After arranging the conversion of the RV, Cheng Ruyi immediately began making other escape preparations, such as researching foods that were easy to preserve and carry.
It's impossible to predict what might happen on the road to escape, and all sorts of unexpected situations could arise. For example, if you have to travel through the wilderness, then readily available food becomes very important.
The first things that come to mind are dried noodles, instant noodles, and dried rice noodles. The process isn't too complicated, and there's still time to try it out. As long as it's made before the official escape, that's fine.
Secondly, you should prepare various sauces, pickled foods, and dried goods. If you have time, you can try making canned fruit to supplement your vitamins!
As for clothes and quilts, the Cheng family has more than enough for now, since the cotton and fur given to Zhang Hui were only recently completed.
After keeping 30% of the clothing, Cheng Ruyi had more than enough to meet her daily needs. However, compared to winter clothes, she now felt that she lacked clothing for the other three seasons. She could ask the Zhang family to help her get some simple clothes that would be convenient for her to move around in.
Some time ago, Zhang Hui made a lot of money thanks to the Cheng family's orders. With the savings he had accumulated over the years, he not only rented a shop in the county town to start his own business, but also helped his daughter Zhang Yumian "redeem" herself from the embroidery workshop. His wife and daughter personally took charge of their own clothing shop.
With Zhang Hui's own connections, plus his wife and daughter's embroidery skills, the shop's business naturally flourished and customers flocked in.
Cheng Ruyi's batch of spring, summer and autumn clothes and quilts were not urgent and the requirements were not high, making them very suitable for Zhang's Clothing Shop, which had just opened for business and was still getting used to everything.
The last question is about "housing".
Although you can travel by car and sleep in the carriage, you will definitely need to find a place to rest and replenish your energy occasionally during the journey. Moreover, if you have the means to stay in a proper house, it will certainly be more comfortable than sleeping in the carriage.
Therefore, she not only needed to "scout out" the locations, but also needed to calculate the distances along the way, and had to stop in towns or villages every now and then.
If she had enough money, she could have rented a large courtyard at several important transit points along the way in advance, so she wouldn't have to worry about not finding a suitable place to stay...
Alternatively, she could send a trusted person to the store in advance to make arrangements under the guise of opening a branch, but all of this would require the route to be determined first!
Cheng Ruyi wrote down every single thing that needed to be prepared, filling dozens of pages.
*
"Madam Cheng, I've been waiting for you! Manager Huang said before that with such heavy snow today, you might not show up, but luckily I insisted on staying, and here I am!"
After entering February, the temperature dropped instead of rising, and Cheng Ruyi was a little worried about the situation in the county town, so she thought of coming to Lingyun Pavilion to take a look, but she did not expect to run into an acquaintance as soon as she entered the door.
"You are... Shuangxi? Looks like you're doing well~~ You've gained quite a bit of weight!" She looked at the round-faced, big-eyed young man in front of her and exclaimed. When she saw him before, he was of average build, but now, before he's even middle-aged, how come he's started to get chubby? And... after gaining weight, he's starting to look more and more like Huang Youcai?
Upon hearing this, Shuangxi scratched her head somewhat embarrassedly and explained, "Hehe, I was just afraid of getting cold, so I wore too many layers. Actually... I haven't gained much weight!"
Cheng Ruyi smiled and beckoned him to come into the shop with her. "But what are you doing at Lingyun Pavilion instead of Zhiwei Restaurant? Did you get transferred here to work as a waiter?"
"No, that's right! The boss is looking for you. He's checking the accounts at Zhiwei Restaurant today and asked me to come here to see if I can wait for you to show up." After following Cheng Ruyi into the restaurant in a daze, Shuangxi suddenly remembered the purpose of her visit.
"Is Master Zhou looking for me?"
"Yes, Madam Cheng, after you finish your business here, could you come with me to Zhiwei Restaurant?"
After thinking for a moment, Cheng Ruyi clicked "agree." She also had something she wanted to discuss with him, but she was somewhat surprised that he would take the initiative to contact her. After all this time, he should have figured things out by now...
Heavy snow fell in Huaishan County today. The snow and biting wind severely dampened people's desire to go out. As a result, even in broad daylight, there were hardly any pedestrians to be seen. However, Zhiwei Restaurant's business was not affected at all. On the contrary, it was bustling with people and every seat was taken.
After all, the colder the weather, the more delicious the hot pot becomes, right?
At noon, Cheng Ruyi followed Shuangxi to the luxurious private room on the second floor of Zhiwei Restaurant.
Each of the four corners of the private room had an exquisite brazier containing the most popular incense cakes in Beijing at the time. It was said to be made by pressing coal into powder and then mixing it with various precious spices. When burning, the room was spotless and filled with fragrance, making it very popular among literati and scholars. One cake could keep burning all day!
These Qingquan Xiangbing (fragrant spring cakes) are priceless, yet Zhou Yin lit four basins of them at once, which can only be described as outrageously extravagant.
In addition to the small braziers in the four corners, there was a large iron stove in the corner of the private room near the window. At this moment, the stove was burning with a roaring fire, providing a continuous source of warmth to the room, while the smoke was discharged directly out of the window through the iron chimney pipe on top of the stove.
