Chapter 290: Spy

"Hmph, how dare you say that? It's all because of you. As a punishment, you have to wash a few more garlic sprouts for me." Su Yun turned around and tapped her forehead with his hand, but the force was not strong.

Su Wan covered his forehead and said flatteringly:

"Ah, yes, yes, it's all because of me. For the next few days, I will be at your disposal at any time. If you ask me to go east, I won't go west. Is that okay?"

"You said so, don't complain about being tired when the time comes."

Su Yun didn't intend to be polite with her. She would have to accompany him to take care of the restaurant's affairs. Without her, Su Yun was undecided about many things, so he wanted Su Wan to witness and participate so that it would make things meaningful.

"I promise I won't, I swear!" Su Wan made a four-shaped gesture against his temples, and Su Yun almost believed it.

But when it comes to Su Yi, the style of the painting changes and becomes warm:

"Wanwan, my studio is getting better and better. A few years ago, I met a master painter who bought several of my paintings at high prices and often invited me to discuss painting techniques. Because of his frequent visits, my studio has become more and more famous in Xiangzhou City. Every day, many people come to paint my portraits. That great scholar said that if you want to achieve something in the painting world, you must remain secretive and the fewer paintings you reveal to the public, the better. So now, I only sell two paintings a year. The rest of the time, I only paint portraits."

What the great scholar said was right. Once a good thing becomes commonplace, it becomes worthless.

So, his reminder to him was the right guidance.

"Fifth brother, what is the name of that great scholar?" Su Wan wanted to know if she had heard of it in any book.

"His name is Qi'an Jushi. He just returned from Kyoto. Xiangzhou is his hometown."

Su Wan had never heard of Mr. Qi'an, because in the original novel, it was a poet who discovered the fifth brother's talent. He wrote poems on the fifth brother's calligraphy and paintings and spread them everywhere, which made the fifth brother's reputation spread quickly.

"Oh, then we'll visit you someday with some gifts."

Since he is someone who helps Fifth Brother, we should make friends with him. The most important thing is that he gave Fifth Brother some advice, so he is a good person.

"As for me, I've already chosen a location for the restaurant, a small two-story building. But since I don't have much money, I've borrowed 1,000 taels from Yu Yan Tang. I'll pay it back slowly when the time comes!"

Originally, it was said that a few hundred taels of silver would be enough to open a restaurant in Qinghe County, but now he is in Xiangzhou City, where every inch of land is valuable and everything is expensive, including the housing prices. He also went to Yueman Xilou to learn cooking for a year. Wouldn't it be a waste if he didn't open a better restaurant with these skills?

So, he borrowed one thousand two taels of silver from his account, preparing to open a decent restaurant in Xiangzhou, cook well, and make some achievements.

He paid one year's rent first, and the shop has not been renovated yet. He is waiting for Su Wan to come back and make a decision with him.

"You two, your sister just came back and walked such a long way, and you're already calling her to help you. You didn't even let her rest."

Su's mother stepped into the kitchen at some point and got angry when she saw Su Wan picking vegetables.

These two boys are not obedient at all. I told them not to be angry, but now they are ordering their sister around.

"It's okay, mom. I volunteered. I'm not tired. I slept all the way back. I wasn't tired at all."

The carriage that Jiang Yu arranged for her was very comfortable and covered with soft blankets, allowing her to roll around in it.

Su Yun curled his lips but did not refute. Su Yi just lowered his head and continued to make fire without refutation.

"That won't work either. Our conditions are better now, and daughters are meant to be spoiled. Wanwan, be obedient. Mother will take you to rest for a while. Your uncle and his family will be here soon. Cousin Qingqing's marriage is already settled, but she wants to wait for you to come back for the wedding banquet. Something happened in the workshop while you were away, but thankfully your uncle was smart and avoided a big loss."

When Su Wan heard that something happened in the workshop, he became anxious and looked at his mother with a confused look on his face.

"What's going on?"

"Come here, I'll tell you in detail!" Su's mother waved to her.

Su Wan then dropped the food, washed his hands, and followed his mother away.

Su's mother told her that during the time she was away from home, there was a spy in the family workshop. Several slaves working in the workshop were bribed by merchants outside, who wanted to take the recipe of goat milk soap out.

As a result, they were all discovered by Mangzhong and the others, and their uncle also noticed it. After catching them, he locked them up and only gave them two steamed buns and a bowl of water a day. He didn't know what to do with them, so he waited for Su Wan to come back and deal with them.

They all knew the formula for goat milk soap, so it was impossible to sell it, but they couldn't use it anymore. Killing them would be too cruel.

"Then our formula hasn't been leaked out, right?" Su Wan was still quite concerned about this.

"No, your uncle is strictly controlling how those people go out. Every time they go out, he arranges for someone he trusts to take them with him. He doesn't let them leave the house at other times. If something like this happens, what can be done? Even the indenture couldn't curb their greed, so what can be done? Isn't the only option left to them is to lock them up for life?"

Su's mother felt that there were drawbacks to buying people, but it was better than hiring them. At least the bought people still had the right to control their personal freedom. If they were hired, they could run away and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

"I'll think about how to deal with this matter later!"

Su Wan didn't know how to deal with this matter best, so he needed to think about it carefully.

"Okay, then go and rest for a while. I'll call you when it's time for dinner."

Su's mother sent her back to her room. Liuyun and Liuying were busy inside. They came back with a lot more clothes and daily necessities.

The dressing boxes were so full of jewels that they could no longer hold them, so the old sect leader had several boxes sent over, which were full of rare gold, silver and jewels.

The two picked out a few boxes of Su Wan's favorite styles and placed them on the dressing table for her to choose from. Su Wan thought that her aunt and cousin Qingqing would be coming over soon, so she picked out two boxes as gifts for them. She had come back from so far away and didn't bring anything for them, so this was the only thing she could do.

When it was time to eat, my uncle and his family had already arrived. There were more than a dozen dishes on the table, all of which were big dishes and all made by Su Yun.

As expected of someone who came from Yue Man Xi Lou, the dishes he cooked were very exquisite. He not only made the braised pork and spicy chicken that Su Wan loved, but also his own braised pork belly. However, the base dish was sun-dried beans and fermented black beans. He added some chili powder and steamed them, and the taste was surprisingly good.

The pork belly is fatty but not greasy and melts in your mouth.

There is also steamed fish, which is drizzled with his own homemade soy sauce and garnished with chopped green onions. It is also extremely fragrant.

There are also many dishes that he researched himself, some are spicy, some are light, and the presentation is also exquisite. When the restaurant opens in the future, the main feature will be exquisiteness, so that the dishes can be sold at a high price.