After Xu Ji left, the others also went home. Most of the shops were closed, waiting for the New Year. There were not many pedestrians on the streets, as everyone was at home preparing for the New Year.

Yuan and Chen lived in the alleys in front and back of each other. They usually walked together, and today was no exception. As they walked on the road and talked, they both said how well Mr. Xu treated them.

The two of them were paid 800 yuan a month before, and their family members praised their employers for their hard work. They became the main earners of the family, and now not only their salary has increased by 200 yuan a month, but they also get 12 taels of silver as a red envelope for the New Year. When they tell their family members about this later, they will surely be surprised.

The two of them were still discussing that this matter should only be discussed at home and not told outside, otherwise it would arouse jealousy and easily cause trouble, which would cause trouble for both themselves and Xu Ji.

Yuan smiled and said, "I will definitely not tell anyone about this."

When someone makes money, they tend to hide it. If they say it out loud, they will only make others jealous.

The two returned home happily, bringing not only a lot of food but also a red envelope containing ten taels of silver.

Both families were extremely surprised, and gave them many instructions, asking them to work hard at Xu's, to be in the same line with the boss, and not to be like the previous Sun family.

Lin also brought her two daughters back, and all three of them had happy faces. These days, Lin didn't save much money. She gave 500 yuan to the Luo family out of her monthly salary of 800 yuan, and kept 300 yuan for herself. Even though she and her daughters ate and drank in restaurants, they still had to buy some daily necessities every month. She could save more than 100 yuan, which was already very frugal.

Now that she had received the red envelope of ten taels of silver, she had no intention of returning it to the Luo family. She also planned to save it. When she would receive a salary of one or two taels of silver a month next year, she would be able to save more every month. Together with the red envelope from the New Year, she would be able to buy a house on North Street in a few years and settle down completely.

Luo Danniu also received a monthly salary, which was the same as Lin's, eight hundred yuan per month, plus ten taels at the end of the year.

She knew that Lin was saving money to buy a house, so she planned to save all her salary so that she could buy the house as soon as possible.

The mother and her two daughters chatted and laughed. Lin even asked the two girls what snacks they would like to eat during the New Year and she would go buy them tomorrow.

As she was speaking, the smile on Luo Danniu's face suddenly froze and she pursed her lips.

Lin looked up and saw that it was Mrs. Luo and Luo Dagen. No one knew what the mother and son had been doing. They were now coming back in a donkey cart. Judging from the road they were driving, it seemed like they were coming back from outside the town.

Old Lady Luo naturally saw Lin's mother and daughter. She rolled her eyes and sneered, "Hey, aren't these Lin and my two ungrateful granddaughters?"

Lin took the eldest and second daughters with her and had no intention of paying any attention to the mother and daughter. She had nothing to do with the Luo family and was not afraid of them. She took the two daughters with her and left.

Today, Old Lady Luo and Luo Dagen went to another village to look for a girl. The girl had a pair of foxy eyes, so Old Lady Luo didn't like her, but Luo Dagen did. It seemed that the girl was the only one left in her family, and they wanted a betrothal gift of twenty taels of silver. Old Lady Luo thought it was too expensive, but Luo Dagen liked her and planned to propose after the new year so that he could marry her to his son as soon as possible.

On the way back, Old Lady Luo gave Luo Dagen some bad advice, telling him to carry the goods and go around the girl's house more often after the New Year to see if he could make a fait accompli. The girl was the only one in her family, and if she could get pregnant, he could save even the twenty taels of silver.

Luo Dagen was still quite tempted, but he was reluctant to part with twenty taels of silver.

Seeing her son listen to what she said, Mrs. Luo was very satisfied, so much so that when she ran into Mrs. Lin and the two ungrateful people, she was in a good mood and even greeted the three of them.

But the three of them ignored her, and that bitch Lin just walked away with the two ungrateful kids.

Old Mrs. Luo was a little angry, and turned around and said, "Hurry up and send this month's money to us. Dagen will get married in the new year. The girl is beautiful and virtuous. She can give birth to a son for Dagen. Unlike you, a hen that doesn't lay eggs, what's the point of having you? Let's see if there is a man willing to marry you in the future."

Luo Dagen drove the car without saying a word, and was still thinking about how to marry the girl without giving a betrothal gift.

Lin didn't care. She just hoped that the girl was strong enough to control old lady Luo.

She said coldly, "I will send you the five hundred dollars tomorrow."

After saying that, he took the two girls and left.

After turning the corner and no longer seeing the mother and son of the Luo family, Luo Da Niu was furious, but she was not one to curse, and only said angrily, "Bad people."

