Zhang Fangyuan rubbed his hands and went back to Xu He to please her: "I'm not chasing her, I just want to chase her out and scold her."
Xu He was tidying up the cash box: "Do you know what she said?"
"That old woman is resentful of me for setting her up when I sold her perfume. She came to my house today to seek revenge. She will definitely not say anything nice."
Xu He frowned slightly. It was no wonder that the people in the brothel were concerned about him and thought he was a weirdo. The thoughts in his head really could not be judged by those of an ordinary man.
"Don't worry, I don't even have that much insight. Even if she said something, I wouldn't take it to heart. Miss Yin is fine and didn't say much."
Zhang Fangyuan frowned doubtfully: "Do you trust me so much?"
"It depends."
Zhang Fangyuan smiled slyly.
Winter came soon after late autumn. The shop had been open for a full quarter. He took out money to pay the rent for the next quarter. Unexpectedly, the landlord came to his door and took some toothbrushes and tooth powder to offset part of the rent.
Xu Heqing counted the accounts. After working for three months, the shop's turnover was astonishing. He took out the account book and checked it carefully. He found that he had made more than 150 taels of silver. This was the income after deducting the costs. Even if the 50 taels of silver he spent on opening the business was offset, he still made 70 taels of silver this quarter.
This made him feel more secure and happy than any windfall.
Although he felt a little sad to pay out more than twenty taels of rent at once, he still felt elated when he saw the huge profits. Even though he knew that the business was so good this month because the company had just opened, and that they might not make as much money next quarter, he still felt that the two of them deserved a reward.
So this morning he became more assertive and generously gave some money to Zhang Fangyuan to buy a few pounds of mutton and mutton offal at the meat market. The couple closed their shop early and went home.
After opening the business, life is busy, going out early and coming back late every day. It’s also not busy, as I just stay here to guard the shop after I arrive.
But this also took up time for doing other things. Zhang Fangyuan ran around here and there every day, while Xu He stayed in the shop.
The beginning of winter marks the beginning of a new season, so the couple unanimously decided to earn less money for that hour and go home early to cook a hot mutton hotpot. Xu He hadn't cooked a big meal in a long time, so he was itching to do it.
The two of them sat in the carriage. Xu He looked through the mutton in the basket to see if the meat was of good quality. He was not too worried. Zhang Fangyuan was not particular about other things, but he was very careful in selecting the ingredients for cooking.
"Why did you only buy meat? Didn't you buy some wine?"
Zhang Fangyuan smiled and said, "There are some wines for sale in the teahouse, just take some from home and drink it."
Xu He put the basket on the back of the cart and said, "I always see you drinking small amounts of wine. You can buy some big ones on this day."
"Boss Xu is so generous today?" Zhang Fangyuan said with a smile, "Save more money and drink lamb wine directly in the future."
The two of them looked forward to the future, with a smile on their faces.
After the beginning of winter, the wind was blowing. Xiao Hei couldn't run as fast as someone pulling heavy goods. The wind blowing on my face had taken away all the fragrance of spring, nor the coolness of summer. It was more of a severe cold, like the sharp blades of a knife scraping on my face.
Zhang Fangyuan tilted his head to glance at Xu He and saw that his face was a little red, just like when they were not married. However, he had typhoid fever that day and he was feeling better now.
At that time, he seemed like a pitiful and stubborn boy.
He reached out and held Xu He's hand. It was indeed cold. He wrapped his hand in his own palm and said, "The weather is getting colder day by day. Today I saw some shops were warming up with braziers. It's not so cold in the shops. But I'm afraid I'll catch a cold easily if I go home on a cart and feel the wind."
"Why not just buy a carriage? We have horses, so we can just swap the cart for a carriage."
Zhang Fangyuan thought about the carriages in the city, each one more beautiful and stylish than the other. In summer, they were wooden and ventilated with gauze curtains, and in winter, they were wrapped up like a small house, warm and sheltered.
