Chapter 69, Inn No. 69: Fermented Rice Balls

Cheng Yong shook his head and said, "I didn't see him. Zheng Dong didn't come today either."

Zheng Guilan and her daughter would come by Zheng Dong's boat every morning, and Zhang Lin would take them back in a bamboo raft in the evening. Thinking of the people from Dazhu Village that she had just met yesterday, Yunyin was a little worried that her ex-husband might be causing her trouble.

Yunyin called Ma Hao over and said, "Take a bamboo raft to Letao Village and see if Guilan and Fanghe are in trouble. If they are, help them out."

She recounted what Jiang Dalang had mentioned the day before. Ma Hao listened with a frown, then flew into a rage and said, "Let's see what they dare to do to Madam Zheng. How dare such people come to Madam Zheng? Don't worry, Madam Yun, I will make sure they dare not bully Madam Zheng."

After Ma Hao stormed off in a huff, Yunyin looked at the room and sighed, "We still don't have enough rooms."

After finishing his meal, Cheng Yong came out and, upon hearing Yun Niangzi's words, raised his eyebrows and asked, "Yun Niangzi, are you planning to let them stay here?"

Yunyin nodded and said, "Yes, I thought that some people might want to stay overnight but don't want to stay in the dormitory, so I specially arranged the rooms here as guest rooms. But now my shop has been open for more than a month, and very few people have stayed overnight. Most of them just eat and leave."

"We'll keep one of the remaining four rooms for the mother and daughter, and the other three rooms will be enough for passersby."

Looking at the rooms, Cheng Yong reminded her, "Miss Yun, have you considered that besides some merchants not being familiar with your shop, is it possible that they are worried about the safety of their goods?"

These words were like a wake-up call. Yunyin suddenly realized that although she had always said that she treated this place as an inn, she subconsciously regarded it as a restaurant, with accommodation being secondary. As for whether there were guests staying at the inn, she was not in a hurry. As long as there were people eating, she could make money.

She had already built guest rooms. Wouldn't it be a waste not to make use of these houses? Yunyin thought of the inn that Fu Wang had once introduced to her. These inns could store goods and provide accommodation for merchants. Many big cities had such inns, but these inns were usually run by the military or temples.

Yunyin couldn't do that, but she could build courtyard-style houses so that merchants could have a place to store their goods. This way, their people could guard the courtyard, ensuring the safety of the goods, and they could feel more at ease eating and staying at her place.

She wants to build at least two houses like this. She doesn't know how much it will cost, so she needs to ask Qian Si when she has time. If it's too expensive, she can build one house first and then expand it slowly after she makes some money.

After thinking it through, Yunyin said to Cheng Yong, "Thank you for reminding me, Brother Cheng. I know what to do now. I'll reserve a room for Zheng Guilan and her daughter first, and the rest for occasional guests. I'll make other plans after I finish building the courtyard."

Cheng Yong watched her rush back to her room, shook his head, and got up to write a letter to Fu Wang. In addition to writing about the situation of the Mianzhou Escort Agency, he also mentioned Yun Yin to him.

Yunyin wrote down her thoughts and went back to the kitchen to prepare. Zheng Guilan was not here today, so she and Feng Hai prepared the dishes for lunch, which took them much longer than usual.

After she finished preparing lunch, Ma Hao and Zheng Guilan still hadn't returned. Yunyin frowned and asked, "Why did they take so long?"

Feng Hai said, "Miss Yun, don't worry. Don't let Haozi's appearance fool you; he's clever and a good fighter. He's probably just held up by something, but he'll probably be back soon."

Yunyin could only put aside her worries and make some afternoon drinks. The weather was gradually getting cooler, and the temperature difference between day and night was quite large. Drinking a bowl of hot fermented rice balls in the evening would make her feel less cold.

This drink is simple and quick to make, tastes sweet, and is very cheap. Passersby can buy a bowl to drink. Yunyin took some glutinous rice flour, added water and kneaded it into balls. After cooking them in water, she poured in fermented rice wine. The round white balls floated in the fermented rice wine, like chubby babies who were drunk, floating and sinking, swaying from side to side.

Yunyin scooped out the dumplings, took a bite, and found them fragrant with wine, sweet and delicious. The soft and sticky glutinous rice melted between her lips and teeth, and the fermented rice slid into her mouth. Each soft grain of rice slid down her tongue. After only one bowl, she was already too full to eat anymore.

The glutinous rice was delicious, but unfortunately, we couldn't eat too much. Yunyin put down her bowl and gave Cheng Yong and the others a bowl each, saying, "You can warm your stomachs too."

As they were talking, Ma Hao brought Zheng Guilan in from outside. Yunyin carefully examined her condition. Although it was no longer obvious, it was still clear that she had been crying. Fang He behind her also had a tense little face and didn't say a word.

Yunyin asked Ma Hao, "What's wrong? Hasn't it been resolved?"

Ma Hao shook his head and said, "When I arrived, the people from Dazhu Village had already left. It was some people from Letao Village who felt that Zheng Niangzi was affecting their children's marriages, so they wanted to drive them out of the village."

"Fortunately, Zheng Dong and the others stood on Zheng Niangzi's side and scolded those people back, which is why we were delayed there for so long."

