Chapter 99098. "A kiss to replenish your energy a little bit"
The first snow fell in Qingmi County.
There are fewer ships in the port, and it lacks the hustle and bustle of the past, but the streets and alleys of the county town are becoming more lively, and some shops have hung big red lanterns.
The weather is getting colder.
The business of "A Sichuan Restaurant" has also improved a lot, with customers coming in an endless stream every day. The hot and spicy vegetables and meat make people open their mouths and breathe out with heat, and the spiciness makes them sweat, which dispels the cold.
However, Sichuan restaurants have reduced the amount of spicy Sichuan dishes and increased the number of hot pot dishes.
A stove, a pot, a large table of meat and vegetables, and the whole family, young and old, men, women, and children, gathered together to eat.
Those who can eat spicy food can choose the spicy soup base. Those who can't eat spicy food can try tomato hotpot, fish bone and fish fillet hotpot, pork bone hotpot, chicken soup hotpot, and porridge hotpot.
You can make the dipping sauce yourself, or ask the waiter to recommend a suitable dipping sauce.
"Although I initially went to the trouble of making a hot pot and custom-made a stove in order to reduce the consumption of chili peppers, it seems that the chili peppers are used up even faster."
Zhou Yi was very worried.
Although the fruiting period of peppers lasts from July to November, five months seems very long. Each pepper plant blooms and bears fruit continuously. One acre of peppers can produce about one thousand kilograms, which is an astronomical figure for a village.
But the supply will not be replenished until July of next year, so these peppers will have to last for seven or eight months.
Winter is originally a suitable season for eating hot pot and hot pot. In addition, it is approaching the New Year, and many people have some spare money and some free time. They call friends and families together, and the consumption of chili peppers naturally increases.
"What are you afraid of?"
Lei Li was checking this month's accounts and said without looking up, "They're just craving something new. They eat too much spicy food in the winter, and it makes them all get irritated, so they don't have a strong appetite for chili anymore."
"When the weather gets warmer and the heat returns, and Sichuan cuisine becomes less popular, fewer people will come to eat there."
"You're right."
Zhou Yi nodded, but still decided to hide some peppers at home, otherwise the peppers in the store would be gone and he would have no choice but to eat them whenever he wanted.
He watched Lei Li skillfully fiddling with the abacus, occasionally flipping through the account book in his hand, and asked, "Are you going to finish the whole book? Don't you like using your brain?"
"yes."
Lei Li said as a matter of course, "But I just don't like learning those flowery words of yours, not that I don't like money. How can I know if the account book is correct if I don't do the math myself?"
"I'm not that omnipotent that I can tell the problem just by looking at it."
"I'm the exact opposite of you."
Zhou Yi said, "I feel dizzy just looking at so many numbers, and you check and verify them one by one. But what if you accidentally dial the wrong number and don't know where you went wrong? Do you have to start over again?"
“No need.”
Lei Li gave him a puzzled look. "Why not just break it down into smaller parts and calculate it? Calculate the first part first, then the second and third parts. I remember what I just calculated, so if I think about it, I'll know where I went wrong."
"You're amazing."
Zhou Yi praised sincerely.
Lei Li could still remember what he had just calculated. Unlike someone like him who was not sensitive to numbers, he would think twice before entering a verification code and would forget it after entering it.
"That's easy."
Lei Li said accustomed to this, "It's just like when you cook. I can make it after reading the recipe once and I won't forget it. But even if you ask me to make it several times, I still can't remember it."
"And didn't you simplify the account book? I can remember these numbers at a glance."
The account book originally recorded words, just like the Chinese characters 壹贰叁肆伍. Zhou Yi replaced them with Arabic numerals 12345 and also made the details into a table.
"Then you are amazing too."
Zhou Yi really thought he was amazing. He wouldn't be able to figure it out even if he was asked to sit for an hour.
"But didn't you let Zhu Qingshan be the account manager? He's very careful and cautious in his work, and every day's income and expenditure are clearly recorded. There shouldn't be any problems."
"That needs further calculation."
Lei Li said, "You can't just stop checking on someone because they've always done well. To put it nicely, it means you trust them. To put it bluntly, it means you, the shopkeeper, are just fooling around."
"Once you're messing around, even the most rigorous and careful people under you will gradually become lax, and then they'll all start messing around and have ulterior motives, and the restaurant's accounts will become a complete mess."
"Of course, Zhu Qingshan isn't that kind of person, but who knows if other accountants are."
"Besides, if you don't check it yourself, how do you know he did it carefully and thoroughly? A good student would like to have daily checks."
"you're right."
Zhou Yi nodded.
He thought Zhu Qingshan was a good person, and subconsciously trusted everything he handled, without thinking from the perspective of management. It seemed that he was really not suitable for doing business.
Zhou Yi asked again, "Let me make you something to eat. You've been calculating for so long, you must be hungry. What do you want to eat?"
"Just watch it."
"Pork and corn potstickers and sweet potato soup?"
"good."
Lei Li made an OK gesture, which he imitated Zhou Yi, and Zhou Yi found it a little funny.
"I'm leaving."
"etc."
Lei Li stopped fiddling with the abacus beads and waved to Zhou Yi. As soon as Zhou Yi walked in, she grabbed his collar and pulled him down, then raised her head and kissed him.