It's not just that wealthy families like to show off, but more importantly, it is indeed more suitable for accommodating more people than a completely open carriage like theirs.
Xu He had never ridden in a sedan chair or a carriage. Although this was also a horse-drawn carriage, it was not the kind of carriage used in the city. To be precise, it should be called a horse-drawn carriage, which was more than one or two levels lower.
"That's good. It can keep out the wind and rain, and it's useful in winter and spring. It's not a waste of money to have it ready. In the future, I'll use a cart to transport goods, and a horse-drawn carriage for passengers."
Zhang Fangyuan responded, "Then I'll go to the carriage and horse shop in a couple of days. Our Xiao Hei is young and strong. If we can find a suitable mare, we can breed him."
"As you wish."
Zhang Fangyuan looked at Xu He's belly, thought for a while and said, "I see your belly is getting bigger. It's tiring to go out early and come back late all the time. Although the young men and women in the village are not as particular as the people in the city when they are pregnant, they still have to take good care of it. Otherwise, you can stay at home and take good care of the baby instead of going to the shop in the city to worry about it every day."
Hearing this, Xu He placed his palm on his belly, his brows slightly furrowed. As the cub grew older, he could feel more and more that there was life in his belly, and the little guy kicked him more and more frequently.
Although he was concerned about the business in the city, he also knew what was most important at the moment.
He calculated that the baby should be born in the spring of the following year. By then, everything would be settled and he wouldn't have to worry about business matters. "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Zhang Fangyuan couldn't help but tighten his grip on Xu He's hand when he heard this. He had wanted to tell him this for a long time, but was afraid that Xu He would think too much, so he had held it back. Now that he brought it up and saw that Xu He agreed readily and without any unhappiness, he felt relieved.
The couple went to a teahouse to cook. There were all kinds of dishes there, and the pot tasted better when there were many vegetables in it.
Zhang Shiyue and He were in the tea stall, and the two children were still studying in the village school. Zhang Fangyuan sent Xu He to the tea stall, where he stayed for a while, then went back to the village to pick up his fourth uncle and the two children for dinner. The three quick-handed people were busy, and when Zhang Fangyuan came back with them, it was almost time for dinner.
"It's not that cold this year. I wish it would be like this every year. The cold is what I fear the most."
The tea stall was already deserted at this hour, so the three of them started preparing dinner.
He was washing the vegetables in the pot in front of the stove. They were all fresh things from the fields, including pea tips, green vegetables, radish, winter melon, and a few early grown winter bamboo shoots. After a good meal in the evening, everyone was very happy and became more interested in chatting.
Zhang Shiyue was in charge of processing the mutton offal and slicing the mutton. She also said, "That's right. It's too cold and the expenses are much higher than in the warm winter. We have to prepare thick mattresses and thick coats, and burn more charcoal than usual. It gets dark earlier, and there is no way to go out and do anything because of the heavy snow. We have to stay in the house all day, and the lamp oil money is huge."
"That's right. There was a lot of snow that year, and charcoal was very expensive. Fortunately, my family collected firewood after the busy farming season and stored some charcoal. Otherwise, I really don't know how we would have survived the winter. The families in the village who stored a lot of charcoal took the charcoal to the city and sold it for a lot of money. They were just lazy, otherwise we could have made some money that year."
Xu He listened to the two people talking about the past. He was peeling garlic to make a condiment. Mutton has a fishy smell, so firstly the smell must be removed. Secondly, the condiment must be made with dried chilies roasted over charcoal fire, and then mashed with charcoal when they are burnt. It is really spicy and fragrant, and the mutton dipped in chilies makes your mouth water.
"Yesterday, all the eggs in the chicken coop at home were hatched by the old hen. Xiaomao played with them for a long time. He wanted to shirk his responsibilities and not write the characters that Mr. Fei assigned him yesterday."
"Fourth Aunt, have your chickens hatched yet?"
When Xu He heard the two of them talking about this again, he looked up from under the stove and asked.
