Shen Zhigao had been working in the fields all day. He was used to doing farm work when he was young, but now he is old, and since a few years ago, most of the work in the fields has been handed over to Shen Qing, and he has not done any hard work for a long time.
Now that Shen Qing has left, the family has lost a strong laborer. Old man Shen was too old to work in the fields any longer, so the burden had to fall back on him and Shen Zhiwei. Even Shen Zhuang, who used to only know how to play around, was dragged to work in the fields.
But how can you cheer up a lazy body just by saying so? The Shen family's land was far inferior to what Shen Qing had when he was young. They were all experienced farmers. The villagers could tell at a glance whether the family's land was well tended or not, and could even roughly estimate the harvest. When they passed by and saw the Shen family's land, they kept sighing and shaking their heads.
Shen Zhigao felt overwhelmed. In addition, the rumors in the village also reached his ears to some extent, which made him even more depressed. After finally finishing a day's work and wanting to go home and relax, Li Jiaofeng came to him and cried with the child in her arms.
Shen Zhigao glanced at the sickly, weak cat-like child in her arms, and felt annoyed and conflicted. When the child was born, he finally got the boy he had always dreamed of. He was so happy that he wanted to cherish him like the apple of his eye. But the child was only three months old when he fell ill several times, draining the Shen family's last bit of savings, emptied out his and Li Jiaofeng's private savings, and also left them with a lot of foreign debts.
Now everyone in the village depends on Shen Qing to make money, and they are afraid that if they get too close to their family, Shen Qing will be unhappy, so they won’t allow them to go to the workshop to work. The men who used to drink and chat together now wanted to avoid him when they saw him. It was Zhao Youdang who lent him some money, so he gave Wu Guixiang a bad look.
Under such financial pressure, Shen Zhigao no longer felt as happy as before when looking at the child. Li Jiaofeng's crying in his ear was so annoying, but he didn't remember anything she said. He just stared at the child for a long time, thinking over the gossip in the village over and over again in his mind.
"Ming has no son", "He is destined to have no descendants", "He can't be raised up"... Shen Zhigao pondered for a while, suddenly stood up, and pulled Li Jiaofeng into the bedroom with force.
At this moment, Li Jiaofeng really regretted getting involved in the Shen family's mess!
She originally just wanted to find someone to rely on for the rest of her life and have a son to rely on. She didn't really like Shen Zhigao, but just thought that he was in better condition and easier to poach - before, the Shen family was indeed considered well-off in the village.
As for the intricacies of the old Shen's yard, she thought she was smart, young and beautiful and could control Shen Zhigao, so she didn't take it too seriously and thought she would have a smooth life in the old Shen's house.
However, reality slapped her hard in the face.
First, he was assassinated and almost lost two lives. After all this trouble, the Shen family's originally relatively wealthy assets were spent, and they had to borrow money even for medical treatment. Shen Zhigao's attitude towards her also changed. He no longer gave in to her in everything like when she was pregnant. Now he was anxious to do that kind of thing every day, hoping to have another boy.
Chen Qiang was born during her difficult labor. Her family was short of money and she didn't take good care of him, so he never recovered. If she got pregnant again at this time, how could her body bear it? Furthermore, if he really gave birth to another boy, would Shen Zhigao still pay for Shen Qiang's medical treatment?
Li Jiaofeng felt cold all over. Shen Zhigao seemed to have it easy, as he could become a father just by shaking on her body twice. However, this child was the result of her eight months of pregnancy and struggling for several days to give birth to him. How could she bear to do that!
Only then did she realize that it was not because she was young, beautiful and smart that she had defeated Miao and had Shen Zhigao in her hands. But Miao had lost her fertility, but she could still give birth. Shen Zhigao married her just to give birth to a boy, so her only use was to give birth to a boy.
She is so stupid! How could she think she was smart? The smartest one was Shen Qing. He probably didn't know how grateful he was for his intervention. He hurriedly escaped from the quagmire of the old Shen family. Look, Shen Qing became rich immediately after leaving the old Shen family. You mistook the fish eye for a pearl and tried your best to get in!
