"Mom, we're here."
"Mother, I'm back."
"Grandma, I came with Mom too."
Hello, Grandma!
Hello, Grandma!
"......"
When Grandma Song saw that her son and daughter's whole family had come, she couldn't stop smiling.
"Oh dear, why are you buying cloth to make clothes for your mother again? And this time you even bought such good material. Why should an old woman like me dress so nicely?"
Grandma Song pretended to be strange to Song Anxin.
Song Anxin smiled and said, "Now that it's autumn, Mother, you'd better change your clothes. Your daughter might be earning money now. Yesterday, the county government came and gave me a large sum of money. Mother, you should accept it."
Grandma Song listened with delight. She knew that her daughter's business was doing well. The "Rich and Delicious Eggs" and "Braised Delicacies" that were especially popular in the restaurants in the county were from her daughter's business.
Now we have more food than we can eat at home, and my daughter has sent over a hundred kilograms of white rice, while my grandchildren keep sending over meat.
Anbang can now earn money by copying books herself, so she doesn't have to worry about money anymore, which has made her gain a lot of weight recently.
Song Anxin noticed that her mother's spirits had improved a lot; her face was rounder, and the previous look of suffering had lessened considerably, replaced by a peaceful and kind appearance.
"Xin'er, Meizi, this year has brought a bountiful harvest and abundant crops. You can have lunch at Grandma's. Wait for Grandma to go and buy you some more good vegetables and meat."
Song Anxin quickly pulled her mother away, saying, "Mother, we've come all this way, how could we let you spend money like this? Yesterday, the county magistrate gave me a lot of money, so let's eat out today and celebrate together."
Grandma Song smiled and said, "Yesterday, many people in the county were saying that the imperial court rewarded a woman who invented a farming tool with a lot of silver. I knew right away that it was my Xin'er."
My dear son, you're truly remarkable! Even the county magistrate personally came to bestow a reward upon you. We must celebrate properly; eating at home is too meager. You wait for your mother to bring the money."
Song Anxin felt a sense of pride from being praised by her mother. So this is what it feels like to be praised by your mother. Although her maternal grandparents would praise her when she received awards, she still envied other children who had their own mothers to praise them.
She walked towards the door without letting her mother pull her away:
“Your daughter has so much money, how can I let you, my mother, take any? I dream about my father beating me tonight.”
Grandma Song exclaimed in surprise, "Daughter, you dreamed about your father too?"
Song Anxin paused, then said... well, she had just said it casually, but she didn't want to upset her mother.
"Yes, ever since I came home, I've been dreaming about my dad a lot."
Grandma Song said, "Good, good, your father is so happy. Tell me what your father's dream is like. Why does that old man never come to my dream?"
So Song Anxin and Grandma Song walked out of Yong'an Lane and talked. Actually, she had never dreamed of her father. Since coming here, she had been sleeping very well and never dreamed. She just told Grandma Song about her kind and amiable father in her memory. Grandma Song listened with a smile in her eyes.
Song Anbang, Lin Fengnian, Song Mei, and their group followed behind them.
Song Anxin, Song Mei, and Grandma Song each wore a wooden hairpin in their hair. The three women chatted incessantly along the way, with Grandma Song occasionally bursting into laughter.
Soon, a large group of people arrived at the Grand Hyatt Restaurant.
It was lunchtime, and Manager Meng of Junyue Restaurant was greeting some distinguished guests at the entrance.
Upon seeing Song Anxin and her group arrive, he immediately greeted them with a smile.
"Second Sister-in-law Lin, you've finally arrived! As soon as Fengshou told me, I quickly reserved a private room for you. Come on, let's go upstairs and sit down."
Song Anxin helped her elderly mother up and said, "Then thank you very much, Manager Meng. Today I will also have a good taste of the fine wine and food in Manager Meng's restaurant."
Song Anxin looked up and saw her family's three gift boxes displayed prominently at the top of the hall. There were people around who had specially registered to order the gift boxes. The person was so busy that their pen never stopped. Either customers would come to place orders, or waiters from the restaurant would come to report which customer wanted to order how much. The accountant next to her was constantly clicking away on his abacus and taking money from people's hands.
The hall was already packed, and almost every table had her family's salted duck eggs and braised delicacies. The restaurant's prices for these two items were ridiculously high.
Song Anxin observed them discreetly, while the younger children behind her, except for Song Anbang, all looked on with curiosity.
Although Lin Fengshou came to the county to deliver goods, it wasn't mealtime. He had always heard others say how popular his products were, but he had never seen them himself. Thinking that the expensive and popular items on the table came from his own family, he felt extremely proud, as did the others.
As Manager Meng led the way, he said, "I won't let Sister-in-law Lin down. I guarantee you'll be satisfied with your meal."
Some guests in the hall looked on with curiosity. This group of people were dressed in plain clothes and were obviously not wealthy or noble. Only the one in the middle wearing a blue and white robe looked better. His clothes clearly indicated that he was a student of Renshan Academy. However, he did not wear any expensive ornaments and was obviously a poor student.
Why was the restaurant owner so attentive to them, even taking them upstairs to the private rooms?! The private rooms at this top-notch restaurant in the county all had to be booked in advance, and only powerful and wealthy people could book them. Some curious people started asking the waiter about it.
Only then did they realize that this was the restaurant's supplier, and everyone was quite surprised. It really is true that you can't judge a book by its cover.
If Manager Cai of Tianxuan Restaurant knew that Manager Meng had outdone him again, he would be furious. He was only absent this morning when he was receiving the goods and didn't know that Sister-in-law Lin was coming. Otherwise, he would have definitely invited them before Manager Meng.
So Song Anxin and her group went up to the second floor, entered the private room and started ordering. The younger ones could read, but they were completely baffled by the names of the dishes on the menu.
What the heck is this "hundred-flavor soup"? Can one soup really have a hundred different flavors? There's also wine-steamed chicken, eight-treasure assorted soup, braised lion's head meatballs, and so on.
The children stared at each other, unable to order a single dish.
Song Anxin found it somewhat amusing and said, "Anbang, you know this county well, why don't you order some dishes? I don't know what dishes are good in this restaurant."
The younger children all agreed and gave the menu to their uncle.
Before his father passed away, Song Anbang had visited the area a few times during holidays with his parents, so he knew a bit about it:
"The signature dishes of Junyue Restaurant are steamed chicken with wine, as well as the newly launched silver fish with white waves and red-wrapped lion's head meatballs... I've heard my classmates from college say that they taste very good."
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