Chapter 601: The System for Rising in the World through Imperial Examinations (10)

Xie Yang put on an attitude of "I dug it up" and "I picked it up," so no matter how incredible the Xie Family found it, they didn't suspect anything else.

At most, they felt that the predecessor who buried these treasures was quite foolish; why bury them if they didn't know to come back and dig them up?

A whole one hundred taels of gold bars!

And a rare recipe that looked like a family heirloom!

Xie Kuidong said, "It's hard to say if the person who buried the recipe and the person who buried the gold bars were from the same family."

Xie Kuinan guessed, "Perhaps it was the same family, but they offended someone they shouldn't have, and not wanting to hand over the recipe, they buried it. As a result, they were harmed, leading to it being buried for over a hundred years until Little Sister discovered it."

Xie Kuixi said, "Oh! What is there to guess about! You all are really idle! I'm going to go see our mother and Little Sister to see if it really is a braised food recipe!"

The two older brothers laughed and scolded, "Do you still need to go look? Don't you have a nose to smell with?"

Above the Xie Family kitchen, a rich, unique aroma of braised food was already drifting out.

The children chasing and playing were so tempted they began to drool, scrambling to run outside the kitchen, clinging to the kitchen door to ask:

"Grandma! Little Aunt! What delicious food are you making?"

"It smells so good! Can Pangpang have a bite?"

"Zhuangzhuang wants to eat too!"

"..."

Chen Shi and the other two sisters-in-law were delighted in their hearts: It seems it really is a braised food recipe! According to the little sister-in-law's intentions, she isn't taking this recipe as a dowry to her husband's family, but leaving it for the family to open a deli stall. Even if the parents-in-law give the little sister-in-law one or two tenths of the profit later, there will still be plenty of earnings!

These earnings will eventually belong to the three brothers!

Thinking of this, they had not a shred of their former dissatisfaction toward the little sister-in-law who was about to be married off.

What does being a little lazy matter?

Which family's little sister-in-law is as capable as theirs? Not to mention bringing gold and recipes home, she is even willing to share them with her maiden family's brothers! Just for this point, they would be willing to worship her like an ancestor!

Xie Yang took Fang Shi and, "partly by guessing and partly by deduction," identified the full recipe. Then, after they bought all the necessary spices and seasonings separately, she set about trying to make a pot of braised offal.

The offal was what hadn't sold that morning; this stuff was troublesome to clean, didn't taste as fragrant as meat, and if not washed clean, it still carried a stench. Except for poor families who couldn't afford meat but craved it, very few people would buy it to eat.

This was because she didn't want to waste high-quality Pork, so she tried her hand with the offal first.

Unexpectedly, before it was even out of the pot, it was so fragrant that everyone kept looking toward the kitchen.

It was too fragrant!

It was truly too fragrant!

This was just offal; if it were replaced with high-quality Pork, how fragrant would it be!

That noon, the dishes on the Xie Family dining table were a few plates of the trial-made braised offal.

After being sliced and plated, it was not only fragrant but the presentation was also beautiful.

Xie Yang tasted a piece with her chopsticks and said with satisfaction, "Everyone try it, the taste is really quite good!"

The Braised Large Intestine was springy, soft, and glutinous, bursting with juice and flavor; the braised pig's trotters were crispy, fragrant, and fell off the bone while still being chewy; the Braised Pork Stomach was rich in fragrance with a crisp and tender texture; the Braised Pork Liver was salty, fragrant, delicate, soft, and glutinous.

At the moment it hit their mouths, no one could remember what offal used to taste like; they all felt that offal should taste this delicious!

Several children were already eating with their faces almost buried in their rice bowls.

When had they ever been this well-behaved while eating?

Xie Rong watched with immense gratification and suddenly wanted to drink a little wine.

"Come, let us three men have a drink."

He always felt that braised offal should be paired with wine; wasn't it more satisfying than plain boiled meat?

Xie Yang smiled and brought out a jar of wine: "I had it prepared for Father and brothers long ago!"

Xie Rong laughed heartily: "My good daughter understands her old man best!"

The three brothers also grinned.