Lin smiled and said, "Don't be angry, big girl. Why should we be angry? Mr. Xu is good. He gives us 40 taels of silver a year. In a few years, we can buy a house and settle down. Our lives will get better and better. There is no need to be angry with these irrelevant people."

Forty taels of silver a year are earned by the mother and daughter, which is a huge sum of money left here. If the Luo family gets to know about it, they will definitely regret it to death.

Lin was indeed not angry. She just felt that the present life made her full of energy. She only looked forward to the future and no longer had any fear.

With her girlfriend by her side, she is not afraid of anything and won't get angry.

It turns out that sometimes it is really that simple to take a step forward, but it took her more than ten years to dare to take this step.

The most obvious change was in the two girls after they left the Luo family; they were no longer timid and began to radiate their own radiance.

Erniu also followed suit, "Sister is not angry, she is mean, let's ignore her."

Although the little girl was young, she remembered everything that Lin told her sister. She kept her mouth shut about the money her mother and elder sister earned, and she didn't tell anyone about it. She didn't even tell her good friends next door. She was very smart. The mother of the next door sister who lived on the north street asked her, "Erniu, your mother gets 800 yuan a month. Xu Ji should earn more. Erniu, do you know how much your employer earns every day? Does your employer give your mother any reward?"

The little girl shook her head like a rattle, "I don't understand, what is the reward? The food made by the host is delicious."

Seeing that she knew nothing, the old ladies next door didn't ask any more questions.

In fact, they didn't have any bad intentions, they were just curious. They felt sorry for Lin's mother and daughter. They also watched how Lin left the Luo family and started her own business, so they still admired Lin very much.

…

The next day, Xu Qinyu slept until noon. Wen cooked some noodles and everyone ate some for breakfast.

The evening meal was the New Year's Eve dinner. All the ingredients had been bought. Wen prepared all the ingredients he could, and left the rest that could not be prepared in advance untouched.

This year Xu Qinyu did not fry any food as she was busy with the restaurant business. Unlike last year when she took a break a few days before the New Year, this year she planned to prepare a New Year's dinner so that everyone could have a good meal.

The New Year’s Eve dinner was eaten at Zhu’s house.

The two families were not far from each other, so after Xu Qinyu finished cooking, everyone brought the food over.

Magistrate Zhu and Madam Zhu came to visit the old lady yesterday, but of course, they did not bring all their children and grandchildren with them.

There are too many children and grandchildren in the family. Bringing them all here will make the place crowded and noisy. The old lady needs quiet rest, and bringing all the children and grandchildren here will definitely disturb her.

Another thing is that Zhu has been calling the old lady "Mom" for more than a month. When her children and grandchildren come, they have to change their words, for fear that they might hear it without paying attention. The old couple can't guarantee that their children and grandchildren will not spread the news, so they simply don't let them come here to celebrate the New Year.

The old lady didn't care about these things. She was old and had spent so many years celebrating the New Year with her children and grandchildren. Now she just wanted to spend the New Year with Shu Niang.

The New Year’s Eve dinner was very sumptuous, with the entire table filled with dishes, all of which were Xu Qinyu’s specialties.

Knowing that the old lady loved to drink brown sugar rice porridge, Xu Qinyu also cooked a pot of it. This porridge was really comfortable to drink in winter. After drinking it, the body felt warm and all the internal organs were unblocked. It was definitely good for the body. The old lady drank two bowls every morning, and her complexion was indeed better than when she was in Raozhou City.

The family was having the New Year's Eve dinner. Although Mrs. Wen had a smile on her face, she was still worried about her son.

Xu Qinyu was in a similar situation, she was also thinking about her fourth brother.

In her heart, the fourth brother is like a relative. Where has the fourth brother gone? When will he come back?

If you are doing business, how come you don’t have any faith at all?

In a distant country, Pei Weixuan was sitting on the eaves, looking at the moon in the distance.

He knew that the time here was different from that in the Great Sheng Dynasty. It was daytime in the Great Sheng Dynasty, but night here.

It is now the Mao hour in the morning, and the sky is just beginning to turn pale, but in Dashengchao, it is probably the Shen hour, just the time for evening meal. This year it is New Year's Eve, and everyone should have been having the New Year's Eve dinner.

Is this year’s New Year’s Eve dinner also made by Yu Niang?