Cheng Ruyi could faintly smell a refreshing fragrance at the door. After entering the private room, she felt even more warm, comfortable and relaxed. So she casually took off her rabbit fur cloak and hung it on the clothes rack next to her, and quickly walked inside.
"Mr. Zhou, it's been a long time."
The table in the center of the private room was filled with delicious-looking food, but no one was eating it. Cheng Ruyi looked up at the innermost screen and vaguely saw a tall and handsome man sitting on a Luohan bed covered with snow-white fur behind the screen.
The man was Zhou Yin. After hearing Cheng Ruyi's voice, he replied indifferently, "I have some things to take care of. Please wait a moment, Madam Cheng."
Before Cheng Ruyi could react, he suddenly added, "The dishes on the table are all the newest dishes recently launched by Zhiwei Restaurant. If you don't mind, Madam Cheng, please feel free to try them and give us your feedback."
Cheng Ruyi was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this; this person's personality was truly...
"In that case, I won't stand on ceremony." She hadn't had lunch yet and was feeling a bit hungry, so she simply sat down and began to savor the food.
Zhou Yin touched his nose and secretly peeked outside through the screen. He saw that the other person had actually sat down to eat, and his heart finally settled down.
After a moment, he put down the account book in his hand, stood up, straightened his clothes, stepped out from behind the screen, and naturally sat down opposite Cheng Ruyi, and began to eat generously.
The private room was warm and cozy, the food was delicious, and with a handsome man by her side, Cheng Ruyi was naturally very satisfied with her lunch.
"I just heard from Shuangxi that Master Zhou seems to have something to discuss with me. I wonder what it is?" Having enjoyed such a sumptuous meal and expensive-smelling incense, Cheng Ruyi naturally didn't mind lowering her stance and even asked in a more obedient and gentle tone than usual.
This tactic clearly worked well for Zhou Yin. A smile played on his lips as he said in a light tone, "Actually, it's nothing really important..."
For some reason, he paused briefly before continuing, "Ahem, it's just that... right! The road to the prefectural city has been frequently blocked lately, and the Lingyun Pavilion branch has almost had to temporarily close several times due to a shortage of medicine packs. This will definitely have an impact on business. So, I wonder if you could provide more medicine packs at once, so that even if something happens there, there will be enough stock to make up for it?"
"Oh, so that's what it is. Of course, no problem!" The spiritual energy concentration in Cheng Ruyi's secret breeding farm is now different from before, and the growth rate of various spiritual creatures has been improved. In addition, with the two annual gift packages, the inventory has reached an unprecedented abundance.
The two then had a pleasant conversation and resolved all the business issues that had been accumulating over the past period.
Zhou Yin was not only quick-witted and broad-minded, but also had extensive experience in business. Looking at the eloquent man before her, Cheng Ruyi couldn't help but sigh, "If only we could be friends. What a pity!"
Even if they couldn't be friends, given the Zhou family's status and influence in Huaishan County, Cheng Ruyi thought it over and decided she still needed to tell the other party about Master Lingjue.
She casually changed the subject, pretending to be nonchalant: "Speaking of which, it's already February, and the weather is still so cold. I wonder when it will warm up."
"Yes, we're alright, but the people are suffering the most." Zhou Yin looked up at the window upon hearing this. The heavy snow seemed endless, and he didn't know when it would stop. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but frown. "The heavy snow has blocked the roads, making the transportation of supplies difficult. This is why the prices of various commodities such as food and firewood in the city are constantly rising. Unfortunately, in the face of natural disasters, there is nothing human power can do..."
Cheng Ruyi nodded. "Your Zhou family has been distributing porridge in the city since the New Year, rain or shine, saving countless poor people. Such kindness is truly admirable."
Faced with praise, Zhou Yin seemed unconcerned, saying, "Half of the land in Huai Shan County belongs to us. The fate of the Zhou family has long been tied to the county. Besides... in the end, we're only doing these good deeds for ourselves."
“But you are different.” He turned to look at Cheng Ruyi and said with utmost sincerity, “From rescuing children, hiring disaster victims, issuing drought warnings, to recently repelling bandits and protecting villagers, these things originally had nothing to do with you. You could have kept to yourself, but you still stepped forward without hesitation. What is most admirable about this is not just your kindness, but your courage! Many people have compassion, but how many have the courage to risk their lives?”
Cheng Ruyi stared in surprise. This was the first time she had heard such praise from this old-fashioned man. In the past, even when he praised her, he would never have been so obvious and direct, which made her feel a little embarrassed.
However, seeing the other person's serious expression, she couldn't help but sit up straight and answer earnestly, "When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact. I am also one of the people of Huaishan County. Only when Huaishan County is doing well can we truly live well."
Cheng Ruyi's words were naturally from the bottom of her heart. Anyone who has studied history can clearly understand that the most powerful periods in history have always occurred when the country is peaceful and prosperous.
Although the reasoning is very simple and easy to understand, it still seems quite unbelievable that these words came from the mouth of an ordinary woman from a small county town who had not received much education.
Especially since the other party not only said it, but actually did it!
It must be said that Zhou Yin's heart was indeed in turmoil at this moment. He seemed to hear the sound of his heart beating strongly and felt an emotion he had never felt before.
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