Travel back to ancient times and open a Sichuan restaurant

On the second day of the New Year, people in the village began to visit each other to wish each other a happy new year.

Zhong Ruyi brought the New Year gifts to the courtyard where the three agricultural officials were temporarily staying. This was the small courtyard she had rented before her workshop was built, and it was now rented to agricultural officials.

Yu Wei was staying at Zhao Eryue's house. After all, she and the other three agricultural officials were different in gender, and she was afraid of being criticized if they did not live together, even though they were old enough to be Yu Wei's father. Zhao Ganwei arranged for her to stay at a villager's house just in case.

Mr. Huang raised his beard and talked to other villagers who came to pay New Year's greetings. "I remember that we killed several wild boars every year! It was very lively when every household distributed the meat! After that, I came to the capital and never felt this kind of atmosphere again."

He felt a little melancholy because his family members were all in Beijing and this was the first time in so many years that he had to spend the New Year away from them.

Seeing his sad face, the villagers began to comfort him, "Sir, you will be going back next year, and it will be difficult for us to see each other in the future!"

"Yes, sir, why don't you stay for a few more months? At least teach me the recipe for fertilizing the fields before you leave!"

Everyone talked at once, and soon the sadness was dispelled. Mr. Huang began to laugh again and spoke to everyone in a hoarse voice.

Zhong Ruyi left after the New Year with the New Year gifts in her hand. On the way, she met Li Guihua and others who were returning from her parents' home to pay New Year's greetings.

Looking at Cuicui's pouting lips, she asked in surprise and learned that it was Li Guihua's sister-in-law who knew that Cuicui had opened a small shop in the town, so she insisted that she bring her daughter over as well.

"You are all cousins. If you have anything to discuss, why don't you ask your cousin to come instead of an outsider?"

Cui Cui sniffed, "I don't like my cousin. She always bullies me. Why should I pay her? Maybe if I really do this, she will act like an elder and not work. She will rely on me to do the work every day. I still have to pay her wages. Why?"

Seeing that the little girl was very aggrieved, Zhong Ruyi quickly patted her on the shoulder to comfort her, "It's your store, you have the final say, don't worry about what your aunt says."

Li Guihua and Zhong Lao Da also looked unhappy, but today was the second day of the Chinese New Year and cursing was not allowed during the New Year. Besides, his father-in-law, mother-in-law and eldest brother-in-law kept giving him looks, telling him not to pay attention to them.

But the couple still felt uncomfortable. Li Guihua had already privately told Boss Zhong what her sister-in-law had said when she was working in the workshop. Both of them had a bad impression of her sister-in-law.

Now she came up with this again, saying that since the workshop wouldn't let her go, they should at least compensate her, right? So they should let Cuicui take her daughter to the town, and they could do business together in the future.

Listen to what you are saying?

Boss Zhong was very angry. His younger sister and his daughter didn't owe you anything. You were fired because you didn't work hard in the workshop and kept making trouble. How could you ask his daughter to compensate you now?

So the couple didn't even have lunch, and turned around and left despite the attempts of their parents-in-law and brother-in-law to keep them.

"Hey! Why are you leaving, Cuicui? You haven't agreed to let your cousin go to town to work with you!"

Zhong Ruyi twitched her lips after listening to the whole thing, and she felt really sorry for her elder brother and sister-in-law.

But that’s not the end. Liu Yu Niang, who returned from her mother’s home in town in the evening, was also very angry with her sister-in-law.

They all had dinner at the Zhong family's old house, and Chen's mother Xiaoxue and others were also called over.

At the dinner table, when Liu Yu Niang mentioned what her sister-in-law said to her today, "I have a nephew who is seventeen this year and it's time for him to get married. I remember your sister-in-law from your husband's family has a daughter? She should be fourteen or fifteen this year, right?"

Zhong Ruyi picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs for Chen's mother, and continued to listen carefully to her second sister-in-law.

"How could I not know what she was thinking?" Liu Yu Niang was furious. "Her nephew, although young, has done a lot of sneaky things! She still wants to marry such a person to our Cuicui?"

Cuicui was stunned when she was named. She stammered, "How come this is related to me again?"

What's going on today?

When she went back to her maternal grandparents' home, people were concerned about the shop. When her second aunt went back to her parents' home, people were also concerned about her marriage?

Cuicui looked at Li Guihua who was laughing out of anger, "Mom, can you help me pray and get a talisman after the New Year? I feel like I've been stained by something dirty."

"What nonsense are you talking about on New Year's Day?" Li Guihua glared at her, but she agreed with what she said in her heart. It seemed that she really had to pray for peace after the New Year.

At the dinner table, Zhong's mother scolded her two daughters-in-law's sisters-in-law, without caring that it was New Year and that scolding was not a good thing.

Mother Chen felt a little uncomfortable sitting there. If she had known, she would not have come. It would be so awkward to hear so many private matters about her daughter-in-law's family.

When Zhong Ruyi was leaving, he asked them to come again tomorrow so that the two families could have a lively meal together.

In fact, the reason why she didn't want to go back to Chen's house was that Chen's mother's cooking was not delicious, but she was very confident and she would cook by herself every time she went there.

"Mom won't come tomorrow." Mother Chen glanced at her son and daughter-in-law and said tactfully, "It's not good to always disturb them. Why don't you come home tomorrow? Mom will make dumplings for you."

Make dumplings!

Zhong Ruyi's eyes lit up. There couldn't be anything wrong with making dumplings, right?

She nodded and agreed immediately, "Okay! I'll go look for fresh shepherd's purse tomorrow and dig some up to make dumplings together!"

The next day, before Chen Dongzhi woke up, Zhong Ruyi beside him had already gotten out of bed and washed up.

"Will you go with me? If not, I'll go alone?" Zhong Ruyi asked while changing clothes. Chen Dongzhi obviously wanted to go, but he also wanted to stay in bed.

When he finally woke up a little, there was no one in the room. His wife had already gone out with a basket to dig wild vegetables.

Some wild vegetables have already sprouted beside the ditches, rivers, and ridges of the fields, such as purslane, watercress, houttuynia cordata, and gray vegetable, all of which are very fresh and tender.

Zhong Ruyi walked and stopped with a small basket on her shoulder. Soon there was a handful of gray vegetables in the basket. She could take it home in the evening and make soup with it.

There were only a few shepherd's purse that could be dug. She looked around for a while but couldn't find any more, so she decided to look somewhere else.

Suddenly someone called her from behind. When she turned around, she saw that it was Chen's mother, who was carrying a basket like her. She ran over panting.

"I just went to your house to look for you, but Dongzhi said you had already come out."

Seeing that she was panting heavily, Zhong Ruyi quickly patted her back and said, "Don't worry, there's still time, let's take our time."

After Chen's mother recovered, she smiled and walked side by side with her daughter-in-law. She had good eyesight and saw several lush shepherd's purse as soon as she arrived.

The two men walked and stopped, and dug until noon. They ate the dry food they brought, rested for a while, and then continued to walk further.

It was not until mid-afternoon, around two or three o'clock, that the two of them finally filled the baskets they had brought.