Joe's Farming

When Qiao Yu, Gu Feng and others were about to leave, a bailiff came up and stopped Qiao Yu.

"I guess this must be Brother Qiao, the owner of the snack bar. My Lord asked me to take you to meet him."

Gu Feng held Qiao Yu's hand with some concern. The yamen runner glanced at Gu Feng and said, "Your husband can come too. The rest of you will wait outside."

The others looked at Qiao Yu with some worry. Qiao Yu smiled comfortingly: "It's okay. You guys go to the shop and wait for us. We'll rush over when we're done."

Everyone then left with peace of mind.

Qiao Yu held her husband's hand and followed the bailiff to the inner hall.

Xie Changyu was originally sitting, but when he saw them coming, he stood up and gestured, "Brother Qiao, Hunter Gu, please sit down."

Qiao Yu and Gu Feng sat down calmly.

"I wonder what important matter you want to talk to me about?" Qiao Yu didn't beat around the bush and asked as soon as he sat down.

Xie Changyu didn't expect that the seemingly delicate boy in front of her had such a straightforward character, and that she spoke first in the presence of her husband, and her husband didn't feel offended at all. She couldn't help but admire both of them more.

"Excuse me, both of you. I just want to confirm something with Brother Qiao. It's a private matter, but it can also be considered a business matter."

Qiao Yu instantly relaxed and his tone became gentle: "Just what you said."

Xie Changyu smiled and said, "To be honest, my wife also likes spicy food. A few days ago, my servant went to a snack bar to buy a set of skewers, which contained a dish called vermicelli. She loved it. But when she went there the next day, the store manager said that it was made of sweet potato flour and was only for trial sale. There was not much left and it was sold out."

Qiao Yu knew about this and came back to tell him to make more vermicelli. The customers responded very well. But due to the shortage of raw materials, they did not continue.

"It does take some time to make sweet potato vermicelli, but that's mainly because there aren't enough sweet potatoes. I plan to harvest more in the village later," Qiao Yu explained.

Xie Changyu's face brightened a little when he heard this. "Originally, I wanted to eat this because my wife kept talking about it, and later I learned that it was made from sweet potatoes. I wanted to ask Brother Qiao, is it difficult to make this vermicelli? Can it be promoted vigorously? Is the profit better than selling sweet potatoes?"

Qiao Yu understood that the county magistrate had such a farsighted vision. He had always had this idea in mind, so he said, "It's not difficult to make! It just takes some time. I originally planned to promote this method so that I can directly buy sweet potato vermicelli instead of making it myself. The profit will at least double."

Xie Changyu was overjoyed: "Lucky! Lucky! Don't worry, I won't take your prescription for nothing. Do you have any land? I can grant you a tax exemption of ten acres."

Qiao Yu smiled awkwardly but politely: "The land my husband and I own is wasteland, so we don't have to pay taxes."

Xie Changyu frowned: "Then I will exempt your shop from taxes for five years?"

Qiao Yu calculated that the five-year tax on his shop was equivalent to the several-decade tax on the land. But he still shook his head: "I wonder if I can ask for a favor?"

Xie Changyu: "You say, as long as I can do it."

Qiao Yu glanced at her husband, Gu Feng, who was a little confused, but nodded at him to encourage him.

Qiao Yu said in a neither humble nor arrogant tone: "It's like this, I have three children, and I want them to come to town to study next year. The two younger ones are a girl and a boy. I don't know if you can make the decision in this situation?"

Xie Changyu: "Are you worried that the boys and girls won't be able to go to school?"

Qiao Yu nodded. After all, he had been here for so long and had never heard of any girls or boys being admitted to school.

Xie Changyu nodded: "I understand. Don't worry about this matter. As long as the three children can pass the teacher's assessment, the Great Yan Dynasty has no regulations prohibiting boys and girls from enrolling."

Qiao Yu and Gu Feng smiled at each other and said, "Thank you in advance, sir. I will write down the production method for you now. If anyone makes it, they can sell it directly at the snack bar."

Xie Changyu also smiled and said, "That would be the best. However, what if the amount is too much?"

Qiao Yu said in a positive tone: "Don't worry, sir. The recipe I provided has several methods of making it, and they have different uses. If the snack bar can't sell it, I can sell it somewhere else, or open another store, or even sell it to the capital city!"

Xu Yuan has a cargo ship. When the time comes, he can set up a pot in the city, demonstrate the cooking and invite passers-by to taste it. He won't have to worry about not being able to sell it.

"But let me be frank with you. You must pay attention to food hygiene. If the sweet potato flour or vermicelli you make has impurities and is not clean, the snack bar will not accept it." Qiao Yu added.

Xie Changyu nodded: "I understand. Thank you, Brother Qiao."

Qiao Yu was quite fond of this county magistrate. He was the first official to openly address him as Brother Qiao. This showed that this person did not regard him as a vassal of Brother Gu. It was not that he did not want to be Brother Gu's husband, but this different treatment made him feel respected.

After Qiao Yu finished writing the recipe, she and Gu Feng returned to the snack bar. Because they didn't need to do business today, the snack bar only opened the doors and windows, and didn't put out the tables and chairs. Occasionally, someone would come and ask if the door was open.

Wang Jie was the only person sitting in the store.

Gu Feng asked him: "Where is your husband?"

Wang Jie blushed: "Not yet, don't yell in front of Brother Wen."

Gu Feng: "Oh. Where did they go?"

Qiao Yu: "I guess he went shopping with Xu Yuan and his wife?"

Wang Jie nodded helplessly. If he hadn't been waiting for the two of them, he would have wanted to go shopping with Wen Ge'er. Qiao Yu smiled at him and said, "Close the shop quickly. Let's go shopping too." The shop in the town that Xu Yuan mentioned before was changed to a soap shop. He had never been there.

The three of them closed the shop and went to find Wen Ge'er and the others. Along the way, Gu Feng kept asking about Qiao Yu.

"Qiao'er, do you want to buy this?"

"Qiao'er, that one looks good too. Do you want to buy one?"

"Hibiscus cake, Qiao'er, would you like a piece?"

Wang Jie couldn't stand it and ran away. Humph, I also want to buy good food and nice clothes for my brother Wen!

Xu Yuan's shop was on the street not far from the other side of the pier, and it didn't take too long to walk there. When we arrived, only Wen Ge'er, Xu Yuan, and Xu Ning were there, leisurely drinking tea in the shop.

The first thing Xu Yuan saw was Qiao Yu: "Brother Qiao! Here."

Qiao Yu stuffed the thing in her arms into her husband's hands, walked over with a swagger, asked for a cup of tea first, drank it, and then poured a cup for her husband.

"Your place is really nice. The shop is big and the view of the street is good. No wonder people pointed it out to me when I asked which shop sells soap."

Xu Yuan smiled modestly: "The county magistrate didn't make things difficult for you, did he?"

Qiao Yu waved his hand and briefly explained the matter. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

After Qiao Yu finished her talk, she had rested enough and wanted to go back with Gu Feng first. Wen Geer said that his aunt and younger sister rarely had the opportunity to go shopping in the town, so they would go home together after they had enough shopping.

In the end, because it was on the way, the families of Qiao Yu and Xu Yuan took Xu Yuan's carriage to Qingyuan Town first, and their own carriages were rushed back to Wen Ge'er and Wang Jie. After all, it was easier to take an oxcart from Qingyuan Town to their homes, and if they were lucky, they might even meet Lin Da and Lin Er.