Transmigrating to ancient times with a kitchen

by Usui Takumii

not mine, all novel updates.

2. 21 to 40

Making Stewed Meat

During the meal, Jian Qingqing talked to her family about how she sold salt. She was reluctant to tell this to Jian Dalang because he was honest, timid, and inflexible. If she told him, he would probably disagree with her behavior.

However, she was willing to tell it to Old Man Jian and Mother Jian. This would not only get support from them, but also give them a sense of pride.

In her previous life, her parents had divorced. She lived here and there for a year. She was not too close to her parents, so when she reached adulthood, she moved out on her own. She felt the love of her family at the Jian Residence, that was why she liked to talk to them coquettishly.

Old Man Jian and Mother Jian listened to her with smiles on their faces. Xiao Hu felt even more amazed. "So that manager gave you ten taels of silver just like that?"

Jian Qingqing nodded proudly. "Of course!"

"Wow! Sister, you're too amazing!"

This time, Jian Qingqing knew how to be humble. "Just so-so."

Although she said that, the corners of her mouth were almost reaching her ears.

"Sister, I want to become someone as amazing as you in the future!"

Although Xiao Ye was only five years old, his blood was boiling when he heard that.

Jian Qingqing patted his shoulder. "You can definitely do it. Charge!"

"Charge!" Xiao Lang followed suit and imitated her. His small appearance almost made Jian Qingqing laugh out loud.

Old Man Jian also looked at her lovingly. "Big Sister is a capable person."

Only Father Jian disagreed. "What if someone sees through us? We might get beaten up."

Jian Qingqing's head was getting big with all the praises from the family. When she heard Father Jian's comment, she could not help but get angry. She retorted, "If I didn't lie to him, would he have given me so much money? Would we be able to buy so many things?"

Father Jian immediately fell silent. He could only mutter unhappily, "That would be too dangerous."

Jian Qingqing could not be bothered with him.

…

In the afternoon, Jian Qingqing arranged for Xiao Hu and Xiao Ye to pick mushrooms. "Ask Xiao Rong. If he is willing, we can exchange money for his mushrooms. However, the money will have to be given tomorrow."

Xiao Hu was puzzled. "Why do we have to buy his mushrooms? Can't we sell them ourselves?"

Jian Qingqing knocked his head. "Silly, how much can you and Xiao Ye pick? The restaurant is so big, so we'll definitely need more. We'll spend a little money to buy from Xiao Rong, won't we be able to get more money soon?"

Xiao Hu immediately understood. "That's right, Sis, you're so smart!"

Jian Qingqing angrily chased him away. "Go, go, pick more and come back."

After Xiao Hu left, Jian Qingqing started to make her stewed meat.

She first washed the pig intestines and streaky pork, then blanched them in water. Finally, she put all kinds of ingredients into the stew.

To make the stewed meat, it had to be continuously stewed over a small fire for several hours so that the stewed meat would taste good.

Fortunately, there was no one around her house, otherwise, the taste would not be able to be hidden.

After the spices were cooked, the taste really got to her head. Jian Qingqing swallowed her saliva and held back her hand that wanted to reach into the pot. Once she made it, she would definitely be the first person to eat it!

When she looked at the fire, she was not idle either. She cut the two pounds of fat meat to extract the lard. It had to be said that the taste of pork fat lard and pickled vegetables together was really wonderful. Thinking of this, she could not help but suck in her saliva again.

Coincidentally, Jian Rong's mother also sent two jars of pickles, so I'll cook them tonight!

Jian Qingqing did not overcook the lard, because pork fat with a little bit of oil and salt would be very delicious!

Jian Qingqing was already a little impatient!

It Was Too Delicious

After the stewed meat was cooked, the whole house was filled with fragrance. Jian Qingqing turned off the heat to let it cool down slowly, and then she began to prepare dinner.

For tonight's dinner, she planned to use all the refined grains to make dry rice!

It could be said that the whole family had not eaten pure rice for more than half a year. After last summer's harvest, the drought had continued. After that, they could not plant proper grains. If it were not for the fact that their village had a very deep well dug, they would probably have become refugees.

Even so, their family had still sold a lot of land. Now, there were only ten miles of paddy fields and some dry land left.

There were many families who sold their land, and some of them had to sell almost all of them in order to survive. So this year, many people rented fields, and their family had also rented twenty miles. The harvest had to be given to 70 percent of the landlords, and the rest had to pay taxes.

Therefore, Old Man Jian and the others worked very hard, and they had to eat better.

After the rice was cooked, Xiao Hu and Xiao Ye also came back. They could smell the fragrance from afar, and the two of them immediately ran excitedly.

"Sister! It smells so good!"

Before they saw anyone, Jian Qingqing heard Xiao Hu's shout from afar. She also responded loudly, "Come quickly! I'll give you meat to eat!"

Xiao Hu and Xiao Ye each carried a basket and rushed into the house. "Sis! It smells so good!"

As he said that, Xiao Hu swallowed his saliva.

Xiao Ye also wanted to say that it smelled good, but just as he opened his mouth, saliva flowed out.

Jian Qingqing helped him wipe his hands. "Quickly go and wash your hands. I'll feed you meat."

The two of them rubbed their hands anxiously. In less than ten seconds, they stood in front of Jian Qingqing with their mouths open, waiting to feed her.

Jian Qingqing did not blame them for not washing their hands properly. It was already good enough that these starving children would still listen to her words.

She picked up two pieces of fat and lean meat and put them into their mouths.

Xiao Hu was a little impatient, so he swallowed them in two gulps. Then, he was stunned and did not move for a long time. When he reacted, he pursed his lips and a big string of tears fell.

"Wow, I didn't even have a good taste. I don't know what it tastes like!" Xiao Hu cried very loudly and was extremely sad.

"Don't cry, don't cry. I'll give you another piece."

Jian Qingqing picked up another piece of pig intestine and placed it into his open mouth.

Xiao Hu's crying immediately stopped. He closed his mouth and carefully tasted the taste of the stewed large intestine.

"It's too delicious! It's too fragrant!"

Xiao Ye was a patient person. When the meat was placed in his mouth, he could not bear to bite it. He kept swallowing the juice.

Jian Qingqing gently touched his head. "Eat it quickly. I'll give you another piece after you finish."

Xiao Ye shook his head. As he ate, he mumbled, "I'll eat it when Grandpa comes back."

Jian Qingqing did not try to persuade him anymore. She picked up the wild vegetables and mushrooms that Xiao Hu brought back.

Xiao Hu finally recovered. He said to Jian Qingqing with his stewed large intestine in his mouth, "Sister, these wild vegetables were given to us by Little Rong. The ones on top were picked by us."

Jian Qingqing took out Little Rong's portion and weighed it. It weighed about 6 to 7 catties. Then, she picked up the vegetables that Xiao Hu and the others had picked. It weighed about 11 to 12 catties. This was enough.

Jian Qingqing took the wild vegetables to wash and prepared to cook. She was very happy in her heart.

Ah! Today is a good day!

Jian Qingqing happily hummed a little song while she cooked.

Usually, although she could secretly eat in the Spatial Kitchen, she was not in the mood. It was better to eat together as a family.

Today's dinner was very sumptuous. Jian Qingqing did not plan to sell all the stewed meat. She took half a catty of pork and two ounces of pork into the water for the shopkeeper to taste first. If they liked it, she would buy more meat back to be braised.

So, today they ate rice and braised meat.

Sold

When Old Man Jian and the others returned, they also smelled the fragrance coming from one of the rooms.

Mother Jian was very surprised. "Ah! Big Sister successfully made stewed meat!"

Jian Qingqing said smugly, "Did I not succeed in anything I did?!"

When Father Jian smelled the fragrance, he stopped talking about how she could not sell it. He said in surprise, "I didn't expect Big Sister's cooking to be so good!"

"That's right! I said that you have to believe me. Do you think I would fail?!" Jian Qingqing was really proud.

He rubbed his head and smiled foolishly. "Yes, yes, yes. I will definitely believe you in the future."

"Alright, let's eat!"

Today's meal was the most sumptuous meal for the family. The whole family was fighting for the rice.

They had eaten very light and unnutritious dishes before, so Jian Qingqing was afraid that their stomachs would not be able to take it. She gave each of them three pieces of meat. Xiao Hu had already eaten two pieces and was only left with one piece.

He was very unhappy. "I didn't even taste the first piece."

"That won't do either. It's already in your stomach."

"Alright. "Xiao Hu knew that he had no chance, so he sat down obediently and ate. However, he was also eating very happily.

Only Mother Jian was a little puzzled. "Big Sister, you guys didn't buy any salt this morning, right? Why does this wild vegetable have a salty taste?"

Jian Qingqing knew that this question was coming. She had no choice but to say guiltily, "Actually, Hero Ming gave me four tubes of salt, and I hid one tube."

"What!" Father Jian could not sit still. "Why did you hide it? It's so good to sell it! It's worth a few taels of silver! How can we afford such expensive salt?"

