After a male student transmigrated into the body of a widow,

Early the next morning.

Before dawn, Sister Zhao came to the Zheng family to help Gu Lin prepare the cold dishes he would sell in the county town later. The vegetarian dishes had already been prepared yesterday, so Gu Lin asked Sister Zhao to blanch the chicken and pig ears, then cut them up and pack them into bamboo tubes.

With Zhao's help, Gu Lin wasn't in such a rush as before, and finally had time to prepare breakfast today. He took out flour, kneaded the white dough, cut it into thin strips, added lard and chopped scallions to a bowl, poured in boiling chicken broth, and finally added the tender white noodles.

Of course, this alone was not enough for breakfast, so Gu Lin fried three more eggs and put them into three bowls. Then he called out towards the woodshed, "Sister Zhao, breakfast is ready."

Smelling the delicious aroma in the air, Sister Zhao swallowed hard and said, "No need, I already ate at home."

These days, everyone's food is precious. Gu Lin was already doing her a huge favor by giving her a job. How could she be so ungrateful as to eat it?

After hearing what the other person said, Gu Lin stopped talking. He walked directly into the woodshed, half-pulled and half-led Zhao's arm to lead her out of the woodshed: "In our family, there is no reason to eat alone. If we want to eat, we all eat together."

After spending a few days together, Gu Lin gradually became closer to Zhao's sister-in-law, changing from his initial coldness and indifference, and began to show his most authentic self.

Zhao's wife had no choice but to say, "Alright, alright, Lin-ge'er, walk slowly, I'll listen to you."

He led Zhao's wife to the main hall and sat them down. Gu Lin sat in the middle, Zheng Hao on the left, and Zhao's wife on the right. After looking at the two of them, Gu Lin said with satisfaction, "Let's eat."

Looking at the noodles on the table, Sister Zhao hesitated to start eating. Noodles were a fine grain and very expensive. Sister Zhao had only eaten them a few times in her decades of life. The last time was six years ago when Zhao Dagen earned money building a house for a wealthy family in town and bought white flour steamed buns from the county town. She took them but couldn't bear to eat them herself. She only took one bite and then let Zhao Dagen eat them. But she still remembers that sweet taste to this day.

Unexpectedly, Lin Ge'er was eating white noodles so early in the morning. Looking at the snow-white noodles in the bowl, Zhao Saozi hesitated to pick up her chopsticks. She looked around and saw that the young man had already picked up his bowl and started eating noodles, and Zheng Xiaozi across from him followed suit. Judging from their expressions of being used to it, they were obviously used to eating white noodles.

She had initially thought that Lin Ge'er was working very hard in the county town and wouldn't earn much money, but now it seemed that things weren't so bad. She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that it was really hard for orphans and widows to survive these days.

Although she didn't know how much money the other party had earned, Zhao's sister-in-law didn't ask. Gu Lin had helped their family too much. Without him, their little family would have been torn apart long ago. So, as long as Lin-ge'er didn't say anything about certain things about the other party, she would pretend not to know.

When Lin Ge'er needs help, he should be there without hesitation.

Sister Zhao picked up a noodle and ate it. The noodles were chewy, salty, and delicious, a real treat for someone who usually eats coarse grains.

After eating the noodles for breakfast, Zhao's stomach felt warm and cozy. When the noodles were gone, she couldn't help but drink the soup as well.

On the other side, compared to Gu Lin's slow and deliberate eating, Zheng Hao's eating speed increased rapidly. Gu Lin had only taken a few bites of noodles when Zheng Hao finished a large bowl. It's worth noting that Zheng Hao and Gu Lin used the same size bowl, but Zheng Hao's bowl contained three times the amount of noodles as Gu Lin's.

Gu Lin only discovered Zheng Hao's appetite in the last few days. Previously, Gu Lin thought that Zheng Hao's appetite was the same as that of an ordinary child, so he cooked meals for an adult and a child every day.

Until a few nights ago, Gu Lin had eaten some food in the county town, and his stomach was still very full when it was time for dinner. He barely touched the food on the table and left a lot uneaten. He was originally regretful about having to throw away so much food and thought he should cook less in the future. Unexpectedly, Zheng Hao put down his empty bowl and looked at him, saying, "Are you full?"

Gu Lin thought the other person was just asking casually, so he casually replied, "I'm full."

Then he saw Zheng Hao bring the remaining dishes to him and finish three dishes by himself, enough for two or more people.

At that moment, Gu Lin's mouth was slightly open, and he was dumbfounded. He couldn't believe that this was the amount of food a ten-year-old child should have. But when he thought about the scenes of eating with Zheng Hao these days, he realized that it seemed that the plates on the table were always empty by the end of each meal.

He frowned slightly and looked at Zheng Hao: "Have you been starving these past few days?"

Upon hearing his question, Zheng Hao seemed a little surprised. He remained silent for a moment before looking up at him and saying, "I'm used to it. It's always been like this."

Looking at the young man in front of him, Zheng Hao carefully observed the changes in the other man's expression and the questions he had just asked. How did Gu Lin behave?

It was as if being hungry was a very serious matter.

However, Zheng Hao's lips seemed somewhat cold. In this day and age, going hungry is a very common thing.

In Xiahe Village and the surrounding dozen or so villages, how many people dare to say they have enough to eat all year round?

Not having enough to eat is the norm. Unless you're a landlord or a wealthy family, no one is immune to hunger. The Zheng family is considered better off than other families in the village. At least they have a dry meal every two or three days and meat every now and then.

Although Zheng Hao rarely ate his fill, at least he didn't become skin and bones.

