CH 34

Bonus chapter for Theystolemyname. Thank you for the birthday greeting!

The introduction today was led by Ming Chen, and Qiao Yuan was only responsible for counting money and collecting payments, which made him a lot more relaxed.

Seeing that there were even more people today than yesterday, Lin Cui Fen was overjoyed, “I didn’t expect that the best-selling item today would be the meat floss cake!”

Perhaps it was because they had a good meal of meat floss cake and Longjing tea at Yuhuchun yesterday, as soon as the shop opened today, the meat floss cake was sold out.

The next best-selling item was the egg cake, and several young servants came with their own food boxes, and they took away more than half of them. Qiao Yuan saw that many of them were customers who had visited yesterday, and he felt relieved.

On the other side, Yu Dameng had already found a well-digging team and went home with the team leader to survey the area.

He had already told his father that he wanted to dig a well for them at the old house, and his father said that it would be best to choose a location near the old house, for one thing, it was safer for the children at home, and for another, if the well was outside, many nearby households could use it, which was a good deed. This way, Yu Dameng and Qiao Yuan wouldn’t attract too much envy and jealousy from others by digging a well in their own home.

Yu Dameng thought about it and felt that his father had a point, so he did as he said.

The leader of the well-digging team was called Zhou Qiang. When he heard it was Xianhe Village, he thought the business was good. “Xianhe Village is definitely the best place to dig. It’s right by the river, and every dig is guaranteed! You can rest assured. We charge ten taels of silver per well, that price is already until it’s finished. However, you need to buy the bricks for the well wall yourself, or you can leave it to us to purchase, but it’s not included in the ten taels of silver.”

There were many things to do in the shop, so Yu Dameng decided to let him handle all the purchases.

At this time, it was the slack season for farming, and many people in the village were gathering outside to play chess, chat, and pass the time. When they saw Yu Dameng bring in a stranger, they couldn’t help but ask a few questions.

When they learned that this person was from the well-digging team, and that they were going to dig a well near the Yu family’s house, which everyone in the village could use, everyone in the village was excited and followed them to join in the fun, and some of the more lively ones ran to call the village chief.

“This is a great thing! It can be used for generations to come!”

“Our village is just missing a well in the middle! I live in that area, and it’s far to go to either end to fetch water.”

The village chief rushed over when he heard the news, and he was very excited. He had wanted to dig a well in the middle of Xianhe Village for a long time. But ten taels of silver was not a small amount, and the villagers were reluctant to pay, especially those who lived close to the water wells, who were stingy and refused to give a wen. Every time he brought it up, it was dropped. Now that the Yu family was willing to pay for it themselves, he suggested that the village would provide the meals for the well-digging team for these next few days.

Those who were close to the well were not very happy, saying that they didn’t need it anyway. As soon as they started talking, they were criticized one by one by others, and they felt embarrassed and went home.

The houses in the village were spaced quite far apart, and Yu Dameng discussed with the village chief and decided on a location, which was seven meters away from the old house. This afternoon, Zhou Qiang would bring his tools over, and they could start working.

The village chief patted Yu Dameng’s shoulder and said, “You can rest assured in town, I will supervise the work here. Your family has already paid the silver, you don’t need to worry about anything else.”

Yu Dameng nodded and led Zhou Qiang home to check the location. “No one is at home these days, so let’s start by digging where we just checked. Once that’s done, we can dig inside the house.”

Yu Dameng nodded, and then led Zhou Qiang back to his house to look at the location, “There’s no one at home for these two days, so let’s start by digging where we just checked. When that’s done, we’ll dig the one at home.”

Zhou Qiang was overjoyed and couldn’t contain himself, as he had just closed two deals.

At this moment, Yu Qiao Ji also welcomed another big business after the Laike House, the birthday banquet of the old lady of the Lu family.

Qiao Yuan welcomed the steward of the Lu family to the upstairs private room, and instructed Ming Chen to serve tea.

The steward of the Lu family glanced at the decoration of the private room, stroked his beard and said, “This is quite elegant.”

“You are too kind.” Qiao Yuan took out the design he had made for the Laike House and showed it to him, deliberately saying, “This is the design we made for the Laike House before. You can tell us your requirements, and we will also make a design for your mansion.”

The old lady and the young lady of the mansion liked the three flower buns that they had sent a young servant to buy yesterday, and the steward of the Lu family decided to order flower buns for the guests to see something novel at the old lady’s birthday banquet. However, when Qiao Yuan asked him for his opinion, he didn’t have any idea, so he asked Qiao Yuan’s opinion first.

The birthday banquet had its rules, and the longevity peach could only be eaten by the elderly birthday person, implying the wish for a long life. Qiao Yuan suggested, “Why not make the longevity peach the main theme, I can make different styles of longevity peach, and stack them like the Laike House, to offer peaches to the old lady to wish her long life and happiness.”

“The gourd symbolizes good fortune and prosperity. It can also be shaped into statues of Ma Gu, the goddess of longevity, with the characters for blessings, prosperity, longevity, and happiness and place them on both sides of the birthday hall, creating a different scene at every step. If the family wishes, they can also order gold ingots, gourds, and lucky bags to reward those who come to offer blessings, allowing more people to celebrate the old lady’s birthday.”

The steward of the Lu family thought it was feasible, and the two agreed to come and see the design in three days.

After he left, Qiao Yuan immediately asked Yu Shanwen to invite Qian Yun to discuss the design.

Lin Cuifen nervously asked him what was going on, and Qiao Yuan explained the matter to her. Lin Cuifen said, “Then you quickly teach us how to make longevity peaches.”

Nowadays, their mother is even more ambitious than him. Qiao Yuan laughed, “The old lady Lu’s birthday banquet is on the tenth of next month, and there is also work in the shop. We have to ask Brother Meng and Sister-in-law Meng for help.”

