This morning, before the roosters crowed, Tian Sangui's family got up very early.

All ingredients in the shop need to be prepared fresh; if you don't go early, you won't have enough time.

Zhang casually cooked some thin porridge and heated up the leftovers from last night's meal.

Tian Laosi harnessed the donkey cart, said goodbye to Zhang Shi, and then sent the children to town to do chores.

At the village entrance, we saw an oxcart with the Zhang brothers, Zhang Ping and Zhang Rui, sitting on it. From afar, we saw the Tian family's donkey cart approaching, and they were all smiling at us.

As Tian Laosi approached, the two brothers quickly jumped off the oxcart and greeted them.

"Uncle, Tian Da, Tian Er, San Gui, hehe, you guys are up early!"

"My two cousins, you've got a lot to do today, don't complain about being tired!"

The three siblings called out to their cousin, and Tian Sangui joked with them for a couple of minutes.

The two brothers chuckled and scratched the back of their heads. They were tall, a head taller than Tian Da, and at the age of seventeen or eighteen, they were already at the stage of getting married.

"My cousin underestimates us. This little bit of work won't tire us out."

Tian Laosi asked with concern, "Have your nephews eaten yet?"

If they haven't eaten, I'll go to town later to buy some for the two kids. I can't let them work on an empty stomach.

"We both ate with my uncle. My mother made a big pot of dumpling soup, and we were very full."

"Alright, you two follow behind, let's get going!"

"Okay!"

After a few greetings, the two cars formed a long convoy and arrived at Jueweizhai at a constant speed.

Because none of the above items were prepared in advance, they seemed very busy this morning.

Seeing that the children were too busy, Tian Laosi stayed behind to clean the shop for them.

Tian Da started the fire, Tian Er kneaded the dough, Tian Sangui and his second cousin Zhang Rui cleaned the ingredients, and his eldest cousin Zhang Ping helped put the meat into the broth to cook.

About an hour later, billowing white smoke rose from the chimney of Jueweizhai, and the shop was filled with the aroma of sausages, making the two cousins, who were seeing it for the first time, extremely hungry.

My eyes were glued to the pot of delicious-looking sausage filling. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't look away.

The Tian siblings laughed continuously, especially the eldest and second eldest, who seemed to see themselves in their first moments, laughing incessantly.

Soon the first batch of steamed buns was ready, and Tian Da and Tian Er lifted the steamer basket and placed it on an empty pot on the other side to keep it warm.

Tian Sangui took two white steamed buns from the steamer, cut them in half with a knife, stuffed them with meat filling, and handed them to Zhang Ping and Zhang Rui.

At first, I was embarrassed, but after the enthusiastic persuasion of the three Tian siblings, I gladly accepted.

After exchanging a glance, the two brothers couldn't wait to take a big bite. The aroma filled their mouths, and the sour and spicy flavors filled their taste buds. They were convinced that this was the best meat bun they had ever eaten in their lives.

When the second batch was ready, customers began to enter the store one after another to buy food.

Strangely, long queues usually form around this time, and the store becomes incredibly lively.

But today...

"Third sister, why aren't there many customers today? We've only sold two or three before we're already running out of customers."

Tian Er leaned against the food delivery window, idly discussing business.

"Yes, normally, our first batch of steamed buns would have sold out by this time. We still have three large steamer baskets left untouched."

Tian Da also checked the steamer basket and said.

Tian Sangui also sensed something was wrong and wiped the water stains off his apron.

"Brothers, you guys watch the shop, I'm going out for a stroll!"

She then took the apron and handed it to Tian Er. She patted the wrinkles on her clothes from working and stepped out of Jue Wei Zhai.

The brothers all knew that their third sister must have gone out to check on the situation.

As Tian Sangui walked around, he saw that all the shops, regardless of size, had very little business.

I couldn't help but wonder why. If it's because they're tired of the food, surely they can't be tired of eating at every single shop, right?

When she finally saw Jishantang, the doors hadn't even opened yet, but it was already packed with patients lining up in long queues.

Moreover, everyone had a sallow complexion, some even black, and those with milder symptoms also had a frighteningly pale face.

