Aunt Lian thought for a moment and said, "They're all children, so why not prepare some snacks?Small cakes and cookies will do."
Yang Haiyan nodded. "Desserts are certainly suitable, but I'm afraid they'll be tired of the cakes and cookies. I'm planning to make some new treats."
When Aunt Lian heard this, she was very curious:
"What new things does Madam have?"
Yang Haiyan said, "It's just an idea. I haven't tried it yet, so l don't know if it tastes good. Go ask Aunt Fan to prepare the sweet potatoes and potatoes and cut them into pieces."
Aunt Lian: "I will go right away."
An hour later, Yang Haiyan's sweet potato fries and potato chips came out. The sweet potato fries were sweet, made by coating the potatoes in flour after cutting them into strips. The potato chips were salty, similar to modern French fries. Yang Haiyan had actually eaten sweet potato fries at a local chain called Burger Boy.
She have to say, making sweet potato fries and potato chips is much easier than making small cakes and cookies.
The only thing that costs a lot is oil. Yang Haiyan said to Aunt Lian and Aunt Fan, "Try it."
The two old servants did not hesitate to try it.
Yang Haiyan asked: "How does it taste?"
Nanny Lian said,"This pastry is good. Although it's not as fragrant as other pastries, it tastes unique and novel."
There was nothing that could be done about it; the milky flavor was unmatched by any other flavor.
Aunt Fan asked, "Are we going to sell this in the shop?"
Yang Haiyan said, "No, anyone can figure out how to make this thing after just looking at it and taking a few bites. But it can't be sold for money."
This is true. Even if they have never seen how it is done, Aunt Fan and Nanny Lian can figure it out.
Suddenly, it was Qin Shoucheng's classmate's birthday. After breakfast, he said to Yang Haiyan,
"Sister-in-law, I won't be back for lunch after school.I'll be going to Wei Yanglin's house. I might hang out there for a while after lunch, so I'm afraid I'll have to postpone my martial arts class this afternoon."
Yang Haiyan said: "It's okay, I'll give you half a day off this afternoon."
Qin Shoucheng: "Thank you, sister-in-law." At noon, Qin Shauchang and his lassmates left.
At noon, Qin Shoucheng and his classmates left school together.
Kun Daying: "Brother Cheng, is the birthday gift I prepared really okay?"
He and Qin Shoucheng had discussed it, one preparing a pen and the other preparing ink. The prices were not expensive, both moderate, and it was a token of their thoughtfulness. They bought them with their pocket money.
Qin Shoucheng received a monthly allowance of fifty wen, and Kun Daying also received fifty wen. Giving the children fifty wen a month was a bit of a relief for the Kun family, so as long as conditions permitted, the parents did not want their children to embarrass themselves in front of their classmates.
Qin Shoucheng said: "No problem. You should give gifts according to your ability. If it is beyond our means, we can use our parents' money to buy a good gift. We will have face, but this is the money our parents worked hard to earn. If one day we are able to earn money, then it doesn't matter if we use our own money to buy a good gift."
Kun Daying: "Yeah."
Wei Yanglin: "Cheng Ge'er, Ying Ge'er, hurry up."
Qin Shoucheng: "Here I come."
Walking out of the private school, Qin Shoucheng saw Aunt Fan, who was waiting at the door with a basket. At the same time, Aunt Fan also saw him:"Brother Cheng."
Qin Shoucheng: "Aunt Fan, why are you here?"
Aunt Fan said, "Madam asked this old servant to bring some snacks over. These are for your classmates. Madam said, I wish you a happy day today, and I also wish your classmates a happy birthday."
Qin Shoucheng didn't expect his sister-in-law to prepare this.
He took the basket and said, "Aunt Fan, please thank my sister-in-law for me."
Aunt Fan completed her task and went back.
Qin Shoucheng carried a basket and went to Wei Yanglin's house with Kun Daying and Wei Yanglin.
The Wei family's courtyard in town was large and beautiful. Old Mrs. Wei knew her grandson would be bringing his classmates home to celebrate, so she, along with her daughter-in-law and the servants, got busy early in the morning. By noon, Old Mrs. Wei was already waiting at the door.
Seeing her grandson and his classmates return, she said happily, "My dear grandson, you're finally back.The food is ready. Please go and have dinner with your classmates."
Wei Yanglin said, "Grandma, you don't have to wait for us." He then said to Qin Shoucheng and the others, "Brother Cheng, this is my grandma."
Qin Shoucheng and the others greeted Old Lady Wei. Qin Shoucheng then handed the basket in his hand to Old Lady Wei: "Hello, Grandma Wei. These are some snacks prepared by my family. Let's share them together."
Mrs. Wei took it and said, "Thank you so much, little brother. I wonder where your family is?"
Wei Yanglin said, "Cheng'er's family lives in the family housing. His eldest brother is a Thousand Officers. The small cake shop in our town belongs to them."
Old Mrs. Wei said, "I see. Go and entertain your classmates. I'll pack the snacks and bring them up for you later."
Wei Yanglin: "Thank you, grandma."
Old Lady Wei went to the kitchen, and Wei's mother followed: "I didn't expect that Master Qianfu's brother would become Yang Lin's classmate."
Old Mrs. Wei said, "That's right. Don't meddle in other people's business. Let the children maintain their friendship on their own. Just give them some pointers occasionally."
