I was a stepmother in ancient times, and I led my whole family to wealth.

Chapter 35 Selling Recipes

This man was a legendary figure who passed the imperial examination at the age of twelve and achieved the highest honors in all three levels of the imperial examination at the age of sixteen.

He then spent three years in the Hanlin Academy, supposedly to observe mourning... After that, he went to Guanglin Prefecture...

Guo Yuming rubbed his face and said, "My Guo family ancestors must have been blessed with good fortune. I earned this."

Liu Lingzui sat up straight, straightened his clothes, and said in a serious tone, "And Dean Yan, I heard he is the eldest disciple of our dynasty's imperial tutor, I can go home and brag about it for a while now."

Fang Shiyu listened and smiled at him: "Is this news coming from your cousin in the capital again?"

Liu Lingzui raised her chin: "Yes, Fang Shiyu, is your surname the same as Jin'er's adoptive father's surname, Fang?"

Fang Shiyu waved his hand: "No, my family's ancestral home is in the capital, as you all know."

Ma Wencai sat up straight and looked at him: "If you dare to say yes, I, Ma Wencai, dare to break off all ties with you."

Xie Wenke raised his hand: "Count me in."

Looking at them, their boneless appearance, their self-aggrandizing behavior, their ostentatious displays, the more Dongfang Jin looked, the more she missed her group of mischievous friends…

I am well and safe, please rest assured. Wishing you all a lifetime of peace and prosperity…

After calming down, I became a little closer to them: "Alright, I know you guys are loyal. It's just a surname. There are other families like that in other countries too."

"I have something important to tell you. Your sister wants to start a business, and I have some recipes on hand. Ma Wencai, ask around your family if they need them. If not, I'll ask around elsewhere."

“I’ll go ask Uncle Cai right now,” Ma Wencai said, getting up and walking out without hesitation.

As he walked, he thought to himself, "Jin Jie'er's recipes must be extraordinary." He was convinced of this and knew he couldn't let others benefit from them. With that thought, he quickened his pace.

Liu Lingzui blinked her starry eyes and looked at her, "Jin'er, if you have recipes, why don't you open your own restaurant? Why sell them? This is the foundation of your family."

Dongfang Jin waved her hand and smiled slightly: "Tired? Selling recipes is much better, less troublesome."

In business, without a strong background or powerful backer, even if you have excellent conditions, it's easy to fail.

These are all things she gleaned from her experiences every time she returned home. If this is true in modern times, it must have been even more true in ancient times.

Fang Shiyu said earnestly, "Jin'er, if Wencai's family wants these recipes, wouldn't it be better to have them sign a contract with you and get a share of the profits every month?"

You should know that recipes are usually family heirlooms, and ordinary families don't easily sell them.

"Look, where do you find this? They all have their own shops."

As Dongfang Jin listened to their conversation, her heart warmed, and a sincere smile appeared on her face.

Then, pointing at Gu Chenglin and the two thin children, and then at herself, she said, "Look at me, which one of my family members is good at doing business? They're reliable when they sell, and they make money without any worries."

She has quite a few recipes. You see, her good-natured friend Song Bin's family owns a restaurant, and he also runs a farmhouse restaurant, so he doesn't lack recipes.

And those books in her spatial storage, the medicinal cuisine books—these are treasures. She'll only open a shop after she's firmly established herself and all the necessary conditions are met.

Now? No, we need to solve our immediate problem of food and clothing first.

Just as they were talking, Ma Wencai brought up two middle-aged men. One was Cai Shi'an, the manager of Ping'an Restaurant in Ling'an County, and the other was Ma Wencai's cousin, Ma Zhigao.

After exchanging greetings, they invited Dongfang Jin to the next room. With Ma Wencai accompanying them, Gu Chenglin hesitated for a moment before deciding not to go.

After all, those recipes weren't his, so he couldn't interfere and could only silently sit back down.