Pei Weixuan sat on the eaves, one of his long legs propped up, half leaning on the eaves behind him, playing with a colorful glass hairpin in his hand. The glass hairpin was a crabapple red, but a lot more transparent, and the color was slightly lighter. Because the hairpin was made of glass, it was translucent, and you could see dots of golden light inside. The head of the hairpin was a round bead, also a light crabapple color, with strands of golden light flowing inside.

Although the entire glass hairpin is simple and light in style, it is integrated into one, emitting soft light and is really beautiful.

Huo Ye had just gotten up and walked out of the room. He was about to practice swordplay when he looked up and saw his own prince sitting on the roof. He quickly jumped onto the roof and sat down next to the Fourth Prince.

Seeing the Fourth Prince playing with the glass hairpin, Huo Ye asked in surprise, "Your Highness, did you burn this thing?"

This thing is called colored glaze. It didn’t exist during the Great Sheng Dynasty, but it is a relatively common handicraft here.

Since this thing is a work of art, these blond-haired and blue-eyed people already knew that they came from the other side of the sea and were unwilling to teach them how to make these handicrafts. He and His Highness only knew that this thing was made by firing, but they were not sure how to fire it. It was when His Highness said that he wanted to fire a hairpin himself and give it to his wife that those people asked His Highness to fire it himself.

I didn't expect that His Highness really made it. Look at this glass hairpin, it's so beautiful.

Even Huo Ye had to admit the beauty of the hairpin. As a grown man, he couldn't help but stare at it.

If this hairpin were brought back to the Great Sheng Dynasty, it would be a one-of-a-kind rare treasure, worth ten thousand taels of silver.

Huo Ye actually thought that His Highness's claim of wanting to burn a hairpin for his wife was an excuse.

Because once His Highness has fired it himself once, he will understand everything. I am afraid that His Highness the Fourth Prince already knows the entire process of firing colored glaze clearly.

Huo Ye really admired His Highness. When he first came here, he was unfamiliar with the place and these people were talking in bird language, which he could not understand at all. Looking at them was like looking at monkeys. However, His Highness learned the local language in just half a month and could communicate with these people fluently.

Huo Ye said: "Your Highness, with this skill of firing colored glaze, we will also be able to make money when we return."

With money, you can recruit soldiers and buy horses, and you can pay everyone salaries, so you don't have to live a hard life.

Pei Weixuan nodded lightly, still thinking about home.

It has been almost a year since he came out, which was something he had not expected. He did not know that the overseas countries were so far away from the Great Sheng Dynasty.

If he had known that Xiao would be delayed for so long, he would have asked Chen Yi, who was staying on the island, to send a letter to his family.

He hopes that everyone at home is safe and sound. When he returns with the crops and the skills to make colored glaze, he will send some black-armored guards to secretly protect the people at home.

The appearance of colored glaze artworks would attract attention in the capital, and he was also worried that the new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu would track him down.

It would be best if you didn't notice it.

No matter what, the safety of his family comes first in his heart.

"Your Highness, when can we set off for home?" Huo Ye wanted to leave this place as soon as possible. Not only was he unable to understand the language, but the food was also terrible. He had been eating toast and sausages all day long, which had almost made his mouth taste dry. As a result, he missed the food cooked by Miss Xu even more.

Pei Weixuan said: "Wait another month and then we will set off."

In winter, the sea surface will not freeze like ordinary rivers and lakes, but there will be cold waves, and the tides on the sea surface will cause strong winds and huge waves. Going out to sea at this time is a dead end.

The beginning of spring comes after the New Year. When the temperature starts to warm up, we can set sail and return to our homeland.

It was almost summer when we returned to the southwest.

When Huo Ye heard that it would take another month, his face turned pale.

Pei Weixuan carefully put the colored glaze hairpin in his arms, jumped off the eaves and said, "Let's go back to the house and have breakfast."

Huo Ye's face turned pale, "Your Highness, this breakfast and dinner is really unpalatable. We are all getting thinner."

Not to mention that it is not as good as what Miss Xu makes, it is not even as good as the food sold at ordinary food stalls in the Great Sheng Dynasty. No matter how you eat it, you can't get used to it. Yet, His Highness eats these things with a normal look on his face every day.

Not only he lost weight, but His Highness also lost weight.

Your jade-colored skin was tanned by the sea, but after resting here for the past two months, your skin has become whiter.

Pei Weixuan didn't tell Huo Ye that he also missed the food Yu Niang cooked.

Not only do I miss food...

…

As for Xu Qinyu, everyone accompanied Old Lady Zhu to finish the New Year's Eve dinner and did not go out to the lantern market. Instead, they stayed at home and talked with the old lady.

After talking for a while, the old lady felt sleepy and went back to her room to wash up and rest.

