Chapter 010 Borrowing Chicken to Produce Eggs

Feng Jian nodded at Lao Yang, who quickly opened the door and warmly welcomed Lu Xiaomi inside with a smile, saying, "I was just thinking about finding the young lady. Our young master's leg needs to be changed."

"Yang Bo, I remember. I already sent Big Brother to fetch Uncle Bi after lunch. He'll come over after that."

Lu Xiaomi spoke crisply and efficiently, arranging family matters properly. She was especially attentive to Feng Jian's household affairs, which made Lao Yang even happier.

"Alright, thank you for your trouble, Miss Lu."

"Yang Bo, no need to be so polite. We are all family, so it's only natural."

Lu Xiaomi sat on the edge of the kang and glanced at the writing materials on the table, which she had specially bought for Feng Jian when she first came to the city, anticipating his daily use. She didn't expect to make use of them today.

Seeing Lu Xiaomi enter without saying a word and looking at the writing materials, Feng Jian's eyes flashed with a hint of confusion. He asked, "Miss Lu, do you need paper and pen?"

Lu Xiaomi quickly regained her composure and smiled, "Maybe I'll need them later. I have something to discuss with Feng Ge first."

"Alright, feel free to speak, Miss Lu."

"Well, Feng Ge, these days you've been staying here, and I'm sure you can tell that our family is in a difficult situation. Otherwise, you wouldn't have let Gao Ren go hunting with Xiao Dao and the others. Now our family needs to prepare the hundred-day memorial ceremony for our mother, and my third brother also needs new clothes..."

Even in her past life, no matter how difficult things were, Lu Xiaomi would never have borrowed money from others, even if it meant working four jobs a day. But now, with a family and loved ones to take care of, she felt a bit embarrassed to ask for help. As she spoke, she had already crumpled the hem of her clothes in her hands.

Feng Jian's eyes passed over Lu Xiaomi's blushing ears, and he rarely interrupted her, "If the family doesn't have enough money, I'll have Gao Ren go up the mountain again tomorrow."

Gao Ren rolled his eyes and snorted, but he didn't refuse. Instead, he licked his lips and pondered. The braised pork ribs from before were really delicious. If he went up the mountain, he would definitely bring back another wild boar.

However, Lu Xiaomi's expression changed, and she quickly waved her hand to stop him, "No! Feng Ge, you don't know, there has already been a second snowfall on the mountain, and it's completely closed off. It's okay to hunt some snow rabbits and wild chickens at the foot of the mountain, but it's dangerous to go up the mountain. Even if Gao Ren is skilled, he could easily freeze to death up there."

Having said this, she couldn't delay any longer and quickly explained her purpose, "I came here today not to ask Gao Ren to go hunting again, but to discuss a business deal with Feng Ge."

"A business deal?"

Feng Jian raised an eyebrow, and even Lao Yang and Gao Ren looked over curiously.

Lu Xiaomi nodded solemnly, "Feng Ge, next spring, I plan to fertilize and cultivate our family's fields to see if we can harvest the crops earlier. In addition, there are a few small things I want to try making, which might also bring in some money. But I don't have a single penny in my hands. That's why I've come to talk to Feng Ge. Can I borrow the 180 taels of silver left over from selling the game earlier? I'm willing to repay double by the end of next autumn. Words are not enough, so I can write a promissory note. If I still can't repay the debt by next autumn, well... I'm quite good at cooking, so I'm willing to work as a cook for Feng Ge, using my wages to pay off the debt until it's fully repaid."

The last four words were almost gritted through her teeth.

Freedom, one of the most precious things in the world. If there was any other way, she wouldn't have risked her freedom. But in this urgent situation, she had to make her family prosperous, take care of the old and young in the Lu family, and repay her mother's kindness, so this was the only way.

Feng Jian actually didn't care much about the 180 taels of silver, especially since he had already said that the silver belonged to the Lu family. Now, hearing Lu Xiaomi's request, he frowned as if he was about to speak, but then he saw Lao Yang shaking his head gently behind Lu Xiaomi.

He paused for a moment, then looked at the delicate white neck that Lu Xiaomi was nervously rubbing, and suddenly understood something.

"Alright, let's draw up a promissory note as Miss Lu suggested. Tomorrow, I'll have Gao Ren come over again at autumn time."

"Thank you, Feng Ge. Don't worry, I will definitely repay the debt by next autumn."

Lu Xiaomi was overjoyed, and her palm-sized smiling face was like the sun breaking through layers of dark clouds, slightly dazzling, even causing Feng Jian to smile.

Lao Yang helped with the writing materials, praising, "Miss, you have beautiful handwriting!"

"It's all thanks to my mother," Lu Xiaomi carefully wrote the promissory note. After finishing, she thought for a moment, then dipped her finger in ink and pressed a fingerprint, instructing, "In a few days, it will be my mother's death anniversary, and we need to make some preparations at home. It might get a bit noisy, and I'm afraid it might disturb Feng Ge's peace."

"It's okay."

Feng Jian seemed to think of something and his eyes darkened, "At that time, allow me to light a stick of incense as well."

"Thank you, Feng Ge."

Lu Xiaomi achieved her wish, exchanged a few more pleasantries, and then left.

"Poor people's children grow up early. Miss Lu is a determined and sensible girl."

Lao Yang quietly praised, but Gao Ren used a date pit as a hidden weapon and played around, retorting, "That brat dares to look down on me. Tomorrow..."

"Tomorrow, you are not allowed to go up the mountain!" Lao Yang rarely scolded with a stern face, "If you hadn't left the young master's side without permission before, the young master wouldn't have been injured by the bandits! If you dare to do it again, don't blame me for being merciless."

