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

Shen Chen was so happy that he forgot to consider the problem.

Although he knew that he would have to leave home and make his own way in the world sooner or later, he never expected that day to come so soon.

Looking at the atmosphere before her, Shen Cao began to feel a little sad. "Oh dear, my brother never really belonged to this small place, Xin'an County."

"My elder brother will eventually spread his wings in a wider world; it's just that the time has come sooner."

"Besides, it's not like we can't see each other anymore."

Shen Cao patted his chest. "Brother, don't worry, one day I will open a shop in the capital."

"Then our family can be reunited."

"If all else fails, brother, you should study hard. When you become a high-ranking official, you can bring our whole family to the capital."

After listening to his younger sister's words, Shen Chen silently made up his mind and nodded heavily.

In the backyard of the government office, the county magistrate was sitting in a chair in the main hall, listening to the news brought back to him by his subordinates.

"What? You mean Shen Chen from Shen Family Restaurant, who became the top scholar in the imperial examination?"

"Yes, Your Excellency, the news has spread far and wide that the Shen family restaurant has produced a top scholar in the imperial examination."

Upon hearing this, the county magistrate slammed his fist on the table. "Good! Good! Good!"

He guessed right. If he had accepted money from Master Li a few days ago, he would have offended him terribly.

Previously, he had doubted that Shen Cao, that young girl, was bluffing him, but now his elder brother had become a top scholar and even a student of Grand Tutor Zhou.

Even if Shen Cao hadn't signed an agreement with him, let alone if he had.

If his older brother becomes successful in the future, he can easily get promoted by saying a few words to him.

Not bad.

Early the next morning, Grand Tutor Zhou brought Ye Shu to the Shen family restaurant for a meal.

Yesterday, he was insisted on having dinner with the headmaster of Xin'an Academy and Liu Zixu, and he really couldn't refuse.

Otherwise, he would have come yesterday afternoon.

However, he had only been away for a day, and the business here had become so good. The entrance of Shen's Restaurant was packed with people coming to eat, and he felt like he couldn't even squeeze in.

It turns out that after yesterday, the villagers learned that Shen Chen's family had opened a restaurant called Shen Family Restaurant, and that the food there was very delicious.

They wanted to get some of the benefits, so the whole group came to eat there the next day.

Grand Tutor Zhou didn't come yesterday and didn't know that Shen Chen was Shen Cao's older brother. He finally managed to squeeze in and find a corner to sit down.

When Shen Cao saw the old gentleman arrive again, she went up to him and asked what he wanted to eat.

"Our shop offers pancakes, tofu pudding, soy milk, fried dough sticks, and wontons in the morning."

Shen Cao accepted the customer's suggestion and started selling wontons in the morning.

After thinking for a moment, Grand Tutor Zhou ordered two bowls of wontons and two pancakes.

Why are there so many people at your store today?

Shen Cao smiled and said, "I don't know either. There weren't this many people before. There are so many people here today."

"It's probably because of my older brother."

When Grand Tutor Zhou heard her mention her elder brother, he suddenly remembered something from before and asked, "Your elder brother is back?"

"Ah."

"Could you please introduce me to someone later?"

"Sir, you're too kind. My elder brother would be very happy to know that there is someone like you who appreciates his poetry and calligraphy."

"Please have breakfast first, and I'll take you to find my older brother in a bit."

Grand Tutor Zhou was overjoyed to have the opportunity to meet another person from Xin'an County who interested him.

After breakfast, Shen Cao took Grand Tutor Zhou to the backyard.

Grand Tutor Zhou was surprised to find that the inside was a hidden paradise, with the small courtyard fully equipped and decorated in a very unique way.

The group walked to a door, and Shen Cao gently knocked on it a few times.

A crisp, clear sound came from inside the door.

"Enter."

Grand Tutor Zhou thought the voice sounded somewhat familiar.

He put aside his doubts and followed Shen Cao inside.

Upon entering, you'll see that the entire room is filled with bookshelves.

There was a desk by the window, and a man was sitting in front of the desk, reading a book and taking notes.

