If everything is kept simple, then there are no trivial matters. The two sides exchanged birth charts and agreed to have a meal together once a date is set.

Xiao Yunying watched helplessly as her mother handed the betrothal letter to Madam Luo, and only then did she have a dazed feeling that she was about to get married in a daze.

Madam Luo looked at the birth date and time on the betrothal certificate: "Yunying's birthday has just passed? Has Sheng'er prepared a birthday gift for Yunying?"

Luo Sheng glanced at Xiao Yunying, who was also looking at him with her big eyes, and said in a low voice, "Not yet, but I have already had someone prepare it. I will give Yunying a birthday gift."

"That's more like it."

Madam Luo closed the marriage certificate: "I heard that there is an ancient temple in the mountains outside the city that is extremely efficacious. After the imperial decree arrives in a few days, I will find someone to match the marriage certificates, set a date, and then go to the temple to make a wish."

After both sets of parents had discussed the matter, Mu Lianrong and Xiao Shanhai returned home.

Xiao Yunying secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She clearly felt it was nothing, so she didn't know why she was so nervous.

Over the next few days, she went about her business as usual, handing over the renovation plans and the furniture to be made to the Yang family, asking them to help supervise the construction.

He took advantage of the time when Huiweilou was not busy to go into the kitchen and teach the six pastry chefs in his shop how to make desserts.

When she returned home that day, it was already dark, and Zheng Yunwan quickly brought out the reserved food.

This was Xiao Yunying's instruction; she'll be quite busy lately and might not be back for a while, so there's no need to wait for her for meals.

Luo Sheng poured her a glass of water: "Why are you back so late today?"

Xiao Yunying thanked her, picked up her water glass, took a sip, and said, "I was so focused on teaching them how to make desserts that I didn't notice the time and came back late."

The people Chen Yuancheng hired were highly motivated and had excellent execution skills. The construction time was nearly a third faster than she had expected. She also needed to quickly teach the pastry chef how to make those desserts.

As she ate her food, her mind began to wander again.

Homemade desserts require a lot of milk, which must be obtained through legitimate channels. However, there are no dairy cows available now, and my family doesn't raise any. Where can I get such a large quantity of milk?

I've been so busy lately that I haven't noticed, and now that I think about it, it seems like I haven't seen Chen Yuancheng for more than ten days, so I haven't been able to discuss this matter with him.

Otherwise, how about we take some things to Chen Yuancheng's residence tomorrow and discuss it with him? He should have a solution, right?

Seeing that Xiao Yunying started to space out while eating, Luo Sheng asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Xiao Yunying answered instinctively, "I was thinking about the milk."

Do you need milk?

Xiao Yunying snapped out of her reverie: "Yes, the dessert shop will be open soon. I'm thinking about a lot of the kinds of food I'm planning that require a lot of milk, so I'm figuring out how to get a long-term supply of milk."

Luo Sheng pondered and said, "Milk is only produced after a cow gives birth to a calf. Few farming families can afford to raise cattle. If they want to use milk in large quantities and for a long period of time, they can only discuss it with families that raise cattle."

Xiao Yunying nodded: "Yes, but that's too unstable."

She swallowed the food in her mouth and, seeing that Luo Sheng was still thinking, said, "No need to think about it anymore. I'll ask Yuan Cheng what to do tomorrow. Maybe he has a solution."

Upon hearing the name, Luo Sheng narrowed his eyes and said, "No need to ask him, I'll help you solve it."

Xiao Yunying paused in clearing the dishes: "You have a solution?"

Luo Yong said, “Collecting food from door to door is always risky. When I was leading troops into battle, I learned about a type of cow raised by the nomadic people in the north. It produces milk over a long period and in large quantities, and it is one of their essential daily foods. If you need it, I can have someone buy a few cows to raise yourself.”

Xiao Yunying's eyes lit up: "Really? That's great!"

Seeing her like this, Luo Sheng's mood improved unconsciously: "I'll have Wan Jun go find someone to buy cattle tomorrow."

"Thank you so much."

Raising your own dairy cows can save you a lot of trouble.

Luo Yong smiled slightly: "No need to be so polite."

With one worry resolved, Xiao Yunying was in a great mood. She picked up the dishes and said, "Then I'll go wash the dishes first."

After she entered the kitchen, Luo Sheng glanced outside the door, silently picked up his cup and took a sip of water.

Zuo Lanzhi, who was standing against the wall outside the living room, fiercely tore at the handkerchief in her hand. Damn it, why is Brother Luo Sheng so good to this peasant girl?

This peasant girl is not good enough for Brother Luo Sheng!

She remembered the package she had brought, and then immediately dismissed the idea.

With so many people in the family and so many eyes watching, even if you use it, you might not be able to succeed.

She peeked at Luo Sheng again, then went back to her room, seething with anger.

——————

Mid-June is the time for harvesting wheat.

My family owns twelve mu of land, eleven of which are planted with wheat.

Xiao Yunying had farmhands at home. Unable to bear seeing her family harvesting wheat under the scorching sun, she directed the farmhands to help, and the harvest was completed in just a few days.

Except for the wheat seeds that were kept, the rest were dried, threshed, and packed into sacks and stored in the warehouse.

In a few days, officials will come to collect taxes. Each mu of land will need to pay 30% of the grain, a reasonable amount that the common people can afford.

This is the busiest time for the large stone mill in the village granary. Everyone wants to taste what their year's worth of grain tastes like, and long queues form every day to grind flour.

The children were also given a break from the busy farming season. Xiao Yunying had heard about this; it was to allow the students to come back and help harvest the wheat.

To her surprise, the so-called busy farming season holiday actually lasted for a whole month.

But thinking about it carefully, there are no machines in this society now. Harvesting and drying wheat all depends on manual labor. If the journey is long, most of the time can be wasted on the road. A month is not too much.

But for families like theirs that live nearby and have many people to help with the work, the children are truly blessed.

Xiao Yunying did not stop the children from working in the fields; she did not want these three brothers to become the kind of scholars who believed that "a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen."

Only by experiencing the hardship of reaping the rewards can they truly appreciate everything they have now.

Fortunately, there were long-term workers at home, and everything was completed in just a few days. The children endured some hardship from the work, but not too much.

As for the nonsense Zuo Lanzhi said when she asked the three Luo brothers to work in the fields, Xiao Yunying ignored it completely.

The children did it voluntarily, not by force. Besides, neither Luo Sheng nor Madam Luo said anything, so who would care about her grumbling as an outsider?