Chapter 78 A lively picking day!

Two days later.

Gu Jinghuai and the Qin brothers returned home after their vacation.

Qin Zhizhi thought about the guests she had invited today, so she asked her father to go to the county town to buy things for her early in the morning.

Afraid that Qin He might have missed something, Qin Zhizhi made a list for her father.

Ning Mansion.

Ning Ning woke up Cui and Ning Kun early in the morning. When Ning Xuan returned home, they were already waiting for him.

"Dad, Mom, and Sister, what important day is today? Why are you getting up so early? Are you going out to visit friends?"

Ning Xuan saw that several people were dressed neatly and looked like they were going out, so he thought they were going to a party or something.

"Brother, why are you back so late? We've been waiting for you. Today, Dad and Mom are going to visit Aunt Gu at Brother-in-law Gu's house."

Ning Ning urged Ning Xuan as soon as she saw him, her heart had already flown to the Gu family.

"Ah, if I had known you were going to Gu's house today, I would have gone back with Jing Huai and the others."

Ning Xuan felt a little regretful for not going to Gu's house with the others. If he hadn't taken a detour back home, he would probably be at Gu's house by now.

"If we hadn't been waiting for you, we might have already arrived at Gu's house. Brother-in-law Gu's family is picking peppers today. Let's get going quickly. I've already agreed with Jingyao and the others to help together."

Now that everyone was there, Ning Ning could no longer sit still. The whole family got on a carriage and went to the Gu family with gifts.

Because they were waiting for Ning Xuan, they were still a little late. When the Ning family's carriage arrived, Manager Wang and his men had already arrived early.

Qinjia Village is very lively today.

Qin Zhizhi not only found someone to pick the peppers, but also found someone to chop and wash the peppers.

Early in the morning, Qin Zhizhi took the people responsible for picking peppers to the field and explained to them in detail what kind of peppers to pick.

The women were responsible for picking the peppers, and they would ask strong men in the village to carry them home from the fields.

Everyone from the eldest and second uncle's families came to help, and even the village head went to the fields to help pick peppers.

Because she had made an appointment with the Ning family to visit today, Qin Zhizhi specially greeted Gu's mother, so Gu's mother did not go out today, and she stayed at home to help.

Li, Zhang and Qin Po were mainly responsible for leading people to clean the picked peppers and then dry them.

All the peppers have been picked and brought to the workshop, and we are going to make some chopped pepper sauce today.

Although Mr. Zhang has difficulty walking, he still came to help today. He and his mother are very grateful to the Gu family. Mrs. Yao came to the Gu family early in the morning to help wash the peppers.

Zhang Xiucai asked Gu Jingshu and others to help bring a table, and took the initiative to help Qin Zhizhi record the number of baskets of peppers she brought back.

"Mr. Zhang, could you please help settle the bill for the restaurant? My third sister is still in the mountains."

The first batch of picked peppers was snatched away by Manager Wang. Qin Zhizhi was still in the field and had not returned yet. Manager Wang and Qin Qinglin wanted to return to the restaurant early, so Qin Qinglin had no choice but to ask for help from Mr. Zhang.

"Of course you can. Go get your grandfather to come and weigh the items, and get Jingshu to help me keep the accounts."

"Thank you, Mr. Zhang. I'll go right away."

Old Man Qin and Gu Jingshu were not far away, and Qin Qinglin quickly called them over.

Then Old Man Qin took charge of the scales, Scholar Zhang did the accounting, and Gu Jingshu served as the supervisor. They quickly weighed the baskets of peppers that the restaurant needed and calculated the money.

Shopkeeper Wang directly gave the silver to Mr. Zhang and asked him to pass it on to Qin Zhizhi. He then hurried back with Qin Qinglin and La Jiao.

Manager Wang roughly calculated the time in his mind and decided to serve the stir-fried pork dish so as not to delay their lunch at the restaurant.