It's too late to say anything now. For a woman, getting married is like being reborn. There is no chance for her to regret. Unless there is someone as blind as her who takes over her job like a dead ghost looking for a substitute, she can escape like Miao did. But now, under the leadership of Shen Qing, every household in Lantang Village is thriving, which makes the Shen family look even more destitute. Who is so crazy as to fall for Shen Zhigao?
She could only cheer herself up and try to earn more benefits for herself in this worst situation. Before going to bed, Li Jiaofeng brought up what she wanted to say before: "Life is difficult at home now, and the child is weak. Who knows when we will have to spend money again? We must make plans early... Can't we borrow some more from my aunt? And the workshop in the village, Shen Qing is the brother of our Shen family after all, how can he be so cruel that the whole village goes to work in that workshop and rents it to our family..."
Shen Zhigao closed his eyes and didn't even lift his eyelids. He was also angry about the workshop incident, but he was too embarrassed to go to Shen Qing. If he was asked to work in his brother's workshop, he felt he was inferior to Shen Qing and was unwilling to do so. If he was asked to go to Shen Qing and say a few soft words, he was even more embarrassed to do so. Even though life at home was so difficult, he would always walk around the workshop whenever he passed by, as if the workshop didn't exist if he didn't look at it. He was never outdone by his brother, and was still the arrogant father who drove Shen Qing and Miao out of the house!
Li Jiaofeng’s words made him feel uncomfortable! Shen Zhigao turned over and faced away from her, not responding: "You are out of confinement now, don't stay in the house every day, help mother with housework. The second son's wife still refuses to come back, which is really not nice. How can a daughter-in-law be so unfilial?" He wrapped himself in the quilt. He was sore all over from the heavy farm work, but he had to continue working tomorrow: "I will talk to mother about the money and ask her to borrow some from my younger sister. You should behave better and don't make mother unhappy again."
Li Jiaofeng had no way to express her suffering. She knew clearly that the fall was not an accident. Plus, with the precedent of Shen Zhang's infancy, who knew if someone would harm her child? She was like an old hen protecting her chicks, staying by the child's side all day long and not daring to pay any attention to him. But she had no evidence, and if she told Shen Zhigao this, she might become the sinner who sowed discord between family members. Therefore, he could only muffle his words and say, "I saved it."
How much had Old Lady Shen suffered from Li Jiaofeng before? But Shen Zhigao was protecting him and couldn't do anything about it. At this moment, Li Jiaofeng unloaded the goods, and they finally fell into her hands. The east wind from Old Lady Shen finally prevailed over the west wind. Not to mention how she tortured Li Jiaofeng, four days later, the starch sausage shop in the county town finally opened for business.
After sweeping the house early in the morning, worshipping the God of Wealth, burning yellow paper, hanging up big red lanterns, and removing the red cloth on the plaque, Shen Qing lit a string of firecrackers himself, and the starch sausage workshop was officially opened. The man with the gold tooth gave a bronze tripod and placed it on the counter. It looked beautiful and auspicious, and could also hold some loose copper coins.
What was rare was that the chief clerk sent a pair of congratulatory couplets, which he had written himself and had the carpenter hurriedly carve. Shen Qing sent a generous gift over. Although he had never met the Chief Clerk, the Chief Clerk showed his willingness to protect him.
Shen Qing immediately asked someone to hang the congratulatory couplets at the door. With this congratulatory couplet written by the deputy chief clerk himself, no matter how jealous their shop's business will be in the future, no one will dare to act rashly!
Shuban Yang also asked the Gold Tooth Man to send a copper Pixiu, which was placed on the counter. Even so, Shen Qing was satisfied enough.
The new store had just opened, and people nearby just watched the fun without going in. Shen Qing asked Mudan to fry ten sausages, cut them into small pieces, and gave them to nearby residents for tasting.
During the renovation, Shen Qing ordered that the stove be built at the entrance of the shop. As soon as the starch sausage was put into the pot, the overbearing aroma wafted out, filling the entire street. Even those who had not originally planned to eat could not help but drool and could not help wanting to taste what this thing tasted like. After trying the tasting, my appetite was completely aroused.
"How can it not taste good if you fry them? I really don't want to waste it!"
