With the Su family's affairs settled, the braised food shop was also renovated.

After Su Yan finished inspecting the renovation and paying the final payment, she went to the stall to find Aunt Niu.

When we arrived at the stall, Liang Xiaorui was also selling slaughtered ducks.

"Sister Su Yan!" Liang Xiaorui was overjoyed to see her.

He recently acquired a large batch of chicks, ducklings, and geese. To ensure their survival, he stayed home and carefully fed them. In addition, he slaughtered fifty ducks a day to be transported back to Lanzhou by the driver of Yunxiang Restaurant. He was extremely busy every day, so he hadn't been able to set up his stall for a while. He just happened to have some free time today, so he decided to set up his stall.

He hadn't seen Su Yan for over a week, and he was planning to send two ducks and a chicken to her when he closed up shop, but she came over first.

Su Yan greeted Aunt Niu first, then looked him up and down, reached out and touched the top of his head, and said with a smile, "Xiao Rui has lost weight and gotten darker, but he looks much stronger than before."

Liang Xiaorui was overjoyed, but then nervously asked, "Sister Su Yan, I've been so busy lately that I haven't been able to visit you. You're not angry, are you? I didn't mean to!"

He was worried that Su Yan would think he was an ungrateful person.

Hearing this, Su Yan couldn't help but laugh out loud, and said in an annoyed tone, "What nonsense are you talking about? Feelings aren't something that can be good just because you're together every day. Your feelings are enough, your sister knows that, don't overthink it."

"You don't know, Xiao Rui was just saying she was going to come find you after closing up shop," Aunt Niu said with a smile. "Speaking of which, you haven't been here for quite a while, what have you been up to?"

Su Yan's smile faded slightly, and she said vaguely, "Something happened at home, but it's all better now. I came here today to see you, Aunt Niu, to ask if you know any other furniture makers? My braised food shop is finished with renovations, and I'm just waiting to move the furniture in."

Aunt Niu said, "What a coincidence! I found a carpenter with decades of experience a couple of days ago and asked him to make me two chairs. They're quite sturdy. Oh, by the way, Master Zhou left a week ago. A military vehicle came to pick him up, and I even heard those soldiers calling him 'leader.' I didn't expect Master Zhou to be so important. You probably didn't know about this, did you?"

"Really?" Su Yan lowered her eyes and said with a faint smile, "I really didn't know. I've been so busy lately that I'm completely overwhelmed."

"Before Master Zhou left, he would walk along the road to your house every day, and he would come back in less than 15 minutes. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was looking for someone. I thought he was going to see you," Aunt Niu joked.

"No."

Su Yan didn't want to talk too much about Zhou Yuanqing, so she changed the subject without changing her expression, "Auntie, if it's convenient for you, take me to find a carpenter now. I want to open my business the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the town will be bustling with people."

As Aunt Niu took off her apron, she said, "There are only three days left until the Mid-Autumn Festival, so we need to get it done quickly. You should urge him later."

The carpenter that Aunt Niu knew lived in a small alley a few hundred meters away from her stall.

The carpenter was an old man in his sixties. After a brief introduction, Su Yan stated her requirements.

In the end, we ordered 6 rectangular tables, with 4 stools for each table, and 24 stools in total, which cost 28 yuan in total.

I happened to have nothing to do at the moment, and the carpenter said it would be finished the day after tomorrow morning.

After ordering the furniture, the two went to the market to buy the things they needed from the shops.

After shopping for almost two hours, Aunt Niu and her companion went home with their hands full of things.

Li Juan, who was washing dishes in the yard, rushed over to help when she saw this, "What did you buy? Why so much? You spendthrift girl!"

The spoiled girl, who had been scolded, rolled her eyes and said irritably, "Isn't it all from the shop? Since your hands are not in a convenient position, I can only trouble Aunt Niu."

Aunt Niu laughed and said, "What's the trouble? I've eaten a lot of your braised food for free, and business isn't good right now."

Since Su Yan's braised food stall closed down, her noodle stall business hasn't been as good as before, but overall it's a little better than before.

Upon hearing this, Su Yan subconsciously asked, "Aunt Niu, have you ever thought about opening a noodle shop?"

"What? A noodle shop?" Aunt Niu was stunned for a moment, then waved her hand in realization. "How much would that cost? Forget it, I won't bother. I'll just stick to this stall and make a little money."

“It won’t cost much. There’s a shop next to my braised food shop that’s also for sale. It’s a bit small, and it might only cost around a thousand yuan, but that’s enough for you to open a small noodle shop. Once you have a noodle shop, you won’t have to endure the wind and heat, and you won’t have to pay stall fees every month. Aunt Niu, go back and discuss it with your uncle. If you want to open one, I can teach you some techniques. The noodle shop business might not be booming every day, but it will definitely be stable.”

Su Yan's suggestion that Aunt Niu open a noodle shop wasn't out of saintly compassion; she also had her own ulterior motives.

It would be good if her mother had someone to take care of her when she goes to school.

Aunt Niu hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and said, "Okay, Ayan, I'll go back and discuss it with your Uncle Niu. I'll come back to you when we've discussed it. Thank you so much."

What moved Aunt Niu was not the fact that she wouldn't have to endure the wind and sun, but rather Su Yan's offer to teach her the techniques.

With such excellent cooking skills, if she were to open a noodle shop, the business would definitely be quite successful.

"Don't mention it. Wait a moment."

As Su Yan spoke, she ran into the kitchen in the yard. When she came out, she was carrying a few bottles of soda and a bag of sponge cakes. Before she could say anything, Aunt Niu quickly stepped back and refused, "No, no, I'm genuinely trying to help you. Don't do these things."

“If you don’t like it, take it back for the kids at home. They’ll definitely love it,” she said, stuffing the whole thing into Aunt Niu’s hands.

Li Juan chimed in, "It's too hot. Ayan is worried you'll get too hot, so please accept it. Otherwise, this girl won't dare ask you for help next time."

"Oh dear, this is all... Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony with you. I'll head back now; your Uncle Niu is minding the stall by himself." Aunt Niu walked away with a smile.

Li Juan then squatted down to look at the things her spendthrift daughter had bought.

Two cutting boards, two knives, a string of firecrackers, plastic bags, dozens of bowls and chopsticks, and other miscellaneous items.

"Why buy so many bowls?" Li Juan said, "We can just eat from the bags, it's such a waste of money."

"Mom, there's still porridge. What if the guests eat it here? Are we going to keep using disposable bowls?"

"Oh, right, what a pig-headed I am," Li Juan muttered, slapping her forehead.

Su Yan: "..."

It's a good thing that the Su family isn't causing trouble anymore.

But now she's a little worried that, given her mother's slow-witted nature, she might be easily fooled...