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

Zheng Hao followed Gu Lin's steps to the stone table.

Sister Zhao brought out egg tarts from the kitchen and placed them on the stone table.

Because of the added brown sugar, the round egg tarts have a slightly reddish surface, which is very appealing.

Gu Lin lowered his head slightly to look at Zheng Hao, pointed to the egg tarts on the table and said, "Xiao Hao, happy birthday! These are the egg tarts I made for you for your birthday."

Zheng Hao used to not celebrate his birthday; as the villagers would say, "What birthday does a child have?" But after entering the Wuliu Academy, Zheng Hao learned that many students' families would make longevity noodles or order longevity peaches for them on their birthdays.

Looking at the round, thick egg tarts in front of him, as large as moon plates, Zheng Hao felt a slight stirring in his heart.

This must be something Uncle Gu made especially for him.

Gu Lin stood next to Zheng Hao and saw him staring at the egg tarts. He assumed Zheng Hao wanted to eat them right away, so he quickly said, "Let's eat first, and then we can have the birthday egg tarts later."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Hao looked up at the stone table and realized that he hadn't seen everything properly.

Tonight's dishes are not only diverse but also rich and elaborate. Each dish requires careful preparation by the cook, and each one is very time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Zheng Hao turned his head and said to Gu Lin with a serious expression, "Uncle Gu, thank you for your trouble."

Gu Lin patted him on the shoulder and said, "We're all family, there's no need to worry about it."

Zheng Hao sat down next to Gu Lin.

Tonight, Gu Lin prepared a variety of dishes, but no drinks. The only beverages on the table were soup, milk tea, and soft drinks.

However, this did not dampen their high spirits.

After a meal, the five of them devoured all the delicious food on the table.

Zhao's wife deftly cleared away the leftover food from the table.

By this time, it was completely dark. Gu Lin took a specially made small candle and stuck it on the egg tart, then turned to Zheng Hao and said, "Xiao Hao, close your eyes. You can start making a wish now. Don't say it out loud, or it won't come true."

All of this was so novel and unprecedented for Zheng Hao.

Zheng Hao closed his eyes, a light flashed through his mind, and without much hesitation, he made a wish.

Seeing that Zheng Hao opened his eyes after a short while, Gu Lin leaned forward and asked, "So, what did you wish for?"

Zheng Hao looked up slightly at Gu Lin in front of him and said seriously, "Uncle Gu, wishes won't come true if you say them out loud."

I never imagined that my words would backfire on me.

However, although Gu Lin was curious about what wish Zheng Hao made, he did not intend to ask further.

He turned and took a fruit knife he usually used to cut fruit, and handed it to Zheng Hao, saying, "Here, let's divide the birthday egg tarts."

Taking the fruit knife from Gu Lin, Zheng Hao, though he had never cut a birthday egg tart before, had cut plenty of vegetables and meat. So, after gesturing at the egg tart for a few moments, he knew how to cut it.

He cut the egg tart into evenly sized pieces, placed them on a plate, and turned slightly to hand the tarts to Gu Lin, saying, "Uncle Gu, have some egg tarts."

Gu Lin took the egg tart, took a bite, and then urged Zheng Hao, "Yeah, you should eat too."

So Zheng Hao cut egg tarts for Sister-in-law Zhao, Brother Zhao, and Zhao Dagen in turn, and then cut one for himself.

He scooped up a spoonful and ate it, finding the egg tart crust crispy and the filling creamy and smooth, melting in his mouth.

Gu Lin asked, "Is it delicious?"

Zheng Hao nodded: "It's delicious."

He didn't like drinking milk, but he loved the egg tarts Uncle Gu made for him. Unlike other pastries that were cloyingly sweet, the egg tarts were sweet but not greasy.

It was obvious at a glance that Uncle Gu had made it especially for him based on his preferences.

Zheng Hao looked up at the young man chatting and laughing with Aunt Zhao in front of him, and a sweet feeling welled up in his heart.

