Zhao Shouzheng handed over the financial power so readily that Zhao Hao was quite surprised.

But what surprised him even more was yet to come...

When Zhao Shouzheng solemnly handed the purse containing all the wealth of the two people to Zhao Hao, he felt it was light and weightless.

Zhao Hao's heart skipped a beat. He opened his purse and saw that there were only two taels of silver left inside.

"Where's the money?!" Zhao Hao raised his voice uncontrollably.

"It's all here..." Zhao Shouzheng showed his sleeves to Zhao Hao, feeling a little guilty. "I didn't hide a penny of private money."

"Father, don't change the subject." Zhao Hao held the two taels of silver in his hand and asked relentlessly: "Originally you had eight taels and five cents of silver, and I asked my uncle for another five taels, so we should have a full thirteen and a half taels."

Although thirteen and a half taels is not a lot, in Zhao Hao's opinion, if the father and son spend frugally, they can get through a year without any problem.

"I spent four taels on rent, two taels on bedding and utensils, and half a tael on food." Zhao Shouzheng counted the expenses one by one while counting on his fingers.

"Didn't you say that these dishes and wine cost four cents in total?" Zhao Hao was not someone who could be easily fooled.

"Father didn't ask for change..." Zhao Shouzheng lowered his head and looked at the ground in embarrassment.

"We're so poor, and you still give me tips?" Zhao Hao was so angry that he couldn't control his words.

Although Zhao Shouzheng didn't understand what a "tip" was, he thought it probably meant a reward. He smiled awkwardly and said, "It becomes second nature..."

"What about the remaining five taels?" Zhao Hao asked, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Well, it's like this." Then I heard Zhao Shouzheng explain: "I happened to meet a classmate on Baotai Street, and he asked me to lend him two taels of silver. But how could I afford two taels of loose silver? So I lent the ingot that your uncle gave me to my classmate."

"..." Zhao Hao's eyes went dark, and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But thinking that it was done, there was no point in saying more, so he could only wave his hand weakly and said, "You should be more cautious in the future."

Zhao Shouzheng also felt a little embarrassed, so he murmured: "As the saying goes, when you are poor, you should take care of yourself. At worst, I won't lend money to others anymore..."

"That's not necessary," Zhao Hao waved his hand and forced a smile, "Father is just saving money for the next few days. Don't worry, our family won't be poor for long. I will definitely be able to think of a way to make money."

Zhao Hao was confident. He didn't believe that with four hundred years of experience, he couldn't make money.

Zhao Shouzheng didn't know that Zhao Hao had this confidence. He felt that he had made a mistake, so he behaved very well that night and even took the initiative to clean up the dishes for the first time...

Of course, breaking a few bowls is inevitable.

~~

No words were spoken that night.

The next day, the father and son slept until dawn. After getting up and washing up, Zhao Hao went into the kitchen to make a fire to heat up last night's leftovers.

But looking at the dark and gaping stove, he had no idea where to start. How could he light a stove when he couldn't even light a fire?

While Zhao Hao was scratching his head, Zhao Shouzheng also walked in.

"Why is my son in a daze?"

"I don't know how to cook..." Zhao Hao answered truthfully.

"That's not difficult. Let me try it out." Zhao Shouzheng smiled proudly again, ready to show off his skills like he did last night.

Zhao Hao immediately stepped aside, staring at Zhao Shouzheng's every move with wide eyes, wanting to learn the core technology of cooking.

A moment later, thick smoke billowed from the small kitchen, and the father and son fled to the courtyard covered in dust, gasping for breath and coughing.

"It turns out that my father doesn't know how to do it either..." Zhao Hao wiped his face with a towel, but his mood remained calm. Under the training of Mr. Zhao, he became more and more Buddhist.

"I saw your uncle had a few burns, but I didn't expect there were some profound tricks." Zhao Shouzheng's face was gray and black, and his freshly brushed teeth looked even more shiny. "It's not that it's hard to know, but it's hard to do. The ancients didn't lie to me."

