Wen Yunling went to Raozhou City this time to check out the spice and rice shops there. Spices were expensive in the Dasheng Dynasty, but spices were too expensive and might not sell well in small places.
She didn't have a caravan, so if the spice business was too expensive or if it wasn't selling well in town, she'd look at the rice shops. Yuanbao Town only had rice shops, and only the larger ones were called rice shops. She figured if the spice business wasn't doing well, a larger rice shop in Yuanbao Town might work, though it might not be as profitable as selling spices. She didn't rent the restaurant, she'd bought it, so she wasn't afraid of losing money in the rice shop.
She had a vague idea in her mind: a rice shop didn't necessarily just sell rice. It could also sell various other grains, game, vegetables, meat, etc.
But this was just an idea that popped up in her mind and needed to be improved. In short, she was not in a hurry.
Now that she has bought the restaurant, even if she can't make a living from it, she can still make some money by renting it out every month. She just doesn't think much of the ten taels of silver she gets from renting it out. It's only one or two hundred taels a year. What can she do with that?
She still felt that to make a living, one had to be related to food, clothing, housing and transportation. Although her restaurant did not make much money, it was at least profitable.
After the setbacks of running a restaurant for more than a year, Wen Yunling no longer blamed others. Although she blamed Xu Qinyu and the third house at the beginning, she felt that Cheng Ge'er and Gong Ge'er from the third house were traitors. They knew that Xu Qinyu was an excellent cook, but they still lied to her, causing her and Xu Qinyu to miss the opportunity to cooperate.
In the more than a year since she opened the restaurant, she has experienced a lot. The trouble caused by customers and the difficulty in making a living have made her more restrained. She also began to reflect on some things and gradually saw clearly the current situation of the Wen family.
When he was first exiled, he did blame his aunt and his fourth cousin. He felt that if his eldest cousin had not poisoned the late emperor and tried to usurp the throne, the Wen family would not have been implicated.
But now think about it, the eldest cousin was in that position and had to fight. If he won, the Wen family would also prosper. It's just that the eldest cousin failed in the fight for imperial power. The eldest cousin was not as cruel as the new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu. He had seen a lot of things in the past two years. She also had some guesses that the poisoning of the late emperor might not have been done by the eldest cousin at all, but by the new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu.
My aunt and two cousins would never do such a thing.
She had been spoiled since she was a child. When she was born, her second aunt had already entered the palace to be a concubine of the late emperor. Although the Wen family was still a marquis's mansion, because of her aunt, the marquis' mansion was also highly regarded in the capital. She had been pampered by girls of the same age since she was a child.
Later, my aunt became one of the four concubines, and the Earl's Mansion became a Duke's Mansion, and her status rose rapidly.
She was also raised to become more and more spoiled and unruly.
Now I have gradually come to terms with it, although I still feel uncomfortable for a while.
Wen Yunling arrived in Raozhou City, asked the coachman to park the carriage in the alley, and followed the maid to the largest spice shop in Raozhou City.
Since the third wife left, the family has bought maids and old women one after another.
At the beginning, there were only people doing sweeping and cooking, which was not enough.
Later, my mother really didn't want to live like this, so she bought some maids and servants to serve her.
She also had a maidservant by her side, who was a little dull, her name was Shi Liu.
When they were about to get off the carriage, Shi Liu looked at Wen Yunling and didn't know how to go over to help lift the curtain of the carriage.
Wen Yunling glanced at her silly maid, lifted the curtain and prepared to jump down herself. However, Shi Liu finally reacted and jumped off the carriage before her. Wen Yunling was so angry that her nose almost got crooked!
Wen Yunling felt that her temper had calmed down, and it must be thanks to this little maid!
After Shi Liu jumped off the carriage, he looked at his daughter.
"Pomegranate! Help me open the car curtain." Wen Yunling said.
Shi Liu finally reacted, said "oh", and helped to open the curtain.
When Wen Yunling first discovered that Shi Liu was stupid, she wanted to sell her back to the pawnshop, but if Shi Liu was sold again, who knows where she would be sold to. A maid who was always sent back would not be sold to a good place. So she felt a little soft-hearted and did not sell her. Now, after using Shi Liu for almost a year, she has gotten used to her.