Seeing Zheng Guilan's dejected expression, Yunyin said, "Then you should go eat. Oh, by the way, I cooked some sweet fermented rice balls. You should have a bowl too."

She brought Zheng Guilan a bowl of steaming hot glutinous rice balls. Zheng Guilan took a bite, and the hot steam filled her eyes. The hot rice wine warmed her cold heart, and her tears instantly dripped into the bowl. She wiped them away and carefully finished the bowl of soup, sip by sip.

Yunyin sat down beside her and said, "I just cleaned up a room. You and Fang He can stay here from now on. It's perfect since she gets up early every day to practice martial arts with me, and I'll have more time to teach her."

Zheng Guilan's tears, which she had just wiped away, flowed again. She choked out, "Yun Niangzi, I am so grateful to you." Through her tear-filled eyes, she said, "I really don't know how to thank you enough for giving my daughter and me a place to stay."

Yunyin wiped away her tears and said, "You work very hard too. You are always conscientious in your work and keep the kitchen and hall clean. You are indispensable to our guesthouse."

"Alright, stop crying. Your good days are yet to come. Look what a wonderful daughter you have."

Zheng Guilan looked at her daughter, who was watching her with worry, wiped away her tears, and patted her daughter's head, saying, "I know, I will stay with my daughter and make things better for us."

"That's more like it. You guys should go eat too, and rest for a while after you finish eating."

When Zhang Lin came in from outside, he had already heard about Zheng Guilan's matter. He frowned and said, "Madam Yun, the people of Letao Village have gone too far. It was clearly the Fang family who were in the wrong, but in the end they blamed Madam Zheng. It wasn't Madam Zheng's fault."

Yunyin said helplessly, "There's nothing we can do. Letao Village is too poor, and marriage is already difficult enough. On top of that, Sister Guilan has made money, and her ex-husband is causing trouble again. Of course, they're going to push the responsibility onto her."

Zhang Lin frowned and said, "Didn't they make money selling fruit? Why are they treating Madam Zheng like this?"

“Not everyone made money, right?” Yunyin recalled what Zheng Dong had mentioned before. “Many families in their village didn’t take good care of their fruit trees, so the fruit quality was average and they couldn’t sell it for a good price. When buying fruit, we definitely pick the best ones. Even we buy the best fruit, let alone people from the city. They have their own farms, so they must have a lot of fruit. If it’s not particularly good fruit, they can’t sell it.”

Zhang Lin looked at Zheng Guilan with heartache and gritted his teeth, saying, "If the Fang family comes to cause trouble for Madam Zheng, I will make them pay."

Yunyin said, "Okay, keep an eye on things at the food stalls. If you run into trouble, remember to call someone to come and get us."

Zhang Lin nodded and said, "Madam Yun, please put it down. I know everything."

For several days, Zhang Lin remained vigilant, constantly observing the people coming and going around him, determined to catch the Fang family and teach them a lesson.

Finally, one day at noon, just as he was about to pack up his stall, he saw someone sneaking around in front of him. Zhang Lin immediately straightened up and stared at the person. The person noticed Zhang Lin's gaze, avoided his eyes, and continued to wander around the area.

Zhang Lin put his things down, stood up, walked towards the man, and questioned, "What are you doing here?"

The man turned his head, stared at Zhang Lin for a moment, and said, "Oh, I heard there's an inn here that buys all kinds of vegetables and fruits. I came to see if it's true."

Zhang Lin nodded and said, "That's right, what do you want to sell?"

The man stammered for a long time without saying a word. Zhang Lin stared at his reaction. Suddenly, he saw the man run towards the inn. He turned around and saw Zheng Guilan walking from a distance. He quickly chased after her and pushed the man to the ground when he reached her side.

Zheng Guilan also saw the man and frowned, saying, "Fang San, what are you doing here? Haven't you caused enough trouble before?"

Fang San struggled for a long time but couldn't break free from Zhang Lin's grasp. He said fiercely, "What am I making a fuss about? Is there a problem with me coming to see my daughter?"

Zheng Guilan was furious and said, "Ahe is not your daughter. You didn't care about her life or death back then, and she was almost killed by your mother. Now she is not your Fang family's daughter either. Get out of here."

Fang San wanted to say something more, but Zhang Lin grabbed him and twisted him so he couldn't struggle and could only howl in pain. Zhang Lin pulled him up and said fiercely, "Don't come looking for trouble, you know? This is not a place you can mess with."

Fang San wanted to say a few more harsh words, but when he caught a glimpse of a magnificent carriage approaching, he immediately lowered his head and was pulled to the side of the road by Zhang Lin, not daring to utter a single word.

Zheng Guilan also noticed the carriage. She smiled and stepped forward, saying, "Madam Xia, you've arrived. Please come in. Our lady is in the courtyard; you'll see her when you get there."

Xia Yan stepped down from the carriage and nodded to her, saying, "I understand."

Zheng Guilan watched Xia Yan walk away and then whispered to Fang San, "I advise you not to come looking for trouble. I've already said it, Fang He is not a daughter of your Fang family, and she won't call you 'Father.' Give up on that idea."

After she finished speaking, she called Zhang Lin over and helped him carry his things. The two of them walked towards the inn, chatting and laughing. Fang San watched them walk away, waved his fist, and left, cursing.