My reborn husband and son are thinking about how to kill me every day.

"Mom, that's not what we meant. We just feel that sometimes you have to give up something to gain something."

Wang Dazhi said, "Tell me yourself, is the good relationship between your second brother's family and the Lu family entirely due to that little bit of affection they had when they first met?"

When Old Lady Wang saw Gao Lan delivering things to the Lu family, she scolded Gao Lan, calling her a fool. "Such perfectly good things, given to refugees who just moved in!"

Hearing her son talk about it now, she felt a little wronged. "How was I supposed to know the Lu family would prosper? I don't have eyes in the back of my head."

If I had known, I definitely would have sent things to the Lu family back then.

I raised you with great difficulty, and what do you do? Instead of being grateful for your mother's nurturing, you come to complain about me. You two unfilial sons!

"Mother, I misspoke just now, please don't be angry." After apologizing, Wang Dazhi said, "But this is a rare opportunity. If we miss this chance, the gap between us and the Lu family will only widen, and we will never be able to climb that tree again."

Wang Xiaofeng also joined his older brother in apologizing to Old Lady Wang and begging her to take out the money to open a shop.

After much persuasion and numerous promises from the two men, Old Lady Wang finally hardened her heart and took out all her savings.

The two brothers took the money and immediately headed into the city.

With the money and prescription given to them by Ji Yunshuang, Lu Xumu and Lu Zilin have now opened three shops in the city.

When they opened their first shop, the two were often filled with unease and anxiety, constantly worried that they would make a mistake, disappoint their sister-in-law's expectations, and lose all the money she had worked so hard to earn.

After a period of trial and error, the two gradually became bolder. Now, they are quite adept at business and can confidently control every aspect of it.

The two also made corresponding adjustments to the items sold in the shops based on their different locations.

In their braised food shop in the inner city, the two not only sold braised food, but also decorated the shop into an elegant restaurant, hiring a chef to cook specialty dishes there.

When guests arrive, in addition to choosing braised dishes, they can also select the restaurant's signature dishes. Beverages are also available.

Now, the restaurant they run in the inner city has become the most popular place for Hongdu's prominent people to entertain guests.

The braised food shops in the outer city also have seating areas where customers can eat. However, the braised food they sell is mostly vegetables or cheap pork offal.

The restaurant didn't hire a chef to make any signature dishes. Instead, they hired a few women to work as cooks at the bar, mainly serving simple meals.

Because the braised food is delicious and reasonably priced, many diners like to eat at braised food shops.

Some families who are a little more particular will buy some braised dishes to eat at home.

Wang Dazhi and Wang Xiaofeng were unable to enter the inner city; all they knew was the shop that the Lu brothers, Xu Mu and Lu Xiaofeng, ran in the outer city.

After receiving the money from Old Lady Wang, the two went to the braised food shop in the west of the city.

It wasn't lunchtime yet, but the braised food shop was already packed with people.

Seeing how good the shop's business was, the two of them both looked envious.

Wang Xiaofeng whispered to his older brother, "I wish our shop could have such good business."

Wang Dazhi was also envious, but he remained clear-headed and sighed, "We don't have that skill, we can't make it taste like that."

Why is Lu's braised food shop so popular? It's because their braised food is so delicious.

The entire street was filled with the aroma emanating from his shop.

Many people were drawn in by the aroma wafting from the shop and went inside to inquire about the dishes and their prices.

At his two shops in the outer city, Lu Xumu mainly braised pork offal and vegetables together in order to control the price.

In braised food shops, the most expensive items are naturally the oily ones, such as pig intestines, pig stomach, pig heart, and pig lungs.

The next best options are eggs, wood ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, and gluten.

The cheapest options are vegetarian dishes such as bamboo shoots, lettuce, and green beans.

People from poor families who can't afford pig hearts and intestines, or eggs and wood ear mushrooms, often choose bamboo shoots and lettuce to satisfy their cravings.

Although bamboo shoots and lettuce are vegetarian dishes, they are braised in a special sauce, making them very fragrant. Moreover, they are not expensive, so many people will buy some to try first.

Wang Dazhi and Wang Xiaofeng had eaten at the shop before, but they had given most of their money to Old Lady Wang, so they didn't have much money left.

The two of them were willing to buy the first two slightly more expensive items, and only bought some of the cheapest vegetarian dishes.

Even the cheapest vegetarian dishes were something the two of them couldn't forget.

Now that they had money, the two of them quickly ordered all the pork liver, pork heart, and pork intestines that they had previously been reluctant to order.

The braised pork was sliced, plated, and served. The two of them also ordered two large bowls of mixed grain rice and began to eat heartily.

During the meal, neither of them spoke.

Because it was so delicious.

Like the two of them, many other people in the shop were quiet and focused on eating.

After they had almost finished eating all the food on the table, Wang Xiaofeng said, "Brother, this braised pork intestine is really delicious, it doesn't have any gamey smell at all."

Noble families of this era did not eat pig offal. Only poor farming families who could not afford meat would buy offal to eat.

The Wang family wasn't actually poor; both Wang Dazhi and Wang Xiaofeng earned money, and the family also owned land. However, Old Mrs. Wang was reluctant to spend money, so the family generally ate coarse grains, and the vegetables were grown by themselves.

Only during holidays like Chinese New Year, when her family could no longer bear it, would she be willing to spend money to buy some pig offal to eat at home.

Although offal is considered meat, the pig intestines and stomach prepared by the Wang family were so gamey and smelly that they were hard to swallow.

Pig intestines and stomach were a nightmare for the two brothers.

But now, their opinion on pig intestines and stomach has changed.

Wang Dazhi said, "It's no wonder they make money; they actually managed to make stinky pig intestines and stomach taste so good."

Wang Xiaofeng said, "If only we had this prescription."

Wang Dazhi had considered finding a way to learn the Lu family's recipe before. But now that he knew Ji Yunshuang was a high-ranking official, he dared not do it.

"Alright, now that we've had the braised food we've been craving, let's hurry up and look around to see if there are any shops for rent."

Wang Xiaofeng nodded quickly, poured the remaining bits of braised food on the table into his bowl, and ate it all with his rice.

After the two brothers finished eating and went out, Wang Xiaofeng said, "Big brother, when we make money in the future, I want to eat here every day."

Wang Dazhi said, "Isn't that easy? As long as the shop opens and Xuemei marries into the Lu family smoothly, we'll have everything we need."

By then, he will be Lu Sanlang's father-in-law. If he wants to open a shop with him or asks him to teach him the recipe so he can open a shop elsewhere, how could Lu Sanlang possibly disagree?

None of these are the most important things. The most important thing is to get the Ji family's help to promote his son after becoming in-laws with the Lu family.

From now on, he will be the father of an official.

He's no worse than the second son.