"Is this meat? It doesn't taste like meat, but it definitely tastes like meat!"
"Oh my god, this is full of oil and meat, I'm afraid it's not cheap. Why is it opened in the north of our city? Not many people here can afford it!"
"It's delicious, grandma, I want to eat more..."
Everyone who has tasted it gives it a thumbs up! The fried sausages are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The starch sausages with rich meat flavor are sprinkled with flavorful condiments, which makes the aroma even more explosive. If you like it, you can also brush some sauce on it. Everyone who tasted it was drooling, but no one dared to ask the price for a long time.
With this taste and so much meat, how can it be cheap?
In the end, the grandmother who was taking care of her grandson couldn't help but ask. She had originally brought her grandson to the next door to drink sweet soup. She had already brought some money with her and was a family willing to spend some money on her child, so she hesitated and asked: "What's the name of this thing? How much is it?" She pinched her purse. She brought a lot of food when she went out today. Although it tasted good, it couldn't be more expensive than a pound of meat, right? Although the intestine looked quite large, it weighed no more than half a pound.
There was no need for Shen Qing to solicit business personally, as the shopkeeper Xiaomiao said with a smile: "This is called Flowering Sausage, five cents per stick. Now that you have just opened, it's ten cents for three sticks. It's only for three days, and there will be no such discount after three days." The name of the starch sausage itself contains the recipe. Shen Qing must have figured it out, so he no longer calls it by this name in the county, and also told the villagers to gradually change the name.
Flowering intestines? The intestine was cut like that and it really looked like a flower! But the price was really surprising, and many people asked in disbelief: "How much?"
This thing has both oil and meat, and it only costs five cents. Can it be cheaper to buy it now? The grandmother with her grandson didn't have time to think about why it was so cheap, and she opened her mouth first: "I want three, no, six!"
She still had money from selling vegetables today in her pocket. She had originally planned to buy two pounds of meat to serve as a snack for her family, but now she bought six pieces of meat. She gave one to her grandson and sliced the rest and served it on a plate, which would also make a good dish. It also saved oil at home. It's not a festival, who would be willing to use so many fried foods?
As soon as she expressed this idea, it was immediately agreed by several housewives and heads of the household. The stall immediately became lively and the people in the store were soon busy.
The dessert shop next door was a little concerned about Shen Qing's snack business. In addition to drinks, they also sell some snacks. But knowing that this is the landlord's own business, there is nothing much to say. At this time, although Shen Qing was selling food, it was salty and spicy, so it was naturally enjoyable to eat. But after eating, he wanted to drink something, so he came next door to buy some sweet soup. His own business was also boosted, and the boss was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. He even gave sweet soup to Shen Qing and several people in the shop as a gift from the neighbors to congratulate the opening of the new store.
As a courtesy, when the store was not so busy, Shen Qing asked someone to send two sausages to the next door for his neighbor to try.
Business that day was better than expected. Later, Peony and Feicui took turns frying the sausages while the other one took a rest. They also called Begonia and Agate from the back yard to help. Even so, they were already exhausted before the sun went down and closed the door early to rest.
"We don't have enough experience on this first day, so we should have asked people to help us earlier. Starting tomorrow, Peony and Jade will take turns to work, and Begonia and Agate will also take turns to help." Shen Qing summarized the shortcomings of today and said, "It will probably only be busy for two or three days. Everyone is just getting used to it now, and it will gradually be less busy."
In the morning, residents living in the north of the city were the main consumer group, but by the afternoon the news had spread and many people came from other places just to taste the flower sausage.
Mudan's hair was wet with sweat, but she still had a bright smile on her face: "We would rather be so busy, and we would like our shop's business to continue to be so good!"
The bronze tripod sent by the Gold Tooth Man was now piled with copper coins, and the drawer under the counter was also full. Shopkeeper Xiao Miao's abacus clattered loudly, and his mouth stretched to the back of his ears: "We made a profit. We made a lot of money today!"
Shen Qing was just about to go over to take a look at the account book to see how much he had earned today, when Tieshan suddenly came in from outside: "Boss, someone is visiting us outside. He said he is the owner of the Cuihua shop next door, and he wants to give us a gift to celebrate the opening of the business."
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