Travel back to ancient times and open a Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 17

Zhong Ruyi curiously watched the man walk away. When he was out of sight, Cuicui beside her suddenly seemed to remember something and said loudly, "Aunt, I know! That man is Aunt Xiaoxue's brother! I heard Tieniu from the village chief's family say that yesterday."

It turns out that this is Xiaoxue's brother. With a full beard, he doesn't look like a brother but rather like an elder like an uncle.

Cuicui next to her was a little shocked, "Why is Aunt Xiaoxue so pretty, but Aunt Xiaoxue's brother is...it's hard to say." Cuicui thought for a long time but couldn't think of a suitable adjective. She wanted to say he was ugly but felt it would be impolite.

Zhong Ruyi burst out laughing. She reached out and touched her silly niece's head. "Maybe you got used to such rough clothes in the military camp, so you didn't think of taking care of them after you came back. Think about it, your aunt Xiaoxue is so pretty, Xiaoman is so cute, and their brother shouldn't be that ugly. But we must not judge people by their appearance. Some people have ordinary looks but are concerned about the country and have great principles in their hearts. Some people have outstanding looks but are insidious, cunning, vicious and mean."

Seeing that Cuicui looked confused, she just smiled and said nothing. After all, Cuicui was still young, only ten years old, so it was normal that she didn't understand.

When we got home, my second sister-in-law was cooking dinner and my eldest sister-in-law was helping her.

This morning, when we got up, my second sister-in-law and my eldest sister-in-law bought some pig offal. After processing them, my second sister-in-law taught my eldest sister-in-law the specific methods and the proportions of spices. Zhong Ruyi had already taught my second sister-in-law these before, and now my second sister-in-law is very skilled at it. My eldest sister-in-law is also a capable person. After my second sister-in-law demonstrated it once, she was able to get the hang of it.

Today's pig offal was made by the two of them in cooperation. At about ten o'clock in the morning, which was the time of Si, they finished it and put it on the big wooden table in the yard. The villagers had known what time to come to buy it after buying it for two days. Some of the people who came today were not there yesterday, and some who came yesterday came today.

Every pot of food is cooked with chili pepper added because everyone in the village likes spicy food.

The weather has been a bit cold in the mornings and evenings recently. I bought some and put them back into the pot for dinner. They are fragrant and spicy and very delicious.

When Zhong Ruyi and the others arrived home, the braised offal had already been sold out. It seemed that the eldest sister-in-law would be able to sell well in the village by then. Sichuan pepper and chili peppers were free, and pig offal was also cheap. Except for some spices that needed to be bought at the pharmacy, there were also sugar, wine, and sauce that needed to be bought. If you calculated carefully, the cost was actually not high.

After dinner, the family sat at the dining table in the main hall and chatted. Brother Zhong said that he would go to the town to open a store tomorrow, and he would let his younger sister go with him.

Mother Zhong was a little hesitant. The store rented by Second Brother Zhong was not very big. It had a storage room and a bedroom. Where would her daughter sleep? Should she sleep between her brother and sister-in-law?

"Mom, you can clean up the utility room. The size of the utility room is the same as the bedroom. My younger sister will sleep in our room and we can sleep in the utility room. There is not much stuff in it, so just clean it up and put it in the kitchen." Second Sister-in-law Zhong had already made up her mind. Seeing that Mother Zhong was confused, she took the initiative to propose.

"No need, second brother and sister-in-law, just clean up the utility room and let me sleep in it. You can put a bed in it and I can sleep there. I checked it last time and it's nothing bad." Zhong Ruyi refused. Last time she saw the utility room, there was nothing in it. It was called a utility room, but in fact it was just an empty room. There was no need for second brother and sister-in-law to move into the utility room and give the original bedroom to her.

"Then go and discuss it among yourselves." Seeing that both of them had their own ideas, Zhong's mother let them communicate among themselves and did not ask any more questions.

During the day, Chen Dongzhi pulled the rafts back to the village. It was dinner time. Some people would hold their bowls and eat while chatting with their neighbors at the door. A group of people gathered together to chat and gossip about family matters. Chen Dongzhi just walked over, pulling a row of rafts with a deer tied on top.

At that moment, everyone was stunned. This! This is a deer! If it were sold, wouldn't it be worth dozens of taels of silver? The son of the Chen family is really amazing!

At Chen's house, as soon as Chen's mother opened the door, she saw her son pulling a huge deer back. He pulled it to the backyard and tied it to the pomelo tree in the backyard. She hurried forward and said, "You are not hurt, right? How did you catch such a big deer?" Then she asked her son to wash his hands and eat quickly.

When they got to the table in the main hall, Chen Dongzhi shoveled down half a bowl of mixed grain rice in one gulp. Chen's mother kept telling him to eat slower and be careful not to choke.

Finally, after Chen Dongzhi finished a bowl of rice, he felt less empty in his stomach. He slowed down his movements and said, "I hunted this deer deep in the mountains today. The price of a live deer is higher than that of a dead one. I will get up early tomorrow and go to the town. If there is a restaurant that wants to buy it, I will buy it from the wealthy merchants."

Chen's mother nodded, feeling both relieved and distressed. Her son had also gone up the mountain to hunt these days, and except for keeping a few prey for himself, he took the rest to the town to sell.

She got up early to go to the mountains, and in the afternoon she had to rush to the town to sell the prey. After selling, she had to rush home. It was already late at night when she got home. She gave her the money from selling the prey and asked her to buy more meat for her family, saying that they had worked hard over the years.

"Mom, you don't have to get up early to prepare breakfast for me tomorrow. I can just bring some steamed buns to eat on the way." After he said that, he went to the kitchen to get some hot water to wash away the fatigue of the day, then returned to his room and fell into a deep sleep. He had to get up early tomorrow.

The next morning, before daybreak, Chen's mother got up. Although her son told her last night that she didn't need to get up to make breakfast and could just take a few steamed buns to eat on the way, she verbally agreed, but in her heart she still had to make something hot for her son and some pancakes for him to eat on the way.

Mother Chen skillfully made some pancakes and fried a few of them in oil. When the crust turned slightly golden brown, she scooped them up and put them in a winnowing basket beside her.

Although her health is not good, she has taken a lot of medicine over the years, so her condition can't be any worse. She can't do heavy work, but she can still cook and wash clothes. We can't rely on our daughter for everything, wouldn't that be treating her like a cow?

She made some pancakes and cooked some multi-grain porridge. She didn't put much water in it and cooked the porridge until it was thick. She ate it with a few pancakes and then hurried to the town. After she was done, she looked at the sky and thought her son should be up by now, so she knocked on the door. Sure enough, she heard her son's voice in the room. It sounded like he had been up for a while.

"It's the winter solstice, and I made some cakes and porridge. You can come after you finish eating. I also put a few cakes in your bag, so remember to take them. I'll take a nap." After saying that, she went back to her room to continue resting.

When Chen Dongzhi entered the kitchen, the pancakes and porridge prepared by Chen's mother were still warming on the stove. He picked them up and started eating. After eating, he picked up the bag prepared by Chen's mother, put it on his back, went to the pomelo tree in the backyard, led the deer out, and set off for the town.