Wen Lingling 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 cost of the spice business was too high or it wasn't easy to sell in the town, she would look at the rice business. There were only rice shops in Yuanbao Town, and the big ones were called rice shops. She thought that if the spice business wasn't doing well, a bigger rice shop in Yuanbao Town might be okay, but it might not make as much money as the spices. She didn't rent the restaurant, but bought it, so she wasn't afraid of losing money in the rice business.

She had some other thoughts in her mind. She felt that a rice shop didn’t necessarily just sell rice. It could also sell a variety of other grains, game, vegetables, meat, etc.

But this was just an idea that popped up in her mind and still needed to be improved. Anyway, she was not in a hurry.

Now that she had bought the restaurant, even if she couldn't make a living from it, she could still make some money by renting it out every month. She just didn't think much of the ten taels of silver she got from renting it out. It was only one or two hundred taels a year. What could 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 Lingling no longer blames others blindly, although she blamed Xu Qinyu and the third room at the beginning. She felt that Cheng Ge'er and Gong Ge'er from the third room were ungrateful. 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.

She had experienced a lot in the past year or so of running the restaurant. The troubles caused by customers and the difficulty in making a living had all 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 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, since my eldest cousin was in that position, he had to fight for it. If he won, the Wen family would also prosper. It's just that my eldest cousin failed in the fight for imperial power. My eldest cousin is not as cruel as the new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu. He has seen a lot of things in the past two years. She also has some guesses that the poisoning of the late emperor may not have been done by my eldest cousin, 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 the concubine of the late emperor. Although the Wen family was still a marquis's family, because of her aunt, the marquis' family 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 be more and more spoiled.

Now I have gradually come to terms with it, although I still feel uncomfortable for a while.

Wen Lingling 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.

Ever since the third wife left, the family has bought maids and old women one after another.

At first, I only did sweeping and kitchen work, which was not enough.

Later, my mother really didn't want to live like this, so she bought some maids and servants to serve me.

She also had a maidservant by her side, who was a bit dull, her name was Shi Liu.

When they were about to get off the carriage, Shi Liu looked at Wen Lingling and went over to help open the curtain of the carriage.

Wen Pingling glanced at her stupid maid, lifted the curtain and prepared to jump down herself. However, Shi Liu finally reacted and jumped off the carriage before her. Wen Pingling was so angry that her nose almost got crooked!

Wen Lingling felt that her temper had become more controlled, and it must be due to this little maid!

After Shi Liu jumped off the carriage, he looked at his girl.

"Pomegranate! Help me hold the car curtains." Wen Xuan said with inspiration.

Pomegranate finally reacted, said "oh", and helped to close the curtains.

When Wen Pingling first discovered that Shi Liu was a maid, she wanted to sell her back to the pawnshop. However, if Shi Liu was sold again, who knows where she would be sold to. A maid who was kept being sent back would not be sold to a good place. So she felt a little soft-hearted and did not sell her. Now, she has used Shi Liu for almost a year and has gotten used to her.

Wen Lingling 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 a spice shop in Raozhou City some time ago, so the spice shop did not close even though the year was almost coming to an end.

Just as she walked out of the alley, Wen Lingling 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 around 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, thinking the middle-aged man looked familiar, but couldn't remember who he was for a moment.

Just as she was about to continue walking forward, a figure suddenly popped up in her mind. Wen Lingling 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't you do?"

Wen Ling 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 knew the identities of the owners and chefs of all the major restaurants and eateries in Yuanbao Town. Naturally, she 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 have married into Donglaiju.

The real owner of Donglaiju is a woman named Dong, who is the real head of Dong’s recipes.

Because Dong family only has one daughter left.

The Dong family did not have any talent for cooking, so Old Master Dong picked out an apprentice from among his apprentices who was willing to marry into the Dong family and recruited him as his son-in-law. This person was Yue Weimin. Old Master Dong passed all his cooking skills to his son-in-law. A few years later, Old Master Dong died of illness, and Yue Weimin became the head 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.

Anyone who knows the Dong family's situation in Yuanbao Town would praise the Dong family for their magnanimity and kindness.

If a woman marries a husband, the rules are extremely strict. The child born will only take the woman's surname, never the man's.

Wen Lingling never thought that she would meet Yue Weimin in Raozhou City.

What's his situation now? The pregnant woman he was supporting was not Dong. Looking at the way he was carefully supporting her and the way the pregnant woman pulled him in anger, it was obvious that the two of them had a close relationship. Could it be that Yue Youwei had an affair with another woman in Raozhou City? Or was she Yue Youwei's mistress?

Wen Lingling knew that Yue Weimin's eldest son went to work as a cook at Xu's Restaurant.

