Travel back to ancient times and open a Sichuan restaurant

At that time, Zhong Ruyi was sitting in the restaurant mending a torn coat for Chen Dongzhi, while Chen Dongzhi was serving food to the guests, so when Wei came with the child, she was caught off guard.

She quickly put down the needlework in her hand and went over to him. "What's the matter? What's the matter? Let's talk it over. If you're going to quit now, you have to give me a reason, right?"

I saw that Wei, who I hadn't seen for a month, looked haggard and had lost a lot of weight. There were red bloodshot eyes, black spots under her eyes, and chapped lips. It was obvious that she had not slept well.

Before she could say anything, the baby in her arms suddenly started crying. She quickly picked up the baby, gently patted the baby's back, and coaxed the baby in a low voice, which slowly calmed the baby's crying.

The restaurant was full of diners at this time. Zhong Ruyi led them into the backyard and moved out two stools so they could sit down and talk.

After sitting down with the child in her arms, Wei talked about the reason why she couldn't come to work. Her face was full of bitterness. "I took care of her at home for half a month. When I came back from buying groceries, my mother-in-law said that my sister-in-law was taken away by her in-laws, but the child was still at my house. I was confused."

"Such a young child has been staying in our home with no one to take her away. We could only make some rice porridge for her to drink, or find someone to buy some goat milk and cook it to feed her. I asked my mother-in-law and others to send the child back, but when we went there, we were kicked out."

She patted the child in her arms gently; her movements were gentle, but her words were jaw-dropping.

"Her in-laws didn't want a daughter, they only wanted a boy. They left the child to us and never saw her again. We tried to find her several times but they were unwilling to take the child back."

"...?" This was the first time that Zhong Ruyi heard of such behavior of giving a daughter to the daughter-in-law's family openly. "Where are your sister-in-law and her husband? The child is theirs. Why would they just give it to you?"

Wei sighed, "My sister-in-law has no status at home. Her sisters-in-law gave birth to three sons, but she only gave birth to a daughter. Her in-laws look down on her even more. As for her man, let alone him, they treat his mother's words as an imperial decree and beat her wherever she is told!"

It turned out to be a mama's boy, Zhong Ruyi thought. This could explain why the child was abandoned to his mother's family and the sister-in-law couldn't stop it.

But Wei is a good worker. If the restaurant lost her, where could he find such a satisfactory employee?

"How about this? I'll give you another month. If you can come up with a good solution, that's even better. If there's really no other way, then I'll have to hire someone else to take your place."

"...Is it okay?" Wei was overjoyed. If she could send the child back within a month, she wouldn't have to quit her job.

Although she knew that the child would not be in a good situation after being sent back, she had a family of her own and could not afford to delay herself because of the child.

Zhong Ruyi answered in the affirmative. She certainly knew that a good outcome meant that the child would be sent back, but everyone has their own destiny. Her own parents didn’t care about her, so what help could outsiders provide?

She stayed in the town this month, and occasionally when she had to go back, she asked Cuicui to come and help. It happened that Zhang Mingzhu often couldn't get up after she became pregnant, so sometimes Cuicui didn't go out to set up the stall with her, but came to the restaurant or Zhong Laoer's braised food shop to help.

Chen Dongzhi was either out escorting goods or returning to the village to pick melons and apples. After finishing his village affairs, he would rush to the town to eat and sleep with his wife.

There were not many melons planted at home, and they had all been picked during this period. He originally wanted to go back to help with the orchard, but Zhong Ruyi stopped him from going back.

"You don't have to run back and forth like this. You should pay attention to your health, right?"

When she mentioned this during dinner, Chen Dongzhi also said that he would go back tomorrow to help pick the 2,000 kilograms of apples from the Fang family.

Zhong Ruyi understood immediately after hearing this. She smiled and said, "Are you worried that the person you invited might not be careful enough and the fruits you picked might not be good?"

The two thousand kilograms of apples that the Fang family wanted this time were not a large quantity, but they were told that these were to be sent to the capital, so they hoped that they would select fruits of good quality and send them over.

Beijing.

What a remote place! Now the apples from her orchard have to be sent to such a far place, and it is not only the Fang family that is cautious.

Even the usually calm Chen Dongzhi asked him several times if he could go back to the orchard to help. He was still worried that the fruits he picked would be broken and not look good.

Since he was so concerned, Zhong Ruyi would naturally not pour cold water on him. "Then you go back and watch tomorrow, and make sure that people act gently when they do it."

The man nodded vigorously, said no more, and started eating seriously.

The next day, Cuicui did not go out to set up a stall to sell egg cakes, but came to the restaurant early to help.

Seeing that my uncle was not in the store, I asked curiously, "Aunt, is my uncle out escorting?"

Zhong Ruyi wiped the table and said, "No, he went back to the village. He returned home at midnight last night."

"Oh." Cuicui didn't ask any more questions and turned to talk to her about Zhang Mingzhu. "My cousin said she would come over for lunch at noon. Little aunt, let me tell you, the tofu made by my cousin's mother-in-law is the best tofu I have ever eaten."

It was not until the evening that the Fang family's convoy in the town set off in a mighty manner.

An endless row of horse-drawn carriages stretched from the Fang family's gate to the outside of the town. The townspeople could not help but be amazed at the sight of so many carriages.

"What's all this cargo? So many carriages! Where are they going?"

"I just heard from my uncle that his daughter-in-law's sister's husband's nephew is working for the Fang family, and these carriages are all going to the capital!"

"Wow! I never knew that the Fang family in our town has expanded their business to the capital? The people in the capital are all rich! I heard that the people who were hit by the falling leaves were either officials or wealthy businessmen!"

The man rolled his eyes at the speaker and said, "You are ignorant, aren't you? Don't you know that Master Fang in our town has a nephew who is an official in the capital? I guess this must have been sent to his nephew's home!"

Amid the people's discussions, the last carriage gradually faded from everyone's sight.

Chen Dongzhi came back with the Fang family's horse-drawn carriage that was carrying goods to the village. He was covered in sweat but it was obvious that he was in a good mood.

"How is it? Is the supervision going well?" Zhong Ruyi asked him with a smile.

A smile appeared on the man's face. "Mission successfully completed." This was a word that Zhong Ruyi had just taught him, and it was applicable to today's scenario.

Zhong Ruyi's smile deepened, and she stepped forward to hold his hand, "That's good. Just now, Master Duan came to look for you. You were not there, so he asked me to tell you to go to Jinzhou with Dafeng the day after tomorrow. The Yu family has a batch of medicinal materials there, but no one is helping to deliver them back."

The two of them walked while talking. When they heard that they were going out again, the man's smiling face showed a little disappointment, "So soon?"

Giving him a funny look, Zhong Ruyi said, "How many days have you been here since you came back this time? Count them. If the escort agency hadn't been traveling to several nearby towns this month, I think you would have been away for ten days or half a month like last month!"