Ling Jiheng tidied up his messy clothes, tucked the hair around Chi Xingyue's ears, and then followed her to Rongsiyuan.
The two tables were filled with delicious food, and everyone spontaneously reserved a seat to the left of the main seat.
Amidst everyone's teasing gazes, Chi Xingyue sat next to the old lady, and Ling Jiheng sat next to her.
Opposite them are Shu Muyun and Ling Weicheng. This shows that the second branch has a very important position in the Ling family.
As a guest, Fu Huanping sat next to the old man, turning a blind eye to the strangeness of the Ling family. He smelled the fragrance of the bear paw and his mouth was watering.
To be honest, he had been stationed in Youzhou City for seven or eight years, but he never had the chance to taste this legendary delicacy.
Now I just came out to do an errand, but I was able to get what I wanted. If I tell this, I’m afraid no one will believe it!
The old man invited everyone to pick up their chopsticks: "Don't be polite, just like you are at home, ah!"
The first half of the sentence was said to Ling Yi, Jin Bao, the housekeeper and others who were eating in the small kitchen, while the second half was said to Fu Huanping.
The old man now eats and drinks, and basically doesn't care about the affairs of his children and grandchildren. But he is still very concerned about the development of the family.
If any of his descendants can go into politics or the military in the future, his Ling family will be considered to have changed its status and prospered.
Fu Huanping nodded, and after the old man started eating, he picked up a small piece of bear paw and tasted it. After chewing it for a while, he was captivated by its deliciousness.
"The taste is very special!" Chi Xingyue was a little bit unable to describe the taste of bear paw. After all, it was the first time for him to eat such a first-class protected animal. He felt as excited as riding a roller coaster!
The same was true for the others. They were in Jiangning Prefecture and had only heard of the famous dish braised bear paw in the north. Now they had finally seen it.
The Ling family's elders, with the exception of Gu Youlian, were all quite reserved. Each of them took a small taste before moving on to the rest.
This restless girl from the eldest family usually has enough food and drink, but she started to snatch food from the other kids like Weiwei and Mingyue.
He looked petty and angry, which made Geng Suhua so angry that she almost had a fit on the spot.
If it weren't for the fact that she gave birth to the eldest grandson for the first wife, she should have been divorced when they first settled in Qingshan Village.
Now that I've missed that opportunity, I can only swallow my anger. I'm shaking with anger, but I have to maintain my appearance in front of the guests, and my fingers are almost digging into my palms.
Ling Jiren now hated his wife who refused to change despite repeated warnings. Seeing that she had no self-awareness at all, he directly knocked the chopsticks on her hand.
Gu Youlian cried out in pain and was about to curse when she met Ling Jiren's deep eyes.
She was so frightened that she shrank back and dared not act like a demon again.
Chi Xingyue glanced coldly at Gu Youlian, then smiled and picked up some food for the old lady, the old man, and Ling Jiheng, completely ignoring the movement at the next table.
The old lady was also like that. She no longer considered Gu Youlian the wife of her eldest grandson. She said nothing, but simply didn't bother to pay attention.
It's just a little flea. If it jumps again, I'll kill it.
Although her promotion from concubine to wife was a matter of chance, it was not without some means.
In such a harmonious yet weird atmosphere, a group of people finished their meal, rubbed their stomachs, drank tea and chatted contentedly.
Ling Jiheng got up and went to settle Chef Fang.
Ruyi Tower spread the word that they had caught a tiger and invited regular customers to come and taste it the next day.
Fang Yishao had seen the enthusiasm of those gourmets and knew that ten or twenty pounds of meat was not enough for them to share, so he expressed his willingness to buy again.
Of course, this was what the shopkeeper told him before he came.
Ling Jiheng had no objection and gave him one tiger and two leopards. He froze the rest in the snow for his own enjoyment.
While it was still early, a group of people weighed the tiger and leopard. They found 180 catties of tiger meat and 350 catties of leopard meat, for a total of 1,060 taels.
Chef Fang didn't have that much money, so he said he would owe it and talk about it when he returned to Ruyi Tower tomorrow.
Ling Jiheng wasn't afraid that he would default on his debt. After all, a restaurant that big wouldn't need this little bit. If he resold it, he might be able to make tens of thousands of taels.
The frozen meat was packed and placed on the sled. Tomorrow morning, Ling San would escort Chef Fang back home and settle the bill with the owner of Ruyilou.
Then he went back to Qingfeng Courtyard to wash up and rest with his arms around Chi Xingyue.
When I opened my eyes the next day, it was already daybreak, and I didn't know when Fang Yishuo left.
After Ling Jiheng had breakfast, he did some simple stretches.
Seeing that the weather was not good, he discussed with Chi Xingyue: "How about I go back to the barracks with Fu Huanping this afternoon? The weather is not good, and I'm afraid it will continue to snow. If we go early, we can come back early."
Chi Xingyue hugged his neck and kissed him on the lips: "Be careful and don't attract attention outside!"
Ling Jiheng chuckled: "There are no women in the military camp. You're overthinking it!"
Chi Xingyue rolled her eyes, thinking she wasn't overthinking it. She hadn't read all those novels for nothing. The male protagonists, the villains, the yanderes—they were all filled with romantic interests.
Although Ling Jiheng's fate was rewritten by himself, this face is so attractive. Who knows what he will encounter if he is let out alone.
Seeing his young wife so worried, Ling Jiheng felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart. He hugged Chi Xingyue and promised her in her ear: "Don't worry, I will definitely do what I promised."
Chi Xingyue nodded and told him to put on his bulletproof vest. If it weren't for the gender issue, she would have accompanied him on this trip no matter what.
"Please keep this gun. I'm afraid they will search you when we get there." Ling Jiheng took out the pistol from his waist and returned it to Chi Xingyue reluctantly.
Chi Xingyue counted the bullets and found one missing, which made him realize that the situation he encountered on the mountain was definitely more thrilling than what they said.
He didn't pursue the matter further, but instead hurriedly prepared some dry food for him. Since he didn't know how far the journey would be, he brought plenty, along with fruits, cakes, and other things, which he hid in a secret compartment.
Ling Jiheng was not idle either. After saying goodbye to his family, he went to the village to pick mushrooms.
Led by Song Lizheng, they went door to door collecting ripe mushrooms, weighing them and putting them into straw-covered baskets, which were then loaded into the carriages. A quilt was also placed over the baskets to prevent frostbite.
"The total is 1,900 kilograms of mushrooms. I won't give you the details."
Song Lizheng took the trouble to record the money every day and tried his best to distribute the money on the spot, just to make everyone more motivated and happy to get real money.
Ling Jiheng nodded: "I will send it back to the village head uncle after the Zhou family army pays the money."
Song Lizheng hummed a sigh of relief and watched Ling Jiheng leave. He thought, "That's great! Another half tael of silver per family. This kind of good thing is much more comfortable than working in the fields."
No wonder the Yong Dynasty stipulated that merchants could not participate in the imperial examinations. If the restrictions were lifted, everyone would have to go into business. Who would be willing to farm?
If Ling Jiheng knew what Song Lizheng was thinking, he would definitely give him a thumbs up.
The so-called "scholars, farmers, merchants, and artisans" were simply a deliberate suppression of farmers to prevent them from farming. Cutting off the upward mobility of merchants would encourage more people to focus on production.
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