Gao Ren's face turned red from being scolded, and he was about to retort or even use force, but he still had some reservations. In the end, he slapped the window open and jumped out.

Lao Yang closed the window with a calm expression, as if such things were commonplace. He then looked at Feng Jian, who was resting on the thick cotton quilt, and closed his eyes to rest.

Once again, Lu Xiaomi went back to the house to pick up those few silver bills, and her feelings became even more complicated.

These silver bills would be her capital for getting rich in the future, but they also felt like a heavy burden on her shoulders.

If news of this got out, she was afraid that the whole village of Laoxiongling would think she had gone mad.

However, pressure can also be a driving force. At this point, she had no way out and could only rack her brains to find ways to make money.

What kind of business could bring quick profits without requiring much investment, and preferably without much manual labor...

The winter sun, lacking the vitality of summer, only came out to fulfill its duty. By midday, it would weakly hide behind the clouds, intending to laze around completely.

When Uncle Bi knocked on the door of the Lu family courtyard with his medicine box, Lu Xiaomi was busy in the kitchen.

The angry runaway Gao Ren didn't know when he had returned, and as usual, he had sneaked into the kitchen under the guise of helping, with the secret goal of stealing food.

Today was unusual, even Lu Er was standing at the door, peeking in.

Hearing the knock on the door, Lu Xiaomi quickly wiped the sweat from her nose and stuffed a candy-coated hawthorn stick into the hands of Lu Wu and Gao Ren, shooing them away.

"It must be Uncle Bi coming to change the medicine. Hurry and open the door and pass the message to Brother Feng."

Lu Wu and Gao Ren, having received the coveted food, were all smiles as they left, munching on the hawthorn sticks.

Uncle Bi stepped into the courtyard, and seeing Lu Wu gnawing on a shiny hawthorn stick, he guessed that Xiaomi had made some new and interesting snacks, so he reached out and snatched it away.

Lu Wu protested, "Uncle, there's more in the kitchen. Why are you taking mine?"

"You can go get it yourself. Don't you know I'm busy?" Uncle Bi was not polite at all, nodding as he ate, "These hawthorns are all over the mountains, but why do they taste so much better when Xiaomi prepares them! Go, get me two more sticks."

When Xiaomi heard this in the kitchen, she ran to the door with a smile, "Uncle, if you like it, that's great. Take a few more sticks when you leave."

"Sure, there are several kids at home, they probably like this little treat even more."

Uncle Bi said as he went into the east wing, and since Xiaomi couldn't go in, she stood outside the door listening.

Feng Jian had a foundation in martial arts and his body was much stronger than the average person. These days, he had been eating and drinking carefully, with three doses of medicinal soup a day, so his leg injury naturally recovered quickly.

Everyone was happy, and Uncle Bi, not holding back, left with a pot of braised pig stomach and a few sticks of candy-coated hawthorn, his eyebrows and beard flying with joy.

Laoxiongling was not big, and the mischievous kids had never changed their playful nature because of the heavy snow. Uncle Bi paraded around with the hawthorn sticks, naturally spreading the news that the Lu family made delicious snacks.

Soon, the courtyard of the Lu family was crowded with little heads.

Xiaomi was not stingy, giving each child a hawthorn stick, and the kids ran off happily.

In the east wing, Feng Jian, because of his leg injury, was moved and feeling a bit irritable. Lao Yang saw this and quickly brought in a string of hawthorn sticks.

Feng Jian wasn't really craving it, but subconsciously, he wanted to distract himself from the pain. As he took a bite, the sour, sweet, and cool sensation flooded his mouth, and his saliva overflowed instantly, as if a lot of his irritability had dissipated.

Lao Yang, seeing the surprise in his master's expression, smiled and said, "Miss Lu is probably planning to sell these little treats to make money!"

Feng Jian nodded and finished eating slowly. Although he liked it very much, he actually felt somewhat skeptical. Such snacks were only special because they were novel. It wouldn't be difficult to replicate them. If she wanted to do this business in the long term, it wouldn't work.

Of course, Xiaomi also knew this truth, so she had no intention of running this business in the long term.

At dinner time, Xiaomi didn't have time to prepare a fine meal, so she made hot soup noodles. A few cloves of solo garlic, plus two kinds of pickles, were enough for a meal. Of course, Feng Jian's bowl was made with chicken broth, warm and nourishing.

Everyone gathered in the east wing as usual to eat and drink. Just as Lu Wu was about to say that he would go up the mountain tomorrow, Xiaomi interrupted, "Second Brother, you go find Xiao Daoge and the others later, and it's best to gather ten people. Tomorrow, help me go into the city to sell hawthorn sticks. Also, make sure to ask Uncle Liu to hurry and make ten bundles of grass tonight. I'll give you the design later, it's very simple."

Lu Wu took a sip of soup and asked in confusion, "Little sister, are you going to sell the hawthorn sticks you made today? Can they be sold? Hawthorns are not anything special..."

"You also like to eat them, don't you? Why wouldn't they sell! Besides, hawthorns are not worth much, at most, add two pounds of sugar glaze, why not give it a try? You don't need to worry about it, just help me with these two things."

Xiaomi didn't feel like explaining to her brother, and after eating a few bites of noodles, she hurried back to the kitchen.

Selling just hawthorn candy-coated sticks would be a bit thin, so she planned to come up with more varieties.

In business, it has always been about being unique and innovative, always staying ahead, even if it can't be sustained for long, the income will certainly be considerable.