When the pears are green

Half a month later, not only did Jiang Qingzhou's night patrol end, but Song Li's dried vegetables were also finally ready.

That afternoon, the three of them were collecting dried vegetables bit by bit with winnowing baskets. Song Li smiled and said to Jiang Qingzhou, "Qingzhou, you said that the sun and the moon shining together is a good omen, and it's true. You were on patrol without any danger, and our dried vegetables didn't encounter any wind or rain. Thank you so much for your sincere worship that day."

"Brother, sister-in-law, I saw it too. It was the day when sister-in-law came back home, and I also paid my respects." Jiang Qingye said with a smile.

Jiang Qingzhou walked to Jiang Qingye, stretched out his hand to rub his head, then said with a smile: "Thank you Qingye too."

Song Li looked at the smiles on Jiang Qingzhou and Jiang Qingye's faces and started laughing too.

After the dried vegetables were collected, Jiang Qingzhou weighed out five catties of dried vegetables. He said to Song Li, "Xiao Li, take five catties to the restaurant. For the rest, we'll keep one catty for our family, one catty for our parents, and one catty for each of Master Wu and Master Li, who taught Xiao Yue. Aunt dries her own vegetables every year. Although our method is complicated, in her eyes, they are just dried vegetables. Why not wait until the New Year and buy her more meat? That way she'll be happier."

Song Li felt her eyes getting a little hot, so she walked over and hugged Jiang Qingzhou.

Jiang Qingzhou patted Song Li on the back and said, "Xiao Li, Xiao Yue is your sister, and also my sister. It is said that a couple prospers together and suffers together. If Xiao Yue can find a good husband because of this, it will be a good thing for the Jiang family. This dried vegetable is complicated to prepare and is very rare. I know you must want to give some to Master Wu and Master Li as gifts. I know the Li family's grocery store, I will bring them there tomorrow."

"Thank you, Qingzhou." Song Li said in a low voice.

"Silly girl, you and I are husband and wife, why should I thank you!" Jiang Qingzhou said, and put his arms around Song Li.

The next morning, Song Li first spread a cloth in the backpack, carefully put five pounds of dried vegetables into the basket, and then took another pound from the table and put it in the basket.

Song Li sent Jiang Qingzhou to the entrance of the village, and then told him: "Don't forget to buy cotton. The weather is getting cold. I will make cotton clothes for you."

Jiang Qingzhou nodded and said to Song Li with a smile: "I won't forget it. Xiaoli spent a whole summer learning how to make clothes for me."

Song Li blushed. After seeing Jiang Qingzhou walking away, she slowly walked towards the Jiang family.

After Song Li returned home, she measured Jiang Qingye's size and then started cutting the cloth.

Jiang Qingzhou first delivered the dried vegetables in the basket to Li’s grocery store. Lingling told Jiang Qingzhou that she would definitely convey Song Li and Song Yue’s gratitude to Li Yun’an.

After coming out of Li’s grocery store, Jiang Qingzhou started walking towards Hu’s Restaurant.

Jiang Qingzhou walked to the opposite side of the restaurant and saw the boy he had seen last time standing at the door. He hurried over.

The boy recognized Jiang Qingzhou and asked him with a smile, "Brother, are you here to sell dried vegetables?"

Jiang Qingzhou nodded, then took off the backpack and took out a dried vegetable from it to show the boy.

The boy took the dried vegetables from Jiang Qingzhou's hand and looked at them carefully. He smiled and led Jiang Qingzhou into the restaurant.

The boy pulled a stool for Jiang Qingzhou to sit on, and he took the dried vegetable and ran hurriedly to the second floor.

Jiang Qingzhou looked around the restaurant. There was an eight-foot-long counter near the entrance. Behind the counter was a wooden cabinet against the wall. Five or six half-person-high wine jars were placed near the wooden cabinet. On the wooden cabinet were more than a dozen jars of wine and some bluish-white wine pots. The wine and menu cards were hung above the counter from south to north.

Just as Jiang Qingzhou was watching carefully, the boy ran down again in a hurry. He smiled and said to Jiang Qingzhou: "Little brother, please come with me to the second floor!"

Jiang Qingzhou stood up, put on his backpack, carried the basket, and followed the boy to the second floor.

There were two separate rooms on the second floor. The boy knocked on the door of the right room and said, "Boss, the little brother is here."

"Come in!" A steady male voice came from the room, and the boy led Jiang Qingzhou in.

The young man sitting by the window stood up and asked, "Did you make the dried vegetables?" after seeing Jiang Qingzhou.

Jiang Qingzhou smiled and nodded, then took off the backpack and said to the young man, "Mr. Hu, I made the dried vegetables."

The young man was a little unconvinced. He looked Jiang Qingzhou up and down, and then said, "The dried vegetables you made look very similar to the Yuezhou dried vegetables I got. How did you make them?"

Jiang Qingzhou smiled and said, "Boss Hu, you don't know that my mother is from Yuezhou. When she was eight years old, she was abducted from Yuezhou to Heihe Town, and then my grandfather bought her to my father as a child bride. Since I was a child, my mother has made dried vegetables at home almost every year. She said that this is the way she made them in her hometown of Yuezhou. Last time at the door of the restaurant, I heard this young man say that Boss Hu wanted to find Yuezhou dried vegetables, so I made some according to my mother's method and wanted to try my luck here."

Jiang Qingzhou's explanation was discussed with Song Li. Song Li didn't want others to know that he would do this, so they made up a story for Jiang's mother who had passed away. Jiang's mother was an orphan with unknown origins and was Jiang's father's child bride. This was a fact known to everyone in Jiangjia Village.

After hearing this, the young man nodded, then walked to Jiang Qingzhou's backpack, took out a few trees from it and looked at them again and again. He said to the boy beside him, "Happy, weigh them for me, thirty cents per pound."

Jiang Qingzhou picked up the backpack and happily helped him carry the basket, and the two of them went downstairs.

Kai Xin led Jiang Qingzhou to the backyard. He called over a farmhand, weighed the dried vegetables in the basket, then went to the shopkeeper to withdraw 150 coins and handed them to Jiang Qingzhou.

After thanking Kai Xin, Jiang Qingzhou left the restaurant and prepared to go to the cloth shop to buy some cotton.

Kai Xin ran to the second floor after Jiang Qingzhou left. He knocked on the door and said to the young man, "Congratulations to the boss."

The young man smiled and said to Kai Xin: "Send two kilograms to the county town and say that it is a gift from the eldest son to the master. He said that it was specially bought from Yuezhou."

Nodding happily, the young man continued, "Take out half a pound of the rest, buy some other gifts, and send them to the Li family. They chose such a young fiancée for me, what a good idea!"

Kai Xin glanced at the young man secretly and asked carefully, "Is the boss going in person or sending someone to take him there?"

The young man thought for a moment, and then he said to Kai Xin, "I don't know why the Li family would agree if I go there myself."

Kaixin whispered, "Boss, you told the master yourself that you had a deep relationship with the former young lady and didn't want to remarry too early. The master thought that the Li family had such a young girl, so it would be possible for the young master to fulfill his wish and stay with the former young lady for a few more years."

After hearing this, the young man said in a gloomy voice: "Do you believe this nonsense? I am just shooting myself in the foot."