Chapter 14: Treacherous Gu Yunyi

Yun Sheng stared at Xu Qingmeng with a pitiful look.

Unfortunately, Xu Qingmeng didn't take the bait at all. She knew there was no hope and could only run out to play with her friends.

Xu Qing dreamed of customizing a frying pan, so He went out to find a blacksmith, but Gu Yunyi was still in the kitchen.

Xu Qingmeng was puzzled and asked, "Anything else?"

Gu Yunyi shook his head. "No, as you said, I ate too much and couldn't digest it after sitting for too long."

Xu Qingmeng didn't say anything, just nodded, and ignored him, continuing to prepare her fillings. In addition to buns and pies, she also needed to prepare tofu pudding and soy milk for tomorrow, so there were quite a lot of things she needed to prepare.

Gu Yunyi was wandering back and forth in the kitchen, touching this from time to time, then touching something else, and then he would ask Xu Qingmeng what it was? What is it used for?

Xu Qingmeng didn't care either. She just thought he was bored. She answered whatever he asked casually. After all, she was good at it.

No matter whether Gu Yunyi asked about common or uncommon ingredients, or rare spices, Xu Qingmeng could explain them to him very clearly.

Gu Yunyi nodded repeatedly after listening to this, and then blurted out a sentence,

"I had only heard that my wife rarely went out of the house. Now it seems that my wife is really well-informed. She knows so much without leaving the house."

Xu Qingmeng's hands froze as he was mixing the stuffing, and then he complained, "Lust is like a sword hanging over your head. How could I have been fooled? And I let him test me for so long. I was so stupid!"

"Little sister!"

Xu Qingmeng quickly put down the work in his hands and went out to see that it was his original body's second brother.

"Second brother, why are you here?" Xu Qingmeng hurried forward and asked.

"Father said you were running out of firewood, so he asked me to send you a load."

"Second brother, come in quickly."

Xu Qingmeng led his second brother into the yard, and Gu Yunyi also walked out of the kitchen.

Second brother Xu smelled a fragrance as soon as he came in, "Little sister, what did you do? It smells so good!"

Xu Qing was thinking of the stewed food in the pot and said hurriedly, "Second brother, please sit down first. I'll serve you."

Xu Qingmeng took out two bowls and scooped out two bowls of tofu pudding. One bowl had sugar in it and the other had salty food, and they were served to Brother Xu.

"Second brother, this is the tofu pudding I made today, you try it."

"Tofu brain, this looks similar to tofu, but it's much more tender than tofu. It's so delicious. Sister, this salty one tastes better."

After hearing what his second brother said, Xu Qingmeng became more determined to sell both sweet and salty products. However, he was still short of some dried radishes and small shrimps for the salty products. He could pickle the radishes himself, but he didn't know if the shrimps were available for sale. He would have to look for them carefully when the time comes.

Xu Qingmeng opened the lid of the stewed food pot again, poked it twice with a pair of chopsticks, twisted off a chicken leg, put it on a plate, and then brought it out and handed it to Brother Xu.

The stewed chicken is so tender and crispy that it makes people drool just by looking at it. Xu Qingmeng thinks it will taste even better if it is soaked until night.

"Little sister, what is this?"

"Second brother, please try it."

Brother Xu took the plate, looked at the chicken leg on the plate, and without hesitation, he picked it up and took a bite.

"Mm, delicious, really delicious. When did you learn this skill? I never cooked at home before!"

Xu Qingmeng glanced at Gu Yunyi beside him and quickly interrupted Brother Xu.

"Brother, as long as you like it, I'll pack some for you later and you can take it back for Dad and everyone else to eat. Besides, I want to help open a restaurant for the Gu family."

Brother Xu put down his bowl and stared at Xu Qingmeng with wide eyes.

"Little sister, this won't do. This business is too tiring. Is it because Gu Yunyi treats you badly? Although our family is not rich, our brothers can support you. At worst, we can divorce and go home."

"No, no, I just want to help my husband share some of the burden." Xu Qingmeng explained quickly.

Brother Xu knew that whatever his younger sister said was what it was. It was usually difficult to change her decision. He was silent for a while, then he spoke.

"Okay then. I'll come and bring you firewood every two days."

Gu Yunyi listened to the conversation between the two and became more suspicious of Xu Qingmeng, but he didn't know what was wrong.

Xu Qingmeng went in again and got some tofu pudding, and also took some braised food from the pot for Brother Xu to take back.

Brother Xu quickly stood up and said goodbye, after all, he had to go back to work in the fields.

After Xu Qingmeng sent Second Brother Xu away, she hurried back to the kitchen to work to avoid being dug into the matter by Gu Yunyi again. She didn't have the brainpower of a big boss.

Gu Yunyi looked at her fleeing, but had no intention of letting her go. He then followed Xu Qingmeng to the kitchen.

Xu Qingmeng knew that he couldn't escape, so he could only make up a story.

"My husband, you don't know that Xujia Village is backed by a hill. There were wars in the past few years, and many people passed by and even settled there. When I was a child, an old man passed by and thought I was innocent and cute, and extremely smart. He taught me some knowledge. Based on my photographic memory, of course I remembered it all at once!"

The war was real, and Xu's family doted on her to such an extent that they would not keep her at home. It was possible. As for what she said about her being innocent, cute, and smart, Gu Yunyi did not believe it.

Xu Qingmeng didn't care whether he believed it or not. She had a determined attitude on her face, and it really looked like that.

Gu Yunyi didn't say anything, but smiled, "My wife is really lucky, just like me at the beginning."

"Oh? It turns out that my husband was as likable as I was before?" Xu Qingmeng looked over inquiringly.

Gu Yunyi rolled his eyes at Xu Qingmeng and turned back to his room.

Xu Qingmeng's thoughts drifted back to the past. She remembered that the book had described that Gu Yunyi's mentor, Mr. Shen, was an outstanding Jinshi in the previous emperor's era.

During that period, the previous emperor was obsessed with military expansion and the status of literati was seriously neglected. However, with the death of the previous emperor, a year-long battle for the throne began. Power changed frequently within the court, and many officials were implicated. Mr. Shen was one of the victims.

After the new emperor ascended the throne, in order to fulfill the last wish of the previous emperor and continue to promote the cause of unification, he went through several years of war.

Finally, after the unification of the dynasty, the new emperor began to implement new policies, vigorously develop agriculture, and improve the social status of literati.

However, the new emperor still seemed to be wary of those who were involved in the battle for the throne, or he had no time to re-employ them. Therefore, those who were promoted were often new scholars from humble backgrounds.

Fortunately, Mr. Shen is open-minded and loves nature. He left a deep friendship between master and apprentice with Gu Yunyi in the book.

In addition, he often traveled among mountains and rivers, recording what he saw and felt in poetry. These poems are exquisite and admirable, and they also demonstrate Mr. Shen's style as a true scholar.

Not long after, Xu Qingmeng threw the vegetarian dishes into the pot again, scooped out some of the broth, and started to braise the pig intestines.

In the evening, as it gradually darkened, the workers at the dock had all gone home, and the braised food Xu Qingmeng had made was already out of the pot.

He lit several oil lamps in the hall and placed the tables side by side in front of the shop, just as she had done in the morning. She arranged the braised food that Xu Qingmeng had fished out neatly.

The shiny color and the fact that it was freshly cooked made it smell really good, and soon attracted many people.

(End of this chapter)