The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 887 - 194: Undermining the Enemy’s Foundations_4

Chapter 887: Chapter 194: Undermining the Enemy’s Foundations_4

Cabbages and radishes are essential winter vegetables for peasant families, and everyone would grow some to last through the winter. Although they don’t grow as much as professional vegetable farmers, combining what each family grows—a few heads of cabbage here and there—adds up to quite an amount.

Many people expressed that they were willing to contribute a few cabbages for the winter.

"One head is not too little, ten is not too many!"

This interaction made the atmosphere even more lively.

Pei Qin saw that the people were neither resistant nor overthinking it and said that this year’s preparations involved more ingredients than needed; since there wouldn’t be spicy pickled cabbage to make, extras like the hard-to-buy chili peppers and apples would be distributed to everyone.

Sun Tiezhu called for helpers and, along with Sun Quanliang and others who knew how to make spicy pickled cabbage, went to various villages and towns to teach people how to make it, exchanging their knowledge for a few heads of cabbage in return.

Feng Shouxing, unable to stop the spread, watched as Grandma Feng fainted again and Fang Hui’s wrist swelled up like a steamed bun. Grinding his teeth, he pulled his donkey cart and headed straight for the county town. The rest of his family were at the noodle restaurant in the county town, and he needed to discuss this issue urgently. Also, it was imperative to recover the silver owed to them by Boss Wu!

Many in Taiping Town, having nothing to do, were mobilized for action.

In just one day, they brought back three large carts of cabbages and radishes. Pei Qin insisted that they pay a fair price for the vegetables and refused to take them for free.

The news spread to Yuanyang County that very day, and by the next morning, people were demonstrating how to make spicy pickled cabbage and radish on the streets, complete with ingredients. Bystanders crowded around, making it impassable. The people were abuzz, saying that if they couldn’t do it, they might as well give up completely—everyone would learn and it would be convenient in the future! Those who didn’t want to bother could simply pay for it, allowing others who learned the technique to make some salt money for themselves!

Qian Wanxiu had never expected Pei Qin to be so ruthless. Just from spicy pickled cabbage and radish, they earned several hundred taels of silver a year, and yet now she had simply given it up, preventing others from making it too. She let all the common people learn the recipe, making it convenient for them in the future!

Boss Wu had the recipe and cabbages; even if everyone learned how to make it, he would suffer some loss, but by turning them into spicy pickled cabbage and selling them to distant places, he could still make money. It was Pei Qin and her people who were the real losers!

However, they soon realized that although Pei Qin had given away the recipe, she executed another strategic move.

Those who had learned to make spicy pickled cabbage took out the supplies they had stored in their cellars for winter, contributing regardless of the amount. The little contributions added up, and within two days, they had gathered enough to fill a large cart.

Pei Qian continued making spicy pickled cabbage and radish with a few others. Although it wasn’t enough, it could at least make up for some of the shortfall. If everything went well with Lin Mansion Tianzhuang, they might not make money this year, but at least they wouldn’t suffer a loss.

Old Scholar Fang, upon hearing the news, didn’t rush to the town but walked around with his hands behind his back, fuming over Fang Hui, "Let her make all the fuss she wants! I want to see how far she can go!"

Fang Fang had just given birth, Lady Yu was taking care of her confinement and was not at home, and Lady Ruan, heavily pregnant, was not able to move around easily. Seeing Old Scholar Fang’s reluctance to go, Grandma Fang asked Fang Liuyang to drive the cart, "If you won’t go, then I will! Hui Niang is going too far! Even if we collect a few cabbages in the village, how much can we really get? Qianqian signed contracts, we will have to compensate if we don’t deliver! We don’t even know the state of Qianqian’s face yet!" With the wedding looming, what would they do if her face was ruined?

Fang Liuyang now knew how to drive a cart too and took Grandma Fang and Fang Xin to Taiping Town in the donkey cart.

The wounds on Pei Qian’s face had already scabbed over. "If Zhang Gengshan finds the scar removal ointment, there won’t be any scars," she said.

Grandma Fang heaved a sigh of relief and, with a sullen face, bitterly criticized Fang Hui for becoming increasingly ungrateful. She was angry that Fang Hui disregarded kinship without repentance, and instead of making money from spicy pickled cabbage, had caused such a disturbance.

Pei Qin didn’t say much else, "This way is not bad either; it creates goodwill among the people."

