December 4th, noon.

Huaqiao Village, the home of the headmaster in the east of the village.

"Mother, today is the third day since Widow Cheng disappeared..." At the dinner table, Yu Qingyou sighed slightly and lamented.

"As parents, they're naturally extremely anxious when their children are missing. Widow Cheng must have left the village to look for Ermao."

Although Hua Sufen also sympathized with Cheng Mingui and Ermao, she was just a small village head with limited abilities and could not really help in finding people.

To the west of the village, there is the Yuanwai Mansion next to Hua’s house.

After Hua Rongsheng and Ye Maochun were granted the titles of "Yuanwai" and "Five-Rank Imperial Consort" by the Emperor, they had originally planned to exchange their imperially granted county residence for a larger house in the village. However, the prefect of Wuyang Prefecture personally came to their house and stated that he dared not take the imperial gift, but would provide them with an additional mansion in Huaqiao Village.

Hua Rongsheng and Ye Maochun have already moved into their new house for over a month now. Furthermore, this house is right next to Hua Qingcheng's "Hua House".

"Dad, slow down!"

Seeing Ye Maochun walking out of the dining hall after lunch, Hua Rongsheng hurried to follow him.

Ye Maochun was now six months pregnant. Almost every day, he would stroll over to the Hua residence next door to see where his daughter and her husband had lived. Sometimes, Ye Maochun would even personally feed the white horse that Hua Qingcheng had bought and the black buffalo that plowed the fields. It was as if his daughter was still by his side...

Although Hua Qingcheng was far away in the capital, the daily operations of the Hua residence remained unchanged. The housekeeper Qiu Fu and his grandson Qiu Ming managed the vegetable business in an orderly manner.

Although they couldn't make a fortune, Hua Qingcheng had instructed that the vegetable cultivation must continue. This way, they could increase the income of the villagers who came to work there, and it would be a way of giving back to the place that gave her life.

It wasn't just vegetables. Hua Qingcheng's original "Jing Hua Yuan Snacks" in Yunshui Town had also grown in size, with branches opening one after another. Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Wu, and Chen Liu, the first employees to join, were now the shopkeepers of their respective branches.

As for the beautiful lame cook Zhou Yu, she has now trained many apprentices and sent them to various branches, while she herself still stays in the main store in Yunshui Town, Fufeng County.

Hua Qingcheng would send in new recipes every once in a while, and Zhou Yu would always learn from them and create more delicious snacks. The business of Jinghuayuan snacks was very prosperous. Driven by Si Chengfeng and the Pei family, its branches now spread across the entire Laifeng Kingdom.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, an old man came to the main store of Jinghuayuan snacks on Caiyun Street, Yunshui Town, Fufeng County.

But he had silver hair, kind eyes, was dressed in white, held a jade flute in his hand, and had a brown gourd hanging around his waist. He looked like an immortal.

However, he ate several pots of spicy hot pot, more than 200 skewers of barbecue, 20 bowls of beer, and ordered a shabu-shabu hot pot by himself.

"Xiao Chenchen never lied to me! The food in the snack shop opened by his gigolo wife is really delicious!" Xuanming ate while slurping the food and did not forget to comment on it.

Xuanming's strange behavior was quickly reported by the waiter to Zhou Yu who was patrolling the kitchen. Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu followed the waiter out to the lobby to check.

"Grandpa, although the food in the shop is delicious, you shouldn't overeat like this. You are old, so you should eat less salt and oil, lighter food, and it's best to eat small meals frequently..." Looking at the old man who was eating happily at the table, Zhou Yu gave a few reminders conscientiously.

"You little girl, are you afraid that I won't give you money after you finish eating?"

(Xuan Ming: Although I really didn’t intend to give it to you, your attitude really annoys me…)

Xuanming, feeling disturbed, pushed Zhou Yu away with a hint of displeasure. This person was chattering away, blocking his view and delaying his meal...

"Grandpa, I'm doing this for your health..."

Zhou Yu's lips twitched slightly at Xuanming's words. As he aged, his temper had indeed become erratic... But when faced with a stubborn customer, she could only patiently explain.

"Burp~"

“That’s enough, that’s enough!”

“I’m full, I’m full!”

Xuanming finished eating the last piece of hot pot meat with chili sauce. After burping and drinking a glass of sweet drink, he finally stopped.

"Grandpa, you ordered too much. You need to pay two taels of silver." Although the other party did not listen to the advice, he did eat a lot. Zhou Yu reminded him to pay the bill after Xuanming finished eating.

"Isn't it just two taels of silver?"

"Give!"

Xuanming muttered as he took out a gold-plated token from his pocket and threw it onto the dining table with a clang.

Zhou Yu: ...

Suppressing his inner speechlessness, Zhou Yu picked up the token on the table and took a look. He saw that one side of the token was engraved with the three words "Hua Qingcheng", while the other side was engraved with two rows of small words: For Second Master Xuanming's exclusive use, eat for free.

"Shopkeeper Zhou..."

The guy next to her winked at Zhou Yu desperately, reminding her to be careful not to be cheated and encounter scoundrels who eat and drink for free.

Zhou Yu carefully examined the token again. It was a gold-plated token made of golden nanmu wood, and the workmanship was extremely exquisite. Would someone who possessed such a token need to eat and drink for free?

Looking at this old man again, although he looks to be in his seventies, he has a youthful face and a vigorous appearance. His demeanor doesn't seem that of a fraud...

"So you are the second master of the host family. I am so sorry for your disrespect! Now that you have eaten and drunk enough, do you need me to arrange for you to rest in the backyard room for a while?" After thinking for a while, Zhou Yu bowed slightly to Xuanming.

Xuanming, who was feeling a little sleepy after eating, was indeed quite moved by what he heard. After coming out of Xuanyi Valley, he hadn't rested properly in order to eat the delicious food his good disciple had mentioned as soon as possible.

"Second Elder, would you like to rest here for a while?"

Under Zhou Yu's astonished gaze, a tall and strong man who was eating vegetarian noodles at the next table suddenly came up to the old man and bowed.

"That A'Yu, no. Let's go!" Xuanming glanced at Xiao Lengyu and said slowly.

A few days ago, he received a letter from his good disciple in Beijing, saying that he missed him very much and asked him to go to the capital to keep him company. He also asked him to stop by Jinghuayuan for some snacks before going to the capital, and then stop by Huaqiao Village to visit his father-in-law and mother-in-law on his behalf...

After receiving the letter, Xuanming was deeply moved and immediately assigned some affairs in Xuanyi Valley to his subordinates.

After arranging some matters, Xuanming took Xiao Lengyu out of Xuanyi Valley and embarked on a journey to eat delicious food, visit the flower mother and flower father, and go to the capital to accompany his apprentice...