As soon as Aunt Fan called out, the shop owners from the nearby shops all came out.
"What kind of dish is this?"
"I've never seen anything green like flowers before."
"Aunt Fan, is this dish delicious?"
'..."
This street is full of shops, so there are a lot of people coming out to look around.
Aunt Fan used to manage the shop with Aunt Hong, but after Kun Zhang came, she stopped coming.
However, many people still knew her.
Aunt Fan said, "This is a new variety of vegetable grown on my wife's farm. We bought the seeds from traveling merchants. Everyone is welcome to come and taste it."
The broccoli stir-fried with meat slices has the aroma of meat and the taste of sauce, which is different from the taste of cabbage and radish.
People here have never eaten broccoli before and cannot describe the taste for a moment.
Yang Haiyan understood the importance of marketing. She came out holding a large head of broccoli. "Fellow villagers, this is a new variety cultivated on my farm. It's very nutritious. More importantly, it was brought here by merchants from other countries. It's a very good vegetable, called broccoli.
This broccoli is only three cents a head. It'll be available tomorrow morning. If you want some, you can line up tomorrow. Some have to be shipped to restaurants in the county town, so the stock is limited. Oh, and there's a promotion tomorrow: buy one head of broccoli and get one egg for free. It's only for one day."
"Mrs. Qin, if I buy this flower, I can get an egg for free?"
"Mrs. Qin, is this really nutritious?"
"Mrs. Qin..."
Yang Haiyan explained: "This is very nutritious. If you eat one meal a day, it is good for your body, especially for children."
She is really not promoting it. The nutritional value of broccoli is indeed very good and it is very friendly to children. Broccoli can also help children strengthen their bones. It contains a lot of magnesium, zinc, phosphorus and other elements, which can promote the baby's growth and development and prevent the baby from having bone problems.
However, if you tell people here about these nutritional benefits, they won't understand. So Yang Haiyan simply explains that it's good for children. As long as something is good for children, the elders in the family will buy it. Besides, a head of broccoli weighs about two pounds and costs three cents.
While it's more expensive than other vegetables, it's really not expensive for the broccoli itself.
When Aunt Hong heard about the benefits for her child, she was moved. Her son was shorter than his peers because, before he met the Madam, he wasn't getting enough nutrition and she had no milk, so his health was a little poor. After he came to the Madam's house, the Madam would have someone bring him a bowl of goat's milk every day. He had been drinking it for almost a year, and she could see the improvement in his health. So, when the Madam said it was good for him, she wanted to buy it. She didn't know for sure, but she knew it was always right to follow the Madam's lead.
What's more, my wife has children at home, so she won't lie to us.
"Mrs. Qin, is it really good for the child?" the female shopkeeper of the shop next door asked uncertainly.
Yang Haiyan said, "Don't worry, boss. We are all neighbors. How could I cheat you? Besides, I eat it myself. I have children at home who study in private schools and also eat it. I won't cheat you."
Yang Haiyan was a conscientious and dedicated person, and her cakes were cheap, so everyone trusted her. Furthermore, she even gave away an egg, so some people were tempted.
An hour later
Kun Zhang, who went to the county town, is back.
"Madam." Kun Zhang entered the shop.
Yang Haiyan asked: "How is it?"
Seeing that the plate in her hand was empty and the broccoli she took away was not brought back, she must have succeeded.
Kun Zhang said, "I went to see Shopkeeper Ping, the owner of the restaurant he recommended to me. I didn't tell him anything, but he tried the broccoli and asked the price. I said three cents each, and he picked out the big ones for me. He said two cents each, and when I disagreed, he said he wanted ten to try first."
Yang Haiyan said: "There's more than one restaurant in the county. Tomorrow you go to the county and give ten broccoli to the restaurant that ordered it.
Then go to other restaurants and ask. If they order more than you, choose the other restaurant and tell them that we are the only restaurant that has this broccoli and no other place has it."
Kun Zhang: "Yes."
In the evening, the Qin family prepared two plates full of broccoli and bacon. As the family of four gathered around to eat, Yang Haiyan said, "This is broccoli. I grew it from seeds I bought from traveling merchants. Come and try it. I love it. It's good for your health."
Qin Fang took a bite and didn't find anything special.
He used to think that eating was divided into two categories: full, not full, or meat and vegetables.
Now, eating is still divided into two categories: full, not full. Because he can eat meat every day, meat and vegetables are no longer his main focus.
However, as a good man who loves his wife, he will definitely not object to the food she likes to eat: "It's delicious."
He has already mastered the skill of telling lies with his eyes open.
Qin Shoucheng: "It's delicious." He was really praising it. "The food served by these traveling merchants is just different from ours."
Yang Haiyan said: "Because the world is so vast, our Qi Kingdom only occupies a small part of it. We have cabbage, greens, radishes, etc. here, but other places have broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower, etc. Different places have different vegetables."