Wen Yunling asked Shi Liu to hold her hand, jumped off the carriage, and the two walked towards the spices.
She had made an appointment with the owner of the spice shop in Raozhou City some time ago, so the spice shop did not close even though the New Year was approaching.
Just as she walked out of the alley, Wen Yunling saw a middle-aged man in his early forties, who was supporting a pregnant woman. The pregnant woman had fair skin and charming eyes, and looked to be about thirty years old. She was wearing silk and satin, with two gold hairpins in her hair. Her belly was bulging, and it seemed that she was about to give birth.
She frowned, feeling that the middle-aged man looked familiar, but couldn't remember who he was for a moment.
Just as he was about to continue moving forward, a figure suddenly appeared in his mind. Wen Yunling couldn't help but gasp and looked at the middle-aged man in surprise.
She murmured, "No way..."
Shi Liu blinked and asked, "Girl, what can you not do?"
Wen Yunling rolled her eyes at Shi Liu and said, "Don't ask any more questions."
She recognized the middle-aged man as the chef of Donglai Ju. She remembered his name was Yue Weimin.
Since she also opened a restaurant, she had thoroughly investigated the identities of the owners and chefs of all the major restaurants and eateries in Yuanbao Town. Naturally, she also knew who the owner and chef of Donglaiju were. She also knew that the owner of Donglaiju was the chef, and that Yue Weimin was considered to be a son-in-law of Donglaiju.
The real owner of Donglaiju is a woman named Dong, who is the real head of the Dong family recipes.
Because Dong family only has one daughter left, Dong.
Dong had no talent for cooking, so Grandpa Dong picked out one of his apprentices who was willing to marry into the Dong family and recruited him as his son-in-law. This person was Yue Weimin. Grandpa Dong passed on all his cooking skills to his son-in-law. A few years later, Grandpa Dong passed away due to illness, and Yue Weimin became the chef of Donglai Ju.
But although Yue Weimin was the son-in-law of the Dong family, the second son born to Dong took his surname.
Everyone in Yuanbao Town who knows the Dong family’s situation would praise the Dong family for their magnanimity and kindness.
When a woman marries a husband, the rules are extremely strict. The children born will only take the woman's surname, never the man's.
Wen Yunling didn't expect that she would meet Yue Weimin in Raozhou City.
What's going on with him now? The pregnant woman he's supporting isn't Dong. Judging by the way he's carefully supporting her, and the way she's tugging at him angrily, it's clear they're very close. Could it be that Yue Youwei is having an affair with another woman in Raozhou City? Or is he keeping a mistress?
Wen Yunling knew that Yue Weimin's eldest son went to work as a kitchen helper at Xu's Restaurant.
At first, she had wondered if Xu Qinyu was stupid enough to let the young master of Donglaiju help out in the kitchen. Was she trying to bring down Xu's? Otherwise, if she taught all her cooking skills to the young master of Donglaiju, and Dongqian left Xu's and brought the dishes he'd learned to Donglaiju, wouldn't all Xu's customers go to Donglaiju? Wouldn't Xu's restaurant collapse?
She actually felt a bit gloating...
As a result, half a year passed and not a single Xu Ji dish appeared in Donglai Ju.
Wen Yunling was still a little disappointed...
Now seeing the chef from Donglaiju appear in Raozhou City and being so intimate with a pregnant woman, he became even more curious.
She tugged at Shi Liu's sleeve, secretly pointed at Yue Weimin and the pregnant woman next to him, and whispered, "Shi Liu, you don't have to go into the spice shop with me. Go follow the man and the pregnant woman in front and see what they're going to and where they're staying. Remember, you must not be discovered by them. If you are discovered by them, you won't be able to have dinner with me tonight!"
Pomegranate has a big appetite and what he fears most is not being given food.
But Wen Yunling usually just wanted to scare her and would never really let her go hungry for a night.
When Shi Liu heard this, she said fearfully, "Don't worry, young lady. I'll follow them right away. They won't find me."
Wen Yunling waved her hand, and Shi Liu followed secretly. At this moment, she was very cautious for the evening dinner, and followed Yue Weimin and the pregnant woman secretly, keeping a distance from them.
Wen Yunling stood there and watched for a while before entering the spice shop.