Xu Qinyu, Wen Shi, and Ning Jie'er also returned.

This year, Xu Qinyu had no mood to go shopping in the lantern market. She ran a catering business and had few days off throughout the year. Now that she had a few days off, she just wanted to rest. In addition, she was worried about the safety of her fourth brother, so she really had no mood to go out and play.

The same was true for Mrs. Wen, and even Sister Ning was worried about her fourth brother.

This year, apart from Zhu finding Old Lady Zhu, there was nothing else to happen.

Zhu has been living there these days.

For the next three days, Xu Qinyu rested well at home.

After the New Year, when people would visit relatives on the first and second days of the New Year, Xu Qinyu didn't have to worry about it, as Wen would go.

The Pei family only has relatives here, such as the Wen family and the Zhu family.

Wen did not go to the first or second branch of the Wen family. She had not even visited Old Master Wen.

The Wen family had known that Xiao Zhu did not have tuberculosis. If she went back, Mr. Wen and Mrs. Wen would not be nice to her and might even scold her. She did not want to go to the Wen family's house and be scolded.

The third branch of the Wen family is Cheng Ge'er's family. This relative has to visit, and the two families see each other almost every day, just visiting to pay New Year's greetings.

It was the same at the Zhu family. They would visit to wish each other a happy new year, chat for a few minutes and then leave.

These three days passed extremely quickly, and Xu Qinyu felt like three days had passed in the blink of an eye.

On the fourth day of the New Year, restaurants open.

Although the New Year has passed, it is not yet the beginning of spring and the weather is still a bit cold, so we are all wearing warm clothes.

Therefore, there are still many people eating mutton hotpot. Xu Qinyu estimates that the mutton hotpot can be eaten for at least one month, and it will become the specialty of the restaurant in the future. Even in summer, the hotpot can still be eaten. Eating hotpot and drinking cold drinks in summer is also addictive.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Mrs. Lu from Raozhou City came to Yuanbao Town.

They would start making wine in the summer, so they had to find a winery first, a bigger one at that. Mrs. Lu could foresee that wine could be a big business, so she planned to buy a big winery directly. If there was no big winery, she would have to find a place to build one herself.

It was almost noon when Mrs. Lu arrived. Zhen Wu drove her here in a carriage. She might have to stay in Yuanbao Town for a few days. Mrs. Lu also packed some luggage and prepared to stay in an inn in Yuanbao Town for a few days.

She came directly to Xu's Restaurant.

It's noon now and everyone is taking a lunch break.

The kitchen and the front hall were cleaned and the ingredients were prepared. Half an hour before dinner, Xu Qinyu would cook the soup base, while Cheng Ge'er and Feng Ge'er would cut the mutton, so everyone could rest at this time.

When it was time to rest, Xu Qinyu would not care. If there was no space in the backyard, they would just lie on the bench in the front hall.

However, even at noon, there was still a closed sign on the door of the restaurant.

If it is not written down, some diners may not be able to get a schedule for breakfast and dinner, and will only come to eat during the lunch hour.

Xu Qinyu can't work intensively all day long, she needs to take a break.

Zhen Wu stopped the carriage, went over, opened the curtain, and led Madam Lu out of the carriage.

Mrs. Lu was beautiful. Even though she was almost forty, her skin was still fair and tender. She wore a white embroidered satin jacket, a long skirt of the same color, and a cloak. She usually dressed in a dignified and elegant manner.

After getting off the carriage, Mrs. Lu looked around Xu's Restaurant. The floor at the entrance was swept clean, and the open windows were also spotless. She also saw a closed sign hanging at the door.

Mrs. Lu walked into the restaurant holding up her skirt, and Zhen Wu followed her without saying a word.

Xu Qinyu was resting in the kitchen at the moment, not in the front.

In the front were Lin and her friends, all lying on a bench to rest.

Yuan heard the noise and sat up from the bench. She saw Mrs. Lu and said, "Madam, we are not receiving guests at noon. If you want to eat, you have to wait until evening."

Although Mrs. Lu was dressed elegantly, it was obvious that her clothes were not cheap. However, many wealthy ladies in Yuanbao Town came to have meals there, so Yuan thought that it was a rich lady from her family who came to have meals there.

Mrs. Lu smiled and said, "I'm not here to eat. I'm here to look for your boss Xu. Is she here? I'm from Raozhou City. I want to talk to your boss about the wine business."

When Yuan heard this, she immediately said, "Madam, please wait a moment. I will go and call our host."

After saying that, he got up quickly and went to the backyard to call for help.

