When they returned home, Shi Qingluo grabbed Xiao Baili in the kitchen.
As Xiao Baili was still single, Liang Youxiao and Xi Rui could only hold back their temptation to join in.
Xi Rong did not have such scruples and immediately joined in.
Liang Youxiao and Xi Rui's faces were filled with envy.
Fei Yuzhe looked at the two of them and felt that they were really too stupid.
He did not know the two of them.
Shi Qingluo took the corn grains from the corn cobs and ground them into pulp.
Because she wanted everyone to taste the corn, she didn't add anything else.
It just so happened that their house still had pork ribs, so she even stewed the corn with it.
Before dinner was ready, Mo Qingling and Mr Hou came to the Xiao family in a carriage.
Mo Qingling had already received the emperor's letter, but after seeing these people, he still had a headache.
Only Shi Qingluo could handle them.
Otherwise, if they were to go to the county, who knew what would happen.
"Brother Ling!" Liang Youxiao, Xi Rui, Fei Yuzhe, and Xi Rong greeted Mo Qingling one after another.
No matter what, Mo Qingling was once part of the capital's dandies.
Although he had suddenly become more ambitious and had taken more effort to improve himself further, the dandies still treated him as his peers.
Mo Qingling's cold face revealed a smile. "The few of you are really bold to sneakily come to Nanxi county. This even alarmed the emperor."
Liang Youxiao immediately threw the blame. "Xi Rui insisted on running away from home. I was afraid that he would be in danger if he came alone, so I accompanied him.
"Xi Rong has nothing to do with us. She insisted on running away from home with Xi Rui."
Xi Rui thought to himself, this bastard purposely sold his friends out.
Xi Rong also glared at Liang Youxiao. "Do you know how to talk?"
It was as if she had taken a liking to Xi Rui and wanted to stick around.
For a person like Xi Rui, she wouldn't even want him if he was a gift to her.
Besides, they were still cousins.
She was more than a year older than Xi Rui.
Mo Qingling did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Alright, sit down.
"If the corn plantation is successful, both of you will follow me back to the capital."
He placed a lot of importance on the corn.
If it was true, then as the county magistrate of Nanxi county, he naturally had to tag along Xiao Hanzheng and his wife to the capital to offer the seeds.
He didn't want to claim credit, but this was his duty.
He also hoped that it was true that the heaven-bestowed seeds would not only reveal the falsehoods of the recent rumors against the emperor, but it would also be a blessing for the people in Daliang.
Liang Youxiao and the others didn't refuse. "Alright!"
As the first group of eyewitnesses to such a matter, they also had to follow him back to the capital.
It wasn't bad to join them on this happy occasion!
Shi Qingluo and Xiao Baili were also done preparing dinner soon after they took their seats.
Other than corn, they also prepared other dishes.
But at this moment, everyone's attention was all on corn.
"This is boiled corn. You can eat it directly.
"This is corn tortillas made from corn paste.
"This is pork ribs cooked with corn.
"I heard from my master that after drying the corn, the corn kernels can be ground into powder to make cornbread, corn buns, and so on."
After Shi Qingluo was introduced, she continued, "I'll taste it first. I guarantee that it won't be poisonous."
Then, she tasted each of them.
At this moment, Dumby also came over and kept rubbing her head against Shi Qingluo.
Shi Qingluo loved her goose very much.
She immediately scooped up a spoonful of boiled corn and placed it on the ground for Dumby to eat.
She did not cook the corn cobs directly.
After all, with Mr Hou around, it wasn't appropriate for everyone to take a corn cob and eat it directly.
All scholars had to maintain their image.
Seeing Shi Qingluo feeding the corn to the geese, everyone felt extremely distressed.
Dumby quickly finished eating and excitedly called out to Shi Qingluo, asking for more.
Shi Qingluo smiled and scooped another spoonful for it.
Liang Youxiao could not help but say, "Do you have to be such a prodigal? We haven't even eaten yet but it has already eaten two spoonfuls of it."
Dumby could understand human language.
He was instantly unhappy. It was this annoying two-legged sheep again.
He raised his head and looked at Liang Youxiao fiercely, as though he was about to flap his wings.
Shi Qingluo immediately comforted him when she saw this. "My goose, let's not argue with him.
"But we can't eat anymore, else the others will not have any to try."
It was a pity that everyone was staring at her son after he ate two spoonfuls of corn.
She was too embarrassed to feed him more.
Although Dumby initially wanted more, he knew that he couldn't have more after hearing his mother's words.
Thus, he cried out pitifully and even rubbed against Shi Qingluo pitifully.
Everyone present remained silent, this goose must have turned into a spirit.
Shi Qingluo's heart ached. She immediately took out some specially prepared goose food from her purse and fed him. "Be good, eat some of this to satisfy your cravings.
"In the future, we'll plant more corn so that there's enough to feed you."
Only then did Dumby let out a reluctant cry and ate the goose food in a wronged manner.
Everyone present sighed, so this goose was completely spoiled by Shi Qingluo.
And it ate some much, what a good-for-nothing goose.
They felt their hearts ache just thinking about it.
Xi Rui mumbled to Xiao Hanzheng, "Your wife is even more wasteful than me."
Xiao Hanzheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "My wife only has one pet. It's normal for her to pamper her little pet a little more. It's fine if she's a spendthrift. As long as she's happy."
As for the goose that often competed with him for attention, he could only love him as much as he loved the goose's owner.
Xi Rui and the others uttered under their breath, this was the first time they heard of raising a big goose as a pet.
Shi Qingluo was really amazing.
Moreover, Xiao Hanzheng really doted on his wife too much.
Shi Qingluo was very pleased that her young husband had protected and doted on her in public.
She smiled and said, "Come, come, everyone, try the corn. It tastes very good."
Seeing that she and Dumby had nothing to do after eating, everyone couldn't wait to try it.
First, they tried the boiled corn kernels. The taste was not bad.
Then, they ate the corn tortillas. It was quite delicious.
Because the corn was cooked with the pork ribs, it gave a sweet and fragrant taste.
Mr Hou tasted them separately and his face was full of excitement. "This corn tastes pretty good. It can really be used as food."
He looked at Shi Qingluo and asked, "I heard from Jinyu that the yield of this corn per mu is a thousand catties?"
Shi Qingluo nodded. "This is my rough estimation, but I'm not sure if it's accurate.
"We still have to weigh it after we harvest it."
Mr Hou said, "If it weighs a thousand catties, the people in Daliang won't have to worry about not being able to fill their stomachs."
Shi Qingluo smiled. "At least most of the people won't be hungry anymore."
It was unrealistic for everyone to satisfy their craving for food just by relying on corn alone.
In the future, when there was an opportunity, she would share with them potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Mo Qingling was also a little excited. "It's already amazing that most of the people won't be hungry anymore.
"The taste of this corn isn't bad. It's better to eat this compared to eating the chaff and bran."
He asked, "Has the corn been harvested yet?"
Shi Qingluo replied, "No."
"My husband said that it's best if you can get your people from the county office to harvest it so that we can record the yield per mu, Magistrate Mo."
Mo Qingling smiled and said, "Then I would take in your suggestion."
As the county magistrate of Nanxi county, it was his duty to personally come and check on the harvest of these heavenly-bestowed seeds.
They would be presented to the emperor in the capital. He could not cheat.
He had to be responsible to the emperor and the people.
At the same time, he also admired and trusted Xiao Hanzheng and his wife.
If they were anyone else, they would probably only want to secretly bypass him, their county magistrate, and offer the seeds to the capital.
Mr Hou very much agreed with his little disciple proudly.
He indeed had the caliber of an official.