You are unlucky and I am tough

The two met head-on. The path was narrow, so Zhao Xiuwen stepped aside and nodded, "Madam Cheng, did you just come out of the consultation?"

Cheng Shuang nodded. "Is your academy closed today?"

"I finished school early, and came back because I had something to do at home."

Yunhe Academy's teaching method for scholars focuses more on students' independent learning and does not arrange too long group teaching time.

Basically, there are two hours of concentrated teaching a day, and the rest of the time is for students to review, read classics, write articles or engage in academic discussions on their own.

If Zhao Xiuwen is not afraid of the hassle, he can go home every day.

He was still holding something in his hand as he explained, "Young Master Zhu knew I was returning to the village and asked me to bring some things to Young Master Lan."

Cheng Shuang took a look at the thing in his hand. Judging from the packaging, it seemed to be a snack, so she didn't suspect anything.

"He's upstairs. I just finished fumigating him. You can just go upstairs."

She already knew that Zhu Shaoyuan and Lin Zelan had that kind of relationship, so it was normal for her to show her courtesy and send some cakes.

After Cheng Shuang left, Zhao Xiuwen stepped onto the attic stairs and looked back to make sure that the person had gone far away.

Lin Zelan was sweating from the drug fumigation and couldn't take a shower so soon. He took off his sweaty underwear, wiped his body with a towel, and changed his clothes.

The wound on her chest had formed a scab, and it felt a little itchy, perhaps because of the medication. Lin Zelan pulled open her clothes to check the wound in front of the bronze mirror in the room.

"Cough cough..."

The door was not closed and two light coughs were heard from the door.

Lin Zelan turned around and was a little surprised when she saw the person.

"Why are you here?"

Zhao Xiuwen stepped into the room and placed the things in his hand on the table. "I had some personal matters to attend to at home. Master Zhu knew I was back and asked me to bring you something. I'm sending it to you now."

Lin Zelan knew that he was talking to the maid cleaning outside, so she didn't even look at the snacks and put on her coat.

"Thank you very much. I just made some tea. Brother Ziqi, please go to the balcony and have a cup of tea."

Then he closed the door.

The attic has poor sound insulation. Only the balcony outside the room is spacious and faces the waterfall, making it the best place in the building for whispering.

The hot tea was bubbling and steaming on the charcoal stove. Lin Zelan took the teapot and opened the lid. A faint tea fragrance instantly filled the air.

He scooped up a handful of tea leaves with a tea spoon and gently sprinkled it into the boiling water. Then he picked up a bamboo clip and gently stirred the tea with elegant and skillful movements.

After a while, the tea was ready. I picked up the clay pot and slowly poured the translucent orange tea into two exquisite tea cups. The tea was steaming and filled with the fragrance of tea.

Zhao Xiuwen didn't rush to talk about the matter. Zhou Si watched quietly, and waited until the teacup was pushed in front of him before speaking, "Your injuries haven't healed yet, but you look better than before. Madam Cheng is indeed a skilled doctor."

"She spent the entire afternoon boiling the medicine and fumigating me with the medicinal steam for an hour. Doesn't my complexion look rosy and fair?"

Lin Zelan is a pessimistic person. He admits that Cheng Shuang has excellent medical skills, but he does not think that Cheng Shuang can really heal his body in a short time.

If you are not in this line of work, you will not know how much inhuman torture he has suffered since he was a child.

Without further ado, Zhao Xiuwen took out a pen and paper, wrote down four names, and said, "These people are on the list that the young master gave me. I'm pretty familiar with them now, and their situations are similar to mine."

"They are all from poor families, supported by their entire families, even clans. The worst one ranked sixteenth in the college entrance examination. Moreover, I found that the two brothers of the Zhu family have been trying to understand their preferences and living habits, and have even intentionally or unintentionally inquired about their family situation."

"We have to start planning now to make them disappear after the Spring Examination. Including you, that's five." Lin Zelan looked at the list and frowned. "I remember the young master said that Dongzhou only selected two people three years ago. How come there are so many?"

