Chapter 58 Unexpected Visitors
When Cui arrived at the old house, Xie Shuangbai was making diving dishes.
He had previously eaten the diving dish made by his classmate's mother at his classmate's house in Chongqing and liked it very much. Seeing that he liked it, the aunt enthusiastically taught him the exclusive secret recipe she had kept for many years.
He was so greedy that Cui came just as he finished cutting the vegetables.
"Oh my god, this is terrible! The whole village of Dashi Village is dragging thorn eggs here!"
After hearing this, Xie Shuangbai was also stunned and then said:
"Aunt, just collect them all. After this batch is finished, we'll put it on hold. They'll have to wait for notification on the next batch."
"What are you going to do with all that? The 20 taels you gave me are gone."
Cui felt very distressed. It was such a waste of money to spend 20 taels on this thing.
Xie Shuangbai went back into the house and took out 20 taels of silver for her: "Aunt, after you finish collecting the goods from Dashi Village today, tell them what I said."
Xie Shuangbai was not worried at all. The sugar-roasted chestnuts were selling very well, and there were also chestnut chickens and chestnut cakes that could be made in many ways.
"Okay, then I'll go back for a while. Who knows how busy he is!" Cui said and was about to leave.
Xie Shuangbai couldn't bear to see Aunt Cui working alone at such an old age, so he put down his work and said, "Aunt, I'll go with you."
When Xie Shuangbai arrived, there was a long line in front of the Wang family's door, and Xue and Li also came out to maintain order.
Seeing so many people around, Xie Shuangbai was afraid of disturbing the tofu-making workers, so he said, "Everyone, be quiet. Those who need to collect the prickly ash eggs should go to the threshing ground. Those who don't obey orders will not be collected."
Everyone fell silent after hearing this.
Someone in the crowd asked, "Is the tofu made in Xiaoshi Village?"
"Can we buy some of this tofu later?"
"I enjoyed this tofu, I want to buy more today!"
The crowd was talking at the same time and the scene was very chaotic.
Xie Shuangbai was speechless. He was just collecting prickly eggs when they talked about tofu.
Several brothers from the Niu family also came out to watch the fun. Xie Shuangbai recognized them and called them over to give them some instructions.
Niu Dazhuang shouted to the chaotic scene:
"Everyone, listen to us. If you want to buy thorn eggs, follow me. Tofu is not sold loose. Don't linger in front of the Wang family, otherwise we won't buy thorn eggs."
After a few big men from the Niu family shouted loudly, it was indeed effective.
After everyone understood, they all went to the threshing ground.
Village chief Wang and Cui also hurried over and joined forces with several men from the Niu family to collect all the thorny eggs in Dashi Village.
Xie Shuangbai's hands were sore from registering people nearby. When he registered the last person, he asked him a question but the other person hadn't said anything. Just as he was about to look up, he heard:
"Long time no see, Brother Youran?"
Youran is his name, and he must be the one who knows this name.
Xie Shuangbai looked up and smiled, "Brother Wen Ji, long time no see!"
Wei Changfeng looked at him and smiled: "I didn't expect Brother Youran still remembered me!"
Xie Shuangbai had a very boring childhood. One day, Xie Zhi brought a boy named Wei Changfeng who was one year older than him. They studied and wrote poetry together. That period was one of the few happy times in Xie Shuangbai's repressed life. But the good times didn't last long. Later, Wei Changfeng left and he was alone again.
Xie Shuangbai didn't expect to meet him here.
"How are you?"
Wei Changfeng didn't shy away from it and looked at him with a wry smile: "What do you think, Youran?"
Xie Shuangbai looked at him and said, "It doesn't look that good."
The two smiled at each other, and Xie Shuangbai said, "Come to my house later."
Wei Changfeng: "Okay."
Cui watched Xie Shuangbai get acquainted with the young man and said, "Shuang'er, you can go back first. Leave this to me and your uncle!"
