Sure enough, a few days later, Min Chun came to apologize with a small gift.
However, he couldn’t even get through the front gate. All he heard were barks from inside.
Oh, it should be mentioned that ever since the four puppies grew big enough to take on the task of guarding the house and could sense visitors from afar, doorbells were no longer needed.
Yang Dalang, who came to the door, said directly, “No need. No need for you to intentionally spill and then intentionally deliver.”
With that, he shut the door without any expression.
“……” Facing this shut door, Min Chun felt his face heat up for the first time.
At the same time, he felt both startled and angry!
He went over it again in his mind, trying to find where he slipped up but couldn’t pinpoint it. However, if Yang Dalang had already figured out his intentions, then no matter what he did, he’d look like a clown. A clown in front of He Ge’er! With this realization, Min Chun decided to abandon his various plans.
But Yang Dalang dared to refuse him so bluntly! Bringing money to his door and he still wouldn’t accept? Just wait and see how he would crawl at his feet in the future! After making a note of this, Min Chun left with a cold smile.
Inside the yard, Miao He was a bit anxious. “He came? What did you say? Why did he leave so quickly?”
Yang Dalang hugged him. “Told him the truth. Then he left.”
“The truth…” Miao He was worried. Wouldn’t that make him a target?
“Better to cut it off right from the start.”
After the incident with Miao Qiang, Yang Dalang was particularly averse to hidden malice lurking around. Knowing that someone had an ulterior motive, continuing any association would only increase unknown risks. It was better to avoid any contact from the beginning, and so it was.
Miao He sighed. “But what if he just wanted to find a way, to seek our help…”
“He could have said so directly, no need to touch me.”
Miao He widened his eyes. “What? Touch? You didn’t mention that part yesterday!!!”
Yang Dalang responded, “Didn’t want you to get angry.”
“You seem like you wouldn’t be afraid of anything!”
Yang Dalang didn’t reply, instead, he lowered his head to kiss him. “Now you know there is something wrong with him so stay away from him. Remember that.”
“You should stay away from him! Where did he touch you!?”
“He didn’t.”
“Really!?”
“Really.”
Seeing their dads touching each other, Mantou and Wotou, who were playing, let out a joyful howl and joined the fray. Yang Dalang now had three on him, warm and sweet weights he couldn’t bear to let go. Even a fluffy one squeezed in—after all, Da Bai was a little black cat who loved excitement.
This small episode quickly passed in Miao He’s life. Since there was no original connection, he didn’t know that a well-dressed single ger often appeared at various taverns in town, trying to find a shortcut after being rejected so bluntly. Min Chun became impatient with gradual development and sought a way to step up quickly.
Meanwhile, Miao He’s neighbors also had their share of visits from enthusiastic farm girls.
However, all were blocked by the dutiful Steward Li.
“Thank you, young lady, for your return gift, but the master instructed not to accept things lightly. The master is not here; we dare not go against his orders.”
“Thank you for visiting, but our mistress is unwell and resting.”
“Thank you for the invitation, but our mistress has some matters to attend to and cannot go out.”
Rejected multiple times, Miao Duan’er realized that they had no intention of interacting with her. But the last visit to the estate had left such an impression on her that she didn’t want to give up easily. Gritting her teeth, she decided to stand guard by their gate whenever she had time. If a carriage arrived, she would approach, and they couldn’t say the mistress was resting, could they?
One day, she indeed waited until a luxurious carriage arrived for a visit. Strangely, this carriage, instead of entering the Xu household, stopped by the tree where she was standing. After a few words with the occupants, she was invited into the carriage, and it turned towards town instead.
Miao He, however, was too busy to gossip about his neighbors. He was thinking about how to promote the flower honey from their orchard.
In the spring, they invited Master Cao, the beekeeper, to set up bee boxes in their orchard. Later, bees were attracted. When the master came again in May, he scolded them for not calling him earlier, as the original boxes were too small for the number of bees, wasting honey.
So, they rolled up their sleeves and nailed more boxes, about a dozen or so, and agreed to check every ten days. This became a routine, as the abundant flowers meant rapid honey production, necessitating honey extraction every ten days. They accumulated several large jars of honey this way.
Considering the blooming period would last a while and they had cheated a bit by secretly planting several flower trees with fertile soil, the abundant honey was more than they could use. So, they decided to sell some.
However, in this era, honey was always genuine. People were used to drinking natural wild honey, so hearing about flower honey didn’t excite them much. Though their honey had a unique floral fragrance, Miao He wanted a way to promote it better.
He decided on honey cakes!
These honey cakes were a favorite childhood treat his grandmother used to bake for him. He hadn’t made them often to avoid getting sentimental, but now, surrounded by family, he thought it was time to pass this joy to his sons.
