Chapter 6 (Part 1): The Culinary Tycoon

The First Business

“Brother Yu.” After finishing his meal, Chang Hao wiped his mouth and approached Yu Qingze, looking at him with bright eyes.

Yu Qingze asked, “What’s the matter?”

Chang Hao nodded, but hesitated for a moment before speaking up.

Oh, this is rare. The young boy, who usually speaks his mind, is actually hesitating. Yu Qingze raised an eyebrow and said, “Speak up, what’s the matter?”

“Um, well…” Chang Hao, the young boy, blushed and felt a bit embarrassed, thinking that he was being a bit shameless. But he couldn’t resist the strong desire in his heart, so he finally asked, “Brother Yu, can you do martial arts? Can you teach me?”

So that’s what it’s about. Yu Qingze looked at Chang Hao’s small figure and thought that some exercise might help him grow taller. He nodded and said, “I can. But what I know is just some basic skills for self-defense.”

“That’s already amazing!”

“It’s also quite demanding.”

“I’m not afraid!”

“Alright then.”

“That’s great!” Upon hearing Yu Qingze’s agreement, the young boy jumped up in excitement. “Once I become good at it, I can protect my brother and grandfather!”

Yu Qingze smiled and thought to himself that Chang Le is actually quite strong, and most people wouldn’t be able to beat him. But the young boy’s aspirations and dreams were so beautiful that they deserved praise and protection.

The two of them made a promise to start the lessons once the busy harvest was over.

“Brother Yu, what are you doing?” Now that his wish had come true, Chang Hao became curious about the wooden board in Yu Qingze’s hands. It had many lines drawn on it using the burnt ends of firewood, forming a framework of sorts, but he had no idea what it was.

Yu Qingze smiled and, imitating Chang Hao’s mysterious expression, replied, “It’s something good. You’ll find out tomorrow.”

“Oh? It’s so mysterious.” Chang Hao became even more curious, scratching his head and looking at the black lines, eager to know what it was.

Yu Qingze nodded seriously, “Yes, it’s that mysterious.”

Chang Hao’s curiosity grew even stronger, but he couldn’t find a way to ask, feeling like he might explode from the suspense.

Before Chang Le and his brother returned that night, Yu Qingze took a bath. Grandfather Chang brought him some old clothes that used to belong to Chang Le’s father for him to change into. He took off his own clothes to wash, leaving the clothes and shoes he had brought from his time-traveling untouched. Chang Le had taken them from him the night before and neatly folded them, but those clothes would look too strange here, so he didn’t wear them.

Then he asked Grandpa Chang about the agricultural tools commonly used in their village and learned that there were no better tools for threshing rice grains, and the straw and chaff were cleared by lifting them with a shovel and letting the wind blow them away. This information confirmed his idea’s feasibility.

He wanted to make rice beds, a winnowing cart, and a foot-operated threshing machine! He wanted to innovate their tools and make it easier for them during the busy farming seasons!

“Oh, this is for you. Your name is written on it. You can wet it and write on the table.” Yu Qingze took a wooden board from beside him, and using a charred stick, he wrote the characters ‘Chang Hao’ on it, along with the stroke order.

Since they didn’t have paper and pen, he found a wooden board and a charred stick as substitutes.

Chang Hao’s eyes immediately lit up, and he quickly took the board, looking at the two characters on it. Excitedly, he asked, “Is this my name? Chang Hao?”

“Yes.” Yu Qingze nodded and pointed at the two characters, reading them one by one, “Chang–Hao. The order of the strokes is written below. You can start by learning the character ‘Chang,’ and I’ll teach you to write it twice.”

“Wait, Brother Yu, let me call my brother!” The young boy ran quickly to the kitchen, grabbed his brother, and rushed back to the main room, shouting, “Brother, hurry, good news!”

Chang Le had just finished washing the dishes and hadn’t even dried his hands when his brother dragged him away. It was only when they arrived in the main room that he found out that Yu Qingze wanted to teach them how to read and write.

Chang Le was also quite excited and stood behind his brother with curiosity, blushing slightly, listening attentively.

Using the oil lamp on the dining table, Yu Qingze carefully taught them the stroke order and demonstrated how to write the character ‘Chang’ twice.

Grandpa Chang sat weaving a mat while smiling and watching them.

This young man really knows a lot.

Once both brothers understood, Yu Qingze let them practice on their own and started working on his own drawings.

Chang Le’s family, along with seven other households, jointly purchased a cow, which was kept at one of the households. When it was time to graze the cow, each household took turns, rotating every month. After the winter when the grass withered, each household had to provide dry grass for the cow. The cow dung served as compensation for the household taking care of the cow, considering that its regular management required a lot of time and effort, and they also had to ensure its safety at night and prevent theft.

There was only one cow, and during normal plowing, they could manage. But during the spring planting and busy seasons, they had to coordinate and take turns using the cow.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

The next day, it was finally Chang Le’s turn to use the cow. Early in the morning, Chang Le went to plow the fields. They only had the morning time because they had to let the cow rest in the afternoon. They had two fields to plow, so time was tight.

Grandpa Chang carried a small wooden bucket with him. Changhai and Yu Qingze stayed home as usual to prepare breakfast and dry the grains. Once breakfast was ready, Chang Le and Grandpa hadn’t returned yet. So, Yu Qingze and Chang Hao fed the pigs and chickens, and completed all the household chores they could do.

During breakfast, Chang Le hadn’t returned, but Grandpa Chang came back with a lot of mud loaches and several eels. They were all caught in the fields and ditches, swimming around actively in the bucket.

Chang Hao loved to eat mud loaches and eels, mainly because they were meat!

“Wow, mud loaches! And eels! Grandpa, when will we eat them? Should I go outside and pick some leaves for them to spit out the mud?” He couldn’t wait.

“No rush. We’ll eat them after we finish plowing the fields today. Go wash your hands and eat your breakfast. Afterward, take some food to your brother and look after the cow,” Grandpa Chang said, placing the small wooden bucket in the kitchen. He then washed his hands and prepared to have his meal.

Chang Hao squatted by the wooden bucket for a while, then happily went to have his breakfast.

After they finished their meal, Chang Hao carried an empty bamboo basket and went to deliver the food first. Although Chang Hao was actually ten years old, he was small and looked like an eight or nine-year-old child. Grandpa Chang tied the rope of the basket shorter so that it would be easier for him to carry.

Grandpa Chang carried a load of straw ash to spread in the fields, while Yu Qingze, whose left foot had already healed quite a bit but still lacked some strength, slowly walked towards the fields.

In the morning, Yu Qingze and Chang Hao threshed the remaining grains from the field they worked on the previous day. After Grandpa Chang finished spreading the straw ash, he also came over to help with the threshing.

During the break, villagers would occasionally come over to inquire about yesterday’s events, mainly because they heard that Chang Le received a monetary reward. However, Grandpa Chang managed to divert their attention with a few clever words.

Chang Hao’s uncle, Wen Li, also came, but before he could say anything, Grandpa Chang scolded him and sent him back.

Yu Qingze noticed that although Chang Hao liked to show off at home, he remained modest when facing inquiries from the villagers and didn’t boast about anything.

Chang Le continued plowing and raking the fields throughout the morning, finally finishing the approximately 1.2 mu of land.

Chang Le’s family owned three mu of paddy fields, divided into five plots of different sizes. About two plots still had unharvested crops.

After finishing threshing the grains in the morning, they had some time left. They bundled up the straws one by one and picked up any fallen grains. Once the straws had dried a bit by evening, they would carry them all back home, and then they could flood the fields.