When Xu Qinyu heard that she was from Raozhou City and was talking about the wine business, she knew it was Mrs. Lu.

When I went to the front hall, I saw that it was indeed Mrs. Lu.

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Madam Lu, are you here to see the wine shop?"

Mrs. Lu nodded.

Xu Qinyu couldn't help but glance at the man behind Mrs. Lu. The man was tall and strong, with dark skin and a handsome appearance. He should be in his thirties.

After taking a quick look, Xu Qinyu invited Mrs. Lu to sit down by the window.

After Lin left, the kitchen brought back three cups of tea and then quietly left.

Mrs. Lu explained her purpose, and Xu Qinyu said, "I bought a workshop in the last month of the lunar year before last. This workshop used to be a winery, but I used it to cure ham. Now I use four or five rooms, and there are about ten rooms left." She also talked about the size of the winery.

Her workshop was previously a small winery, and even if it was used to make wine, it couldn't produce much.

When Mrs. Lu heard about the size of the workshop, she knew it was not enough. It was too small and she was afraid that it would not be able to accommodate many wine vats. The finished product would be at most a few thousand bottles, which was not enough for the caravan to make several trips.

However, the two of them still went to the North Street workshop to take a look.

The one guarding the workshop today is Mo Yu. When Mo Yu heard the footsteps at the door of the workshop, he came over and squatted at the door, and started howling. He could recognize Xu Qinyu's footsteps.

Xu Qinyu and Madam Lu smiled and said, "The leopard inside is my pet, named Moyu. Don't worry, Madam, it won't hurt anyone."

Mrs. Lu couldn't help but become curious, and when Xu Qinyu opened the door, Mo Yu became even more excited and rubbed her legs vigorously.

Zhen Wu also moved from beside Lady Lu to her side, probably because he was afraid that the leopard would hurt her.

But seeing the big leopard rubbing against people like that, he relaxed.

Mrs. Lu thought the leopard was very interesting, like a big dog, so close to people. She was a little worried at first, but now she is not afraid at all. She couldn't help but stretch out her hand to touch the black jade. It felt really good, even better than the satin she was wearing. It seemed that Miss Xu took good care of the leopard.

Mo Yu rubbed against Xu Qinyu for a while before the three of them entered the workshop. Xu Qinyu also took Mrs. Lu to see her pickled and fermented ham.

Mrs. Lu didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just ordinary bacon leg meat. She just didn't know why it was still hanging there. The bacon could be eaten after being marinated for a month.

The workshop here is indeed a little small. Mrs. Lu knows that it cannot accommodate the wine. Even in Yuanbao Town, there is no winery this big. She plans to see if there is any land in Yuanbao Town that is large enough for her to build a winery. If not, she can only look for land in the nearby villages. It is easy to carve out a large piece of land in the village.

Xu Qinyu doesn't have to worry about the winery, but she also hopes that the location will be closer so that it will be more convenient to travel in the future.

Mrs. Lu and Xu Qinyu could only go back to the restaurant first. When leaving, Xu Qinyu asked Moyu to keep an eye on the workshop. In fact, they didn't need to come over to watch over it during the day. There were people coming and going here, and few people dared to climb over the wall during the day. But the two were so dedicated. She asked them to keep an eye on the hams in the workshop, and they took turns to come over even during the day.

Mo Yu rubbed Xu Qinyu gently again, then lay down in front of the house full of hams.

Only then did Xu Qinyu and Madam Lu leave.

When I went out, I ran into a few guys in their teens and twenties who looked like ordinary street thugs.

A few gangsters glanced at Xu Qinyu and Madam Lu, then glanced into the workshop. They happened to be facing away from Mo Yu, so they didn't see Mo Yu inside. However, they still smelled a faint aroma of bacon. It should not be ordinary bacon, but it was much more fragrant than ordinary bacon. Although the smell was faint, it could be smelled.

Zhen Wu looked over and saw that some of the hooligans were afraid of him and ran away quickly.

Xu Qinyu didn't care. She got on the carriage and went back to Xu's with Madam Lu. After talking for a while, Madam Lu said, "I'll go find an inn to stay in first. I'll walk around the town tomorrow to see if I can find a big winery or land."

Madam Lu left with Zhen Wu.

The two of them found an inn to stay in first. Zhen Wu moved all the luggage from the carriage to the Tianzi room. Madam Lu rested for an hour and asked Zhen Wu, "It's 3 p.m. now, right? Xiaowu, you haven't tried the restaurant opened by Miss Xu. Let's go to Xu's tonight to try it."