Chapter 78
78
When the noodle shop opened, the first to arrive were Cheng Yeran's classmates.
Classmates often heard Cheng Yeran brag about his husband's good cooking skills, good personality, and good looks.
They believed that she was a good cook and had a good personality. They had tasted Shen Yuntang's bean paste buns. She could also open a noodle restaurant, which naturally required good cooking skills and personality. However, they doubted her beauty.
Most of these classmates came from mountain villages. They all had wives and husbands. They all looked very ordinary. Their wives had to do farm work at home and were exposed to the sun every day, so their skin was dark and rough. Unlike the boys and girls in the county town, they had delicate skin and good figures. Even people with ordinary looks would look better if they had good skin.
Even if Cheng Yeran's husband is handsome, he is only slightly better looking than ordinary people, not stunning.
When they arrived at the noodle shop, they saw two guys, each one more handsome than the other.
The classmates were all stunned and almost forgot their etiquette. Fortunately, Yang Shiming reminded them and they corrected their attitude.
Shen Yuntang came over and asked them to sit down. She also thanked them specially, "Thanks to all of you for taking care of my husband in the academy."
After he said that, he bowed to everyone.
Several people hurriedly said that it was their duty to thank them, "Sister-in-law, please go and do your work. You don't have to entertain us specially."
Shen Yuntang asked them what they wanted to eat and turned back to make noodles.
After Shen Yuntang left, everyone looked at Cheng Yeran with envy and jealousy, "How lucky are you to marry such a good husband?"
"It's a destined fate." Cheng Yeran's nose almost turned up to the sky with pride, and he couldn't help but recount the story of his meeting with Shen Yuntang. During the meeting, he also greeted several guests.
Shen Yuntang told him not to greet the guests, but to accompany his friends first and then get busy after his friends left.
Soon Yuanbao came over with noodles and asked them, "Who wants bone soup noodles? Who wants shredded chicken noodles? And whose are the four bowls of vegetarian noodles?"
When everyone saw Yuanbao, they were stunned again. They were so shocked by her beauty that they forgot to speak.
Normally, they were not such inexperienced people who would stare at a good-looking guy in a daze, but Yuanbao and Shen Yuntang both had looks that looked like fairies from heaven. Not only them, but there were also people who often forgot their own last names when they saw Yuanbao's face, and stood there like fools, their souls lost.
Yang Shiming was helpless with this bunch of useless people, and politely said to Yuanbao: "Leave it alone, we will divide it among ourselves."
Yuanbao put down the noodles one by one and brought over the side dishes. "This is the free side dish in the store. We also opened a new store and each customer will receive a tea egg. I made it myself last night. It's first come, first served, while stocks last. It's only available today."
My cousin specifically told them to say this, otherwise they would definitely not be able to have the free tea egg.
After Yuanbao left, Zhao Yanlin hurriedly asked Cheng Yeran, "Who is this? Is this your servant?"
This is also what others wanted to ask, and they all looked at Cheng Yeran eagerly.
"This is my cousin," Cheng Yeran said with a sigh, "You are all married, so there is no chance that you will know who he is. However, Brother Yang is unmarried, so I can introduce him to him."
He was joking, but Yang Shiming didn't say anything. He, who was always serious and upright, actually agreed with what he said.
Others also looked at Yang Shiming with envy, "What a perfect match. Your cousin's beauty matches Brother Yang's talent. It's a perfect match. It's a pity that we got married too early, so we don't have this opportunity anymore."
"Although Brother Yang is from a poor family, he has good character and is well educated. Who knows, he might become the top scholar next year. It's a good match for your cousin to marry him." Although Zhao Yanlin also liked handsome boys, he just wanted to take a look. He had already married a wife at home, and he couldn't let his best friend's cousin become his concubine, so he acted as a matchmaker.
Seeing that the joke had gotten out of hand, Cheng Yeran quickly explained, "My cousin is actually a boy. He is only fifteen years old after the Chinese New Year. He deliberately dressed up as a boy. He has a history."
