The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

The next day, when Wei Siyu was having breakfast early in the morning, her mother ordered her to go to Xiangmanlou to have lunch with a certain girl at noon.

He casually agreed.

Wei's mother felt that he was unusually obedient this time. Although it was strange, she didn't pay much attention to it. She thought that the boy must be starting to understand things.

She waited for her son at the Wei residence all day, even refusing the invitation from the neighbor's wife to play mahjong, just to find out her son's reaction to that woman as soon as possible.

To his surprise, instead of his son, the matchmaker arrived.

She warmly invited the person into her room for tea, but the person didn't appreciate it and instead recounted everything Wei Siyu had done that day.

As Wei's mother listened, her face grew increasingly grim. While she smiled apologetically to the other party, she gritted her teeth, wishing she could beat Wei Siyu to death.

That brat, I'll skin him alive when he gets back.

After leaving Xiangmanlou, Wei Siyu went to Shen Yu'an's house.

The steward said that Shen Yu'an was in the garden entertaining guests. He was puzzled, but when he saw that it was Princess Wanyue, he was used to it.

Princess Wanyue is the daughter of the current Imperial Concubine.

Consort Shen Shuhua is the younger sister of Shen Jingguo, the head of the Shen family, and also Shen Yu'an's aunt.

When the emperor traveled incognito to Yangzhou, he met Shen Jingguo. The two became close friends, and Shen Jingguo warmly invited the emperor to stay at his home.

After staying there, the emperor took a liking to the man's younger sister.

Later, when an opportunity arose, they immediately brought the person back to the palace.

Princess Wanyue is only thirteen years old now. She has loved coming to the Shen family to play since she was little, and of course, she spends most of her time looking for Shen Yu'an.

Even Wei Siyu could see that Princess Wanyue liked Shen Yu'an, but he didn't take it seriously at all; he only regarded Princess Wanyue as a younger sister.

Wei Siyu often saw Princess Wanyue at the Shen residence. "Oh, Princess Wanyue is here too."

Wanyue looked up at Wei Siyu. How could her cousin be friends with such an unreliable person? She looked so carefree and irresponsible. She was afraid that Wei Siyu would lead her cousin astray.

"Why are you here?" Shen Yu'an asked without looking up, his eyes fixed on the chessboard.

"Hey, I really had nowhere else to go, so I came here to hide?"

"Is your mother pressuring you to go on blind dates again?"

Wei Siyu sat down. "Hey, don't even mention it. As soon as I got home, they tied me up and forced me to swear an oath before our ancestors."

"You agreed?"

"How could I refuse? I did promise to go, but I didn't say when."

"I went there after that girl left."

"Haha, Wei Siyu, I didn't expect you to be so smart." Wanyue listened to Wei Siyu talk about his battle of wits with his mother.

"Of course, who am I, Young Master Wei? As long as I don't want to do something, even my mother can't do anything about it."

"Tch, but your mother is right. You should be grateful that the girl took a liking to you," Wanyue said, giving Wei Siyu a once-over.

"You... don't think that just because you're a princess, I can't do anything to you!" Wei Siyu straightened her body, trying to defend herself.

Wanyue rolled her eyes at him. "Pshaw, who would believe that?"

"Alright, I was thinking of giving the princess a taste of the last bit of pork jerky, since I was reluctant to eat it myself. But never mind."

Wei Siyu took out an oil paper package from her bosom, opened it, and found that it was the pork jerky that Shen Cao had given them before.

Shen Yu'an looked at Wei Siyu with a questioning expression. Didn't this guy finish eating a long time ago? How come there's still so much left?

The pork jerky in Wei Siyu's hand was honey-flavored, so this guy secretly hid his own and then stole it.

How abominable.

Princess Wanyue pretended not to care as she looked at what Wei Siyu had taken out, and saw Wei Siyu eating pork jerky with an exaggerated expression.

This was indeed the first time she had ever seen pork jerky, but looking at its reddish color, thin texture, covered in sesame seeds, and glistening with oil, it looked delicious.

Princess Wanyue's attitude softened immediately, and she was about to speak when Shen Yu'an, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it anymore.

"Wei Siyu, that's enough! You've already taken it out, how can you not give it to anyone? Is that reasonable?"

“That’s right, Brother Shen is right.” As she spoke, Wanyue quickly reached out and took two pieces of pork jerky from the oil paper, handing one to Shen Yu’an and putting the other into her own mouth.

It tastes sweet at first, and after a few chews, the aroma of meat and sesame combined with the sweetness fills the entire mouth.

good to eat.

"It's so delicious, what is this?" After finishing one piece, Wanyue took a few more and started eating.