"The salt outside isn't cheap either. Even the good ones cost 500 taels of silver per catty, and they're not delicious. How good would it be for us to eat this? Even if we try to sell it, we can't sell it. Have you seen this kind of salt in our county? Moreover, there's only one company that sells smuggled salt. If I sell it to others, they'll definitely know it's me."

Father Jian also understood this logic, but his heart ached too much. "It's worth a few taels of silver."

"Alright, alright. It's not a bad thing to eat it ourselves. I've lived for decades and have never eaten such good salt. It's not bad to let this old man enjoy it."

"Father, you pamper her too much!" Father Jian muttered unhappily.

Jian Qingqing smiled at Father Jian proudly.

…

Early the next morning, Jian Qingqing carried the mushrooms and a small jar of stewed meat to the county town.

When she arrived at Yunlai Restaurant, the young man from yesterday was already calling for customers outside. When he saw Jian Qingqing arrive, he came over to greet her.

The waiter took a look at the mushrooms in her basket and felt that the quality was not bad. He was quite satisfied.

"Okay, I'll call the manager to settle the account for you."

The manager of Yunlai Restaurant was surnamed Lin. He took out the scale.

"May I know your name, Miss?"

"My surname is Jian. My name is Qingqing. Manager Lin, you can call me Qingqing." The waiter had already told her the manager's name.

Manager Lin nodded and weighed the mushrooms that she brought.

"This bundle weighs 6 catties and 5 taels." This was Jian Rong's bundle.

"This is 11 catties."

"Miss Qingqing, can I give you 25 wen per catty?"

20 wen of coarse grains. Before the disaster, the vegetables were going for 3 to 4 wen per catty. The price of mushrooms was slightly more expensive than vegetables, so 25 wen was considered reasonable.

She nodded. "Okay, then 25 wen."

The shopkeeper was about to go in to get the money, but Jian Qingqing immediately stopped him.

"Manager Lin, do you want to take a look at my stewed meat?"

Jian Qingqing lifted the lid, and the fragrance immediately assailed his nostrils.

Manager Lin looked at it with interest. "It smells pretty good. Do you plan to sell this?"

Jian Qingqing took out a clean pair of chopsticks and gave it to him. "You can try it."

Order

Manager Lin took out a piece of pork belly and put it into his mouth, tasting it carefully.

After a while, he asked, "Miss Qingqing, do you want to sell the recipe for this?"

Jian Qingqing smiled and said, "Manager Lin, to be honest, this is a recipe passed down from my ancestors. I won't sell it easily."

Manager Lin expressed his understanding. Some family recipes could make a family flourish and would not be easily exposed. Many chefs were famous because of that family recipe and were invited by some big restaurants.

"Then how do you plan to sell it?"

"I plan to sell this pork belly for 150 wen. There are also pigs in the water here. Do you want to try it? If you want, I'll sell it for 70 wen."

The essence of selling things was to double the price. Some profiteers would even double the price. However, Jian Qingqing was not a profiteer and she was not thick-skinned enough, so she was embarrassed to raise the price so much.

"Oh? You even cooked pork innards so well?" Manager Lin was very curious, so he also picked up a piece of large intestine.

"Yes, not bad." Manager Lin tasted it as he ate. "There is no fishy smell from the water. It is very fragrant and chewy. However, our customers may not like to eat these things."

Jian Qingqing understood. After all, the customers who came to eat were either rich or noble. They thought that pig innards were something that could not be served on the table. Even if it was delicious, they would not order it.

"Then you can just order the streaky pork or lean pork."

"Okay, then you can order 20 catties of streaky pork tomorrow. According to what you said, Ill pay 150 wen per catty. But you can't sell it to other restaurants."

"Yes, I understand this little rule."

"Okay, I'll give you an advance for tomorrow's money later. By the way, can you make the decision on this?"

"Don't worry, Manager Lin. My family knows about this. Listen to me too."

"Okay." Manager Lin was a little surprised. Her family gave up their business to her at such a young age?

However, this had nothing to do with him. He went in and took out two taels of silver and 463 wen.

"These two taels are reserved for stewed meat. We'll settle the rest tomorrow."

"Okay, thank you, Manager Lin!"

Jian Qingqing was extremely happy to be able to complete this business, but there were also worries that came with it. She needed to make several pots of meat of at least 20 catties, and her pot was still too small.

When she earned more money, she would definitely change to a big iron pot. If she bought a big iron pot, she would definitely build a kitchen as well. At that time, she would also need to build a house, buy a new bed, and buy a quilt. The one she had been using for God knows how many years, the cotton inside had turned black and hard.

Buy, buy, buy.

She had to buy everything. She had to earn a lot of money!

Jian Qingqing felt her blood boiling. She was full of fighting spirit and wanted to earn a lot of money.

It was very difficult for her to carry 20 pounds of pork back alone, so she asked Uncle Ox to pick her up.

Uncle Ox was very surprised when he saw her buy so much meat. "Yo! Miss, it seems that your business is successful!"

Jian Qingqing was very happy. "That's right. Today, I took it to the manager of Yunlai Restaurant as a sample. He thought it was very delicious and ordered 20 catties from me. I'll bring some for you to try tomorrow!"

Uncle Ox chuckled. "That's great. I'll have to wait. Yesterday, I knew that you were a courageous person and that you would definitely succeed. Your family will definitely become better and better!"

"Thank you, Uncle!" Jian Qingqing handed the money to him.

Uncle Ox waved his hand. "No need, no need. I quite like you. Just treat me as a friend. From now on, you don't have to pay me to take my cart!"

"Okay, then thank you, Uncle!" From now on, she just had to give him more braised and stewed meat.

On the Road

This time, Jian Qingqing was not the only one in the cart. There were also two women from Jian Village and four people from Da Wan Village who knew Jian Qingqing.

"Wow, Qingqing, is your family making a fortune?" one of the women asked. This Jian Qingqing was called Aunt Cai, and her husband was called Jian Cai.

Jian Qingqing knew that she would not be able to hide this business from the people in the village, and she did not intend to hide it. She said honestly, "This is the stewed meat that I cooked. I'm going to sell it."

"Oh, that's great. Then won't your family be able to eat meat every day in the future? It will also make money. How nice." It was another woman.

"No, we don't dare to eat it casually. We are going to sell it. We are only making hard money. See, this small bag of spices costs more than one tael of silver. This stewed meat will only taste good if you put these in it."

Jian Qingqing showed them a bag of spices. She had just bought some of everything in the spice shop. She wanted to see if she could make some useful ingredients. Otherwise, when the spices in her kitchen were used up, she would not be able to continue her business.

"Oh!" The women in the car were shocked. They were initially envious that Jian Qingqing's family could do this business, but the cost was too high. They could not afford it.

"Then you have to be careful. These things are so expensive. If you can't sell them, you'll lose money."

Jian Qingqing nodded. "Aunty, I understand. We only do a little and sell a little. If we don't dare to do too much, we can only earn hard money."

"Aiyo, your family is really bold. It would be better if you planted crops on the land honestly. It's not reliable to just mess around."

Jian Qingqing did not know the woman who spoke. She was from Da Wan Village.

Uncle Ox did not agree with what she said. He retorted, "Even though you say that, what can you do if you dig for food every day? It's also good to go out and make a living."

"Sigh, our family is not as capable as Uncle Ox's family. Our family can only plant on our land. Your eldest son has already gone out to work as a carpenter. Why don't you help my son, Ergou? When Ergou was young, he had a good relationship with your eldest son."

"Hmph! Who would want Ergou? He's so lazy. You might as well plant on a few acres of land for him!"

Jian Qingqing quietly sat at the back of the cart as she listened to the few people who were quarreling.

It was too scary! She was still a child. What did an adult's quarrel have to do with her? She crossed her legs and lowered her sense of presence.

…

When she returned home, Jian Qingqing began to make stewed pork. The 20 catties of meat had to be divided into four pots to be cooked. It might take a day to be done.

Actually, she still wanted to make stewed pig offal. The restaurant could not sell it, so she could set up a stall outside. However, now, she did not have a pot, and she did not have time.

Spring was the busy season for farming, so it was not easy to find someone to help.

Jian Qingqing thought about the refugees in the county and thought that she might be able to find something reliable, but these could all be worked out slowly.

After Xiao Hu returned, Jian Qingqing pointed out 130 wen and asked him to give it to Little Rong.

The mushroom cost 25 wen per catty. She planned to take 20 wen per catty from Jian Rong.

Xiao Hu returned very quickly with Jian Rong following behind him.

"What's wrong?"

Jian Rong returned the money bag to Jian Qingqing. "Sister Qingqing, I can't take this. It's too much. You can take the mushrooms. It isn't difficult to find."

Jian Qingqing curled her lips into a smile and said, "If I give it to you, then just take it. I won't lose out. The restaurant in the county will give me 25 wen a catty. Besides, although mushroom mushrooms aren't hard to find, it will take you a lot of effort. If you don't accept it, I will feel embarrassed to take your mushrooms."

