Chapter 69 Chapter 69 Illegal immigrants from overseas
During the few days when the wheat sprouted, Xu Yunfan went to Qingfeng Academy to set up a stall every day, and when he came back he was busy with his kiln. When the wheat was almost grown, Xu Yunfan's kiln was also ready.
The day after the kiln was built, after chatting with Xie Baizhou and the others, Xu Yunfan happily went to buy four ducks. He was thinking about the roast duck meat tonight and didn't notice Qi Xiu Ze's hesitant expression at all.
After buying four ducks, Xu Yunfan asked the duck vendor for two chicken cages. Seeing Xu Yunfan's generosity, the vendor gave him two without hesitation. He said they had woven the cages themselves from bamboo, so there was no need to spend money on them. He thought it might be a good idea to give him two as a favor. "Hey, young man, let me pack them for you. Next time you buy ducks, remember to come to me and I'll give you free cages."
"Okay, uncle, I'll come back to buy from you again in the future. You have to give me a discount as a regular customer."
"Sure, as long as you come, I will definitely pick the best and fattest ones for you."
Xu Yunfan had a backpack on his back and a cage in each hand. In each cage was two quacking ducks. The ducks were quacking quite loudly. As soon as he entered the village, many people noticed Xu Yunfan's wealth.
Now, I don’t know how many people will envy me.
Some boys and girls were shy when they saw Xu Yunfan. They didn't dare to look him in the eye, but only glanced at him secretly from time to time.
Xu Yunfan seemed to be unaware of it and greeted each uncle and aunt he met with a smile on his face.
After returning home, Xu Yunfan asked Qin Run and Qin An to boil water and said, "We will have roast duck tonight."
Qin Run prepared the vegetables to be sold today early in the morning, and then washed the sweet potatoes he bought two days ago and steamed them in a pot.
Steam the sweet potatoes, mash them, and put them into a jar. Add appropriate amount of water and stir evenly. Finally, add the wine yeast and seal it.
For the remaining sweet potatoes, Qin Run followed Xu Yunfan's instructions and steamed and mashed the whole sweet potatoes, then sprinkled in malt. It has been fermenting for an hour and a half now.
Qin Run put the duck away and said, "Yun Fan, how do you make the fried rice you told me about the day before yesterday?"
Xu Yunfan forgot to tell Qin Run how to make fried rice. He only told Qin Run that he wanted to make sweet potato rice candy, which required fried rice. But Qin Run didn't know what fried rice was. "It's fried glutinous rice. I bought some yesterday. It's in the woodshed."
Ever since Qin Run cleaned up the woodshed as Xu Yunfan's exclusive room, all the things Xu Yunfan bought, made, and tools were placed in it.
In the past few days, Xu Yunfan not only bought some tools, but also prepared everything needed to make sweet potato rice candy.
Qin An and Xiao Ye were responsible for boiling water, while Qin Run prepared the fried rice, filtered out the fermented sweet potato syrup, and then slowly simmered it.
Today I have to boil water and make sweet potato candy. If I don’t have two big pots, I really can’t do it.
Fortunately, Xu Yunfan had foresight and spent one or two taels of silver to buy a big pot yesterday.
The water boiled, and Xu Yunfan brought the duck over and raised it in his hand, "Qin Run, how do you kill this duck?"
There's no way around it. Young Master Xu knows a lot, but it seems there are also many things he doesn't know, such as killing ducks.
Killing a duck is different from killing a chicken. You can't just cut its neck with a knife. If you cut in the wrong place, it will be difficult to kill the duck. Even if it gets a bowl of duck blood, it can still run away.
"Let me kill the ducks, you just watch the fire." Qin Run knew that Xu Yunfan liked cleanliness. The last time he killed the ducks and boiled them in water, he smelled the smell and looked disgusted.
Since Xu Yunfan doesn't like it, Qin Run naturally doesn't want him to do it.
"How can this be good?" Xu Yunfan laughed. He did want to be lazy. The main reason was that he didn't like the taste of duck, and the second was that plucking duck feathers was too much of a test of his patience.
Although he clearly didn't want to work, Xu Yunfan still wanted to play up his image as a hardworking, good man. "There are four ducks here. If I don't help, how long will you three be able to finish? It doesn't seem good for you all to be busy while I'm idle."
Qin Run could see that Xu Yunfan was saying one thing and thinking another. If he wanted to be lazy, he could just say it directly. Why beat around the bush? Didn't Xu Yunfan know that he was a little cute like this?
Qin Run pursed his lips. "This season isn't the time for ducks to molt, so there won't be that much down. It won't be difficult to deal with. With An Ge'er and the others working with me, it will be done quickly."
