Chapter 52: Renegotiation of the Contract
At lunch time, Gu Xiyue and Xiao Heng ate together with Mrs. Yan and her whole family.
When the plate of sea fish and tofu was served, everyone secretly swallowed their saliva.
Lord Yan and Madam Yan looked at Xiao Heng with awe in their eyes, sitting there restrained, not like a master, while Xiao Heng, who was calm and composed, looked like a master.
Yan Tingting, who was sitting next to Madam Yan, never took her eyes off Xiao Heng. Not only Madam Yan could see it, but even Gu Xiyue noticed something was wrong.
Thinking about what she and Mrs. Yan saw when they rushed to the kitchen just now, Gu Xiyue felt that she had miscalculated today.
It's very attractive for her to chase the man she loves, but it's a bit too much to be attractive to this extent.
Just now, when she and Madam Yan went to the kitchen, the maids and old women surrounded them. Even Master Yan and his children stood at the door looking into the kitchen.
The whole yard was filled with the fragrance, which was so rich and tempting that it made people unable to move away.
But what makes people unable to move away is the person who made this dish.
At that time, Gu Xiyue saw the maids' eyes almost popping out, and she laughed in her heart. Later, she saw that not only the aunt who was cooking, but also the old women who were watching, were looking at her man unscrupulously.
I immediately felt something was wrong.
This won't work. It's better to let him hang out with men in the future, or just stay at home obediently. If he becomes unpopular, he will definitely get into trouble in the future.
Originally, she and Madam Yan were waiting for Lord Yan to come back, but Lord Yan never came back. When they came over to take a look, they found that Lord Yan had hurried over to stop Xiao Heng from cooking, but he was distracted by the fragrance and had long forgotten the purpose of his coming to the kitchen.
Only after Mrs. Yan spoke did Lord Yan react, and then with a bitter face he drove away the maids and servants who were watching.
When Gu Xiyue first saw that scene, her heart skipped a beat. But when she entered the kitchen and found that the people in the kitchen were all older aunts, she felt a lot more relieved.
Now, the dish was finally served. Gu Xiyue looked at everyone's expressions, stood up with a smile, and used the public chopsticks in front of him to add a piece of fish and put it in the small bowl in front of Lord Yan. He also added a piece of tofu, and similarly, picked up a small piece for Madam Yan.
"Godfather, godmother, please try it."
After Gu Xiyue had picked up the food for the two people, she looked at them expectantly. As she was staring, she suddenly felt her sleeves being pulled twice. She turned around and saw Xiao Heng looking at her with a smile, "How can Lord Yan and Madam Yan have the nerve to eat if you stare at them like that? Come on, relax a little."
After he finished speaking, he picked up a piece of fish meat from the side of the plate with his chopsticks, put it on Gu Xiyue's plate, carefully removed the bones inside, and whispered, "You eat it too."
After that, he helped her pick up a piece of tofu with chopsticks and said, "This tofu is your favorite, eat more."
His expression and movements when picking up food were very skilled, as if he did it every day.
Gu Xiyue surprisingly looked calm as well. She picked up the fish from the plate obediently, took a small bite, and then nodded vigorously, her eyes curved with laughter.
She kept eating the fish and tofu on the plate. They looked so delicious that people wanted to have a taste too.
Just looking at it gives you a sense of satisfaction.
Lord Yan frowned and looked at Gu Xiyue, and began to howl in his heart again. He felt that his adopted daughter was really... He didn't know what to say.
The key point is that this wise king did it so smoothly.
The table was filled with his wife, children and elders. The wise king acted like this in front of his adopted daughter in front of outsiders, which really made him ashamed.
He can't do it even if you beat him to death.
Madam Yan looked at the two people opposite her with a smile on her face, her lips curved, and she felt deeply moved.
After watching the end, she secretly glared at her man.
When the two saw Gu Xiyue moving her mouth, they also lowered their heads to taste it. When they took the first bite, there was a little hesitation in their eyes, but after they swallowed it, there was a strange light in their eyes.
Seeing that Xiao Heng was helping Gu Xiyue pick up food while he was eating and chatting with them gently, the two of them immediately relaxed and began to pick up food and eat comfortably.
Yan Tingting stared for a while, and saw her mother put some fish into her bowl. She looked at Xiao Heng reluctantly, and saw that he was concentrating on helping Gu Xiyue pick up some dishes. She sighed in her heart, lowered her head to eat the dishes her mother picked up, and after taking a bite, she stopped looking left and right and began to concentrate on picking up dishes and eating.
Everyone enjoyed the meal very much, and the dish of fish with tofu was the first to be finished.
Lord Yan tried to sit up straight to make his stomach feel more comfortable. Today's dish was so delicious that he couldn't help but eat an extra bowl of rice. Even though his stomach was full, he still felt unsatisfied.
"To be honest, this fish is so delicious. This is my first time eating it."
Lord Yan said with a smile.
Several people have moved to the side hall to drink tea, and Lord Yan immediately expressed his feelings about the fish to Xiao Heng and Gu Xiyue.
"This is sea fish, so it has a unique taste. It has a fishy smell and a salty taste. When mixed together, it has a strange taste. But when it's cooked, it's really fragrant, especially when stewed with tofu. It's so delicious that I can't describe it."
"Sea fish?" Lord Yan asked, "Did you catch it from the sea?"
