Transmigrated into a Blacksmith’s Husband

Bonus chapter Gabby and Shirayaki. Thank you for the kofi.

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Today was Meng Bei’s first day at work. He and Li Xiumei got up before dawn and went to Yu Qiao Ji as soon as the curfew was lifted.

Ming Xu and Ming Chen had also gotten up early to prepare the ingredients for the egg cakes. He opened the door waiting for them.

As soon as Meng Bei arrived, he got to work whipping up eggs while Ming Xu and Ming Chen helped Li Xiumei prepare the vegetables for the vegetable pancakes.

After sunrise, Meng Bei and Xiumei pushed their cart to the dock to set up their stall.

The whole street at the dock was filled with small food vendors. They found a good spot and settled in. When the workers came one after another by midday, the two of them were already very busy.

When Qiao Yuan arrived at the shop, Ming Xu and Ming Chen had already baked the first batch of egg cakes. Qiao Yuan tasted one and said, “It’s a bit dry. You still need to practice more.”

Since Meng Bei had whipped up a large batch of eggs today, they could practice a few more times. Qiao Yuan let Ming Chen continue to practice the egg cakes, while Ming Xu followed him to learn how to make meat floss.

The meat floss was made in a wok, which required effort but was easy to control. It had a long shelf life so they didn’t have to make it every day. While boiling the meat, he could also start making youpi and yousu1⦁ Youpi (油皮) refers to a flaky oil pastry dough. ⦁ Yousu (油酥) is a crispy oil dough. ⦁ These are types of Chinese layered and flaky doughs made using oil.. This had more steps and was also difficult, requiring lots of practice to get right.

Qiao Yuan sighed. He still didn’t have enough manpower, but he had to expand the business slowly. For now they just needed to stabilize Yu Qiao Ji’s profits before making any further decisions.

Lin Cuifen had temporarily stopped making steamed cakes. She was still helping him in the shop today, mainly responsible for making dried sweet potatoes. After steaming and cutting them, she baked them directly in the oven. She could make more of these at once, and they can last for a long time if stored properly. She didn’t have to bother with them every day.

Based on the current learning progress of Ming Xu and Ming Chen, before the store opens, Ming Xu will be responsible for making meat floss cakes and rice crackers, while Ming Chen will be responsible for making egg cakes and mixed-flavored peanuts. Qiao Yuan will also make flower buns and rice candy, while supervising the work of Ming Xu and Ming Chen. Once the two have mastered these items, they will learn how to make flower buns from Qiao Yuan.

Making rice candy didn’t take much effort – Qiao Yuan had already experimented with it at home. But plain rice candy was a bit too sweet, so Qiao Yuan thought to add some hawthorn slices on top. The hawthorn grown here was also called “red mountain fruit” – it was a wild berry that grew abundantly in the mountains but was too sour for the villagers to eat much of. They would only pick some to sell to the medicine hall.

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The bag of hawthorn that Qiao Yuan received was cut from Baohe Hall, and Dr. Zhou refused to accept his money no matter what.

Lin Cuifen tasted a piece of hawthorn and asked, “Can this be sold separately?”

She was now influenced by Qiao Yuan and felt that there were business opportunities everywhere.

Qiao Yuan laughed and said, “Mom, your business sense is very good now.” He added, “It definitely can be sold separately. And hawthorn can be stored for a long time when made into hawthorn slices. We’ll make a bunch for now, and if they sell well, we can buy more hawthorn later and make them all into hawthorn slices.”

Now was the season when hawthorn was ripe, and it was also the slack season for farming. If he bought them all, he could get a lot.

At noon, Qiao Yuan wrapped some snacks and went to find Yu Dameng.

Earlier in the morning, even though his cold was clearly better, Yu Dameng had still insisted he drink medicine. He got angry and gave Yu Dameng the cold shoulder and ignored him the whole way. Now that he was almost done with his work, he started to miss Yu Dameng again.

Yu Dameng saw him coming, grinned with his mouth open, and his eyes were bright.

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“Stupid.” Qiao Yuan said to him and took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat.

The two of them were affectionate and completely forgot about the unpleasantness in the morning.

“You take a break and come with me to the dock to check on the situation of Brother Meng and Sister-in-law Meng.”

Yu Dameng went to the backyard to wash his face and changed his clothes and followed Qiao Yuan out.