After thinking for a while, she continued, "If you don't want to sell it to me, you can also take it to the county to sell it. At this time, vegetables aren't in harvest yet, and there are many people who like to eat mushroom mushrooms."

Acquisition

"No, no, no." Jian Rong quickly waved his hand and said anxiously, "Sister Qingqing, why would I compete with you for business? It's just that you gave me too much, and my mother wouldn't agree to let me take it."

Jian Qingqing flipped over the piece of meat and said, "How could this compete with my business? There are so many restaurants in the county, and I only sold to Yunlai Restaurant. You can sell it to other restaurants."

"The price I gave you is also the normal price. You can take it. The mushroom was picked by you, not your mother. If she doesn't agree with you asking her to come to me, I'll talk to her."

Jian Qingqing did not care about him stealing business. She only sold 10 to 20 catties, which was not a big business. Anyone could do it.

Hearing this, Jian Rong was slightly relieved. He said hesitantly, "Sister Qingqing, why don't you give me 10 wen a catty? 20 wen is too much. You were the one who negotiated the business, and you were the one who sold it. It's very easy for me to pick the mushrooms. How can I take so much money from you?"

Jian Qingqing sighed that he was not moved by money at such a young age. He would definitely have great achievements in the future.

Xiao Hu felt that his little friend was a little silly. If the person who was giving out money was not his sister, he would have already forced Jian Rong to accept it.

"Alright, I said 20 wen, so it shall be 20 wen. It's not like I didn't earn money. How could I do a loss-making business? If you don't accept it, I won't dare to buy it from you in the future. The most important thing in doing business is honesty."

Hearing Jian Qingqing say this, Jian Rong was convinced that what she said just now was not just for courtesy. He said gratefully, "Then thank you, Sister Qingqing. I'll bring you the mushrooms picked today in the afternoon!"

These two days, Jian Rong's grandmother could no longer get out of bed. With this money, he could send his grandmother to get a doctor, and he could buy medicine. He could also buy some delicious food to nourish her body. He had lost his father since he was young. His grandmother and his mother were the closest people to him. He wanted them to live a good life.

In the past, he was helpless when he was young. But now that he was doing business with Sister Qingqing, he saw hope. In his heart, he secretly thought that he must listen to Sister Qingqing in the future. He will follow her every word!

Jian Qingqing did not understand his psychological process. She felt that in business, she would not take advantage of Jian Rong just because he was her friend. 20 wen was a reasonable price. If one asked why the stewed meat was sold at twice the price, it was because the spices used for the stewed meat were very expensive. Just like what she had told the aunties, it was just to earn hard money.

Old Man Jian and Mother Jian did not say anything after they found out about this. This was a child's matter and adults should not interfere. Moreover, Jian Rong was a villager. They had to follow in the village. No matter who they earned money, they could not earn money from the villagers. Only Father Jian felt that it was a pity that she had given Jian Rong too much money. Even if she did not earn money from the villagers, there was no need to give so much money.

Jian Rong's mother, Aunt Liu, also came to thank Jian Qingqing.

Jian Qingqing helplessly spread her hands. She was really doing business normally, so why did no one believe her?

To grow this kind of business of buying and selling, she would need to rely on accumulation. It was not good for income to be too low.

In her previous life, the fruits in big cities were bought from farmers at too low a price and sold at too high a price. This happened because the fruits would go through multiple levels of suppliers. With each level, the supplier would charge a little. This would result in prices increasing over time, and end up being too high.

…

In a magnificent royal palace, soldiers in armor stood guard outside the gate solemnly.

In a quiet and empty room, a majestic man sat on a Dragon Chair, and a handsome man dressed in black was kneeling on one knee in front of him.

Ming Zhiyan

"Your Majesty, I have lived up to my mission. I have found the evidence of Song Yuancheng and the others embezzling the relief funds. I am here to report to you."

The man in black raised his head and revealed a handsome face. It was Ming Zhiyan.

"Good, good, good!" The Emperor, who was sitting upright just a moment ago, immediately revealed a smile and said 'good' three times.

"Zhiyan, didn't I say this many times? Just call me 'Uncle' in private. Get Up quickly, there's no need to be so polite with me. You've really made a great contribution this time! Come and tell Uncle about what happened to you in Cairo City!"

"Uncle." This time, Zhiyan did not insist on calling 'Your Majesty' and stood up obediently. "It's very serious to form a party in Cairo. There are disaster victims everywhere. Most of the relief funds allocated by the Imperial Court were swallowed up by them. The disaster victims had nowhere to go and gathered outside Cairo City. They were killed outside the city gates on the charge of rebellion."

"Officials protected each other, and the people had nowhere to seek justice. After the disaster, more than half of the farmers' land was taken up. After the beginning of Spring, not only did the officials not organize the disaster victims to farm and tend to the fields, but some large families rented the land to the disaster victims at extremely high rent rates."

"When I was living in Song Yuancheng's residence, his residence was decorated with extreme luxury. His sons also did many evil things. They casually killed the refugees and forcibly stole the women of the people. There were many complaints in Cairo City. From prefects to county magistrates, all of them bullied and exploited the people."

"Hmph!" The Emperor fiercely flicked his sleeves, his face full of anger. "My Great Wei has been corrupted by these black sheep! They took the Imperial Court's salary but did not do their job as officials. They bullied the people and embezzled money. Do they really think they can get away with this? Liu Fu, send General Weiyuan to me!"

The Eunuch Director, who was quietly hiding in a corner to reduce his presence, replied, "Yes, your servant obeys the imperial decree."

The Emperor managed to restrain his anger and said to Ming Zhiyan, "Zhiyan, it has been hard on you this time. Go back and rest well. You have been gone for so long. Your mother misses you too."

Ming Zhiyan did not have any expression when he heard this. He said indifferently, "It is my duty to share the Emperor's worries."

The Emperor looked at his emotionless face and sighed. An idea suddenly appeared in his heart.

"Zhiyan, we must eliminate most of the corrupt officials in Cairo City. In the past few years, the other countries have been eyeing you like a tiger eyeing its prey. The Imperial Court is seriously lacking in talents. Are you willing to take up a post in Cairo?"

Ming Zhiyan cupped his fists and said, "It is entirely up to Your Majesty's arrangements!"

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Uncle, do you really want to catch all of them in one go? This matter involves a lot of people. Song Yuancheng has been rooted there for many years. The Imperial Court doesn't have anyone to take over at the moment. They are afraid of creating trouble."

"Then what do you think we should do? Just let those pests run around in front of my eyes?"

"We might as well get rid of Song Yuancheng's minions first and take it slowly."

The Emperor thought for a moment and flipped open the booklet with the list of embezzled funds. He pondered for a moment.

"Zhiyan, I order you to be the county magistrate of Shifeng County. Help me get rid of Song Yuancheng and the others one by one and restore hope and prosperity to Cairo's commoners!"

Ming Zhiyan knelt down. "I accept your order!"

Not long after, there were rumors in Shifeng County that the county magistrate had ordered someone to beat the scholar to death. The county magistrate even stole the scholar's family property in order to snatch the girl from the scholar's house.

The rumor grew more and more intense. The county magistrate even asked the Yamen to arrest a few people who spread the rumor. However, they were unable to stop it at all. Many scholars heard of it and also appealed.

Not long after, the Capital heard of this rumor. It was said that the Emperor was furious. The scholar was a talent of the country, so how could he be killed just like that?

Hence, the Emperor ordered people to arrest the county magistrate and bring him to the Capital for punishment. He even appointed Crown Prince Ming of the Eldest Princess's Mansion as the county magistrate of Shifeng County.

Farming

Jian Qingqing also heard about this matter, but she did not take it to heart. It was fine if she just listened to the gossip, but she did not know that Crown Prince Ming was the Ming Zhiyan that she had saved. What did it have to do with her that he took over the position of county magistrate? She had been obsessed with making money recently.

Song Yuancheng, who was in Cairo, was both angry and frustrated. He broke a few cups early in the morning.

The county magistrate of Shifeng County had done a lot of things for him. He was a relatively obedient dog. He was not so angry when the dog was beaten. He just needed to change to another dog.

What made him angry was that the Emperor had actually appointed Ming Zhiyan, who had killed his son, as the county magistrate of Shifeng County!

Song Yuancheng snorted with a malicious expression. "Ming Zhiyan, it's fine if you stay in the Capital. But since you've come to my territory, I'll definitely make you pay for my son with your life!"

…

The citizens of the Capital were beating drums and gongs to send Ming Zhiyan away.

Don't misunderstand. This did not mean that Ming Zhiyan was popular. On the contrary, his reputation in the Capital was completely ruined.

As the Emperor's nephew, Ming Zhiyan often beat and killed people. It was rumored that the concubines given to him by the Eldest Princess would not live for more than two days. There would be cries coming from his residence every night. It was said that he had killed too many people, and their souls floated into Crown Prince Ming's residence and wanted to take his life.

