Song Qiaoqiao carried the empty bucket and got into the carriage. After waiting for a while, she found that no one had come yet, so she stuck her head out and looked outside.
Unexpectedly, as soon as I got out, I almost ran into a wall of flesh. After seeing the face of the person clearly, I was so frightened that I almost couldn't speak.
"Yuan, Master Yuan."
Yuan Qi nodded as a greeting and helped Cheng Qingwan behind him onto the carriage.
Song Qiaoqiao looked at the hands holding each other and was stunned.
After Cheng Qinghan got on the carriage, she kept receiving resentful looks from her good sisters.
She was confused, pulled up her sleeves, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Song Qiaoqiao opened her mouth, glanced at Yuan Qi who was sitting next to her, and said softly: "I'll tell you when I get home."
Cheng Qingwen curled his lips when he heard this, and then sat on the carriage without saying a word.
The carriage quickly stopped, and after getting off, he led Motoqi to the backyard to look at tomatoes.
"This is a tomato, exactly the same as the one that the feudal kingdom brought as tribute last time."
Cheng Qingwen raised her eyebrows, picked an already red tomato, washed it and handed it to the person in front of her: "Master Yuan, try it before you tell me?"
Motoqi took it, wiped away the water with a brocade handkerchief, and took a bite.
Immediately, the sweet and sour juice and the tender pulp entered his mouth, and his eyes widened instantly. After eating, he spoke.
"This tastes exactly like the tribute food. May I ask if you still have any seeds?"
"Of course there are seeds, but adults, these are the seeds for my fortune and cannot be given to others at will."
"I'm not asking you for seeds, I just want to take a look." Motoqi knew she had misunderstood, so he explained with a smile.
"Of course you can, but Mr. Yuan, can you help me transport these tomatoes to the town to sell them in a few days?"
"Tomatoes are scarce. Only the emperor and the prince can eat some as tribute every year. If you want to sell them, how much silver do you need to pay per pound?"
Cheng Qingwen listened to this and thought about it carefully, then whispered: "Twenty cents?"
Yuan Qi chuckled, and there was a hint of endearment in his usually cold eyes.
"Is it so cheap? If it were in the capital, many people would buy it for one tael of silver each."
"You also said that it was in the capital. Huaxian County is located in a remote area and has been backward all year round. Although the people in the town are still wealthy, they are not stupid enough to spend a tael of silver to buy royal supplies that they have never seen before.
"
"This is reasonable." Yuanqi agreed with her idea, and then said: "However, you will lose a lot."
Cheng Qingwen curled his lips and said nonchalantly: "Let's just lose money. It doesn't cost much anyway."
Moanqi looked at the acres of tomatoes and thought for a while before he said, "But if you believe me, I can transport these to the capital."
Cheng Qingwen was stunned when he heard this. He thought about it and thought that Huaxian County was at least two thousand kilometers away from the capital. It would take two months to get to the capital even if he had to work hard. Such a few tomatoes would not be sold for much even if they were rotten on the road. What was he trying to do?
?
"Every time I go there, I have to pay dozens of taels of silver for payment. The tomatoes I have here only weigh more than a hundred kilograms. Sir, it's not worth the expense."
"Of course it's not worth just selling them in the city. What I'm saying is, send your tomatoes to the palace. If your majesty is so happy, he will reward you with a thousand taels of gold, and even more, he will call you to meet the saint."
Cheng Qingwen raised her eyes and looked at his features carefully: "Then you want me to share the thousand taels of gold with you?"
"That's not necessary. I just hope that when the girl meets the saint, she can say a few good words for me so that His Majesty can transfer me back to the capital as soon as possible."
Yuan Qi raised his eyebrows and said casually.
This sentence is very reasonable. If other people said it, Cheng Qingwan would really believe it. But why, when Yuan Qi said it from his mouth, she didn't believe it.
The conversation between the two ended here, and Motoqi was quickly called away.
Cheng Qinghan sat on the threshold, surrounded by chickens and ducks that had grown up a lot, looking thoughtfully at her acre of tomatoes.
When lunch and dinner were delivered, Yuan Qi was not seen. I heard that A Zhu said that he was sent away by Magistrate Wei.
Cheng Qingwen returned home, walked to the bed and looked at the untouched food, frowning and said: "Mom, why do you eat so little?"
"I don't have much appetite." Cheng Huaer put the embroidery in his hand aside and said with a smile.
"Your mother-in-law has become very fond of sweets recently. She has almost finished the cane sugar she originally bought for the New Year." Aunt Liu sat aside and said with a smile: "I remember there is a shop in the town, and the pastries in it are...
My favorite food, how many days will we go and have a look?"
Cheng Hua'er looked pale and nodded with a smile.
"Pastry?" Cheng Qingwan thought for a while and said with a smile: "Mom, can I make something delicious for you?"
The woman was stunned for a moment, then smiled and nodded: "Okay."
When Cheng Qinghan heard the response, she quickly picked a few ripe tomatoes under the moonlight and walked into the kitchen.
Peel the tomatoes, mash them into puree, add flour and sugar, knead into a dough, and then put the small dough into a grinder.
Song Qiaoqiao walked in at some point, looked at her small pieces of pastries, and said with a smile: "Huanhan, what are you doing again?"
