Chapter 53: Selling the recipe?

"Tsk tsk, you were just persuading me a moment ago, and now it's your turn to have a bunch of reasons."

Chen Shi's face turned red. "I'm not talking to you anymore, I'm going to buy groceries."

Qiao Mai smiled. Ancient women couldn't stand being teased. Just as she was about to pick up the needle to do work, the Town Chief walked slowly to her stall, followed by two guards. The pomp was not small.

"Yo, Town Chief, out on patrol?"

"Girl, this Town Chief has something to discuss with you. Can we borrow a step to talk?"

"What is it, Town Chief? Just say it here. My stall has no one to watch it, just me."

The Town Chief lowered his voice and said, "The gift you sent, this Town Chief tasted it, and it was very delicious. Did you fumble with this yourself?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"Selling the recipe?"

"Of course I'm selling. What's wrong? Do you want to buy my recipe?"

"Give me a price?"

Qiao Mai gave a hee-hee smile. "You give me a price? Let me hear it. If it's suitable, I'll sell it."

"An ordinary pastry recipe is one hundred taels each. For this recipe of yours, I'll give you five hundred taels to buy it out. Except for you making it for your own family to eat, you aren't allowed to sell it anymore. Is that okay?"

"Is it five hundred taels for one kind of filling, or five hundred taels for five kinds of fillings?"

The Town Chief extended five fingers and lowered his voice. "Five hundred taels for one kind, two thousand five hundred taels for five kinds."

Qiao Mai immediately responded with a smile. "Town Chief, you really are a good person. This price is fair. Deal!"

"You agreed really straightforwardly. I even doubted you."

"It's because you, Town Chief, don't bully people and gave a suitable price. I don't plan to open a workshop or a shop anyway. You like this bite, so isn't that the best of both worlds?"

The Town Chief looked at her deeply. Plain-looking, smiling like a tiger, cunning inside, she was a very smart woman.

"Mm, later you write the recipe well, and I'll bring the silver notes over."

"Deal right here?"

"It's a deal! I didn't expect you, girl, to hide your clumsiness. The slave contract and IOU at Shopkeeper Lu's place are fake, right?"

"Borrowing money is true, and paying it back is also true."

"This should be enough to pay it off, right?"

"Hehe, I still need the Town Chief to look after me in the future. Otherwise, those people are too shameless, and I, a woman, can't handle it."

"Humph, if it weren't for Shopkeeper Lu, this Town Chief wouldn't help you."

"In the future, if I have new recipes, I'll think of you first."

"That's more like it."

Watching the Town Chief walk away satisfied with his hands behind his back, Qiao Mai curled her lips. This money came too fast.

She didn't care what the Town Chief's family did. As long as they didn't interfere with each other and were mutually beneficial, it was fine.

At dusk, she closed the stall and went home. The two sons opened the courtyard gate and helped her unload the cart.

"What did the teacher teach you today?"

"The Three Character Classic. He also explained it to us, then wrote a few simplest characters, and left homework: write one character twenty times."

"Did you finish writing?"

"Finished in the afternoon. Mother, we boiled pumpkin porridge and stir-fried a plate of leeks and eggs."

"Why didn't you stir-fry meat?"

"Hee hee, wanted to eat eggs."

After Qiao Mai entered the courtyard, the gate was bolted by the children.

She washed her hands and face, sat in the courtyard and ate with the two children. She didn't need to move at all; the two children got everything ready.

"Did the teacher eat at home at noon?"

"He wanted to leave, but we stopped him, saying it was Mother's order. He stayed. We steamed half a pot of rice and stir-fried a large plate of cured meat. Little Brother Chuan loved eating it."

"Mm, from now on, the teacher will eat lunch at home. Don't just stir-fry one meat dish, stir-fry a vegetarian one too. Stir-fry two dishes."

"Understood, Mother."

After Yuan Jiaqi taught the children for the first day, he discovered that the Fengyun brothers were really talented. Chen Hao was a bit worse, but if he was willing to work hard and not fear hardship, this child was also not bad.

Of course, his own Chuan'er was even better.

He cheered himself up. He must teach these children well. Let the children fulfill the wishes he couldn't realize.

