Joe's Farming

It rained for a while the next morning, but fortunately it stopped soon. Everyone covered the bricks and tiles with hay and started working when the sun came out in the afternoon.

Qiao Yu packed the dried peppercorns, ten cans of autumn pear paste and braised dishes early in the morning and set off.

He had already agreed with Wen Ge'er yesterday that the business in Qingyuan Town would be suspended, and the last three days would mainly serve the customers who had made reservations. If they still made reservations, he would continue to let Lin Da deliver, otherwise forget it. He would go to Taoyuan Town for a few days.

When they arrived at the West Market, Qiao Yu told the customers that the restaurant would be open for three more days, but they would still accept pre-orders. He also told everyone that they could go to Yipinxuan to eat braised food in the future. Most customers thought that as long as the taste remained the same, it would be fine. A small number of people complained that Qiao Yu must have sold the recipe to Yipinxuan and abandoned them after making a lot of money.

Qiao Yu was neither humble nor arrogant. He thanked those who congratulated him and apologized to those who complained. In the end, he was able to handle all the customers within two hours, and the number of reservations increased instead of decreasing.

The grocery store was nearby, and Qiao Yu asked the owner to help him keep track of the orders. He would ask Lin Da to come and collect the orders every day. Of course, he would give Lin Da one cent for each order, and the owner of the grocery store was a man who knew how to handle things, so he agreed immediately.

Qiao Yu went to find Zhu the butcher again and weighed several kilograms of fat meat to bring back. Now that his family was building a house, they needed to consume two kilograms of meat every day.

After buying the meat, he took Wen Ge'er to Yipinxuan. Today, he was teaching Yipinxuan's chef how to stew dishes, and he wanted to teach Wen Ge'er as well. Usually, Wen Ge'er helped him cook, and he always prepared the spice packs in advance.

Wen Ge'er probably knew that Qiao Yu's recipe was sold at a high price, and if he learned it, he would earn the recipe for free, so he studied it very seriously. After the ingredients were prepared, he took over Qiao Yu's task and instructed the chef of Yipinxuan on how to stir-fry the ingredients and what to pay attention to.

Qiao Yu watched from the side, and he would explain to the cook when he did not understand something. In this way, the first pot of meat was ready after an hour and a half, and Qiao Yu asked Xu Yuan to taste it first.

Xu Yuan had already watched the whole process and was so attracted by the aroma that he couldn't wait to take a bite.

After tasting it, Xu Yuan commented: "It's this taste, but it doesn't feel spicy enough." Qiao Yu used less chili in this pot based on the taste that the chef of Yipinxuan usually explores.

Qiao Yu smiled and said, "This pot has less chili peppers. You can try a pot with less or even no chili peppers, because not everyone can eat spicy food. Then a pot with more spiciness can satisfy guests with different tastes."

Xu Yuan nodded: "Brother Qiao is right. My throat hurt when I ate it for the first time, so I boiled it with water before eating it."

"Well, different ingredients take different cooking times and have different tastes. Your chef must have more experience than me. And the soaking time is the key to affecting the taste. These are all small details. I wrote them in the recipe. You can also adjust them according to the needs of the guests." Qiao Yu continued.

The chef of Yipinxuan agreed and asked some more questions before letting Qiao Yu go.

Seeing that it was already past lunch time, Xu Yuan wanted Qiao Yu to stay for lunch, but Qiao Yu declined as he had many arrangements to discuss with Lin Da. So Xu Yuan packed some pastries for him to eat on the way.

Seeing that Qiao Yu and Wen Ge'er came back late, Lin Da didn't say anything. He now helps Qiao Yu run errands and deliver goods almost every day, and his income is more stable than before. He and Lin Er plan to buy another ox cart to expand their business.

-

Qiao Yu sat on the ox cart and ate some cakes with Wen Ge'er before sitting next to Lin Da. He told him about the future grocery store orders. Although he would not set up a stall in the future, he would still be needed to deliver these orders, and the price for each order had increased to three cents.

After Qiao Yu finished speaking, he asked him if he was willing to take him to Taoyuan Town tomorrow.

Taoyuan Town and Qingyuan Town are roughly in the same direction, but a little farther away, taking an extra hour.

Qiao Yu said, "You decide the price of the car rental. I have no problem with that. I just might need to hire you to go shopping with me and then take me back. Wen Ge'er will be taken home by Lin Er."

Brother Wen nodded obediently.

Lin Da thought for a moment and said, "Okay, how about we two brothers collect 80 coins together tomorrow?"

Qiao Yu said happily: "It's feasible, it's feasible. I'll have to trouble you two brothers tomorrow."

Lin Da laughed: "Mr. Gu, you are joking. It is hard to make money. I see that Mr. Gu's business is getting better and better. If you need us in the future, just let us know."