"Boy? If you want to refuse, don't use this excuse." Zhao Yanlin was a little angry. He felt that Cheng Yeran said this deliberately because he didn't want to marry his cousin to Yang Shiming.
Although Cheng Yeran was not from a wealthy family and had not even passed the imperial examination to become a scholar, with Yuanbao's face, he could find a husband in any wealthy family, and he could even be a concubine for an official.
Yang Shiming has not taken the exam yet, and it is unclear what his future will be like. Zhao Yanlin suspects that Cheng Yeran despises the poor and loves the rich.
"Don't embarrass others. Don't mention this matter again." Yang Shiming stopped Zhao Yanlin from speaking and apologized to Cheng Yeran, "He always speaks like this. It's not intentional."
"I'm telling the truth, he really is a boy." Cheng Yeran was a little anxious because he was misunderstood. He never proved himself before and always solved problems by arguing madly. But that was when he was facing people he hated, and it was still necessary to explain clearly to his friends.
"There was also a boy in our village who dressed like a girl until he was sixteen, then he changed into a man's clothes," a classmate smelled the tension between the three of them and quickly came out to help smooth things over. "The boy had been sick since he was young, and the fortune teller said that the King of Hell wanted to take their boy's life. As long as we dress him like a girl until he is sixteen, we can deceive the King of Hell."
"There is such a superstitious saying." Cheng Yeran sighed that the world is full of wonders.
"Isn't this the case in your family?" the man asked.
"It's a long story. My cousin doesn't help in the store on weekdays. He sells soap. When he first came to the county town, soap was not selling well, so he came up with this idea. I also told him that it's not good to cheat people like this. After the soap packaging is finished, I won't let him pretend to be a brother."
"So this is the reason for this." Zhao Yanlin immediately cupped his hands, "I was wrong about you. I apologize."
"It's okay. Most people wouldn't think of this." Cheng Yeran felt that Zhao Yanlin was quite straightforward. He apologized immediately after knowing he was wrong.
"He has to compromise for a living. He is so young, which is really admirable." When Yang Shiming heard that he was a boy, he gave up that thought and started praising Yuanbao instead.
Cheng Yeran was relieved when he heard them say this, "I'm afraid you will think we are liars and distance yourself from me in the future."
"How could that be? This is just like performing an opera. Many actors in those opera troupes dress up as women. How can this be called cheating?" said Zhao Yanlin.
Others also said that it was okay. On the contrary, after hearing that Yuanbao was a boy, they could appreciate Yuanbao's beauty more openly. Just now they thought Yuanbao was a boy and were afraid that staring at him would be rude.
Cheng Yeran: “…” Why do you feel more excited when you found out he is a man?
"What do you want to draw about the painting packaging you just mentioned?" The classmate who asked was called Zhou Hua, two years older than Cheng Yeran. Cheng Yeran called him Brother Zhou.
"I want to print a portrait of my cousin on the paper that wraps the soap. I have already found a painter, and all I have to do is take the painting and find someone to print it." Cheng Yeran said.
"What a coincidence! Brother Zhou's family is in the printing business." Zhao Yanlin asked him, "Why don't you go to Brother Zhou's house to do it instead of looking for someone else?"
"Okay, I'm just wondering where to find it. I'll trouble you, Brother Zhou." Cheng Yeran has seen some basic picture books printed in ancient times. They are usually in black and white, or at most in two or three colors, red and green. The printing level is limited, and they are usually small family workshops. If you want to find a better printing factory, you have to go to a big city. Even if you find one, they may not specifically make a printed version for him.
Zhou Hua felt embarrassed by what they said and waved his hands quickly: "I just asked out of curiosity. I didn't mean to attract business for my company."
"I know Brother Zhou doesn't mean that. This is fate for us. I don't know if Brother Zhou is busy at home. I want to order a set of printed versions specially."
mutter
Zhou Hua looked sad when he mentioned this. His family used to live in the countryside, but later he came to the county town to study, and the whole family moved to the county town together.
