After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Chapter 256 An Encounter in the Prefectural City
When Boss Ji returned to the village, he found the villagers busy picking strawberries on the back mountain, but there wasn't a single merchant in the village buying them. He couldn't understand the point of the villagers doing this.

Unable to figure it out, he went directly to Shen Ying and said, "Village Chief, I'm here again."

"Oh! Isn't this Boss Ji? Welcome, welcome." Shen Ying smiled broadly and looked very energetic.

This reaction truly surprised Boss Ji. "Village Chief, could it be that all your strawberries have been sold?"

Otherwise, why would Shen Ying be so happy!
Shen Ying laughed heartily, "No, no, we haven't sold them yet! Just like Boss Ji said, this year's strawberries aren't very good, so we don't plan to sell them."

"Hmm?" Boss Ji remained even more still.

Shen Ying didn't keep him in suspense and directly took out a jar of strawberry jam and placed it in front of him. "Boss Ji, what do you think of this?"

Mr. Ji, puzzled, examined it closely and then solemnly commented, "Excellent! White base with celadon glaze, and a sky-blue hue at that, it has a kind of misty beauty after the rain. The strawberries on it are also painted very realistically. Wait, that's not right, these strawberries don't seem to be painted on, but rather painted and then fired. Wow! What amazing craftsmanship! Not bad at all!"

Shen Ying laughed heartily, "Boss Ji is amazing, but I don't understand what you mean by 'old man.' I'm asking you to try the food here and see if it's delicious."

Mr. Ji was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously reached out and opened the lid. A strong, sweet aroma of strawberries wafted out, which really surprised him.

Shen Ying handed over a spoon. Boss Ji took a bite, licked it lightly with his tongue, and his eyes lit up.

Shen Ying said, "Put it in a cup, add water, and try drinking it."

Boss Ji did as instructed, poured himself a cup of water, tasted it carefully, and nodded repeatedly. "Wonderful! This water is sweet with a slight sourness. Drinking it can quench your thirst and leave your mouth feeling refreshed. Village Chief, you guys are really amazing!"

He understood Shen Ying's meaning and was truly impressed. "How does the village chief plan to sell this?"

Shen Ying took a deep breath, her expression becoming more serious. "Boss Ji, you've seen this jar too, right? Let's not talk about anything else, just how much this jar is worth."

Mr. Ji was both amused and exasperated. "Village Chief, stop beating around the bush and just say it directly. This jar is indeed very valuable."

Shen Ying nodded in satisfaction, "Actually, if you ask me, I wanted to sell a jar of strawberry jam for 500 coins, but Su Tai said she wanted to give the merchants a cut, so we discussed it and finally set the price at 350 coins per jar."

Mr. Ji, please don't rush. Let me explain in detail. First of all, this jar. I went to town to ask about it. People said that such a jar could be used as a decoration. One would cost at least one or two hundred coins, or even more. And the strawberry jam. You know what the situation is with strawberries this year. We used the best sugar to make it.

You didn't taste any maltose when you tasted it! It only had the sweet aroma of strawberries. These ingredients must have been expensive! We barely broke even at 350 coins.

Boss Ji did think 350 coins was too expensive and wanted to bargain down to 300 coins, but with the exquisite white porcelain jar right in front of him, and knowing that Shen Ying wasn't asking for an exorbitant price, he felt a little unsure of himself when it came to bargaining.

Shen Ying then went on and on about how difficult it was to make strawberry jam.

This completely dissuaded Boss Ji from haggling. "Alright! It's settled then. I'll take a thousand cans first. If they sell well, I'll come back to the village chief to continue our cooperation."

"No problem, no problem!" Shen Ying quickly led Boss Ji to pick up the goods.

On Su Tai's side, Xiao Xi was also ready.

"Don't worry, Madam, I will definitely sell all five thousand jars of strawberry jam. I won't come back until I've sold them all!" Xiao Xi assured him confidently.

Su Tai was both happy and worried. "It doesn't matter if we can't sell them all. Safety comes first."

Little Xi nodded obediently and set off with several oxcarts.

Her destination this time was the prefectural city, and she was going to meet the same merchants she had worked with before, including that big merchant. He said his strawberry jam was even better than the strawberries themselves, and she was very confident about the trip.

They arrived at the prefectural city.

Xiao Xi first led the oxcart team to a reliable inn to stay in. Before she could even rest, she went to the innkeeper to promote her strawberry jam.

The shopkeeper, seeing that they were a caravan, didn't dare to give them a hard time. He had only intended to give them a perfunctory response, but the strawberry jam was so delicious that he immediately asked Xiao Xi for twenty jars and asked the head chef in the kitchen to make a dessert.

Xiao Xi had a great start and then rushed to several pastry shops in the city.

Everyone here is a businessman, so they can naturally tell the difference between good and bad products. Putting everything else aside, just for the taste of the strawberry jam and the exquisite white porcelain jars, they couldn't miss it. However, at first, no one dared to order in large quantities; it was just thirty or fifty jars from one shop and twenty or thirty jars from another.

Xiao Xi wasn't in a hurry. After reporting where she was staying, she went back to the inn to wait for news.

The next day, several merchants came to the door on their own initiative, placing orders for hundreds of cans at a time.

The big merchant also showed up, and Xiao Xi talked to him for a long time before finally selling him two thousand jars of strawberry jam.

As a result, she had more than a thousand jars of strawberry jam left unsold.

This was only her second day in the prefectural city; the remaining stock would be sold out in less than two days.

Xiao Xi was in a great mood. After having dinner in the inn's lobby, she was about to go back when she saw a group of officials carrying several people in.

Ordinary people instinctively seek advantage and avoid harm. Xiao Xi immediately hid to the side. Inadvertently, she made eye contact with Su Chunlin on the stretcher and immediately shouted, "Uncle!"

"Xiao Xi? What are you doing here!" Su Chunlin was so anxious that he sat up.

Upon seeing them, Liu Jianzhang recognized them and immediately stepped forward to explain the situation to Xiao Xi. "Young lady, we are officers responsible for transporting fallen soldiers. We cannot stay long. Since you know each other, may I hand them over to you?"

Xiao Xi nodded in a daze and stuffed twenty taels of silver into Liu Jianzhang's hand. "Thank you for your hard work, officer. Take this money and buy some wine. If you need any help, just let me know."

After receiving the money, Liu Jianzhang became even more amiable. "No need, no need. We still need to go to various counties to report the news. Originally, Shen Baichang asked us to send them back to Zhaohua County, but it will take them some time to get back to the village from the county. We can't send them. Since you know each other, it shouldn't be a problem for me to hand them over to you, right?"

"No problem, no problem, I promise to get them home safely." Xiao Xi practically swore an oath to the heavens.

Liu Jianzhang was even happier. He exchanged a few polite words with Su Chunlin and the others before leaving with his men.

Xiao Xi quickly asked the innkeeper to open a few more guest rooms and help them carry the luggage in.

After the people who helped left.

Xiao Xi quickly closed the door and asked excitedly, "Uncle, why are you back? Is the war over?"

Su Chunlin chuckled and shook his head, then sighed, "How could that be! We're older, and we were badly injured this time. Staying in the military camp would only be a burden. My son-in-law pulled some strings to get us sent back. What are you doing in the prefectural city? Where's Yunyun?"