The wound on Ono's arm has healed a little, and he can still do the work of plucking duck feathers.
Besides, the child had only been in this family for a few days. It was possible that the unfamiliar environment made him feel uneasy, or perhaps because he knew he was living under someone else's roof, he couldn't sit still at all and was eager to do any work.
Xu Yunfan looked at the three brothers and laughed, "Since you said so, I won't make things worse. I'll be responsible for getting you water."
Qin Run looked at Xu Yunfan and smiled dotingly. He was willing to dote on Xu Yunfan, so he agreed with him and said, "Okay, thank you for your hard work."
The kitchen was hot, so the Qin Run brothers and the other two killed ducks under the eaves outside the kitchen. Qin An looked at the ducks that were barely alive on the ground and said, "Brother, we can't finish eating four ducks if we kill them at once."
Qin An realized belatedly that it was too late to say this, as all four ducks had been killed by his brother.
Hearing this, Qin Run finally realized the problem. He couldn't help but look up at Xu Yunfan. It was Xu Yunfan who asked him to kill the duck. If he didn't look at Xu Yunfan, who would he look at?
"Why can't we finish them?" Xu Yunfan had already thought about the fate of the four ducks when he bought them. "A few days ago, Aunt Qin, Aunt Qin Sanniang, and Fang Yi went to Xiaoli Village. I have to thank them very much. Also, I haven't handled my household registration yet. Now that I have money, I went to the town hall and asked the yamen runner. He said that if an illegal immigrant like me from overseas wants to register my household in the Dayan Dynasty, I need four people to guarantee it. So, I want to ask Uncle Qin, Uncle Qin Mu, and Fang the hunter to guarantee me."
Most people would not dare to go to be the guarantor. If Xu Yunfan did something bad in the future, and the yamen runners could not catch him, the first person they would arrest would be the person who had guaranteed Xu Yunfan.
There was no way around it. Xu Yunfan was an illegal immigrant from overseas, so the yamen runners naturally wouldn't process his case easily.
So, not everyone is willing to guarantee someone's settlement. Without some connections, would anyone take that risk?
Wouldn’t the benefits of being on good terms with Uncle Qin and the others come in handy?
As the saying goes, everyone should mind their own business. Maybe Uncle Qin and the others would act as guarantors for Xu Yunfan for Qin Run's sake, but their help does not mean that he and Qin Run do not need to express their stance.
Otherwise, it would seem as if it is natural for someone to act as your guarantor. Not only would you owe them a favor, but it would also easily make people feel disgusted.
Xu Yunfan had recently earned a few taels of silver from selling food, and he made another twenty taels from selling waist fans. He first sold one to Shen Zhixi, and the next day Xie Baizhou and the others begged Xu Yunfan to make a few for the three of them. After all, the waist fans were not only unique, but the pendants and other items were also exquisite. Xu Yunfan sold three and made another fifteen taels.
After the autumn harvest, after Xu Yunfan's persuasion and brainwashing, Qin Run continued to contract the autumn planting work to Fang Liehu's family.
Several bags of corn seeds appeared in Xu Yunfan's suitcase at some point. The corn seeds had bright colors because of the seed dressing.
Qin Run was not stupid, so he naturally realized that the box Xu Yunfan brought was not simple. He did not ask any more questions. According to Xu Yunfan's instructions, he handed the corn seeds to Fang the hunter and the others, and repeatedly reminded them to remember to wash their hands after touching the corn seeds, otherwise there would be a risk of poisoning.
Qin Run no longer needed to work for Qiu Zhong, but he was not too idle either.
Xu Yunfan: "Recently, we haven't had time to catch our breath since the autumn harvest ended and we've already started planting. I was thinking, last time those three families went to Xiaoli Village, they established their authority for us. Plus, with the guarantor issue, I'm going to make roast duck this afternoon anyway, so why not make a few more and send them to Aunt Qin's house? Firstly, it can help us replenish our bodies, and secondly, it's a token of our appreciation. I can ask Uncle Qin to invite the other men over for a meal as a token of my gratitude."
If Qin Er and the others didn't go to Xiaoli Village, this matter would probably not be over.
Doesn’t Sun Dahe have any clan?
But why don’t they dare to bring people to cause trouble?
Could it be that they were really afraid of Xu Yunfan's harmless words?
Just as Xu Yunfan said, Sun Dahe is just an acquaintance, not a close friend. Why should he help you?
On the other hand, there is naturally nothing wrong with applying this statement to Xu Yunfan.
This sentence can shock people on the spot because it is difficult for people to remain calm and make judgments and analyses when they are under tension.
Once they calm down, they will inevitably find loopholes in Xu Yunfan's words.
