A farmer has a shrewish wife; he's busy making money every day.

"Cough cough cough." Ye Qingxue almost spat out the noodles in her mouth through her nose.

Chen hurriedly pulled out a handkerchief and wiped Ye Qingxue's throat, asking, "Oh dear, what happened? Did you choke?"

Aunt Lu looked at Ye Qingxue with concern and gently patted her back: "Eat slowly, we'll cook more for you if you're not full."

Ye Qingxue gasped for breath, then looked at the menu that Wen Yanyu had brought in shock.

Chen and Aunt Lu also peeked over to look.

Fried golden eggs in tomato sauce, thirty coins a serving.

Egg and tofu in tomato sauce, 35 coins per serving.

Tomato and egg soup, forty coins a serving.

Scrambled eggs with tomatoes, seventy coins a serving.

Tomato fish fillets, eighty coins a serving.

Tomato and beef risotto, 100 coins a serving!

The further along the path, the higher the price. Ye Qingxue stared wide-eyed at Chen Shi on her left and then at Aunt Lu on her right.

Let's look at the menu again.

"At this price, does anyone actually eat here?"

Ye Qingxue really suspected that once Shi Ding Lou's new dishes were released, all the customers would leave.

However, Chen and Aunt Lu did not think so after seeing it.

"Qingxue, I think the price is a bit high, but it makes sense."

Ye Qingxue turned to meet Chen's gaze: "What do you mean?"

Madam Chen laughed and said, "In this way, only you have these tomatoes. They are scarce and therefore precious. The price you sell them for is also high, which increases the cost for Shidinglou."

Ye Qingxue does know this.

"Secondly, your recipe is not something that ordinary people could come up with, and it tastes good, which makes it even more of a rare find."

"Thirdly, the target audience for tomato dishes is not ordinary people like us; they are for wealthy families."

At this point, Ye Qingxue understood. The name Shidinglou was well-known; it was a place frequented by dignitaries, so the prices were naturally much higher.

Ye Qingxue's confusion just now was only because she was suddenly stunned by the high price that was completely different from her own concept.

Now that I've calmed down, the price doesn't seem so outrageous anymore.

Hearing this, Aunt Lu couldn't help but speak up: "And besides, there are quite a few rich people in our Qingshui County."

Judging from Aunt Lu's tone, Ye Qingxue knew that she must know a lot of things.

So he leaned over and asked, "Aunt Lu, tell me about it?"

Seeing their curiosity, Aunt Lu slowly explained to them: "In this Qingshui County, besides the newly arrived Lu family, there are four wealthy families who have lived here for many years: the Zhao family in the east, the Song family in the south, the Qian family in the west, and the Yang family in the north."

"The Zhao and Song families have some money because they have relatives in Jiangnan Prefecture who help them. The Qian family runs a rouge shop, and it is said that the woman is in charge, which is quite remarkable. As for the Yang family, a few years ago, a member of the family passed the imperial examination and obtained an official position in the capital, which is why the family has risen to prominence."

Ye Qingxue asked in confusion, "No Wen family?"

Aunt Lu smiled: "I knew you would ask this. The Wen family mainly develops in the capital area. Shi Ding Lou is just a small business of theirs. As for the young master Wen, I don't know much about him. I guess the head of the Wen family sent him out to gain experience."

Ye Qingxue nodded, somewhat surprised: "I didn't expect Aunt Lu to know so much."

She was so focused on doing business that she didn't really understand the various factions in Qingshui County.

"All of this was told to me by my dead husband," Aunt Lu sighed.

At this point, Aunt Lu seemed to remember something, and her mood soured.

Ye Qingxue knew about Aunt Lu's story. In her predecessor's memories, Aunt Lu's husband was originally the scholar in the desolate village with the best chance of passing the imperial examination. However, after going to Jiangnan Prefecture to take the examination, he was never heard from again.

The villagers all said that Aunt Lu's husband was robbed on the way and something bad happened to him.

Aunt Lu didn't believe it at first, but since all their family's possessions had been used to support her husband's studies and exams, she had no way to go to Jiangnan Prefecture to verify it.

Life went on like this, and eventually, people just assumed he was dead.

Ye Qingxue raised her hand and patted Aunt Lu on the back.

Aunt Lu straightened up and sighed deeply.

"I'm fine. Have you finished eating? Let's hurry back to the village and work out tomorrow's new dishes."

Ye Qingxue glanced at Aunt Lu with concern again, and seeing that her expression had truly returned to normal, she stood up and said, "Okay, let's go."

……

After returning to the village, Ye Qingxue first went home to bring some sweet soup from the noodle shop to her parents and Hao'er before going to Aunt Lu's house.

Lin Zhi and Ye Jing watched Ye Qingxue's hurried figure disappear into the distance, then shook their heads and sighed.

Lin Zhi looked at Ye Jing with concern: "Isn't our Xiaoxue working too hard? We don't even get to see her all day."

Ye Jing was also heartbroken, feeling that he, as her father, couldn't help her at all: "I really want to go to the county to help Xiaoxue."

Lin Zhi grasped Ye Jing's hand: "Let's forget it. We might not be able to help much if we go, and it might just cause trouble for the Lu family."

Ye Jing grasped Lin Zhi's hand in return, her tone somewhat urgent: "Our Xiaoxue is still pregnant, how can she work so hard? The Lu family may not care, but I do!"

Lin Zhi nodded in agreement: "Xiao Xue married into the Lu family for our sake, but she never expected that her in-laws would be like that. Sigh, how are we going to live like this?"

Ye Jing tightened his grip: "Those two, they clearly only want a boy. If our Xiaoxue gives birth to a girl, I don't know how much they'll dislike her!"

Lin Zhi was also worried about this, and she felt a little weak, so she leaned her head on Ye Jing's shoulder.

"what?"

Suddenly remembering something, she whispered in Ye Jing's ear, "You know, Xiaoxue said before that after she's earned enough money, she'll take us to the county, and she'll bring the Lu family couple with her, right?"

Ye Jing was startled and his shoulder snapped, causing Lin Zhi to hiss in pain.

While rubbing Lin Zhi's face, Ye Jing whispered, "That's right, let's find some time to ask Xiao Xue. If it's just our family moving there, then we won't have to deal with the Lu family anymore, right?"

Lin Zhi hadn't expected her husband to be so impatient, so she quickly said, "Hey, I was just saying. Xiao Xue is already married and pregnant, so it's not good for her to go there on her own."

Ye Jing didn't think it was a big deal: "Let's leave quietly. There won't even be a matchmaker on the wedding day. How can that be considered a proper marriage? We're not afraid of having a child. We'll just have it quietly and say it's ours. I can work myself to death to support you in the county."

Lin Zhi rolled her eyes at her husband: "It's not as simple as you say. Not to mention how you'll cover up Xiaoxue's growing belly when you go to the county, if the Lu family leads the villagers to make a scene in the county, we won't be able to handle it!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Jing realized that this matter was not simple, and sighed in defeat: "Alright..."

Lin Zhi could tell from his expression that his single-minded mind was going to be pondering this idea for a month or two.

"Just think about it and forget about it. Don't let it slip to your in-laws and cause trouble."

"Okay, let's heat up the sweet soup that Xiaoxue brought back and drink it quickly."

"Uh-huh."