Since leaving Hexi two years ago, Magistrate Qian has never returned. No one knows whether he encountered an accident on the way or for some other reason. Some people did come from Ganzhou, including former servants of the Qian family. They helped tidy up Magistrate Qian's belongings and took them away, never to return.

Now there is a new county magistrate in Hexi. I heard that the Crown Prince of Wei helped to find him. He is from Jiangnan. He is a failed candidate in the imperial examinations and did not want to take the exams again. He brought his whole family with him. They are now settled in a house next to Lord Li's residence. When Lord Li's family invites people to dinner, his family accompanies them. The two families' hometowns are not far apart.

The county magistrate, surnamed Zhao, was a man in his forties. Madam Zhao was a very kind person. She had three sons. Her eldest son stayed in their hometown after getting married. Her two younger sons were fifteen and thirteen years old, respectively. The fifteen-year-old son came to Hexi and then went to Yanmen Pass. He had longed to fight on the battlefield and protect his country since he was a child. His idol was the Marquis of Jingbei, who was also Wei Lang's father.

County Magistrate Zhao and his wife brought their thirteen-year-old son. The young Zhao was a somewhat shy boy. When he heard that Xu Di was only a year older than him and had already obtained the title of Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial civil service examination), he looked at Xu Di with admiration. Xu Di blushed. He knew his own situation very well. He wasn't a real fourteen-year-old. He had studied from first grade all the way to his doctoral graduation and even did two years of postdoctoral research. If he still couldn't pass the exam, he would really be ashamed beyond measure.

After this meal, the Xu family's life gradually returned to normal. In the morning, Xu Rao went to the county government office after breakfast, while Xu Di was busy with the greenhouses on the estate. Zhang Zhaoci continued to train the military doctors in the barracks. Xu Zhi followed Granny Lu to learn how to manage a household, cook, embroider, and sew clothes. She also helped her mother take care of her younger brother. Fortunately, her brother was an obedient and sensible child. As long as she took him to the street often and cooked him delicious food, he could take care of her all day long.

Xu Zhi is now learning to cook from Sister He, and Granny Lu is also passing on her own private recipes to her. Her favorite place to sit now is the dried goods store on the street, where there are many dried goods and fruits from outside.

The largest shop in Hexi County is located on the most bustling and well-planned commercial street in the new county town. It has the best location, the largest storefront, and the largest facade in the entire county.

Xu Zhi is already nine years old. She is tall and has inherited the best features of both Xu Rao and Zhang Zhaoci. Although she is young, you can already see her future brilliance.

Over the past few years, Xu Zhi has been nourished by various health-preserving recipes from Granny Lu, and her height has increased significantly. Xu Zhi believes this is due to the good food she eats. In her previous life, Xu Zhi was not this tall. She was already fifteen years old and had not yet started menstruating, and she was also short. It wasn't until after she got married that she ate better than she did in the Marquis's mansion, and she didn't have to worry about being in danger all the time, so she grew much taller. However, Xu Zhi feels that she is already this tall at her current age, and she should be even taller in the future. After all, her parents are both very tall, and there is no reason for her to be short as their child.

After winter set in, business at the dried goods shop improved significantly. They sell a wide variety of dried goods from both the north and south, as well as various dried vegetables and even some dried seafood. However, due to the long distances involved in transporting them, the prices are quite high.

In winter, besides cabbage and radishes, some families with extra money will go to the dried goods store to buy some rarer items such as dried shrimp and kelp. They will stew them with radishes or cabbage, and add some bones, whether they are lamb bones, beef bones or pork bones. When it's cold, a hot bowl of this is loved by both adults and children.

That day, taking advantage of the good weather, Xu Zhi wanted to go to the dried goods store. She wanted to stew a pot of pork bone soup for her family, thinking of adding some dried shrimp and some kelp. After telling Xu Bai, Xu Bai thought that it would taste even better if she bought some tofu, sliced ​​it, fried it, and made fried tofu sheets to put in the soup. He said that when eating it, she would put some pepper, some chopped green onions and cilantro in the bowl, add some soy sauce, some vinegar, and finally two drops of sesame oil. The more Xu Bai thought about it, the more he felt he couldn't stand it anymore, and urged Xu Zhi to go to the dried goods store to buy things.

The family originally had some dried seafood, but because of Xu Bai, a little foodie, who always wanted to eat this or that, and said that he was small and wanted to grow tall and big, he needed to eat more nutritious food, Zhang Zhaoci supported her child eating more seafood. After eating it so often, the family's stock was depleted.

Xu Zhi dressed herself in thick cotton clothes and dressed Xu Bai up as a round ball with only his two eyes showing. The two siblings held hands and walked into the street without even needing to take a carriage. Qing Miao and a guard from the mansion followed behind them.

The General's Mansion was located at the westernmost end of the east-west commercial street in the county, while the dried goods shop was in the middle of the street. The new county town of Hexi was not very large, about 500 meters long from east to west and slightly wider from north to south. There was a commercial street in both the east-west and north-south directions. However, the east-west street was the main traffic artery of Hexi, running from the city gate on the east side to the west city gate. It was very wide and could accommodate four carriages side by side. The shops on both sides were generally trading companies from the north and south. Because Hexi was close to the border, many merchants had trading companies in Hexi in order to sell leather goods and wool and cashmere products back to the interior. Currently, the largest production of wool and cashmere materials was controlled by Wei Lang and Xu Rao.

The north-south street is a bit shorter, and with newly built residential areas on both sides, only two carriages can pass side by side. The shops on both sides are mostly snack stalls. This is Xu Bai's favorite street to stroll along, because there are just too many delicious things to eat.

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