After reading the two letters, Xu Qinyu felt warm in her heart. No matter her original father, mother, brother or uncle, they were all very good people. All she could do was to help them live a better life. Now her uncle made several hundred taels of silver a year, which she could save to rent a bigger shop and expand the store. She would make more and more in the future. Her uncle also gave one-tenth of his share to her mother, so her mother would no longer have to worry about money.

When Xu Qinyu thought of this, her heart finally settled down.

She smiled and said, "Sixth Brother, are you the same as last time? Will you leave for the capital tomorrow? Then I will write two letters tonight, and I hope you can take them back to my mother tomorrow."

As for the three hundred taels of silver, she would definitely not want it. As long as she put a silver note of two thousand taels in the letter, her mother would understand everything and would no longer worry about her having no money and try to give her money.

Ma Liu smiled and said, "Yes, I will do the same as last time. I will find an inn to stay in. When Sister Xu finishes writing the letter and gives it to me tomorrow, I will follow the boss and the others to return to Beijing by water."

Xu Qinyu thanked him and chatted with Ma Liu for a while.

Ma Liu talked about some things in the capital. He didn't know what was going on in the court. He just talked about how the court sent people to massacre the victims of the disaster. He said that there was some chaos in the capital during that time, and it got better later, but the people still had complaints.

Finally, Ma Liu nodded, "I also want to say thank you to Sister Xu. I gave the recipe for the wooden barrel fermented bean curd you gave me to my mother and my wife after I went back home. They helped me with the recipe and now we make at least 10 to 20 taels of silver every month."

In fact, when she first brought the recipe back home, her mother thought it was just moldy tofu and didn't think much money could be made from it.

His mother also knows how to make moldy tofu, which is very salty and dry, and a bit bitter in the mouth. This thing itself is eaten with rice, so it is naturally salty. However, the wooden barrel fermented bean curd made by Miss Xu is completely different from moldy tofu and looks different, but tastes more delicate and fragrant.

When Ma Liu told his mother about it, she was skeptical.

In the end, it was only after Ma Liu persuaded her for a long time that his mother decided to try making the dish according to the ingredients in the recipe.

In the beginning, he sold it to neighbors for one penny or two yuan. Although a large piece of tofu only cost one penny, and one piece of tofu could make thirty or forty yuan of fermented bean curd, this thing needed some spices and wine to make, so it was naturally much more expensive than other people's moldy tofu. Other people's moldy tofu cost one penny and six or seven yuan, but his family could only sell it for one penny or two yuan.

Although the neighbors thought it was expensive, they found it really delicious after trying it once. They could not eat the salty and bitter moldy tofu. When they heard that it needed spices and wine to make it, they didn’t think it was expensive. If they wanted to eat it, they would buy it for a few cents.

At the beginning, he only made a few hundred yuan or one or two taels of silver. Later, the reputation of his wooden barrel fermented bean curd spread, and people in all the nearby alleys liked his wooden barrel fermented bean curd, and he made two or three taels of silver every month.

His mother and his wife were so happy that they said they must let him thank Miss Xu.

Later, a chef from a restaurant tasted his wooden barrel fermented bean curd and used it as a seasoning in his dishes. He found it was particularly delicious and came to him to buy the recipe, even offering one hundred taels of silver for it.

He is not stupid, so of course he would not sell the recipe. His mother was a little tempted at first, until he explained the powerful relationship to her.

If this recipe is sold, people will definitely monopolize the entire capital city, and then only the surrounding neighbors will continue to buy their wooden barrel fermented bean curd. If the recipe is not sold, even these big restaurants can only buy wooden barrel fermented bean curd from them.

Besides, this is the recipe given to him by Sister Xu. He certainly won’t sell it to others unless Sister Xu agrees.

Finally, the chef of the restaurant had no choice but to talk to his boss and order a lot of wooden barrels of fermented bean curd from him every month.

Because fermented bean curd can not only be used as a condiment, diners in restaurants also like to eat it. They order a few pieces of it for breakfast, and it tastes unique whether it is served with noodles or porridge.

Therefore, the supply is still very large. Now his mother has even invited relatives to help with the work. The most critical ingredients are kept by his mother and not seen by relatives. The family's wooden barrel fermented bean curd business is getting bigger and bigger. There are two or three restaurants that place orders with him. The minimum monthly income is ten or so taels of silver, and sometimes it can be over twenty taels of silver.

In fact, he had tried his mother's wooden barrel fermented bean curd, but it was not as good as the one made by Miss Xu. The taste was much worse, but it was already delicious. If those people in the capital had tasted the wooden barrel fermented bean curd made by Miss Xu, they would have thought it was delicious.

