Upon seeing Aunt Zhang, Han Yiyi smiled and was about to greet her when Aunt Zhang pulled her into her arms.
"Han girl, you, you're finally back! Your aunt thought she'd never see you again..."
Aunt Zhang's voice was slightly choked as she hugged Han Yiyi tightly, as if afraid she would disappear again.
Sensing Aunt Zhang's excitement and joy, Han Yi felt a warm current flow through her heart.
She knew that Aunt Zhang truly treated her like a daughter, and naturally Han Yiyi also regarded Aunt Zhang as family, so she gently patted Aunt Zhang's back.
She gently comforted her, "Auntie, it's my fault for making you worry..."
Upon hearing Han Yiyi's words, Aunt Zhang quickly released Han Yiyi, and then spoke angrily again.
"How can you blame yourself? It's all that damned Fan Ting's fault. If he hadn't had such evil intentions and kidnapped you and the child, you wouldn't have suffered like this. Fortunately, thank God, that general saved you..."
It turned out that Yun Xiao, seeing that Aunt Zhang was too worried about Han Yiyi, told her that Han Yiyi had been kidnapped by Fan Ting and later rescued by Nangong Yuan.
Of course, he didn't say that Fan Ting's audacity and ability to kidnap Han Yiyi were all his grandmother's doing, nor did he tell Aunt Zhang that the general who saved Han Yiyi and the others was Nangong Yuan.
Hearing Aunt Zhang's words, Han Yiyi couldn't help but glance at Yun Xiao beside her. Seeing that he had lowered his eyes, she decided not to expose him.
However, when the two children were mentioned, Aunt Zhang looked behind Han Yiyi but didn't see them. Her heart, which had just settled down, jumped again, and she hurriedly asked.
"Where are the two children? Could something have happened to them...?"
Seeing the worry in Aunt Zhang's eyes, Han Yi quickly spoke up.
"It's alright, it's alright, they're fine. It's just that they're in Kyoto right now and didn't come back with me..."
"But what happened? Why were they left so far away in Kyoto...?"
Seeing that the worry in Aunt Zhang's eyes had not dissipated, he tugged at her sleeve and whispered in her ear that the two children were Nangong Yuan.
After hearing Han Yiyi's words, Aunt Zhang's mouth remained open for a long time.
"Good, good, that's wonderful! I knew it! Zicheng and Zihui are such smart and adorable children, how could they possibly be that damned offspring of the Fan family..."
After Aunt Zhang finished speaking, she suddenly realized that her voice was a bit too loud, so she quickly covered her mouth. She thought to herself, this matter must not be spread, otherwise Han Yiyi's reputation would be ruined. However, she looked at Han Yiyi with relief and said.
"Sigh, the two kids, this time it's a blessing in disguise..."
After saying that, Aunt Zhang remembered the purpose of her visit and hurriedly spoke up.
"Oh dear, look at my memory! Han girl, now that you're back, should we still collect the chili peppers as agreed before...?"
"Yes, I was just about to go to the village chief's house to have him tell everyone..."
"Alright, alright, that's good. Now hurry up and go to the village chief's house. Everyone's here. Since you haven't come back, everyone can only go to the village chief. The village chief is so worried about everyone that he's almost turned white-headed. He's planning to go to Yunlai Restaurant to find Manager Tong..."
Because Han Yi's family lived far away from other houses in the village, and Yun Xiao rarely went out, only Aunt Zhang and Fan Ting knew that Yun Xiao, the young master of Yunlai Restaurant, lived in Han Yi's house.
Seeing that the village chief was truly at his wit's end, Aunt Zhang thought of asking Yun Xiao, only to find that Han Yiyi had already returned.
Actually, the villagers weren't in a hurry. They thought they could sell the chilies for a higher price once they turned red and dried them. But these past few days, the weather has been hot and humid, clearly indicating that rain is coming. And according to the village elders, once the rain starts, it might not stop for a day or two.
Therefore, everyone was worried that if the rain continued, the chili peppers would rot in the ground. Those who had planted fewer chili peppers were not so bad off, but those who had planted more were even more anxious. That's why they went to the village chief's house together to ask him for a solution.
"Village chief, you have to think of a solution! The weather is getting hotter and hotter, and the rain is sure to be heavy. If we don't pick those peppers soon, they'll really rot in the ground..."
"Yes, village chief, you should think of a solution. We only started planting because we saw your family growing them. You can't just ignore it now..."
Actually, not only were everyone anxious, but even the village chief himself had developed two large blisters on the corner of his mouth from worry these past few days. Now that everyone was coming to him for help, he was even more anxious and kept scratching his head, but he still managed to speak up.
"Alright, everyone go back first. I'll arrange for someone to go to Yunlai Restaurant right away, I think..."
"Don't worry, everyone. If you want to sell the chilies now, you can pick them now. If you want to wait until they turn red and dry them before selling, that's fine too. I will still buy them at the price written in the previous agreement..."
Before the village chief could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a clear and pleasant voice.
To everyone, Han Yiyi's voice at that moment was truly heavenly.
"Han girl, you, you're back..."
Seeing Han Yiyi and Yun Xiao walk in from outside the courtyard, the village chief was so excited that he almost cried, and the blister on the corner of his mouth didn't hurt as much anymore.
Upon hearing Han Yiyi's words, no one hesitated any longer. They all turned and left in a hurry, thinking of going back to pick chili peppers.
Aunt Zhang didn't come to the village chief's house with the two of them. Instead, she went back to arrange for some of her children to pick chili peppers. After all, her family grew the most, and if they all rotted in the ground, it would be a significant loss.
The village chief himself didn't dare to delay and arranged for his family to pick chili peppers.
Because of the hot and humid weather, Han Yiyi had a concern: if all the chilies were fresh, Yunlai Restaurant wouldn't be able to use them all at once, and the rest would be difficult to store. So she asked Yun Xiao for advice.
“If they were all picked together, Yunlai wouldn’t need that many in a short time. Do you have an ice cellar…”
Han Yiyi knew that some wealthy people had ice cellars in their homes for the convenience of using ice in the summer.
"That's unnecessary. An ice cellar can be made with sand..." They had been running a restaurant in Yunlai for so long that they had some experience in storing things. Seeing Han Yi's confusion, they explained.
Place the chili peppers in a storage cellar. First, lay down a 6-9 cm layer of dry sand, then place the peppers without insect damage or uneven shapes on top, followed by another 9-12 cm layer of sand. Repeat this process 1-3 times. This method allows for storage for 50-60 days.
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