While Ji Qingyao was away from home, Mrs. Jiang would come to clean the house every few days. However, when she heard that the person who came was the owner of Beauty House, she still took several daughters-in-law to clean the outside of Ji Qingyao's house again. I brought some fruits and vegetables over.
When they set off from the county seat in the morning, Ji Qingyao asked Hong Gu to send someone to buy some fish, pork and other things in advance to wait for them in the town. Didn't they all come in handy?
Arriving at Ji Qingyao's house, Uncle Heng saw that the newly built courtyard was small but full of simplicity and elegance, giving people the illusion of peace and quiet. Ji Qingyao asked Mrs. Jiang to send tea to the main room and apologized to everyone. Went to the kitchen.
Although Uncle Heng did not reveal his identity, and his godmother did not explain anything in particular, Ji Qingyao went to the kitchen out of caution to learn about Uncle Heng's tastes and taboos with the fair-faced and beardless attendant beside him, and also asked him to call out Two men went with her to the kitchen.
The fair-faced and beardless attendant now had a better impression of Ji Qingyao, and his evaluation of Ji Qingyao became more bold and careful.
After Mrs. Jiang finished delivering the tea, she asked Ji Qingyao with her eyes. In the end, Ji Qingyao only left Mrs. Jiang outside to help deliver the water and asked the others to leave. Mrs. Jiang's youngest daughter-in-law, Ms. Wang, originally wanted to stay, but she saw her waist in the yard. The guard with a knife followed the sisters-in-law away with eyes.
Ji Qingyao would also like to keep people here if possible, but based on the principle that doing more is worse than doing less, she would rather be tired than involve too many people.
With the help of his entourage, Ji Qingyao spent an hour preparing meals for twenty people, including nine dishes and one soup. As soon as the dishes were served, Uncle Heng's eyes lit up when he looked at the delicious, delicious and tasty dishes.
Among them were sour potato shreds made from potatoes, braised chicken with potatoes, and a shredded sweet potato dish, which the group was full of praise for.
Until this moment, Uncle Heng finally believed Ji Qingyao's words. These two things can not only cook, but also fill the stomach. When he looked at Ji Qingyao, there was more kindness in his eyes.
Pei Ningyuan had been sitting beside him, looking at the people serving Uncle Heng, and spoke more cautiously than before.
In the past few years, he has been in the yamen and has met many officials, big and small, but this is the first time he has met someone as magnanimous as the one in front of him. No matter why they came, they are all for Hong Gu in Xiaoxi Village. After building a workshop, he had to entertain him well.
Uncle Heng and his party checked around Xiaoxi Village after having a good meal before leaving. Aunt Hong did not follow, saying she was too tired and wanted to rest one night in Xiaoxi Village before returning to the county town tomorrow. Uncle Heng left. Ji Qingyao glanced at Hong Gu in front of her, and Ji Qingyao saw that look, full of helplessness and pampering.
Ji Qingyao packed up the remaining potatoes and sweet potatoes, which were about twenty kilograms, and taught them to Uncle Heng's followers, and wrote down a few methods of making them, which made Uncle Heng's followers smile like chrysanthemums. , and when he left, he told Ji Qingyao that his surname was Zhao, and he could call him Butler Zhao from now on. He also told Ji Qingyao that if he had fresh food, he could just bring it to Beauty Square and give it to Hong Gu.
Ji Qingyao agreed one by one. After sending the group away, Pei Ningyuan wanted to ask Ji Qingyao about Uncle Heng's identity, but Ji Qingyao said that she didn't know. She only guessed that Uncle Heng was from the capital and had a good background.
Pei Ning saw that Ji Qingyao's expression didn't seem to be fake, so she didn't inquire any more. Just like the little girl said, know less and make fewer mistakes, just do things seriously.
Seeing that the potatoes left for Ji Qingyao were gone, Mrs. Jiang wanted to go home and bring some to her, but Ji Qingyao refused and asked Ms. Jiang to keep them for her children at home.
Although there was a bumper harvest of potatoes and sweet potatoes this time, the seeds were so rare that the village chief only weighed them after the harvest. In the end, he cooked a pot per person and let everyone in the village get one to taste, and then made the final decision. Twenty kilograms of each kind was left for Ji Qingyao's family. The collected potatoes and sweet potatoes were divided into seeds for the villagers as agreed before, and they were all planted in the ground.
What Pei Ningyuan didn't expect was that he received fifty taels of silver as a reward from Lanzhou County to Xiaoxi Village the next day. It was said that everyone in Xiaoxi Village was united and not only did not blame others but also worked actively during this turbulent time. Organize production and protect village property.
Pei Ningyuan discussed with the villagers and clan elders, and finally decided to use the fifty taels of silver awarded by the county government as wages for the patrol team. Anyone who participated in the patrol could receive five cents a day. Five cents was not much, but it was just For guarding the gate and patrolling the safety of the village, you get five cents, and the villagers are very happy.
Time passed day by day. During this period, Xiaoxi Village escaped two waves of refugees due to the newly built wall. The villagers' respect for Pei Ningyuan increased to a higher level, and the patrol team became more careful when on duty.