“I heard that there are a lot of delicious food at the dock. Let’s go and have lunch there. Mom and the others have already filled their stomachs in the shop. We’ll bring some food back for Father later.”

Actually, Qiao Yuan was not hungry either. He just wanted to spend some alone time with Yu Dameng.

This was Qiao Yuan’s first time to come to Yunshui Lake dock. The shore was very long and there were many boats of different sizes. It was lunch time now, and the boats were relatively empty. Most of the people were concentrated on the small street along the shore, bustling and lively.

The two of them looked for a long time before they saw Meng Bei and Li Xiumei surrounded by a crowd. It seemed that the business was good. Qiao Yuan didn’t go over to disturb them, instead he pulled Yu Dameng straight to the most famous Dingji Mutton Soup restaurant at the dock.

Mutton was very expensive, and this restaurant mostly catered to relatively well-off people who come from all over the country. Ordinary people who came to work and carry heavy loads couldn’t afford to eat it. After all, a bowl of mutton soup and two flatbreads cost fifteen wen.

The mutton soup was pure and rich. Qiao Yuan was already full, but he couldn’t resist drinking half a bowl. The rest was naturally finished by Yu Dameng. The two of them ate happily and bought a roast goose and three flatbreads for Yu Laoda. They were about to go back, but someone called out, “Yuan Ge’er.”

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Qiao Yuan turned his head and saw that it was his uncle Qiao Guangzhi. Qiao Yuan felt disgusted in his heart and didn’t call out to him, instead he asked directly, “What’s the matter?”

Qiao Guangzhi knew that Qiao Yuan was not the same as before. The most talked about flower buns were made by him. How come he didn’t see it before, that his nephew had such great skills. His second brother was really lucky, marrying a wife who could bring in money, and having a son who was more capable than his two sons.

If he had known this earlier, he would never have listened to that stupid woman Xu Xiuhua and let him marry so soon!

Qiao Guangzhi thought this in his heart, but his face was still as gentle as he used to treat the original owner. “Your grandmother misses you. Why don’t you come home tomorrow and have a meal?”

Qiao Yuan was really nauseous. He hated him more than he hated Xu Xiuhua. What was he pretending for? Xu Xiuhua was still obedient to him anyway. If he had been a little more upright, the original owner would not have been treated so badly.

Qiao Yuan’s words were ambiguous, “Is that so? I’m afraid my aunt and cousin don’t welcome me.”

Qiao Guangzhi coughed and laughed awkwardly, “How could that be?”

“There’s still work to be done in the shop. If Uncle has nothing else to do, I’ll take my leave first.”

After he finished speaking, he didn’t wait for Qiao Guangzhi’s reply and turned around to leave. Qiao Guangzhi had just thought of chasing after him but was stopped by a glare from Yu Dameng. He couldn’t take a step forward and was angry at Xu Xiuhua, the stupid woman who didn’t listen to him and ruined his plans. He decided to teach her a lesson when he got home!

Now that Meng Bei was working at the dock, Qiao Yuan discussed with Yu Dameng to ask Meng Bei to inquire about Qiao Guangzhi’s situation and to understand the situation of the dock management when he had some free time.

Meng Bei agreed, and then Li Xiumei continued to talk about today’s business: “We sold really well! The rush during breakfast and lunch really kept us busy! If we had more vegetables, we could have sold even more!”

Qiao Yuan was also very happy. Moving to the dock directly doubled his profit. He made more than four hundred wen. “Sister-in-law, you worked hard.”

Li Xiumei laughed heartily. “Making money is enjoyable, there’s nothing difficult about it.”

Qiao Yuan packed some snacks that Ming Xu and Ming Chen practiced making this morning, paid them their wages, and sent them off.

On the day of Yu Qiao Ji’s opening, Qiao Yuan got up early. In order to sleep a little longer, he stayed in the iron shop last night.

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When he and Yu Dameng arrived at Yu Qiao Ji, Meng Bei was quickly beating eggs, while Li Xiumei was preparing ingredients for the vegetable pancakes. The two of them knew what they were doing and only worked on their own tasks in the courtyard, never going to the kitchen.

Ming Xu was also very diligent. He soaked the rice grains last night. Now the rice crackers were done. Ming Chen’s mixed-flavored peanuts were almost finished. Qiao Yuan became the slowest one.