After a while, he sighed again: "It seems that your uncle is still very strong."

Zhao Hao rolled his eyes and was too lazy to complain.

Seeing that he couldn't light a fire for a while, he packed himself up and went out, saying, "I'll go to the street to buy breakfast."

"I want to drink duck blood vermicelli and eat fried meatballs..." Zhao Shouzheng ordered immediately.

"You're so beautiful..." Zhao Hao curled his lips and ignored Mr. Zhao's request. "Eat whatever you have."

~~

When Zhao Hao went to the street to buy a broom yesterday, he caught a glimpse of the sign of a breakfast stall hanging on the bridge not far away.

When I came out to take a look, I saw that there was indeed a shed made of coarse cloth on the bridge head. White steam was rising from under the shed, and it was very lively.

Zhao Hao followed the aroma and walked over. He saw that the stall was not big, with only four low-legged square tables. It was already late, and there were only a few diners sitting there eating breakfast.

There were two pots on the other side of the shed. The larger pot had three stacks of steamers on it, and the other smaller pot was boiling with oil. The stall owner, who was in his forties and had gray hair, was holding long chopsticks and skillfully frying fried dough sticks.

This is a delicacy that has been passed down for four hundred years. Zhao Hao ate this a lot when he was studying. He closed his eyes and sniffed the chopped green onion and shredded radish pancake, and was deeply intoxicated by the unique aroma of the boiling oil.

Really good, still has the original taste.

A girl's light laughter interrupted Zhao Hao's recollection of the time and space.

He opened his eyes and saw that the one who was laughing was a girl of about 16 or 17 years old. The girl had the common fair skin of Jiangnan women, with a healthy rosy cheek and a little cute baby fat, just like the plate of slightly translucent soup dumplings in her hand.

"What are you looking at?"

Seeing Zhao Hao looking at her unceremoniously, the girl frowned, but she had long eyelashes and big eyes, and even with her lips pouted, she didn't look fierce at all.

"Well, let's see if there's anything delicious." Zhao Hao thought to himself, it was obviously you who laughed at me first.

"I thought you were full just by smelling the food." The girl couldn't help giggling when she thought of his silly look just now.

When she smiled, her eyes narrowed into crescents, and no matter how bad a person's mood was, it would suddenly brighten up.

"Qiaoqiao, don't bully others." A woman with a cotton scarf wrapped around her head was checking the bill with the diners while scolding her daughter for scaring the guests away. "Young man, please come inside and sit down..."

"Can I take it away?" Zhao Hao asked.

"Of course." The girl who had delivered the dumplings came back and listed all the treasures. "There are dumplings in soup, steamed buns with vegetables, duck oil pastry, fried dough sticks, fried fruit, as well as white porridge, duck blood vermicelli, tofu pudding, and eggs, salted duck eggs..."

Zhao Hao didn't expect that this stall, which didn't even have a storefront, had such a complete range of breakfast items.

He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Two baskets of steamed buns and two bowls of duck blood vermicelli."

"Ten coins in total." The girl put the buns into the paper bag and looked at Zhao Hao and asked, "Where's your bowl?"

"I didn't bring it." Zhao Hao spread his hands. He was not used to having to bring his own tableware when ordering takeout.

"Forget it this time." The girl didn't make things difficult for him, and folded two large bowls of duck blood vermicelli into a white porcelain soup bowl. "Remember to send it back, and remember to bring your own bowl next time."

"Thank you." Zhao Hao paid the money politely, holding the buns in one hand and the soup bowl in the other, he turned around and went home carefully.

Looking at his back that looked like the Heavenly King holding a Pagoda, the girl named Qiaoqiao couldn't help laughing again.

After a while, Zhao Hao entered the alley and saw the scarred man from yesterday, holding a kitchen knife that gleamed with cold light, rushing into his yard...

Zhao Hao was so frightened that he shuddered, his hand slipped, and the soup bowl fell to the ground.

ps. It's a new week, please vote for me and comment~~~~~~