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What was it? Lin Lixuan was suspicious, and while thinking, the other party smiled and gave him a huge shock. “There’s a rich businessman that I know from the capital named Su Cheng. I don’t know if you’ve heard of him before. He’s very interested in your tofu recipe. Are you willing to sell it to him…? Of course, if you don’t want to, nobody can force you with me here.”
Mr. Shen didn’t want to be the middleman for this matter, but he couldn’t reject his friend’s request, so he took up this hard request. Such things like forcing others to spit out their secret recipes and other kinds of inhumane practices, Mr. Shen would never do that if he could help it.
Mr. Shen was ashamed as he gently stroked his beard and quietly waited for the other party’s reply.
The initial doubts passed. When he heard Mr. Shen’s words, a wave of ecstasy surged in his heart. Lin Lixuan’s eyes rolled and a smile on the corner of his mouth. Unwilling? How was that possible? Lin Lixuan had long planned on selling his tofu recipe to a wealthy businessman. Mr. Shen’s request was exactly what he wanted.
“I am naturally willing, but regarding the price…”
Mr. Shen nodded with a smile and said, “Of course, I would never let you make a loss.”
With Mr. Shen’s words, Lin Lixuan was relieved. Mr. Shen was a sincere person, and he wouldn’t scheme against others. Although he was retired now, he still held power. With this person on his side, Lin Lixuan wouldn’t make a fool of himself. It was good to enjoy the shade under a powerful tree.
The tofu recipe was pretty simple. It wasn’t difficult at all, but one still needed certain skills to make the tofu tender, soft, and fragrant. This was also what Lin Lixuan had Ger Yan research in the past few months. Since they started out selling tofu pudding, they wanted to pursue other tender tofu recipes, but they couldn’t make tofu that was full of holes.
After discussing with Mr. Shen, they agreed to sell the recipe for 200 taels of silver. Su Cheng, the rich merchant, would send someone over to learn from him. The Su family’s businesses were all over the world. The contract they signed stated that even though he sold the recipe, he could still sell his food in All Water County.
Lin Lixuan was very satisfied with this. He hadn’t expected to be able to sell it for such a high price. He didn’t regard it as a secret recipe, and this benefited everyone. Tofu was a delicacy, and the entire world should be able to try it and enjoy it in their daily lives. The Lin’s Restaurant didn’t only rely on selling tofu, and since they were a small shop, it wouldn’t affect the larger businesses.
He wanted to take the silver and buy the land by the mountains and live the beautiful life of a landlord.
When the people from the Su family came to their store to learn the recipe, it was two middle-aged people in their thirties. Ger Yan showed them how to grind the beans, press the tofu, and press them into blocks. The two middle-aged people wrote down the steps while watching. Lin Lixuan watched from the side and suddenly remembered the peanuts at home and asked these people, who were obviously not from All Water County, “Do you guys know what peanut oil is?”
One of the middle-aged men stopped writing and asked, “Peanut oil? I’ve never heard of it. We only know about rapeseed oil, lard, sesame oil…”
“Have you guys seen this before?” Lin Lixuan drew a peanut for them. Of the two middle-aged men, one shook their head, and the other frowned as he tried to recall something. He seemed to have seen this before. “I…think I’ve seen this before. But isn’t it just an ordinary bean?”
“It can be made into oil. It’s very fragrant.” The color of peanut oil was also very beautiful. Lin Lixuan felt that he could make a huge contribution to their country’s foodies. Not only was he promoting tofu, but he could also promote peanut oil through the wealthy businessmen.
“Made into oil?” The middle-aged man with the brush widened his eyes. There was infinite curiosity on his face. He immediately urged Lin Lixuan to continue talking on how it could be made into oil.
The way peanut oil was made was similar to other types of oils. It was through frying and squeezing. They would first fry it dry, then use a physical press. Lin Lixuan told them the method. The two middle-aged men said they would give it a try when they returned. Same with the tofu. If they were successful, they would reward Lin Lixuan with money.
After the two middle-aged men went back, the middle-aged man with the horizontal wrinkle on his forehead, the one who was obviously in charge, immediately asked someone to make tools and collect soybeans and peanuts. The one who recorded everything with his brush was in charge of watching over the production. After several attempts, they finally made both items.
“This trip was worthwhile, especially for this oil. It’s so fragrant. I want to send someone over to quickly inform Boss Su.”
Those workers who followed them also felt this was amazing. They signed death contracts, so their entire families were controlled by the Su family. Some secret practices were basically in the hands of these people. One of them smelled the amber peanut oil and exclaimed, “I don’t know how this scholar knew about this method.”
“You guys take this back and try it.”
“Thank you, steward.”
A few days later, they also gave Lin Lixuan a jar of oil. The jar of oil was placed on the counter. Lin Lixuan didn’t expect them to act so quickly. They were able to make this in four to five days. It was nothing like the peanuts he’d planted before the new year, which were dug up a few years ago. He took a look and…it was already dead. “Lin-dage, what is this? It smells so good.” Ger Yan curiously said to the side.