"Pastry, grandma's appetite isn't very good lately, I'll make some pastries to appetize her."
Cheng Qingwen said as he put the unmoulded pastries into the pot to steam.
“It’s pink, tender and looks delicious.”
"When it's out of the pot, you'll be the first one to eat."
"Okay, then I'll wait here." Song Qiaoqiao smiled and sat down in front of the stove to light the fire.
The two chatted without saying a word until the pastries were ready.
Cheng Qingwen opened the lid of the pot, and the mist and fragrance hit her face.
After a while, when the fog dissipated, she took a piece of cake and fed it to Song Qiaoqiao.
Then, he took a piece himself and took a small bite.
"This pastry is delicious, sour and sweet." Song Qiaoqiao took several bites and said with a smile.
"Yes, it's sour and sweet, it's definitely appetizing. I'll give it to my mother-in-law to try." Cheng Qinghan quickly put the pastry on a plate and carried it to the room, regardless of how hot it was.
Seeing that the woman was still studying the embroidery, she quickly took it over with a smile.
"Auntie, come and have a taste."
Cheng Hua'er glanced at it in surprise, then picked up a piece of pastry, took a bite, and her eyes suddenly lit up.
"This pastry is sour and sweet, very delicious."
"Yes, Huanhua, how did you do it? I'll teach you next time."
Cheng Qinghan watched the two of them finish the pastries in a few clicks and returned to the kitchen with satisfaction.
"Have you finished eating?" Song Qiaoqiao looked at the empty plate and said in surprise.
Cheng Qingwen nodded with a smile and put the rest into the pot to steam.
By the time everything was steamed and put into the box, it was already midnight.
The two of them yawned, washed up, and then went to bed.
The next day, Cheng Qingwen yawned and went to wash up. She looked at the still dark sky and smiled helplessly.
She has been here for almost a year, and it actually cured her bedridden problem.
After washing, she went to cook as usual, placed the food in front of Cheng Hua's bed, and then waited for the carriage with Song Qiaoqiao.
When the carriage arrived, Cheng Qingwan happened to bring the small box containing pastries from the house.
Motoqi came down and worked together to load the breakfast into the carriage.
"Master Yuan, try this pastry."
Cheng Qingwen sat in the carriage, opened the box and placed it in front of him.
Motosu took a piece, and as soon as he put it in his mouth, he realized that it was made from tomatoes, so he spent every next bite studying how it was made.
“Very delicious.”
Cheng Qingwen smiled: "What your Excellency said yesterday, does it still count?"
"Of course." Yuan Qi paused slightly, then said with a smile.
"Then I will pick the tomatoes today and deliver them to your house."
"Okay, I will arrange for someone to escort you into Beijing tomorrow."
Cheng Qingwen raised her eyebrows, not really expecting him to agree so readily.
When I got home, I started picking tomatoes.
She kept the tomatoes that were almost ripe and those that were overripe at home, and put the unripe ones in the box.
Throughout the afternoon, five large boxes were packed.
As soon as Cheng Qingwan entered the door, she collapsed on the chair and couldn't even lift her hands.
Seeing how exhausted the three of them were, Cheng Huaer got up and made dinner.
Cheng Qingwen sat on the chair and fell asleep in a daze. When she woke up, the food had been delivered, the tomatoes had been delivered to Motoqi's house, and the other three had also had dinner.
Looking at the cold food, she really didn't want to heat it up before eating it, so she went to the cellar and brought up two pieces of sweet potatoes.
Halfway through, I suddenly remembered that sweet potatoes can be used to make starch, so I went back and got another bag of sweet potatoes.
Cheng Qingwen washed the sweet potatoes and put two pieces into the pot for today's dinner.
Then, peel the sweet potatoes.
What comes next?
Cheng Qingwen looked at the sweet potatoes that had been peeled and arranged on the table. She thought for a while with her hands on her hips, but she couldn't figure out what the next step would be.
Seeing that the sweet potatoes in the pot were steaming and it was getting dark outside, her actions remained unchanged.
The system watched this scene in his mind, sighed, opened the system encyclopedia, and found out how to do it.
Cheng Qingwen looked at the process that suddenly appeared in her mind. She was stunned for a moment, and then she immediately thought of the reason and said in her mind with a smile.
"Wow, Xiaoxiao, you actually still have this function. Is it a new upgrade?"
"It was there, but you didn't ask."
Cheng Qingwen stopped working, and then said with a smile: "It's not too late to find out now. With your encyclopedia, I can open a restaurant without any problem."
The system suddenly felt an ominous premonition.
Sure enough, in the next few days, Cheng Qingwan asked about the steps for making corn starch, and the steps for making sugar...
Cheng Qinghan has many things to make, but the raw materials are limited.
She took the soy milk she had just made and sat at the door, sipping it and thinking about where she could get some silkworms to make a quilt.
Song Qiaoqiao didn't know when she sat next to her, also holding a bowl of hot soy milk.
"In two months, it will be Chinese New Year."
Cheng Qingwen nodded and said softly: "It's getting colder and colder, and I don't know what to do in town."
"It should be soon. I heard from A Zhu yesterday that the imperial court issued an order saying that after the epidemic is cured, the refugees will be divided into various villages."
