Chapter 172 A Kind Reminder
The sun was shining brightly.
The sunlight shone on Li Xiuhong's face, making her appear as beautiful as a flower.
With a charming and coquettish expression, she greeted them shyly, "Young Master Zheng, Young Master Qian."
Zheng Wangfeng stepped aside to make way for him.
Qian Hui stared at Li Xiuhong and couldn't help but swallow. He was aroused that such a beautiful woman could come from such a dirty and messy place.
However, he immediately realized that he was about to receive credit from the prefect, and at this critical juncture, he absolutely could not cause trouble.
He then moved to the side.
Li Xiuhong lowered her head and bit her lower lip, forcing herself to take the initiative. Only by taking this step could she live the life she had always dreamed of.
She took out a white handkerchief from her sleeve and suddenly squatted down: "The two young masters' brocade boots are dirty. Don't move your feet. I'll wipe them clean for you."
Zheng Wangfeng and Qian Hui really didn't move.
Soon, Li Xiuhong wiped their shoes clean, and the white handkerchief was covered in mud.
She stood up and said, "Actually, my aunt's house has a room that is very clean. The floor is paved with bluestone slabs, and the bedding is brand new, bought for my cousin's wedding. We haven't had a chance to use it yet. If you two young masters don't mind, you can move to my aunt's house for a few nights."
Zheng Wangfeng and Qian Hui stayed at the village head's house last night. The village head had a one-year-old baby who cried incessantly in the middle of the night, keeping the two of them awake all night. If they could have a better place to stay, they would be more than happy.
However, Qian Hui didn't dare to have too high expectations for the houses in Dahe Village, and said, "Take us to see them first."
Li Xiuhong was secretly delighted and led the way.
Just as they reached the main road of the village, the three of them ran into Cheng Wanwan, who was on her way to Old Zhao's house.
Cheng Wanwan frowned: "Young Master Zheng, Young Master Qian, what's going on?"
She stared at Li Xiuhong for a moment, and that look made Li Xiuhong feel inexplicably guilty, causing her to lower her head even further.
Cheng Wanwan had already noticed something was wrong. It seemed that Li Xiuhong had previously tried to seduce Cheng Zhao but was repeatedly thwarted, so now she had changed her target.
She didn't want to get involved and was about to leave, but after thinking for a moment, she still reminded him, "Scholars should know the principle of separation between men and women. The Zhang family has a young lady, so you two should try not to go there."
Zheng Wangfeng and Qian Hui are only seventeen or eighteen years old. As an elder, she should give them a reminder.
But that was all she had to say; whether the two men were willing to listen to her was beyond her control.
She walked into Old Zhao's house with what she was holding in her hand.
Li Xiuhong gripped the hem of her clothes tightly. She opened her mouth to explain, but didn't know how.
Zheng Wangfeng stood there for a moment, pondered, and said calmly, "Let's keep going."
Li Xiuhong was overjoyed: "Yes, Young Master Zheng!"
She led the way, walking very fast, afraid that something else might go wrong.
Qian Hui said in a low voice, "Brother Zheng, I think what Aunt Cheng Zhao said makes sense. Why don't we stay at the village head's house?"
Although the village head's house was noisy, the women were either elderly, daughters-in-law, or under ten years old, so there was no real danger.
The Qian family was a wealthy and powerful clan, and every maid in the mansion wanted to climb into the young master's bed. He was only seventeen years old, but there were already quite a few maids in his room who served him. He didn't mind this at all. If a woman offered herself to him, he would naturally take her into his inner quarters, and no one would say anything to him. But the Zheng family was a scholarly family and valued their reputation the most. He was afraid that if his brother Zheng got involved in such matters, it would affect his career.
Zheng Wangfeng said calmly, "An ignorant village girl wouldn't have such audacity. Let's go and see."
The two followed Li Xiuhong.
After Cheng Wanwan finished speaking at Lao Zhao's house, she saw Qian Hui standing at the door of Zhang Wulai's house in the distance and couldn't help but shake her head.
She ignored the matter and turned back to her own home. At that moment, Zhao Ergou also returned.
He was beaming and took a paper package out of his basket: "Fourth Egg, come and see what good things your second brother brought you."
Zhao Sidan, ignoring the chickens and ducks, rushed over, his eyes immediately lighting up: "It smells so good, it's meatballs!"
“This is lion’s head meatballs,” Zhao Ergou said. “Do you know how much a bowl of lion’s head meatballs costs? Three hundred and fifty coins, and there are only eight. I shamelessly asked Manager Yang to give me two more, one for each of our family.”
Zhao Sidan tilted his head: "Second brother, there are nine people in our family. You didn't learn math well."
Shen Zheng slapped him on the back of the head: "Your sister-in-law is pregnant with another one, you heartless little thing, all your sister-in-law's cooking for you every day is for nothing."
Lion's head meatballs were placed on the table, one for each person. These meatballs, the size of a baby's fist, were deep-fried, crispy, and incredibly delicious.
Zhao Ergou resisted eating, feeling that he felt happier eating delicious food with his family.
He licked the bits of meat off his lips and asked, "Sister-in-law, do you think lion's head meatballs are difficult to make?"
Wu Huiniang carefully put away the remaining lion's head, intending to save it for dinner. As her pregnancy progressed, she often felt hungry in the middle of the night, and the hungry baby would kick and punch inside her. Eating something at night would help the baby sleep better.
She placed the lion's head meatballs in the bowl before speaking, "It's not difficult to make, but it requires a lot of oil. I should be able to make something that tastes about the same."
“Sister-in-law, why don’t we open a restaurant?” Zhao Ergou said enthusiastically. “A plate of braised food can sell for 300 copper coins in a restaurant. If we open our own restaurant, we can earn all that money ourselves. We can definitely make at least 100 taels of silver a month.”
His words stunned the Zhao family's sons.
Zhao Dashan stared blankly and said, "Earn one hundred taels of silver a month?"
Zhao Sanniu swallowed hard: "Second Brother, you're just kidding."
"Zhao Ergou, you're such an idiot." Shen Zheng snorted. "Do you think you can just open a restaurant like that? Zuixianlou is such a big restaurant, two floors, the rent is tens of taels of silver a month, and you have to hire at least two head chefs, two kitchen helpers, and a few waiters. If you can make a hundred taels of silver a month, I'll change my surname to yours."
“Ergou’s idea is good.” Cheng Wanwan first affirmed her second brother’s idea, and then pointed out the practical problems they were facing. “First, we don’t have enough money to buy a shop. Second, your sister-in-law is due to give birth in two months, and she is not suitable to be a cook right now. My plan is to save more money in the next few months, buy a shop after the New Year, and then open a food-related shop.”
The reason she chose to buy instead of rent is that she wanted to renovate the shop, and renting would be too uneconomical.
The plan was unanimously approved by the nine people.
That night, the whole family slept soundly. Early in the morning, Cheng Wanwan was woken up by Aunt Wang's loud voice.
"Oh dear, Aunt Mountain, something terrible has happened! How can you still be sleeping? Get up!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