These rumors spread so far and wide that Ming Zhiyan had been molded into a fierce and evil-looking person. It was said that when a child cried, anyone could stop the child from crying by saying Ming Zhiyan's name. When those young ladies heard Crown Prince Ming's name, they immediately turned pale with fright. They wished they could hide, afraid that they would be chosen by him.

So when they heard that Ming Zhiyan was going to be sent off to Cairo, they set off firecrackers to celebrate. Some of the courtiers laughed happily. They all said that Crown Prince Ming had fallen out of favor, so the Emperor wanted to transfer him to a remote place to become the county magistrate.

Ming Zhiyan knew nothing about this. Even if he knew, he would not care.

He was reading in the study when the young male servant came knocking on the door. "Crown Prince, the Eldest Princess wants to see you."

Ming Zhiyan's face instantly turned cold. "Tell her to scram!"

…

With the arrival of the Rising Dragon Festival, the restaurant was closed for a day. Jian Qingqing finally had the time to plant her land.

The Rising Dragon Festival was a special festival in Shifeng County. On this day, every family would hold a banquet and invite their relatives and friends to their home for a meal. After this meal, they would go to the next house. Therefore, no one would go out for a meal on this day. Even restaurant owners would close their doors that day.

In the past, the Jian Village would also do some small things during the event. Each family would provide some grain, and the villagers would gather for a meal.

However, this year, none of the families had eaten, so they would not hold the festival.

Tomorrow was the Rising Dragon Festival. Jian Qingqing had to go back to the farm early in the morning after delivering today's meat.

Today, the manager asked for 40 catties. It was said that many customers bought them home for the festival tomorrow. If it were not for Uncle Ox coming to pick her up every day, she might not have dared to make such a large amount. Therefore, she gave Uncle Niu a large piece of stewed meat every now and then. He also ate very happily, so he was also willing to come and pick her up every morning.

Jian Qingqing's small land had been fermented for more than ten days, and there was light rain from time to time, so it was very well-prepared for farming. The surface of the land was dark, and it already looked a little fertile.

She placed the yams and sweet potatoes in a moist and dark corner of the land to cultivate. A small sprout also appeared on the tubers. Jian Qingqing planted them all.

She also planted corn kernels and tomatoes. She took advantage of the days when she went up the mountain to take some of them home. She did not tell her family what they were, and the family just took them as a child's toys.

They did not object when she said that she wanted to plant these things here. After all, the land had already been given to her. She could do whatever she wanted as long as she did not disturb their crops.

However, they were most concerned about the Chinese yam. After all, Jian Qingqing had said that it could be eaten and used as medicine.

Only Xiao Hu had some doubts about these strange things. He had never seen these things on the mountain and did not know how his sister had found them.

However, these doubts were all suppressed by Jian Qingqing.

Selling Her Recipe

She only planted a few chilies in the field, the rest were planted in the back mountains.

Chilies did not need too strong of the sun, the trees underground can also live well.

Oh, she also planted onion, ginger, and garlic. To make stewed meat, she used ginger to remove the fishiness of the innards. However, the medicine shop's ginger is old and expensive, and she almost could not afford it.

If you grow it yourself, it will greatly reduce the cost.

Searching through the original owner's memories, there were no onions and garlic. She remembered that there were onions, ginger, and garlic in ancient times. Perhaps they have not been discovered yet in this era, or had not spread to this place?

After planting these things, Jian Qingqing felt relieved. At least this year, she would not go hungry again.

After finishing her work, Jian Qingqing counted the silver she had. These days, the meat sold, mushrooms sold, and salt sold, and she already had more than 23 taels of silver. Because she had to do business, Old Man Jian gave all the money to her to manage.

Besides Jian Rong, she could sell about 20 catties of mushrooms every day. Stewed meat was very popular in restaurants, and the amount the manager wanted had been increasing. However, Jian Qingqing could only buy 40 catties at most. Her family had not bought an iron pot yet, how could she make so much with that small pottery pot? Jian Rong's family had borrowed his pottery pot to make 40 catties. This had also exhausted her half to death. It was impossible to make more.

With this money, it was time to buy a pot. She also needed to build a house. To build a house, she would have to wait until the farmers were busy. It would take at least a month, so there was no rush.

However, she definitely had to buy a pot. These days, she had spent a lot of money to buy a lot of spices and tried them bit by bit. She had already found a match that was very similar to this taste but with a different flavor. She had taken it to Manager Lin to try. He said that the taste was very good and that the customers liked to eat it too.

Therefore, she decided to sell this recipe to Manager Lin and set up her own stall. The original stewed meat could not be made anymore. The ingredients in her Spatial Kitchen had already run out.

After the Rising Dragon Festival, Jian Qingqing went to the county town to deliver the meat and conveniently mentioned this matter to Manager Lin.

"Manager Lin, you also know that I can't make too much meat every day, so I've tried another stewed meat recipe for you. Do you want it?"

Manager Lin's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Jian Qingqing smiled gently. "Why would I joke about such a thing? But let me make it clear first. I will only sell the recipe to your restaurant, but I will also set up some stalls to sell to individual customers. If you can accept it, we can talk about it."

Manager Lin Thought for a moment, then he said, "There's nothing that can't be accepted. The people who come to my restaurant and the people who come to your restaurant to buy meat are usually not the same groups of people, so it won't affect my business. But is your original recipe really not for sale? Many customers like to eat that. I'm willing to negotiate the price."

"Manager Lin, to tell you the truth, I can't make that meat anymore. It's so delicious because there's a sauce in it. My grandfather bought that sauce from a salesman in the past. Now that it's used up, I can't buy it even if I wanted to, so I can't make it anymore."

Manager Lin shook his head regretfully. "That's such a pity."

Then, he asked unwillingly, "What does that sauce look like? What was it made from? I'll get someone to look for it. Maybe they can find it."

That sauce was actually soybean sauce. With the current technology, it was impossible to make it, Jian Qingqing was not afraid to say, "That sauce is black in color. It should be made from a kind of bean. It tastes sweet. No matter what kind of dish is put in it, it will taste delicious."

Shopkeeper Lin secretly noted it down and thought of asking someone to look for it.

"Okay, Miss Qingqing, I have to tell my boss about this. If you want to buy it, we can offer you a maximum of 100 taels. What do you think? If you have any requests, you can say it."

100 taels? Jian Qingqing was surprised. This was already quite a lot. It seemed that Manager Lin was a kind person.

"100 taels is enough. I only have one request, and that is that even though the recipe is sold to you, I can still make stewed meat and sell it to individual customers."

"Okay, Miss Qingqing. I'll go back and ask the boss before I give you an answer."

"Okay, then thank you."

Looking For Workers

After bidding farewell to Manager Lin, Jian Qingqing went to the iron shop to look at the iron pot.

She took a fancy to an iron pot with a diameter of one meter. When she asked about the price, she was almost shocked. This pot, which was not too big, actually cost 20 taels!

She had thought that a few taels of silver would be enough. She had forgotten that iron was hard to refine in this era. Moreover, the state of Great Wei was not peaceful, and there were often wars to be fought. Therefore, iron was tightly controlled, causing the price of iron to be sky-high.

However, no matter how expensive it was, she had to buy it. She planned to buy it tomorrow after she sold her formula.

After leaving the iron shop, she planned to find someone to build a house. It would take too much time to build it after the farming work was over. What she lacked now was not money, but time. Therefore, she planned to spend a higher price to find someone to build it immediately.

Before this, she had some vague ideas. Now, she wanted to see if it was feasible.

She went to the place where the refugees often gathered. Most of these people were men. They were all skinny from hunger, and their eyes were dull. It was obvious that they were waiting to die. If no one was there to save them, they would not be able to live for long.

Although these people were skinny, some of them were still quite tall. Jian Qingqing nodded her head in satisfaction. If they ate well, they would be very strong.

"Do any of you know how to build a house?"

These words suddenly appeared on the quiet field, but they did not stir up any reaction, and they did not cause any disturbance. Those refugees did not even raise their eyes and were in a daze.

Jian Qingqing thought for a moment and added, "I'll buy the meals and pay the wages."

Swoosh!

These words finally touched the nerves of those refugees. They raised their heads in unison and stared at Jian Qingqing with burning eyes. They had completely lost their previous lifeless look.

Jian Qingqing was not afraid of them. She continued, "Do any of you know how to build a house? I need to hire 20 people. I will cover two of your meals a day. We'll discuss the salary then."

The refugees finally reacted and saw her clearly. They realized that she was a little girl who often went to the restaurant to sell meat.

They rushed up and surrounded Jian Qingqing.

"Me!"

"Choose me! I know how to build!"

"Me! I know how to build too!"

Even the women surrounded her. "Miss, choose us too. We can do anything."

Messy voices rang out. Jian Qingqing shouted, "Line up! I'll choose one by one!"

The noisy and chaotic crowd suddenly became orderly.

Jian Qingqing was the first to choose the tallest one. The big guy instantly had tears in his eyes. "Thank you, Miss, thank you, Miss!"

Jian Qingqing was not used to people calling her Miss, so she asked embarrassedly, "What's your name?"