He slowly raised his head only after seeing someone walk in.

Shen Chen thought his younger sister was calling him to have breakfast. He was about to look up and tell her that he had already eaten.

He saw his younger sister leading people in, and upon closer inspection, he realized it was Grand Tutor Zhou.

He quickly got up and walked to Grand Tutor Zhou.

"Grand Tutor Zhou, what brings you here?"

Shen Chen assumed that Grand Tutor Zhou had found out where he lived from the Xin'an Academy and wanted to see him for some reason.

When Grand Tutor Zhou saw Shen Chen, he was first taken aback, and then he suddenly realized that he had been wondering why the writing style seemed familiar. He hadn't expected it to be Shen Chen.

No wonder he liked that poem at first sight.

His judgment was indeed correct; he chose the same person both times.

"I never expected it to be you!" Grand Tutor Zhou said happily to Shen Chen.

Shen Cao, standing to the side, asked with some confusion, "Big brother, do you know this old gentleman?"

Shen Chen quickly introduced to his younger sister, "Younger sister, this is Grand Tutor Zhou, whom I told you was going to take me as a student."

"Grand Tutor Zhou?"

Shen Cao was surprised to find that the person in front of her was Grand Tutor Zhou, so she quickly bowed to him.

Shen Cao told Shen Chen what had happened before, and only then did Shen Chen realize that Grand Tutor Zhou had come because of the poem he had written.

"Grand Tutor Zhou, you flatter me. That poem was something I wrote on a whim, and I never expected it to win your favor."

"Shen Chen, you're too modest. I don't just pick up any poem."

After saying that, he took a book out of his pocket.

"These are some books about poetry that I wrote in my spare time. I originally intended to give them to the author of the poem, but I never expected them to be my student. So I'm giving them to you now."

Shen Chen took the book with both hands and carefully put it away.

Seeing that the two had something to talk about, Shen Cao quietly withdrew and prepared some tea and snacks for them.

After the breakfast rush, the shop finally became a bit quieter.

"The eldest daughter of the Shen family."

Shen Cao was helping to tidy up when she heard a familiar voice calling her name.

She looked up and saw the village chief walking in with a basket on his back.

"Village chief, you've arrived." The village chief hadn't come for a while; the chili pepper season was over.

The village chief beamed with joy, "Congratulations! I heard Shen Chen got into high school."

"Thank you, village chief."

Shen Cao quickly led the village chief into the main room and poured him tea.

Mr. and Mrs. Shen also came in.

As soon as the village chief sat down, he quickly took out the dried chili peppers from his basket.

"Shen Da Yatou, do you think this dried chili pepper looks like this?"

Shen Cao looked at the dried chili peppers in the village chief's hand with a look of surprise and delight.

They're bright red, and you can tell they're very dry just by holding them in your hand.

“Uncle Village Chief, this is the dried chili pepper I wanted.” Shen Cao nodded emphatically.

"That's good. We harvested nearly 100 jin of dried chilies this year, but I was worried I wouldn't dry them well, so I only took 20 jin this time," the village chief said with a simple smile.

"Oh, Uncle Village Chief, I already said I'd take as many as you have. You don't need to do that next time, just bring them directly."

The village chief knew that the Shen family had a hard life, and now that Shen Chen had passed the exam, they would have even more expenses in the future.

The village chief suddenly remembered what his wife had asked him to do, and took a package out of his basket. "Shen girl, do you want to keep this?"

“This was passed down from my wife’s family. They said this stuff is edible, and after it rains, the mountain is full of it.”

When Shen Cao opened it, he was surprised to find that it was porcini mushrooms.

And it's even bigger than the flower that caused her to fall off the cliff in her previous life.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"I want as much of this as you have."

Shen Cao never expected that there would be mushrooms in these mountains.

The village chief was very happy to hear this.

Shen Cao suddenly remembered the river crabs in the Stone Village River that were bigger than the palm of his hand. Now that the Mid-Autumn Festival was over, the male crabs were at their fattest.

"Village chief, I'll be going back to Stone Village in a couple of days."