That night, at the end of Shanghe Village, oil lamps were lit in every house among the large brick and tile houses.
Inside the kitchen, Su Baishi was making stone cakes with Danfeng, Su Dalang, and Su Erlang by lamplight. Three iron pots on the stove were burning brightly, the firewood crackling beneath them, and the pebbles in the pots glowing red-hot. On the stones, palm-sized cakes turned from white to yellow, and the aroma of flour gradually filled the room.
Stone cakes, as the name suggests, are cakes baked on stones. The ingredients are only flour, eggs, and salt. The taste is average, but because they are filling and have a long shelf life, they have always been an essential food for long journeys. Even in such hot weather, they do not spoil easily.
In the east room of the front yard, Zhao was sitting under the lamp making cloth shoes. Shoes go through a lot in the military camp, so she had to prepare more so that she could take them with her and wear them slowly.
In the backyard, sisters Su Sui and Su Hua were sewing a hidden pouch and making pills, while Qingdai assisted them.
Watching the busy figures of everyone, Su Sanhu felt a lump in his throat. "Sister, Hua'er, you don't need to go to so much trouble for me. Elder Xue has already given me a huge bundle of bottles and jars. That should be enough for me for the rest of my life..."
"You can't say such unlucky things. You're only sixteen, you have a long life ahead of you!" Su Sui paused in her hand holding the embroidery needle, and glared at him disapprovingly.
"Furthermore, the pills Hua'er made are different from Xue Lao's; these are ginseng pills."
Made from ginseng dug from the highest point of Mount Fuhu, it absorbs the essence of the sun and moon, and the spirit of heaven and earth. It can be life-saving in critical moments; you must keep it with you—it's like having an extra life.
Su Hua's lips twitched slightly. She wasn't the one who said things like "the essence of the sun and moon" or "the spiritual energy of heaven and earth."
However, the ginseng in the ginseng pills is indeed different from the ordinary ones. It is a hundred-year-old ginseng found high in Fuhu Mountain, and was later placed in a space and watered with space water for several months. Especially when the space expanded, it absorbed the spiritual energy of jade, so its effects are extraordinary.
"Third Brother, what Sister said is true. There is one of each of these ginseng pills and small porcelain bottles of medicine in the hidden pockets of your five garments. They are not heavy, so you don't need to worry about them normally. Just take them out and use them when it's absolutely necessary, understand?"
"Yes, I remember." The boy turned his head slightly, his voice slightly choked. "There's no need to sew these silver notes. I have enough silver on me, and there's nowhere in the military camp where I can use money."
“That won’t do. These pills are essential, and money is also indispensable.” Su Hua smiled at him.
"They say that a poor family should be rich on the road. It takes almost a month to travel from Shanghe Village to Zhenbei Camp. Bringing more money will make things more comfortable. As for what happens after we get to Zhenbei Camp, we don't know the specifics, but money makes the world go round. It's always good to bring enough money."
Anyway, we're not short of money at home right now; use it wherever you need it.
Su Sui nodded repeatedly, "Yes, let's not talk about restaurants for now. Even if you make a set of cartoon dolls every day, if you do it for a few days, the money will come in. Third brother doesn't need to worry about money at all now. The Zhenbei Camp is far away and the mountains are high. When you get there, we're afraid we won't have enough to send you. We can only prepare more now."
"Hmm..." The boy pursed his lips and responded softly.
Su Hua looked up at the sound and saw his half-red eyes. She quickly half-pushed and half-sent him out of the house, saying, "Third Brother, you have to get up early tomorrow. Go get some sleep so you'll be energetic on the way."
"Alright, Hua'er and Sister should go to bed early too, don't tire yourselves out." Su Sanhu nodded a few times with his head down, like a chick pecking at rice.
Fang turned around and strode towards the front yard.
Half an hour later, the two sisters had prepared all the clothes, medicine, and money. Su Sui went back to her room to rest, and Su Hua was about to blow out the lamp and go to sleep when a snow-white carrier pigeon landed on the windowsill.
Qingdai stepped forward, picked up the carrier pigeon, and skillfully removed the message tube.
"Miss, this letter is from Tangshan Prefecture."
Su Hua took the letter and looked at the words on it. She was instantly wide awake. "Opened on the same day, with the same name and the same restaurant layout, this Liu Yuxian actually went on a buying spree of Yunduan, buying up all the Yunduan in Tangshan Prefecture. How adorable, hahaha..."
Qingdai's lips curved into a smile as she heard this. "Is this what you once called a 'shrewd imitator'?"
"A master of imitation? She certainly is a master of imitation." Su Hua curled her lips, her almond-shaped eyes slightly cool. "If she doesn't learn everything, but instead takes what Aunt Liu does and does what she can, she can certainly make a fortune."
But she even collects chicken and duck feathers. This is because our Su Ji Restaurant makes sure to replicate the zodiac animal figurines one-to-one, inside and out.
Little did they know, dealing with chicken and duck feathers was no easy task.
Qingdai nodded and couldn't help but say, "Miss, now that Liu Yuxian has bought up all the cloud satin, shall we buy some more cloud satin with Young Master Qin?"
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