In this case, Sun Dahe and the others did not dare to come. It was simply because there were many men from Qin Erji's family who went there, two men from Qin Da Niang's family, four from Qin Sen's family, and three from Fang Liehu's family. Although Fang San was still young, he was also a man. More than ten young men went there at once, and the other members of the Qin family had not been called yet. If more people were called, wouldn't it be a huge group of people?
With so many people coming to the door, they were shocked. It was Sun Dahe who was just a bad boy. If they were shameless enough to make trouble again, Qin would make them pay.
Qin Er and his men did not go there to intimidate Sun Dahe's people. Their main purpose was to talk to their clan leader about this matter, so that they could know who was right and who was wrong, and prevent Sun Dahe from ruining Xu Yunfan's reputation.
Xu Yunfan hadn't mentioned this matter in the past few days, but that didn't mean he had forgotten. "I don't drink, and I'm not very familiar with the other men. They came to help because they were doing you a favor. If you invite them to our house, they probably won't refuse. So I might as well trouble Uncle Qin and the others. With Second Brother Qin and the others accompanying me, I can go over and chat with them for a few minutes without getting bored. This will be proper etiquette."
"You're right, I didn't expect that." Qin Run couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed. Xu Yunfan, a man, thought more carefully than him.
Xu Yunfan snorted, not really caring. "You're so busy that you don't even have time to sit down. How can you remember so many things? But don't worry, I'm here to help you with everything."
"Yeah." Qin Run responded happily. Xu Yunfan's words made him feel at ease and happy.
It took the three Qin Run brothers half an hour to finish all the four ducks.
Xu Yunfan was in charge of watching the fire, and he ran to the woodshed, making a lot of noise while doing something.
After the duck was killed, Qin Run marinated it according to Xu Yunfan's request. Xu Yunfan called Qin An over. Qin An ran to Xu Yunfan and looked up, "Brother, you called me!"
Xu Yunfan curled his lips and touched the top of Qin An's head, "Come on, can you help my brother-in-law start a fire?"
"Okay." Qin An laughed. In his opinion, his brother-in-law was very good. Even Tangtang could make it. Obviously, such a good brother-in-law couldn't even make a fire. Qin An covered his mouth with his small hands and laughed.
While the oven is heating, Xu Yunfan prepares crispy skin water and applies it to the duck whose skin has been dried out. In this way, the roasted duck will be brighter red and the skin will be crispier.
In the evening, a pot of sweet potato soup was finally ready. Xu Yunfan instructed Qin Run on how to make it. "Okay, you can pour the prepared fried rice in."
Upon hearing this, Qin Run poured the fried rice into the pot, stir-fried it evenly, took it out and put it into the square plate mold to shape it, then pressed it firmly with the roller made by Xu Yunfan, and cut it into thin slices while it was still hot. The sweet potato rice candy was ready.
Looking at each piece of sweet potato rice candy on the table, which was like a work of art, with its bright red color revealing an enticing sweet fragrance, Qin Run was in a trance for a moment. He couldn't believe that one day he could actually make such food.
Xu Yunfan picked up a piece and took a bite. A sweet but not greasy fragrance spread in his mouth, as if a warm current went straight to his heart.
In addition to its sweetness, sweet potato rice candy also exudes a unique aroma that is unique to sweet potatoes. This aroma, combined with its attractive color, can't help but whet one's appetite.
It comes from the perfect fusion of sweet potato and rice candy. This kind of perfection is something that maltose cannot give. Xu Yunfan is very satisfied. "Well, Qin Run, your craftsmanship is really great. The rice candy is very successful. Try it."
Xu Yunfan passed the sweet potato rice candy he had taken a bite of to Qin Run's mouth. Qin Run took a bite subconsciously, and after tasting the sweet fragrance of the rice candy, he couldn't help but squint his eyes in enjoyment.
The sweetness of sweet potato rice candy is not the kind that makes you feel sick after eating a few more bites, nor is it the kind of bland and tasteless sweetness. Instead, it is just right and leaves you with an endless aftertaste.
Xu Yunfan, who doesn't like sweets very much, took another bite after Qin Run took a bite.
One piece was not enough for the two of them, so after they each ate two pieces, Xu Yunfan took out the oil paper, took out a part first, and wrapped the rest.
The day before yesterday, when Qin Run went to Aunt Qin's house to buy sweet potatoes, Aunt Qin said she would not accept any money no matter what. Qin Run insisted on paying, and Aunt Qin got angry, "Run, you are so distant! It's just a dozen pounds of sweet potatoes, and you are dividing it so clearly with me?"
Sweet potatoes are not a rare thing. Every household has them, so naturally they are not valuable. Even if you sell them, you can't get a good price.