When we came here, the whole family thought that since we had the skills, we would not starve in the countryside, and we would earn more in the county town. However, after arriving, we found that things were not as simple as we thought. It has been a year, and business is still very slow. If it continues like this, the family will have to move back.
Zhou Hua told Cheng Yeran the whole story. "My family mainly does this with my dad and my older brothers. We can print books with illustrations on weekdays. You don't have to worry about the craftsmanship. My family suffers because of our poor communication skills. We don't know how to advertise, so few people know about it and we don't have much business."
"When the painting is finished, I'll take it to your house to see it." Cheng Yeran didn't dare to make a decision right away. Although they were all acquaintances, the focus still lay on the craftsmanship.
The two of them set a date, and when they had almost finished their noodles, they paid the bill, and each of them gave an extra ten cents, saying it was a gift to celebrate the opening of their business.
Cheng Yeran also accepted it and gave it to Shen Yuntang. Shen Yuntang wrote down how much money each of them gave, and was ready to return the favor if the other party had any requests in the future.
After they left, the county magistrate came to eat at noon with his wife and children, and also gave him some money, a little more than his classmates, giving him two cents of silver.
Cheng Yeran suspected that this was a county rule, just like having to give gifts when attending a banquet.
County Magistrate Chen called Cheng Yeran over and asked him about his recent studies.
Cheng Yeran answered all the questions in detail and said that there would be no problem with the entrance examination and he would definitely be able to stay.
County Magistrate Chen asked him several questions, and he answered them all well. He had asked him similar questions the last time they met, but he had answered them haltingly last time. This time he could answer fluently, and County Magistrate Chen was very satisfied. However, he still told him seriously that the entrance examination was just the beginning, and there was still a long way to go in the future, and he must not relax.
The diners on the side were all observing the conversation between County Magistrate Chen and Cheng Yeran.
Although the county magistrate was wearing casual clothes, many people recognized him. The guests at other tables were trembling with fear and dared not eat.
Although the county magistrate asked them to relax and not be so reserved, the others still did not dare to speak. However, when they saw that the owner of the store was very familiar with the county magistrate, they began to speculate who the owner was.
Could he be a relative of the county magistrate? Otherwise, the county magistrate would have no reason to come to such a small shop to eat. They would have a little more respect for Shen Yuntang and Cheng Yeran, and those with evil intentions would not dare to do anything.
Only after the county magistrate left did the diners in the restaurant dare to relax and eat their noodles.
At first, many people came to see the handsome guy, suspecting that he just wanted to use his good looks to attract customers, but in fact he was all show and no substance. However, after tasting it, they changed their minds. The noodles were chewy, the soup had a rich taste, and even the small pickles on the table were delicious. The most important thing was that it was delicious and not expensive. Many people were already thinking about when to eat it again after eating it for the first time, and try a different flavor next time, or bring family or friends, order one flavor each, and taste each other's.
After the county magistrate left, another group of yamen runners came. They said that they were recommended by the county magistrate. In fact, the county magistrate not only recommended this noodle restaurant, but also told them that they could come here more often if they had nothing to do. Cheng Yeran's husband was handsome and had been targeted by the ruffians in the city. They often patrolled this street, which could have a deterrent effect.
The yamen runners were unhappy at first, as they thought it was a waste of money to eat here without being reimbursed.
But after eating the noodles here, I changed my mind. This noodles is considered to be one of the best in the county, almost as good as the noodles made by the chef of Wangchunlou, but a bowl of noodles only costs a dozen cents, with meat, noodles and vegetables, which is very cost-effective.
And the husband was also pleasing to the eye. It was such a good deal to come here to eat a bowl of noodles and see such a handsome guy. It was like it was free. They wanted to come here for every meal from now on.
…
Business was good on the first day. In addition to the guests invited by Shen Yuntang, we sold 56 bowls of noodles, more than 30 bowls at noon, and more than 20 bowls in the evening.