The four father and sons each poured a small wine cup and began to drink while pairing it with the braised food.

"Good daughter, which wine shop did you get this wine from? It's spicy and mellow enough!"

"I forgot, I only remember it was in the area by the pier."

"Oh, that must be the Deng Family Wine Shop, right? Don't say, the wine brewed by the Deng family really does taste the best in Guixiang Town!"

Xie Yang smiled without a word.

In fact, she had brewed it herself when she had free time while stationed in the southwest in her previous plane. She used the local, abundant red-tassel glutinous sorghum and added diluted Spirit Spring Water, making the wine mellow and rich without harming the body.

The trial-made braised food received unanimous approval from everyone in the Xie Family, and the plan to buy a mountain to build a Farm and engage in animal husbandry naturally received the family's support and was able to proceed smoothly.

Xie Yang spent three hundred taels to buy a mountain at the end of Qinghe Village, including a few mu of thin land at the foot of the mountain and ten mu of residential land.

Qinghe Village was surrounded on two sides by rolling hills; there were plenty of Chai Shan like this. The village chief was happy that someone was willing to spend money to buy one. The three hundred taels would be distributed among the villagers, with each family getting two and a half taels; no one was unhappy. It wasn't as if they couldn't go up this mountain to cut firewood anymore; there was no other loss.

This was truly just an extremely ordinary Chai Shan; there wasn't even a single tree on the mountain that could be used for timber, just some small shrubs, thorns, and weeds.

However, Xie Yang didn't care. She had originally planned to hire people to clear the mountain and then planned to plant alfalfa, which livestock love to eat, on the sunny slopes, interspersing a few fruit trees like peach, pear, cherry, and citrus. This wouldn't affect grazing and could also provide her family with seasonal fruits to supplement vitamins.

She would plant tea trees on the east and west slopes and the summit, and fir and pine forests on the shaded north slope, planting high-priced medicinal herbs like Ginseng and astragalus under the forest canopy. Harvesting them to sell for money would be fine, and they would also be good for gifting during the holidays.

Before the Spirit Spring System was sent back to the factory for maintenance in the previous plane, she had specifically emptied half of the Aircraft Cargo Hold to fill it with full-level Spirit Spring Water, hoarding about fifty tons. If diluted into primary Spirit Spring Water, it would be about a thousand tons. For irrigation water, it could be diluted even further.

Of course, she was absolutely reluctant to use the full-level Spirit Spring Water that could cure a hundred illnesses for large-scale irrigation. Fortunately, her points this time were quite sufficient, and she could exchange for Plant Nutrient Solution at any time.

Therefore, Xie Yang was not worried about whether the crops on the mountain would survive.

For the thin land at the foot of the mountain, besides planting the locally common millet, Xie Yang also planned to plant Corn.

Of course, the current dynasty hadn't discovered Corn yet, but she had high-yield Corn seeds in her stockpile.

When engaging in animal husbandry, the most indispensable feed is Corn.

Of course, people can eat it too.

During the tender Corn period, they could eat corn cobs, and when it was old, it could be ground into cornmeal. Steaming corn buns mixed with Wheat flour, making dumplings with two-grain flour, or boiling noodles with three-grain flour were all good.

She would plant a few Watermelon plants on the corner of the mountain land; in short, she would never waste a single cent's worth of land.

As for the ten mu of residential land, two mu will be set aside to build the house, and the remaining eight mu will be combined with the purchased thin soil to build a Farm; the Farm must also have a few rooms built for the farm manager and hired laborers to live in, and a perimeter fenced off for pig and sheep pens, and chicken and duck coops.

At that time, a back gate will be opened, and once the pigs and sheep can forage on their own, they will be driven up the mountain from the back gate, left to frolic, graze, and wander freely on the sunny slopes, and then driven back into the pens when it gets dark.

A small artificial lake will be dug in the center of the Farm to raise some Fish and Shrimp, and to plant some water caltrops and lotus roots, which can also provide a place for the ducks to swim freely. A few vegetable patches will be laid out around the lake to grow seasonal vegetables for the family to eat. Once the fertility of the thin soil gradually improves, we will see what else can be planted besides millet and Corn.