From then on, as soon as Qiao Mai left, he and Chuan'er would come over. For the one-hour class they agreed on, he would let the children play for a while in the middle, then continue teaching until noon, when he would let them go play.

Seeing that the Qiao family's vat lacked water, he would draw water from the well in the courtyard until all the vats were full.

Knowing that Qiao Mai was raising poultry in the room, although surprised, he could accept it. This was the first time someone had raised this in a room.

That day, the Mid-Autumn Festival, what Qiao Shi said felt strange, but he couldn't say what was strange. Seeing the quails, he remembered the description of Qiao Shi.

This woman didn't stick to small details, didn't stick to secular rituals, her behavior was free and easy, doing as she pleased. People who were with her all felt very comfortable.

Right, that was the feeling. Once in contact with Qiao Shi, it was easy to feel close to her.

His own son was like this, Chen Hao was like this, and he himself was even more so?

Like Qiao Mai, he had no thoughts between men and women, wholeheartedly wanting to live his own life well.

However, heaven didn't follow his wishes. Early in the morning, before Qiao Mai set up the stall, she heard crying coming from the neighbor's courtyard on the right.

Qiao Mai seemed to hear Chuan'er's crying, so she gently pushed open the gate of the neighbor's house on the right and walked in.

At this time, Yuan Jiaqi was standing in front of the room door with a calm face. In front of him was an old couple, who he thought were his parents.

She didn't make a sound, went to pick up Haichuan who was crying in the room.

"Don't cry, go to Auntie's house first. Leave this to your father; he can handle it."

Just like that, she carried Chuan'er to her own house, let Fengyun accompany him to play for a while, and she loaded the cart and went to set up the stall.

She, a woman, and a divorced one at that, couldn't possibly get involved in his affairs.

The Town Chief came as promised. Qiao Mai had already written the recipe in the space long ago. The characters she didn't know, she looked up in books.

The two exchanged money and the recipe.

"Girl, in the future, if you have good recipes, come directly to find this Town Chief, okay?"

"You are so good, in the future if I have recipes, I will definitely find you."

"You are better at talking than your Sister Lu, haha!"

Since after the Mid-Autumn Festival, her ice cubes were off the shelves, but quite a few new goods were also put on.

Some oranges, crispy dates, grapes, etc., which were usually not seen in town, also appeared on her stall one after another.

Putting these goods on at this time, no one would suspect, because it was already the season for fruit to hit the market.

As soon as the Town Chief left, Shopkeeper Lu came.

"What did he come to do?"

"Buy the recipe for the mooncakes I made."

"You sold it?"

"Ah, I'm not opening a shop, what do I keep it for?"

"Why not open one?"

"I just sell these few things, what shop to open? Not opening, to save others from being jealous."

"How much silver did he give?"

"Five hundred taels for one recipe, two thousand five hundred taels for five."

"Too little. If I were there, I would have made him pay one thousand taels of silver each."

"You are really black-hearted!"

"You don't know, his family has many shops, spread all over the Great Ming Dynasty."

"Then why is he holed up here?"

Shopkeeper Lu didn't make a sound. "Who knows what madness he's having, insisting on staying here, humph!"

The two were whispering, when a person stood in front of the small stall. He looked at Qiao Mai with a drooping face and roared angrily.

"I heard you let someone who is nothing teach your son to read?"

Shopkeeper Lu recognized him. "Teacher Lin, what's wrong?"

"None of your business! Don't interfere!"

Qiao Mai didn't stand up either. Seeing the other party's attitude, she was very unhappy, and her face sank immediately.

"Why? You aren't accepting students anymore, can't I find a teacher for my son?"

"How is he worthy of the word 'teacher'? He just listened to classes in my school for a few years, and doesn't even have a merit. You are harming your child."

"Teacher Lin, Brother Yuan is literate and proficient in calculation. Not having a merit doesn't mean he has no learning. Besides, I don't want my son to be an official. It's fine if he can read and write. Why can't he teach?"

"You, you stupid woman, you are irresponsible to the child."

"I say, Teacher Lin, are you meddling too much? Who I invite to teach the child is my business. Does it have anything to do with you?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 54 =====