Wei Siyu immediately explained to the princess as if presenting a treasure, "Pork jerky." The letter Shen Cao had given mentioned the name of this jerky.

"It's delicious. Where did you find this delicious food?"

"Let me tell you..." Wei Siyu told Princess Wanyue about Shen Cao.

"Wow, is this little grass girl's cooking really that delicious?"

Shen Yu'an and Wei Siyu nodded emphatically.

"Is it even better than the food prepared by the imperial chefs in the palace?"

“Yes.” Shen Yu’an and Wei Siyu nodded again.

"You've made me want to go to Xin'an County and try the food cooked by this little grass girl."

"Hehe, Princess, you can only dream about it." Wei Siyu felt that Princess Wanyue, let alone going to such a far place as Xin'an County, was always accompanied by a large group of people whenever she came to the Shen residence. Even the Emperor was not at ease with her.

I heard they even sent personal bodyguards to protect them from the shadows.

He looked around carefully, then quickly covered his mouth, as if to make amends, and added, "Princess, you are not a person of noble birth; Xin'an County is not a place you can go."

Guards, did you all hear that? I did not encourage the princess to go to Xin'an County.

Wei Siyu spent a happy afternoon at the Shen residence with Shen Yu'an and the others, unaware that his mother was waiting for him at home.

Shen Cao had just finished her work at noon and was about to have lunch with her family when she saw someone looking inside from the doorway.

I lingered at the door for a long time without coming in.

The person at the door is Shi Yong, the village chief of Stone Village. The first batch of chili peppers that Shen Cao gave him has ripened, so he picked a basket of them.

He found out that Shen Cao and his family had opened a restaurant called Shen Family Restaurant in the county town, so he came to the county town.

However, this Shen Family Restaurant is located in the busiest part of Xin'an County, and judging from the storefront decoration, it doesn't seem like it.

So he stood at the door for a long time, but it was past lunchtime and he didn't see anyone he knew inside.

He was about to ask the people next to him for more information when he saw Shen Cao come out.

"Uncle Village Chief, why didn't you give us a heads-up before you arrived?"

"Shen family's eldest daughter, it really is you."

Shen Cao quickly welcomed the village chief inside, and the village chief looked around the Shen Family Restaurant.

Clean and bright, the Shen family has truly prospered.

He looked around for a moment and then looked away.

When Shen Cao said that the village chief had arrived, Shen's parents quickly came out to greet him.

Looking at the drastically changed appearance of Mr. and Mrs. Shen, Shi Yong thought, "Well, the Shen family has finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel."

"Village chief, it really is you."

"Why did you come all of a sudden today? We didn't prepare anything." Mother Shen looked apologetically at the village chief.

Shen Cao quickly poured a cup of tea for the village chief.

The village chief sat at the table, took a sip of tea, and then picked up his basket and took out the contents.

When Shen Cao saw what the village chief had taken out, he was first surprised, then his eyes lit up as he looked at the pile of chili peppers.

There are spicy Erjingtiao peppers, non-spicy Erpao peppers, and even small red chilies.

She hadn't expected that there would be so many different kinds of chili peppers in that big bag of chili seeds.

"Uncle Village Chief, I never thought you actually managed to grow chili peppers!" Shen Cao said happily to the village chief.

"Uncle Village Chief, you are really amazing."

Shi Yong touched his head; all he could do was farm.

"That's all the farmers are good at."

"Shen Daya, do you think this can be sold for money?" Shi Yong was more concerned about whether this basket of chili peppers could make money. This was only a small part; there were still more than two acres of chili peppers that hadn't fully ripened yet.

When he heard that he could make money, he planted every nook and cranny of his land.

"Of course, I'll take as many as you have."

"Uncle Village Chief, you haven't had lunch yet, have you? I'll cook a few dishes for you today so you can taste the flavor of this chili."

Shi Yong hadn't had time to eat. He came to the county town immediately after picking the chili peppers, thinking he could have a simple meal after exchanging the money.

When Shen Cao invited him to stay for lunch, he felt a little embarrassed. It was obvious that the Shen family had already eaten, and he felt awkward being alone.

Shen's father seemed to sense the village chief's concerns and explained, "Village chief, to be honest, we haven't eaten yet, we've been busy all this time. It's no trouble, let's eat together."

Upon hearing what Shen's father said, Shi Yong stopped refusing. It was perfect timing, as he also wanted to taste what the chili peppers he had been growing for months tasted like.

He had secretly tasted that tiny chili pepper before, and it was so spicy that his stomach hurt, and it was also incredibly bitter.

He didn't know he was eating the spiciest chili peppers. How could it not be spicy?

Shen Cao was worried that her family and the village chief wouldn't be able to handle the spiciness, so she used mild Erpao chili peppers.