Seeing that Xie Shuangbai had finished, he nodded and said, "Okay, Auntie, you can bring the thorn eggs you collected today to my house tomorrow. From now on, I will only collect the shelled thorn eggs to save trouble."
Cui smiled and said, "Most of them are peeled already. If there are any that are not peeled, I can peel them for you."
Xie Shuangbai didn't want her to be so tired, "Let's find someone to peel it. It's not a big deal."
Xie Shuangbai was worried that Cui would secretly peel the silk, so he immediately found a few sisters-in-law from the Niu family and gave them money to get the job done.
Wei Changfeng just watched everything quietly without saying a word.
After finishing the rest of the arrangements, the two returned to the Xie family's old house.
When Wei Changfeng stood at the door, he was still wondering why Xie Shuangbai didn't live with Huang. He also remembered that the aunt from Dashi Village had just said that Xie Xiaoxiucai and Huang had separated.
Seeing that he was in a daze, Xie Shuangbai pulled Wei Changfeng into the yard.
As soon as Wei Changfeng entered the yard, he glanced around calmly. The yard was very clean. Although the flowers by the wall had withered, it could still be seen that they were well maintained, which showed that the owner was very romantic.
There is a path paved with tiles on the ground in front of the doors of the three houses.
Xie Shuangbai saw Xie Qiushi coming over. He pointed at Wei Changfeng and asked with a smile, "Daya, do you still remember him?"
Xie Qiushi had an impression of him, and she was very surprised: "Is it Brother Wei?"
Wei Changfeng was also surprised: "Daya still remembers me!"
Xie Qiushi smiled shyly: "I wasn't a child at that time, I already have memories."
Xie Shuangbai was really happy today. It was a rare occasion for him to have friends over. He said to Xie Qiushi, "Daya, cook some good dishes tonight. And soak the scallops as I told you to."
"It's soaked. Can you taste it later?"
Xie Shuangbai was really greedy, and even though he knew it wasn't ready yet, he couldn't help but say, "Okay, let Changfeng have a taste too!"
Xie Qiushi used all the skills Xie Shuangbai taught her and cooked a table full of dishes.
In the evening, Hei Dou, Wang Yun and others came to eat. Seeing that Xie Shuangbai had guests, they took the initiative to prepare dinner in the kitchen.
Old Man Li and Li Shan also divided the food and went to the kitchen to eat.
The huge round table was suddenly occupied by only Xie Shuangbai and his sister and Wei Changfeng, which made it seem a bit empty. Fortunately, there were many dishes and the table was piled high.
Wei Changfeng was shocked. Xie Xiucai didn't have that much wealth left, right? Even if he did, Huang Shi couldn't give it to him.
Xie Shuangbai didn't know what he was thinking, and enthusiastically recommended dishes to him.
"Changfeng, try this diving dish, it's very refreshing."
"And this braised pork."
"This spicy chicken is also good."
Wei Changfeng looked at the enthusiastic Xie Shuangbai: "You are much more cheerful than before."
Xie Shuangbai paused while picking up the food:
"It's a day of unhappiness, and it's a day of happiness. I don't want to let unhappy people affect my mood. Look, I'm much better now, isn't it?"
Wei Changfeng was stunned and joked, "Yeah, I'm getting worse!"
Xie Shuangbai remembered that the Wei family had decent conditions in Dashi Village, but he didn't know how it had become like this.
Wei Changfeng seemed to have guessed what Xie Shuangbai was thinking, and slowly said, "After my father passed away, my mother couldn't bear the blow. Her health has been poor, and she can't do much work. The tuition fees for the academy gradually fell behind, so I came back."
There are no spectacular events; ordinary things happen every day in this world.
But such a small and ordinary thing can ruin half or even the entire life of a promising young man.
"Do you still want to study?" Xie Shuangbai asked.
"I don't know. I've studied for so long and haven't even passed the imperial examination. But I'm unwilling to stop studying and go farming. I really don't know!"
Wei Changfeng finally put aside his nonchalant look and looked a little melancholy.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