She talked to the owner of the spice shop and carefully memorized the prices of various spices, the places of origin of each spice, etc.
Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye, and Wen Yunling even forgot that she had asked Shi Liu to go and talk to someone.
She only remembered this after she left the spice shop.
She stood at the door of the spice shop and waited for a while. Soon she saw Shi Liu trotting back.
Seeing Shi Liu panting, Wen Yunling patted her on the back and asked, "How is it? Do you know the relationship between those two people and where they live?"
Shi Liu panted and said, "Miss, those two people live in Shijing Lane in front. They seem to be a family. I followed them all the way. When they entered the house, I ran over and lay down at the door to look inside. I saw a boy about ten years old shouting "Daddy" to the man..."
She carefully followed the man and the pregnant woman all the way to the alley. She saw them enter a two-story house. She hurried after them, crouching at the doorway and peering inside through the gap. She just happened to see a boy, about twelve or thirteen years old, pass the screen wall. Seeing the man, he happily called him "Daddy." The man, with a kind face, walked over and touched the boy's head. Then the three of them walked around the screen wall and went inside. She couldn't see what was going on inside. She lingered at the doorway for a while before leaving.
When Wen Yunling heard this, her brows furrowed, revealing an expression that was indescribable and a little disgusting.
She could see clearly that the man was the owner of Donglaiju. This disgusting guy seemed to have a mistress outside, and the child was only ten years old. It was obvious that the child had been raised outside for more than ten years.
It was clearly the Dong family's attempt to recruit a son-in-law. If he hadn't married a Dong, Old Man Dong wouldn't have passed on his cooking skills and recipes to Yue Weimin.
At that time, Mr. Dong was a famous chef here, and the Dong family was a family of famous chefs.
Some of my ancestors were imperial chefs, and we even have recipes.
A culinary family with recipes means that they have been accumulated over decades or even centuries.
Not every apprentice who learns from a famous chef can achieve success.
Because the master will not teach everything, a famous chef with many apprentices can only teach some common cooking methods.
After leaving their masters, most apprentices would simply set up a snack stall to support their families.
The Dong family's recipe was handed over to Yue Weimin, which is how he made the leap to his current success, becoming the chef and shopkeeper of Donglaiju. He has all the wealth and glory, but he is so ungrateful that he keeps a mistress outside, and his child is already so grown up!
This matter was really too disgusting. Wen Yunling waved her hand, feeling unlucky. "Let's go and check out the rice shop. After that, we'll go back to Yuanbao Town."
Shi Liu just said "oh" but didn't ask any more questions. She didn't care about anything except food.
After coming out of the rice shop, Wen Yunling got on the carriage and set off back to Yuanbao Town.
On the way back to Yuanbao Town, Wen Yunling kept frowning and felt uncomfortable.
She is already seventeen years old and will be eighteen next year, which is old enough to get married.
In the past, her grandparents thought that maybe she could enter the palace and become a concubine of the new emperor. She also had some ideas of her own. It was not that she liked the new emperor, but she wanted to climb up the social ladder and did not want to stay in Yuanbao Town as a commoner all her life.
But after these two years, she had come to realize that it was not wise to enter the palace to be a concubine of the new emperor. First of all, because of her status, the empress dowager would have to be wary of her. There were many women in the palace, and she didn't have the brains. She didn't know if she could defeat those concubines. If she couldn't win and died in the palace, it would be a loss. So she gave up the idea of entering the palace.
But she was a little reluctant to marry other ordinary commoners or local gentry, so her marriage was delayed again and again.
I also thought that if I got married in the future and met a man like Yue Weimin, wouldn’t that be disgusting?
I really don't have any thoughts of getting married anymore.
After Wen Yunling returned to Yuanbao Town, she had originally wanted to go to Laixi Lane to talk to Xu Qinyu about this matter. Dongqian was now working as a kitchen helper at Xu's. What if he learned the recipe and Yue Weimin stole it after he left Xu's?
Since Yue Weimin has a mistress and a child with his own surname, he must have other thoughts. I hope Xu Ji's signature dishes and Dong's recipes don't become Yue Youwei's signature dishes...
But thinking of how cold Xu Qinyu looked every time she saw her, she didn't want to be turned away.