"Just a little energy boost."
"Imitate my speech again."
Zhou Yi found it a little funny.
Every time he said a "new word" that Lei Li didn't understand or made some new gestures, Lei Li would deliberately imitate him. After learning so many times, Lei Li also did so subconsciously.
Before leaving, Zhou Yi added charcoal to the stove and left a safe and breathable gap in the door. Then he walked on the thin snow and went into the kitchen to cook.
The snow began to fall again.
The tall persimmon tree in the yard was also covered with some snow. The few persimmons scattered on the branches were stained with frost and swayed in the wind, but they just didn't fall off.
This is the new house that Lei Li bought.
Having earned tens of thousands of taels of silver from the chili pepper business this year, Lei Li implemented his previous plan to buy a new house.
The port was small and noisy, so he deliberately picked a large, quiet courtyard with two entrances. It was considered a wealthy area among the residential buildings, close to the county government office and the most prosperous streets. It was an area that was patrolled by the constables and the security was good.
It is also convenient to go to the Sichuan restaurant, just a ten-minute walk away.
During the day, when Lei Li and Zhou Yi were at work and not at home, they hired a maid to do the laundry, clean the house, and look after the house as well.
Originally, I wanted to bring Lei Dashan and Liu Ye'er here, but they were worried about the chickens, cows and pigs in the countryside, and were also worried about the white radishes in the fields, so they didn't come.
Lei Li thought that he would pick them up when Twenty-Six went back to slaughter the New Year pig.
—
The twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month.
"A Sichuan Restaurant" closed its doors, gave its employees New Year gifts and annual leave, and Lei Li and Zhou Yi also returned to Sanlihe Village.
Last year, Lei Li's family kept three pigs.
One male and two females.
Both sows gave birth to a litter of piglets, one litter of five and the other litter of seven. They were carefully raised by Lei Dashan and Liu Ye'er, and they all grew up to be plump and white.
Raise pigs for a hundred days and use them for only one day.
It is the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, and people sharpen their knives to slaughter pigs and eat meat for the New Year.
Lei Li and Zhou Yi got up early in the morning, had breakfast and then made a fire to boil water. The villagers knew that they were going to slaughter the New Year pig, so they came to help.
Some people lifted the pig legs, some pressed the pig head, one sharpened the pig knife, and one held a bowl to collect the pig blood.
The twelve piglets that were raised have all met their ancestors.
Lei Li's family kept half of the pork for themselves and sold the other half to the villagers.
Everyone made a lot of money this year and was not stingy with the money to buy meat. They also went out in groups to buy cloth to make new clothes for the boys at home and for themselves.
Six pigs.
Three of the pigs were made into bacon and sausages. Some of these bacon and sausages were divided out and a whole pig was sent to my grandfather's house. The remaining two whole pigs were kept for our family to eat slowly. When we went to the county town, we cut a fan and took it back.
There were also sweet big white radishes that had been hit by frost, sour taro sprouts that grandma had just made and sent over, and two baskets of big taro and sweet potatoes.
This potato is also loved to be grown in Silihe Village. The rhizome is sweet and soft, and it is delicious when cooked into sweet soup or salty soup. It is called big potato in Zhou Yi’s hometown.
In addition to these, Lei Dashan, Liu Ye'er, and two dogs will of course also go to the county town.
I asked someone to take care of the chickens, cows and land at home temporarily.
—
The festive atmosphere of the New Year is getting stronger day by day.
On the morning of New Year's Eve, Lei Li and Zhou Yi posted red couplets on the front door of their home. The upper couplet read "Gold, silver and copper mines are open", the lower couplet read "Food, clothing, housing and transportation are all good", and the horizontal scroll read "Safe entry and exit".
Liu Ye'er pasted the window paper-cuts she had made, and Lei Dashan also hung up the lanterns he had made.
This year Zhou Yi did not try to make lanterns again. His poor craftsmanship was not enough to make Lei Li laugh. However, he gave Lei Li a gift, a jade hairpin, and personally tied it up in Lei Li's hair to make it look good.
night.
Lei Li's family had a reunion dinner and then went shopping to digest the food.
The streets of the county town are bustling with activity.
The colorful lanterns are dazzling, and the lifelike performances are in full bloom, including jugglers and magicians, shadow puppetry, ventriloquism, cat chasing mouse, storytellers, and singers.
People were wearing bright new clothes, walking in groups of three or five, adults with children, husbands with their wives, and laughter was everywhere.
It was Lei Li's first time visiting the county town on New Year's Eve. He rarely showed the curiosity and joy of a child, and was not stingy with his money. He dragged Zhou Yi and his parents around to eat, and bought anything delicious or fun that he saw.
Walk and stop.
Lei Li was relaxed and at ease with clean hands, while Zhou Yi carried a lot of bags like a bodyguard.
Lei Dashan also bought a jade hairpin for Liu Ye'er, but he didn't know how to tie her hair, so he carefully pinned it on Liu Ye'er's bun.
As we walked, we arrived at the river.
There are already a lot of people by the river, probably all here to watch the fireworks. There are a few fireworks scattered on the river, and I don’t know who set them off.
There are many boats on the river, not large cargo ships but small boats, decorated with lanterns and flowers for people to go on and play.
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