Qiao Yu said bluntly: "Of course, just don't be annoying when the time comes, Brother Lin. However, Brother Lin, I think you and Brother Lin's connections in Qingyuan Town can be used. Although you can earn a lot just by helping to move goods, it is also very laborious."

"Yes, it's really hard work." Lin Da continued.

Qiao Yu suggested: "You can go to a few more villages every day to help people pass on messages, deliver letters, or deliver food like we do to customers. Each order can be charged one or two cents, although the unit price is not high. But if you deliver to more people, you can do a lot in the future."

Lin Da was enlightened, and praised: "Gu Fulang, how come you are so smart and thoughtful? I never thought that I could do it this way. I will let Lin Er try it tomorrow."

Qiao Yu modestly said: "Hey, I just said that casually. Whether it succeeds or not depends on you." Once you get the express delivery started, it will be convenient for me in the future.

-

After Qiao Yu arrived home, she left the matter of braising the meat to Wen Ge'er. She checked the homework of her three children first and then went to see her husband at the new house construction site.

The rain this morning had no effect on the progress of construction, and now we can see a little bit of the outline of the new house.

When Gu Feng saw his husband, he stopped what he was doing and came over. Qiao Yu wiped the sweat off his face and asked him if he was thirsty.

Gu Feng said that Aunt Shi had made tea and everyone could drink it at any time.

Qiao Yu nodded: "Auntie, you are so thoughtful. I will give her a red envelope later."

Gu Feng asked: "Did the stall run smoothly today? Were there any customers causing trouble?"

Qiao Yu knew that he was worried that if he sold the recipe, someone would come after him. He shook his head and said, "No, it went very smoothly. I plan to go to Taoyuan Town to investigate and if possible, let Wen Ge'er set up a stall there. The soap molds are ready, and I want to make a batch today."

"Okay, I'll accompany you."

"Hurry up and get to work." Qiao Yu urged him. When she saw Xu Ning looking at her, she smiled at him.

Xu Ning quickly lowered his head. Mr. Gu looked so handsome when he smiled.

-

Qiao Yu had boiled a large pot of lard earlier, and now he went to the kitchen to get some lye water. Wen Ge'er asked him what he was doing, and Qiao Yu smiled mysteriously: "Good stuff."

Wen Ge'er knew that even if they didn't set up the stall in a few days, Qiao Yu would find something to do, so he stopped asking. He just had to do his job well.

Qiao Yu suddenly asked, "Will the chestnuts in the mountains go bad if we don't pick them up?"

Brother Wen nodded: "But except for the place we went to last time, the chestnuts in other places have been picked up long ago. And the pecans were gone last month."

"No, we can't let them rot in the mountains. The day after tomorrow we will just do the pre-orders and let the Lin brothers deliver them. We'll go to the mountain to pick chestnuts and peppercorns. No, it's not enough for just the two of us. Please help me find two people to come over the day after tomorrow." Qiao Yu said.

Wen Ge'er thought for a moment and said, "Can I call me aunt and little sister?"

Qiao Yu knew that the aunt he was talking about was called Li Li'niang. She had been waiting for his uncle who was serving in the military, so she got married at the age of 25. There were two children in the family, and his uncle had an injured foot, so they lived a hard life.

"Of course. Go ahead. Twenty cents a day is okay?" Qiao Yu asked.

Wen Ge'er nodded quickly: "Okay, okay. I'll tell them when I get back."

Qiao Yu asked again: "Has your grandma caused trouble for your family recently?"

Brother Wen thought about how his mother had been hesitant to speak these days, so he frowned and said, "I guess she has looked for my mother, but she didn't tell me."

Qiao Yu comforted him, "Don't be afraid, you can come to me if you want to move out."

"It's okay. If it really doesn't work, I'll ask my parents to move out. They're afraid that we'll split up, so they'll be quieter." Wen Ge'er said.

Qiao Yu reminded him again: "Anyway, don't tell anyone how much you earn from me. Including your aunt and younger sister." He knew very well that the salary of everyone in a company was a top secret.

Brother Wen nodded solemnly.

"Although there won't be many orders in the town in the future, I plan to let you set up a stall in Taoyuan Town. As we agreed before, I will increase your wages. You can find someone to help you, such as Wang Jie or your aunt. However, the wages will still be paid on a daily basis, depending on how much you sell, 20 to 40 cents."

Brother Wen listened carefully and nodded from time to time.

"Then you can add a braised duck and sell it piece by piece at a higher price. If it doesn't sell well, we can sell it separately. Anyway, you know the recipe, so I will leave this business to you from now on. If you don't have time to buy, you can find someone else to do it, and you can decide the wages."

Brother Wen was stunned for a long time. Would Brother Qiao just hand over such a big business to him?

Seeing that Wen Ge'er didn't say anything, Qiao Yu asked, "Why, are you scared?"

