Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 123 - 122: Yang Mei Soup

Chapter 123: Chapter 122: Yang Mei Soup
However, thinking about the upcoming order of fifty sets, the smile on Liu the carpenter’s face gradually stiffened.
He leaned against the door frame to stand up, sincerely bowed, "Miss Qin, you have great skills and knowledge. I’ll do as you say from now on, I’ll fully cooperate without any objections."
Qin Yao patted his shoulder, "Just waiting for you to say that. Let’s go inside to discuss. Time is tight; we need to draft the plan today."
The ones with early harvest have already moved their tools to the fields today, and some will start harvesting rice tomorrow.
Her family’s harvest will be two days later, starting on July 12th.
Today is the 9th, so she has two days to plan. Once the major autumn harvest ends, she’ll immediately recruit people and start buying materials!
Qin Yao and Liu the carpenter discussed at home for a long time, going over all the families in the village with wood.
The information was all clear in Liu the carpenter’s mind; he knew what was readily available and what was still in the forest.
Then, they calculated the materials needed for fifty sets of water mills and came up with a number that can be supplied just within Liu Family Village.
Qin Yao and Liu the carpenter quickly divided the tasks.
She had two things to do.
First, establish a production workshop.
Second, recruit people and polish grinder pans.
Liu the carpenter was responsible for pre-ordering lumber and compiling the statistics so that everything can be arranged once the autumn harvest ends.
On the stone material side, Qin Yao wasn’t worried as there’s a large stone mountain there, so there’s no concern about running short of stone.
However, if they go past the part belonging to Liu Family Village, they’d need to negotiate with people from other villages.
For the fifty sets of small stone mills, the stone within the boundaries of Liu Family Village is sufficient.
The two worked together, each handling an important part, while Qin Yao also took on overall planning. Liu the carpenter supported, and within an afternoon, they finalized the action plan.
Feeling assured and knowing what they need to do, Liu the carpenter’s anxious heart finally settled down considerably.
In the evening, they went to their respective homes for dinner. After dinner, Liu the carpenter took paper and pen and went door-to-door to pre-order wood.
If a family had ready materials, he immediately asked them to deliver it to his yard for storage.
Qin Yao instructed the four kids before heading out alone to discuss issues concerning the land for building the production workshop with the village chief and clan leader.
Knowing her water mill factory received an order for fifty sets, both the village chief and clan leader were surprised.
Then they remembered what Qin Yao said earlier about using this as an economic pillar to lead the village out of poverty and towards prosperity. Happily, they said she could choose any land she wanted as long as it didn’t interfere with the villagers, and they would help her finalize it.
However, once the workshop was built, things became a little different.
The village chief said uncertainly, "Perhaps we should ask the village chief about it. I’m not sure if we need to such matters to the government."
Building a workshop means proper business, which requires payment of commercial taxes.
If not ed, it could be problematic explaining when the government comes to collect grain tax.
If they encountered someone difficult, they could label you randomly and trouble you behind the scenes.
Without the village chief’s reminder, Qin Yao hadn’t considered it.
"Thank you for the reminder, village chief. I’ll go inquire at the county."
Just as Liu Ji was returning home, she was conveniently on her way to pick him up.
Of course, the main thing was that there were many scholars at the academy, and she could ask them first.
Thinking about this matter, Qin Yao wasn’t willing to delay even a moment, afraid it would hinder setting up the production workshop.
But given that her small workshop was barely 200 square meters and might not last long, taxing this seemed too much.
A good night’s sleep, Qin Yao woke up early to the dull sounds of threshing coming from the mountain.
Early ripening families have started the autumn harvest.
In Old Liu’s family, with dozens of acres of land, the crops have matured. Yesterday, when Qin Yao returned home, she went to the old residence to discuss hiring workers with Liu Bai and his three brothers.
Knowing she was going to build a workshop, they didn’t dare delay a minute, hurrying the harvest so they wouldn’t miss Qin Yao’s first hiring.
Therefore, at dawn today, the whole family, young and old, went to the field with protection buckets in two groups to start harvesting.
With morning dew, the harvested rice was spread in the field to dry, and when the sun rose, they began threshing.
In the kitchen, Da Lang, Second Lang, Sanlang, the three brothers busily worked like adults.
Si Niang wasn’t lagging, catching bugs in the vegetable garden to feed the chickens.
The four chicks Granny Wang and her grandson sent over have been well cared for by the siblings, growing over two pounds.
One hen and three roosters, Si Niang hoped every day the hen would lay eggs. She and her older brother had already prepared a nest with straw to put in the coop, ready for the hen to use anytime.
Qin Yao felt these four were truly comforting, highlighting Liu Laosan as a genetic anomaly.
Knowing Qin Yao was going to the city, Second Lang filled a bamboo tube with the Yang Mei Soup they successfully boiled with rock sugar last night for her to drink on the way.
Sour and sweet, it was very refreshing.
Qin Yao was too busy yesterday to taste the fruits of the children’s labor, which took them half a day to prepare.
Now ready, waiting for Da Lang to finish breakfast, she took a break and asked Second Lang to pour half a bowl to try.
Qin Yao didn’t have high expectations, prepared to offer blind praise.
Unexpectedly, the sip of dark red Yang Mei Soup was excellently balanced in sourness and sweetness, neither too sour nor too sweet.
"How is it?" Second Lang asked eagerly.
Da Lang, who was making pancakes with an iron pot, and Sanlang, who was tending the fire, also looked over anxiously.
Qin Yao took another sip, savored it, and raised her thumb, "Very good!"
If there were ice, it would be incredibly refreshing!
The three brothers smiled upon hearing this.
Second Lang eagerly suggested, "Then let’s go gather wild Yang Mei; we can make more and drink it every day."
Wild Yang Mei has a unique fragrance, but it’s too sour and only the young can handle it.
But with rock sugar, even if in water, it tastes great.
However, sugar is expensive and few can afford it, so wild Yang Mei matures and falls without many people picking it. Second Lang thought it was a pity.
"Making so much without ice to store, it’ll change flavor in two days. Can you drink it that fast?" Qin Yao reminded Second Lang, considering real circumstances while tossing a Yang Mei into her mouth.
"Yesterday, you boiled all of the Yang Mei Liu the carpenter brought, that big bamboo basket filled two large jars at home. If you don’t finish tonight, it’ll ferment with a sour smell by tomorrow."
Second Lang’s eyes lit up, "Can I sell it then?"
"Of course, but don’t cry if you can’t sell it," Qin Yao encouraged them to try new things but warned them ahead.
Of course, she wouldn’t mention losses in sales.
Second Lang wasn’t going to sell at a loss. Da Lang secretly thought.
But given Second Lang’s idea of selling a bowl for two cents, few might afford it.
Well, if it doesn’t sell, they’ll give it to Jinbao and Jinhua to drink!
Seeing they had a good mindset, Qin Yao didn’t say much, drinking the remaining Yang Mei Soup in a breath and satisfiedly burped.
Da Lang had also finished cooking, and five of them had breakfast together before getting busy with their tasks.
Qin Yao headed out, walking to the riverbank, seeing farmers laboring under the sun in the fields, drinking water gulp after gulp, thinking Second Lang’s Yang Mei Soup might sell a few bowls after all.