Besides, what does the Donglaiju and Xu Qinyu incident have to do with her?
Wen Yunling finally returned to the Wen family, but halfway through, she couldn't help but lift the curtain and look back...
…
And the Shijing Lane in Raozhou City.
Yue Weimin had no idea that he had been seen and followed to Shijing Lane.
When he entered the house, he saw his and Liu Niang's eldest son coming out to greet him. He smiled unconsciously. Seeing the eldest son calling him Daddy, his heart was filled with tenderness. It was not like when he faced the three children born to Dong and him. Even though the second son took his surname, when he saw the second son, he would still remember that he was just a son-in-law of the Dong family, and everything he brought to the Dong family had nothing to do with him.
So even towards his second son, he didn't have much affection.
Perhaps when his second son was just born and he had not yet met Liu Niang, he was also full of joy, thinking that his second son would take his surname and have children, so all that he had done for the Dong family could be left to his second son.
But after he met Liu Niang, who gave birth to children for him, he only had Liu Niang and his eldest son in his heart.
He felt that this was his bloodline, a bloodline without any shame, and he wanted to leave everything he had to them.
Now that Liu Niang is pregnant again, he comes to Raozhou City more frequently.
He met Liu Niang when he came to Raozhou City to taste food more than ten years ago. Every year, Raozhou City would hold a cooking discussion and taste other chefs' dishes, but the chefs would participate voluntarily. Liu Niang was only fifteen at that time. On the way, he met Liu Niang's aunt who wanted to sell her to Xiangmanlou.
Liu Niang's parents died when she was a child, leaving her alone to make a living in her uncle's house. Now that Liu Niang has grown up and has become quite pretty, her aunt has become interested in her.
Liu Niang cried all the way, but no one helped her.
Yue Weimin couldn't stand it anymore, so he stopped Liu Niang and her aunt. After learning the reason, he scolded them severely.
The aunt said angrily, "You know what she did, right? Why are you helping her? She seduced her cousin's man! How shameless!"
Liu Niang cried and begged him, saying that her aunt had wronged her. She did not seduce her cousin-in-law, but it was her cousin-in-law who touched her. She did not expect that her aunt would find out. In order to protect her daughter, her aunt wanted to sell her.
The aunt was so angry that she cursed at Liu Niang, calling her a vixen. Since she liked to seduce men, she might as well go to Xiangmanlou and become a prostitute.
Liu was crying, and Yue Weimin thought that the woman was looking for an excuse to sell his niece. He argued with the woman for a few words, and then bought Liu Niang.
Finally, the woman accepted the silver and sneered, "I see you're thirty, right? I think you're married and have children. Be careful not to be seduced by this vixen and end up ruining your family!"
Of course Yue Weimin didn't believe it. After the woman took the silver and left, he planned to return the indenture contract to Liu Niang and give her a few taels of silver, and let her leave on her own.
Liu Niang kept looking at him and crying, her eyes tearful, begging him to help her, saying that she was a weak woman and didn't know what to do in the future. If her aunt knew that he had returned the indenture contract to her, her aunt would definitely sell her again.
Yue Weimin felt a little sorry for Liu, so he could only rent a small courtyard in Raozhou City for Liu to live in.
Fortunately, Liu was not from Raozhou City, but from a nearby village, so she would not be discovered by her uncle's family.
Liu settled down in Raozhou City.
Yue Weimin was also worried that she would be bullied in Raozhou City alone, so he often came to Raozhou City to visit Liu Niang.
After a few interactions, the two of them developed feelings for each other, and he did not hide it from Liu Niang and told her about his situation.
After hearing this, Liu Niang felt very sorry for her and comforted him, saying that he was a man of integrity. Although Dong Shi did not respect him, she would respect him all her life.
Then the two of them got together.
Over the years, Yue Weimin often came to Raozhou City to accompany Liu Niang for various reasons.
Even when the Chinese New Year was approaching every year, he would stay in Raozhou City to celebrate the New Year with Liu Niang and his eldest son on the pretext of returning to his hometown to pay homage to his deceased parents.
Later, he bought a two-story house and some shops for Liu Niang, and hired maids and old women to take care of her.
The three of them entered the house, and the eldest son talked to them for a while and then left. Only Yue Weimin and Liu Niang were left in the room.