Seeing his father like this, Gu Jingye sighed again, feeling anxious!

Seeing this, Fang Shiyu and the others, being perceptive, quickly found excuses to say goodbye and leave.

When Dongfang Jin came out again, he was holding a profit-sharing contract for Ping An Restaurant and several silver notes.

Afterwards, they found Gu Chenglin and his two sons, said goodbye to Ma Wencai, left Ping An Restaurant, bought some more things on the commercial street, and then went home.

……

"You're so good to me, my little sister," Gu Caiwei nestled in Dongfang Jin's arms, sweetly pouting.

Her stepmother bought her several new outfits and let her choose them herself.

Gu Jingye looked at his younger sister with envy; he also wanted his mother to hold him. Looking at his new shoes, he felt so warm; he and his sister's feet would definitely not be swollen from the cold this year.

This was the first time in his memory that he had worn such fine clothes and such warm shoes. His hand reached for the jade pendant at his waist…

Dongfang Jin pinched Gu Caiwei's little nose and said indulgently, "Is that all? Wouldn't it be even better if I bought you silk clothes to wear in the future?"

Gu Jingye frowned: "That's good. Don't waste money. Even if you have money, you can't spend it like this."

Sigh, this young lady really doesn't know how to manage her money. The farmers are already dressed better than the village chief and the neighborhood head, and even the clan head's family isn't dressed as well as they are now.

Dongfang Jin was quite annoyed by his worried expression and said somewhat displeasedly, "You child, you're so young, yet you're always so greedy for money. It's really annoying."

If you keep doing this, you might not grow tall enough. And if you don't get rid of this bad habit, you might never be able to find a wife.

Gu Jingye glared at her angrily: "I'm telling the truth."

Dongfang Jin was amused by his words: "Well, then I'll buy Niu Niu new clothes in the future, do you want some?"

When Gu Jingye heard her say that, and then saw his younger sister nestled in her arms, covering her mouth and giggling, he said, "I...want! I want to wear new clothes!"

"Haha..." Dongfang Jin burst into laughter, amused by him. She thought this kid would rather die than accept it.

This child is truly heartbreaking. I wonder what kind of suffering he has endured over the years to have become like this. Thinking this, she glared fiercely at the driver.

Gu Caiwei nestled in Dongfang Jin's arms, covering her mouth and giggling along.

Gu Chenglin, who was driving the carriage ahead, listened and smiled.

The two children are his, but he doesn't know how to manage or educate them.

Such joyful laughter was something he had never experienced before in his entire life, and he had never felt such warmth.

He will not let this hard-won harmonious atmosphere disappear; he will do everything in his power to maintain it.

Thinking back to when Tian Shi married him, she always kept her head down, while he was busy working every day and rarely home so that she could have a better life at home.

Later, when he returned from his corvée labor and saw her and the child... she still kept her head down and dared not look at him.

He was extremely unwilling to be with her, and in all the years they've been together, they've never exchanged more than ten words.

He was a man of few words to begin with, and when he met Tian, ​​she was even more taciturn than he was; she wouldn't speak unless asked.

Stone was a quiet child, and the house was always gloomy. Now…

……

The family sat in the oxcart, swaying back and forth, talking and laughing as they headed home.

As soon as they entered the village, before they even reached their home, they saw an eleven or twelve-year-old boy pacing and looking around at the village entrance.

Seeing them, he jogged over, panting, and said, "Uncle Chenglin, please go home quickly. Grandma's family is causing trouble at your house again. Uncle Sun and my third uncle are holding them back. My dad told me to come here and wait for you."

Gu Chenglin stopped the oxcart, looked at the person who had come, and nodded: "I understand, Xiao Zhao, thank you."

Xu Zhao glanced at Dongfang Jin sitting in the car and said to Gu Chenglin, "Okay, then I'll go back first."

"it is good."

After he ran far away, Dongfang Jin looked at the child's retreating figure and asked, "Whose child is this?"