Earning twenty taels of silver a month was something her family could not even dream of.

After making some money, his mother renovated the house. She also said that wealth should not be shown to anyone, so she kept the money and planned to make other plans when she made more money in the future.

But he did not hide it from Miss Xu. If Miss Xu had not given him the recipe, he would not have been able to earn so much.

When Xu Qinyu gave the recipe of wooden barrel fermented bean curd to Ma Liu, she knew that she could make some money every month. She might not make much from selling it individually, but if a chef discovered its delicious taste, they would know that it could be used as a seasoning or as a side dish.

Fermented bean curd can be used to roast pork ribs, stew fish, and stir-fry vegetables. There are many ways to cook it, and it tastes good.

She also makes a lot of wooden barrel fermented bean curd every year, but this fermented bean curd is used as seasoning, and is also served with porridge and breakfast in the morning. Two pieces are given to diners for free. Many people especially like her wooden barrel fermented bean curd, not only her fermented bean curd, but also kimchi and various pickled vegetables. They also ask her if she sells them.

Of course they don’t sell it. The restaurant has limited staff, and what they make is only enough to supply the customers who eat in the restaurant.

Xu Qinyu chatted with Ma Liu for a few more words, saw him out, and prepared to take him to the inn.

However, Ma Liu refused to let her see him off and said that he was staying in the same inn as last year and would come back tomorrow to pick up the letter, so he asked her to go back to her room and rest early.

Xu Qinyu did not insist. After Ma Liu left, she went back to the house and began to write letters to her parents and brother, asking them to take good care of herself. She also said that she had no shortage of money. She could earn several hundred taels of silver a month from the restaurant, and she also worked with others to run a winery business. She would earn more in the future. She also wrote a letter to Li Ge'er alone, just saying that she was living well in the border town and asked the young man not to worry. She said that he was already a little man and had to take good care of his parents, especially his mother.

Afterwards, she wrote another letter to her uncle, asking him to take better care of her mother. She also said that she could earn a lot and asked her uncle not to give her any more money in the future. She also asked her to save enough money as soon as possible so that she could rent a bigger shop to expand the store.

After finishing writing, Xu Qinyu stuffed the three hundred taels of silver note together with the two thousand taels of silver note into the letter to her parents, making a thick stack.

After putting the letter away, Xu Qinyu went to the kitchen, planning to make some dried meat for Ma Liu so that he could take it with him as a snack on his way back tomorrow.

To make jerky, you need pork tenderloin. There were two pieces at home, but it was not enough, so she went out to buy some from the nearby butchers. She went to several butchers before buying enough. The tenderloin was not easy to sell, so there was a lot left over. Because it is pure lean meat, it is more tender. Everyone prefers the fattier pork belly, which is oily.

Jerky is also easy to make. Bring ginger, scallions, Huadiao wine, star anise, bay leaves, peppercorns and salt to a boil, then add the tenderloin and simmer for 15 minutes.

After cooking, take out and cut into strips as thick as thumb, add oil to the pan, pour in the meat strips and stir-fry when the oil temperature is right. After the water is fried dry, add five-spice powder, pepper powder and dogwood powder, continue to stir-fry for a while and serve. It tastes fragrant and spicy when hot, with a rich taste.

After it cools down, it tastes a bit dry, but still chewy, and becomes more delicious the more you eat it.

Xu Qinyu had made this jerky before. When her fourth brother went out last year, she made some jerky for him to take with him. While making the jerky, she couldn't help but think of her fourth brother.

Where is Fourth Brother at this moment? Could it be that Fourth Brother really had an accident? But soon, she shook off this thought. Fourth Brother is a martial arts expert, a great doctor, and can observe astronomical phenomena. She didn't think Fourth Brother would be in trouble.

With a sigh, Xu Qinyu just hoped that her fourth brother would return safely.

She went to put the dried meat away, Wen came to clean the kitchen, and Xu Qinyu was about to wash up and go to bed, but she heard someone knocking on the door outside the yard. She thought it was Ma Liu who came back for something, so she went to open the door and said, "Sixth brother, what's wrong with you..."

But when she saw the person outside the door clearly, Xu Qinyu was stuck on the rest of the sentence.

She stared at the man outside the door. He was tall and slender, dressed in cloth. He seemed to be darker and taller. His face was still handsome, but his features were as sharp as if carved by a knife. When he saw her, this sharpness was restrained.

Xu Qinyu was stunned for a moment, then turned into ecstasy. Without thinking, she almost subconsciously rushed towards the man in front of her, hugged him, and said excitedly, "Fourth brother, you are finally back."