“Oil. Oh, it’s such a big can. Don’t be stingy when looking later. Just pour it in…”
“Huh? It can be eaten?”
“Of course. We’ll try some when we go home today.”
What made Lin Lixuan happiest was receiving 300 taels of silver bills from the other party. Of which, 200 was taels from buying the tofu recipe. The other 100 taels was a thank you gift for informing them about peanut oil. Lin Lixuan folded the silver money in half and handed it to Ger Yan for safekeeping. Ger Yan was so frightened as he held the money to his chest. He didn’t dare move, for fear someone would rob him of his money.
Lin Lixuan pulled him close and kissed him on the cheek. Who knew the other party would still hold both hands in front of his chest, not daring to let go. “Don’t worry. Nobody will steal our money…”
A huge amount of money fell from the sky. Anyone who received this would panic. Ger Yan had never silver bills before. Today was the first time he’d touched it too. According to Lin-dage, the copper money exchanges for these three silver bills would be enough to crush him to death under a small mountain. Oh my God. How much was it!
“Don’t act so weird and make others suspicious…”
Ger Yan was still afraid. Why did Lin-dage hand him all the money for safekeeping? He was scared!! Ger Yan rode their donkey home. The donkey cart was very bumpy, and there was a jar of oil beside him. He looked at the shadows of the trees gradually receding. The slightest breeze of wind could make his heart shake.
When he approached Jade Creek Village, he kept leaning close to Lin Lixuan, trembling and tugging at his sleeves. “Lin-dage, I keep feeling like someone’s watching me.”
Lin Lixuan looked around. Besides the fields, mountains, forests, grass, trees, and houses, there was nothing else in sight. He was also helpless at the little Shuang’er in his arms. He comforted him, kissed his eyebrows, and smiled softly.
However, he was still evil for handing the money for him to handle.
The trees in the distance bent from the strong wind. Under an eave, an old woman in her fifties and a Shuang’er in his thirties were chatting… That Shuang’er was also Jade Creek Village. Lin Lixuan and Ger Yan even recognized them. This Shuang’er loved to gossip and nag at others. He liked matching people up as well.
Ger Yan’s perception was correct. Someone was secretly watching him from the side. The Shuang’er with a red scarf covering his neck pointed at Ger Yan’s neck and said to the older lady, “Did you see him? That’s Ji Yan. Look at the Shuang’er mole between his eyebrows. It’s very red, and he’s very good looking. The Shuang’ers in the city might not be as good.”
Ger Yan had been well fed by the Lin family recently. His face was ruddy, his eyes were clear, and his lips were red. Plus, he learned how to read and write from Lin Lixuan. He didn’t hide from others anymore. His whole temperament changed. He wasn’t like a farmer from the countryside anymore.
The fat older lady agreed with the opinion of the person beside her and kept nodding. “He does look good.”
Seeing this scene, the red scarf Shuang’er persisted. “His younger brother Ger Yu resembles him about 70%. They definitely came from the same mold. His nose is even sharper than Ger Yan’s. Eldest Ji’s three children are all outstanding. Just looking at Ger Yan, you know that Ger Yu won’t be bad when he grows up either…”
Ger Yan and Lin Lixuan returned home. Ger Yan didn’t care about anything else and hurriedly stepped through the door to find Zhao Liniang. “Mother, mother, we’re back!!” Lin Lixuan took care of the little donkey behind him, giving him a radish to feed him. He listened to Ger Yan’s elated voice and smiled.
After arriving home and being in a familiar place, Ger Yan wasn’t afraid that someone would run over and snatch his silver bills anymore. Zhao Liniang felt like Ger Yan was glowing when she saw him. Ger Yan showed her the silver bills he got. The two of them screamed. They were surprised together, then terrified together.
This was also the first time Zhao Liniang had seen a silver bill. She looked at the silver bill all over. She felt like the hard silver and copper coins were more reliable. Such a thin piece of paper, what if it accidentally fell in the water or was blown away? What if it was gnawed by the mice under the bed. How could it be good? The more she worried, the tighter her grip was, and she accidently creased the bill in her hand.
If the people in the village knew they had earned this much money, all the relatives and friends would try to borrow money. Would they have to lend it out? It was okay just to try and borrow money, but what if they came over with bad intentions to steal it…
Due to such concerns, they unanimously decided—they couldn’t keep these three silver bills.
Lin Lixuan listened to these two’s worries and smiled beside them. The three of them got together and talked about how to use it. Lin Lixuan naturally said he wanted to buy a mountain. Ger Yan unconditionally supported Lin Lixuan. Zhao Liniang originally wanted to trade it all for paddy fields. When the time came, she wanted to support the family by being a landlady.
But her son’s wish couldn’t be ignored. The result of their conversation was to buy half of the barren mountain behind the house, and the rest of the money would be used to buy paddy fields. Zhao Liniang thought, weren’t paddy fields, dry land, and barren mountains all land? No one could take it from them after it was under their name. It was more reliable than these thin pieces of paper.