At first, she thought Xu Qinyu was stupid. She dared to let the young master of Donglaiju work as an assistant chef in her restaurant. Wasn't she trying to ruin Xu's? Otherwise, she would teach all her cooking skills to the young master of Donglaiju. When Dongqian left Xu's and brought the dishes he learned to Donglaiju, wouldn't all the diners of Xu's go to Donglaiju? Wouldn't Xu's restaurant fail?

She actually felt a little bit lucky...

As a result, half a year passed and not a single Xu Ji dish appeared in Donglaiju.

I'm a little disappointed when I read Lingling...

Now seeing the chef of Donglai Ju appear in Raozhou City again, and being so intimate with a pregnant woman, I became more and 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 to see what they are going to buy and where they are staying. Remember, you must not be discovered by them. If you are discovered by them, you will not be able to have dinner with me tonight!"

Pomegranate rice is a big appetite, and the thing it fears most is not being given rice to eat.

But Wen Lingling usually just wanted to scare her and would never really let her go hungry for a night.

When Shi Liu heard this, she said in fear, "Don't worry, young lady. I will follow them right away. They will never find us."

Wen Ling waved her hand, and Shi Liu followed secretly. At this moment, she was very cautious for the evening dinner, and she followed Yue Weimin and the pregnant woman secretly, keeping a distance from them.

Wen Lingling 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 Lingling temporarily forgot that she had asked Shi Liu to go and talk to someone.

She didn't remember this until she left the spice shop.

She stood at the door of the spice shop and waited for a while. Soon she saw Pomegranate trotting back.

Seeing Shi Liu panting, Wen Lingling patted her on the back and asked, "How is it? Do you know what the relationship between the two people is 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 who was about ten years old shouting "Daddy" to the man..."

She followed the man and the pregnant woman carefully all the way, and followed them into the alley. She saw the two of them enter a two-story house. She hurriedly followed them, lying at the door of the house, and looked inside through the gap. She just happened to see a boy about twelve or thirteen years old passing the screen wall. Seeing the man, he happily called him "Daddy". The man also walked over and touched the boy's head with a kind face. Then the three of them went around the screen wall and went inside. She couldn't see what was going on inside. She stayed at the door of the house for a while and then left.

When Wen Ling heard this, his brows wrinkled and he revealed an expression that was indescribable and a little disgusted.

She could see clearly that the man was the shopkeeper of Donglaiju. This disgusting guy seemed to have a mistress outside, and the child was already in his teens, which showed that the child had been raised outside for more than ten years.

It was clearly the Dong family's recruitment of a son-in-law. If he hadn't married a woman from the Dong family, Old Man Dong would never 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.

My ancestors were all chefs, and they even had recipes.

A culinary family that has a recipe book means that their skills have been accumulated over decades or even centuries.

Not every apprentice who learns from a famous chef can achieve success.

Because a master will not teach everything, a famous chef with many apprentices can only teach some common cooking methods.

After leaving their master, most apprentices just set up a snack stall to support their family.

The Dong family's recipe was handed over to Yue Weimin, who then made the leap to his current success as the head chef and shopkeeper of Donglaiju. He had all the glory and wealth, but he was so ungrateful that he kept a mistress outside and his child is already so grown up!

This matter is really too disgusting. Wen Ling waved her hand, saying it was unlucky. "Let's go to the rice shop and have a look. After that, we will go back to Yuanbao Town."

Pomegranate just said "oh" and didn't ask any more questions. She didn't care about anything except food.

After leaving the rice shop, Wen Lingling got on the carriage and set off back to Yuanbao Town.

On the way back to Yuanbao Town, Wen Lingling frowned and felt uncomfortable.

She is already seventeen years old and will be eighteen next year, which is old enough for her to get married.

In the past, her grandparents thought that maybe she could enter the palace and become the new emperor's concubine. She herself had some ideas. It wasn't that she liked the new emperor, but she wanted to climb up the social ladder and didn't want to stay in Yuanbao Town as a commoner all her life.

But in the past two years, she has come to realize that it is not wise to enter the palace and become a concubine of the new emperor. First of all, because of her status, the empress dowager has to be wary of her. There are many women in the palace, and she doesn't have the brains to do so. She doesn't know if she can defeat those concubines. If she fails and dies in the palace, it will be a loss. So she gave up the idea of ​​entering the palace.

But she was a little unwilling to marry other ordinary commoners or country gentlemen, 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 thought of getting married at all.

After Wen Lingling returned to Yuanbao Town, he originally wanted to go to Laixi Lane to talk to Xu Qinyu about this matter. Dongqian is now working as a chef at Xu's. What if he learns it and leaves Xu's and the recipe is taken away by Yue Weimin...