That's just how the world is.

Seeing the boy's fierce appearance coupled with his calm tone, indicating that he hadn't eaten enough, Gu Lin felt a pang of heartache: "Don't hold back in the future. If you're hungry, just say so. We're not short of food at home. You're at the age where you're growing, so you should eat and sleep more."

Zheng Hao's originally cold expression faltered slightly, but Gu Lin didn't notice. He belatedly realized that Zheng Hao's appetite had always been predictable. First of all, the other party's strength was extraordinary, and maintaining this strength must require eating a lot.

Gu Lin was still a little worried and instructed Zheng Hao, "I've put the grain in the woodshed. You can just get up and cook whenever you're hungry. It's okay if you don't know how to cook some of the more difficult dishes; you can just boil a few eggs to fill your stomach."

Faced with the young man's eyes full of care and concern, Zheng Hao couldn't bring himself to refuse and simply said, "Okay."

While the two were talking, Zhao's wife didn't interrupt. She knew that Gu Lin and Zheng Hao hadn't gotten along well before, and she was very pleased to see them getting along so well now.

Seeing that they had finished eating, Sister Zhao got up and cleared the bowls and chopsticks into the woodshed. Zheng Hao paused, then turned to look at Gu Lin, who said helplessly, "It will be fine in a few days."

Zheng Hao remained noncommittal, then turned and went to his house to pick up his book box.

county seat.

The market was still bustling and lively. An elderly woman with a weathered face stood behind a small stall, facing the crowd. She looked a little nervous. The young man next to her calmly comforted her, saying, "Sister-in-law, don't be so nervous. Just treat these customers as people from the village. Just chat with them while you sell your food."

“How can they be the same?” Sister Zhao waved her hand and said.

Gu Lin said, "How is it different? Sister-in-law, think about it. When you sell things, you have to introduce them to others. Once you start introducing them, you start chatting with them. How is that any different from just chatting with people in the village?"

Gu Lin's words distracted Zhao's wife, and her initial tension gradually eased. She looked at the increasingly long queue in front of her, then turned to look at Lin Ge'er beside her, and took a deep breath.

Zhao's wife gradually calmed down and said, "I'm fine now, Lin-ge, you can go back to your work."

Seeing that although the other party still looked a little tense, she was not as flustered as before, Gu Lin said, "Okay, sister-in-law, you try it first, and call me if anything happens."

After Gu Lin turned and left, Zhao's wife took another breath to bolster her courage, then looked up at the line in front of her and said in a loud voice, though her voice trembled slightly, "Everyone, line up, we can start buying cold dishes."

The first person in line was still Aunt Sun, who arrived earliest every day. When she saw Sister Zhao, she didn't recognize her at first. But when she got closer and saw her face clearly, Aunt Sun exclaimed in surprise, "Aren't you the woman from the other day?"

How come his face has regained its color and his mental state seems much better after just a few days?

When Sister Zhao heard that the other person's tone sounded very similar to that of the women in Xiahe Village, she felt a sense of familiarity and was no longer nervous at all: "Remember, I had something to do a few days ago and couldn't come, but I came back now that I have some free time."

Having navigated the social circles of wives and older women for many years, Aunt Sun had a keen sense for certain things. She looked at Sister Zhao and asked, "Has your son's problem been resolved?"

Zhao's sister-in-law didn't hide anything and said with a genuine smile, "The county magistrate is a good official; he has stood up for our family."

This time, not only Granny Sun heard it, but the people behind her also heard it. They were all very shocked, wondering how a small-time merchant could have gotten the county magistrate to punish an official.

Several scholar-like men stepped forward to ask questions, trying to extract information about the local official.

Although Sister Zhao looked honest and simple, she was as slippery as an eel when she spoke. She answered all the questions asked of her, but when asked about the details of the magistrate's punishment of Chen Xiaoli, she kept saying, "The magistrate is honest and upright" and "The magistrate is in charge of the people." She didn't reveal any useful information. Seeing this, the scholars shut up and left.

Watching the departing figures of the group, Sister Zhao felt somewhat helpless. She wasn't deliberately keeping them in suspense by not telling them the details; rather, before leaving the county office that day, Li Xiaoli had warned them not to reveal the case, otherwise they would anger the county magistrate. Naturally, Sister Zhao wouldn't want to invite trouble.

Seeing that Sister Zhao was surrounded by a group of people asking her questions, Gu Lin quickly stepped in to defuse the situation: "There are only thirty servings of shredded chicken left. Anyone else want some?"

Seeing that they couldn't get any information from Sister Zhao, the crowd gradually lost interest in watching the spectacle.

Hearing that their favorite shredded chicken was almost gone, they quickly lined up and said to Gu Lin, "Brother Lin, I didn't get any yesterday, you have to save some for me!"

"Brother Lin, I don't want shredded chicken, save me a plate of cold pig's ear salad."

"I want both the shredded chicken and the cold pig's ear salad!"

Seeing that no one was paying attention to Chen Mu anymore, Sister Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. She noticed that Gu Lin had been mixing cold dishes for a long time, so she quickly went over and switched places with him.

Gu Lin took off the gloves he had specially made at the clothing shop and gave them to Zhao Saozi to wear. Then he walked to the front and said in a voice that he had practiced for a long time but still couldn't drown out the crowd, but which was impossible to ignore: "There are still more than a hundred tubes of vegetarian dishes left. Each person can only buy a maximum of two tubes. If the later customers want to buy, please come back tomorrow."

As soon as he finished speaking, a group of people in front of the stall wailed. The first hundred customers looked relieved, while the customers behind them looked regretful.