Chapter 425 Canned Fruit
He added, "It's only a few months away from the Chinese New Year, so there's no need to sell all the remaining poultry, fish, shrimp, etc. You can just keep some for the Chinese New Year and send some to the county town, and keep some for the orchard."

During festivals, we must have the proper rewards!

In this way, everyone will have more motivation and be more enthusiastic in doing things.

Since meeting Xia Mingyue, Guo Kanglai already knew her usual style of doing things. This time he did not refuse, but thanked Xia Mingyue on behalf of everyone.

"There is one more thing I want to discuss with Madam Xia." Guo Kanglai said, "It seems that a farm next to the orchard is for sale. I have been managing the orchard for many years and know that the geology of that land is pretty good. Although there is not much top-quality land, most of it is medium-quality land, but the advantage is that the land is relatively flat and next to the orchard, so it is easier to manage."

"Besides, the tenants over there are quite honest and capable. If we can buy that farm and manage it together, we can probably make some money every year. The only downside is that the land price over there is much higher than the orchard, and it will cost 1,200 taels of silver."

"But I see that the owner of that farm is in a hurry to sell it. I think we can bargain a little more and try to get the price down to around 1,000 to 1,100 taels. It depends on whether Madam Xia is interested."

After the establishment of the new dynasty, the government gradually stabilized. After that, people were free from the war and could live a stable life. Naturally, land was the most stable fixed asset.

Xia Mingyue calculated the silver and money she had on hand and felt that it was about enough. She said, "Manager Guo, just do what you want."

After saying that, Xia Mingyue returned to the house, found a few silver notes with a face value of one hundred taels each, and handed them to Guo Kanglai, "Here are six hundred taels, and you can go directly to Mrs. Lu at home to get the rest."

Before Xia Mingyue went from Jinqiu County to Changzhou Prefecture, she handed over all the money in her family to Lu.

"Yes." Guo Kanglai took the banknote and felt a little excited.

Xia Mingyue is willing to buy the farm, which means that she, like him, thinks that land is the best asset and is willing to manage the farm.

Furthermore, he just made a suggestion and Xia Mingyue handed all the money to him and gave him full authority to handle the matter, which showed her trust in him.

When you work for your master and get generous rewards, you are naturally happy and feel that this master is worth following, but trust is something that makes people feel that this master is worth following.

And try your best.

Guo Kanglai was filled with emotion, and he repeatedly said to Xia Mingyue, "Madam Xia, rest assured, I will definitely handle this matter and satisfy you."

"I always trust Manager Guo's work." Xia Mingyue praised with a smile.

They talked for a while about some plans for the orchard after winter. As it was getting late, they asked Guo Kanglai to stay in Changzhou City for one night and sent him away the next day.

Then, Xia Mingyue began to distribute these sweet and juicy fruits.

She shared some with all the close people, kept some that could be stored for Lu Qiyan and An Yunji, and Xia Mingyue made the rest into snacks.

The dried apples that Xia Mingyue baked for Mrs. He last time received unanimous praise from many people. This time, she baked a lot more and left them for everyone to have as snacks.

Autumn peaches are crisp, with firm flesh and a taste similar to yellow peaches. Xia Mingyue thought about it and decided to make them into canned peaches.

Wash, peel, remove the core and cut into pieces. Soak in salt for a cup of tea, then pour out the salt water. Boil it in a pot with rock sugar and water for a quarter of an hour. After it cools completely, pour it into a clean and sterilized jar, seal it and store it in a cool and ventilated place.

The canned peaches made in this way can be eaten after two days, but the longer they are stored and the longer they are soaked in rock sugar water, the sweeter and more delicious the peaches will taste.

Xia Mingyue uses wax to seal the jar, which is very airtight and can be stored until the New Year. You can take it out anytime you want. When the time comes, you can heat the heated kang in the house, hold the steaming hand warmer in your hands, and take a bite of the cool and sweet...

Tsk, just thinking about it makes me feel like it is a great enjoyment.

Xia Mingyue was looking forward to such a wonderful life. Looking at the three jars of canned peaches that had been prepared, she suddenly felt that these three cans of peaches might not be enough, so she simply made a few more jars.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t have enough crisp peaches, duck pears are just as delicious, and in the winter, whether you eat them cold or mix them with boiling water to make soup, they are good for moistening the lungs and removing dryness, and the taste is excellent.

As for the remaining grapes and pomegranates, just wash them and eat them. If you can’t finish them, you can physically squeeze them into juice, which is sweet and sour and delicious and thirst-quenching.

When Xia Mingyue had finished processing the fruits, Shen Shujun came to her door.

"This is a new storybook I wrote. Madam Xia, can you please take a look at it for me?" Shen Shujun took out the scroll from her arms and handed it to Xia Mingyue.

Xia Mingyue took it.

It was a thread-bound book that had been bound by Shen Shujun. There was no name on the cover, but when it was opened, there were dozens of pages of content written inside.

Judging from the content of the first picture, the protagonist is still the mistress of the harem, with a heartless husband, a cunning mother-in-law, a rude sister-in-law, and an unsympathetic brother-in-law...

Surrounded by wolves, you are trapped in a vortex.

But starting from the second page, the content changed from the previous script written by Shen Shujun.

The heroine is not too tolerant. She questions her husband's indifference, refuses his attempt to secretly take the dowry from her for his own expenses, and directly responds to her mother-in-law's harsh words...

This kind of behavior of fighting back hard while being trapped in shackles makes people feel refreshed and even want to applaud.

Xia Mingyue felt comfortable reading and nodded slightly. Her eyes became brighter as she kept turning the pages.

But when she turned to the last page, Xia Mingyue was a little disappointed when she saw not the next plot but a blank sheet of paper.

The feeling of such an abrupt end was too uncomfortable. Xia Mingyue looked at Shen Shujun impatiently, "That's it?"

"Well, I just wrote here. I haven't finished the rest yet." Shen Shujun replied.

Xia Mingyue was a little disappointed, but when she thought that the author of the story was standing in front of her, she thought that she would soon see the next content, so she had to suppress her urgency temporarily.

“This is a well-written story.”

Xia Mingyue recalled the plot she had just read and said to Shen Shujun, "The plot is straightforward and refreshing, and the identity setting of the protagonist is also easy to mobilize people's emotions. It looks very fascinating. I think if I continue to write, it will definitely be very popular with everyone."

Shen Shujun immediately breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this.

When she picked up the pen to write this storybook, she was hesitant and nervous.

I don’t know if it’s appropriate to write like this, and I don’t know if anyone will like to read it.