Chapter 20 - There were some problems with the medicine

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

After the tofu was ready, Shi Qingluo asked Xiao Erlang to call the aunties over.

She also tasked Xiao Baili to cook a portion for everyone to try.

In the past, her family had female helpers who specialised in cooking and cleaning, so her cooking skills weren’t good.

Xiao Baili was very talented in cooking, but it was a pity that there wasn’t a platform for her to show off in the family.

Those who came with Xiao Erlang to try it all claimed that it was delicious.

Then, Shi Qingluo also told them that they could stir-fry, boil soup, or stew fish as they escorted them out after the food tasting.

Mother Xiao also escorted them out.

One of them smiled and said, “Now that you have experienced all the hardships, not only has your eldest son woken up, but his wife is also so capable.”

Mother Xiao smiled and said, “She is indeed capable.”

“Are you going to sell this tofu?” Another woman who was a little quick-witted asked.

They had never seen or tasted this tofu before, and it tasted quite good.

The cost was that the beans shouldn’t be too high, so it wouldn’t be difficult to sell it.

Mother Xiao shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ll let my daughter-in-law decide.”

The few of them wondered, what was Mdm Kong trying to say as the mother-in-law of Miss Shi?

After sending the few of them off, Mother Xiao returned to the courtyard.

It was almost time for dinner. Xiao Baili had already prepared the rice and fried the tofu. Then, under Shi Qingluo’s instructions, she cooked the cabbage and tofu soup.

The whole family sat together and ate.

Xiao Hanzheng still ate the porridge, and only took a few bites of the tofu.

He had been unconscious for so long, so he had to eat slowly.

Otherwise, he might have a stomach upset.

He asked Shi Qingluo, “What do you want to do with this tofu?”

Shi Qingluo replied, “Use it to earn money. But it’s too hard to make tofu every morning. I don’t plan to make it myself and sell it.”

Just grinding the beans to make tofu was already very difficult. It wasn’t suitable for her family with a labour force that was weak and old.

Xiao Hanzheng asked, “Did you have other plans in mind?”

Shi Qingluo nodded. “I want to hire people to make tofu, and then sell it to others in the village at a low price of two wen per kilogram.”

“They can carry the tofu and sell it in the town or to other villages.

“This way, we don’t have to work so hard, and we can also sell it to the people in the village.”

She continued, “We can do this in the name of repaying everyone’s effort for taking care of us.

“The world is bustling with activity for the sake of profits.

“As long as we can unite the support of most people in the village and bind ourselves to their interests, whether it is towards our extended family or the Wu family, we will have an advantage.”

Shi Qingluo did not forget that the Wu family was still a hidden danger.

Xiao Hanzheng didn’t expect Shi Qingluo to be able to say such insightful words.

He didn’t know why, but he felt that the old Taoist who was obsessed with alchemy couldn’t hone Shi Qingluo to such temperament.

He agreed, “You’ve thought it through thoroughly. I think it’s very good.”

Just now, he was thinking about how he would handle the tofu business.

To his surprise, Shi Qingluo actually had similar thoughts with him.

Shi Qingluo chuckled and said, “Then it’s a deal. Anyway, there’s an empty space behind our shabby courtyard. We’ll hire people to build a shed in the next two days, and we’ll make tofu in it from now on.

“Then, we’ll carefully calculate the cost and see how we can sell it for one catty.”

She added, “The villagers can use beans to exchange for tofu, or they can use money to buy it. Otherwise, it’ll be troublesome for us to collect the beans.”

She had been forced by her parents to undergo training for a few years.

They wanted her to start a business and inherit the company.

At that time, she had learned a lot about operating a business.

Unfortunately, both of them were deliberately fooled by her.

They were so angry when she applied for a major in agriculture at the University of Agriculture with her college entrance exam.

In the end they just let her be.

Before she died, the two of them had already given birth to a pair of test tube twin brothers.