In total, I made more than 700 coins, and after deducting the costs, I still made 500 coins.
Although he was tired after working all day, he still managed to string the copper coins together with a rope.
Cheng Yeran was reading nearby, listening to the clattering sound of copper coins, mixed with Shen Yuntang's occasional laughter, his laughter was even clearer than the sound of the copper coins.
In fact, Shen Yuntang prepared a desk for Cheng Yeran and placed it in the outer room. He sat in front of the desk counting money and closed the door so that they would not disturb each other. But Cheng Yeran insisted on sticking to him and said that he could continue reading even if dozens of people were talking at the same time in the academy, and the talking of one husband at home would not affect him.
After a few times, Shen Yuntang saw that he really didn't have any influence, so he just let him do what he wanted.
Normally, Shen Yuntang would do whatever he was supposed to do, but today Cheng Yeran couldn't help but turn his head to look at Shen Yuntang, "You little money-grubber, you always smile from ear to ear when you count money."
"Making money, of course I'm happy. I plan to save the money I earned today as a commemoration." Shen Yuntang said as he took out a purse and took out several strings of copper coins of different sizes.
The amount of copper coins in each string was different. He showed it to Cheng Yeran, "This string was earned on the first day of selling tofu, a total of only ten coins. This string was earned when I first sold dried tofu, a little more, but still not as much as I earned from selling noodles today."
Shen Yuntang put all the treasures away, and then counted on his fingers to enjoy the future, "If I can earn 500 coins every day after deducting the cost, that's 5 taels of silver in 10 days, 15 taels a month. But not all of you will come every day. Even if I can earn 10 taels a month, minus one month of going home every year, minus some unexpected losses, I can still earn 100 taels a year!"
Shen Yuntang was just happy for a moment, but then he became depressed again, "Isn't one hundred taels too little?"
"When I first came here, you told me that an ordinary family spends two taels of silver a year. Now you can earn two taels of silver in just a few days, and you still think it's not enough?" Cheng Yeran felt that Shen Yuntang's values were changing little by little. At the beginning, Shen Yuntang would never enjoy himself if he could save money, and would never spend money if he could do it himself. He felt distressed and was afraid that Shen Yuntang would be exhausted. Now that he is getting richer and richer, Shen Yuntang has also learned to enjoy himself and buy things he likes to use. It is a good thing that he can gradually change.
"The rent of that shop is thirty-eight taels of silver a year, which is almost half of my annual income. If the business is not good in the future, I will lose money. It is better to buy a shop and rent it out. In this way, I can earn dozens of taels of silver a year without doing anything." Shen Yuntang felt that life was meaningless after calculating this way. "Why is such a small shop so expensive? Our yard is so big, but it only costs less than ten taels a year."
"It has nothing to do with size, but with customer flow. If you go to a remote place and rent a yard bigger than ours for ten taels of silver, but there won't be so few people there, and you won't even make ten taels of silver a year." Cheng Yeran was very pleased to see that he could immediately see the essence of the matter. No matter when, it is better to be a landlord than to open a store.
He was just about to tell Shen Yuntang that they might as well buy some houses. They had a lot of money anyway, and there was no purchase restriction in ancient times, so they didn't have to show their faces when renting a house. They could just find someone from a real estate agency to help them rent a house. No one would know how many houses they bought, and if they hid their wealth well, it would not be easy to show off.
Before he could finish his words, he saw Shen Yuntang rekindled his fighting spirit, "No, I have to make more money. If I can make three to five hundred taels a year, I won't care about the rent of 38 taels. How about I cook some more dishes?"
"Earning fifty or sixty taels a year is already a lot. If you want three or five hundred taels, I can give it to you now. Just treat it as your own earnings. If you want to add cooking, you will have to hire more waiters. You have to cook and noodle by yourself, which is too tiring. How can you have a baby if your body is exhausted?" Cheng Yeran said this deliberately, because if Shen Yuntang didn't bring up the child, he would not care about his own body.
