My sister became the empress, but I'm still growing vegetables and raising chickens

Chapter 175 Making Down Jackets

Uncle Chunbo originally wanted to take the book to the Si family and ask Si Xingzhi, but Chunbo's mother refused to agree and insisted on waiting until tomorrow to go to the school to ask the teacher. After a fuss, Uncle Chunbo finally compromised.

The next day, the Master saw the two books and was silent for a long moment before he said with a sullen face, "The books are fine, but they're not suitable for Chunbo. In my opinion, the most important thing for Chunbo right now is to study with me. In three or four years, I'll recommend him for the exam. Once he passes, it won't be too late to read these two books."

Chunbo's mother nodded happily and snorted at Song Chunbo, "I knew Si Xingzhi had bad intentions. What kind of book is this? He's using it to make things difficult for you. If you listen to him, you'll fall behind in the lessons the teacher taught you. You won't be able to learn anything from it, so what's the point?"

Song Chunbo wanted to say something, but his mother stopped him from saying a word.

Uncle Chunbo was a simple man. He thanked the gift profusely and planned to take the book back: "I'll give it back to Lao Si later."

The Master held the book down and said, "These two books are not completely useless. Let me first take a good look at them and distinguish the good from the bad. That way, I can teach Chunbo well in the future."

"This..." Uncle Chunbo hesitated, "But Master, this is not ours after all, we have to return it to the owner."

The Master did not let go, but his expression became even darker.

Seeing this, Chunbo's mother hurriedly said, "Si Xingzhi said that the book was for Chunbo, so it belongs to Chunbo. The Master said that it needs to be sorted out, so it stays with the Master."

Only then can we stop.

After the Song family left, the young man beside the teacher asked curiously, "Uncle, if you want any books, just go to the county and find your cousin. He's the instructor of Fenghuang County. Doesn't he have access to many more books than this country boy?"

The teacher placed the two books in the man's hands and said, "Ah Cheng, you are now twenty-four years old and still only a student. You haven't passed the imperial examination yet. But now that you have these two books, you will be able to pass the imperial examination in no time!"

"really?"

The Master smiled and said, "Of course it's true. Don't look at me as just a scholar, but I have done some research on books over the years. If I'm not mistaken, these two books must have been passed on by someone. It's a coincidence, a coincidence. My Cen family is saved!"

Cen Cheng frowned. "I heard from Song Chunbo that the book belongs to his teacher. Could it be that teacher lives in Songji Village?"

"How could you possibly live in such a remote village? Not to mention the nearby villages, even in Fenghuang County, there aren't many famous people living here." The teacher waved his hand. "I heard there's a family surnamed Si in Songji Village. They started making some money last year and started doing business outside. They probably brought this book back from their business trip."

Cen Cheng didn't say anything, just nodded and took the two books away.

The master said again: "Ah Cheng, now that you have these two books, you must work hard and never sneak out to play again, understand?"

Si Xingzhi had no idea what the Song family had done. Although he was disappointed that he could not teach Song Chunbo properly, he was only disappointed for two days and then continued to teach his literacy class.

Life went on as planned. Of the three sisters in the Si family, the eldest sister took care of growing vegetables and raising poultry, while the youngest sister handled the accounts. She was in charge of the accounts for the shop and workshop. She also brought in a boy and a girl from the village to teach them how to manage the accounts. The second sister, however, listened to the advice and delegated the collection of the duck shop to others, while she would visit the shop and workshop every few days to ensure there were no mistakes.

In the blink of an eye, spring goes and summer comes, and the sun is high in the sky.

When the Si family delivered the base and dipping sauces, they always prepared ice. Although the cost increased, the goods they needed to supply now were more than just a few. There were a total of seventy-six shops in Lingnan City and the surrounding counties, large and small. Excluding those in Fenghuang County, there were still seventy-four.

Over five days, nearly 15,000 servings of base and dipping sauces were delivered in one direction every day to ensure the normal operation of each shop.

Many people also set their sights on the duck shop, hoping to be supplied by the Si family. However, there were many braised food shops on the market, and braised food was not a rare thing. Si Muyan just made it more exquisitely and had a wider variety of products than others.

If it is to supply goods, it will be too inconvenient.

In the end, only two more branches were opened in Fenghuang County.

The younger sister muttered, "We have to buy ice anyway, so why don't we supply the duck goods elsewhere? When the weather gets colder, we won't even have to buy ice."

Si Muyan shook her head. "We have exclusive base and dipping sauces. No one else can make this taste. Duck products are different. Some people's brine is better than ours, but the brine is nothing special. Sending it so far away, it's not fresh, and the taste is even worse. So there's no need. Let's just forget about this business."

The second sister agreed: "Big sister, you are right. We earn enough money now. I don't know how good our life is now."

The younger sister said, "How can you ever earn enough money? Of course, more money is better. Big sister, I've noticed you've been hanging out in the workshop lately, watching them slaughter chickens and geese. Have you thought of some new business opportunity?"

"Little sister, you're really smart!" Si Muyan said approvingly, "However, I didn't think of it as a business opportunity, but I thought I could use it myself."

"Chickens and ducks are for eating, are they for your own use?"

Si Muyan said, "Ducks and geese are not afraid of the cold because their feathers are very warm. I think if we could make clothes out of their feathers, we wouldn't be afraid during the cold winter."

Although there was no snow in the south during the winter, the cold wind was still unbearable. Everyone could only wrap themselves in layers of clothes and put stoves in the house to keep warm. When they went outside, they had to shiver.

The little sister's eyes rolled around: "Then we can try it. Make a double layer of fabric and put feathers in it."

Si Muyan took her two sisters to the back. She had collected a lot of duck down and goose down and spread out the sheets to dry the down.

"The warmest part is the down. After a few days of exposure to the sun, the odor has almost disappeared. But there is still a serious problem. The down is too small. Even if the fabric is dense, such tiny down can easily penetrate. How can this be solved?"

The second sister picked up the fluff, compared it to the sheet underneath, and studied it for a long time. She said, "Although the fluff is tiny, it's very light. It floats up and it's not easy to get out."

Si Muyan said, "But when you wear it, it's like two layers of fabric trapping the fluff, and you're constantly moving around and rubbing against it, instead of just leaving it there."

The second sister nodded. If she did that, the fluff would likely come out. "Then, how about sewing two layers of fabric on top and bottom?"