Joe's Farming

Qiao Yu left Xu's house and went to find Carpenter Wang again.

The carpenter saw him and his frown lifted: "Brother Qiao, you came at the right time. I have prepared a few boxes. Which one do you think is good?"

Qiao Yu took a look and could not help but say that the wisdom and creativity of the ancients could always convince people. He just gave an idea, and Carpenter Wang made him four sets of exquisite gift boxes, each of which was very delicate and in line with the current aesthetics.

Qiao Yu gave him a thumbs up unconsciously. The carpenter didn't understand.

Qiao Yu explained: "Okay, very good, great!!! Just make two hundred sets first." Qiao Yu paid ten taels of silver to the carpenter.

The carpenter was also happy because he had not slept well these days in order to make these gift boxes.

Qiao Yu: "We need to order another 100 sets of the previous square molds with patterns. Thank you for your hard work. The gift boxes can be made slowly. Let's make the molds as soon as possible."

The carpenter was dumbfounded: "Brother Qiao, is this a fortune?"

Brother Qiao said modestly: "Hey, good luck, good luck."

After giving the carpenter a deposit of ten taels, Qiao Yu left.

-

Qiao Yu hadn't seen Wen Ge'er for several days. He remembered that when they just got married, Wen Ge'er came to give him some cloud cakes. So he went to the cake shop and bought two kilograms of them, one for Wen Ge'er and one for his family.

There was also the Huazhe Goose Cake that he had never eaten before. It was said that the cake was filled with goose meat and was made to look like a plum blossom. He bought a pound of it to try it first and buy it next time if it wasn’t a disappointment.

Finally, I went to Zhu the butcher and bought a few pounds of meat. Although Lin Da would deliver meat every day, most of it was used for braising and cooking for the workers.

When we arrived at Yun Ge'er's grandfather's house, we saw several half-man-high earthen walls had been built not far away. Wen Ge'er's father and uncles were busy going in and out. Wen Ge'er was sitting outside the yard embroidering a handkerchief. When she saw Qiao Yu coming, she stood up happily to greet him. However, her foot was not fully healed, so she could not walk fast. But it seemed that there was no big impact.

Qiao Yu handed him the cakes and a piece of pork: "I brought you some cloud cakes and some goose cakes."

Wen Geer was embarrassed to answer: "Why do you always bring me things? Did you leave any for the children?"

"Of course I did. They call me little daddy." Qiao Yu tied Lightning to an old tree nearby. Wen Ge'er found a small stool for him, and they sat outside together to bask in the sun.

Qiao Yu observed his leg carefully: "Does it really not hurt? Aunt Li Niang told me that you want to set up a stall tomorrow."

Brother Wen nodded affirmatively: "Really, I don't feel anything without any effort. If I get tired of standing, I'll find a stool to sit on."

Qiao Yu thought for a moment and said, "There are stools at the noodle shop next door. As long as you feel okay, I can't wait for you to come back. I made some soap this morning and will go with you tomorrow."

Wen Ge'er was overjoyed: "Okay, I'll wait for you at the entrance of the village tomorrow." His family was divided, and there were places to spend money everywhere, so his mother was still helping Qiao Yu cook. His father and uncles were not counted as wages, and other people also had to pay a little, and there were also furniture and kitchen utensils in the future, which all needed money. Fortunately, Qiao Yu gave him some money before, otherwise he would have to borrow money from abroad.

Qiao Yu: "Okay."

"By the way, are you building a kang in your new house?" Qiao Yu asked worriedly, after all, winter was coming.

Brother Wen nodded: "They did it. My father told me that Brother Gu brought some people here to teach them. Brother Qiao, you two are such a good couple."

Qiao Yu was a little embarrassed by the compliment: "It's my duty. You are my friend after all."

"I heard that your father went to ask you for money yesterday?" The gossip that Wen Ge'er heard was that Qiao Lao San went to Qiao Yu to ask for money and was beaten by Qiao Yu.

"He wanted to come, probably because he saw that Brother Gu and I were living well now. But I'm not stupid. I'd rather treat that kind of person as a stranger and never see him again."

"Then why did I hear that you beat him?"

Qiao Yu was surprised: "What? It was Xiaoxing who beat his son. The naughty kid deserved to be beaten, but I paid for it."

Wen Ge'er was relieved: "That's good, that's good."

"By the way, have you and Wang Jie settled down?" Qiao Yu asked, looking at the mandarin ducks he embroidered.

Wen Ge'er blushed immediately: "It's settled. On the 19th of next month."

Qiao Yu calculated that it was September now, the last month of autumn. The 19th of next month would be October 19th, and after that it would be winter, the twelfth lunar month, and then the Chinese New Year.

"That's almost done. Are you embroidering this for Wang Jie?"

Wen Ge'er's face turned even redder: "I just embroidered it randomly."

"Hey, what's there to be shy about? You're embroidering something for your own husband." Qiao Yu teased the other party.

