The men of the Zhao family all went to study, and Zhao Qianci was just an extra; he didn't become a disciple, nor did he pay any tuition.

He stayed behind under the guise of exchanging skills to keep an eye on his sons and grandsons.

The women's businesses quickly got on track.

The tofu-making process is aided by the stubbornness of a donkey grinding its millstone, making tofu pudding and soy milk for breakfast sell exceptionally well.

The dough used for the steamed buns and mantou was prepared the night before by the men of the Zhao family.

This was an era without yeast, so if you wanted to make steamed buns, you could only choose the old-fashioned leavened dough.

As for what is old-fashioned leavened dough, it is made by adding a piece of old dough left over from the previous leavening process to the newly kneaded dough.

Waiting overnight or for 2-3 hours,

If the dough becomes sour and develops a honeycomb-like structure, add an appropriate amount of baking soda (what modern people call sodium bicarbonate), knead it evenly, and then steam it.

As for lunch, it's even simpler and more convenient. As long as there's enough water, all the vegetables can be washed.

The women in the family now know everything about the shop.

Zhao Qingyan, who had been offering advice and suggestions, now felt particularly useless.

She's basically a henchman in the shop now. And there's a chance she'll never get a chance to really show her skills.

That day, Zhao Qingyan made a decision. After all the students had gone to the private school, she found Huang Shi and explained her desire to return to the valley.

“What, my dear? You want to go back to the valley? Then Grandma will go with you.”

Huang's eyes widened in surprise.

Zhao Qingyan smiled faintly, "Grandma, you can't come to the valley with me. Do you know how important you are?"

Even if you're in the store, no one would dare to cause trouble.

Even if some fool doesn't know what's good for them, you can slap them and they'll be stuck to the wall like a mural, the kind that can't be peeled off.

However, we should still take precautions just in case.

After all, our family has a lot of food, and to outsiders, those are all secret recipes.

It's hard to guarantee that someone won't take this opportunity to trip us up.

Look at all the women in the family, they're all so delicate and fragile, none of them are capable of handling anything.

So, you should stay in the shop and keep an eye on things.

That way, I can feel much more at ease.

I just went to the valley to see if the wild grapes were ripe. If they were, I would make some wine there.

Then I took the opportunity to look around the valley for any other fruits or anything else.

Don't worry, old man.

Didn't you say before that this wine recipe is a secret, it's mine, and I won't give it to them?

Then I'll have to go back and fix it myself, right?

Okay, Grandma, I'll pack up and head out now.

If someone really tries to force you to buy or sell, don't argue with them. We can sell the house to Ruyi Building.

I think Manager Han of Ruyi Restaurant is a pretty good person. The owner must have some connections.

Otherwise, their businesses wouldn't be able to flourish everywhere.

Huang was overjoyed by her granddaughter's coaxing, but she still wanted to go back with her. In the end, she begged Zhao Qingyan until she had no choice but to give in.

They could only manage to escape by taking Huang back to her room and leaving her with plenty of snacks.

As she stepped out the door, Zhao Qingyan wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"My goodness, if I knew that snacks could handle her, would I have bothered to talk so much? Wait, I've been tricked by the old lady."

If she had asked me for snacks from the beginning, I'm not sure if I could have given her this much, but I would definitely have teased her.

So the old lady first made demands that I might not agree to. When I disagreed, she lowered her demands and then made demands that I could accept.

I thought I had managed to escape thanks to my own cleverness, but it turns out I was outsmarted by that old fox.

Hehe, I won't be back for a month, and even if the fermented rice is ready, I won't let you drink it, just to make you envious. Serves you right for scheming against me. Humph!

Zhao Qingyan pondered as she walked.

After sorting things out, I went to Ruyilou Restaurant and got a few roast ducks and geese to go. Ruyilou is famous for its roast meats.

I also went to other shops and bought some snacks.

After all, she was going to work in the valley, not to meditate, so it was necessary to pack more food. After all, she was a hidden rich woman.

We strolled along, buying things as we went, until we reached the entrance of town. Old Man Wang's oxcart was still there.

After Zhao Qingyan handed over two coins, she sat down.

Not long after I sat down, four or five women got on the bus.

That chattering noise is really quite annoying.

A high-pitched female voice rang out.

"Oh, Sister Zhang, what did you buy? Why is your basket still full? Let me see."

As he spoke, he reached out to lift the tattered cloth covering the person's basket.

This sister-in-law was quick and decisive; she slapped the woman's hand across the face.

A handprint was clearly visible on the woman's hand.

"Sister Zhang, what do you mean by this? I was just showing you some concern, why did you have to hit me so hard?"

Do you know that I use this hand for embroidery every day?

"Now you've injured my hand, I can't embroider anymore, it'll take at least ten days to two weeks to recover, you have to compensate me."

The woman who was shouting so loudly just now was Liu Haoshi, the wife of Liu Qiancai, one of the few families outside the village with the same surname.

The daily routine is all about being exceptional and competitive, especially since the vast majority of the villagers were people who had fled from war and stayed behind.

The Zhao clan elder led the team and responded appropriately, so more than 80% of the Zhao clan members survived.

Therefore, when they settled in the local area, they applied to keep the village name from their previous residence in the Zhao clan's territory—Zhao Family Village.

Qian, Zhang, Wang, Liu, Ge, and Zhou were assigned there later.

Therefore, although there have been intermarriages and kinship ties between them over the years, the Zhao family has a large population.

Therefore, the village, which was established after the people fled famine, has always been ruled by the Zhao family.

Those of other surnames who couldn't gain power would always try to marry Zhao's daughters.

I thought that since I married your Zhao family's daughter, you would have to be polite to us, otherwise we would have given your daughter a hard time.

As a result, the husband's family, whose mission was to torment Zhao's daughter, experienced the iron fist of relatives.

The key point is that it wasn't just the girl's family who came, but the entire Zhao clan from the village.

Who could stand this? They got beaten up, their things were smashed, and the leadership at home was changed.

Every non-family member living in Zhao Family Village has a story of hardship and tears.

This Zhao family then married a girl from the Zhao family.

In daily life, the Zhao family's daughter basically made the decisions on everything, big or small, except for her parents-in-law, which was a privilege she, as the eldest daughter-in-law, had never enjoyed.

And wouldn't you know it, it just so happens that Sister Zhang is her brother's wife's sister-in-law.

I'd never heard of my sister-in-law's sister-in-law being particularly fierce or shrewish, but seeing that her basket was full of things, I got the idea to take advantage of her.