Since Yue Weimin has a mistress and a child with his surname, he must have other thoughts. Don’t let Xu Ji’s signature dishes and Dong’s recipes become Yue Youwei’s signature dishes…

But thinking about how Xu Qinyu always looked at her coldly, she didn't want to be turned away.

Besides, what does the matter of Donglaiju and Xu Qinyu have to do with her?

Wen Lingling 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, he felt soft-hearted. Unlike 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 the Dong family's son-in-law, 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 before he met Liu Niang, he was also very happy, thinking that since his second son would take his surname and have a child, 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 humiliation, 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 culinary discussions and taste other chefs' dishes, but the chefs participated voluntarily. Liu Niang was only fifteen at that time, and 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 started to have ideas about 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, and after finding out what happened, 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 did something to her. She did not expect that her aunt would find out, and 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 be a prostitute.

Liu was crying, and Yue Weimin thought that the woman was looking for an excuse to sell her niece. He argued with the woman for a few words and then bought Liu.

Finally, the woman took the money and sneered, "I see you are already thirty, right? I guess you have already become my own son. Be careful that you will be seduced by this vixen and your family will be destroyed!"

Yue Weimin certainly didn't believe it, and after the woman took the silver and left, he planned to return the indenture to Liu Niang, give her a few taels of silver, and let her leave on her own.

However, Liu Niang kept looking at him and crying, her eyes were full of tears, 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 to her, her aunt would definitely sell her again.

Yue Weimin felt 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 Liu Niang would be bullied in Raozhou City, so he often came to Raozhou City to visit her.

After a while, 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 and that although Dong Shi did not respect him, she would respect him all her life.

Then the two of them just made do with it.

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, under the pretext of returning home to pay homage to his deceased parents.

Later, he bought Liu Niang a second house and some shops, 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, leaving only Yue Weimin and Liu Niang in the room.

Liu Niang frowned and said sadly, "Master, when will you divorce the one in Yuanbao Town? Otherwise, Ji Ge'er will always be unjust. And there is also the child in my belly. I don't want others to call him a bastard when he is born. Even though I told the neighbors every day that you have to work outside and rarely come back, everyone still looks at me with shame, thinking that I am someone's concubine. Even Ji Ge'er has suffered a lot of grievances."

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 you in one or two years. I have studied the Dong family recipes thoroughly. Even without the Dong family recipes, I can open a restaurant with my new recipes. But Dong Qian recently went to a small restaurant to learn from a young cook. The young 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 further improved. So wait for two more years. When Dong Qian leaves Xu's and gives me the recipes and 'seasoning' recipes, I will divorce Dong family and take you far 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's Restaurant was willing to teach him for three years.

He will be let go after three years.

So now Dongqian 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 Dongqian leaves Xu Ji, he will naturally be willing to give him the recipe.

"It's just a little cook's food, how can it be better than what you cook?" 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, and I want Ji Ge'er and the baby in my belly to not be bastards."

Yue Weimin had no choice but to coax Liu Niang for a long time and finally promised to buy her the set of head ornaments worth several hundred taels of silver. Only then did Liu Niang smile.

…

Xu Qinyu didn't know that Wen Ling had caught Yue Weimin doing some immoral things. She had just finished her work these few days and Xu Ji also had his New Year holiday.

Last night she had an early reunion dinner with everyone in the restaurant and gave everyone a red envelope.

The winery earned 20,000 taels of silver this year, so she gave more red envelopes this year, 20 taels of silver per person.

Dong Qian also took a red envelope of one hundred taels of silver. Xu Qinyu felt that he had helped her a lot, which allowed her to have a lot of free time. From the beginning of the month to now, she has pickled more than eight hundred hams.

Dong Qian then realized that his master was so good to the employees in the restaurant, giving them more than twenty taels of silver in red envelopes every year. No wonder they worked so hard and without any second thoughts.

He did not refuse the 100 taels of silver and red envelope and took it. He usually refused to take the wages given by his master.

Xu's was on New Year's holiday, and Xu Qinyu also returned to Laixi Lane. She and her fourth brother rode the stove to the workshop to get ten hams.

My fourth brother came home two days ago and said that the New Year is coming and the caravan needs a rest. He will also celebrate the 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 the family, and Xu Qinyu planned to ask other caravans to take the remaining eight to the capital to give to her parents and her uncle from her natal family.

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. After the restaurant opened, she would be able to serve some new ham dishes. 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, maybe they can reach the standard of being eaten 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. The sliced ​​ham is as thin as a cicada's wing. It tastes like a charming salty flavor and rich meaty aroma. The lean meat is tender and the fat is not greasy, and it tastes full of fragrance.

Xu Qinyu was a little distracted when she thought about the taste of raw ham.

As soon as the two returned to the alley, they saw a carriage parked in front of the door.