"When you marry me, our two families will be even closer, which is great."

"Um."

Qiao Yu told Wen Ge'er about his cooperation with Xu Yuan. Wen Ge'er looked at him admiringly and said, "That's great. We can sell this soap to the state capital in the future. Qiao Ge'er will become a rich man in the future."

"From now on, the braised meat stall will be handed over to you. Let's become rich together!" Qiao Yu did not tell Wen Ge'er that she had also made a set of soaps for him and was waiting to give him a surprise when they got married.

Brother Wen nodded solemnly: "Yeah!"

-

When Qiao Yu arrived home, Li Li'niang had already finished her work. She even went home to bring back the sweet potato starch she had made over the past few days to show Qiao Yu whether she could accept it.

Qiao Yu looked at the fine and white powder and readily took it all, which was almost twenty kilograms. Qiao Yu gave Li Li'niang three hundred coins.

Li Li'niang happily took the money and went home.

When Qiao Yu saw so much sweet potato starch, he wanted to make vermicelli for everyone in the evening.

There are two ways to make vermicelli. One way is to dry it and preserve it. You need to mix it into a batter first, steam it into a transparent vermicelli skin, cut it and then dry it in the sun.

Qiao Yu thought that today he would just forget about it and choose the simplest one.

The children had gathered around Qiao Yu when he came home, insisting on helping their little daddy. Qiao Yu had no choice but to ask them to ask Aunt Shi if they had any vinegar. Gu Feng had never bought any vinegar in his family, and he didn't use it much when cooking, so they didn't have any at home.

Qiao Yu stopped the children and said, "Also ask if there are any fried soybeans. If not, just buy them directly."

Qiao Xing: "Little Daddy, is there anything else you want to buy?"

Qiao Yu thought about it and realized that there was nothing else to buy. Qiao Xing then picked up a basket and went out with his brother and sister.

Qiao Yu cut some meat first and fried a bowl of sauce. He now likes to use his own small iron pot for cooking, and the big iron pot is used for stewing meat.

Before the children came back, he went to the backyard to pick the green onions, cilantro and Chinese cabbage he needed. Fortunately, the leaves of the sweet potatoes he planted had grown to half the height of his calf.

The chicks and ducklings in the chicken coop were chirping, and it was obvious that the children were feeding them well.

The chives that were planted before have grown a little bit, and Qiao Yu cut a little bit of them with a sickle, purely to add a variety of vegetables to the hot and sour noodles.

There wasn't enough chili oil, so Qiao Yu fried some more. It looked like he had to collect some more dried chilies and pound them into chili powder.

When the children came back, they brought a small jar of vinegar and a bowl of unfried soybeans.

Qiao Yu fried the soybeans first, then scooped them out and put them aside, and let each child taste a little.

The three children bit into the crispy food and praised it: "It's delicious."

Qiao Yu smiled helplessly. How could it be delicious if it was just stir-fried like this?

Then boil water and use it to mix the dough. Qiao Yu stirs it with chopsticks before kneading it. The dough will be a little sticky, so sprinkle some buckwheat flour on the chopping board and continue kneading. Then cut it into several balls, roll it thin, and cut it with a knife. This kind of vermicelli must be made and eaten immediately, otherwise the taste and texture will be greatly reduced.

"Who will call daddy back for dinner?" Sweet potato noodles are easy to cook, so Qiao Yu planned to wait for Gu Feng to come back before putting them in the pot.

Gu Xiaoxue said, "I'll go!" and then ran away.

Qiao Yu looked at the other two kids and said, "Can you help me wash the vegetables?"

Two children: “Okay!”

As soon as Gu Feng came in with his daughter, Qiao Yu started to boil water and cook noodles again.

He prepared the seasoning in advance. In everyone's soup bowl, there were green chopped green onions and coriander, as well as a few leeks. Red chili oil, a little bit of Sichuan pepper oil, a proper amount of soy sauce and vinegar, and boiling water, the sour and spicy taste came out.

When the noodles are cooked, add some bok choy and blanch them before scooping them out.

After the noodles are scooped into the bowl, add a layer of oily sauce and sprinkle a handful of fried soybeans.

Gu Feng washed his hands and came over to hold the bowl: "Qiao'er, what delicious food is this? It looks delicious."

Qiao Yu handed Gu Feng's bowl to himself. Her husband had a big appetite, so the bowl he used was the biggest, which could be called a small basin.

Qiao Yu was a little proud: "This is called hot and sour rice noodles. I figured it out myself. You must have never tasted it."

The two of them served all the hot and sour noodles, and the whole family sat together neatly.

It was the first time for everyone to eat this kind of smooth and elastic vermicelli, and the rich flavors of the condiments. It was also the first time for everyone to experience it, so they all praised Qiao Yu generously, especially the three cubs.

Seeing that everyone was enjoying the meal, Qiao Yu felt that the hard work of making this bowl of noodles was worth it.