Mother Wei said, "Yes."
Qin family
In the afternoon, Qin Shoucheng returned and went to the main courtyard first. Yang Haiyan and Qin Siya were embroidering something. Seeing him coming, Yang Haiyan said, "You're back quite early. Is your classmate's party over?"
Qin Shoucheng bowed and said, "It's over. The Wei family has prepared snacks for all the classmates.They are said to be bought from the county town. I also want a portion for my eldest sister-in-law and fourth sister to try."
As he said that, he took out the oil paper and found six snacks inside.
Yang Haiyan did not refuse Qin Shoucheng's kindness, but said, "What a coincidence, I haven't eaten the snacks in the county town yet. Today I am indebted to you."
She picked up a piece and took a bite.
Qin Siya said, "I haven't eaten the snacks in the county town either. Are they delicious?" he asked as he took them.
Qin Shoucheng said, "It's not as delicious as the snacks made by my sister-in-law."
The snacks in the county town are famous. The reason why the Wei family did not prepare snacks from Yang Haiyan's shop is because the children in the town have basically eaten small cakes and small biscuits, so they bought snacks from the county town to make things look good.
Yang Haiyan said, "But Shoucheng saved some snacks for his sister-in-law, and she was very touched. Thank you, Shoucheng, you are such a good boy."
Qin Shoucheng blushed when he was praised: "Then I will go to review my homework."
By the end of June, the manor's half-acre of potatoes was ready for harvest. In modern times, carefully tended potatoes from half an acre might yield around 3,000 kilograms. However, ancient agricultural yields were not as high as they are today, often only half as high. That half-acre of potatoes, after the harvest, yielded only 1,500 kilograms.
The 1,500 kilograms were placed directly on the farm, because the pigs, chickens, and ducks could not eat grass alone. They occasionally had to add some rice bran, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Even with this mixture, they had to prepare about ten kilograms of potatoes (sweet potatoes) a day. 1,500 kilograms was only enough to last for half a year.
If potatoes were sold directly, they would cost one cent for two kilograms. Yang Haiyan calculated that if half an acre of land was used to grow potatoes, it would be better to buy potatoes directly as feed. If half an acre of land was used for other purposes, it would also be more cost-effective than growing potatoes.
After the potato harvest, Niu Da cleaned the land, and a few days later, he transplanted some fruit tree seedlings there.
By the time the fruit tree seedlings on half an acre of land were transplanted, it was mid-July.
On this day, Yang Haiyan was calculating the gross profit of the dim sum shop in June. It had to be said that since the contract with Shopkeeper Heping was signed, the gross profit of the dim sum shop had been twenty taels every month. Yang Haiyan felt that she was almost tired of collecting money.
"Madam..." Kun Zhang came rushing over from the pastry shop, "Mrs. Niu came to the shop with a basket of eggs. The chickens in our manor have laid eggs. She also brought back a basket of vegetables.It's the broccoli you mentioned, madam. It looks like a green flower to me, so it's also appropriate to call it green cauliflower."
Yang Haiyan put down the account book and said,
"Let's go and take a look." But it is indeed appropriate to call broccoli green cauliflower.
Mrs. Niu came with two baskets, one basket contained about fifty eggs, and the other contained several broccoli heads. Not to mention, the green broccoli heads looked very pretty.
When Yang Haiyan arrived, she saw Mrs. Niu sitting and drinking tea. When she saw Yang Haiyan coming, Mrs. Niu hurriedly stood up and said, "Hello, Madam. The eggs are here. My husband said that the broccoli looks like it will have a good harvest, so
I picked two for you. Take a look."
A total of about 1,300 broccoli plants were planted in half an acre of land, but only about 800 survived.
However, one broccoli plant can produce two or three bulbs, which is still a lot.
Yang Haiyan said, "Let me take a look." The broccoli was green and lush, growing well.
"Are there many bulbs this big?"
Niu Da's wife said, "Most of them have grown this big, and the remaining half are not this big."
When Yang Haiyan heard this, she said, "Bring up about a hundred tomorrow."
Niu Da's wife: "Yes."
Yang Haiyan then said to Kun Zhang, "Captain Kun's family, go cut up some pork and take the meat and broccoli to Qianfu's house. Tell Aunt Fan to slice the meat and stir-fry it with the broccoli... Once it's done, bring it to the shop door and share it with passersby.Then tell them that our newly cultivated vegetables are ripe."
Regular customers of the dim sum shop all knew that the tables and chairs had been removed to be used to sell fruits and vegetables, so there was no need to do much sales promotion.
Kun Zhang: "Yes."
Yang Haiyan thought for a moment and said, "Also, take the stir-fried pork slices and broccoli to the county town and see if any of the restaurants in the county want this dish. Take a horse-drawn carriage and bring one of these broccoli to the restaurant. If you don't dare go to the restaurant, go find Manager Ping."
Kun Zhang: "Yes."
Half an hour later, Aunt Fan came with two plates of stir-fried broccoli and pork slices, while Kun Zhang took a carriage to the county town.
Aunt Fan placed the stir-fried broccoli and pork slices at the door of the shop and began to call out,
"The delicious snack shop has a good harvest of fresh vegetables. Everyone who passes by, come and try it..."