Grandma Fang also inquired about the goods they owed, and seeing that the family had saved up some spicy pickled cabbage and radish, she sighed, "Let’s hope those people don’t ask for compensation!"

"Impossible! There have already been troubles before," Pei Qian was relieved she hadn’t taken any advanced payments; otherwise, she would indeed have to compensate double to her customers.

Grandma Fang cried and cursed in anger. Since nobody was at Fang Hui’s house, Grandma Fang, upset, decided not to bother with her anymore and let her deal with it herself. She went straight home from the town, "I need to hurry back to the village and see if I can collect some more cabbages!"

As soon as Old Scholar Fang said this, the Lizhengs of the three villages stepped in and told the villagers that this year, even if they have to eat pickles and fine noodles, they should save the cabbages and radishes for Pei Qin and her team.

The three villages weren’t large, but combined, they were significant. Everyone who had cabbages gathered them, some kept a few for their own consumption, while others didn’t keep any at all, "We still have rutabagas and fermented beans, bean sprouts, tofu, garlic sprouts, spinach, potatoes, onions, and garlic at home. If nothing else, we can eat sweet potato flour; I refuse to believe we can’t spare a few cabbages and radishes!"

The three villages loaded up three carts and pulled them over, "The other villages brought less, so our village must bring more! The Sweet Potato Flour Workshop has benefited us quite a bit! It’s also to let people see that our village isn’t made up of ungrateful, thankless folks!"

Pei Qian saw the three carts loaded with cabbages and radishes, and her eyes instantly brightened.

Pei Qin came to thank them, but they refused to take any money, saying only, "Make as much sweet potato flour as you can; we’re not afraid it won’t sell!"

By saying this, she made a promise that in the future, there wouldn’t be any worry about the sales for sweet potato flour. Even if other sweet potato flour workshops popped up, the Fang Family Village’s Sweet Potato Flour Workshop would always stand tall. And so, their wish to donate cabbages was fulfilled.

Everyone was overjoyed.

Pei Yuan also collected a few carts of cabbages and radishes in Qinghe Town and brought them over, "These aren’t enough to meet the contract, nor will they compensate for much. How’s the third sister’s face now?"

Pei Qian went outside with a layer of gauze on, afraid that dust would settle and make the scarring worse.

Zhang Gengshan also fulfilled his mission, bringing back a scar removal ointment, "Both types are said to be effective. I made a special point to ask those who’ve used them. So I bought two boxes of each."

The small silver boxes contained just a little ointment, and one box cost ten taels of silver.

Pei Qian sniffed at them, chose a box with a milder scent as the scabs had just fallen off, and applied a little, "It’s cool; it should work."

Hong Xia had also been scratched on her neck, so she used the other box.

Seeing both her servant and herself injured, Pei Yuan was also fuming with anger, "Thinking they were relatives, I’ve been extra polite to them, but they’ve just become ruder and ruder!"

"As for this family connection, no matter who comes to talk about it or what they say, I’ve already decided to break it off!" Pei Qian said angrily.

Pei Yuan was a bit worried that if they published the recipe, Fang Hui and the others might be driven to a desperate action and sabotage Pei Qian’s marriage prospects.

Fang Hui’s hand wasn’t broken; Pei Qin didn’t strike with full force. A dislocation isn’t easy to heal, and now with the added trouble of arguing over money, their noodle house’s business quickly declined, making her filled with resentment and thinking of ways to cause trouble.

Zhang Youcheng returned with news that the cabbages at Lin Mansion Tianzhuang had also been bought out, and Sun Erlang was teaching the villagers how to make spicy cabbage, "Sun Erlang said there are many odds and ends, and in the nearby area, they’ll collect as much as possible. Hearing that we’re opening a Sweet Potato Flour Workshop, many are willing to bring out their cabbages!"

Pei Qin nodded, gave him some silver, and told him to go ahead with this task along with Sun Erlang, "Don’t insist, we’ve already gathered quite a bit at home."

"Yes! Everyone who brought cabbages did so voluntarily!" said Zhang Youcheng as he took the silver and ran out with his nephew. If he did this well, maybe he and Sun Erlang would become stewards of the workshop over at the Lin Mansion area. It would be respectable and earn them more money!

"Damn their voluntariness! Making a show of generosity, coercing and manipulating!"