"Yes! We caught a lot of fish like this, and we couldn't eat them all at once, so we just dried them. This kind of dried salted fish can be stored for a whole year without going bad. It's very convenient."
Lord Yan nodded happily and said, "This is a good thing. We must tell the people of Ganzhou about it. Whether it is used to entertain guests, to eat by ourselves, or to eat as a dish during lean times, it is good."
Gu Xiyue nodded and said, "That's what I meant. However, if the people of Ganzhou want to buy this fish to eat, the price will naturally be lower. I mainly want to make money from outsiders."
As Gu Xiyue spoke, a smile began to spread across her face. Lord Yan looked at her money-obsessed appearance and said with a smile, "I understand. Then you should catch more fish and dry them in the sun. I will talk to a few counties about this."
"Okay, then the salted fish market in Ganzhou will be handed over to my adoptive father. I will be responsible for expanding to other places in the future. When I make money, I will take out half of it to contribute to the development of our Ganzhou."
Gu Xiyue did what he said and immediately asked the prefect to order people to prepare calligraphy and start writing the contract.
Lord Yan felt warm in his heart, and it was too late to refuse. Looking at his adopted daughter's heroic look, he even felt that resisting foreign enemies and developing Ganzhou were not a big deal at all.
If all the people of Ganzhou were mobilized, then Ganzhou would... Lord Yan's eyes lit up with smiles when he thought of that grand scene.
By that time, even if the court wanted him to surrender, he might not agree.
My adopted daughter is right!
He was a little hesitant before, but after eating the fish-fried tofu, he was completely convinced.
It did smell a bit stinky at first, but he could guarantee that nine out of ten people who had tasted it would like it.
He was really happy to be able to add a dish to the people of Ganzhou.
Of course, people living by the sea can also catch fish and sell them themselves, and the prefect won’t interfere as long as they don’t raise the price exorbitantly.
Moreover, his adopted daughter will lead everyone to do things in an organized manner in the future, and he has no doubt about her abilities at all.
Gu Xiyue offered the common sea fish they brought to the prefect at a price of three cents per pound. The prefect would ask each county to sell it at five cents per pound, two of which would be used to share the costs and profits of merchants in each county, trying to make as little profit as possible and sell as much as possible so that the common people could afford it.
As for those more valuable fish, Gu Xiyue did not write them down. She wanted to keep those fish and sell them for a high price later.
The sea salt from the thatch on the Nanhuang seashore will be almost mined in a month. Now there are four large salt fields for drying salt. In the future, the women can be assigned a group to dry sea fish, and they will receive a fixed salary.
Gu Xiyue finished writing happily and added his own name. Lord Yan was also happy and quickly asked the yamen's door director to prepare the business documents for Gu Xiyue.
He also wrote a notice announcing the restoration of the freedom of the villagers in Nanhuang and gave it to Gu Xiyue.
Gu Xiyue put it into her sleeve like a treasure, feeling very happy.
The two agreed that the dried sea fish would still be shipped to the Xifeng Town wharf for Lord Deng to receive.
After saying this, Lord Yan hesitated for a moment, turned to look at Xiao Heng, and said hesitantly, "I wonder if you could help me write down the recipe for the braised tofu with sea fish."
"Of course!"
After Xiao Heng finished speaking, he used the ready-made calligraphy and wrote down the recipe quickly with his pen as swift as a dragon. In addition, he also wrote down three or four other ways to cook sea fish.
Lord Yan looked at the prescription and nodded.
I feel so happy when I think that I can eat such delicious new dishes often in the future.
Seeing this, Gu Xiyue had an idea and said, "When my godfather goes to promote this, have someone print more of these recipes. Anyone who buys sea fish will be given a copy of the cooking method. This way, not only can the people make delicious dishes, but it will also help my godfather's promotion go smoothly."
When Master Yan heard this, he looked at her with sparkling eyes, "Xiyue, you really..."
He didn't know how to find words to describe it, and in the end he just laughed, feeling refreshed both physically and mentally.
Xiao Heng smiled without saying a word, watching Gu Xiyue chirping like a lark, her mind full of ideas, and his heart was full again.
In the afternoon, Madam Yan felt unwell, and the servants accompanied her back to her room to rest. Lord Yan called a few colleagues to work with Gu Xiyue and Xiao Heng to discuss the plan.
In the end, Gu Xiyue wrote down the next plan in full, and everyone finally reached a consensus.
By the time it was over, it was already time for dinner.
During dinner in the evening, Gu Xiyue noticed that Yan Tingting's eyes were red, and it was obvious that she had been crying. He thought that when Mrs. Yan went back to rest in the afternoon, she must have said something to Yan Tingting.
Thinking of the way Yan Tingting looked at Xiao Heng during lunch, she paid special attention and found that although Yan Tingting did not look at Xiao Heng as much as she did at noon, she would still sneak a glance at him occasionally. Compared with that look at noon, there was more unwillingness in that look.
Gu Xiyue was preoccupied with something and was a little absent-minded while eating. Seeing this, Xiao Heng put a bunch of dishes on her plate and told her with a smile to just finish them.
After dinner, when Gu Xiyue was about to return to her room, Madam Yan called her.
"Oh! Tingting cried to me this afternoon and said she wanted to cancel the engagement..."
As soon as the two of them entered the room and sat down, Mrs. Yan said this, then looked at Gu Xiyue with a sad face and sighed.
Gu Xiyue: “…”
Could it be that she also wants her man to take a concubine?
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