"I'm Ma Jiacai. I once built a brick house for the landlord."

Jian Qingqing nodded in satisfaction. This person's eyes were not as dull as the others. She saw that he was holding a child in his arms just now. Obviously, he still had expectations for life, and he was also smart.

"Alright, Uncle Ma, help me find the remaining 19 people. They have to be able to do things without cheating."

Ma Jiacai was stunned for a moment, as if he did not expect her to make such a request.

Jian Qingqing asked again, "Are you clear?"

This time, Ma Jiacai hurriedly nodded his head, "I am clear."

"Alright." Jian Qingqing thought for a moment, then took out two copper coins and handed them to Ma Jiacai. "This is the deposit. I will come here to look for you three days later and bring you to a place."

Ma Jiacai quickly took them. "Thank you, Miss."

Jian Qingqing quickly ran away. If she did not run, those people who were not chosen might eat her. Ma Jiacai had survived in that place and was able to raise a child. His strength should not be weak.

After that, Jian Qingqing immediately went to order the bricks. She did not want to live in a thatched hut that leaked every time it rained anymore.

Buying an Iron Pot

The next day, because she had to collect the money, Jian Qingqing went with her father.

They went straight to Yunlai Restaurant. The manager was already waiting there.

Seeing her, the manager took a step forward. "Miss Qingqing, Jian Dalang."

"How are you, Manager Lin?"

Manager Lin stroked his beard and smiled. "The Boss has agreed to your request. I have already prepared the money."

"Really?"Jian Qingqing was still very happy when the dust settled.

"We will discuss the details when we go in. Miss Qingqing, after you."

Jian Qingqing was about to pull Jian Dalang in when Jian Dalang waved his hand repeatedly. "No need, no need. You can go in alone. I will wait for you here."

Jian Qingqing did not force him. She went in alone with Manager Lin.

Manager Lin wrote a letter. Jian Qingqing took a look at it.

Okay. She could not understand it.

The characters in this dynasty were completely different from traditional characters. It seemed that she still had to learn them.

Jian Qingqing sighed. When would she ever be free?

Manager Lin read it to her. It was regarding how she would sell the formula to the restaurant, and how much would she sell it for. It was similar to a modern contract.

Jian Qingqing listened, and there was no problem, so she drew a line and read the formula to Manager Lin. He wrote down the formula and the entire transaction process was completed in less than 15 minutes. Jian Qingqing carried the silver out, and she found that a small box of silver was still quite heavy.

Father Jian took the silver. Although he had heard his daughter say it last night, it still felt light and unreal when he really got the money.

"Daughter, is this really ours?"

Jian Qingqing took out an ingot and gave it to him. "Does it feel real to the touch?"

Jian Dalang immediately hid the silver and laughed. "Daughter, you're really amazing!"

Jian Dalang now completely believed in Jian Qingqing. He would do whatever Jian Qingqing asked him to do and there would be no more doubts. He felt that his daughter was the most amazing. She could earn money and cook food.

"Alright, Father, go wait at Uncle Ox's place first. I'll go buy a pot first."

Jian Qingqing took out two silver ingots from the box and walked to the iron shop. Manager Lin gave her ten silver ingots.

After buying the iron pot that she yearned for, Jian Qingqing prepared to go and see how the workers were selected. When she went there, she did not see Ma Jiacai. There were very few people.

Only then did Jian Qingqing realize that they must have gone to the mountains to look for food.

The previous county magistrate of Shifeng County had completely ignored the refugees. He did not care if they were not settled or organized, as long as they did not cause trouble.

Therefore, in order to survive, these refugees had no choice but to go up the mountains to look for food, and then return to the county to live in some dilapidated houses.

The county magistrate of Shifeng County did not allow the people to develop the wastelands. Otherwise, the refugees could still find a way to survive.

Jian Qingqing guessed that the nobles did not want the common people to live well. If they were allowed to open up and develop the wastelands, then no one would rent the land of those landlords and noble families. To put it bluntly, it was to protect their own interests.

She did not know if Great Wei had such a rule. In her opinion, if there were nobles everywhere oppressing the common people, then the country would not be far from destruction. Therefore, she had to earn a lot of money. Even if war broke out one day, they would be able to protect themselves.

She hoped that the new county magistrate would be better. She hoped that the Emperor of Great Wei was not a muddle-headed person. She hoped that there would not be war.

Back home, Jian Qingqing took out a lard cooking pot. The platform for the stove was temporarily built by Jian Dalang and Old Man Jian yesterday. It was built in the courtyard. After the house was built, they would build a better stove.

Supervisor

Today, the food was cooked in an iron pot, and Jian Qingqing enjoyed it very much.

She had not eaten any stir-fried food since she came here. She could not stir-fry anything with a clay pot, so she could only boil them.

She had used an iron pot to stir-fry all of today's food. Even the wild vegetables that she despised became delicious.

The rice was also cooked in the iron pot. There was still rice in the bottom of the pot, and she sprinkled some salt on it. Jian Qingqing enjoyed it very much.

She was no longer going to the restaurant to sell meat, she did not plan to sell mushrooms anymore. She told this to Manager Lin and gave the mushroom business to Jian Rong. There was still more than a month before the rainy season ended. If it stopped raining, the mushroom would not grow again.

Later, she learned that Jian Rong had asked the children in the village to pick mushrooms together. Moreover, he supplied all the mushrooms to the restaurants in the county. She was surprised for a while. It seemed that Jian Rong was very business-minded and much better than her.

Xiao Hu also stopped picking mushrooms and wild vegetables. She needed some help.

On the third day, Jian Qingqing went to the county town to look for Ma Jiacai. He and the other workers were already waiting.

Jian Qingqing looked at them carefully. They were all honest-looking and tall. She nodded in satisfaction. When she saw that the last person standing was a woman, she asked Ma Jiacai in surprise, "Why did you hire an aunt?"

Ma Jiacai quickly explained, "Her name is Aunt Liang. Her husband used to be the supervisor of the construction team, and he was in charge of overseeing the foundation of the houses. Aunt Liang learned a few things, so I thought that you might not remember hiring a supervisor. So, I took the initiative to hire her. Moreover, her strength is also quite good. She won't delay the construction of the house."

This was the main reason. In fact, there was a little selfishness in it. He used to be a member of Aunt Liang's husband's construction team. Supervisor Liang was very good to them. Now that Brother Liang was gone, he just wanted to take care of Sister Liang as much as he could.

Jian Qingqing understood. So it was like that. She did not know that she needed to find a supervisor to build a house. Her family did not know how to build houses either, having mostly seen thatched cottages and mud-brick houses. For those houses, all they needed were a few villagers to build for a few days. Who would know how to build proper brick houses?

Seeing that Jian Qingqing did not speak, Aunt Liang thought that she was dissatisfied and did not want her. She quickly knelt down and said with a choked voice, "Yes, My Lady. I learned some skills from my husband. I can do anything. Please accept me!"

She really needed this job. She still had a daughter to support.

Jian Qingqing quickly helped her up. "Since Aunt Liang has such skills, then I'll have to trouble you."

"Thank you, My Lady! Thank you, My Lady!" Aunt Liang was so happy that she cried. This time, she could afford to buy some delicious food for her daughter.

"Alright, stop calling me Miss. Call me Miss Qingqing." The title of 'My Lady' was really awkward every time she heard it. Such a title should only be used on a lady who had some status. Her family's ancestors were all farmers for 18 generations. They could not afford to call her that.

Aunt Liang wiped her tears. "Yes, Miss Qingqing."

"Oh right, your wages are 40 wen per day. Lunch and dinner are included. Is there a problem?"

"No problem, no problem!" The workers shook their heads one after another.

30 to 40 wen was the price before the disaster. They did not even include meals. After the disaster, there were people fighting to do the work just for some steam buns every day. Not only did Miss Qingqing give them food, but she also gave them money. She was really a good person, they would definitely work for her seriously!

This was what every worker thought in their hearts.

"Okay, then I'll take you to the brick factory."

Work Begins

Jian Qingqing arranged for people to go to the brick factory to collect bricks. She planned to build a house with ten rooms, which would require a lot of bricks, and it might cost sixty taels of silver, including labor.

She explained the requirements to Aunt Liang. Aunt Liang was indeed a professional. She quickly calculated the approximate amount of bricks and then discussed it with the owner of the brick factory.

With Ma Jiacai and Aunt Liang here, Jian Qingqing was relieved. She then went to buy the food for the workers today.

She planned to make a meal with two vegetables and one meat, so she went off to buy some chicken. The vegetable dishes would be the same wild vegetables that the villagers bought. Adding eggs into the soup would be quite delicious. She would also add a pickled vegetable, which could also be bought from the villagers.

She had not expected it at first. She thought of buying all of them in the county in one go, but it was Old Man Jian who reminded her.

Now that she had earned money, she still had to build a house. Now, there was the problem with the pickled vegetables. Every household had these pickled vegetables, and if she spend money to buy them, even the kindest villagers would be jealous. These workers might even be separated from the villagers.

