Transmigrating with a Five Million Dollar Retirement Life

Chapter 96 Step by Step Golden Lotus

Hearing Song Jiaojiao's explanation, Wang Hefan understood that he couldn't hold her back. However, since they rarely got to see each other, he couldn't help but feel emotional when he heard that Song Jiaojiao was leaving. "Okay, let's buy clothes first tomorrow, and then go to the escort agency to pick up the things."

"Yeah, you must be tired after just getting back. Go and rest," Song Jiaojiao said with a smile, looking at the young man in front of her.

The next day, Song Jiaojiao took Wang Hefan to the escort agency after buying several pieces of clothing and a lot of snacks to thank everyone for taking care of Wang Hefan. After loading the things into the carriage, she led everyone away. Wang Hefan watched for a long time at the entrance of the escort agency until he could no longer see Song Jiaojiao's carriage before going in.

Song Jiaojiao was unaware of these things. Before returning, she bought a lot of wine, all of which were of high alcohol content, and also some yeast. The yeast here was really expensive; half a jin cost Song Jiaojiao 2 taels of silver.

By the time everyone left the county, it was already past noon, and it would probably be dark by the time they got home.

As the sun set, a slight chill gradually filled the air, and before it got completely dark, Song Jiaojiao and the others finally saw Qingshui Village.

It was completely dark when we got home. After the fifteenth day of the lunar month, there was no moon in the sky. Having experienced the bright lights of the county town, everyone was still a little unaccustomed to it.

Song Jiaojiao wasn't in the mood to unpack her things. She ate a quick bite for dinner and went back to her room to sleep.

She slept straight through until the sun was high in the sky the next day. When Song Jiaojiao woke up, she stretched and felt refreshed and full of energy.

After eating the breakfast Xu Fang had left for her, she went to look at the things Wang Hefan had brought back. The first thing she saw was the flower, which looked out of place among the pile of goods.

The pink flowers are blooming vigorously, and the air is filled with their fragrance. They are actually golden roses. The petals of this flower range from yellow to pale yellow, and the stamens are beautiful gold. It is said that every step you take is like walking on golden lotus flowers, so it is also called the Golden Lotus Step.

The gradient colors are truly beautiful, like a princess in a gown. No wonder it's an ornamental flower cultivated by wealthy families.

Although it's not very practical, what woman doesn't love flowers? Once I've cultivated a few more of them, I'll plant them all around the fence on the barren hillside. When they bloom, the vast expanse of flowers will be breathtaking; everyone who sees them will say how beautiful they are.

Song Jiaojiao put it into her spatial storage and then looked at the next item. She saw the "ground eggs" Wang Hefan had mentioned—weren't these potatoes? These were high-yield grains, used to make all sorts of delicious dishes. No one could resist the deliciousness of potatoes, not even Song Jiaojiao. There was only one sack, weighing about 70-80 pounds. It seemed she could only save them for seed; the season for planting potatoes was over, but she could plant them in her spatial storage.

Song Jiaojiao searched high and low and finally found soybeans. She hadn't seen any when she first arrived and thought there weren't any. But it turned out that there just weren't any here. With soybeans, she could make tofu, tofu pudding, bean curd sheets, dried tofu, and other delicious foods. Just thinking about it made Song Jiaojiao's mouth water. Seeing that there was only one pound of soybeans, Song Jiaojiao told Feihu to plant them all in the yellow soil.

Just as Song Jiaojiao was looking around to see if there was anything she hadn't seen, Xu Fang and Aunt Li came over.

"Jiaojiao, are you busy?" her aunt asked, noticing Song Jiaojiao's disheveled appearance.

"No, I just went to the county and happened to run into He Fan coming back from a caravan. He brought a lot of things with him, so I was just looking to see if there was anything I recognized that might be useful," Song Jiaojiao said with a smile.

"Is there something you need from me, Auntie?"

"Yes, there's something I need. We ran out of sweet potatoes after finishing today's harvest, so I came to ask what our plans are," Aunt Li explained.

"The sweet potatoes are all gone? I really didn't notice. Did Sifanglou come to pick up sweet potato starch today?" Song Jiaojiao hadn't been paying much attention to the sweet potato farm lately, mainly because Aunt Li was there, so she felt at ease. She really hadn't expected that the sweet potatoes were all gone. At this time of year, almost every household was out of sweet potatoes; they had already been sold to Song Jiaojiao. The next batch wouldn't be available until after the harvest.

"Sifanglou usually comes to pick up goods in the afternoon, but it's not their turn yet today."

"How much inventory is left?" Song Jiaojiao estimated that there was basically nothing left, as Sifanglou always took goods based on Song Jiaojiao's production volume.

"It'll be over in three days at most, Jiaojiao. Look, there's nothing to do tomorrow, so shouldn't we tell the workers to stop work?" Aunt Li thought that since there was no work, she couldn't just do nothing and still get paid every day.

"Let's give the notice for now. Leave two people at the sweet potato farm for three days before stopping. We need to harvest the wheat soon, so let's focus on the grain first. I'll come to you if there's any work later. Auntie, please calculate everyone's wages and settle them with you later." Without raw materials, Song Jiaojiao had no choice. Going to buy them from too far away was not cost-effective in terms of manpower.

"Oh, by the way, remember to make it clear to Sifanglou when they come to pick up the goods today."

"Okay, then I'll go and make the arrangements." Aunt Li said and left.

"Madam, Ma Tao said that some of the chickens on the mountain have started laying eggs. She asked how to prepare the eggs later?" Xu Fang said, looking down.

"There aren't many laying hens right now, so let's eat them for now. I have other plans for when more hens start laying eggs. Let me know then." Song Jiaojiao thought that there was no rush since the eggs had only just started laying. "How about this, you collect twenty eggs later, and I'll try it out first."

Thinking that if the method is wrong and it doesn't work, it will be too late to try it later, so I might as well try it now while there's nothing else to do.

Xu Fang nodded in agreement and left.

What should I make? How about I make salted eggs first?

As she spoke, Song Jiaojiao went to the kitchen and first took out the peppercorns, star anise, and bay leaves to soak in warm water, which she would use to make water for the salted eggs later.

First, clean the pot thoroughly to ensure there is no oil. Then, take out an empty jar, clean it, and let it air dry.

Just then, Xu Fang returned with the eggs. These newly laid eggs were really small, barely bigger than pigeon eggs. Twenty of them were a bit few.

"How many eggs are left over there? This egg is too small," Song Jiaojiao asked Xu Fang with disdain.

"I estimate there are about forty more, all recently collected." Song Jiaojiao's family eats eggs every day, as she requires, including the servants, so the eggs laid by the first few chickens were basically all eaten.

"Okay, bring them all over," although it's not much, it's better than this little bit.

Xu Fang put down the eggs and went to pick them up.

Song Jiaojiao put the eggs in a basin and washed them clean. Then she poured some white wine into a bowl, dried the washed eggs with a clean cloth, and rolled them in the bowl of wine to make sure that each side was coated with wine. She then set them aside for later use.

Just as Song Jiaojiao finished preparing the twenty eggs, Xu Fang brought over the remaining eggs, and Song Jiaojiao began to teach her how to make salted eggs.

"Wash the eggs, dry them, roll them in white wine, and set them aside. You can take care of the rest first." Song Jiaojiao demonstrated once and then went to prepare the other things.