They said that they wanted to nurture them from a young age, and they wouldn’t be like her who always go against them.

In the future, they could each inherit a company.

Xiao Hanzheng found that Shi Qingluo was brilliant, and also had a lot of talent in business.

He nodded. “Alright, I’ll go and have a chat with the chief in a while. I’ll also ask him to help choose some villagers to make tofu.”

He had drunk Shi Qingluo’s sugar water yesterday and this morning, and after drinking several times of white water, he felt much better, and his body was not as weak as before.

It wasn’t a problem for him to walk for a short while.

Mother Xiao smiled as she listened to the two of them make the decision.

She did not give any advice or interfere.

She knew that she wasn’t suited to be the head of the household.

From now on, she would let her daughter-in-law take charge.

After dinner, Xiao Hanzheng and Xiao Erlang went to the chief’s house and gave him and the elders the tofu.

The chief asked his son’s wife to stir-fry the tofu on the spot and taste it.

He realised that the taste was indeed not bad and that it would definitely sell.

He was happy that Xiao Hanzheng’s family had such life skills.

He was also very happy that the young couple could think of ways to repay the village’s care.

It also proved that their judgement was right.

Thus, he took the initiative to ask for help in recruiting people.

He knew best who were the hardworking and reliable people in the village.

After Xiao Hanzheng thanked them, he brought Xiao Erlang home.

As soon as he returned home, Xiao Baili brought a bowl of medicine.

“Brother, it’s time to drink your medicine.”

At this moment, Shi Qingluo had also finished her afternoon nap and walked out.

She casually asked, “Aren’t you done? Why are you still drinking the medicine?”

Mother Xiao continued, “This is the medicine that the town’s doctor prescribed him to nourish his body.”

“The doctor said that although he didn’t have a fever and woke up, he had injured his body previously. He needed to drink some medicine to strengthen his body.”

Shi Qingluo didn’t know much about medicine. “I see.”

Xiao Hanzheng looked at the medicine in the bowl.

His originally calm eyes were filled with hostility again, and his entire person seemed to have an additional layer of anger.

Shi Qingluo sensed it and looked at him inexplicably.

Did this medicine offend him?

Realising that Shi Qingluo was looking at him inexplicably, Xiao Hanzheng was stunned for a moment before he restrained his hostility.

It seemed that his little wife was still very sensitive!

He took a sip of the medicine and soon spat it on the handkerchief.

Mother Xiao also felt that something was wrong with him when she saw this. “Zheng’er, is there a problem with this medicine?”

Xiao Hanzheng put down the medicine bowl and nodded. “Yes. Not only would this medicine restore my vitality, it will also cause my body to become weaker.

“If I drink it more, I will become a sickly person.”

Mother Xiao widened her eyes. “How is this possible?”

Shi Qingluo was also a little confused.

She was even more surprised that Xiao Hanzheng knew about the medications.

But it was not right. He was already filled with rage and anger before he drank it.

Xiao Hanzheng asked Mother Xiao, “Mother, when I was unconscious, are the remnants of medicine that you boiled still there?”

Mother Xiao nodded. “They were still there. I poured them all in the backyard.”

“I’ll go take a look.” Xiao Hanzheng stood up.

The few of them followed him to the backyard.

Shi Qingluo looked as Xiao Hanzheng rummaged through the remnants of his medicine.

In the end, he found two types of medicines.

He was very familiar with medications.

He stood up and looked at Mother Xiao and the others. “I had a high fever and didn’t wake up. It was caused by the clash of these two medicines.”

This was also something he had discovered by accident after he woke up in his previous life.

In order to not be at a disadvantage and to take revenge, he had even specially gone to study medicine.

With just one drink, he could tell that the medicine just now was also problematic.

Mother Xiao had a look of disbelief on her face. “You mean that our county’s doctor intentionally harmed you?”

She did believe in her son’s words.

What she couldn’t believe was that the doctor had harmed her son. “We have no enmity with him. Why would he harm you?”