You get a gift on your birthday.

Song Zhenping presented a small wooden box containing two pale yellow silk flowers: "I bought these at the market as a birthday gift for you on your eighteenth birthday."

Since the beginning of June, Song Zhenping had been planning how to give Yun'er her birthday gift.

Most of the family's money was in Song Liyun's hands, while Song Zhenping only had a few taels of silver for pocket money.

But he didn't know what to buy. There were only a few small cloth stalls in Suijin Town, and the cloth there wasn't as good as what Yun'er bought in the city.

Yun'er doesn't like wearing jewelry either.

He searched for a long time, and only these silk flowers made of silk cloth looked pleasing to the eye, so he spent fifty coins to buy two of them.

Song Liyun happily accepted the slightly rough-made silk flowers; she didn't mind.

Song Zhenping had money, but aside from buying grain, he never spent money on anything else.

Moreover, she had seen this silk flower on Xu Yan'er's head before, and it was said to be the best hair flower that could be bought in Suijin Town.

Seeing that her second sister liked her brother's silk flowers, Xiao An shyly took out a pale red round ball: "Second sister, this is a stone I gave you."

He spent all his money on dogs, not silk flowers, but this stone was his favorite, and he always carried it with him.

Now he wants to give it to his second sister.

Song Liyun didn't take the stone; instead, she hugged his head and affectionately rubbed it. She was happy even if it was just a stone, because he had such a kind heart.

Xiao An blinked her big eyes and stuffed the stone into Song Liyun's hand. Song Liyun took it, glanced at it casually, and immediately exclaimed, "Xiao An, where did you find this?"

Song Zhenping also took it to look at it, and was quite surprised: "This stone is so beautiful, did Xiao An pick it up by the river?"

Seeing everyone's curiosity about the stone, Xiao An was both happy and nervous. He stammered, "Brother Abu gave it to me. He saw that I liked it, so he gave it to me and told me not to take it out of Baolinju and to keep it safe."

Song Liyun held the crystal-clear, smooth agate stone in her hand, momentarily speechless.

Xiao An is being silly and playing with the agate like a stone. We need to return it to its owner as soon as possible.

Yunniang didn't give any gold or silver. Instead, she made a set of strange-looking underwear as instructed by Song Liyun, which she had already placed on the kang (heated brick bed).

Han Ming, being a carefree man, hadn't thought of giving anything as a gift. Seeing that everyone had made gestures, he suddenly became anxious and scratched his head.

Song Liyun smiled and said, "Uncle Han is busy at home every day, taking such good care of the fields and the house, that I can go out and earn money without worry. There is no need to give him any other gifts. I should be the one toasting you."

Now Han Ming is both a bodyguard and a helper at home, doing all sorts of chores. His three siblings no longer treat him like an outsider.

How could Han Ming allow Song Liyun to offer him a toast? Putting aside the fact that she was the host, he was ashamed of his own abilities based solely on what Song Liyun had demonstrated in recent days.

Song Zhenping had once said he would take care of Han Ming in his old age. When he heard Yun'er was going to offer a toast, he immediately picked up his glass and said, "Uncle Han, thank you so much for helping Yun'er these past few days... going through thick and thin. These things should have been done by me, as her older brother... I toast you."

Han Ming chuckled and drank his wine.

After the gift-giving was over, the family began their meal, toasting and chatting in a warm and harmonious atmosphere.

In Qili County, a restaurant was still brightly lit. Since the county magistrate took office, there had been no curfew in the town. At this moment, the diners were enjoying their drinks.

In a private room on the second floor of Jinxilou, several men sat around a table with solemn expressions.

One of the men, a broad-minded, pot-bellied man with a fair complexion, said, "Gentlemen, Tianxiang Restaurant has quietly opened for business today. What do you think?"

"They say that rules can't make a difference. This military household girl is ignorant. Head Chef Shen should teach her a lesson. We can't just let her be like this."

"Yes, if everyone could open a shop whenever they wanted, sell whatever they wanted to people, and set the price however they wanted, wouldn't Qili County be in chaos?"

Several people started discussing it.

The pale-faced man said in a deep voice, "This is not the time to teach a lesson. I want to ask you, they've already opened for business, what are you going to do?"

They had already said this once, and even sent people to notify all grain and oil shops and wineries not to sell their goods, urging Song Liyun to back down and take the initiative to apologize.

Unexpectedly, a leather goods shop suddenly appeared and stepped forward to help, even bringing back several cartloads of goods from the prefectural city.

Shen Leyan and his group had never paid any attention to this leather goods shop, which was completely unknown in Qili County.

That's normal; one side is a leather goods store, and the other is a restaurant, so they never really intersected.

The case of Qin He robbing and killing Manager Wan at Tianxiang Tower occurred in the middle of the night in the mountains far from Qili County, and the county government's case file states that "no case occurred".

The garrison also took responsibility for the subsequent events; outsiders only knew that Hong Jingtian was opposing Suijin Town.

Therefore, almost no one knows that there is a Wanjia Leather Goods Shop inside.

Upon hearing Shen Leyan ask what to do, the middle-aged man in yellow sitting to the left gave him a displeased look and said sarcastically, "You've been Master Shen's guild leader for five years, so it's your turn to come up with ideas. Why are you asking us instead?"

And you even said Tianxianglou was already in your grasp... Ha! It's all because you were indecisive and kept delaying, dragging things out until now.

If you had followed my advice earlier, this trouble wouldn't have happened.

The head chef is selected every five years. Shen Leyan had just taken over when Tianxiang Restaurant collapsed, which was a great opportunity given to him, but he failed to seize it. What a fool.

Shen Leyan's face darkened immediately: "Master Huang, aren't you going too far with those words?"

"What do you mean by 'delaying until now'? From the moment I learned that someone had taken over Tianxianglou until now, I haven't delayed for a single moment. What have you all actually done? All you've done is talk."

He wasn't happy about it either.

Who wouldn't want such a lucrative opportunity? He sent many gifts to the county government, hoping to secure the Tianxiang Restaurant as soon as possible.

Unexpectedly, the newly arrived Magistrate Jiang was unyielding. He offered a thousand taels of silver, but the Magistrate refused, saying that the case was not yet closed and the stolen goods could not be disposed of.

Now, things have taken a turn for the worse. The case is closed, but the restaurant has fallen into the hands of a nobody military woman.

Many people in Qili County knew that Shen Leyan had pulled strings and was determined to win, but this incident was a major embarrassment for him within the guild.

He appeared calm on the surface, but inside he was burning with rage.

Hearing himself say that he was all talk and no action, the man in the yellow shirt became agitated and said, "You are the head chef, this is your responsibility. If you hadn't been so ignorant and dismissive, how could they have started a fight and made such a big scene, blocking half the street?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the others began to whisper among themselves.

That's true. Tianxianglou was chosen because it was located in a bustling area with a lot of people coming and going.

As soon as Song Liyun's barbecue smelled, it attracted everyone on the street.

Add to that a few strikingly dressed young men, each taking a step or pausing occasionally, and offering free food tastings—it's even more straightforward than hiring a parade of drummers to roam the streets.

Most importantly, Song Liyun took over the business and opened the store in just over ten days. The whole process was quiet and sudden, yet it was also very aggressive, making the opening of the store feel like a military campaign.