Zhao Xiuwen said, "I might not be on their list this time."

"Oh?" Lin Zelan looked at him in confusion.

"The last time I went to the Zhu Mansion for dinner, Madam Zhu brought Zhu Zhiqing out." Zhao Xiuwen lowered his voice. "From what I've seen from their family, it seems they're interested in me marrying her."

Lin Zelan was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Congratulations, you will definitely pass the provincial examination. They appreciate your intention to take action in advance and are ready to pull you into the same boat."

Zhao Xiuwen, however, was not happy and said, "If they bring it up, I will agree to the marriage first. You should also send this news to the capital."

.......

Two days later, Cheng Shuang and Wei Qinglang sent Cheng Chen back to Chongwenguan together, and went to see the principal to explain the situation. They arranged for Xiao Si to withdraw from school, and Song Qi continued to follow Cheng Chen as a servant.

Then the two of them went to Fu Ya Zhai to settle the accounts for April. It was delayed for several days, and Cheng Pan had already calculated the accounts. They took the accounts directly to the accounting office of Fu Ya Zhai to reconcile.

This time, a total of more than 21,600 taels were divided.

However, before the banknotes could even get warm, 20,000 taels of it had already been given away.

The construction cost of the restaurant is high. High-quality wood is not cheap. In addition to various blue bricks, stones, glazed tiles, doors, windows, furniture, as well as various transportation costs and labor costs, it has cost more than 20,000 taels.

Xie Zhiyou gave all that money first, so naturally he had to give it to others first after he got the money.

The two went to the construction site again and this time went through the corridor that had been built on the artificial lake in front.

The restaurant construction period is more than halfway through and is expected to be completed a few days earlier than the original schedule.

After taking a look around, Cheng Shuang became a little anxious. With so many people working on the restaurant, it looked different every day, and she hadn't finished the recipes and menu yet.

The chili peppers and erjingtiao in the field can be picked in a few days, and the chili sauce can be started. Last time, we only made more than 100 kilograms of fermented black beans, so we have to make more.

She also needed to make some potato starch, as there weren't enough potatoes, but she could secretly buy 200 kilograms from the mall and no one would notice.

Two hundred kilograms of potatoes can produce more than thirty kilograms of potato starch, which can be used to make some dishes that require marinating meat. If you save it a little, it can last until the second season when potatoes are ripe.

After returning home, the whole family got busy.

Wei Qinglang was busy running around every day dealing with the restaurant's affairs. The camphor wood that Xie Zhiyou had someone reserve also arrived. Camphor wood is precious and fragrant, and is used to make carved doors and windows and tables and chairs for the premium private rooms.

Wei Qinglang drew the blueprint himself and also personally supervised the carpenters in the city to make it.

Cheng Shuang worked hard to prepare the recipe, and took her family to make a thousand kilograms of fermented black beans, and then made some potato starch with two hundred kilograms of potatoes.

After a few days, the peppers and erjingtiao were ready for picking, so the workers picked 500 kilograms of each and made millet pepper sauce and garlic pepper sauce.

Although there is no refrigerator, it can be stored for two or three months without any problem.

Once the restaurant’s ice cellar is completed, we can make more and store it in the ice cellar.

After a busy period until mid-May, Cheng Shuang calculated the time and saw that Lin Zelan was almost recovered, so she went to find him with the play "Dream of the Red Chamber".

Since Xiao Si returned to the village to study, he has been attending classes with the children in the village in the morning and practicing painting in the afternoon, with Master Yuan giving him guidance.

Every day the little guy would run to Lin Zelan to learn chess from him, and sometimes he wouldn't even go home after dark.

When Master Yuan learned that the painting by Xiao Si was a real scene in the village, he would stroll towards the pond when he had nothing to do, and he became chess friends with Lin Zelan.

Lin Zelan also generously gave him two precious famous paintings to copy.

That day, when Cheng Shuang finished her work and went over, the two were playing chess in the pavilion.