves, put them on with difficulty, and asked.
"It's used similarly to chili peppers, but the specific difference is..." Shen Zhiyi patiently explained.
Such a substantial statement further confirmed Lu Jingbai's conjecture—the other party had seen this thing before and had successfully cultivated it.
All the endless questioning is pointless now; her presence here at this moment is enough.
Lu Jingbai learned quickly and meticulously, but even the most handsome person would not change the tedious nature of this process.
Under Lu Jingbai's repeated prompting, Shen Zhiyi ended up in a bizarre situation where "you take a bite, and I'll find another green worm," which cured her workaholic tendencies.
As the work between the two parties came to an end, the courtyard gate was knocked on again. Shen Zhiyi put down her chopsticks, stood up, patted the dust off her clothes, and said to Lu Jingbai, who had just sat down, "I'll go open the door."
Shen Zhiyi ran over to open the door and saw Zheng San looking excited, followed by Huang Hua and Zhao Daya with the same expression.
"Girl, you have no idea that the potato feast shocked the whole county! Those old men wouldn't let me leave, they just wanted to know where these potatoes came from and how to grow them! Haha, I, Zheng San, have never felt so proud in my life!" Zheng San laughed wildly, the smell of alcohol wafting through the air, before calming down, "It's just a pity that Lord Lu left too early, otherwise we could have gotten closer to him..."
Shen Zhiyi listened attentively and responded cooperatively. As she listened, Zheng San stopped speaking and called out, "Third Brother?"
"Lord Lu, Lord Lu, what are you doing here... Am I seeing things?" Zheng San stammered, looking back at the people around him. It wasn't until his wife, Huang Hua, pinched his lower back that he realized he wasn't drunk at all.
The sudden truth startled Zheng San, making him more clear-headed than usual. He turned around and collapsed into Huang Hua's arms, pretending to be drunk, but his ears were listening to the sounds coming from the other side.
"Third Brother speaks casually, but he always tells the truth. It seems the potato feast was quite successful," Shen Zhiyi said earnestly.
“That’s more than just good; everyone’s asking what potatoes are now,” Zhao Daya chimed in, while Huang Hua nodded in agreement.
"Potatoes themselves don't have much flavor, but they can be paired with many dishes, which is truly rare," Lu Jingbai said in a deep voice.
"With Lord Lu's words, I'm relieved," Shen Zhiyi said with a smile. "Once their heated discussion has subsided, I'll send out the conditions for potato cultivation, so that some people can get rich by growing potatoes first, and then encourage others to join in."
"Have you decided what conditions to use to bind us? Do you need the county government's help?" Lu Jingbai asked with concern.
"Now I'll bring it up and see if Lord Lu has anything to add. First of all..." Shen Zhiyi said as she led her people toward the main hall. She hadn't expected to be discussing the potato's aftermath with Lu Jingbai so soon.
This person could have asked her questions from the beginning, but instead he inquired about whether she had eaten and even helped her clean up the remaining caterpillars before picking up his official business.
This unique care and concern awakened Shen Zhiyi's long-dormant girlish heart.
The fire called "potato" will also attract beings hiding in the shadows during its burning process. If you can't get something by the open, you can only use some covert means.
In particular, a group of people who considered themselves well-informed, no longer felt the weight of the situation, and learned which important figure in the imperial court this magistrate had offended, began to have other ideas.
The local bullies who had previously tried to hide came out one by one, determined to firmly grasp that golden potato!
One person does the first day of the month, another does the fifteenth. Taking advantage of Shen Zhiyi's absence, they smashed open the tightly closed courtyard gate. They had to send people to guard any seedlings inside and outside the house that looked unusual, for fear that rivals would come to snatch them.
To do this, they even brought along several experts from the field to transfer each seedling in the best way possible to preserve them completely.
When Shen Zhiyi and Zhao Daya drove the oxcart back, they saw a group of people coming and going from their yard at the foot of the mountain. On the cart next to them were familiar plants and newly sprouted potato seedlings!
Seeing this, Shen Zhiyi got off the oxcart and said to Zhao Daya, "Go to the county and report to the authorities! I'll stall them!"
"Alright! Be careful!" Zhao Daya said in a deep voice, cracking her whip to urge the oxcart to speed up and leave.
The commotion didn't attract their attention, since people passing by would pretend not to see it to avoid getting into trouble.
Seeing their brazenness, Shen frowned slightly but walked into the yard without any hindrance. He saw the yellow dog lying on the ground whimpering, which must have been injured, with blood still dripping from its mouth.
She picked up the door latch that had fallen to the ground and slammed it against the door with a thud, attracting the attention of those around her. She raised her voice and said, "Who are you people? Do you know what crime it is to trespass? Not only trespass, but also stealing! Do you have no respect for the law? I won't make things difficult for you people who work for the family. Call out whoever is in charge here!"
"That young punk really talks big. Anyone who didn't know better would think she was one of those gangsters." Someone in the crowd scoffed, pushing aside the person blocking his way. A burly man slowly walked over. "I don't care who you are, I'm taking what's here!"
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