Mr. Zhang counted the silver again in front of Gu Jingshu, then put the silver in his arms to give it to Qin Zhizhi later.

Zhang Xiucai had just returned to the workshop door and finished registering the peppers he had just picked when Qin Qinghui ran over again.

"Sir, the man who delivered the jar is here. Could you please help me settle the bill?"

Mr. Zhang had no choice but to follow Qin Qinghui to Gu's house again. When he got there, Old Man Qin had already helped count the jars, and all that was left was to settle the bill and pay the money.

Mr. Zhang helped to enter the money into the account, and took out a portion of the silver that Manager Wang had just given him to give to the person who delivered the jar.

Seeing that it was not a good idea to leave so many jars outside the Gu family's yard, he arranged with Old Man Qin to have people move them to the workshop.

When Zhang Xiucai thought he could finally take a break, Gu Zheng came running over again.

"Sir, the county magistrate is here. Grandpa asked you to go and help greet him first. Sister Jingyao has gone to the field to call her sister and brother-in-law."

Mr. Zhang thought that Gu Zheng was mistaken. Why did the Gu family have so many visitors today? Even the county magistrate came.

But Zhang Xiucai still followed Gu Zheng to Gu's house.

Ning Ning and Ning Xuan got off the carriage, said hello to everyone and went to the fields happily. Cui was accompanied by Gu's mother. When Ning Kun was bored, Zhang Xiucai arrived.

Mr. Zhang was gentle and polite to others. Ning Kun didn't know Mr. Zhang before, but he could tell that he was a scholar by watching him politely.

Before Gu Jinghuai and others came back, Zhang Xiucai entertained Ning Kun on their behalf.

Ning Kun couldn't sit still after hearing the noise outside, but seeing that Zhang Xiucai had difficulty walking, he couldn't help but ask him to take him to the fields to have a look.

After meeting Gu Jinghuai and the others, Ning Kun finally couldn't help but put forward his own small request after sitting for a while.

So the few people who had just returned home and hadn't even sat down yet went to the fields together.

Ning Kun was surprised when he finally saw the peppers his daughter described.

When the village head was informed that the county magistrate was coming, he was dumbfounded. They had just collected the chili peppers, but how come even the county magistrate was coming?

The village head felt a little regretful that he had dressed so shabbily for work today, and wondered if he would be blamed by the county magistrate.

Fortunately, Ning Kun was only interested in the cultivation and use of peppers, and the situation in Qinjia Village, so the village head secretly wiped his sweat several times.

Gu Jinghuai and others wanted to laugh but didn't dare.

After Qin He came back from buying groceries, Qin Zhizhi took Mrs. Qin and Zhang to the kitchen.

The peppers are coming down, and stir-fried pork is a must.

Ning Xuan’s favorite sweet and sour pork ribs must also be prepared. With the peppers, you can eat as much as you want. Chopped pepper fish head must be prepared.

Spicy diced rabbit, fish fillet with green peppercorns, scrambled eggs with green peppers, stir-fried river prawns, steamed sea bass, braised crucian carp, braised tofu, spicy pig's trotters, sweet and sour pork, braised baby rooster...

Three tables were set up for lunch. Ning Kun, Ning Xuan, Gu Jinghuai, Qin Qingyuan, Qin Qingyun, Zhang Xiucai, and the village head were arranged at one table.

Old Man Qin, Qin Shan, Qin He, Qin Jiang, and the people from the eldest and second uncles' families were seated at the same table.

It’s not that Qin Zhizhi didn’t let them sit with Ning Kun, but they just refused to do so.

The woman and the child sat at the same table. Cui had originally arranged to sit at the same table with Ning Kun, but Cui didn't want to. She got along well with Gu's mother and insisted on sitting with her.

Ning Kun looked at the table full of delicious food and had no time to talk about anything else. He didn't say anything, and the others were not the type to flatter him, so their table was the quietest one.