Chapter 160 Disgusting
As May progressed, the weather grew hotter day by day.
Every time Sheng An finishes cooking a meal, she's covered in sweat, sweat that smells of cooking oil, which makes her need to wash her hair and take a shower every night before she can fall asleep.
Fortunately, the six months of nurturing the four children paid off, and they can now cook simple dishes quite well.
In particular, Baoxiu, the youngest and most talented, has already made her own signature dish, and it is estimated that she will be able to graduate after another year or two of learning.
In this way, Sheng An could be lazy whenever she could. Just before the dishes cooked by the four treasures were about to be served, she would take the spoon, stir-fry them a few times, and then personally adjust the seasoning. The taste would be no different from what she made herself.
Anyway, the diners can't tell the difference.
However, the hotter the weather got, the number of customers ordering food did not decrease at all. At mealtimes, the entrance of Shengyuan was full of carriages, and people came and went in an endless stream.
Roasted chicken and glutinous rice dumplings are still selling very well, and we still have to limit purchases to ensure daily supply.
For this reason, the chicken vendor delivered chickens to Shengyuan every day without fail, and made a lot of money thanks to Shengyuan as a stable and large customer.
Finally, a day off arrived, and since Xu Jinnian happened to be free, the couple decided to go horseback riding in the countryside.
The two horses had been kept in the stable for two months since they were bought, and had no chance to run freely outside. Sheng An felt that they had become a little dull from being confined.
Sure enough, as soon as the two horses were led outside Shengyuan, they excitedly stomped their hooves and made one "cheep cheep" sound after another.
Sheng An watched with great affection and patted their heads: "Don't worry, I'll take you for a run."
During this period, she would bring fresh hay to the stables every day to feed the two horses, thus establishing initial trust.
Xu Jinnian was worried about Sheng An riding alone, so he rode with her on one horse, while the other horse trotted behind.
A moment later, the two men and two horses arrived at a wide open area in the suburbs.
Sheng An still remembered the riding skills that Xu Jinnian had taught her last time, so she rode on horseback alone and practiced slowly.
Xu Jinnian also mounted another horse and followed closely beside her, ready to rush forward and rescue Sheng An if anything went wrong.
After practicing for half an hour, Sheng An had figured out the horse's temperament and was very confident in his riding skills, so he began to try galloping at full speed.
Feeling the wind whistling past her ears, her spirits soared. Pointing to the distant riverbank, she shouted to Xu Jinnian beside her, "Let's have a race and see who gets to the riverbank first!"
Xu Jinnian asked with some concern, "Are you sure you can handle it?"
Sheng An snorted, "Who do you think you are? I'm capable, giddy up—"
As she spoke, she disregarded all martial ethics, slapped the horse's rump, and sped up again like an arrow released from a bow.
Xu Jinnian watched with trepidation, not daring to chase at full speed, for fear of arousing Sheng An's competitive spirit and encountering uncontrollable danger.
Therefore, he deliberately lagged behind by one horse length, pretending that he couldn't catch up.
Sheng An naturally couldn't see through the man's pretense and thought he really couldn't outrun her, so her smile became even brighter and more unrestrained in the sunlight.
Xu Jinnian couldn't help but laugh, his eyes filled with the woman on horseback.
In the end, Sheng An reached the riverbank first.
"Phew, I'm so happy!"
Sheng An let out a long breath, dismounted, and sat down on the ground, stretching out his limbs to relieve the discomfort after running at high speed.
Xu Jinnian sat down beside her, checked her palms and ankles, and was relieved to find that there was no peeling or sprain: "I will accompany you horseback riding every month from now on."
Sheng An shook his head: "We won't be coming out for the next three months. The sun is so strong that we're not afraid of getting heatstroke, but the two horses are. We spent a thousand taels on them, and if they get sick from the heat, we'll lose a lot of money."
These two horses are not as good as Master Jiang's Honghong, but they are much better than ordinary horses. They only cost a thousand taels of silver, and that was only because of Ye Yunhua's favor. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to buy them even if you wanted to.
After resting, the couple rode the horses for two more laps until they had exhausted themselves, then rode them back home.
As Sheng An passed the market intersection, he saw a crowd gathered ahead and could faintly hear arguing.
Her gossipy nature was piqued, and she quickly urged her horse forward. To her surprise, she saw Liu Huazhi arguing with a woman, her hands on her hips, while a child next to her cried his heart out, repeatedly calling out "Mother."
Liu Huazhi pointed at the crying child and mocked the angry woman, "If you can't afford wontons, don't eat them! You eat them and don't pay, and you still think you're right? If this goes to the authorities, it'll be your fault, you poor wretch!"
The onlookers nodded in agreement, joining in the criticism of the woman: "Yes, yes, how can you eat without paying? If everyone acted like you, how would anyone do business?"
The woman hurriedly explained, "No, it's not that I don't want to give her money, it's just that I forgot to bring it with me when I went out. I told her I would go home to get the money, or that I would ask her to come home with me, but she refused."
Liu Huazhi spat out, "Pah, who knows if what you're saying is true or false? What if I go back with you and you don't give me money? Am I supposed to go into your house and forcibly demand it?"
The woman trembled with anger, tears welling up in her eyes: "I live nearby, it's not like we're so poor we can't afford to eat. Why would I cheat you out of a bowl of wontons? You're a businesswoman, how could you say such an unpleasant thing!"
Liu Huazhi rolled her eyes and grabbed the wailing child, saying, "Fine, leave your child here as collateral, and you can go back and get the money to pay me back."
The woman refused and quickly stepped forward to snatch the child, saying, "My daughter is timid; you'll frighten her if you do this."
As if she had caught her red-handed, Liu Huazhi started yelling at the onlookers:
"Look, everyone, look! This shameless mother and daughter are just here to scam food and drinks. Good heavens, I'm just a small business owner, I can't afford to be scammed by people like them..."
Unwittingly, Liu Huazhi caught a glimpse of Sheng An on horseback out of the corner of her eye. She was instantly like a chicken with its neck being choked, her eyes bulging as she couldn't utter a single word.
Seeing her reaction, Sheng An smiled enigmatically, his gaze falling on her wonton stall.
And then, I was disgusted.
A dozen flies buzzed around the stall, and the only large pot was covered with a thick, sticky layer of old, black grime, with a few specks of moldy green hairs visible on its rim.
Inside the large bowl filled with filling, several greenbottle flies swarmed around, and two of them were stacked together doing something indescribable.
There was a bucket on the ground, half-filled with soup base. Dark, unidentified substances hung on the sides of the bucket, making it almost indistinguishable from a manure bucket used by farmers.
A gentle breeze swept by, and Sheng An faintly smelled the odor of rotting flesh.
this……
Seeing the woman, her face flushed and her words incoherent as she argued with passersby, Sheng An wanted to remind her to stop arguing and take the child to the doctor immediately, lest she make a mistake in the sweltering heat.
Liu Huazhi noticed Sheng An's gaze, turned her head to look at her stall, and, not finding anything amiss, glared at her fiercely: "What are you looking at!"
Sheng An's lips twitched, and without further ado, he pointed his whip directly at the flies that were feasting on their meal:
"I didn't see anything, but I just think you're pretty good at business. You even add Liu's secret seasoning to your wontons. Look how happily these flies are eating them."
Everyone followed her gaze and felt a wave of nausea rise in their stomachs.
yue~
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