The moment Pei Weixuan opened the gate and saw Yu Niang, the sharpness around him naturally disappeared.

He looked at Yu Niang in front of him. She seemed to have not changed at all from more than a year ago, except that she was whiter and tenderer. At that time, the frostbite on her face had not healed completely, but now her cheeks were white and tender, like peeled eggs. Her hair, which had been a little dry and yellow, had also been healed and was now shiny black. It was tied into a simple bun with an ordinary wooden hairpin inserted in it.

His eyes fell on the wooden hairpin for a moment.

Just when he was about to call out "Yuniang", before he could say anything, she suddenly rushed over and hugged him.

She must have been very excited, and the way she hugged him was not quite right, so she hugged his whole body, including his arms.

Pei Weixuan was stiff for only a moment, then his body relaxed naturally.

After hesitating for a moment, he put his arms around her waist and held her tightly in his arms.

After Xu Qinyu was excited, she found that her fourth brother also hugged her, but she did not think much about it. She thought that her fourth brother had been away from home for more than a year and was as excited as she was when he came back to see his relatives, so he hugged her.

"Fourth brother, you're finally back." Xu Qinyu raised her head and looked at her fourth brother again. Suddenly she realized that the two were still hugging each other tightly, so she embarrassedly took a step back.

Pei Weixuan also let her go gently.

Xu Qinyu was excited and happy. "Fourth brother, you just came back at this hour, you must not have eaten dinner yet. Go back to your room and wash up first. I'll go make you a bowl of noodles."

"Okay." His voice was a little hoarse, but his eyes couldn't help but linger on her face.

Wen was still washing the pot in the kitchen. She heard Yu Niang say, "Fourth brother, you are finally back." She thought she had heard it wrongly. She hesitated for a moment, and then heard Yu Niang say, "Fourth brother, you are finally back." Only then did she realize that it might really be her son who had returned. She hurried out of the kitchen and saw her son standing at the gate of the courtyard. He was taller and thinner. She burst into tears, "Xuan brother..."

Pei Weixuan looked towards Wen.

"Mom, I'm back."

Wen cried, "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."

Nothing is more important than people returning safely.

Xu Qinyu didn't cry, but she felt a little sad when she saw her mother-in-law and fourth brother like this. Her eyes were slightly red. She said, "Mother, please talk to fourth brother for a while. I'll go and give him a bowl of noodles."

After saying that, he went into the kitchen.

The mother-in-law had already cleaned the pot. Xu Qinyu fried two eggs, poured water into the pot and brought it to a boil, then put in some noodles. She rolled the noodles by hand and always had them on hand at home. Sometimes when Ning Jie'er didn't go to the restaurant to serve breakfast, she would simply make some for Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er.

Sister Ning can now cook some simple meals, although the taste is a bit average.

While the noodles were cooking, Xu Qinyu planned to season the bowl.

Pei Weixuan and Wen had already entered the kitchen. Seeing Xu Qinyu's actions, he naturally took out a large bowl from the cupboard and handed it to Xu Qinyu.

Xu Qinyu took it and smiled at Fourth Brother, "Fourth Brother, sit down and rest for a while. You can eat the noodles soon."

She prepared some seasoning in a large bowl: a spoonful of lard, a little salt, a little soy sauce and vinegar, and finally a handful of chopped green onions. When the noodles in the pot were cooked, she scooped a few spoonfuls of noodle soup into a large bowl, took out the noodles and put them in the seasoned noodle soup, and finally put the poached egg on it.

There were bean sprouts at home, so she cut some, put them in the pot and blanched them for a few seconds, then took them out and put them in a bowl and placed them on a plate.

A bowl of Yangchun noodles with good color, aroma and taste will be perfect.

Mrs. Wen did not ask her son where he had been for the past year or so. She was just busy boiling water so that Xuan Ge'er could go back to the house to wash up after eating.

Ning Jie'er was in the main room with Feng Ge'er and Yuan Jie'er. They also heard the voice of their fourth brother. They led the two children out and entered the kitchen. When they saw Pei Weixuan, the three of them were stunned for a moment before Ning Jie'er excitedly called out "fourth brother".

Sister Yan also stammered and called out "Uncle".

The little girl's family suffered a great change. She watched her infant brother being thrown to death and her mother hang herself with a white silk thread. She was so frightened that she has been unwilling to speak since then. It has been almost two years since she came to the border town. Although the knot in her heart has not been completely untied, she has been willing to speak in the past two months. However, she rarely speaks. The first person she called was aunt, Xu Qinyu. At that time, Xu Qinyu was so excited that she hugged the little girl and kissed her.

The incident started when Xu Qinyu was on leave that day and saw Sister Yan looking unhappy during breakfast.

