It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

The pork rib soup that had been stewing for an entire afternoon was bubbling in the clay pot, and the rich aroma of meat filled the small space.

The aroma seemed to have a magical power, attracting several children to gather around the clay stove.

The kitchen was small to begin with, and with a few more children milling about, it was practically impossible to get around. Wu scolded her with a smile, "Go away, go play in the yard, don't make trouble here."

The children ran away, and soon they were lying at the kitchen door, peeking inside.

Song Zhi watched the sky outside gradually darken, and then she said to Wu, "Grandma, take the children to dinner first. The cakes are ready here, and I also need to prepare medicinal tea."

"There's no rush. We can do it after dinner."

Song Zhi insisted, "While it's still light, I'll do it quickly, so I don't have to light a lamp after dark and work hard."

Mrs. Wu was a person who tried to save money whenever possible. After hearing her granddaughter's words, she turned to her daughter-in-law who was stoking the fire in the kitchen and said, "Mrs. Mei, you take the children and eat first. I'll watch over the kitchen."

"Mom, let me do it. You lead the children to eat first."

Mrs. Wu was not a shy person. Seeing her daughter-in-law refusing, she called the children who were peeking in to get their bowls and chopsticks to eat.

After persuading grandma to leave, Song Zhi began to make Forsythia tea.

Song Zhi put the forsythia leaves into an iron pan and stir-fry them slowly over low heat.

She was very skilled and turned the tea leaves over from time to time to ensure that they were heated evenly and to avoid burning.

As the temperature rises, the fragrance of forsythia leaves gradually emanates, and the whole house is filled with a fresh and elegant aroma.

When the tea leaves turn darker in color and break easily when squeezed, Song Zhi knows they are cooked.

She quickly took the tea leaves out of the pot, spread them on bamboo strips to dissipate heat, and then rolled them after they cooled.

The purpose of rolling is to break the tea cells and allow the tea juice to overflow, making it easier for subsequent fermentation and drying.

This frying and kneading process is continued three times until the tea leaves are rolled into strips and are dry and free of moisture.

Song Zhi put the prepared tea into a small ceramic jar that she had prepared in advance. When she turned around, she met two pairs of burning gazes.

She was so busy just now that she didn't even realize when her grandma and aunt stood behind her.

Being stared at like this, Song Zhi subconsciously took a step back, "Grandma, why don't you say anything when you're standing behind me?"

Wu coughed awkwardly, "I'm just afraid of disturbing you."

Then he asked curiously, "Is this medicinal tea? It smells quite good to me."

Song Zhiqiang nodded calmly, "I heard from the merchant's manager that this medicine is called Forsythia suspensa, and it has the effects of clearing away heat, detoxifying, reducing swelling and dispersing nodules."

"Similarly, the leaves of Forsythia can be used to make tea, which also has the effect of clearing away internal heat and dryness. I only heard the steward describe how to make this medicinal tea once, and I don't know if there are any steps that were missed. Milk, would you like to try it?"

Mrs. Wu didn't doubt her granddaughter's words. Since the other party wanted to keep the things, it was not surprising that he explained it to her granddaughter.

She waved her hands repeatedly, "What can I taste? You've been busy for so long, and this is all you can get. You should take it to the merchant to taste tomorrow."

After saying that, she urged her granddaughter to have dinner, while the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law stayed to clean the kitchen.

After washing up, Song Zhi went to bed early.

Perhaps because she had been too exhausted that day, when Song Zhi woke up, it was already bright outside.

She hurriedly sat up from the bed, quickly dressed and walked out of the house, where she saw her grandmother and aunt in the yard, who had already prepared the goods for this trip.

Song Zhi scratched her hair, which she hadn't had time to take care of, and said embarrassedly, "Grandma, I was sleeping too deeply and couldn't get up to help!"

Wu waved her hands cheerfully, "What's the big deal? After you leave, your aunt and I will take another nap."

Having said that, grandma is old after all, and she is worried about Song Zhi's health by keeping her awake like this.

She hoped that the order quantity of jelly today would be larger, so that she could persuade her grandmother to bring her cousins back to help.

As usual, the three siblings went to the pastry shop to deliver pastries.

When Shopkeeper Zhou saw Song Zhi, he smiled until his eyes narrowed. "Oh, Madam Song, I was just about to tell you, four additional families have ordered four pounds of cakes tomorrow, so we need seven pounds in total. Do you think we can finish them tomorrow?"

Song Zhi was thinking about whether she could finish the seven pounds of pastries as promised, and she was unable to agree to Manager Zhou's request in time.

Shopkeeper Zhou was worried that Song Zhi would refuse, so he quickly said, "It's because these pastries are so soft and delicate that they're loved by the ladies and young ladies of the wealthy families in the city. My shop's business depends on them, so I can't refuse. Madam Song, could you please help?"

Since Manager Zhou has said so, it is difficult to refuse.

Song Zhi agreed, and after leaving the shop, the group hurried to Caoshi.

She had to sell out the jelly quickly today and go back early to stock up.

Here, Song Zhi first delivered the jelly that had been ordered from the teahouse and the kebab stall.

Then he took his younger brother and sister-in-law to Caoshi.

Because of the delay, Song Zhi thought that there would be no good seats in Caoshi today.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she entered the Caoshi market, several stall owners waved to her and asked her to set up stalls next to theirs.

If nothing else, everyone envied the popularity of Song Zhi's stall.

I hope to get some help from her stall.

Song Zhi nodded and thanked the person who greeted her, then chose a relatively open place to set up a stall and sell goods.

When Zhou Yu wandered around the grass markets in the west and east of the city, he noticed at a glance that there were more vendors setting up stalls and a larger flow of people in the grass market in the south of the city.

No wonder that according to the account books of the three markets in the past few days, the grass market in the south of the city received more money and silk.

His eyes were drawn to a small stall surrounded by people.

He had seen the girl selling jelly with her nimble hands and feet, and he had also tasted the jelly she made and it was very good.

Now it seems that the people in the city also like it very much.

This unique food does have a good drainage effect.

Zhou Yu thought to himself, maybe he could invite this lady to set up stalls in the west and south of the city as well?

In this way, we can attract people who want to try new things, and it can also promote the development of Caoshi, right?

Zhou Yu stood there quietly, thinking about how to propose to the other party.

At this time, Song Zhi had sold half of her jelly, and then two barbecue shop owners found Song Zhi.

He immediately wanted to buy all the jelly and expressed his desire to place an order with her.

The owner of a food shop in this city was very well-informed. He heard that a new kind of food had appeared at a barbecue stall in the south of the city.

The shopkeeper, who heard the news, could no longer sit still.

After finding out the source of the novel food, he immediately found Song Zhi and said he also wanted to make a reservation.

Given Song Zhi's current situation, the amount of free jelly she received definitely could not be increased.

But since business came to her, Song Zhi couldn't refuse it, so she had to limit the amount to twenty yuan.

Pre-order the jelly to be sold tomorrow.

This way she would have a reason to find her cousin!