Ten pounds of sweet potatoes cost only three cents, and sometimes they were not even worth that much. Aunt Qin thought that Xu Yunfan had harvested all the sweet potatoes from Qin Run's house, so she came to buy dozens of pounds for Xu Yunfan to satisfy his craving, and refused to accept any money no matter what.
A few dozen kilograms of sweet potatoes cost only a dozen copper coins. How could Aunt Qin accept that? "My family's children have been eating a lot of bread and candy from Xu boy. Even when you have meat, you still miss them. Now you come to my house to take a few kilograms of sweet potatoes and give them silver? Isn't this an insult to me, an old woman?"
"Aunt Qin, I want a lot of sweet potatoes, how can I not pay for them? Besides, these sweet potatoes didn't fall from the sky. If you don't take my money, I won't come to buy them from you next time." Qin Run felt very embarrassed. It seemed as if he was trying to get a bargain. Although Aunt Qin didn't mean that, he just felt embarrassed.
The reason why we came to Aunt Qin's house was mainly because there were really a lot of sweet potatoes at home, and there was only a sow in the backyard, so they could not eat them all.
Qin Er picked up a sack of sweet potatoes from the woodshed, probably weighing over a hundred pounds. "Run'er, what you said is wrong. According to you, if Xu kid gives the three eggs food in the future, should we stop asking for it? My sweet potatoes didn't fall from the sky, but yours did."
Qin's second wife and Qin's third husband, who had just returned from washing clothes at the river, were drying the clothes while listening to what was said. They then understood the whole story.
Qin Er's wife patted the clothes that were hung out to dry, smoothing out the wrinkles, and deliberately said, "Master, you are right. When Dadan and his friends come back from cutting grass for the pigs, I will tell them that nothing in anyone's family is free, and they can no longer eat things given by others for free."
Although Qin Er's wife's words sounded harsh, Qin Run found them very heartwarming.
He knew that Qin's second wife was saying such harsh words on purpose.
Qin San's husband was weak-tempered and couldn't say anything as "domineering" as Qin Er's wife. He said softly, "Run'er, don't be polite with us. Dozens of kilograms of sweet potatoes are just a few copper coins. Look at Xu kid. Whenever he has something delicious, he never forgets us kids. If you really count it, the food he gives us is not even worth this bag of sweet potatoes."
"That's right. We don't have much else at home, but we have so many sweet potatoes that even the sows can't eat them all. We're going to plant more this year. These sweet potatoes are for us to keep. Xu likes to eat them, so just take them." Aunt Qin patted the back of Qin Run's hand and sighed sadly. "You don't have any other relatives in the village, only us. We also treat you as one of our own. Don't be too distant with us. Once you are, many things will become unclear."
Finally, Qin Run returned home carrying a large bag of sweet potatoes. Qin Sen lived close to Aunt Qin's house, and they were making excuses to each other in the yard. How could Qin Sen's family not hear them?
There are three eggs to eat, so why did Xiaoshan lose his share?
Qin Sanniang quickly asked Qin Si to pack a bag of sweet potatoes and carry it to Xiao Qin's house.
Qin Run felt a little embarrassed for not spending a penny on two bags of sweet potatoes.
It was the same when he went to Hunter Fang's house to buy vegetables. There wasn't much else at Fang's house, but they had plenty of vegetables. Grandpa Fang and Grandma Fang couldn't resist Qin Run, so they only charged him one penny for a bunch of vegetables.
But the vegetables they bundled weighed about two kilograms each, so the two old people got up before dawn every day to pick the vegetables for him. When they learned that Qin Run bought so many vegetables because Xu Yunfan needed them for his business, the two old people specially planted two more plots of land, fearing that the vegetables would not be enough to sell after a while.
After Xu Yunfan learned about this, he couldn't help but feel emotional. These families were all real people, and he couldn't handle them anymore.
It was worth his generosity before. Look, people are remembering his kindness now.
In the evening, the roast duck was finally ready.
As soon as the roast duck came out of the oven, the aroma immediately spread. Qin An and Xiao Ye had been waiting by the oven. When they saw the bright red roast duck, the two little guys exclaimed in surprise. Qin An's eyes sparkled, and he admired Xu Yunfan so much, "Brother, the roast duck smells so good!"
"Of course, anything made by your brother-in-law can't be delicious." Xu Yunfan said shamelessly, while taking down the hook hanging on the roast duck and asking Qin An to bring three baskets and put the roast ducks in one by one.
Qin Run could handle a large basin of duck offal from four ducks, and he planned to make stir-fried duck offal with sour beans.
Xu Yunfan had never eaten these things before, but since Qin Run made them, he didn't mind.
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