She had been in an orphanage before and could best feel the emotions of children. Even though Sister Yan couldn't speak and her emotions were not obvious, she could still tell that the little girl was in a very bad mood. After breakfast, she secretly asked Sister Yan what made her unhappy, but the little girl just shook her head and said nothing. Sister Yan didn't want to talk at that time either.

It was still in the afternoon that Xu Qinyu discovered what was going on.

Sister Yan was already five years old and had lived in Guihua Lane for almost two years, so naturally she had her own playmates. She became playmates with girls of the same age from several other households in Guihua Lane, and they often played house together.

Occasionally, I would go over to play with a few playmates because they were all familiar neighbors. In the alley, there were always women sitting at the doorsteps working or chatting during the day, so there was nothing to worry about.

In the afternoon, a little girl named Xiaoxiao from Guihua Lane came to look for Sister Yan to go to her house to play.

But Sister Yan was not willing to go and just shook her head.

Xu Qinyu remembered that Yan Jie'er had only recently started playing with Xiao Xiao. In the past, it seemed that Xiao Xiao always disliked Yan Jie'er's age and was unwilling to play with her. They had only started playing together in the last two months.

Xiaoxiao is two years older than Yanjieer, already seven years old, and taller than Yanjieer. Seeing Yanjieer's refusal, Xiaoxiao begged, "Yanjieer, just come and play with me. Let's play house. This time you will be the daughter and I will be the mother. I will take care of you."

Xu Qinyu was a little embarrassed when she heard it.

I never expected that little girls, whether in ancient times or in later times, all liked to play house when they were young.

When she was a child in the orphanage, she also liked to play house, but she was only eight or nine years old at that time, and they played house with real guns and knives. They prepared real firewood and hid in the empty woods behind the orphanage to make a fire, grill fish, corn and crabs. The fish and crabs were caught in the river with baskets by the group of friends in the orphanage, and they ate happily with a few friends.

After roasting, you know to turn off the fire.

When she saw Sister Yan telling Xiaoxiao that she wanted to play house, she felt quite nostalgic.

Playing house is very fun for children.

Xu Qinyu was originally wondering why Sister Yan would refuse. She occasionally saw Sister Yan playing house with other little girls in the alley and she was very happy.

Seeing that Sister Yan was unhappy, Xiaoxiao reached out to pull her.

Then Xu Qinyu saw a bracelet on Xiaoxiao's wrist. The bracelet looked familiar. She bought it for Sister Yan.

Although she was busy on weekdays, sometimes when she had free time in the restaurant, she could not rest and would go to the South Street Market to look at the rouge and powder and jewelry shops and buy some. She had to work on weekdays and it was not convenient for her to wear jewelry, so she did not buy much for herself, only some small silk flower hairpins, not even a silver or gold hairpin.

It’s not that she doesn’t like gold jewelry, but she was not short of money in her previous life and had all kinds of jewelry. She prefers jewelry that is special or simple, or beautiful and stunning enough.

In ancient times, there were many very beautiful jewellery, such as those inlaid with filigree. This kind of jewellery had intricate craftsmanship, many patterns and very beautiful shapes, but it was extremely expensive. She had no occasion to wear it on a daily basis, so she simply didn't buy it.

Although I don’t buy much for myself, I like to buy things for my family, so I have bought quite a few for Sister Yan, all of which are cute ropes, silk flowers, or beautiful and unique little bracelets.

Sister Yan used to be the eldest prince's daughter. She had a life of luxury and no shortage of jewelry. But she had a hard life at the border, and only now that her life was better could she afford to buy some jewelry. So the little girl also liked this kind of pretty little jewelry.

The bracelet on the little hand is the one that Xu Qinyu bought for Sister Yan. It is exactly the same. It is not expensive for Xu Qinyu now, but it still costs a lot. It is made of copper wire and strung with a string of tiny jade scraps. These jade scraps are only the size of rice grains and have different shapes, but they are very tiny and the sharp edges have been ground off, so they are not worth much. They can be sold if strung into a bracelet. The tiny jades come in several colors, and they are quite beautiful when strung together. When the sunlight shines on these tiny jades, they are sparkling. Sister Yan likes this bracelet the most and wears it on her wrist every day.

When Xu Qinyu saw the identical bracelet on the little wrist, she knew something was wrong at the first moment. It should be Sister Yan's bracelet.

It's not her fault for thinking so. In such a small family, her parents don't earn much every month and most of the meals they eat are bean porridge and bean rice. How could they buy such an expensive bracelet for a little girl?

Furthermore, the owner of the jewelry shop told her that this bracelet was the only one of its kind, and even if it existed, the color would be different.