"Yeah, very well behaved."
Xu He said, "The poultry we raised before were bought from the city. Chickens can't grow bigger than ducks. Ducks are already big, weighing three or four pounds, and they walk with a throng, while chickens are still so small, and their feathers haven't even grown neatly. I'm thinking of using the ducks to hatch a nest of ducklings."
"Okay, I still have some eggs that can be hatched, you can come and get them tomorrow."
Xu He nodded: "Okay."
The two women were interrupted by his voice and the topic inevitably fell on him.
"Brother, I see that you are pregnant. Your belly is a little bigger than usual this month, so it should be a boy. It's not that we care about whether it's a boy or a girl. In fact, mothers and fathers love both boys and girls. Most of the time, it's the men who make the fuss and insist on having a son."
Xu He threw firewood into the stove and said with a smile: "Ayuan told me that it would be fine if it's a son, a daughter or a boy."
The two women also laughed: "It's the best that Ayuan can think this way. In the Zhang family, except for the eldest son's family, the other brothers and sisters don't have many children. I only have a little boy, and your second aunt only has a girl. It's all thanks to Ayuan that he can have more children in this generation. Your first child, whether it's a boy or a girl, is fine."
Zhang Shiyue said: "Yes, as long as they are caring children, they are lovable."
"Don't worry about what those gossipy women in the village say. Just let it go in one ear and out the other. They always like to stare at the good people and watch the fun."
Xu He felt warm in his heart.
When Zhang Fangyuan, the two children and Zhang Shicheng came over, it was already dark. The days are short in winter and it gets dark early. Before we even got to the tea stall, two children sitting opposite each other on the back of the cart took a deep breath and said, "What a nice smell!"
"You two little naughty boys, the price of mutton is twice that of pork, how can it not be delicious?" Zhang Shicheng also laughed. Today he went to the bamboo forest to dig winter bamboo shoots. He didn't get many, but he was still looking forward to a good meal.
As soon as they got off the cart, they all went into the kitchen. The whole room was filled with the warm aroma of mutton.
The mutton bones were boiled into white soup in the pot. When Xu He saw that someone had returned, he took out the pot, put charcoal in it and lit it. Zhang Fangyuan, the governor, brought the pot into the central hall, and the two women scooped the soup, bones and meat from the pot into a small open pot and placed it on the boiler.
"Wash your hands and eat!"
Zhang Fangyuan went to get some wine and said, "Fourth uncle, today I'm going to get you some wine at 20 wen per pound. Don't accuse me of being stingy and only giving you 8 wen."
Everyone in the room started laughing. They sat together, their faces turning red from the steaming mutton soup.
Zhang Fangyuan picked up slices of very thin mutton and put them into the pot. The bright red mutton immediately changed color and curled up. He dipped it in some garlic paste and spicy sauce and stuffed it into his mouth. The beauty was so beautiful that he couldn't sleep all night. Everyone was drinking soup from their bowls first, but he couldn't even wait to finish his soup and started eating the meat. He was laughed at for the way he ate, but he didn't get angry. Instead, he gave Xu He a few slices of mutton as well.
Xiaomao said, "My cousin always picks food for his wife."
Xu He's ears turned red. Zhang Fangyuan didn't even bother to pick up a dish for the child. Instead, he said, "It's too early for me to pick up a dish for you. Wait a minute."
Xiaomao also blushed because of what he said, and buried his head in drinking soup, which made everyone laugh again.
Xu He felt that the home was very nice and his appetite was great, but he only ate a few pieces of meat.
Although mutton is delicious, it can easily cause internal heat. Due to his health condition, he did not dare to eat too much, but he did eat a lot of vegetable leaves. The bean tips were taken out as soon as they were put into the pot. They were cooked through but not limp, crispy, sweet and fragrant. He really liked the taste.
The family ate for nearly an hour before they dispersed. When they went home, Zhang Fangyuan waved his whip, feeling full of energy and not feeling cold even in the night breeze.
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