The honey cake was simple to make. First, he heated oil, water, and honey on a low flame, then mixed in flour and egg yolks to make a batter. The task of beating the egg whites fell to Yang Dalang, who had to whip them until stiff, then gently fold them into the batter before baking.
The whole process used no leavening agents, relying solely on the whipped egg whites to give the cake its light and fluffy texture. Miao He didn’t bake it too thick. Once baked, he sliced it thin and sandwiched it with a layer of their honey, making a variant of honey-filled cakes.
When he fed a piece to Yang Dalang, the man was silent for a long time before saying, “The cake is more eye-catching than the honey.”
It meant the cake’s flavor was so strong it outshone the honey.
Miao He had to agree after tasting it himself. The rich egg flavor enhanced the honey’s floral notes perfectly, creating a soft, luxurious taste, but the cake’s presence indeed stole the spotlight.
The two little ones, who had been clamoring since they smelled the baking, were given a tiny piece each. Miao He didn’t let them eat raw honey, but the cake was enough to make their eyes shine and cry for more when it was gone. Even Da Bai, perhaps feeling left out, was unenthusiastic about the scene.
Miao He sighed, “So what now? This cake idea won’t work. I can’t think of anything else.”
Yang Dalang patted his head. “Sell the recipe with honey. Together.”
Oh, why hadn’t he thought of that? Miao He raised both hands in agreement. “And if the cake recipe sells, we can add other jams later and have more products.” He reminded himself about the potential variations in flavors.
Yang Dalang nodded. The next day, he took a batch of freshly baked cakes directly to the tea house.
Shopkeeper Jin was so delighted he almost danced with joy.
“No problem at all, no problem! Honey, how could we have too much? We can take it all! I see this cake, ah, light and soft, not filling; I could eat a whole log myself! The usage will definitely be large, definitely large!”
However, Yang Dalang kept a portion of the honey to be sold in small jars with their family’s emblem. He set the price boldly at three taels a jar, aiming to test the market’s acceptance. If successful, they could expand production next year.
As for the money from selling the recipe and honey, Yang Dalang didn’t set the price too high, aiming for long-term business with the tea house. The total of both added up to a mere one hundred and fifty taels.
“……A mere one hundred and fifty taels,” Miao He said as he hugged the money jar.
“Still want to buy land?”
“Yes!”
Miao He always believed in not keeping too much money idle. He bought land like a nouveau riche, and over time, their land holdings became larger than the entire village. They owned most of the land on the western outskirts, extending towards the town. However, these were still undeveloped lands, not yet reported to the village chief.
For now, one mountain was enough to keep them busy.
After dealing with the honey, it was around September. Mantou and Wotou started crawling, mischievously moving about, keeping Miao He on his toes. The orchard entered its busiest period. Peaches, persimmons, and pears were ripening one after another.
With such a bountiful harvest exceeding expectations, even the tea house couldn’t consume it all. Selling cheaply to regular merchants seemed a waste, potentially devaluing future sales. Lowering prices once made it hard to raise them again. Should they make jams or find another market?
Making jams was safer but couldn’t showcase the superior quality of the magic soil’s produce. The exceptionally plump and juicy fruits with their unique texture and flavor couldn’t be fully appreciated. Selling fresh fruits elsewhere seemed riskier but potentially more rewarding.
Yang Dalang made the decision, “Ship to Suzhou.”
“Suzhou? Are you thinking of asking Brother Xu for help?” Miao He blinked.
Previously mentioned, Miao Shui Town had a canal connecting to the county port. From the county, another canal led to Suzhou. Though far by land, it was a three-day trip by water, within acceptable time limits.
“Yes.”
“They often come to buy vegetables, but this favor—is it big enough for them to help us?” Miao He hesitated.
“A favor owed, we can repay later.”
Miao He trusted Yang Dalang’s judgment. If he said it was fine, it would be.
“Alright, let’s figure out the packaging for the fruits! Using this favor, we can’t send them poor quality fruits!”
***
A few days later, Yang Dalang visited the Xu family and proposed the idea to Xu Ming.
The young Xu Ming took a bite of the juicy sweet peach, immediately writing down the address.
At this time, the wooden boxes Miao He ordered from Yang Datong were ready. The boxes bore their family emblem and had partitions inside, each fruit in its own compartment, with dried grass around the edges for cushioning. There were both large transport boxes and smaller gift boxes.
The next day, Yang Dalang, dressed in new robes chosen by Miao He, boarded a boat with dozens of boxes. Three days later, he arrived in Suzhou.
Rain : Soon the final !!!!!
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D-day 2 !! ?o?.(??? ??)
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So many fruits!