The bracelet on her little wrist has the same color of tiny jade stones as Sister Yan's.

But Xu Qinyu didn't pull Xiaoxiao over to question her. She just smiled and said, "Xiaoxiao, the bracelet on your wrist is very beautiful. I remember my sister Yan has the same one. It's so clever."

After hearing this, Xiao Xiao immediately retracted her hand and covered the bracelet with her sleeve. After hesitating for a long time, she said, "This, this is what my mother bought for me."

Hearing her say this, Sister Yan looked at her angrily, and finally turned back to look at Xu Qinyu.

Xu Qinyu understood now. Xiaoxiao must have snatched it from Sister Yan when they were playing, or someone borrowed it against her will and told her to keep it for a few days.

Sister Yan likes this bracelet very much and it is impossible for her to give it to Xiaoxiao.

Xu Qinyu was a little helpless. They were both little girls, and they were neighbors. She couldn't just scold a seven-year-old girl. She could only say, "It seems that we haven't seen our sister Yan wearing her bracelet these days. Xiaoxiao's bracelet looks exactly like our sister Yan's. That bracelet cost one or two taels of silver. Xiaoxiao, is this bracelet really bought for you by your mother?"

The little girl was already over seven years old and knew how much one tael of silver was. In her family, her mother only earned two or three hundred coins a month working for others. One tael of silver was much more than two or three hundred coins.

The little girl was stunned and no longer dared to say that the bracelet was bought for her by her mother. If Xu Qinyu went to ask her mother, her mother would definitely ask her where she got it. If she knew that she had snatched it from Yan Jie'er, she would beat her to death.

In fact, she just thought Sister Yan looked good in it, so she asked Sister Yan to borrow it for a few days.

But Sister Yan disagreed, so she forcibly pulled the hair tie off Sister Yan's wrist. This was not the first time this happened. She had just played with Sister Yan for a few days before, and saw that the hair tie on her head was pretty. The hair tie was also bought for Sister Yan by Xu Qinyu. It was made of silk and looked very nice. It cost her dozens of coins for two.

Xiaoxiao saw that Yanjie's hair tie was pretty, so she asked to borrow it from her, saying that she would wear it for a few days.

Yan Jie'er also disagreed. She directly pulled off the hair rope on Yan Jie'er's head. When Yan Jie'er tried to grab it, she pushed her down and finally ran away.

But she didn't dare wear the rope after she got it back, for fear that her mother would see it and ask her where it came from. She couldn't explain clearly, so she just wore it secretly occasionally.

After a long time, Yan Jieer asked her for money when she saw her, but Yan Jieer couldn't talk, so she didn't say anything. When other girls asked her what they were doing, Xiao Xiao always said, "How do I know what Yan Jieer wants to do? Let's ignore her and go play house."

But the other little girls all liked Yan Jie'er very much and insisted on playing with her.

Because Sister Yan is generous, she will bring out snacks at home and share them with the little girls.

On the day when she snatched Yan Jie'er's bracelet, Yan Jie'er was not playing with her, but with other friends. In the end, the others were called back home, so she pulled Yan Jie'er to continue playing. Yan Jie'er still refused to play with her. While pulling, she saw the beautiful bracelet on Yan Jie'er's wrist. She couldn't take her eyes off it all of a sudden, and her eyes were full of this shining bracelet.

Xiaoxiao used the same method she used last time to snatch Yanjie's hair rope, saying that she would borrow it and return it after a few days.

In fact, she had no intention of returning them. She hadn't returned the two hair ties for a month because she was sure that Sister Yan was dumb and couldn't talk, so she couldn't complain to her family.

Now that the bracelet was discovered by Xu Qinyu, Xiaoxiao was so panicked that she could only stammer, "I, I lied to you. Actually, I picked it up. It should, should belong to Sister Yan. I'm returning it to Sister Yan." As she said that, she took off the bracelet from her wrist and stuffed it into Sister Yan's hand. After doing so, she wanted to run home, but Sister Yan grabbed her clothes and continued to reach out to her.

Xu Qinyu looked at Xiaoxiao and knew that there must be something else.

Seeing Xu Qinyu staring at her, Xiaoxiao was flustered and stammered, "Yes, I borrowed a hair rope from Sister Yan a few days ago and forgot to return it to her. I'm going back to get it and give it back to her."

Only then did Sister Yan loosen her little girl's clothes and let her go back to get her hair rope.

After Xiaoxiao left, Yan Jieer went to the wooden basin and washed her bracelet in the water before putting it back on her wrist. Finally, she turned around and smiled at Xu Qinyu, calling her "Auntie".