Wen Geer whispered, "A little bit. I'm afraid I can't do it well."

Qiao Yu thought of Wen Ge'er's stumbling and shouting at the beginning, and finally he set up the stall by himself, and patted him on the shoulder: "What's there to be afraid of? Just treat them as cabbages. Besides, I will definitely go with you for the first few days."

While there was still fire in the stove, Qiao Yu heated up the can of oil, then slowly poured in the alkaline water and stirred it continuously. Finally, he poured it into the mold to cool. There was a little too much soap liquid, so he opened the food box he had taken from Yipinxuan and poured it on the bottom of one of the boxes. After it cooled down, he could just cut it with a knife.

Qiao Yu thought again that he could ask the carpenter to make a few more large square boxes, and add some pigments and spices to the soap molds, targeting both high-end and low-end groups.

Brother Wen saw Qiao Yu tinkering with something and making some unfamiliar things that looked very impressive, so he admired Qiao Yu even more.

-

At night, Qiao Yu began to count the money in front of Gu Feng again. He gave Gu Feng 40 taels for building the house, and now he had taels hidden under the bed, including the money from selling the house. Qiao Yu counted the total and divided out the money he had circulated before. He made more than taels.

Gu Feng hugged his husband and asked him, "How much does my husband have to earn to be enough?"

Qiao Yu was amused: "My husband thinks I'm greedy?"

Gu Feng didn't say anything, just kissed him lightly on the face to show his feelings. His husband was the easiest to satisfy.

"It's definitely enough to have a good New Year this year." Qiao Yu put the money away, lay down on the bed, rolled over and said, "My goal is to make money, so I can't rest now. My husband, why don't you accompany me to Taoyuan Town tomorrow. We have money now, so at worst we can find two more people."

Gu Feng also lay down and held his husband in his arms: "I will go with you tomorrow, but you don't need me. I want to build our house myself."

Qiao Yu was very tired these days and fell asleep after holding Gu Feng for a while.

-

The autumn rain was getting colder, and the next day Qiao Yu put on an extra layer of clothes, thinking that it would be so beautiful for her husband to go out with her today. When the children heard about it, they also clamored to go, and finally, except for Uncle Wang, the whole family set out together.

All three children wore new clothes. Qiao Yu braided Xiaoxue's hair and added a flower to her hair. She looked so cute. Qiao Xing and Gu Xiaoyan also had simple and energetic buns and tied green headbands around their hair.

When Wen Ge'er got on the car, he was surprised by the family.

Qiao Yu winked at him and glanced at Gu Feng, and Wen Ge'er understood that her husband was worried about her and was fed dog food every day.

After seeing Wen Ge'er off, everyone set off towards Taoyuan Town.

Along the way, Gu Xiaoxue and Gu Xiaoyan had endless questions. Most of them were answered by Qiao Yu and Lin Da. Gu Feng had never known them to talk so much when he was taking care of children before.

Qiao Xing listened quietly and occasionally answered some questions from his younger brothers and sisters.

Qiao Yu had promised the two children to go to town to play, but he was always busy and never fulfilled his promise. Although the children did not blame him, they were still worried about him. So he kept chatting with the children patiently.

The road between Qingyuan Town and Taoyuan Town is a government road with a smooth surface, much wider than the dirt road from the village to the town. We also encountered several horse-drawn carriages on the road.

Gu Xiaoyan pointed at the carriage and said, "Wow, the carriage is so fast."

Lin Da: "The horse carriage is definitely faster. Our ox cart takes an hour to run, but the horse carriage will arrive in less than half an hour."

Gu Xiaoxue: "Wow, let's take a carriage from now on."

Qiao Yu nodded and said, "Okay. I'll buy it next year."

Lin Da: "Mr. Gu wants to buy a carriage?"

Qiao Yu was not too sure. She looked at Gu Feng and saw that her husband did not disagree, so she said, "I have this idea, but I am afraid that raising horses will be troublesome."

Lin Da was about to speak when he heard Gu Feng say in a deep voice, "I'll take care of it. It's not a problem."

Qiao Xing: "Mom, I can help too. It's not a bother."

"There is a carriage and horse shop in Taoyuan Town. I heard that the prices are much cheaper than those in our town. Brother Gu and your husband can go and have a look. It just so happens that Lin Er and I also want to buy another ox cart." Lin Da finally interrupted.

"That's great. Let's go look at the horses first! I suggest you also change to a horse carriage. Horses run fast, and express delivery needs to be fast." Qiao Yu said the word express delivery when he was happy.

Lin Da thought about it for a while and said with a smile, "Haha, express delivery, express delivery, these two words are good. The job that Gu Fulang mentioned last time is called express delivery. But it's expensive. My brother and I don't have that much money."

"I'll lend it to you, and I don't want you to pay it back, but when you make money in the future, just give it to me and Brother Gu as a dividend."