Liu Niang frowned slightly and said sadly, "Master, when will you finally divorce the people in Yuanbao Town? Otherwise, Ji Ge'er will always be in an illegitimate state. And there's also the child in my belly. I don't want people to call him a bastard when he's born. Even though I tell the neighbors every day that you're working outside and rarely come home, everyone still looks at me with disdain, thinking I'm someone else's concubine. Even Ji Ge'er has suffered a lot of injustice."
Because he was afraid that someone in Raozhou City would recognize him, Yue Weimin never showed up in Shijing Lane. He always came and left quietly.
Yue Weimin said, "Don't cry, Liu Niang. I was planning to divorce her in the next one or two years. I have already studied the Dong family's recipes thoroughly. Even without them, I would have opened a restaurant with my own recipes. But Dong Qian recently went to a small restaurant to learn from a young cook. The cook is quite capable and has several signature dishes and her 'seasoning' recipes that I want. If I can get them, my cooking skills will be even better. So wait for two years. When Dong Qian leaves Xu's and gives me the recipes and 'seasoning', I will divorce the Dong family and take you away to open a restaurant in the capital. We will make a lot of money and let you, Ji Ge'er and the baby in your belly live a better life."
Dong Qian told him that the young cook at Xu Ji Restaurant was willing to teach him for three years.
He will be let go after three years.
So now Dong Qian is not willing to give him the recipe of Xu Ji Restaurant that he knows, and he can only wait; in more than two years, when Dong Qian leaves Xu Ji, he will naturally be willing to give him the recipe.
"It's just food made by a little cook. How can it be better than what the master cooks?" Liu cried. "Master, I don't want anything. I just want you to divorce me as soon as possible. I want to be your wife in a legitimate way. I want Ji Ge'er and the child in my belly to not be bastards."
Yue Weimin had no choice but to coax Liu Niang for a long time and promised to buy her the set of headwear that cost several hundred taels of silver. Only then did Liu Niang smile.
…
Xu Qinyu had no idea that Wen Yunling had witnessed Yue Weimin's immoral behavior. She had just finished her busy work these past few days, and Xu Ji also had his annual leave.
Last night she had an early reunion dinner with everyone in the restaurant and gave everyone a red envelope.
The winery earned about 20,000 taels of silver this year, so she gave more red envelopes this year, 20 taels of silver to each person.
Dong Qian also received a red envelope of one hundred taels of silver. Xu Qinyu felt that he had helped her a lot, allowing her to have a lot of free time. From the twelfth lunar month to now, she had pickled more than eight hundred hams.
Dong Qian then realized that his master was so kind to the waiters in the restaurant, giving them red envelopes of more than twenty taels of silver every year. No wonder they worked so hard and without any second thoughts.
He did not refuse the one hundred taels of silver and red envelope, and took it. He was unwilling to accept the wages his master gave him on a daily basis.
Xu's business was on annual leave, and Xu Qinyu also returned to Laixi Lane. She and her fourth brother drove the furnace cart to the workshop to get ten hams.
My fourth brother came home two days ago and said that the Chinese New Year was approaching and the caravan needed to rest. He would also celebrate the Chinese New Year at home this year and should be able to make it through the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Of the ten hams, two were kept for her family, and Xu Qinyu planned to ask other caravans to take the remaining eight to the capital to give to her parents and her maternal uncle.
The workshop is now full of hams, but the only ones that can be eaten are the one hundred that were pickled last year.
She took ten hams first, and there were still ninety left. When the spring came, she could serve some new ham dishes in the restaurant, but she planned to keep thirty hams from this batch. In this way, these thirty hams will ferment for two years next year. If the fermentation conditions are good in the remaining year, they may reach the standard for eating raw, and then she can eat raw slices of ham.
Raw ham is called the gold of meat. After the skin of the ham is peeled off, the ham meat is fat and lean, and the sliced ham is as thin as a cicada's wing. It tastes charmingly salty and rich in meaty aroma. The lean part is tender and the fat part is not greasy, and it tastes full of fragrance.
Xu Qinyu was a little distracted when she thought of the taste of raw ham.
As soon as the two returned to Xixiang, they saw a carriage parked in front of the door.
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