When Shen Yuntang heard about the child, she lowered her head and touched her belly. "The villagers work in the fields all day long, and every household can have four or five children. Some families have seven or eight children. If you hadn't worn that thing every time, you would have been pregnant with the first child a long time ago. Maybe you would have given birth in a few months. You can prepare for the second child by the end of this year."
In her previous life, Shen Yuntang didn't get pregnant so quickly. She got pregnant with her first child after being married to Xia Xiaowu for five or six years. But Cheng Yeran was different. His thing was so big and powerful that he was sure to get pregnant in one go.
"Wait a minute, you already had one this year, why do you want to get pregnant again at the end of the year? Do you also want to have seven or eight children?" Cheng Yeran was shocked. He only planned to have one child and not a second one.
"I want to have seven or eight children. Of course, I will have as many as I can, until I can't have any more." This is the education Shen Yuntang received since he was a child. A man's mission is to have children and expand the family. More children means more fun. He likes a bustling home. He and Cheng Yeran grew up in different environments, so it is difficult for him to change his thinking in a short period of time.
"But having a baby is bad for your health. You are a human being, not a machine. You can't abuse your body like this." Cheng Yeran quickly hugged the man and hugged him distressedly, as if he had already given birth to seven or eight children and his body was
IA
It's pitiful, as if it had been drained.
"Why is having children bad for your health?" Shen Yuntang scratched his head in confusion. "You can't have children, so how do you know this? The old people in the village said that having children can cure diseases. They originally had many minor ailments, but they were all cured after giving birth."
"Listen to their nonsense," Cheng Yeran placed his palm on Shen Yuntang's flat belly, "The child is like a parasite, absorbing your nutrients in your body, pushing your internal organs up, and deforming your pelvis..."
"How do you know?" Shen Yuntang interrupted him in fear.
"I used to watch short videos every day. I don't know why big data recommended it to me." Cheng Yeran remembered that he seemed to have seen it on Mother's Day. He cried while watching it that day. After crying, he drove home from the crew to celebrate the holiday with his mother. His mother scolded him with disgust, telling him to go back to the crew quickly and stop being too obsessed with home when he grew up, because she still had to go out on a date with her husband.
Cheng Yeran felt heartbroken whenever he thought about it. His parents only loved each other, and he was just an accident.
"You're still watching other people give birth?" Shen Yuntang's eyes widened, "How obscene!"
"No, I didn't watch it. I listened to popular science." Cheng Yeran hurriedly explained, "And giving birth is not a vulgar thing, but watching other people's wives giving birth is indeed a vulgar thing. I will never do that. I will buy some popular science books on childbirth and show them to you. Then you will understand that giving birth is definitely not an easy thing."
"You told me all this, aren't you afraid that I won't want to have children?" Shen Yuntang felt that every word he said revealed his pity for him. Before he met Cheng Yeran, he was rarely loved by others. This feeling of being treated like a treasure and held in the palm of someone's hand made him a little overwhelmed.
He knows how to deal with people when they treat him badly, because he was always tortured in his past life, but he rarely feels loved, and he is not used to it and does not know how to deal with it, but he likes it very much.
He took Shen Yuntang's hand and kissed her. "If you are not careful, you will get sick and have to endure the pain for the rest of your life. If it gets more serious, you may even lose your life. If you lose your life because of giving birth, I will definitely hate that child for the rest of my life. This is not good for you, the child, or me. I want you to understand it clearly before deciding whether to have this child."
When Cheng Yeran said this, he suddenly thought of the contents of the book. The book said that Shen Yuntang died of dystocia in her previous life after being drugged by Xia Xiaowu.
Thinking of this, he hugged Shen Yuntang even tighter.
The reason why he forgot about this matter was that Shen Yuntang had clearly experienced such a thing, but still said lightly that she wanted to have children. Even though she had experienced a terrible difficult labor, she still wanted to have several children. He guessed that this had something to do with Shen Yuntang's education since childhood.
