"What do we need to do now?" Huang Rong asked Lu Xi after washing the spinach.
Lu Xi lit the straw bundle and put firewood in. The pot contained the prepared brine, in proportions according to the standards given by Sister Dou Dou.
Peeling peanuts.
The tavern was doing well not only because of the high demand for alcohol, but also because of the high demand for peanuts.
Peanuts are delicious, cheap, and very filling; you can only pick up one with a chopstick, and one peanut is enough to accompany a sip of alcohol, making them the best value for money.
The guests like to eat peanuts, so they have to peel them, which is a test of endurance.
Lu Xi initially peeled it off with her hands, but after peeling it off, the pad of her thumb became red and swollen, and it would hurt for at least a day.
Later, he got smarter. He found a vine in the firewood, broke it in half to make two, but kept the outer skin intact. He folded it in half, put a peanut in the middle, grabbed the two branches, squeezed hard, and with a snap, the peanut shell cracked in the middle.
With this simple tool, shelling peanuts becomes much easier.
Huang Rong looked at the half-full bag of peanuts and felt uneasy. How long would it take to peel them all?
She picked up a peanut, gripped it with both hands, and squeezed it hard, and the peanut cracked open.
After peeling about ten of them, my fingers felt burning hot.
"Here you go." Lu Xi added firewood and handed Huang Rong a branch.
Huang Rong took the branch, somewhat puzzled, wondering why she was being given this.
"Do it like this." Lu Xi then took another vine and demonstrated it to her.
Huang Rong beamed with joy, "Lu Xi, you're so smart!"
"I'll give it a try."
Huang Rong picked up a peanut, placed it between two branches, and squeezed the branches tightly, causing the peanut shells to crack open.
"It works great, Lu Xi, you're amazing." Huang Rong couldn't help but praise her again.
Lu Xi's face flushed red. He didn't think he was amazing; he had only discovered it by accident.
"You're DouDou's brother, so why don't you believe Yuan?" Huang Rong asked, peeling peanuts as she started looking for a topic to discuss.
Lu Xi felt distressed just thinking about it. Lu Chaoyang had saved him from dire straits, so he was going to take the surname Lu.
However, Sister Dou Dou told him that if he ever found his family, he could change his surname back to his original surname.
“I’m not her biological brother. Like you, I was bought by Sister Dou Dou.” He heard from Sister Chun Tao that Brother An Rong gave Lord Lu thirty taels of silver.
He was upset for a while after he found out. He just wanted to follow Sister Dou Dou, but he didn't expect it to cost them so much money.
Fortunately, Sister Dou Dou opened a restaurant, so he could help. His primary goal was to return the thirty taels of silver.
"So we're all just unfortunate people," Huang Rong sighed.
Lu Xi disagreed, "I'm not suffering. I'm very happy to be with Sister Dou Dou."
"You like her?" Huang Rong asked in surprise.
Lu Xi nodded, blushing.
"My God, you're so young and you're already thinking about other people's wives? How can you be so heartless?" Huang Rong was stunned.
Lu Xi quickly denied it.
"No, I didn't. Sister Dou Dou is a good person, everyone likes her. Don't you like her?"
Huang Rong understood that Lu Xi's affection was a normal affection, not an improper one.
"Of course I like it too." It was Sister Dou Dou who lent a helping hand when she was helpless, how could she not like it?
Huang Rong looked down at her clothes. The cotton wasn't thick, but it was very warm to wear.
That night, the tavern was packed with people.
"Oh, the boss has a new helper, the young lady is very efficient." A regular customer said with a smile when he saw a new face serving him food.
The people at another table chimed in, "You didn't realize? This is the same guy who sold himself into servitude to bury his father a few days ago."
"Oh, now that you mention it, I remember. The proprietress is a very kind person. There were quite a few people around, but she was the only one who offered help."
"I also heard that Li, the scholar, was there at the time. He wanted to spend twenty taels of silver to let her remarry, but the young girl did not agree."
The news caused a sensation throughout the venue.
Huang Rong could clearly hear them talking about her from inside.
"Sister Rongrong, don't be sad, they'll forget about it soon." Lu Xi was squatting on the ground washing dishes when she heard the chatter outside.
He was used to it. People who came to the tavern were quite quiet when they first came in, but after a bowl of wine, they became very talkative, gossiping about everyone, good and bad things.
A news story is only fresh for a day; the next day it's another news story.
Huang Rong's story was news, but it also passed quickly.
"I'm fine, not as fragile as you think." Huang Rong arranged the sliced pig's head meat on plates, a total of five plates.
Lu Xi is still young, and she's just as gossipy as they are.
"Sister Rongrong, why didn't you agree?"
"What?"
"Go with Scholar Li," Lu Xi said softly.
Li, a scholar who passed the imperial examination three years ago, owns a house in town and earns a living by writing calligraphy for others.
The status of a Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations) is obvious to all; even ordinary people would bow to him. Unfortunately, he waited for three years but still did not get a vacancy in the imperial court, so he stayed at home all this time.
He has a wife, and they have been married for five years but have no children. His mother is always worried about this and wants him to find a concubine so that the Li family can have offspring.
However, his wife was a shrew, and at a crucial moment she threatened to kill herself, saying that he was not allowed to take a concubine.
No matter who enters the Li family, they will not have a good life.
Of course, Huang Rong was unaware of all this.
"I don't want to be a concubine." A concubine is worse than a dog. She can be a maid, but she will never be a concubine.
She saw it that day too. Li Juren was handsome with greasy hair and a sleazy face. His eyes were extremely lewd when he looked at her. He was clearly a well-dressed beast. She could imagine what would happen if she went with him.
Her father died, and she was filial to him, but she wouldn't recklessly jump into a fire pit. If she did, her father would probably be so angry that he would come back to life.
“You’re a smart person,” Lu Xi said, seeing right through her.
Huang Rong remained noncommittal.
She and her father have seen all kinds of people when they travel, good and bad, in a face, in a look, in the details, it all depends on whether you can notice them.
She wasn't smart, but she was observant.
When Yuan Doudou appeared, her eyes lit up. Just by looking at her face, she knew that Sister Doudou was no ordinary person.
"Do you know, at that moment, she was like a Bodhisattva." Guanyin, the Bodhisattva who saves people from suffering.
Lu Xi froze completely.
This sister he had never met before had the same feeling as him. When he first entered Qingfeng Garden in the Lu Mansion and saw Dou Dou walking out of the house, it was as if he saw a woman dressed in white gauze, holding a vase in her hand, standing on a lotus seat, walking gracefully towards him.
An Rong tidied up a table, came in, and put the dirty bowls into a large wooden tub.
"Lu Xi, what are you daydreaming about?" An Rong asked softly. "Missing home?"
He rarely saw Lu Xi lost in thought, which surprised him.
Lu Xi snapped out of her daze, her face flushed.
He had no right to say it; in his heart, Sister Doudou was like Guanyin Bodhisattva. Brother Anrong would surely laugh if he heard that.
Seeing that he didn't speak, An Rong didn't ask any more questions, and took out a plate of pig ears.
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