Late autumn, September.

The wind on the street seemed to be getting stronger, and the leaves on the trees turned from tender green to withered yellow, falling one by one. If it weren't for the fact that there were people in the county who would sweep the streets twice a day, the ground would have been covered with leaves long ago.

Gu Lin sat on a chair behind the shop, his expression slightly thoughtful. Happiness House had been open in the county town for more than a month, and after milk tea and drinks, it was time to launch new food items.

With winter approaching, Gu Lin's thoughts drifted far away. The cool autumn and cold winter were undoubtedly the best time to sell steaming hot food.

Gu Lin originally wanted to sell beef offal. The beef offal was salty, fragrant, crisp and tender, the beef tendon balls were bouncy and juicy, the white radish was soft, sweet and fragrant, and there was also a clear and sweet hot soup. Such food would not have trouble selling in winter.

But nowadays, cattle are precious and cannot be slaughtered at will. Even officials cannot eat beef as they please, let alone ordinary people.

Therefore, Gu Lin's idea of ​​selling beef offal was clearly not feasible.

So he reconsidered and recalled some popular winter foods in modern times.

hot pot?

"No," Gu Lin shook his head.

First of all, setting aside the issue of location, if you want to make a spicy hot pot, you have to consume a lot of oil and spices to make the broth, which is very expensive. Moreover, spices were limited in ancient times, and Gu Lin couldn't gather the complete hot pot broth recipe from later generations in a short time.

If you want to make a clear broth hot pot, the requirements for the ingredients are very high. They must be fresh, ideally chicken, duck, fish, or meat that are slaughtered one second and served the next. However, in ancient times, livestock were extremely prone to disease and death during winter, and prices kept rising, so a clear broth hot pot was not feasible.

Gu Lin shook his head, feeling a bit of a headache. Just then, Aunt Zhao walked in and said that the shop had run out of spices.

Gu Lin needed a mental break, so he got up and went to the pharmacy to buy spices.

On his way to the pharmacy, Gu Lin passed through a market and suddenly stopped in front of a small stall.

Gu Lin squatted down, looked down at the pots of red crops on the stall, and then looked up to ask the stall owner, "Boss, what's this called? It's bright red and looks quite festive."

I thought that seeing someone stop in front of my stall meant I was finally going to make a sale, but to my surprise, the person ignored everything else and picked up this unlucky thing.

The stall owner inwardly groaned, but aloud introduced, "Young man, the crop you are holding is called pepper. It comes from a foreign land. Foreign nobles love to use it for ornamental purposes. If you like it, I'll sell it to you for twenty-five coins a pot."

Gu Lin smiled upon hearing this. Just as the shopkeeper thought he had found a fool, Gu Lin immediately stood up and said, "I originally liked these peppers and wanted to buy them to admire, but I didn't expect you to be so dishonest. I'd better go look somewhere else."

Seeing the young man in front of him turn to leave, and considering the man's interest in the peppers, the shopkeeper gritted his teeth. He would sell as many peppers as he could now, otherwise he would really be stuck with a bad deal.

"Take care, my husband!"

The stall owner called out to Gu Lin, who had taken a few steps, "I see that my husband really wants to buy peppers, so I'll sell them to him for twenty coins a bowl."

Gu Lin raised an eyebrow and smiled. Did he really look like a sucker on a normal day?

Why is everyone trying to screw him over?

Gu Lin lifted his leg and walked away more decisively and nimbly.

Seeing that not only did Gu Lin not stop him, but that the other man was walking faster and faster, the stall owner quickly said, "Husband, don't go. Fifteen coins, I'll sell you the peppers for fifteen coins."

After the stall owner finished speaking, Gu Lin stopped and turned back to the stall owner, saying, "Boss, you should have done this earlier. Why did you have to treat me like a sucker and cheat me?"