They all had one thing in common: they were clutching their lower abdomens with both hands, their expressions showing pain.

"Auntie, what's wrong with you?" Tian Sangui asked, approaching a woman who was nearly fifty years old.

The woman could barely lift her eyes to look at the young girl, and saw a capable young woman whose spirit was something she, as an old woman, particularly envied.

"Sigh, I've had this gastrointestinal disease for days. I can't eat or sleep well. I don't know when it will end."

Tian Sangui knew that the matter had blown up, so she quickly went to Manager Yan to discuss it, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.

Back at Jueweizhai, there were only a few customers sitting down to eat.

She ran into the kitchen: "Brothers, something terrible has happened! More than half of the town's residents have been poisoned by Bai Yucui, so all the shops in town have no business."

People have no appetite, so of course business can't be done.

"What should we do then?" Tian Er asked her anxiously.

The old Chinese medicine doctor at Jishantang was the most famous resident doctor in the town. However, so many patients had not seen any improvement after receiving treatment from him, which meant that he had not realized the root cause of their illness.

To save the townspeople, she had to help this old traditional Chinese medicine doctor.

"Big cousin, when you go to the Yangzhou restaurant at noon, be sure to buy a lot of their white jadeite."

After saying that, she took out a few pieces of silver and handed them to Zhang Ping.

The white jade in Yangzhou restaurants was bought with gold, so its price couldn't be the same as that in Tongfu restaurants. It was better to have extra money on hand than nothing.

"Okay, cousin, don't worry, I'll definitely take care of it."

With the sun high in the sky, they had prepared four batches of steamed buns, but only three batches remained. This was the worst business they had ever had.

Compared to its competitors, Tian Sangui's restaurant is already considered outstanding. Other restaurants spend the whole morning preparing ingredients, but only a handful of customers come in, and not even a fly can get in.

Tian Sangui arranged the store's allocation, leaving it entirely to Tian Da's care. She then tidied herself up, disguised herself, and headed to Tongfu Restaurant.

Manager Li, who was fiddling with the abacus at the counter, was distracted by a gray figure at the door.

"San Gui, come here!" she said with a smile, beckoning to Tian San Gui at the door.

Manager Li had just calculated the profit sharing and was about to send Ah Jin to invite Tian Sangui when she unexpectedly came over herself.

"Uncle Li, what's going on? Why are you being so mysterious?"

"Haha, you silly girl, have you forgotten what day it is today?"

After being deliberately reminded by Manager Li, she slapped her forehead and exclaimed, "Profit sharing?"

"Haha, you're such a busy person, you can even forget something so important."

Manager Li smiled and took out a red package from the drawer. In front of Tian Sangui, he uncovered the red cloth, revealing a piece of silver the size of a palm inside.

Manager Li then took out a silver scale and weighed the large tael of silver. The scale was turned up to fifty taels, and the weight was brought to Tian Sangui for her to confirm.

She was quite surprised to receive fifty taels of silver.

"Uncle Li, are you sure you haven't miscalculated? The money is mine and won't be returned!"

A joke made Manager Li laugh heartily: "Hahaha, little girl, you dare to question my abilities? Don't worry, even if I'm wrong, I, Uncle Li, will take responsibility. It has nothing to do with San Gui."

"Well, with Uncle Li's words, San Gui can accept it without any guilt. Uncle Li, could you perhaps exchange it for loose silver for me? It would be more convenient for me to use!"

Each time, I painstakingly cut it off with scissors, then weigh each piece and mark it with small pieces of paper. It's quite a hassle.

"Of course, how about I exchange it for two twenty-tael coins and one ten-tael coin?"

"Okay, thank you, Uncle Li!"

Now we can go back to the village head and start making arrangements for purchasing fertile land.

"Uncle Li, is Uncle Yan here?"

"Old Yan...he hasn't been to the restaurant for several days. Is there something you need him for?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Sangui felt a chill in his heart. Without Manager Yan around, would it be difficult to get this done?

"This... Uncle Li, something's happened to Suanla Baiyucui!"

Upon hearing this, Manager Li paused in his abacus work and looked up in surprise.

"What?"