He quickly mixed the dough and started making flower buns. Yu Dameng helped him as an assistant.

Ming Xu and Ming Chen looked at each other and smiled. Their master and lord were really affectionate.

Then, Yu Laoda and Lin Cuifen also rushed over.

As soon as midday arrived, whips were cracked and gongs were sounded, and Yu Qiao Ji officially opened for business.

“Hello everyone, dear fellow villagers and elders. Today, our restaurant, Yu Qiao Ji, is officially open for business. As many of you may already know, the famous flower buns served at Laike House’s opening during the autumn festival were made by us at Yu Qiao Ji.”

“So, our Yu Qiao Ji has two main businesses. The first is that we can customize flower buns for any occasion, such as wedding banquets, birthday banquets, children’s full moon or birthday, shop opening, parties, and so on. Anything that is a happy event, you can find us. The second is the snacks and small treats that are displayed in the shop today. The first thirty customers who make a purchase in the shop will each get a jin of mixed-flavored peanuts as a gift.”

Yu Qiao Ji had made a name for itself on the day of the autumn festival, and its fragrance had been lingering on this street for three days, arousing everyone’s appetite.

Regardless of whether everyone would buy or not, they all wanted to go in and explore to find out what it’s all about.

There were four rows of neat shelves at the entrance, covered with white gauze. Through the gauze, they could see various products, with wooden signs introducing them. Such as egg cakes, soft and sweet, ten wen each; rice crackers, salty and spicy, one jin for seven wen, and so on.

In the shop, the only thing that people recognized was the pancakes, stacked one after another, with each stack weighing one jin. However, there are now four different flavors available.

The rice crackers, peanuts, dried sweet potatoes, and hawthorn slices could be sampled, although each person was limited to one. Those who tasted them were conquered by the flavor, and these four items had the same price, and they could mix and match. They could taste four flavors with one jin, and they soon sold like hot cakes.

The egg cakes, ten wen each, were a bit expensive, but they were so fragrant. Standing in front of the shelf and taking a deep breath, those who had money in their pockets couldn’t bear to leave.

Qiao Yuan said in time, “Because the egg cakes are complicated to make, our shop doesn’t have enough manpower for now, so we only supply a limited quantity of sixty pieces every midday and late afternoon.”

Upon hearing this, those who were still hesitant immediately added the egg cakes to their own trays.

The rice candy was also fragrant, with the sweet smell of rice. They could buy a piece as big as their palm for two wen. Those who didn’t want to buy the egg cakes bought it to satisfy their sweet tooth.

As for the flower buns, Qiao Yuan only made three of them. They were themed with flowers, rabbits, and gold ingots, and they each cost half a tael of silver each. Now the people in the shop were basically just looking around, not buying.

However, Qiao Yuan was confident that selling these three flower buns was only a matter of time.

The most difficult to deal with were the meat floss cake. It had no smell, and it looked ordinary, and it cost twenty wen each. No one was interested.

Qiao Yuan broke one open and showed everyone, “The ingredients inside this meat floss cake are made from specially processed meat, so the price is a bit high.”

No matter how much he said, it was useless. He had to have someone taste it. He targeted Boss Zhu, the shopkeeper of Yuhuchun, who was taking the egg cakes. “We’ll ask Boss Zhu to taste it for you first.”

Boss Zhu tasted one and exclaimed, “Salty and savory, with a hint of sweetness. If paired with a pot of high-quality Longjing tea, how wonderful! Boss Qiao, wrap four for me!”

He was worthy of being the boss of a tea house, a sales genius!

As soon as he tasted it, the customers of Yuhuchun who came with him to join the fun also bought some. They were not short of money, and they also wanted four each. Those who were late, found that there was none left on the shelf.

Qiao Yuan apologized with a bow, “Today is the first day of our business, and we only made thirty meat floss cakes. We will increase it to forty tomorrow, so those who want to buy should come early.”

Those who didn’t buy: They really regretted it!

Boss Zhu carried the pastries, and happily asked the waiter to prepare some good Longjing tea. Just watch, he was also going to do big business!

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you want to show your support, you can buy me a coffee. It would make my day! For every five coffees I get, I will release a bonus chapter.

1⦁ Youpi (油皮) refers to a flaky oil pastry dough. ⦁ Yousu (油酥) is a crispy oil dough. ⦁ These are types of Chinese layered and flaky doughs made using oil.