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

Grandma Zhang looked at her granddaughter's slightly dirty little hand and found a piece of candy lying in it, and she was a little puzzled.

"Xiaoyu, this candy is precious. You should keep it for yourself."

Li Xiaoyu did not take the candy her grandmother offered, waving her hand and saying, "Grandma, you eat it. I've already had some. This was specially saved for you."

Grandma Zhang was even more puzzled. This candy was a precious item, and ordinary families wouldn't easily buy it.

Seemingly noticing Li Xiaoyu's confusion, Li Xiaoyu proudly described to Grandma Zhang how she had earned candy that day.

It turns out that the riddle-guessing activity at Shenjia Restaurant, which started at noon today, has been spread by some children.

In the afternoon, she went to Shen's Restaurant with her friends to join in the fun.

She was illiterate, but someone would read the questions aloud. There were a few riddles that her grandmother used to talk about, and she was able to answer them.

At first, she didn't dare to answer, but seeing that no one around her could answer, she cautiously revealed her answer.

Upon hearing her answer, the little boy next to her immediately shouted it out and won a candy.

She looked enviously at the candy in the little boy's hand. She was about to leave when the little boy stopped her and gave her the candy.

"Here you go! This is what you won, take it."

Li Xiaoyu looked at the little boy in disbelief and happily took the candy from his hand.

"You're really amazing, you even guessed that."

"If you can still remember it later, just tell me quietly and I'll call it back," the little boy suggested, seemingly aware that the little girl was shy.

"Okay," Li Xiaoyu replied softly.

The two went back and forth like this, and won several candies.

After the game, Li Xiaoyu had won five candies, and she gave three to the little boy.

The little boy looked at the candy that Li Xiaoyu handed him. His sister had told him that boys should be more generous. This candy was won by the little girl, and he had only helped by calling out a few words. He couldn't take more than that.

However, this little girl clearly liked the candy in her hand. There were only five candies in total, but she was willing to share three with herself. In her older sister's words, she was very generous.

This kind of friend is worth having.

He only took two candies. "You won this candy anyway. Two are more than enough for me. You can have the rest."

Li Xiaoyu was reluctant to give him three, but she felt he was a very nice person, and since he was younger than her, she, as the older sister, should take care of him and give him more.

Seeing that he only took two, she didn't refuse and happily put the candy in her pocket.

Perfect timing! I'll eat two and save one for Grandma.

Li Xiaoyu played with them for a while before they parted ways.

After they parted, she forgot to ask his name.

Fortunately, we made an appointment to win candy again the next day, and I'll ask again tomorrow.

When Grandma Zhang heard her granddaughter excitedly describing how she won candy that day, she was also infected by her granddaughter's happiness, and her eyes welled up with tears.

I haven't seen my granddaughter smile so happily in a long time.

When she heard about Shen Family Restaurant, she thought of Shen Cao and was surprised that this young girl could come up with such a way to attract customers.

He's really something.

Seeing her granddaughter yawn, she said, "Go wash up and go to bed. You can play again tomorrow."

"Ah."

Li Xiaoyu fell asleep shortly after lying down. Grandma Zhang looked at her sleeping granddaughter with a kind smile on her face.

It was sweet, just like the candy her granddaughter had just put in her mouth.

If we can catch fish every day, raising my granddaughter won't be a problem.

The next day was another beautiful day, with bright sunshine.

These past few days, besides being busy with the shop, Shen Cao has also been going to the dock from time to time. When she comes back, she writes and draws on paper. The Shen family has no idea what she's been up to.

Shen Chen guessed that his younger sister might have made a promise to the county magistrate before she got busy.

Shen Cao had just finished preparing the food for lunch and was about to go out when she saw Granny Zhang bringing fish.

The fish that Grandma Zhang has been sending over these past few days have gotten bigger and more numerous each day.

She plans to see after the Mid-Autumn Festival whether she should launch some dishes made with fish.

"Grandma Zhang, did you catch any fish again today?"

"Yes." After several interactions, Grandma Zhang was no longer as cold as before, and would occasionally smile and talk to Shen Cao.

This made Shen Cao feel a little uncomfortable.

She noticed that Shen Cao was carrying a cloth bag, clearly about to go out. "Young boss, are you getting ready to go out?"

“Grandma Zhang, from now on you can call me Xiaocao or Caoer. You’re making me sound old by always calling me Little Boss.”

Grandma Zhang smiled and nodded, "Okay."

"Hmm, I'll go take a stroll around the docks."

Shen Cao suddenly remembered something, turned around, took the fish basket from Granny Zhang's hand, and went into the kitchen.

After emptying the fish, I washed the fish basket and filled it with two boxed meals.

She then took out some oil paper and packed four lotus seed paste mooncakes and four fresh meat mooncakes into it.

"Grandma Zhang, here's your fish basket." She handed Grandma Zhang her fish basket and the money first.

Then he handed over the oil paper.

Grandma Zhang looked at the oil paper Shen Cao handed her, then glanced into the fish basket. There were boxed lunches in the basket. She looked at Shen Cao in confusion, "What's this?"

"Grandma Zhang, the Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner, so I made some Mid-Autumn Festival snacks for you to try."

Grandma Zhang quickly waved her hand, "No, little... no, Miss Cao'er, this won't do. I've already taken enough. I absolutely cannot accept this."

Seeing that Granny Zhang refused, Shen Cao had no choice but to explain, "Granny Zhang, I was planning to put these snacks in the shop to sell in the next couple of days. I'm not giving them to you for free."

“I remember you have a little granddaughter. When you get back, try it and see if it’s good. If you have any suggestions for improvement, you can let me know.”

"You know I work in the food industry, and it's impossible to please everyone. Just because I think something tastes good doesn't mean others will. After you finish eating, tell me tomorrow if there's anything that can be improved."

"So what do you think? Whether I give this to you to try or to someone else, it's still a taste, and we're good friends, so your opinion is bound to be agreeable, right?"

After saying that, he took advantage of Grandma Zhang's inattention and forced the mooncake into Grandma Zhang's arms.

Then she ran off, and after she had gone some distance, Shen Cao turned back and called out to Granny Zhang, "Granny Zhang, remember to tell me tomorrow!"

He waved goodbye to Grandma Zhang.

Grandma Zhang looked helplessly at the oiled paper in her hand.

She initially thought the child was genuinely asking her for advice.

But then I realized that the child's cooking was so delicious, and besides, I had never eaten this kind of food before, so how could I possibly offer any opinions?

The child was just afraid of being embarrassed to take it, so he deliberately made up an excuse.

Shen Cao went to the dock to conduct research these past two days. She had already promised the county magistrate, so she had to do it well.

Besides, this matter will only benefit her in the future.

Every day, she goes to the dock to record the number of stalls, what kind of food they sell, how much the most profitable stall earns in a day, and how much the unprofitable stall earns in a day.

Another factor is the number of workers on duty at the dock each day.

She plans to lease out the pier, regulate it, and turn it into a food street.