The reason why he has become what he is now is probably because his parents and the people around him have been telling him since he was a child that he cannot be himself and cannot live for himself, so he will slowly lose himself. Even if he knows he will die, he still wants to sacrifice himself. Such a Shen Yuntang is even more pitiful.
Shen Yuntang was made even more overwhelmed by his sudden sentimentality. Although he died of dystocia in his previous life, he firmly believed that it was because of Xia Xiaowu's medicine. If he had not been drugged, he would have given birth to the child smoothly and would have grown up with the child.
In his previous life, Xia Xiaowu didn't care about his life, but in this life, Cheng Yeran cares about his life. Just for this reason, he will cherish Cheng Yeran in this life.
He wanted to pat Cheng Yeran's hand and ask him to let go, but Cheng Yeran didn't let go, "Let me hold you for a while."
"I didn't stop you from hugging me." Shen Yuntang lowered his head and said weakly, "I want to hug you, too."
Shen Yuntang regretted what he said. He was always afraid that he would be too proactive and make Cheng Yeran dislike him.
But just as he finished speaking, Cheng Yeran hugged him and stood up. Cheng Yeran seemed to be so happy that he was silly. It took him a long time to react and put him down.
"You, you really want to hug me." Cheng Yeran stretched out his arms, "Come on, hug me."
Seeing his silly look, Shen Yuntang slapped him on the head in anger, "Who wants to hug you? Weren't you just talking about whether the noodle shop needs more stir-fried dishes? Why did you suddenly turn to having children? You can give me a few hundred taels, but that's not what I earned. I want to earn the money myself, so that I feel more accomplished."
"I think stir-frying is not very realistic. You run a noodle shop and people go there for the noodles. If you add stir-frying, won't people think it's too much and your noodles are not professional?" Cheng Yeran spoke from his own preferences. "Besides, you only have one stove. How can you take care of both stir-frying and cooking noodles?"
"That's true. The shop is so small, it's impossible to add another stove." Shen Yuntang was a little frustrated. Could it be that he could only change the types of noodles? But no matter how many types of noodles there are, they are just noodles, and they will still make people feel monotonous. They cannot be too diverse or too monotonous, so how to innovate becomes a problem.
"Why not make some cooked food?" Cheng Yeran suggested.
"Yeah! Why didn't I think of that? You can make some braised edamame and peanuts."
"You can also make pig heads, pig trotters, chicken feet, pig stomachs and sausages, and sell them in slices and plates." Cheng Yeran said he was hungry late at night.
"Braised?" Shen Yuntang seldom eats these. "No one usually eats chicken feet. When my family stews chicken, my mother even throws the chicken feet away. She says that chickens always use their claws to scratch the chicken shit on the ground. It's too dirty, so she never eats it."
After Shen Yuntang finished speaking, he wondered how he could say the word "chicken shit" in front of Cheng Yeran. Would he think he was too rude? I wanted to cover my mouth in regret.
"Of course you can eat it, and it's delicious. I'll buy some for you to try next time, and then you'll know." Cheng Yeran still likes to eat braised chicken feet. His sister prefers the ones with pickled peppers, but he hates the taste of pickled peppers and only eats the ones with five-spice powder.
However, it is difficult to buy chicken feet specifically, as chicken feet are not sold separately. To make a pot of braised chicken feet, you have to kill many chickens, which is not very realistic.
"How about making sausages? I don't think I've seen any sausages since I came here, not even Chinese sausages." Cheng Yeran asked him, "Have you ever eaten it?"
Shen Yuntang shook his head, "What kind of intestine is that?"
"No? That's easy. We're the only one selling sausages, so we won't have to worry about making money." Cheng Yeran pulled him to sit down. "Okay, the problem is solved. You're exhausted today, so let's take a rest."
"Are you going to do it today too?" Shen Yuntang saw him pulling him to sit on the bed, thinking that he wanted to do it again. Cheng Yeran finally had a day off today, and he accompanied him for a long time, so he should compensate him. He raised his hand and untied his belt, "You can do whatever you want tonight."
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