The stall owner smiled wryly and said, "I bought it from a foreign merchant for twenty coins back then, so selling it for twenty-five coins is really not expensive."

Gu Lin didn't soften his stance and bluntly stated, "Now that no one is buying your peppers, you can't generalize about the price."

"Yes, yes, yes," the stall owner said bitterly without refuting.

He regretted that he had impulsively taken all the money in his family to buy peppers and sell them in the county town after hearing others say that selling peppers could make a lot of money.

The market for chili peppers in the county town is already saturated. Wealthy households and officials no longer need them, and most ordinary people wouldn't spend more than twenty coins to buy a pot of flowers.

The ridiculous thing is that I was too stupid to see clearly. When I tried to do business, I only saw how much money others made, but I didn't learn a thing or two about their caution and prudence.

Gu Lin said, "Fine, since you were somewhat sincere at the end, I'll take all the peppers you have left."

"Yes, yes." The stall owner thought the other person was still lecturing him, but after realizing what the other person had said, he immediately looked up and said, "What did you say?!"

Gu Lin repeated, "I'll take all the bell peppers you have at home. If you can find bell peppers elsewhere, I'll take those too, but I'll only pay you twenty coins at most."

Even so, the stall owner stood up excitedly.

Nowadays, the price of chili peppers in the county town has plummeted due to a lack of buyers; they're mostly being sold for a pittance of ten or so coins, yet still can't be sold. If I were to buy chili peppers from others and then resell them to Gu Lin, I could make a small profit.

Gu Lin asked the stall owner, "Do you know where Happiness Residence is?"

"I know, I know." How could the stall owner not know about the food shop that had become famous in the past month?

Gu Lin pointed to the bell peppers and said, "Later, just deliver the bell peppers to Xingfuju and say that Boss Gu asked you to deliver them."

The stall owner was surprised to find that the young man in front of him was the owner of Xingfuju Restaurant. He had been somewhat doubtful about the truth of the man's promise to buy more peppers, but now he was no longer worried and said, "Mr. Gu, I will deliver the peppers I buy later to you in three days."

"Okay." Gu Lin nodded.

After leaving the stall, he went to the herbal medicine shop to buy spices. Because he was a regular customer there, both the doctor and the apprentice knew him, and he always got the cheapest prices for the herbs.

Gu Lin carried the spices back to the shop. When Zhao's wife saw him, she asked, "Brother Lin, a man just delivered a cartload of red stuff and said it was you who sent him."

Gu Lin put down the spices in his hand, then picked a chili pepper from the corner and put it in his mouth. He took a small bite, and the familiar spiciness exploded on his taste buds. This was the chili pepper he wanted.

Gu Lin turned to Sister Zhao and said, "Sister Zhao, he will come a few more times later. You can just collect all the peppers then. I have already paid him."

“Okay,” Sister Zhao readily agreed.

Gu Lin picked a bowl of chili peppers, then returned to the house behind the shop. He went into the kitchen, intending to use the chili peppers he had just bought to make a new dish.

The beef offal and hot pot that were ordered earlier could not be made for various reasons, but when Gu Lin passed by the market and saw bowls and bowls of chili peppers, the irresistible, spicy and fragrant Mala Tang (a type of spicy hot pot) instantly came to mind.

He washed the vegetables needed to make the mala tang, then took out the pork and chicken he had just bought that morning, sprinkled them with his own seasonings to marinate the meat, and then fried some dried tofu and fried eggs.

Finally, Gu Lin began making the broth for the mala tang (spicy hot pot).

Because of the limited ingredients, Gu Lin couldn't make the spicy hot pot that tasted like it did in later generations, so he decided to make a simplified version.

He first heated the oil in the pot, then added scallions, ginger, and garlic and fried them for a while. After that, he added soybean paste and chopped chili peppers. Once the aroma was fully released, Gu Lin added his own bone broth. Then, he removed the scallions, ginger, garlic, and other scrambled bits from the pot and added other spices.

