Soon, the flour was ground and brought back. Before they left for the mill, Lian Manman had instructed them that it just needed a coarse grind, so when they opened the bag and saw the slightly coarse, husk-colored wheat flour inside, Lian Manman wasn’t surprised. On the contrary, she was very pleased. And the faint wheat fragrance that wafted out as soon as the bag was opened made her even more satisfied.

Lian Shouxin, Lady Zhang, Wu Lang, Lian Zhizhi, and Xiao Qi also gathered around to look. The home-ground wheat flour wasn’t as white and fine as the flour bought from grain stores, yet this wheat aroma was something the finely milled, long-distance transported white flour lacked.

"It looks pretty good," Lian Shouxin remarked.

With the flour ground, of course, it was time to eat.

"Mother, let’s use this flour to steam some buns tonight," Lian Manman suggested.

"Sure," Lady Zhang agreed readily, and scooped a basin of wheat flour to start kneading.

"This dough has quite some strength," Lady Zhang said while kneading.

Lian Manman washed her hands, tried it, and nodded in agreement. Flour from spring wheat is stickier than that from winter wheat due to the difference in variety. However, that wheat aroma was by no means inferior, at least in Lian Manman’s opinion.

For dinner, a large steamer of wheat flour buns was served on the table. As expected, the color of these buns was a bit dark, and they didn’t look as refined as white flour buns, but the wheat fragrance was still there.

It smelled good, but how did it taste?

Lian Manman took a bun and broke it open. The fermented wheat flour buns weren’t as delicate as those made with white flour. A bite revealed a slightly coarse texture, more chewiness, and they weren’t as light, just like Lady Zhang had said, "pretty strong."

But this flavor was already enough...

"Delicious," Lian Shouxin, Wu Lang, Lian Zhizhi, Xiao Qi, and Lian Manman all commented one after the other.

Lady Zhang also took a bun, ate two bites, and immediately beamed with a smile.

"It’s delicious. I would even say it tastes better than the white flour," Lady Zhang laughed.

After the family finished dinner, they all agreed that this wheat flour was good. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

In the following days, Lady Zhang, along with Lian Zhizhi and Lian Manman, used the new wheat flour to make dumplings, noodles, steamed rolls, and buns.

"Aside from the dark specks and not being as fine, it’s in no way inferior to the white flour we buy," Lady Zhang said.

Indeed, wheat flour dough can be rolled out into very thin dumpling skins and noodles; it’s as strong as white flour and doesn’t break.

After the family’s taste test, Lian Manman was more convinced that as long as the wheat flour was sold cheaper than white flour, many people would be willing to buy it.

By this time, all the wheat had been threshed, weighed, and stored in the granary.

From ten acres of spring wheat, they harvested a total of 3,450 jin of wheat.

Lian Manman’s family grew wheat on excellent land, with ample manure and meticulous care. Even if other families lacked these conditions and their yields were slightly lower, it would still be entirely feasible to promote planting.

With the new wheat flour milled, Lian Manman’s family sent some outside, a batch of steamed buns was sent to the temple, and some dumplings were given to the Wu Yuchang family.

It was merely normal interactions among tenant farmers, but before Lian Manman could make any further moves, people were already visiting, inquiring about wheat seeds with Lian Shouxin, and expressing a desire to buy seeds from him. It turned out that when Lian Manman’s family planted wheat, it had already attracted a lot of attention. Now, seeing their abundant harvest and the delicious wheat flour foods, others were inspired to plant wheat too.

Growing wheat meant even if they didn’t sell it at the market, they could keep it for themselves, improving their diet. Even those with limited land and not very affluent homes could plant wheat. By putting in some extra care, they could harvest it, sell it at the market, and buy cheaper grains like sorghum and millet, enabling them to eat better than before.

"I think we can sell wheat seeds, but how should we price them?" Lian Shouxin discussed with his family.

Liaodong Prefecture hadn’t planted wheat yet, so buying seeds would require going to other prefectures, like Hejian Prefecture, just as they had. This obviously wasn’t something everyone could do, so naturally, people were more inclined to buy from Lian Manman’s family.

"We bought wheat seeds from Hejian Prefecture at 26 Wen Money per jin," Lian Manman thought for a moment and said, "then we should set our selling price at 30 Wen Money per jin."

Considering the round trip costs of purchasing from outside the prefecture, this price was considered favorable, though it didn’t account for labor costs.

With the price set at 30 Wen Money per jin, Lian Shouxin busied himself with long-term workers to select wheat seeds, as not all harvested wheat could be used as seeds.

That evening, the family had another meal of pumpkin-stuffed wheat flour dumplings. With their own wheat, the wheat flour was now as freely consumed as sorghum flour, and pumpkins from their own vegetable garden meant no need for meat. Just a bit more oil and good seasoning made for a meal of fragrant dough and juicy filling.

After dinner, Lian Manman took out the account book; they’d sold quite a few wheat seeds over these days, making a tidy profit.

"When selling seeds, of course, we select the best ones, but we should also keep more for ourselves..." Lian Shouxin said.

The family was all planning to plant spring wheat next year, but Lian Manman was already thinking about something else.

"...we also need to buy wheat seeds," Lian Manman said.

The family was puzzled.

"Not spring wheat, winter wheat," Lian Manman said.

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Posting one Chapter first, aiming for a second later. Almost dropping out of the pink ranking, I hope for your pink support. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)