They still had to live in the village. It would not be good if they were isolated.

Today was the first day of construction. Jian Qingqing had to keep watch.

The newly built house was next to the old house. Jian Qingqing planned to build it like a courtyard house, with a courtyard in the middle.

She explained the plan to the workers, and they began to build the foundation.

Jian Qingqing invited two aunties from the same village to cook. They could not come until tomorrow, so she was the only one to cook today.

She had already had the chicken killed in the county town, so she washed them, chopped them, and threw them into the pot to cook the soup. This was very easy and did not require much effort.

The things that required much effort were the pig offal. Yes, her big plan to set up the stall was about to begin.

This morning, not only did she buy the chicken, but she also bought 20 catties of pig offal and meat. She was a regular customer of the pork stall. Seeing that she wanted so many pig offal, the boss even gave her a much cheaper price.

The pig offal needed to be rinsed several times and cut into pieces. It also needed to be marinated with ginger and salt to remove the fishiness. She could not bear to use her fine salt, so she went to buy some private salt.

There were so many coarse salt impurities, so she guessed that the salt was from drying saltwater, without any treatment.

Jian Qingqing dissolved and filtered it, and it was much better. However, it still had a bit of a bitter taste.

For the meat, there was no need to go through so much trouble. She just needed to cut it into one catty cubes and marinate it directly.

The food for the 20 workers and her family of seven still took a long time to cook. It took her almost two hours to finish cooking. Jian Qingqing put all the food into the wooden basin and barrel and began to cook her marinated dishes.

The iron pot could marinate 20 catties of meat in one go, which saved a lot of time.

When the braised soup was ready, it was already noon. The Jian Family members had also returned. Jian Qingqing put the meat in and went to call the workers to eat.

When the workers saw the Jian Family members, they were very cautious. Ma Jiacai stammered, "Master, Madam, Old Master."

Old Man Jian was shocked and waved his hands repeatedly. "No, no, no! Don't call me 'Old Master', that's too much, right?!"

Ma Jiacai was also shocked by Old Man Jian's reaction and quickly apologized, "Yes, yes, yes! Old Uncle, I'm sorry, I didn't do it on purpose."

Old Man Jian recovered from his shock, he shook his head and said, "It's okay, just call me Old Uncle like this. Don't call me Old Master anymore. I'm a farmer, so how can I bear this title? Also, don't call us Master or Madam, just call me big brother and big aunt."

Father Jian nodded as well. "That's right. You can call me Big Brother too. We're all farmers. There's no need to be so particular about it!"

Ma Jiacai nodded repeatedly. "Yes, we won't do it again in the future. Your family members are all honest people. Miss Qingqing also won't let us call her 'My Lady'."

"That's right. We're not fortunate enough to be nobles! Come, come, come, eat, eat!"

Eating Rice

Ma Jiacai swept his gaze across the courtyard and asked curiously, "Uncle, where's our meal?"

Old Man Jian pointed at the bucket of rice. "There, isn't that it?"

Not to mention Ma Jiacai, the workers behind him were all shocked and could not even speak properly. "This, this, this, this is our meal!?"

"That's right, is there a problem with this?"

This was too problematic! Who would give their workers cooked rice?

Miss Qingqing's family were all great benefactors!

They would definitely do their best to help the Jian Family build a house and pray for them in their hearts every day.

One of the workers seemed to be in a dream. He unconsciously muttered, "This, this is too good…"

Old Man Jian said proudly, "What's the big deal? Our Qingqing said that we have to let you eat your fill before you have the strength to work. Moreover, we are not landlords who will bully others. How can we let you eat coarse grains when we can eat good food?!"

In fact, Old Man Jian's heart was bleeding. How much food did 20 people have to eat in a day! He originally wanted to say that the family should feed the workers with course grains, but Big Sister would not let him!

Forget it, forget it. Anyway, Big Sister was the one who earned the money, so she could do whatever she wanted!

Therefore, even though his heart was bleeding, Old Man Jian still put on an expression of 'I feel sorry for you guys for working so hard'.

As expected, when they heard this, the workers were extremely grateful, and they kept on praising Jian Qingqing.

They said that Miss Qingqing was a bodhisattva who had descended to the mortal world, that she was beautiful and kind-hearted, and that she was the most kind-hearted person in all the villages.

Jian Qingqing was extremely helpless when she heard this. She interrupted their compliments, "Alright, alright, let's eat! Eat as much as you want. There's chicken soup and chicken meat in that bucket. You can eat it yourself."

Although the workers had not eaten anything delicious for a long, long time, they did not sweep the food like wolves. Instead, they ate very little. At most, they sipped on some chicken soup, and not many people ate meat.

Jian Qingqing comforted them, "You guys should eat. It's okay. We made it for you to eat. If you don't eat, we won't be able to finish it."

"Yes, yes, yes. We're all eating. Miss Qingqing, you eat well. Don't mind us."

Even though they said this, they still ate the rice in small bites and did not pick up any more food.

One of the villagers suddenly burst into tears as he ate the rice.

Jian Qingqing was shocked. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Ma Jiacai also quickly asked, "Yes, Xiao Liu, what's wrong with you?"

The man called Xiao Liu continue to cry and did not speak.

Jian Qingqing picked up a piece of chicken and placed it into his bowl. She comforted him, "Eat, it's okay. Everything will pass."

When Xiao Liu heard this, he finally raised his head. He sobbed and said, "I, I just thought of my mother. My mother starved to death in order to leave food for me to eat. Before she left, her biggest wish was to eat a mouthful of warm rice. I was useless and couldn't find it for her."

Hearing Xiao Liu say this, the other workers' eyes also reddened. Each of their families had more or less died because of the drought. Some of them were even left alone in their homes. Many of them had saved food for them to eat so that they could survive. Therefore, Xiao Liu's words resonated with them.

One of the workers said hesitantly, "Miss Qingqing, I… Can I save my food for my wife? She hasn't eaten rice for a long time."

Going up the Mountain

Ma Jiacai turned around and scolded him, "Shut Up! Miss Qingqing has already given us such good food, why are you still thinking of bringing it back home!"

The worker's tears could not help but fall, and he stammered, "I, I just want to save my rations. These dishes are too good, I want to bring them back for my wife to eat."

When he said this, the others also had the same thoughts.

That's right. They brought their own rations. Could these good dishes be brought back to their families?

Even Aunt Liang was moved. She could eat less and bring it back to her daughter to eat.

They all looked at Jian Qingqing expectantly.

Jian Qingqing shook her head slightly. "That won't do. If you don't eat well, you won't have the energy to work. How about this? I'll give you an advance of these five days' wages. You can go back and buy some good food for them. How about it?"

The workers' eyes lit up. This was also possible!

Ma Jiacai hurriedly nodded. "Thank you, Miss Qingqing!"

In the afternoon, Jian Qingqing let Xiao Hu watch over the construction. She wanted to go up the mountain with Jian Rong to take a look. She always felt that there must be some treasure in such a large mountain. She might get lucky and find something good.

Jian Rong was now leading a group of children into the mountain every day. Because almost every family had children, the village chief had ordered for a path to be cleared in the mountain. It would be much safer to enter the mountain now.

When Jian Qingqing arrived, a group of kids stood in a row, each with a big basket in their hands. Jian Rong was standing on a rock and talking.

"You must listen to my orders when entering the mountains! You can't just walk around! You can't randomly catch snakes! If anyone disobeys, I won't bring anyone into the mountains tomorrow! Is that clear?!"

"Clear!" the children all shouted loudly.

She felt that they were a little funny. Indeed, children were the most adorable creatures in the world.

As she said this, Jian Qingqing forgot that she was also a little girl that was less than eight years old. She was less than a meter tall.

Jian Rong saw Jian Qingqing and immediately jumped down from the rock and came to her side. "Sister Qingqing, why are you here? Aren't you building up your house?"

"I'll follow you up the mountain to take a look. I'll let Xiao Hu watch over the house."

Jian Rong agreed without hesitation. "Okay, then you can follow me later."

Jian Qingqing saw a little kid staring at her curiously. She took out a handful of candy to give to them. She had bought this candy for her three younger brothers to eat. She did not know what it was made from, but it was not very sweet. She did not think it was very delicious, but it was quite expensive. However, her three younger brothers liked to eat it, especially Xiao Lang. Every time she came back from the county, he would come and ask for candy.

After the children got the candy, they were not afraid of Jian Qingqing anymore. One by one, they called out sweetly, "Sister Qingqing."

Jian Qingqing looked at them with a smile. These children were all under the age of seven. All the children in the village above the age of seven had to work in the fields. Jian Rong was the only child in his family, and that was why his mother had sent him out to look for food.

In the beginning, the Jian Family had sent Xiao Hu to the fields. The original owner had brought Xiao Ye and Xiao Lang out to look for wild vegetables. However, the original owner had not been feeling well, so she had asked Xiao Hu to bring them. After she came to this world, it was Xiao Hu who went with her.

In the Spring, many grass and trees bloomed. They were colorful and extremely beautiful.