“Both of them can be trusted,” said Lin Cuifen.

Qiao nodded in agreement. Even if they weren’t, the basic peach-shaped longevity buns are not that difficult to make. It all depends on how the patterns on the buns are designed. It’s fine for the two of them to learn. He had to train Ming Xu and Ming Chen more diligently these days. Once this business is done, they will need to hire more people as they are severely short of manpower.

Qian Yun put down his brush and hurriedly followed Yu Shanwen to Yu Qiao Ji. Ever since he saw the grand opening of the Laike House last time, he had been waiting for Qiao Yuan to find him, and in the meantime, he had even created a lot of designs on his own.

With the experience of the last time, the two communicated very smoothly, and Qiao Yuan also said, “After you finish drawing the longevity peach design, continue to create some designs for wedding banquets, children’s full moon and birthday celebrations. The designs for gifts should be in a separate book, and choose some things with good meanings to draw, and it is best to provide explanations. For example, pomegranates symbolize prosperity and fertility, which is perfect for wedding banquets. We should draw thirty different patterns for each design.”

Qian Yun was naturally happy, and he would earn several taels of silver from this.

When the shop was a bit less busy, Qiao Yuan called Ming Xu and Ming Chen to the back kitchen, “In a few days, the shop would deal with the big order of flower buns, which is related to the birthday banquet. Today I will teach you how to shape longevity peach. You must learn carefully. If you perform well, and the order is successful, I will reward you with a month’s salary.”

Ming Xu and Ming Chen agreed repeatedly, their master was very scary when he was serious…

Qiao Yuan had come up with sixteen different designs for the longevity peaches for the Lu family, and they split the work evenly. The technique for making the peaches was not difficult to learn; Ming Xu and Ming Chen had already mastered it after five or six attempts. The challenge lay in how to arrange the peaches and how to shape the decorations. This was the key skill that the two of them needed to master.

He who bites off more than he can chew chokes, Qiao Yuan arranged for them to practice one kind each day, gradually progressing. If they were clever, they would quickly be able to apply what they have learned to other areas, and the learning speed would also increase.

At this moment, the three of them were practicing fervently in the back kitchen, while the front shop welcomed a noble and precious young master. He stood by the shelf, looking at the flower buns on display, motionless.

Lin Cuifen saw him dressed unusually and accompanied by attendants, unsure of his intentions, she went to the kitchen and called for Qiao Yuan to come.

“Excuse me, young master, do you have any questions?”

The young master was very familiar, and as soon as he saw Qiao Yuan, he leaned forward and said flatteringly, “Ah Yin said that the lucky cat you made for him was very cute. Can you make me a pair too? I want to see them.”

He was a very handsome boy, with red lips and white teeth, and his eyes were bright and lively, as if he was talking about something amazing. Qiao Yuan also smiled along, “Of course I can, but you have to wait for an hour.”

The young master looked up at the other shelves that were almost empty, and said, “Then I’ll come back tomorrow at this hour, and you save me a bit of each kind of pastry.”

He spoke confidently and pulled out a stack of silver notes from his sleeve, “I’ll pay for it!”

Qiao Yuan took a glance and saw that they were all starting from one hundred taels, feeling envious in his heart, “There’s no need for so much, just one tael of silver is enough.”

The young master reluctantly put the silver notes back, and the young attendant next to him looked at the price of the flower buns on the shelf, stepped forward and paid two taels of silver and smiled, “Please also help us pack these two flower buns.”

Qiao Yuan nodded and took the silver, and Ming Chen quickly packed the two flower buns.

The young master snatched the bamboo basket that the young attendant was supposed to carry, and looked around and said, “It’s really cute.”

Qiao Yuan: “……”

He was really out of touch with reality!

They closed the shop and went home by early evening, and there were a lot of people watching the excitement at the old house.

The Yu family became the focus of the crowd, especially Lin Cuifen and Qiao Yuan, who were surrounded by a group of husbands and wives.

“Yuan Ge’er has grown up really well.”

“Yuan Ge’er is really capable, he has really made something of himself!”

“Yuan Ge’er’s shop…”

Qiao Yuan couldn’t resist the enthusiasm of these people and, with the cover of Lin Cuifen, pulled Yu Dameng to retreat!

He just wanted to see how the well was dug!

He hadn’t spoken to his husband alone for a whole day, and when there were only two of them on the road, Yu Dameng held Qiao Yuan’s hand and asked him, “Are you tired?”

Qiao Yuan liked it when Yu Dameng was worried about him. When he heard these words, his eyes were full of smiles, and he became playful, shaking Yu Dameng’s arm and whining, “I’m tired, I’m tired, I’m so exhausted.”

Yu Dameng’s face turned a little red, and he lowered his head and looked up, “Um… then I’ll give you a massage tonight.”

“Tonight?” Qiao Yuan couldn’t help but lean in to Yu Dameng’s ear and tease him intentionally, “Are you thinking about that thing?”

Sure enough, Yu Dameng was so embarrassed that he wanted to bury his head in the ground, “I… I’m not.”

“Oh, is that so.” Qiao Yuan deliberately dragged his voice, and let go of his hand.

He had planned to give him a big gift! This big fool!

Yu Dameng was shocked and quickly followed behind his husband, not knowing which sentence had upset him.

Qiao Yuan suppressed his smile and made Yu Dameng run around while he was busy preparing dinner. Yu Dameng didn’t dare to complain, and had to check from time to time if his husband’s mood had improved.

However, that night, Yu Dameng still received that big gift.

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you want to show your support, you can buy me a coffee. It would make my day! For every five coffees I get, I will release a bonus chapter.