【Quick Wear】My Years as a Mother-in-law

Chicken stewed with mushrooms, duck stewed with dried bamboo shoots, fried grass carp cubes, stir-fried bacon with green peppers, stewed bacon ribs with beans, scrambled eggs with loofah, cold cucumber salad, cold preserved eggs and egg and vegetable soup.

The taste of each dish was just right, and the children under one year old were drooling with greed, "Ahhh!" They stretched out their hands to get closer, but unfortunately the only thing they could eat was egg soup.

"It's too early for a little kid to want to eat meat."

Yu Qianer's words made everyone laugh.

This meal was the most enjoyable one in many people's lives.

At this time, the mulberries in Yunxi Mountain were ripe, and she asked everyone to go to the mountain to pick them as she was in a good mood.

"Mom, this is today's gift money."

In the evening, Li Meizi handed over the notebook. Yun Xi saw that everyone had given dozens or even hundreds of coins, and in the end there were a total of three taels of silver. "Please keep it. When we do things for others in the future, we will follow this gift list and add ten coins to the gift."

"Okay, Mom, should we tell Brother Chunsheng and our younger brothers and sisters about this happy news?" Li Meizi's eyes sparkled.

"They'll naturally know this news in Rongcheng. After the revelry and ecstasy, we need to regain our composure as soon as possible." Yun Xi's tone was very serious. She had quickly calmed down. "Meizi, we must understand that a Fourth Rank Respectful Lady doesn't have many privileges. It's just a title that can't be passed down to the next generation. All we can gain from it are the rewards from His Majesty and the annual salary of 288 dan of rice."

Li Meizi was disappointed, "Mom, I thought we were so great."

"It's powerful, but only slightly powerful. Our family is exempt from certain taxes and military service, but nothing else. We have no real power, no connections, and no foundation. At best, we have a nice-sounding reputation."

"So we must be clear about our goal, which is to steadily accumulate wealth and train Xia Qing well. The only way to truly change our family's status is through the imperial examination, and to enter the officialdom through the imperial examination."

Yun Xi sighed and looked into the distance leisurely.

So what if she is a fourth-rank lady? She can't fit into the aristocratic circle. She will still have to live in the countryside and farm well in the future.

"We can go to Rongcheng and buy four more servants. Lady Bai and Lady Wang can transfer the paperwork and register them under my name." Yun Xi smiled and said, "A fourth-rank official can use six servants. We won't need to hire anyone to farm in the future."

Li Meizi had no objection. "That's good. There are indeed a lot of things to do at home."

Ten days later, after confirming that the watermelon seedlings were growing well, Yun Xi and her three companions entrusted the house to her eldest sister-in-law. They drove four carts filled with dry firewood. It was so difficult for them to go to Chengdu, and they felt it would be a shame if they didn't bring some things to sell.

After arriving in Chengdu, we sold the firewood first. Four carts only sold for 600 coins.

Next, Yun Xi went to the most luxurious pastry shop in East City and bought eight boxes of snacks. It’s no secret that the bigger the shop, the better the service. When you buy snacks, you get a box for free, although each box of snacks costs one or two taels of silver.

Carrying snacks, they drove to Chen Xiucai's school in Nancheng. It happened to be a holiday at that time, and there were only Chunsheng's three children and Chen Xiucai and his wife in the school.

Upon seeing Chen Xiucai, she expressed her congratulations and admiration for her cousin's wife, and even wanted to bow. Yun Xi had no choice but to stop her, "Master Chen, you know my family's situation. This imperial decree is entirely due to the emperor's kindness. We don't have much background. From now on, our two families will continue to visit each other as usual. Here, this is the signature snack of Shixiang Pavilion. You and Bai Niangzi can try it."

Yun Xi handed over four boxes of snacks.

Bai Yu took it excitedly, "How can this be so embarrassing."

"It's nothing. You are the children's teachers, so it's your duty."

At this time, Li Chunsheng came out with his younger brothers and sisters. Yun Xi led them to say goodbye to Chen Xiucai, and then walked towards Haoweilou.

Li Yanran was very proud, smiling innocently, and looked up to ask Yun Xi, "Mom, are you an official?"

Yun Xi explained with a smile, "Mom didn't become an official. It was just an honor. Women can't become officials."

"Ah? Can't I be an official? I want to be an official and be a local leader."

Li Yanran was a little disappointed, like a free bird that suddenly found itself in a cage one day. Although the cage was big, it was indeed a cage.

No one else said anything. This is a cruel reality. It is difficult for most women to control their own destiny.

This is true for Lady Wang, Lady Bai, and even Yun Xi, who is already a fourth-rank lady.

"Haoweilou is the largest restaurant in Chengdu, with five floors in total. Mom, we can go to the third floor. There are private rooms there, which are farther away from the first floor and not so noisy." Li Chunsheng's proposal broke the deadlock.

"Okay, let's go to the third floor."

Although they were wearing the simplest cotton clothes, they were still warmly received by the waiter.

"I want a private room on the third floor."

"Okay, there are seven guests at Lanruoxuan! Please follow me upstairs." The waiter led the way in front, bending very low. Yun Xi wondered if he would fall, but fortunately, nothing like that happened.

Lan Ruoxuan is at the end of the third floor. When passing by other people’s private rooms, you can’t hear any sound at all. It attaches great importance to privacy.

When Yun Xi entered Lanruoxuan, her first impression was that this private room was quite large. There were orchid paintings hanging on the wall and several pots of blooming orchids placed in front of the window. It was very artistic. Through the large windows, you could see the courtyard of Haoweilou, where rockery, flowing water and flowers were intertwined to form a scene.

There was a big table and a small table inside. There were seven of them. Lady Wang and Lady Bai sat at the small table, while Yun Xi and the children sat at the big table. It didn't seem crowded at all.

The waiter attentively picked up a booklet and handed it to Yun Xi, "Madam, this is the menu."

Yun Xi clicked on it and saw that all the names of the dishes were very fancy, some even had pictures.

Steamed lamb, steamed bear paw, steamed deer tail, roast duck, roast chicken, roast goose, braised salted duck, braised chicken, stir-fried bacon with garlic sprouts, pine flower tripe, stuffed meat, steamed sausage, assorted Su plate, smoked chicken tripe, steamed eight-treasure pig, glutinous rice stuffed duck, jarred pheasant, jarred quail, braised assorted items, braised goose, roasted pheasant, rabbit breast, vegetable python, fried whitebait, steamed hash ants, braised duck kidneys, Braised duck strips, mixed shredded duck, yellow heart tubes, braised white eel, braised yellow eel, catfish in fermented black beans, pot-roasted carp, stewed soft-shelled turtle, steamed large Yellow River carp, steamed crab, stir-fried prawns, sweet and sour pork tenderloin, soft-fried chicken, assorted sausages, braised jackdaw, sesame butter rolls, braised fresh mushrooms, braised fish jerky, braised fish maw, braised fish slices, braised pork slices in vinegar, braised three fresh delicacies, braised white mushrooms, braised pigeon eggs...

At this time, iron pots were already popular in Jin State, and pigs were castrated, so there were many types of dishes.

"Steamed bear paws, steamed deer tails, fried whitebait, braised mushrooms, steamed Yellow River carp, steamed crabs, and steamed pythons are on the large table. Braised duck, sweet and sour pork tenderloin, braised eel, stir-fried prawns, and masu oil rolls are on the small table. Another portion of six-treasure soup is for each person." Yun Xi quickly ordered and handed the menu to Chunsheng. "Do you guys want to take a look?"