As Jian Qingqing walked, she picked the flowers that she thought were beautiful. Suddenly, her gaze was attracted by a cluster of white flowers.

The flower vines climbed on the tall pine trees. The flowers in full bloom poured down from the trees, forming a flower waterfall.

This kind of 'flower waterfall' was everywhere in the mountains. Jian Qingqing was used to it from the beginning. What attracted her attention was the small white flowers on this flower waterfall.

Honeysuckle

"Isn't this honeysuckle?" she wondered out loud. In modern times, she had seen this kind of flower when she climbed mountains. Her fellow villagers said that it was honeysuckle, and they would pick it in spring to sell it for money.

"What flower? Isn't this just an ordinary wild flower?" Jian Rong was puzzled.

Jian Qingqing explained, "This is called honeysuckle. It's a type of medicinal herb. It has many uses."

Jian Rong was shocked. "Is this really a medicinal herb? Do we actually have medicinal herbs on this mountain? This name is quite interesting, and it sounds expensive!"

Jian Qingqing had some ideas in her mind. The people in this village were very poor and did not have any extra income. If they could dig out some treasures from the mountain, it would also help them live a better life.

"Xiao Rong, why don't you ask the owner of the medicine shop tomorrow to see if they accept it? If they do, ask the villagers to come to collect these flowers."

"Ah? These are grown everywhere on the mountain. Would the people in the medicine shop still pay for them?"

Jian Qingqing smiled, "Then aren't the mushrooms you sell grown everywhere? There are so many people who pay for them."

Jian Rong thought about it and it made sense. Just as he was about to agree, he thought of the man from the medicine store. He said embarrassedly, "Sister Qingqing, can I ask the other doctors? The man from the medicine store is too fierce. I don't dare to ask."

Hearing what he said, Jian Qingqing was also curious. "Is he really that fierce?"

Jian Rong nodded crazily. "It's true!"

His grandmother's health was not good. After he earned money, he hired a doctor to treat his grandmother, so he went to the medicinal herb store to get medicine.

There was only one medicinal herb store in Shifeng County, the Ji Shan Hall. The medicinal herb store attendant was very tall and spoke very loudly. Every time, Jian Rong would directly hand a paper slip to him, not daring to speak to him.

"Alright, I'll go ask tomorrow."

Jian Rong said embarrassedly, "Thank you, Sister Qingqing."

"No problem."

Jian Qingqing folded a long vine and prepared to ask the medicine shop tomorrow.

As they walked, Jian Qingqing saw another tree with leaves that looked like citrus leaves. She called out to Jian Rong who was picking mushrooms. "Xiao Rong, is this a lemon tree?"

Jian Rong thought she had found another treasure, so he walked over and saw that it was something he already knew. He was disappointed, but he still said patiently, "This is called a citron tree. The fruit it grows is very sour and can not be eaten."

That would be a lemon tree. When Jian Rong mentioned citron, the memory of the original owner appeared in Jian Qingqing's mind. It looked like a lemon.

In ancient times, lemons were called citron, but they were not as big and juicy as modern lemons after generations of cultivation. At this time, citron was usually smaller, the meat was dry, and it was so sour that it was bitter. In modern times, some places would marinate this wild lemon that had not been cultivated into a sauce. It was also very delicious.

Speaking of lemons, Jian Qingqing thought of lemon boneless chicken feet and duck feet. The taste was really superb. She was almost drooling. Maybe when it matured, she could try to make it.

However, the citron had just bloomed. It would only mature in August or September. There was still a long way to go.

Jian Qingqing noted down the location of this citron tree and also let Jian Rong and a bunch of little kids remember it.

"Have you all memorized it? When the fruit ripens, remember to call me to pick it. I'll make delicious food for you."

Speaking of food, everyone was very attentive.

"Okay, we will remember!"

"Sister Qingqing, can this kind of fruit really be eaten? There are a few by the roadside in the village. If you want to pick it, you don't have to go to the mountains to do so."

"When the time comes, you will see for yourself when I make food for you. Oh, where in the village do they have them? How come I don't remember?"

Dendrobium

Jian Rong explained, "On the road to Granny Lin's house, there are a few citron trees growing by the side."

Jian Qingqing recalled that although Granny Lin was also a member of the Jian Village. She lived in a very remote place and did not like to interact with the villagers. Every time she saw her, she looked fierce, so the children in the village were very afraid of her.

"Okay, when it's ripe, you can ask me to pick it."

While they were talking, the mushrooms in this area had already been picked.

"Let's go, keep moving forward."

Further ahead was a large stone wall. If the villagers wanted to build stone houses, they would come here to get stones. However, these stones were very difficult to carry, and it took a lot of effort, so very few households in the village had stone houses.

Jian Rong continued to instruct the people to move forward, but Jian Qingqing was attracted by the iron-green bamboo-like plants on the stone wall,

"This, this is…"

Jian Qingqing could not help but go forward and pull some of it down. Looking at the plants with fat joints, her heart started to beat faster.

'Wasn't this the Dendrobium Catenatum?!

If they had this, their village would be rich! This large stone wall was densely covered with Dendrobium Catenatum! It was known as just 'Dendrobium'.

Jian Rong saw that Jian Qingqing did not keep up with the team, so he stopped and said, "Let's go, Sister Qingqing, what are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm coming!" Jian Qingqing quickly followed and came to the front of the team.

"Xiao Rong, do you know what this is?" She showed Jian Rong the Dendrobium that she had just pulled out.

Jian Rong glanced at it and said casually, "Isn't this the Black Festival Grass? There are plenty of them on the stone wall."

"So you don't know that this can be used as medicine?"

"What! This can also be used as medicine!"Jian Rong was shocked. These were all grass that could be seen everywhere, right? How could anything be used as medicine?

"Sister Qingqing, how do you know so many types of medicine?" Jian Rong was very curious. How did Jian Qingqing know that the wild grass that could be seen everywhere by the roadside could also be used as medicine?

Jian Qingqing took out the same trick that she had used to deceive her family. "It was a herb gatherer who told me."

"What does the herb gatherer have to do with your family? Why did he even tell you about things you can and cannot eat?"

Jian Qingqing said vaguely, "Well, maybe he thought that I couldn't remember when I was young, so he told me casually."

Jian Rong was envious. "I also want to meet a herb gatherer who talks so much."

At this moment, they just happened to walk to a place full of mushrooms. Jian Rong waved her little hand. "Little ones! Go and pick the mushrooms! After picking them, we'll go home!"

Jian Qingqing looked at the sky. It was time to go back and cook. In order to go home quickly, she also helped to pick mushrooms.

When Jian Qingqing returned home, the workers had almost finished with the foundation for the house. She was shocked. They were so quick!

It seemed that Ma Jiacai had found the right people. They were all reliable people.

Xiao Hu had marinated the meat. The whole yard was filled with the fragrance of meat. It was still spring, so the weather was not very hot. Otherwise, the meat would go bad quite quickly, and they would have to get up early in the morning to cook it.

Jian Qingqing quickly finished cooking and called the workers over to eat.

"Let's eat!"

"Miss Qingqing, you eat first. We'll work for a while more. We'll eat when the sun goes down!"

Jian Qingqing paid high wages and the food was good, so the workers worked very hard.

"Hurry up and eat now. When the sun goes down, you'll have to go home."

The workers thought of their family members who were still waiting for them to go back, so they did not decline.

Setting up a Stall

Having been here for so long, one of the things Jian Qingqing was most unaccustomed to was the inconvenience of transportation. Every time she walked to the county town, it would take more than an hour. If it were not for Uncle Ox, she would have to wait for Jian Dalang to tend to the land before she could start her big plan to earn money. By then, her two short legs would be swollen after walking for two days. After she finished building the house, she would have to buy a cow. Even if she bought it now, there was no place for it to live.

Speaking of walking, she had to admire Jian Rong. He actually did not take Uncle Ox's cart! He just used a cart to carry a load of over a hundred catties to the county town!

The next morning, Jian Qingqing brought her braised meat, honeysuckle, and Dendrobium to Uncle Ox's cart.

She had the idea to buy a cow, so she chatted with Uncle Ox. "Uncle, how did you buy this ox?"

"You want to buy an ox?"

"Yes, I have to sell things every day, so I'm sorry to trouble you every day. You used to not go so early in the past, but because of me, you have to wake up so early. I'm afraid I'm delaying your work in the fields."

Uncle Ox's job was not only to drive the ox cart. The main function of the ox was to plow the land. When he was free, he would come out to drive the ox cart. During this period of time, farm work was very tight.

Uncle Ox would send her to and from the morning, and only in the afternoon could he do farm work, and this made her very embarrassed. She could only give him some stewed meat as a token of gratitude.

"Hey, it's no trouble. I don't have much work at home, but it's also good to be able to buy an ox." Speaking of this, Uncle Ox admired Jian Qingqing very much. It had only been a month, and she was going to build a house to buy an ox. He was correct, this young woman had a bright future!

