Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

Mu Nan rarely saw his wife acting so coquettishly. His Adam's apple bobbed as he watched his daughter sitting on a small stool, staring at them with her big, dark eyes.

Mu Nan had no choice but to suppress the urge to kiss his wife. He went out and asked Mu Qin to call for help, and then had a few boys come in to serve the dishes.

Before long, the table was filled with food. Zhou Shi, with one hand supporting her daughter and the other holding her little niece's hand, came into the courtyard.

Wang Cuiying hurried over and helped Mu Yan sit down. After Zhou Shi sat down, she saw a table full of dishes and looked at her children and grandchildren sitting together. She thought of her deceased husband and her heartless second daughter, and she couldn't help but burst into tears again.

The children stared longingly at the dishes on the table, but none of them touched their chopsticks. Finally, Old Man Mu picked up the wine pot and poured half a cup of wine for Zhou Shi, saying, "Mother, my little sister is home today. You should be happy. Why are you crying? Qing'er has prepared a big feast to celebrate our family reunion. I'll have a drink with you."

"Alright, alright, I'm happy today, everyone who can drink should have a drink." Zhou Shi wiped away her tears and smiled through her tears.

Old Man Mu poured himself a glass, and also poured half a glass for Wang Cuiying. He said to Mu Nan, "Eldest son, you should have a drink with your grandma too!"

"Dad, I can do it myself." Mu Nan quickly got up, took the wine glass from her father, and filled it for herself.

Old Man Mu then said, "Fill Zihao and Muxiao's cups as well."

"Big brother, I can do it myself!" Mu Xiao took the wine pot, filled a cup for Zi Hao next to him, and then poured one for himself.

The other younger ones smacked their lips, looking like they also wanted to drink.

Mu Lin smacked his lips the loudest, and Old Man Mu glanced at them, saying, "You all have to wait until you come of age before you can drink."

Zhou put a piece of meat into her daughter's bowl, then ladled a bowl of soup and handed it to the girl. Only then did she call out to everyone, "Eat up, eat up, everyone pick up your chopsticks and try your sister-in-law's cooking. Those who don't drink alcohol should eat more of the dishes. It's just hard work for Qing'er to cook such a big table of dishes."

Wang Qing'er quickly smiled and said, "Grandma, it's no trouble at all!"

"Cousins, try this potato, and this mushroom, and... tsk tsk tsk, my sister-in-law's cooking is absolutely amazing." Mu Lin warmly invited his cousins ​​to eat.

Wang Qing'er then urged the girls to eat, ignoring the troublemaker.

Muqin and Zitong were about the same age, and they became good friends soon after meeting.

Muqin kept putting food on Zitong's plate, saying, "My sister-in-law's cooking is all super delicious, you should try everything!"

"Mmm, these mushrooms are so fresh, and this too..." The two girls praised Wang Qing'er's cooking as they ate.

There was probably only one person at the entire table who found the food tasteless; even if it were delicious, she wouldn't admit it.

"Qing'er, won't you have a drink?" Wang Cuiying suddenly blurted out.

"Mom, I don't drink alcohol." Wang Qing'er told the truth. She couldn't stand the harshness of baijiu (Chinese liquor), but she could have a glass of wine if there was any.

"That won't do. All the wives in the Mu family can drink. Why don't you pour some and try it?" Wang Cuiying's face turned slightly red after taking a sip of wine.

"Mother, if Qing'er doesn't drink, then don't make her drink. It's okay if my wife doesn't drink either." Seeing her wife's troubled expression, Mu Nan quickly came to her rescue and thoughtfully ladled her a bowl of soup. "Drink more soup."

“Cuiying, don’t always try to persuade others to drink whenever you drink. You call that being a good drinker with such a low alcohol tolerance?” Zhou exposed Wang Cuiying’s true colors.

"Mom, how come I can't drink alcohol?" Wang Cuiying said, somewhat unconvinced.

"My mother does drink, but every time she finishes drinking, my father suffers. She always scolds him and even scratches him." Mu Xiao blurted out, revealing his mother's secrets.

"So Mom, you'd better not drink anymore. My aunt, cousins, and siblings are all here tonight. If you drink like that, my dad will lose face," Mu Lin added, adding fuel to the fire.

"You two brats, have you been craving bamboo shoots stir-fried with pork for too long? Are you itching for a beating?" Wang Cuiying rolled up her sleeves, pretending to get up and hit them.

"Cuiying, Cuiying, eat first. We'll deal with these two brats after you finish eating." Old Man Mu quickly stopped his wife from doing anything.

Zhou said with a smile, "Yan'er, Zihan and Zihao, you eat your food and don't mind them. Those two boys are as naughty as monkeys. If you don't discipline them for three days, they'll be climbing on the roof and tearing off the tiles."

Mu Yan said, "Mom, they're all the same. Zixuan and Zihao are both incredibly mischievous, but Zihao has always been steady and mature since he was little."

Mrs. Zhou said, "The eldest son should be more mature and steady, as he will become the pillar of the family in the future."

Wang Cuiying stopped hitting people and joined the conversation. "Yes, my Mu Nan is a steady person. Although his daughter-in-law is young, she is also a steady and capable homemaker. You don't know, sister-in-law. If you had come back a month ago, the family would still be eating chaff and wild vegetables and would be heavily in debt."

"Thanks to Qing'er for going to the mountains to pick mushrooms and bamboo shoots, and for getting some braised meat to put in the restaurant, we now have nearly ten taels of silver coming in every day. We just paid off our debts a few days ago."

"They went to the county town to pay off their debts, and that's how they met your family, and even brought you home. This girl is truly a lucky star for our Mu family." Well! This mother-in-law seized every opportunity to praise her daughter-in-law.

Wang Cuiying paused, then said to Old Man Mu, "Honey, you haven't given Qing'er the money from selling braised meat these past few days, have you?"

"I haven't given it to you yet, but I was so busy when I got back that I forgot!" Old Man Mu took out his money bag and handed the money he had earned from selling braised meat over the past two days to Wang Qing'er.

Wang Qing'er glanced at the money and realized that she had earned a full fifteen taels of silver in two days. From now on, she could support her entire family simply by selling braised meat every day.

But she didn't want to give up. She still had things she liked to do. Selling food was just a temporary measure to support her family, and also the fastest way to make money.

Wang Qing'er put away the silver and said, "Grandma, Dad, and Mom have a carriage now, right? From now on, we can use the carriage to transport braised meat to town. We can transport more, and from now on, we can add two more offal, two pig heads, two pig feet, and two ducks every day."

"I've already spoken with the butcher today, Mu Xiao, you can just go pick it up tomorrow. Also, Dad, bring back ten catties of beef tomorrow, I'd like to add some braised beef."

"Qing'er, will we be able to finish adding so many restaurants?" Wang Cuiying asked with some concern.

“Mother, we happened to run into Manager Li and his young master in the county town. We discussed another food business deal, but it's not finalized yet. I think their master will come looking for us soon. Oh, and the young master knows Brother Mu Nan and even calls him Senior Brother Mu Nan.” Wang Qing’er briefly mentioned her encounter with Manager Li and Shang Congjian in the county town.

"There are other food businesses? And the owner of Fuxianglou is called Senior Brother Mu Nan?" Wang Cuiying asked in surprise.