Soon, a thin layer of red oil floated on the surface of the mala tang soup. After the broth started to boil, Gu Lin scooped up a spoonful and drank it. It was fresh, fragrant, spicy, and numbing. Although it didn't have the complete set of seasonings available today, the taste was already very good.

Gu Lin added sliced ​​meat, fried eggs, and dried tofu to the pot one after another. When they were almost cooked, he added various vegetables. When the soup in the pot started to boil again, Gu Lin lifted the iron pot and poured the spicy hot pot into a ceramic bowl.

Gu Lin was supposed to wait for Zheng Hao and Zhao's wife to come back so they could eat spicy hot pot together, but when he smelled the familiar spicy aroma, he couldn't resist anymore.

He first served himself a bowl of spicy hot pot to satisfy his craving.

Gu Lin picked up a spoon and chopsticks and started eating. The hot and spicy mala tang was steaming hot, and Gu Lin was instantly captivated by the strong aroma in his mouth.

"Uncle Gu."

Unexpectedly, Gu Lin was caught secretly eating spicy hot pot not by Aunt Zhao, but by Zheng Hao, who always came home late.

Gu Lin subconsciously turned his head.

Zheng Hao noticed that the once fair-skinned and clean-cut young man had inexplicably blushed, and even in the cool autumn weather, his forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, and his nose and lips were tinged with a rosy hue as if he were burning up.

In this day and age, catching a cold and getting a fever is no small matter.

Zheng Hao's previously calm expression turned slightly serious. He quickened his pace and walked up to Gu Lin, asking, "Uncle Gu, are you feeling alright?"

"Huh?" Gu Lin felt guilty when he saw Zheng Hao return early and catch him cheating on them, but when the other party suddenly asked a strange question, Gu Lin was full of doubt.

Zheng Hao scanned his face and realized something was wrong: "Uncle Gu, why is your face red and sweaty?"

Gu Lin immediately realized that it must have been because his face turned red and he was sweating after eating spicy hot pot that he scared the other person.

He quickly pointed to the spicy hot pot on the table and explained, "I'm fine, I just ate spicy hot pot and that's what made me like this."

After hearing Gu Lin's explanation, Zheng Hao glanced at the bowl of spicy hot pot and then carefully examined Gu Lin's complexion. Although the young man's face was flushed and sweating, he looked energetic and healthy, not at all like someone who was sick.

Zheng Hao was relieved, then his gaze fell on the spicy hot pot, and he asked, "Is this the new food that Uncle Gu will be launching?"

“Okay!” Gu Lin replied.

Zheng Hao's eyes flashed and he said, "Actually, Uncle Gu can sell egg tarts. There will definitely be a lot of people buying them."

Unexpectedly, Gu Lin, who was always greedy for money, remained unmoved and firmly shook his head, saying, "Although it is not food that I created, no one here should be able to make it. I think it should be yours alone."

This was Gu Lin's true thought; he didn't want to sell the egg tarts he had specially made for Zheng Hao.

Zheng Hao fell silent for a moment. He felt despicable, always unable to resist testing Uncle Gu at certain times.

Is Gu Lin good to him?

It was undoubtedly good. While other families ate two meals a day, his family ate four. They bought him new clothes, writing implements, and sent him to a private school. Many families didn't treat their own children this well.

However, some doubts still lingered in Zheng Hao's heart, churning repeatedly within him.

That's why Uncle Gu treated him so well.

Zheng Hao could control his wild thoughts for a short time, but over time, he couldn't help but doubt whether Gu Lin's care for him was genuine.

If this is true, will this care gradually diminish over time, until the other person eventually abandons him?

Just like his father and mother.

Zheng Hao believes that time can erode emotions, but it cannot erase the material and financial contributions made.

The fact that Uncle Gu was willing to give up a large amount of readily available benefits for himself suggests that he holds a place in the other man's heart.