Qin Shoucheng nodded, not quite understanding.
Yang Haiyan didn't expect everyone to understand.
Sometimes, with more experience, some truths just come naturally. Life is a constant process of experience. If you haven't experienced something, no matter what others say, you may not understand it.
When she was sleeping at night, Yang Haiyan suddenly thought of a question. She asked Qin Fang,
"Husband, where do you buy the food for the canteen in your barracks?"
Qin Fang heard this and said,
"You don't want to sell your crops to the kitchen, do you?"
Yang Haiyan really had this idea. She felt that it would be better to sell these things to the military camp than to others, so that the soldiers could have a taste of them too.
Qin Fang looked at her like that and couldn't help laughing. "Don't even think about it. The food in the kitchen is purchased by the people in the Marquis' Mansion. They are the Marquis's confidants. Let's not think about that. Besides, the military camp is short of money. If you want to sell the food to the military camp, you may have to wait for a while before you can even get the money. Are you willing?"
Of course, Yang Haiyan was unwilling to do so. No businessman liked to be sold on credit. Although she admired these soldiers, she had no obligation to support them.
the next day
Yang Haiyan got up early in the morning and had breakfast with Qin Fang. Then they separated, Qin Fang went to the military camp, and Yang Haiyan went to the snack shop.
Because it was so early, there was no one on the street at this time, but Aunt Hong and Mrs. Kun Zhang in the dim sum shop had been up for a while and were making dim sum.
After they made some snacks, they heard a knock on the door. It was Niu Da and his family. Niu Da, along with his two sons and two daughters-in-law, each carried two baskets of broccoli. One hundred broccoli heads, equivalent to two hundred kilograms, would require two baskets, right?
Niu Da and his family sat in the shop for a while, and then Yang Haiyan, Aunt Lian and Aunt Fan came.
"Meet the madam."
Yang Haiyan said, "You're welcome." She looked at the fresh broccoli. Even though they only fetched a few hundred coins, nothing compared to her embroidered handkerchief purse, she was happy.
"Aunt Fan, take out fifty broccoli florets and put them in the shop. Buy one broccoli floret and get an egg for free."
Aunt Fan: "Yes."
Yang Haiyan: "Madam Lian, take out four broccolis and send two of them to General Ao's Mansion and two to Marquis Yonghe's Mansion. Tell the people in the General's Mansion and the Marquis' Mansion that although these broccolis can be stored for a long time and there is no problem keeping them for a few days, the green flowers will turn yellow after a long time and will not be fresh anymore. So if the masters of the General's Mansion and the Marquis' Mansion like them, they can send someone to get them here."
The implication was that she was not being stingy and only gave two.
Yang Haiyan had no choice. It wasn't that she was trying to flatter him, but she had a new dish, and it would be impolite not to send it to General Ao's Mansion and the Marquis' Mansion. Furthermore, regardless of what would happen to the Marquis' Mansion in the future, at least it wasn't in decline.
Qin Fang wanted to stay in this position, so as his wife, it was her responsibility to socialize with the women of his superiors' families.
Aunt Lian: "Yes."
Yang Haiyan continued, "Aunt Fan, pick out fifteen more broccoli and give one to each of the centurion households, and one to each of the five private guards."
Aunt Fan: "Yes."
Yang Haiyan: "Captain Kun's family, you take thirty to the county town, give ten to the restaurant, and the remaining twenty can be sold in other restaurants or at a stall."
Kun Zhang: "Yes."
Then, Nanny Lian and Kun Zhang took the thirty-four broccoli florets and went to the county town in a carriage, along with some snacks for Shopkeeper
Ping.Niu Da and his family delivered the goods and returned to the countryside with two empty baskets.
When the market bustled, the dim sum shop also became bustling. Some people who had known about broccoli yesterday came to buy it. Some people hadn't known about it, but when they came to buy dim sum today, they heard Yang Haiyan recommend it and bought it too. It was only about two cents, and the dim sum shop's regulars had no shortage of it.
A piece of broccoli costs three cents, and an egg costs one cent, so it's two cents each, right?
County seat
Nanny Lian went to the Yonghe Marquis Mansion first, carrying two broccolis.
Nanny Lian wasn't intimidated by such a prominent family.
She arrived at the gate of the Marquis's residence and said to the guard, "Young man, I'm the Nanny serving Madam Qin, the wife of Captain Qin Fang. My wife has cultivated new vegetable varieties on her estate, and I've brought them here especially for the distinguished guest of the Marquis's residence to try. Please let them know."
When the guards at the Marquis' Mansion heard it was someone from the Qianfu family, they hurried to report it.
A moment later, the guards came out with a maid beside them: "Greetings, Madam. My Crown Prince's wife wants to see you."
Aunt Lian: "Please lead the way."