"I bought this ox after looking at it for two whole months. I spent more than seven taels of silver! To buy an ox, don't buy it after one or two visits. If you did, you can easily buy a sick ox or a sub-par cow. Moreover, there aren't any good cows in the market at the moment. Those good ones will be bought immediately when they come to the market. It's very popular."

Speaking of buying an ox, Uncle Ox had his own way of doing things.

"You have to pay more attention to the situation in the market. When you come to a new cow, you have to go and see it immediately. If you see a strong one, you have to pay immediately. Otherwise, it will be bought by others very quickly. At that time, there were quite a few people who looked at this end, but they all felt that it was too expensive and couldn't buy it immediately. I also felt that it was a little expensive, but it's rare to see a good one. I gritted my teeth and bought it. Look, it's already five years old. It's still doing well now, and it's still strong."

"Huh? Is it that troublesome?" She did not have so much time to pay attention to the ox market every day.

"What's the trouble? If you want to buy a good bull, you have to put in more effort. How about this, my dear? If you don't have time, I'll help you look. If I see one, I'll inform you immediately!"

"Is that okay? Will it trouble you, Sir?"

"What's the trouble?" He shook his head. "I have acquaintances in the ox market. If they come with a new bull, I'll ask him to call me. If I feel good about it, I'll call you. It's no trouble at all!"

"Thank you!"

Arriving at the county town, Jian Qingqing went straight to the place where the meat was sold. There were several pork stalls and a mutton stall there. The rest were selling chickens, ducks, and fish.

Usually, those who came here to buy meat were from rich families, so there were probably more people who could afford her stewed meat.

She picked a side and stayed away from those who sold chicken, ducks, and meat. She could not stand the smell.

Jian Qingqing also brought a small wooden stool. She placed the wooden bucket containing the stewed meat there. When the lid was opened, the rich fragrance immediately filled the entire market, covering the smell of meat, chicken, duck, and feces.

The butchers all looked over.

Doing Business

Jian Qingqing did not shout. She simply lifted the lid and sat down on a stool.

The fragrance of wine was not afraid of the depth of the alley. Moreover, her seat was so good that she did not need to worry about customers.

Soon, a woman walked over hesitantly.

"Miss, what are you selling? Why does it smell so good?"

"I'm selling stewed meat. There are pork chops, lean meat, and streaky meat. Aunt, do you want some?"

"Pig offal? Can pig offal be delicious?"

"It's delicious. Aunty, don't you think it's really fragrant?. Would you like to try it?"

As she was afraid that no one would accept pig offal, she cut the pig intestines into small pieces for the guests to try.

The woman took the pig intestines and put them into her mouth hesitantly.

Hmm? It was really delicious!

It was fragrant and chewy, and there was no strange taste.

The woman's eyes lit up. "Miss, how much for a catty of pig offal?"

Jian Qingqing smiled smugly. She knew that no one could resist the taste of pig intestines!

"Pig offal costs 80 wen per catty, lean meat 130 wen, streaky pork 150 wen."

Pig offal was not only pig intestines, but also pig lungs, liver, and pig blood. The prices of these things varied. Jian Qingqing set the price at 80 wen.

The woman was not short of money. She waved her hand and said, "Then give me one catty of pig offal, lean meat, and streaky meat each!"

"Okay!" Jian Qingqing was very happy with the first deal. She wrapped the meat up with dried leaves.

Before the woman left, she said something that would be heard in every shop in the modern world, "I look forward to welcoming your next visit!"

The woman was amused. "You really know how to talk, Young Lady!"

After the woman left, another aunt came. "Young Lady, give me that pig offal to try."

It seemed that she had been watching from the side for a long time.

Jian Qingqing handed the large intestine to her.

After the Aunty took a bite, she felt that it was not bad and said, "Young Lady, give me another taste. I don't even know what the other tastes like."

It seemed that the second customer was a difficult person to deal with. Jian Qingqing was not annoyed. In the future, she might encounter even more strange customers. She could not be angry every time she returned. She kept smiling, "Aunty, they all taste roughly the same. It won't taste bad."

Since she could not freeload, the Aunty came up with another plan. "Then, Young Lady, I'll buy your pig offal. You can give me a cheaper price. The pork offal is only 25 wen a catty, and now that you cooked it, you're selling it for 80 wen a catty? Aren't you too evil?"

"Aunty, not only do I have pork offal, I also have pork liver. That's 50 wen a catty. My spices are also very expensive. It's not expensive to sell it for 80 wen."

The Aunty curled her lips. Why was this girl smiling? She clearly had a dark heart.

"Then give me a catty of pork offal. Put more pork liver in." Jian Qingqing would not listen to her. She would take what was in a spoonful.

She wrapped the meat and handed it to the customer. "Aunty, 80 wen."

The aunty was so angry that she wanted to leave, but she could not bear to part with such delicious food. She could only grit her teeth and count 80 wen before throwing it in front of Jian Qingqing.

"Here, here, here! You black-hearted little hoof!"

Jian Qingqing picked up the money and silently told herself in her heart, 'Don't get mad, don't get mad. Earning money isn't easy. Only through suffering can I become a woman of honor. The heavens will bestow a great responsibility on me, and I will definitely suffer and strain my bones…'

'Damn it! The next time that Aunty dares to come again, I will throw the money at her face! I won't take this her damned attitude! It's only 80 wen! Even if it's 10,000 taels…'

'If she really paid 10,000 taels, Jian Qingqing was willing to go down on her knees and beg her.'

'Sigh, it looks like I still lack discipline.'

Selling Medicine

Except for the strange second customer, the other customers were all very friendly.

The entire street was filled with the overbearing smell of stewed meat. In less than an hour, Jian Qingqing closed her stall.

She found that the individual customers still bought more pig offal and less pork belly.

So she decided to make more pig offal today.

Jian Qingqing cleaned out all the pig offal from the three pork stalls. It was more than 50 catties in total. She bought another 20 catties of meat and sold them the next day.

The owner of the mutton stall next to her was very envious.

"Little Girl, come and take a look at my mutton too. Mutton is even better than pork!"

Speaking of mutton, Jian Qingqing thought of mutton stewed with radish soup. It was very nourishing and warm to the stomach. She licked her lips. Unfortunately, there were no radishes now.

She walked to the mutton stall and took a look. She found that the mutton was very fat. If she could roast it, it would be very good. When she went back, she would ask the workers to make an oven!

"Boss, how much is the hind leg of the mutton?"

"200 wen per catty. It's not expensive. If you want more, I can give you a cheaper price."

"Forget it. I want two catty." There was no market for the stewed mutton. It was too expensive. It was okay if she bought it back and ate it herself.

After buying the mutton, she went to order a few chickens. "Boss, help me kill three chickens. I'll come back to get them later!"

The duck seller beside her could not sit still anymore. "Miss, buy a few ducks. Ducks are delicious too. They're even more delicious than chickens!"

Jian Qingqing shook her head. "No, no, I can't eat that much!"

If the ducks were not handled properly, they would have a very strong smell of duck. She could not stand that smell, and there were no good seasonings to remove the smell. However, she liked to eat roasted ducks very much.

When she went back, she had to get the workers to build an oven!

Jian Qingqing put all the meat on the side of a pork stall. "Uncle Zhu, help me look after my stuff. I'll go buy something and come back to get it later!"

This Uncle Zhu was the owner of the pork stall where Jian Qingqing bought meat for the first time. Because she often bought meat from him, she was already very familiar with him. The owner often helped her with little favors.

"Okay, don't worry. I'll keep an eye on it for you!"

Jian Qingqing took the honeysuckle and the Dendrobium to the only medicine shop in the county town — Ji Shan Hall.

As soon as she entered the door, she saw a tall and big man grabbing medicine from the counter. He was really tall. Jian Qingqing raised her head high to see his face clearly. He was also very strong. His arms were thicker than her head, and his mustache covered a big portion of his face. No wonder Jian Rong was so afraid of him. He looked quite fierce.

"Big Brother, does your shop accept medicinal herbs?" Seeing that the last person grabbing medicine had left, Jian Qingqing immediately ran to the side of the counter and raised her head to ask him.

Wei Wusheng looked left and right, but did not see anyone. He scratched his head. Why did he feel that someone was talking to him? Could it be that he was hearing things?

Jian Qingqing wanted to slap the counter. "Big Brother, I'm here!"

Why was this broken counter even taller than her! She jumped up with all her might, wanting to poke her head out to look at the tall man.

Wei Wusheng finally saw the child who popped her head out from time to time from the other side of the counter. He opened the small door of the counter and walked out.

"Kid, what are you trying to do? Do you want to buy some medicine? Show me the prescription."

It was the first time Jian Qingqing was called a 'kid', and she was speechless.

However, this person was really tall. When he walked to her side, she finally knew how strong his pressure was. Her head was almost raised ninety degrees before she could see his face. He should be almost two meters tall.

Why was he so tall? He should give her some of his height!

Suppressing all kinds of strange thoughts in her head, Jian Qingqing asked again, "Big Brother, do you accept medicinal herbs?"